[Envinyatar]

It was drawing near evening. The sun setting behind a low lying bank of clouds threw a fiery light into the western sky. ‘Red sky at night, sailors’ delight.’ thought Khaz to himself, a crooked half smile creasing his face.

Yr Saldan had met earlier in the day with the captains of the other ships, seven of which had now pulled into dock, leaving three still at anchor in the waters of the bay.

The men were unloading merchandise in large crates from the decks of the ships and from the holds, stacking them on the pier in preparation for the sale of them to the good merchants of Dol Amroth. Large wagons with teams of draft horses had been sent down to the dock by the Minister of Trade to facilitate bringing a number of the crates to the palace grounds where the goods could be reviewed, and evaluated.

Yr Saldan sifted through the information his men had brought him. The city and especially the palace and harbor were not well defended. The three ships in the harbor waters would take care of the Dol Amroth defenders on board the city’s warships. Yr Saldan and seven crates of merchandise would go to the palace, along with four of the captains of the other ships to meet with the Minister. The remaining three captains and Khazdifir would supervise the seven ships now at dockside.

By the time they were done speaking, evening’s mantle had fallen over the city and the stars in the now clear sky twinkled coldly over the city. A chill wind from the harbor blew at their backs as the Harbormaster led the small group of merchants and their seven crates of goods to the palace.