[Nogrod]

The Hall was filled to the last seat. The first jugs of wine were served to the tables and Erbrand and Crabannan performed a few songs with a fiddle and a harp.

After the two settled down to their table lord Athanar rose up.

”Ladies, gentlemen, soldiers, workers, household… well, all you people of the Scarburg Hall!” Lord Athanar’s words echoed loud in the Hall like the words of a man who was used to address large crowds. The discussions in the tables died down and everyone turned their attention towards him.

“Any man in Rohan should mourn the fate of a man of lord Eodwine’s calibre. Sadly we can only bring you ill tidings. The king’s messengers came to Edoras from Minas Tirith the day before we left… They told us that the physicians in Minas Tirith’s Houses of Healing seem to think his condition is what they call “the dead man’s life”… it means a condition where the body barely keeps the light of life alive but the spirit has ceased to exist. It was even rumoured that after king Eomer’s request king Elessar himself had visited him… but to no avail. He has been unconscious for over a month.”

Lord Athanar fell silent and laid his head down to honour lord Eodwine and the feelings of those who loved him. There was a total silence in the Hall.

Saeryn, too, turned her head away from Athanar. She clenched her jaw tight, trying to keep from crying, and her eyelids pressed hard together. Then she felt Degas' hand reaching for hers. She opened her clenched fist and grasped his hand. She gained control of her emotions and then drew a deep sigh and turned back again to Athanar.

Finally lord Athanar raised his head and eyed the people around the Hall. And he continued.

“Let me assure you, the king himself took his illness heavily. But he had also heard of your plight with the local lords here – them being the first reason he decided to set up a Mead Hall into Mid Emnet…” He glanced at the people, especially those on the tables of workers and household staff as he was not sure they understood all the politics involved.

“I’ll make this short, but I do think you need to understand this, everyone, so that we can start building a working relationship between all of us… to fulfill the king’s will and not need to witness the kind of incidents I’ve heard have already taken place earlier today.” He laid his eye to the table where Javan sat and then to the soldier’s tables.

“The king wishes to establish his rule and the rule of common law to all corners of his kingdom. And there still are areas around Rohan where this is not the case… and Mid Emnet is one of them. Establishing the rule of the king means that the local lords will have their law-given deal of the taxes from the peasants, but not more. They will then pay the rest to the eorl as the king’s representative in the region who deals the law… and the eorl will pay to the king his share in turn. And establishing the rule of law puts to an end any high-handed methods of local lords dealing their own justice by giving the right of fulfilling the law to the king’s representative, the eorl, who is then responsible for his decisions to the king himself. This way the same laws are used all around the country and people are given a right to live under the prosperity of their king instead of the arbitrary rule of whoever lord they happen to live under.” He let the words hammer in.

“And this, all this, king Eomer has seen as an urgent task enough to nominate a new eorl to the Mead Hall at Scarburg when hearing of lord Eodwine’s condition.”

Suddenly he produced a parchment from his sleeve and rolled it out, showing it to everyone.

“This is the decree signed by king Eomer appointing me to take over the Scarburg Mead Hall as the new eorl. It is a similar decree like the one handed to lord Eodwine back in spring.” He paused to check if the people had gotten what he had just said.

Saeryn felt the blood leave her face and she jerked unintentionally from the shock. She felt Degas move in his chair, too. She laid her hand quickly on his knee and held him back, despite her own violently beating heart.

“Now that you all understand the situation… I will not tolerate a single incident questioning this decree and my authority following from it in this place. Any such disobedience will be handled as a high treason against the king himself. Do I make myself clear?” Lord Athanar had decided already beforehand to make that point as firm and clear he could. The acceptance of that point by the original Scarburg-dwellers was the founding of everything. But now he was a bit embarrassed of the fire in his words - while realising seeing his bruised daughter with his mind’s eye like she was, sobbing, just an hour ago. But he realised he had to calm down… and he did.

“I will be both straight and fair with you. Those of you who have lived under my rule I think know that already.” There were several nods and “ayes!” from the tables of Athanar’s soldiers and his household.

“And that means… I will reward those who do their duties and work for the common good… and will have no toleration for those doing the opposite. Be honourable and I will honour you, be dishonourable and I will punish you with a strong hand. That is the base of all good government. I have been brought to believe in it, I have followed it all my life and I have seen it work all my life... all the way from the Pelennor Fields to my recruitment into this Mead Hall. So I’m not going to change my ways.”

Lord Athanar paused, grabbed the goblet in front of him and took a sip of the wine. It was clear he was trying to remember what other things he had to state his position on as he had gotten a bit carried away once again. The air in the Hall was heavy with expectancy as so many things dear to the original Scarburgers were still not spoken of, and the newcomers were not too clear about their status in comparison to this other staff.

“You should all meet Coenred, he’s the commander of my guards – and will be the commander of all the soldiers at Scarburg Mead Hall as the highest ranking officer… Coenred, please rise up!

Coen rose up and nodded to the crowd.

“I have complete trust in him and wish to see you all follow my example there as soon as possible… He’s a fine soldier, an experienced commander and of true Rohanian blood… And let it be announced right away: all the soldiers will have a light training session tomorrow after breakfast… just to get to know each other... you know.”

There was a reaction to the announcement of rehearsals in the soldiers’ tables but after the explanation - and the accompanying smile from lord Athanar - it died off fast.

“What comes to master Thornden…” Lord Athanar waved his hand showing that he should stand up as well. The air in the hall turned tense. Stigend, Garstan and Harreld leaned closer to hear the next words closely – with so many others.

“Thornden will be second in command with the soldiers after Coenred… but also my special advisor, my seneschal… if he accepts the offer. I do appreciate his openness and straight-talking ways... and his guts. And he knows many of you and this Mead Hall better than I do. I would appreciate his counsel.”

There was cheering with the people of the Mead Hall even if the feelings were clearly mixed – and Athanar’s praise also caused cheers among his own soldiers; they knew Athanar would not praise anyone that much without a reason.

Athanar waited for the applauses to die down before going on.

“You should also meet my family… Will you please?” he nodded to his family to rise up.

“Meet my lady Wynflaed, my sons Wulfric and Wilheard! My sons I do hope will earn their places in the ranks of the military, which I think them perfectly capable of doing in here as they have done in my earlier households… Then there is also my youngest daughter, Aedre, who unfortunately does not attend this banquet..." Everyone saw the storm cloud gathering over Athanar’s forehead but he held it at bay, with some noticeable suffering.

“Aedre is young and she is your eorl’s daughter… I expect you to behave accordingly…” His words were poignant and it was clear lord Athanar forced himself to stay calm of the events that had happened earlier which most of the people had already heard of.

“My wife, lady Winflaed, will naturally be the lady of the Scarburg Mead Hall…” A murmur rippled through the old Scarburgians. Angry glances were exchanged and quite a few looked towards Saeryn to see what she thought of this. Lord Athanar quickly waved his hand to indicate he was continuing.

“I can see your feelings… But whatever you think, it is downright impossible that the honourable wife of the eorl would not be the lady of the Hall. Could you name a lord who would accept that? Lord Eodwine would not have accepted that! The king would not accept that!” Athanar paused to let the people think.

“You know people are sometimes thrown into situations they have not picked themselves… You didn’t choose lord Eodwine’s illness, we didn’t choose to replace him in a Hall where everyone mourns him, making this hard for us as well…” He waited for a moment.

“Lady Saeryn will have an honoured and special role in the Mead Hall – like master Thornden… I don’t know if there is a traditional role we could give her… but if there isn’t, we’ll have to come up with one as this is an unordinary situation. It’s just that things are happening too fast and I have not had time to come up with a good title for her. But rest assured, her voice will be heard and honoured – and you can channel your grievances to me by her – like by master Thornden. And I’ll take care the arrangement is approved by the king as well in the end…”

There was a marked unrest in the Hall as people were puzzled as to how to cope with the news…

“I will form a council of the Mead Hall which includes my lady Winflaed, Coenred, lady Saeryn and Thornden. I will make no major decision concerning this Hall without listening to this council. But the last decisions will be mine. As the eorl I carry the consequences of the decisions, in front of the king and Rohan… therefore I make the final decisions…”

Lord Athanar bent forwards to take one more sip of the wine and to concentrate to his last effort.

“Now some of you may wonder why I have such a host of soldiers with me… am I going to cease power with force, am I going to suppress you under my rule? Well, first of all I hope the king’s decree is enough – and that I am enough.” He paused once again just to see the faces of the audience… especially of those who belonged to the “original Mead Hall”.

“But fear not. Scarburg Mead Hall will not be a military camp but hopefully a leisurely Hall with an easy-going life… King Eomer suggested I’d have a dozen of his Rohirrim from Edoras to cover us on the way with our precious belongings – and to use them as possible negotiating tools against the local lords. And that is why they are here. We will settle this thing with the local lords soon enough… the next week if it’s up to me. And after the most urgent things have been settled, they will go back to serve at king Eomer’s court.” It was clear that the way lord Athanar produced the last words was meant effectively to convey the message that he had men from the king’s personal guard under his command and therefore the original residents should be even more careful with how they act.

What he said was actually true, but it was pretty shrewd of him to stress it that way. But then again, looking at the situation, he thought it a necessary move. He couldn’t afford an uprising. He had promised king Eomer to settle the situation with the local lords and with a rebellious Hall he would never manage it. Looking at the tensions that had burst out into minor rows already during the first hours he needed to take the authority and put all those hard feelings at bay with authority. Knowing people only a few hours one doesn’t make them co-operative with just being the prince charming, especially if the people think you’re stepping on their toes…The mission first…

Lord Athanar coughed to mark the end of his speech.

“People of the Scarburg Hall! I look towards a bright future for us all and I have all the confidence that we will get those landlords behaving as the king’s vassals they need to behave. They may be able to gather a host of spears but with the force we have… and the authority we have… they should see their own good sooner than later. And we will get into business with them immediately. The next week I hope.”

There were cheers from around the Hall, although some were markedly less enthusiastic than others.

“Now I suggest the meal should be brought forwards. And when you feel right, when you have thought of it in peace, please lady Saeryn, master Thornden, share your thoughts with us.” He looked at the two sitting against each other on a table right to him. He looked at them both confident and easy but a bit reserved at the same time. But nevertheless, he had called them forwards to speak their minds to everyone. So it was fair and square to him.

“Let us raise a toast to the happy future of the Scarburg Mead Hall!” he said and raised his goblet.