“But you aren’t busy now. And you did promise.”
It was Andreth, Chief Archetect. A high title in Eregion, where all the structures were new and half the city was still being built. The bright sunlight filtered in through the high windows of the dining hall, but already it was slanted. The afternoon was wearing.
“Yes, I did. Very well,” said Celebrimbor good-naturedly. “I’ll just finish up these notes later.”
The north wall was buckling. The problem area was not too large; in fact, as Celebrimbor and Andreth walked along and inspected each stretch of stone, it seemed completely solid. And this was right. The wall was only a year old after all.
“But see here,” said Andreth. “Cracks in the mortar. And—you won’t believe this—but I think it’s sunk another inch since I was here yesterday.”
Celebrimbor did see. But he was as stumped as Andreth. He ran two fingers along a clean split between the stones. “Did it just settle badly? Why this one isolated spot? Who was in charge of building this part?”
“I was. And you know me. I checked it, and it was perfectly fine last summer.”
“Hmm,” was Celebrimbor’s only answer. “Let’s go look at the other side.”
It was a long walk all the way around to the outside of the wall, but a pleasant one. The air was clear, there was a warm breeze, and the grass had now taken firm root and was incredibly thick and springy underfoot. And there was plenty of work to keep everyone busy while they enjoyed it.
“I was thinking,” said Andreth when they arrived, “That it could be a hollow of some sort. Under the wall.”
“A hollow?” asked Celebrimbor, examining the wall again. “More like a cave.”
“Maybe a cave,” allowed Andreth.
Celebrimbor’s interest was piqued. “We’ll find out,” he said.
The digging commenced as soon as they could fetch a crew. And some scouts to stand watch, since they were working outside the city walls. And then the workers breaked for dinner while a second crew took over, and the cooks brought the food out while curious families trailed after. And the evening picnic took on a festive feel as more and more elves gathered amidst the fireflies. A group of children started up a game song.
Celebrimbor had stood by the wall during most of this, but then he left it to have some drink. Now a young elf approached him: one of the digging crew by the smudged look of him. “Lord Celebrimbor, we’ve broken through.”
“It isn’t much,” Andreth told him as Celebrimbor drew near. And it wasn’t. Just a gaping dark hole in the ground at the foot of the wall, made darker by the failing sunlight. “But we’ve pulled some metal out of there. Rusted, very old. It’s all mixed in unnatural rubble. More than anything else, it looks like someone’s old trash heap is buried here. Good for the rest of the wall; bad for here. We might need some sort of gate…”
“I wonder what’s down there,” murmured Celebrimbor.
“…and I’ll have my team start on that first thing tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, I’m going to declare this whole area off limits to every elf and child. Lord Celebrimbor?”
“Yes, of course,” said Celebrimbor, finally looking up and blinking. “I’m sure you’ll do exactly what’s best. Now, to get everyone back inside without losing any. If that isn’t a babe I see wandering into the woods right now…”
Andreth just scratched his chin, bemused, as Celebrimbor hurried off to fetch the errant child.
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