It was dark when the three companions wandered through the gate of Isengard town. The place was bustling enough, despite the happenings in Fanghorn that overshadowed all that happened there. They found themselves jostled in the street and forced to grab at each other's sleves or hands to prevent their separation. Eventually in the angle between two buildings Radagast pulled them together.
"There's quite a flow upon the streets Radagast. Are they all here for the Council?" Mattius asked.
"Indirectly many will be so. For every titled Council member there will be quite a retinue of 'hangers on' you know. Then there are those who live like Magpies, feeding on every scrap that falls their way and steeling that which doesn't."
"Where shall we stay? I can't imagine there's a single room left in the place," said Mattius as an over-laden horse pushed him into Radagast's chest. Endereth and Radagast rocked him back upright. Perhaps in other, less urgent circumstances they may even have laughed.
"If these folk are merely part of other men's households we have nothing to fear. They will be quartered in encampments either outside the town wall or within park about the foundations of Orthanc. The streets may be full but I presume the inns are almost empty." Radagast used his height to his advantage and looked over the heads of passing men. "Let us try that hostelry opposite to begin with." He marched purposefully straight through the flow of traffic to the doorstep of the inn he had indicated. Endereth and Mattius did not find the journey so straightforward and were aggressively jostled for several minutes before they were reunited with him.
Once inside the taproom the noise of the street was left behind them. Radagast's hunch seemed to be correct. The room was empty save for three men spaced about the room and two young women talking intently at the bar. "This will serve us admirably!"
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Auriel
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