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Narvi’s question stopped Hænir in his tracks, so surprised was he by the fact that he had never considered their situation in that light. Recalling himself, he moved on but Narvi had seen his reaction. “What is wrong?” he asked, “is aught amiss?”
Hænir shook his head, “Nay, lad, but your question has set me back a bit for sure. I had not thought of our journey in that way. I hate to think of what we are doing as being akin to the ravening of goblins or orcs, but there’s no denying the truth of what you say: we are the invading strangers here, and we’ve done a lot of what these folk will call murder.” He fell into an uncomfortably contemplative silence. “Nay, it’s not an idea that I relish in the least…”
“Then you believe we are in the wrong?” Narvi asked with a falling tone in his voice. “We do not deserve to win free of this place, I fear. If they come upon us again I shall fight, but I fear my heart shall not be quite right with that.”
Hænir chuckled mirthlessly. “I do not care where your heart is, lad, so long as your axe is at the ready. But I daresay that when they come upon us again we will have more and better things to worry about that the nice scruples of our situation.”
They trudged along in silence for a few minutes as Hænir turned these thoughts over and over in his mind. It had never occurred to him to question or even think about the rightness of their journey. After a life spent in the service of the King, he had become so used to following his lord’s lead, that it had been enough for him that Bali – the King’s own nephew – had felt the journey justified. Despite his early doubts about Bali’s abilities as a leader, he had never though to question his authority. And this unquestioning obedience and reliance, he now realised, had extended to a deferral of all questions about the morality of their situation to Bali. Hænir spoke to Narvi again as though their conversation had been going on that whole time. “I do not think that we are like the orcs, though, Narvi. They came to Erebor knowing that we were there and wanting to destroy us and all that we’d built. We came to this land ignorant of this folk’s existence and wanting no trouble. Remember, they attacked us first. We may have stumbled into their home unasked, but there’s other things to do than try to slaughter us without even so much as a greeting!”
“But would we have done any different if we woke up one day and found a strange folk poking about the halls of Erebor?” Narvi asked.
“I do not know,” Hænir replied slowly. “I would like to think that we’d at least try to take them alive so that we could find out what their business was. Remember, too, that these folk have not just attacked us now – they have been harassing and harrying us for days. Who do you think stole our maps and set those beasts upon us in the jungle?”
Hænir fell silent, not knowing if he had answered Narvi’s questions to his satisfaction.
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