Of Wraiths and Kings, and Friends and Rings (Calling All Nazgul)

[Serenoli]

The stranger whom Jas encountered that night rode off in the direction indicated, all the while wondering if the obviously drunk man's directions could be trusted. He took the turning left, and cursing poor Jas inwardly, discovered they couldn't. On his right was a high wall, that he could maybe climb, but after the long journey he had undertaken, he was not at all inclined to do so. Also, there was his horse to think of. So he circled the wall slowly, looking for a way in. Finally, he went back up the lane and took the turning which went south this time.

The Main Hall that Jas had spoken of, stood now to his left. He could see carraiges outside it, he could hear merry voices and music from within. Light streamed out of every window. He had no wish to go in there.

Instead he slowly walked around the building, being careful to stay to the shadows on his right as much as possible, and leading his horse silently. For that was a gift he had, of being noiseless, matching that of the Elves. Even when he was passing in front of the entrance, which had been thrown wide open, no one noticed the stealthy figure slinking past.

He found himself at the south corner of the Hall, and before him he could see a small gate. Beyond it were visible a lawn, overshadowed by a dark, large building – the Chancellor’s Palace. He approached it cautiously, and peered over it.

The lawn spread out before him, with depressed-looking flowerbeds here and there. It was enclosed on two sides by high walls, and to his left, by the Hall. On the side facing him was the Palace, and a low wall continuous with it, which divided the garden in two. Two women stood there near a gate in this wall, the moonlight reflecting from their dresses in soft ripples. They were obviously in deep conversation, he could hear their soft voices murmuring in the night wind.

One of them turned slightly towards him, as if she sensed him there, but he drew back at once, and at the same time muttered a spell of invisibilty under his breath. Absorbed in other thoughts, she did not pay much importance to the sound she had heard. In fact, she did not even remember it the next instant.

He turned back down the lane, and at the turning, stood in indecision. He needed to see the Chancellor, but the reception would be quite the wrong place for such a meeting. He had planned to see him at his own house, but that was before he found out that hordes of Elves dwelled there as well. He wondered how Lord Ilmenzor, or even Aiwendis, could tolerate their presence.

Finally, he did the easiest thing. He left the decision-making to someone else.

He went back the way he had come to the Rath Aran, and sat in the darkness in the lane that Jas had told him to take, and there, he tied his horse to a tree. He took out his ring and willed his mind to make contact:

My Lord, it is I, Tolvadok. I have arrived in Tharbad, but do not find you. What do you order?