Movement I: Melodies and
Harmonies
Malron
arrived in his lord’s room,
summoned at Haldad’s order. But even when he entered
and waited for Haldad to speak, he did not, and Malron
knew that it was a very bad
sign.
He
was pacing, even though he was tired from the battle today.At least
they
had finally beaten the orcs back without any deaths, but
Haldad looked exhausted.
Nor did he invite Malron to sit as he often did.
Haldad
suddenly stopped his pacing and wheeled around to face Malron. The
two men stared at one another, Haldad controlling his anger, Malron
impassive.
“Haldar tells me that my daughter is learning swordscraft from the
armsmaster,”
he began after twisting his eyes—blue eyes like
Haleth’s, but without the fire and
ice—from Malron. “Do you deny this?”
“Nay,
my lord. ‘Tis true that I am instructing the Lady Haleth in
swordscraft—and more.”
“More?”
“Not
yet, my lord, but eventually.” As Haldad gestured for him to
continue, Malron said, “I intend to teach her the rules of the Master
of
Battles.”
He
breathed sharply. “You refused to teach my son those and
yet
you teach them to my daughter! How dare you—”
“I
dare because I am not bound solely to you but also to battle and to
Tulkas. It is to him I owe my allegiance, and not
to you alone. I dare
because it is I who determine who is worthy to learn what wisdom I have
garnered, and that of my predecessors. Think you that the Rules came
from the
Valar to be given to all? Think again, then, for it is hard-won
knowledge and
wisdom from battles, passed directly onto the next armsmaster of our
line—and
others we deem worthy, as I have deemed Haleth.”
“You are
the first armsmaster of the Haladin—”
“The first official
armsmaster,”
Malron corrected. “You forget that my line is one of warriors, and
there is
always one—will always be one—who trains the next generation and the
next
armsmaster. Eventually, perhaps, we will die out, but not yet. And I am
not
prepared to see my line dwindle into nothing when I could prevent it.”
“Haleth has nothing to do
with this.”
“She has everything
to do with
this! In her lies the hope of our
people.”
“Our people do not believe
so.”
“But you do, my lord.” He
paused. “Do you not?”
Haldad sighed and sank down
into a leather-covered chair,
gesturing for the
other to do the same. “Your word on this that you do not spread this
about.”
“And when have I ever
gossiped?”
Haldad simply inclined his
head in acknowledgement, much as
the armsmaster
had to Haleth. “To tell the truth, Malron, I do desire
my daughter to be my heir.”
“Whether or not Haldar dies
or not?”
“Yes.” Malron could see the
audible lump in Haldad’s throat;
it had hurt
him to acknowledge this, to acknowledge that he favored his daughter
over his heir, his firstborn
son. “I do want Haleth to rule my people. She is the only one I can
trust to
care for my people when I am dead and gone.”
For all that these were the
words Malron had wanted to hear,
he felt
impelled to defend Haleth’s brother. “Haldar is a good warrior, and he
is
popular with the people.”
“He is good, but not gifted.
And we both know why he is
beloved amongst the
people. My people may respect and fear me, but they do not love me, and
that is
how it should be. Respect is more valuable than love.”
“They would respect and love
Haleth if they were given a chance to see beyond her womanhood,” Malron
said
softly. “And she will be a master of battles.”
“Haldar will never be. He may
have what he thinks is their
hearts because
he is friendly and because he drinks with them, but he will never
command
respect. He will not be able to hold them to his will on the
battlefield. He
has the friendly aspect of charisma, but he does not have the strength
necessary to become a leader. Haldar is more my wife’s son.”
Malron looked at him in
compassion and sympathy, remembering
that Haldad’s
wife had been one of the first to fall against the orcs, leading to
Haldad’s
everlasting hatred of them.
“Haleth is my
daughter, for all that she is a woman and will never be the physical
match of
Haldar, in her lies, cunning, and canniness. Haldar does not have the
strength
of mind and will never be able to lead my people.”
“And will Haleth be able?”
Haldad was silent for a long time.
Then he said in a
quiet but strong
voice, “Yes.”
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