Chapter 2: A Knotty Problem

Jotan watched the preparations for a few moments and then turned to Bridgette. "Lady B, time for more history and what you call demographics and some even more technical subjects, that I suspect you will have no more understanding of, than I do. It is knowledge, Lady B. It is how things are. You learned things in school -- things you were expected to learn by rote. This is that sort of knowledge.

"Time is slippery between our worlds. I told you that a month here would be like two weeks where you are from. If you'd come there a thousand years ago, ten days here would have been a day at your home. What took place here a thousand years ago took place eight hundred years ago on your world.

"On top of that, we were not men. Dwarves and elves are primates, but belong to other genera than Homo. It is one reason that men are not comfortable with the rest of us. An elf lives twenty-five thousand of your years; in truth they use a lot of magic to achieve that. Dwarves live a thousand or fifteen hundred years. My grandfather was more than a thousand years old before he married my grandmother. My father was born a hundred years later, and didn't abdicate until he was nearly a thousand years old, nearly that long after my grandfather traveled to the Undying Lands.

"Men are ephemeral and there is much resentment because of that. They live no longer than your people do. There are some races of men who live longer -- Aragorn was of the Dunedain, and their life spans are nearly two hundred years, but they are rare, and have much elf blood in their history."

"Gandalf was very old, I understand," Bridgette said.

Jotan laughed. "Lady B do not let appearances fool you. Gandalf wasn't a man, not by a long shot. He was of the Valeri, one of the elder races. He is there in the earliest legends of all the peoples of Middle-earth.

"Now, once again I will get personal. Galadriel was a unique elf -- and as unique as she was, the rest of her family was as well.

"Back in the First Age, the elves had a debate about what to do about Sauron, a rising evil. Some of the elves wanted to actively oppose him, helping men and dwarves to do so. This was, Lady B, when Sauron was a nuisance. A small nuisance." He held his fingers close together.

"The majority of elves didn't want to be bothered with what they thought was a trivial threat -- they voted not to intervene. Galadriel was one of those who disagreed. She did more than disagree -- she tried to help men defend against the earliest assaults of Sauron. Elves, Lady B, are like men and dwarves. They have those of great vision -- and small minds who can't be bothered about the rats eating away at their world. Above all, they prize unity of purpose -- and take great umbrage with anyone who breaks consensus.

"Galadriel was banished. Eventually she hooked up with her husband -- and together they fought Sauron. Even when the rest of the elves finally realized that Sauron was going to kill them too, and decided to help dwarves and men, they did not forgive Galadriel and her husband for going against the consensus.

"Their daughter married Elrond, whom you've heard of. The war ended and for whatever reason, Galadriel was pardoned by the elves and permitted to go to the Undying Lands. Her husband refused to contemplate any pardon and stayed behind; there is no record what happened to him afterwards.

"Of interest to you is one of Galadriel's cousins left Middle-earth after the end of the Third Age. She went to your world, arriving about 1600 AD in your terms. It was a time of great troubles and she lived then in a place called the princedom of Brandenburg. It was involved in a great war, even longer than that of Sauron -- but a cakewalk in comparison. But no war is a good thing, and as all wars, that one was terrible in its effects.

"As might be expected, it was for the love a man -- she founded your family. In elfin eyes any elf blood makes you a half elf. She was not the only elf who came to your world. It is easily reachable from Middle-earth and though lacking in much magic, a great many see that as a feature. You are the result of a number of ancestors that were half-elves -- not that you have even half the ancestry of an elf ... about a sixty-forth. It isn't overt, but you recognize kindred spirits in each other and are more likely to marry another half elf than not."

Bridgette hunched forward; it was dark by then and getting chill. Jotan's wife appeared and draped a blanket around Bridgette's shoulders. "Jotan is a dwarf. He could freeze solid and wouldn't notice until he was unable to move. We will have some stew shortly, Lady B."

"Do you have a name as well?" Bridgette asked.

The female dwarf laughed. "Gesand, Lady B. Dwarf males tend to be overprotective of their women. He has any number of tales about the bravery of his grandmother -- but if she was still alive, he'd smother her protectively."

Jotan looked grumpy. "I left out a bit of demography. Elves and men have births roughly equal between males and females. About three out of five dwarves are born male. Mining isn't one of the safest professions, even for a dwarf. Further, we haunt the dark places of the world -- and that is even more dangerous. The only hope for the survival of our race is protection of our women because very few dwarf males die of old age."

"Jotan, I was brought here against my will. While it isn't a bad thing learning a new language, it was still against my will. Why am I here?"

"Men were given many good traits, but those traits include avarice. One of those traits is magic, Lady B. Magic is like trying to wield a sharp knife, with two blades and no handles. It takes a very skillful practitioner to avoid the evils that are associated with magic.

"Elves, Lady B, were given arrogance and disdain, as well as a few other traits they consider of lesser value. And more magic than men, and their magic has a safe handle.

"Dwarves, Lady B, were given a love of things of value, particularly those dug from the Earth. We are not as indifferent as the elves to the troubles of men -- but we have learned caution. A lot of dwarves have died in the wars of men. We fight wars among ourselves, it is true, but such fights are rare. We were given no magic. None.

"Now a human, descendent of Eowyn and Faramir, has come to live among us. She has magic, bubbling forth like a fountain.

"My wife complains about how she is protected -- Lady I. has everyone in my realm on watch to keep her safe.

"She came amongst us when she was twelve. The Rohirrim thought she should see the Shimmering Caverns, as they are protected by Helm's Deep, their stark fortress. She told us that she could see the future, and proved it many times over. She told us that she had told her parents that they would send their daughter to Gondor, where she would be raped, and then murdered, to foment war between the two kingdoms. Someone in Gondor, she doesn't know who, wants to use the Rohirrim to take Minas Tirith by force chicane, kill the royal family of Gondor, and install her intended husband as king. Then he would attack Rohan, kill their royal family and rule both kingdoms as one.

"The Rohirrim could never get past her age, Lady B. Now it is twenty years gone, and she says the plot is once again active, and the war could start at any time. She named you, Lady B, as the woman who could stop the war in its tracks.

"Those amongst the dwarves and men who fought in the Great War at the end of the Third Age are all dead. The elves are gone, for the most part, and so are the hobbits, -- of all the races of Middle-earth, hobbits are the least warlike, least interested in the doings of others, and while they live longer than men, not a great deal longer. Some reach a hundred and fifty, a few two hundred years.

"Lady I. does not know the name of the threat, just that it exists. She doesn't see any of the Nazgul, but she thinks one of the nine rings of power is involved in some way. Much of that power was lost when the One Ring was destroyed and more was lost when the elfin three went west. But it would be an ill thing if one has been found and is in use. Sauron was thrown down before. He came back because men and a few dwarves misused the rings of power.

"Whether he can return now that the One Ring is gone no one knows -- but the possibility terrifies us. Maybe none of us directly remember the war, but our grandfathers did. That is close enough for us not to want to take the smallest chance of a repeat."

"And you think I have magic?"

"Lady B, dwarves were not given magic. That does not mean, though, we can't see it or use it. Yes, it is an ability that you've had no reason to use before. But then, you've never run like you ran earlier today. You've healed yourself twice -- something that very few mages can do these days.

"We go to Gondor to celebrate the birth of the King's first grandson. Ilion is his oldest son, and his grandson is a major event. The King of the Gondor has invited the grandson of his doubly great-grandfather's battle companion to celebrate the birth. Lady I. says that what happens when you are there is impossible to see, but she is confident that you can stop the war, then and there."

"Wonderful," Bridgette said bitterly. "I'm here to fulfill a prophecy of a twelve-year-old."

"Lady I. was twelve nearly twenty years ago, Lady B. Now she's nearly twice your age. But, yes."

Bridgette waved to the river, a dark line to their east. "What do they have against you, that they won't at least let you buy passage?"

"Here, Lady B, they might be more amenable, although they don't like this side of the river. Magic, Lady B. Dwarves have none -- but talisman -- those we have. Thorin's great hall is very magical. The mages who created those tunnels created a number of special talisman. They lead tunnels from one entrance to another, passing through the Great Hall.

"We went from a tunnel in your world, through the Great Hall and out the tunnel that leads from the Paths of the Dead, where Aragorn enlisted the help of the Dead Men of Dunharrow. All credit that alliance as the deciding factor in saving Minas Tirith. We came out that tunnel, and honestly, even though the Men of Dunharrow are no longer, the men of Gondor have trouble accepting that. Odd, isn't it, that some legends grow in each telling, and some don't survive but a few years?

"In truth, the Paths of the Dead are still dangerous, but we emerged near the entrance. So, the ships that supply grain to Gondor hug the other shore and ignore dwarves here."

"My husband makes excuses," Gesand told her. "Men tolerate us, and if his grandfather hadn't left behind a priceless gate, they wouldn't do that. They wouldn't cross a room to help a dwarf choking -- certainly they won't cross the Anduin anywhere near the Paths of the Dead."

"The kings of Gondor still recognize our worth," Jotan said defensively.

"They do, but not so their people."

"We will go there and do as we may," Jotan said firmly.

"That we will, Lord Husband. But Lady B. deserves honesty. Husband, you have not seen Lady I, when she tells what will happen to Lady B. in Minis Tirith. She cries, husband. She says Lady B. will do well -- but then she cries."

"Females!" Jotan said with heat.

"Males!" Gesand said a fraction of a second later. Gesand spoke to Bridgette. "Lady B, I don't know what you will face. I will, though, stand next to you. Dwarves might not have magic, but then magic doesn't have much of a hold on us."

Finally Bridgette flopped on her blankets again and slept the sleep of the dead. There was so much to think about. All she had of her own was her staff, and she held onto it tightly.

The next day was a repeat of the one before; only by the end of the day she was barely able to put one foot in front of another by late afternoon. Gesand turned to Jotan and said, "We need to stop."

"At the ridge ahead."

"Lady B is too winded too speak, she's too winded to continue. Now."

He jerked his head towards a line of green ahead. "There is a rill in a few hundred yards. There, then. Making it to the top of the ridge was important."

"She wouldn't have made it, unless someone carried her."

Bridgette was too tired to care very much. Someone brought her more beer. She found that the water of the small stream was a balm for her aching feet. Jotan came and stood next to her, still not much taller standing than she was sitting.

"Lady B. please listen. I wanted us to reach the top of the ridge ... then you would have had a clear vision of what your choices are.

"Beyond the ridge is a farming village of Gondor. We haven't talked about geography. You know of some of it, but what do you know of Gondor?"

Bridgette pursed her lips. Gondor was supposed to be one of the largest, if not the largest kingdom of men. The truth be told, she had only the roughest knowledge of the geography of Middle-earth. Most everything was north of Gondor -- Rohan, Lothlorian, Rivendell, and the Shire where the hobbits had been from. The Lonely Mountain was more of less due east of the Shire, as was Rivendell. Lothlorien was further south, Rohan further and then Gondor. There were mountains that bordered Rohan on the north and south.

"I don't know much," she admitted.

"Gondor is a very large kingdom. Minas Tirith was built as a strong fortress to back up Minas Ithil, the fortress that was built to keep the orcs contained in Mordor. Osgiliath was a port on the Anduin that served as an outpost as well as a port. When Sauron took Minas Ithil it was renamed Minas Morgul."