Adventure of Tuiwen 2

The doors close beneath the king’s command. Four Archive Bearers arrive with the remaining chests, while Tuiwen, Maereth, and Thranduil remain beside the opened archive.

As inventories are lifted from the chests, Tuiwen notices a faint notation in a clerk’s narrow hand: Caras Amarth folio, last custody, west record vault.

An archive bearer places the inventory before Maereth. The notation is faint but genuine, bearing a date after the courier’s disappearance and the folio’s supposed removal.

Thranduil studies Maereth, then the sealed doors and the marked inventory. The inquiry pauses at the threshold of lawful recovery, with the west record vault now the court’s next destination.

Tuiwen leaves the opened archive behind and crosses the sealed halls toward the west record vault. Thranduil follows with Maereth and two Archive Bearers carrying lamps and inventories.

Her steps remain swift and measured across the polished stone. The silver-dusted linen holds her shoulder securely as she reaches the western passage before the others can lose sight of her.

The Archive Bearers unlock the iron-bound door and swing it inward. Dust, cedar, and old parchment breathe into the corridor as shelves of sealed records emerge from the gloom.

Tuiwen enters the west record vault, accomplishing the search’s first demand. Narrow aisles divide ledgers, dispatches, and custody rolls beneath a ceiling crossed by ancient beams.

Maereth stops at the threshold while Thranduil examines the inventory board. The Archive Bearers spread their lamps, revealing a west-vault register open to the date of the missing folio.

The vault lies open before Tuiwen, its records accessible and its custody marks ready for examination. No sealed door or intervening danger remains between her and the truth hidden in the shelves.

Tuiwen moves between the cedar shelves, comparing the west-vault register with its neighboring custody rolls. Her trained sight catches a disturbed layer of dust behind a row of sealed ledgers.

She draws out the ledgers and finds a narrow compartment concealed behind them. Inside rests a parchment folio wrapped in oilskin, its witness mark bearing the sign of Caras Amarth.

Tuiwen lifts the folio free and carries it to the lamp table. The oilskin is dry, the seal unbroken, and the custody mark matches the date recorded in the vault register.

The Archive Bearers document the folio’s recovery while Thranduil places his seal beside it. Tuiwen has found the missing testimony intact, ready for lawful examination before the court.

Tuiwen waits beside the lamp table while the Archive Bearers, four adult human archivists in dark brown robes with leather belts and brass writing cases finish recording the folio’s condition. Thranduil’s seal rests beside the unbroken witness mark.

At the king’s signal, an Archive Bearer carefully loosens the oilskin and sets it aside. The parchment beneath is aged but clean, its Caras Amarth mark intact.

The Archive Bearers break the old seal under Thranduil’s authority. The parchment unfolds without tearing, revealing a compact hand and several lines written in faded green ink.

Maereth lowers her gaze as the final words are copied into the record. Thranduil listens without interruption, while Tuiwen remains beside the open folio, its testimony now secured.

The chamber falls silent. Thranduil’s gaze moves from Tuiwen to the open Caras Amarth folio, while Maereth stiffens beside the lamp table and the Archive Bearers pause over their records.

Thranduil places one hand over the folio, weighing its testimony against the account Tuiwen has brought from the fortress. The king’s suspicion settles into firm resolve.

The Archive Bearers resume writing. Maereth’s testimony and the Caras Amarth folio are entered together, while Thranduil orders the southern captains summoned before the next council.

Thranduil studies Tuiwen across the lamp table, then glances toward the sealed folio and the records of Saruman’s deception.

Thranduil draws a fresh sheet from the archive table and presses his signet into warm wax. The authority to consult Radagast is granted without delay.

Thranduil considers the proposal, then traces the western approaches on the map. Tuiwen leaves the marked road, choosing a wooded circuit through wet ground and broken ridges.

The roundabout route quickly narrows into waterlogged hollows. Fallen trunks force repeated crossings, and Tuiwen’s healing shoulder aches whenever she steadies herself against the slick boughs.

By midday, the landmarks refuse to match the map. The circuit has bent south instead of west, carrying her toward dense ravines and away from any reliable approach to Rhosgobel.

Tuiwen reaches a stony rise overlooking the drowned woodland. From there, the roundabout route offers no safe continuation, while the Old Forest Road lies distant behind her and the western way remains unmeasured.

Tuiwen sighs once at the drowned woodland below, then turns west from the stony rise. She keeps to shadowed hollows, moving softly where rain and fern conceal her passage.

She leaves no clear trail as she crosses the broken ridges, avoiding open ground and choosing covered paths between wet roots and leaning trunks.

Her shoulder aches when she steadies herself against a bough, but the silver-dusted linen holds. She adjusts her pace and continues west without exposing herself.

By late afternoon, the ravines fall behind her. Tuiwen reaches a higher woodland shelf where the land slopes westward, and the air carries a faint scent of open fields.

She has successfully crossed the unknown ground while remaining hidden. Ahead, the western descent offers a safer direction toward Rhosgobel, though the forest still conceals the distance.