[piosenniel]

'23Cermië! Good! That will be the day after our rescue, so no great additions to the guard staff will probably happen between now and then.' Pio rubbed her chin as she re-read the order, and her brow furrowed. She had been thinking only of the hobbits, and now a new thought struck her.

Mithadan had come to stand by her, and he listened as she read aloud. His face reflected a growing concern as he took in the meaning of this directive.

'You know what this means.' the Elf said, handing it to him to re-read himself. 'This has little to do with the hobbits and much to do with the Men who are imprisoned there.' She closed her eyes for a moment, recalling the layout of the caverns that Bird had shown her. In the northeast section were the Locks, and she remembered Bird mentioning that in addition to the lock-ups for the Hobbits, there were also Men in the same section, but separate lock-up areas. 'A remnant of the Faithful, I think. The ones who crossed Gorthaur or did not leave the Island soon enough.' She saw a fleeting look of pain cross his face at this.

She reached out her arm, and put her hand on his shoulder. 'When we get to the caverns tonight, it will be you who are mostly busy with the Elders and the planning group. I had intended to make a brief foray to the Locks to speak with Daisy, if I could. I had not thought earlier to be concerned about the Men's area near there.' She caught his gaze with her own. 'Would you like me to see how it is situated? It would make it easier for whatever plans you now are considering.'

He said nothing then, and she pressed him no further. She turned her attention to the remaining bodies and dragged them up to the main deck, lowering them down to Levanto one by one. 'When you are done.' she whispered to the Mer-man, 'please head directly upriver to inform them we are coming.'

She climbed the mast, and brought down the black banner, stowing it in a chest on the deck below. She went below, then, and found a pair of clean breeches for herself and a somewhat clean undershirt and stowed them also in the chest. Mithadan had, by this time, come up on deck.

'I'm going now to bring the skiff up to us. You may want to clean yourself as you can, and find something a little less . . . gruesome to wear to the Hobbits' meeting. I'll clean and change when I return.' She slipped over the side, and entered the water quietly.

Strong strokes brought her quickly to the skiff. 'Cami!' she hissed at the Hobbit, drawing her attention to where she now grasped the side of the skiff. 'We have secured a ship and will now head upriver in it. Wake Rose.' She washed the blood from her face and arms, but nothing could disguise the stains on her shirt.

A brief look of distaste mingled with horror flickered on the Hobbits' faces, as she pulled herself into the skiff. 'It was necessary.' she said, simply.

She untied the craft and pushed off from the bank with a long oar. She bent her back into the rowing, as did they, and soon they approached the ship.

[ October 22, 2002: Message edited by: piosenniel ]