[Ealasaid]

It was getting on into evening when Kaldir decided to abandon the stand of trees outside the Green Dragon in favor of some food and a tankard of beer. Vanwe, he knew, was out in the stables again, attending to her duties with the horses and other related chores. She would not be going far. The entity he had sensed among the trees, watching him and Vanwe, was still there. He could sense his or her presence, lingering and watching. He planned to wait until daylight came again before turning his attention back in that direction. It was not something he intended to ignore. Nor was it something he wanted to deal with in the fast encroaching darkness.

In the meantime, he had his own needs to attend to, not to mention the needs of his prisoner, Benia Nightshade, whom he had left, bound, in the dark cellar of a deserted blacksmith’s shop several blocks from the inn. When he took her there, his intention had been to kill her, but, something about the look of her had stayed his hand. In a strange way, he felt drawn to her, as though she had something to do with him on a fundamental level. He didn’t know what that was just yet, but whatever it was, it was enough to make him hesitate to destroy her simply for a bounty. Since he wasn’t going to kill her just yet, he decided, the least he could do would be to bring her some food.

Ever mindful of the Watcher in the Woods, he moved cautiously out of the trees and back toward the inn. As he returned to the common room, he glanced around for Benia’s hobbit friend Gilly. As he did so, it occurred to him that no one seemed to know that Miss Nightshade had gone missing. Surely Gilly had noticed. Yet, she did not seem to have sounded any kind of alarm. Business went on as usual in the busy common room. Supper was being served and an air of peace and contentment filled the atmosphere. Gilly, herself, was nowhere to be seen. Kaldir made a mental note of it. As she and Benia seemed close, he was sure that she was not far away. But doing what? He had seen her come out of the stables earlier, looking a little the worse for wear and heading for the inn, but he had not seen her since. Mentally, he put Gilly on the back burner. She was not of that great concern to him, but could prove to be a bit of a nuisance. He would keep an eye out for her, but that would be all.

Bypassing the common room, he went directly to the kitchen, where he caught the attention of the cook. There he ordered two dinners, packed to be eaten elsewhere. Once he had collected the food and paid for it, he stepped back out into the inn yard. Looking toward the stable, he could see Lespheria and her Ranger friend through the window. Glad to see that Lespheria was none the worse for wear after her earlier fall from her horse, he turned his attention briefly toward her friend. A familiar face, he wondered if he might have known him at one time, in the Ranger camps of his youth and young adulthood before the war. He and Lespheria’s friend were of a similar age, but Kaldir’s memories were not always clear regarding anything that had happened prior to the War of the Ring. Perhaps if he knew the man’s name…

Anyway, it was of little importance right at the moment. His prisoner had not eaten in close to twenty-four hours. He should make haste. While he was not above killing her, he refused to stoop to torture or starvation. As long as she was in his charge, and until he had decided what to do with her, she would be cared for.