[Aylwen Dreamsong]

Ajada continued on through Isengard, down the cobbled streets. Perhaps her extreme disappointment in the state of the city showed as she walked down the cobbled lane. Wives and mothers purchased goods in the small market, while the men and boys hung around the inns and pubs that dotted the village. Children ran around every which way, meandering through the crowds in a way only someone their size could.

Where is the action? The excitement? Ajada wondered, thoroughly displeased with the quiet, calm hush about Isengard. There was no uproar of angry citizens, no despair, and no hatred. Nothing was motivating in this town, to Ajada. She sincerely hoped that investigating Fangorn would change that. Otherwise, she would have nothing to report back to Master Leo.

As Ajada strolled along the lane, she decided to take a break and began to look for an inn or perhaps a pub. She had a few coins to spare, and assured herself that a drink for herself was a good reward after her traumatizing experience with the entertainers. Stopping in front of a little pub called The Salty Tear, Ajada smiled and gave the building a satisfied nod of approval. Before she could take a step towards the door of the pub, some weight came knocking into her, sending Ajada flying to the ground.

“What the?” Ajada began, in a loud voice that would have scared anyone not used to it. A girl, not much younger than Ajada, or perhaps the same age, had gone pummeling into the writer after turning a corner in a lighting-fast sprint. The redheaded human held a fruit in her hands, and a guilty expression covered her youthful face. From around the street corner, distant shouting could be heard, disturbing the peace that had originally engulfed all of Isengard.

“THIEF!” Ajada could make out that one word. Her gaze slowly and slyly shifted back to the red head, and Ajada gave the girl her coldest, unsurprised stare. Ajada, always the type to jump to conclusions (and not stop jumping until given proper evidence) immediately assumed the girl was the thief.

“Tell me, thief, what does that say?” Ajada asked the grinning girl, and both women’s gazes turned towards the parchment notices that had been pasted on walls and posts all over Isengard.

ALL thieves or street-dwellers caught will be prosecuted! This is the Law of the King, and no one is immune!

The girl shrugged. “I don’t know, what does it say?”

Ajada feigned shock as the other girl stared blankly at the poster. She...she CAN’T
read! Ajada raised an eyebrow, and was about to insult the uneducated animal (which she considered everyone who couldn’t read and write) in three different languages, until a nearing voice interrupted her.

“THIEF! FIND THE THIEF!”

“C’mon, don’t just stand there, let’s go!” The thief grabbed Ajada’s hand and dragged her into the pub. Once they were inside, the girl pulled Ajada to the bar, and set the blue-purple fruit on the bar table.

“You got a name?” The thief-child’s dialogue disgusted Ajada, and all the writer could respond with was a lifted brow.

“Ajada. Do you have a name?” Ajada returned the question, speaking slowly as if it would teach the animal how to speak in the correct accent and speech of a proper Gondorian.

“Avery. Now, why don’t we just order a drink or two, then we can slip out without anybody knowing,” Avery continued, and when all she received was a bewildered stare from Ajada, Avery jokingly punched Ajada in the arm. “C’mon now, we’ve got to have all our wits now!”

“Instead of the half-one you’ve got, thief-girl?” Ajada grumbled, and threw her hands in the air. “Honestly…you’re a bloody-minded savage, and I hope whatever is killing people in Fangorn kills you. I wouldn’t be surprised if you had something to do with an assassination attempt on the king!”

Ajada was always making up stories like that. It was the only way to keep the circulation of her imagination flowing. This girl was a little too cheerful for Ajada's liking, especially in the times they lived in. Ajada refused to let this one girl break her long-standing stereotype about thieves, though.