The Nest and the Viper: Part 1
The Nest and the Viper: Part 2
The Princess Lothiriel looked at the head sitting on the ornate table and stared into the wide, dead eyes of Captain Thorongil of Dol Amroth, a hero on the battlefield in his youth who had become something quite different before his sudden and violent death.
She shook her blonde head softly in disbelief, hair loose. "So he truly was as bad as the whispers claimed? How dreadful...to think he was an honored Swan Knight. I will see that word of his crimes and his fate spreads throughout Gondor. I was urged by my advisors to avoid Captain Thorongil, that there was much unsavory talk about him. However they always informed me that sometimes, unsavory men are needed to do unsavory things in the name of Gondor. I must assume they did not count treason amongst his acceptable unsavory acts."
Xandilif snorted as she slowly cast the map of the treasure site and the remnants of the map of Dol Amroth's defenses into the fire once the Princess had perused them. "I would imagine not. Such things would get even THEIR knickers into a twist quicker than an amorous warg in heat. Still, he was a ripe piece of troll crap for quite awhile, and nobody seemed to care."
The Princess dropped gracefully into a chair near the marble fireplace, closing her robe against the chill, both in the air and in her heart from the discussion. A servant scurried forward to pour her a cup of wine which she took and sipped without even looking up. "He truly killed his wife and then sought his own daughter's death as well?"
The Champion nodded and smirked, leaning back against the fireplace, SilverWand propped against the ornate marble reliefs. "He confessed as much to me after that Corsair gutted him...bleeding out tends to loosen the tongue. And he mistreated the daughter bad enough she fled...which is when he wanted her dead. If rumors are to be believed, and I do believe them, he was up to all manner of bastardy for years right under your daddy's nose. Slaving, thieving, pillaging, extortion, strong-arming. A true bastard was Thorongil, it was a pleasure to watch him squirm like an iceworm on a hot stone."
Lothiriel looked up at the Champion, her eyes searching. "And slaying him...also a pleasure Lif?" Her voice bore a undertone of disapproval and fear, despite herself. There was something about the Elleth Champion and her strange blade that she found chilling at times and altogether inhuman.
That undertone was not lost on Xandilif the Banshee and she shrugged, turning away to stare at her reflection in the perfect silver surface of her greatsword, hiding her eyes from the Princess as her voice grew uncharacteristically somber. "Pleasure? No...I took no pleasure in it. That was duty. Justice is seldom pleasant, and often rare, but essential. As a Champion in military service to the West, such matters are my duty...and my burden."
The blonde Gondorian rose as if she would have embraced the Champion, but it was clear that the Banshee was in no mood for such affection anymore, as if Lothiriel had crossed some unspoken line...and the Princess of Dol Amroth knew it, already regretting her question. She cleared her throat instead and stood beside the armored elleth, looking into the fire. "What are your plans now, Lif? Do you return to the Black Land? It frightens me to think of you there..."
Xandilif turned, her smirk back in place, the moment broken. "In due time, things still to be done. I have a Morroval bitch who has taken up residence in Mordor to have a word with, for one thing. However, first...I need to find my sister I think, Elbereth be damned."
The Princess was surprised despite herself. "Your sister, the Monk of Osgiliath? Is she in peril?"
"She is always in peril of one kind or another is Xanderian. Something is always about to break her head, or her heart...silly little Eavesdropper. However I seek her out because Thorongil's runaway daughter is a pet of hers..well, was I suppose. Anyway, Rian will know how to handle this." Xandilif swept SilverWand up onto her back and made ready to go, reaching for her cloak across the daybed.
Lothiriel nodded and followed her out of her private chambers and down the long passage out of the Court, knowing better then to ask her to stay at this point. "Yes..Fillegedhiel her name was as I recall. When she was young she was a mascot of the Swan Knights after her mother died and all knew her, used to her scampering about the battlements, but as she aged she disappeared. I had assumed she pursued more maidenly pastimes out of sight. To think that her father was abusing her so..and she came to keep company with your sister you say? There must be a strange tale behind that."
"Trust me, there is a strange tale behind everything my idiot sister does. Must have been that head wound she took in Gwingris years ago. However, I need to see what she thinks of this whole matter, as I think I have something that belongs to little Fille, or should. I thnk that is what her mother would have wanted."
Xandilif patted the short blade she had liberated from Thorongil under her swordbelt and strode out the doors into sea-swept Dol Amroth, the Princess watching her as she strode down the endless stairs toward the city proper.
