Friends of Nimrodel: Tapestry of Dreams

[littlemanpoet]

Tharonwe was unsure whether to give the sleeping woman back the group. He had promised them that he would return her after they had left his swamp, but that meant little to him. His survival and the survival of his plans were more important.

He asked himself what would be likely to happen if he did give her back.

The group would be joyful, but not completely until she woke. And when both woke, they would tell the others what they had dreamed. The older of the two young women, she who was still in Tharonwe's keeping, would doubtless tell them of her brother whom she had seen in her dreams, and would earnestly beg for them to return. For now Tharonwe had come to understand that Amroth was not back in Middle Earth in the flesh, but was borrowing a human, and that human was the brother of his captive. With her earnest pleading, they would retrace their steps, no matter how dangerous, and head back into the swamp. And he would have to kill them, every last one, even the horse and dog.

If he did not give her back, they would be his pawns, and he could continue to play them out according to his need. He could peal off the two youngest ones by means of the merchant's lust for revenge. And then the two rangers would have to choose whether to follow the merchant and his soon to be captives back to Minas Tirith, or continue with the redhead, or strike out on their own. And what would the redhead do? He would continue to do as he was told until the woman was returned to him. Such honor. Such foolishness.

Yes, it would serve his purpose far better to keep the woman captive.