The King let the silence hang long in the Great Hall as he peered into Micanar's eyes to see how the man reacted when nervous. Micanar expected it, and feigned the general nervousness that an otherwise cooperative and mildly guilty person might have in the face of such an intimidating presence.
King Thranduil leaned forward in his throne/chair. "Who sent you here?" he asked slowly, almost as if to hypnotize the man before him. Micanar replied, "A tall man from Laketown...that's where we are all from, your highness...said he had come into possession of the location of an item of great importance, which he would not tell us about...he had this leering grin that made me think he'd killed someone for it...and he wanted to hire us to go seek it out...and return with it if possible...he did not tell us your kingdom was here..." Thranduil listened attentively, Micanar fidgeted convincingly.
"How did you expect to find this place?"
"We were given general directions and a map, your highness... someplace near the base of the mountains on the west of Mirkwood. I have a copy I made, but the original is on one of the men who...was killed in the woods by your soldiers..." At this one of the elves standing near handed Thranduil a small box which Micanar recognized as the very box he'd hoped they would find. He hadn't reckoned on the man being dead, but those were the fortunes of war and all that...
Micanar handed one of the guards his copy, hidden in between two layers of his tunic, to give to the king. Thranduil studied both the original and the copy carefully. "And you were going to *this* place?" Thranduil pointed to a mark on the original map. Micanar nodded. "And what is this place marked on your map, but not on the original?"
Micanar acted hesitant, which brought a scowl to the king's face. He then blurted out, "the 'Boss' wanted me to make a detour, to try get the men to return by that mark if I could...he said it would be worth my while, that there would be gold...I'm sorry, your highness" Micanar appeared to be breaking down, trembling, all in a cold sweat. Thranduil's scowl gave way to mild concern. He motioned for a seat to be brought for Micanar, who gratefully accepted, wiping his forehead with his sleeve...
[ April 01, 2002: Message edited by: Thenamir ]
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The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. ~~ Marcus Aurelius
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