18.

            Legolas gained the Tent City flying on feet too swift for even the midnight zephyrs of the vale of Anduin; like a bright echo of moonlight he passed noiselessly over soft rain-soaked grass and slick shingle alike.  He swarmed over the rough log wall to fall softly upon bare feet on the mud below, crouched listening for a moment, and was then off like a shot from a catapult through the empty sodden streets.  Reaching the west wall he checked, seeing guards at the King’s blue tent, then stole soft as a shadow about the back alleyway to the rear of the great spike of canvas, where he once again worried a peg from the soft earth and rolled beneath the shivering walls.

            He cast about in the dark for a familiar scent and descried at once Undómiel, drifting in waking dream in the far room; he crept on all fours past the dozing page and flitted beneath the curtained doorway, coming to rest by the pallet at Arwen’s side, waiting with inestimable stillness for her to awaken to his presence.  Forthwith the elf-woman stirred, discerning a company both foreign and recognizable, and seeing him said softly, “Legolas!”

            “Here I am, O Undómiel!” said Legolas in a voice too subdued for mortal ears to ken.  “Though here is where I undoubtedly should not be.  Hasten, and awaken your husband, the King!  There is treason afoot, that he should be told of immediately.”

            “Treason!” said Arwen, giving the Wood-Elf a sharp look but turning to the King.  “Wake, wake!” she whispered, shaking him by the shoulder.  “Though the hunter sleeps, the goat keeps watch for the lion.  Wake!”

            At once the King sat up, clutching in confusion at his Queen.  “What is it?” he asked, then looking beyond her saw Legolas, white and still in the darkness.  “Legolas!  What has happened?”

            “Listen!” said Legolas, and in a hushed whisper told all he had seen and heard to his friend.  While he spoke Elessar’s face grew ever graver and more wakeful, and when he was finished, Aragorn arose and began to dress.

            “This has gone on quite long enough,” he said aloud, and out in the main part of the tent Legolas and Arwen heard the sounds of the pages stirring, awakened at the sound of the King’s voice.  “Quick!  Run like the tireless hind to Osgiliath and waken Faramir to this news.  I must go abroad to quell this assassination immediately; I shall to horse before dawn and gather to myself a squadron of fighting men from the garrisons at Minas Tirith.  We must needs be at the crossings of Erui by midday.  My wife, tell Fenbarad to set extra guard about the leeches’ tents, where rests Hallas of Lossarnach; failing in their attempt to slay his sire, these conspirators may strike at the son.  Faramir must oversee the Tournament alone, and you, my goat – “ he turned to Legolas, who was standing by the back of the tent  “ – you must still draw to yourself the lion’s teeth and claws, for though he lash out with his hindquarters at poor merchant princes in the South, surely his mouth shall raven at Minas Tirith and Osgiliath.  Quickly!  Before the pages come in!  Go to Faramir, and as I ride out I shall meet you there.  Go!”

            Without a word Legolas reached under the tent wall, removed another peg and rolled out.  Looking quickly about himself he saw a guard march past without seeing him; he ducked back into the dark alley and raced up the streets to the front gate.  Forswearing the gate he leapt upon some barrels and vaulted over the wall, coming down soundlessly not five paces from the guard house; the he ran, ran, ran across the drenched grass to the bridges, gleaming in the fading starlight, passing the sleeping guards on feet swifter than a deer, his bright hair streaming behind him.  Like the starling drawn to the south or the arrow to the center of the target he flew, ignoring the trampled paths and scrambling instead over the low walls and untrodden alleys to Faramir’s ruined mansion.  The guard in the alcove did not hear him as he swarmed over and down the outer wall to the courtyard, and unchallenged he pushed the heavy door aside and flitted into the cavernous kitchen.

            The fire in its gray ash glimmered faintly, almost burnt out; beneath the hearth a load of faggots steamed gently, awaiting their morning use.  The dim orange light picked out the edges of the pokers and shovels and paddles, and the great hook of the cremiére turned from east to south and east again with the soughing of the flue.  By Legolas’ feet strutted a spotted poult, who looked up at him with suspicion in her beaded black eyes.

            “Good morning, friend!” whispered Legolas, smiling.  “I know you; you are Undómiel’s newest pet.  I hope you bear better tidings for my Lord than do I.”  The hen flicked her head and swaggered away, and Legolas approached the wide stone staircase.

            At that moment steps sounded from above, faltering and smothered, and Legolas drew aside to a dark corner; however it was Ardún, coming from his lawful rest to stir up the fire and begin breakfast for his beloved Lord and Lady.  He had passed the concealed Elf, rubbing at his gritty eyes and yawning, and was bending over the hearth with a poker when Legolas said softly, “Ardún!”

            The elderly manservant straightened with a cry of surprise, hand going automatically to his hip, where a sword ought to have been.  But when Legolas stepped into the dimness Ardún recognized him, and with a sigh he leant against the mantelpiece.

            “My lord prince!” he said.  “How you startled me!  I must be an old man indeed, to let go unnoticed an unannounced visitor into my lord’s house.”

            “Stealth and speed alike were needed,” said Legolas, “and for that I apologize, good Ardún.  But ware!  There is treason afoot, and I must needs disclose it at once to both Faramir and his lady.  Elessar himself goes to horse and will be here in moments.  Let me upstairs then, and we shall wake them, and I shall tell them what I know, and what the King commands.”

            “Wait!” said Ardún.  “Let me but throw a faggot upon the ashes –  ai!  That poult,” he muttered, casting about with a slippered foot.  “Were she not so generous with her eggs I should make a good stew out of her.  There, I have put a faggot upon the ashes; perhaps it will catch by the time my lord and lady are about.  Come!  If treason is in the air, none should rest, least of all those close to the throne!”

            Together Man and Elf went up the stairs, the Elf slowing his swift tread to match the unsteady steps of the mortal’s.  Taking up a candle from a sconce upon the wall Ardún knocked upon a heavy oak door, decorated with tracings of verdigris in the pattern of pennyroyal blossom; he took the great iron knob in his gnarled hand and opened it. 

            The room was dark, for the windows were covered with tight shutters, but Legolas could see a man sitting up in the great canopied bed in the middle of the chamber; he ran his hands through his long dark hair and said, “Ardún?  What is the hour?”

            “Two hours before dawn, my lord,” said Ardún, coming in with Legolas on his heels.  “And here is the Prince of Mirkwood, my lord, saying there is treason in Gondor, and that his majesty King Elessar will be here in moments.”

            “Light the lamps!” said Éowyn’s voice from the darkness beside Faramir.  “Legolas?  Is that you, my champion?”

            “It is I, my lady,” said Legolas, “though I have naught but ill news for you and my lord.  Deep in the woods to the west, on the edge of my fiefdom, I came upon a band of men and by chance overheard them conspiring to kill Baldor of Lossarnach, so that their lord could overpower Hallas and allow the passage of ships up the Ethir Anduin.  Also I heard them speak of a fleet at Tolfolas, waiting to break through the defenses at Pelargir.  Aragorn has gone to find a horse, and he will ride to Minas Tirith to gather a squadron of soldiers to stop this.”

            “A fleet at Tolfolas!” exclaimed Faramir, dressing hurriedly as Ardún lighted the lamps.  “This is grim news!  And these men were of Gondor?”

            “South Gondor, by their speech,” said Legolas; “Also they spoke of the king as one who assumes a throne though he owns it not; they said he was but the heir of Isildur, not of Aníron.”

            “So have spoken many behind their hands at Elessar’s expense,” said Faramir grimly.  “It matters not to them that he is the true heir of Isildur, and a Númenorean; they pine for the days of the Stewards, despite the knowledge that the Stewards held the throne for the king’s return, and that I willingly gave up the rule of Gondor in his place.”

            “In this case, I fancy the preference for the reign of the Stewards lies in loyalties fiscal and not political,” said Legolas with a smile.

            “And think you both, the sire of the unhappy Hallas rides up from his lands in Lossarnach to meet with his son, and take him back home!” said Éowyn.  “Alas for that father!  I hope Aragorn gets to him in time.”

            “And alas for Hallas, should his sire fall!” said Legolas.  “They spoke also of Dirhael teasing him, and said Hallas would be easier to persuade to treason than Baldor.  Aragorn has told Arwen to set a mighty guard about Hallas of Lossarnach, for his own safety perhaps, but also I am sure to be certain no messages get inside or out.  How I wish my father were here!  Then we would have his barges to add to Aragorn’s fleet, and five hundred archers from my homeland to fell the traitors as they stood in their boats.”

            “For myself I would wish for his loan to have been made a year past,” said Faramir, pulling on his boots, “so that our fleet would be built and armed already, and two thousand soldiers with swords at our call aboard.”

            “If wishes were snowflakes we would be buried in drifts,” said Legolas.  “But hark!  Do you not hear footsteps below?  That is Aragorn; he has found a swift horse already.”

            Sure enough, when Faramir and Éowyn paused they heard the clatter of shoed hooves upon the cobbled courtyard, and booted feet crossing the pavers.  Ardún and Faramir turned and ran down the stairs, and Legolas crossed to Éowyn who was sitting in the bed.  “Do you want to get up, my Lady?” he asked.

            “Yes, my champion,” she said; “give me that blue robe and help me up; I have not eaten and am faint.”

            Wordlessly Legolas lifted and dressed her, then with her leaning upon his arm he guided her down the staircase.  Faramir and Elessar were speaking together, and Ardún was stirring up the fire and kicking the poult aside with his foot, while she pecked peevishly at his slipper.  Legolas lowered Éowyn carefully into a cushioned seat, and finding a loaf of bread wrapped in a thin towel he drew out a knife from the sideboard and cut a piece from it, and gave it to her.

            “I will be gone some days,” Elessar was saying to Faramir; “I will take one hundred men from the garrison at Minas Tirith and send the rest behind me with the fleet.  Stay in Osgiliath with your Rangers and watch closely.  If the traitors have men this far north, it is possible this will not be their only foray, but if they are depending upon the fleet from Tolfolas they will be in for a bitter surprise.  You have well over a hundred good fighting men, knights and archers and foot soldiers, just in the Tent City for the Tournament, and many able-bodied men who have seen some battle in the new settlements beyond.  If need be you may pull the friendly forces within the walls of Osgiliath and defend the bridges until my fleet sails back up the Anduin, but I think that will not be necessary – from the way Legolas described this motley band, they are poorly armed and few in number, and have been awaiting their reinforcements from the coast.  What you must do is to find their lord, the one who has planned all of this.  For it seems apparent to me that he must be here, or in Minas Tirith at least, where he is cognizant of the comings and goings of the court, from Orodreth’s niece to the son of a lesser prince of Lossarnach.”

            “Then you believe this to be the same lion stalking our goat?” asked Faramir, gesturing to Legolas.

            “I find it difficult to convince myself the incidents are unrelated,” said Aragorn, tightening his belt and smiling grimly.  “Though why he has decided to defame our goat is a little obscure.  And you, Legolas,” he said, turning exasperated to his friend, “did I not tell you, in this very room, not less than six hours ago, and in Gimli’s presence beside, to hide yourself and keep to your tent?  What were you doing, wandering about in the woods of Ithilien by yourself?  And when you came across this band of men, why did you not stop them, or at least follow them to see where they were going?”

            “Stop them?” said Legolas in surprise.  “That would have been a pretty trick!  To be sure, they were but three score; perhaps had I leapt at them naked from the bushes they would have laughed themselves into insensibility, and so been overcome.”

            “Why were you naked?” demanded Aragorn, heedless of Éowyn’s startled blush and Faramir’s shout of laughter.

            “I rarely swim fully clothed,” said Legolas, “and even if I did, my esquire’s wrath at my ruining a linen shirt and dirtying a clean pair of breeches would surely be sufficient to overwhelm so great a troop.  Perhaps next time when I go swimming I will bring my Bandobras with me, so that when he sees I have created more laundry for him to do he will be my savior, and conquer all my foes.”

            “Now you are avoiding my question,” said Aragorn hotly.  “Why were you out in Ithilien at all, when I had asked you to hide yourself?”

            “Aragorn,” said Legolas with a sigh, “I have been wrapped in cloth, encased in armour, hidden beneath cloak, helm, hood and tent for four days; how can any Elf resist the allure of water and stars and open air, to soothe the soul?  I am really very sorry, my friend, but please think you upon the good grace of this, that I uncovered this foul plot before it could come to fruition, and we may ride to the rescue of this poor merchant prince.”

            “ ‘We’?” said Aragorn.  “O no, my Legolas, there is no ‘we’ here!  You are not the prince of Mirkwood; you are Lasgalen Oakleaf of Dale, and your duty is here at the Tournament of Osgiliath, flushing out the prowling lion from his hunt as I told you to.  You shall stay here with your lord Faramir and fight in the barriers and joust at the tilt until my return!”

            “How regal you are when you give orders, Aragorn!” said Legolas impertinently.  “Tell me, my friend, have you wagered on me, and thus fear to lose money should I withdraw?”

            “It is a capital offense to speculate with treasury money,” said Aragorn flatly.  “Did you not hear me this time, Lasgalen of Dale?  To your tent, before the light reveals you!  This is no jest or game; we are playing with men’s lives.  Hide yourself away!  Fight beneath your armour!  And my Lord and Lady of Emyn Arnen, by the Valar watch his back!  I have not so many friends that I could afford to lose one so maddening yet well-loved.”  So saying he spun upon his heel and strode out the kitchen to the courtyard.  Faramir, with a last look at Legolas (though if his eye twinkled Aragorn could see it not), followed his lord to the exit to see him off.  Ardún and Éowyn looked at Legolas, who folded his bare arms across his chest and smiled.

            “Watch out for the poult, Ardún!” he said.  “She is about to escape.  Well, my lady of Emyn Arnen, it seems I am yet to be your champion. You do not mind a goat wearing your token?”

            “This is no laughing matter, Legolas,” said Éowyn sternly.  “If we do not find the man behind these incidents, more princes loyal to Elessar could die.  It is essential now for you to fight and joust well, so that Faramir and I can keep an eye upon any who might be your detractors.”

            “Have you wagered upon me as well, then?” smiled Legolas.

            “Nay!” said Éowyn, smiling back at him despite herself.  “But I have it from Eradan that Orodreth wagered heavily upon Malbeth of Celos, and will lose a great deal of money should you supplant him in the lists.  And as Orodreth’s niece Dirhael is suspect of leading Hallas to infamy, it would please me greatly if you were to rise victorious over Malbeth, and beggar Orodreth therefore.”

            “It would please you greatly were I to overcome a knight so mighty as Malbeth, anyway,” laughed Legolas.  “Who else would you have me defeat?  Vorondil?  Ingbar?  Mighty men are they, and my match or better at the barriers and the tilt.  Will you be satisfied with nothing less than my complete victory then?”

            “When my honor is at stake?  Nay!” said Éowyn.  “I have full confidence in you, Lasgalen of Dale.  Bring my token to complete victory and you shall have not only my five hundred gold marks, but my everlasting gratitude as well.”

            “You and my father should get along well,” said Legolas dryly, and himself slipped out into the cold pre-dawn.

A.N.:  Happy New Year!  Sincere apologies to all of those loyal readers who have sent their kind reviews and perhaps expected a response from me.  Believe me, your positive comments were about the only good thing that happened to me this Christmas.  Melkor take my mother-in-law for a Balrog!  Hopefully things will be a little smoother after 1 Jan.  Drive sober & safe!   -- L.R.