Harad/Umbar
Urken and Elhorn were seated beside each other at the feast. They were both men of the Sea and had much to talk about and compare. Urken was surprised to find that he felt more comfortable speaking with this man of Gondor than he had with Fuinur whose knowledge of the sea was not extensive. He had never spoken face-to-face with anyone from Gondor. Still, he was suspicious. Perhaps this was an unusual man, or perhaps he was hiding things from him.
Still, they managed to spend a good part of the evening laughing about Fuinur's destruction of this own ship. Elhorn commiserated that Urken had been saddled with someone who knew so little about sailing.
"What will you do now, since you only have the one vessel?" asked Elhorn. Since the pirate ship had been taken down in the waters of Gondor, it belonged by rights to Elessar. Urken was not pleased with this, but did not want to stir up the issue on the very eve of their entrance to Minas Anor. He had larger considerations in mind.
Urken replied courteously, "I have sent Herumir and his men home overland. They've already begun their trip and have left the city. Fuinur and I should be able to share the one vessel, although it might be a bit cramped with all the oliphaunts he's brought along."
Elhorn nodded and offered to resupply the vessel at his own expense. He also agreed to write a note to Elessar requesting a private audience for the delegates with the king.
Before they broke up for the evening, Elhorn said, "Fuinur is feeling better, and should be out of the house of healing by tomorrow morning. You should be able to get underway again by mid-day. And again, thank you for the warning about the Corsair ship."
The men took their leave of each other. Urken wondered what Fuinur would think when he discovered that Herumir and his men marching back towards Harad. He was so suspicious of everything Urken did! Herumir' departure was necessary because they had only a single vessel left, but somehow he thought Fuinur might view the matter in a different light.
[ October 20, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]
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