As they descended the northern crest of the Misty Mountains into Carn Dûm, Gràinne and Irimë saw a strider in gray, bearing the emblem of a white tree on the breast of his tunic, moving across the plain.  Irimë recognized the emblem as perhaps depicting Nimloth of Númenór, sapling of Celeborn of Tol Eressëa.  The strider spotted them in their slow descent and intercepted them at the base of the foothills.  Irimë asked after Azulzîr, and the sentry, a Númenórean named Balakân, explained that they sought Er-Murazor, the king of Carn Dûm.

 

Balakân led Gràinne and Irimë to the capital of Carn Dûm, a mound-shaped city of light gray stone peaked with a great stone tower in which dwelt the ruling house.  The king granted them an audience and the chamberlain led them to dressing rooms where handmaidens helped them prepare to meet with Er-Murazor.  The chamberlain brought them before the king and queen in their great hall, and Er-Murazor, upon seeing Gràinne’s face, bade his queen to leave, which she did, aggrieved by the command.  The king immediately recognized Gràinne as the daughter of Slanmar of the Ar Muin, and knew that she was his daughter, returned to her royal lineage.  The king ordered a royal welcome for Âruphel, the king’s daughter, and her guide and teacher Nimirizindu-bêth, the Elf harbinger.

 

Speaking with his daughter and her teacher in the seclusion of his private chambers, Er-Murazor learned all of Gràinne’s history that she could impart – of her kidnapping from the arms of her Ar Muin mother by the Woses known as the Gond, her upbringing in the thickets of the Enedwaith and eventual escape from her captors – leading her to the tutelage of Irimë and the Elves of Eregion.  Upon learning of their meeting with the industrialist Ekhart of Tharbad, Er-Murazor summoned a court herald and imparted some portion of that tale to him in Adûnaic before speeding him away.  Learning that his daughter was a powerful warrior, he bade them dress her in her arms and armor to appear before his court in the great hall.  There, Gràinne was brought before the king and his queen on their great, gray stone thrones, and lrimë recounted to the monarchs and their royal blacksmiths the details of the forgings of Gràinne Tinuhelmë Âruphel’s weapons and armor.  The king asked Irimë to teach his smiths how to forge such horsecleavers and requested a duplicate of his daughter’s poniard to wear at his own hip.  Gràinne then demonstrated her martial abilities with the weapons and the queen, upon seeing Gràinne’s prowess, abruptly and inexplicably left the throne room surrounded by an entourage.

 

Er-Murazor commanded a feast be held that evening at sunset to celebrate the arrival of his daughter Âruphel, and preparations were hastened in the palace and royal garden.  As the sun descended in the West, nobles from the surrounding houses poured into the garden for a great feast and with great anticipation.  The king waited both for his ceremonial accoutrements to be delivered to him, such as his longsword, and for the Queen, who, still disquieted by the events of the day, was slow to come to the celebration.  Determining to wait no more, Er-Murazur prepared to make an entrance with his daughter by his side and without the queen, and sent Irimë Nimirizindu-bêth to play a fanfare for their grand entrance.  As the tower doors opened, the opening chords of the music were interrupted by a dissonant pitch that seemed to emanate from within the halls of the palace.  All heads turned to see a handmaiden, covered in blood, run screaming toward the royal family.  Servants intercepted her and she fell to her knees before the chamberlain screaming hysterically in Adûnaic:  the Queen had thrown herself on the king's sword and lay dead!