LOTR bunny-part 4
I'm really on a roll today!
I've been wandering the northern wastes of the Misty Mountains, keeping an eye on Angmar and periodically checking on one of the last pockets of Dunedain who can consistently live past 100, the dependents of some of Arathorn's guards. I got a moth-message from Grey that Gil's dead, but I'm too far away to get there for the burial. Not that I've actually met Aragorn, I just seem to know every member of his family. Maybe I should make an effort to actually be around when he visits, or arrange to crash his tracking parties with Grey.
I was heading west from Angmar when I met up with a man who had to be Aragorn, no other Dunedain I'd met was quite that tall, nor wore the Ring of Barahir. He was leading what seemed to be a twisted Hobbit on a leash.
"Estel, I presume?"
"Milady. I hate to rush off, but I do have places to be, and this miscreant to deliver to Thranduil for interrogation and imprisonment."
"Yet my brother told me you are a gracious lord, and this wanderer wished to meet you."
It was then that it seems he actually took in my appearance, and what I'd called him.
"Oh! If you'd care to accompany me for a time, I'd like to meet the sister of my old friend. Have you ever partaken of Thranduil's hospitality?
"I can't say I have. I've avoided the King's Hall, as I'm usually trying to get through without Ungoliant-spawn bites. From what your brothers say of him, he is a carouser, a wine connoisseur."
"He is that. My family and Gandalf spoke of you often, if you are who I think...the fire wanderer who wears the face of Haleth."
"Aye. Now why exactly is this wretch going to prison?"
"I suppose you could call him a witness who is in need of protection from himself and others," he said, flicking his thumb against his ring.
"Oh! I haven't been to Edoras lately, how is Theoden doing, I'd heard that he's fallen ill?"
Seizing on the new topic of conversation, he answered, "Grima's taken over much of the day-to-day administration, and sent the son and nephew away on prolonged patrols, but the Horse-Lord seems to still be in control of his own mind. The man is in his mid-60s without the benefit of prolonged life, so maybe he's just delegating."
"Grima's a protege of my eldest brother, his control of a kingdom does not bode well."
Aragorn was quiet until we came to the guard-post, obviously mulling over what I'd said.
"I thank you for your warning, milady. Are you going to be staying long?"
I shook my head and said, "I'll be here until tomorrow or the day after, I promised Artanis I'd visit soon. She can't do much besides snoop in her mirror, so I stop by once a century or so to fill her in on gossip. She really is worse than Gandalf about being a snoop, even without her mirror..."
I've been wandering the northern wastes of the Misty Mountains, keeping an eye on Angmar and periodically checking on one of the last pockets of Dunedain who can consistently live past 100, the dependents of some of Arathorn's guards. I got a moth-message from Grey that Gil's dead, but I'm too far away to get there for the burial. Not that I've actually met Aragorn, I just seem to know every member of his family. Maybe I should make an effort to actually be around when he visits, or arrange to crash his tracking parties with Grey.
I was heading west from Angmar when I met up with a man who had to be Aragorn, no other Dunedain I'd met was quite that tall, nor wore the Ring of Barahir. He was leading what seemed to be a twisted Hobbit on a leash.
"Estel, I presume?"
"Milady. I hate to rush off, but I do have places to be, and this miscreant to deliver to Thranduil for interrogation and imprisonment."
"Yet my brother told me you are a gracious lord, and this wanderer wished to meet you."
It was then that it seems he actually took in my appearance, and what I'd called him.
"Oh! If you'd care to accompany me for a time, I'd like to meet the sister of my old friend. Have you ever partaken of Thranduil's hospitality?
"I can't say I have. I've avoided the King's Hall, as I'm usually trying to get through without Ungoliant-spawn bites. From what your brothers say of him, he is a carouser, a wine connoisseur."
"He is that. My family and Gandalf spoke of you often, if you are who I think...the fire wanderer who wears the face of Haleth."
"Aye. Now why exactly is this wretch going to prison?"
"I suppose you could call him a witness who is in need of protection from himself and others," he said, flicking his thumb against his ring.
"Oh! I haven't been to Edoras lately, how is Theoden doing, I'd heard that he's fallen ill?"
Seizing on the new topic of conversation, he answered, "Grima's taken over much of the day-to-day administration, and sent the son and nephew away on prolonged patrols, but the Horse-Lord seems to still be in control of his own mind. The man is in his mid-60s without the benefit of prolonged life, so maybe he's just delegating."
"Grima's a protege of my eldest brother, his control of a kingdom does not bode well."
Aragorn was quiet until we came to the guard-post, obviously mulling over what I'd said.
"I thank you for your warning, milady. Are you going to be staying long?"
I shook my head and said, "I'll be here until tomorrow or the day after, I promised Artanis I'd visit soon. She can't do much besides snoop in her mirror, so I stop by once a century or so to fill her in on gossip. She really is worse than Gandalf about being a snoop, even without her mirror..."