The Green Dragon Inn #11 - The Last Chapter

[Amanaduial the archer]

Aman regarded Tobias silently for a moment, her eyes troubled, before she turned with a sigh to look out the window, her arms crossed at her chest. Tobias sagged wearily, hanging his head. "I knew you wouldn't believe me, Aman," he began, sadly. "I suppose I can thank you for not-"

"Don't be ridiculous, Tobias," Aman snapped in reply, turning her head so that her sharp profile, made sharper by anxiety, was outlined by the afternoon light which shone blithely at odds to the tense air in the room. Silence reined in the room for a few minutes as the Innkeeper looked silently out of the large window, and when she spoke, her voice was soft, but slightly dangerous. "Why did you not tell me before, Tobias?"

As a privately educated hobbit, Tobias had experienced from many a-tutor that actually, disappointment is far worse than screaming rage. In fact, compared to the quiet disappointment in the Innkeeper's voice, Tobias would have preferred screaming rage much better. He didn't reply, looking glum. Aman sighed and turned around, her head outline by a halo of light until the pulled her hair out and ran the fingers of one hand through in distractedly as she looked at Tobias. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled slowly, then came forward to where the hobbit was sitting, with Snaveling standing silently by, a darksome guardian angel. She poured out a glass of fine red port from the decanter beside the chair and, to Toby's surprise, handed it to him. She offered Snaveling some, but he declined, and so took the crystal glass herself, but did not drink from it: she knew she was going to need a clear head, and would soon need to get the Thain's mens' heads most clouded indeed if she was to pull this off for Toby.

"Absolution..." she murmured softly, sinking into a chair and speculatively rubbing the rim of the glass gently round and round. She sat forward suddenly. "Have you told this Opal that you did not kill your cousin?"

Toby shook his head vehemently. "Oh, no, no, no. I have not talked to my dear sister for some time: once she exposed my crimes, I fled, and so you find me with not a penny to my wretched name."

"Oh, Tobias, don't talk like that: I quite believe that it wasn't deliberate and therefore doesn't count as a crime." She paused, then conceded: "Well, not such a severe one anyway."

"But that's just the thing, Aman!" Toby wailed, apparently snapping. "It doesn't matter one snip that I didn't know: Lotho Sackville Baggins didn't know and look where that got him!"

"I don't think that is quite the same thing-"

"He's right, Aman. Ignorance is no defence, or else everyone would be using it." Snaveling spoke for the first time in a few minutes, his voice sombre, and Aman looked up sharply, before looking back at Toby again, shrugging into her seat a little further. "Oh, I suppose you are right... But Toby, your sister...surely if you talked to her...?"

"Talked to her?" Toby snorted desolately. "I don't think so, Aman. Talking isn't something Opal does awfully well: screaming, finger-pointing and sniping she has down to a fine art, but talking...not so much. As I said, not much love has been lost between us over the years."

"Aye, but she is your sister, Toby." She paused, still circling the rim with a finger ruminatively, her brow furrowing as a thought grew. "I don't know, it just seems rather...sudden, you know."

There was a pause. "Twenty years ago...?" Toby began cautiously. Aman waved it away. "No, no. I mean Opal's sudden detective ability coming out against you: it seems rather sudden, after all these years..." She paused again, and realisation suddenly dawned on Toby.

"You think she was trying to set it up against me?"

Aman didn't move. Toby hesitated, then shook his head, sinking back into his chair as he rubbed his forehead. "No...no. Sure, what reason would she have other than, well, to take me down for the crimes which I did commit?"

Aman raised an eyebrow. "Well...you're not badly off economically, Toby," she replied frankly.

Toby hesitated, then shook his head again, still justifying it in his head. "No..."

Aman sighed, then leant forward towards Toby. "Tobias Hornblower, no matter what the case may be, we need to get this sorted one way or that other, and there really is only that one way: sooner rather than later, we need to pay your dear sister a visit."

[Witch_Queen]

Cree didn't know how to answer Fáinu's question. "Fáinu we will perish when the time is come for us both to leave. I hope never to leave your side. May we both find bliss in Valinor or find bliss some where in this world." Cree's heart was beating heard in her chest. She wasn't sure now what would happen to her. Another year of her life was about to be over with and she had already lost too much in this year. Avalon was beyond her reach. She had allowed her only true friend to go away from her for a while.

"Who knows what will become of us? No one can truly tell what will occur in the future. The only thing we can do is set back and watch as the world crumbles at out feet. There is nothing we can do but perhaps help the world and attempt to keep it from coming to an end before we are ready to accept out fate." Her words echoed in her mind. She knew that Fáinu had heard her. She tried to force a smile but wasn't able to disguise her despair very well.

[Hookbill the Goomba]

"In life, all that we have may be given up. And so in death, we receive it." Fáinu seemed to be looking to something far off. Almost as if he was looking over the horizon. "That was what an old friend of mine told me. A man of Númenorian blood he was and much he could see in the hearts of others."

Cree looked up and saw that he seemed to have changed in mind, less the ragged worn shadow he had been, and more like his former self. It seemed a shadow had departed and he was now thinking clearly. Much she marvel over this, as it seemed that he had been wandering in another world, trying to escape some fate, but now he had embraced it and was set free.

"Nought that hath happened to thee shall be in vain," he said, "Soon, thou shalt see all that thou hast done, has been working towards a greater victory. Dost thou not see the flame in thine own heart?" Cree was lost, his words were strange, and she did not follow his meaning. "Much valour is within you, Cree. Forget not that, for soon you shall see it. The death of your father was not the fault of thee, know that in your heart."

Then, the shadow seemed to return to Fáinu's appearance. He lost the majesty in his face and his words became less clear. He sat back in his chair and placed a hand on the table. it was his wounded hand. Cree thought she could see smoke coming from beneath the bandages, but when she looked again, it was normal.

"Nothing is lost forever," Fáinu said quietly to himself, "The day will come when all shall be clear."

[elronds_daughter]

Alameth silently ate the lunch Eleniel had brought her while Eleniel told her about herself. The food was good. Better than what she'd had at other inns along the way, in fact.

Eleniel's question rang in her ears: "Is there anything else you'd like to know?" She wanted to know everything. How long Eleniel had been taking trips to find merchandise for her shop; how many years she had owned it; what it was like to own a shop like that; who she left in charge of the shop while she was gone, or if she just closed it. But it would never do to ask all these at once.

"What is it like?" she asked. "Owning a shop, I mean. How long have you had it? And what do you sell there? Everything? Oh, dear," Alameth regretted asking so many questions. "I got quite ahead of myself. I only meant to ask one question, and there I go asking three. I hope you don't mind. I've always been plagued with curiosity. Mother used to say it would be my undoing...." Her voice trailed off at the thought of her mother. Even after twelve years, it was still difficult to think of her without getting a tear in her eye.

She snapped herself out of her reverie. It would do no good to cry in front of three people. Eleniel might be sympathetic, but she wasn't sure about the elves.

"But so far," she said with a smile, "my curiosity has only helped. It has dwindled somewhat since I was six, but as you can tell, I still haven't been able to quench it."

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

“I do not think that such a wise idea, Aman.”

Snaveling was the first to break the long silence that had fallen upon the friends. The Innkeeper looked surprised to hear him speak – or rather, she appeared to be surprised by the condescending tone that he had used with her. Snaveling modulated his approach somewhat, reminding himself that he had not yet had a chance to speak with the girl about her feelings, and about the hopelessness of her love for him. There was, however, no such time for that conversation now. Toby’s situation commanded their immediate attention.

Turning his attention to his friend, Snaveling crouched down before the Halfing and placed his hand upon the fellow’s small shoulder. “Toby,” he said quietly. “Do you have any hope that your sister would be willing to listen to your explanation?” Toby merely shook his head mutely. Snaveling sighed and rose once more to face Aman. “You see, he knows his sister better than we, and even Tobias despairs of her impartiality. Besides, what matter if we could convince her of Tobias’s story, his guilt has already been proclaimed by the Thain, and Toby himself has admitted to having collaborated with the invaders.”

Aman made to protest but Toby prevented her. “No no, mistress, do not try to absolve me of this. Snaveling speaks true. I did not put the knife into my cousin, but I whetted the blade for sure. If it had not been for me…”

“Enough!” the girl cried, and to Snaveling’s surprise there were tears in her eyes as she spoke. “I won’t hear any more of this! You did nothing wrong, Toby. At least, nothing that many others who are free and guiltless, and easy in their conscience, also did during those terrible days. And you,” she said, whirling upon the Man, “you, who have received the mercy and the justice of the King. For you to counsel despair now…it is senseless. Why would you deny your friend the same chance that was afforded yourself?”

“For the simple reason, dear lady, that I was given justice by the King Elessar, while Toby here is dependent upon the whim of a ridiculous family and…” he caught himself, and looked quickly at Toby. Seeing this, Aman’s face grew hard and she spoke venom at him.

“Nay, Master Snaveling, do not silence yourself on our account. Say what thoughts are in your mind.”

“I do not think them worth the utterance,” he replied coldly. “We should cease this wrangling and look to the matter at hand.”

But the Innkeeper was not to be put off so easily. She had recovered her usual composure and stepping close to Snaveling she looked at him evenly. “I agree, but this matter is important. If Toby is going to rely upon our help, he should know how we feel about the people who control his fate. You were about to offer up an opinion about the Thain of the Shire, I believe.”

Snaveling’s eyes grew cold and hard. He stood tall and in his voice there was iron. “Are you sure you wish to pursue this matter, Aman? Be warned, for it shall pain you and Tobias more than ever it shall pain me!”

Toby now spoke up. So rapt had the man and woman been in each other that they had almost forgotten the ragged gentlehobbit, sitting quietly in his armchair. “Snaveling,” he said gravely, “if you have something to say about my Thain, I wish to hear it.” Snaveling and Aman looked at Toby in wonderment, for in his voice there was a dignity and a reserve the like of which they had but rarely seen in him. “Please,” he said again simply. “For the sake of our old friendship – what is it that you would say about my people?”

Snaveling withdrew from Aman and Toby somewhat, into the shadows of the darker corner. Drawing himself upright he spoke with a distant tone. “Very well. You would know what I think of this Thain and of his officers. Then hear: I have heard the tales of the Halflings who came to my King’s aid during the War, and while I believe those stories, I cannot believe that the valour ascribed to these folk is at all earned. From what I have seen the denizens of this land are a silly, foolish lot, and I would rather that Toby not trust to what little wisdom can be found here. This Thain of Toby’s has clearly been misled by a stupid woman. If Toby is to take my counsel he will leave this land and come with me to the south, where he can be free of these ridiculous folk for good!”

[Maeggaladiel]

Eleniel smiled at Alameth's flood of questions.

"Curiosity is nothing to be ashamed of," she said. "Indeed, where would we be if not for curiosity? We'd have no art, no inventions.

"Well, to answer your first question, owning a shop is both a pleasure and a curse. It's a lot of work-- inventory, accounting and whatnot-- but for me it's well worth the effort. Income changes depending on the market, obviously; if people are safe, economically sound, and have time on their hands, then business is good. If we're under attack or are suffering from financial hardship, then my shop gets fewer customers. Right now, things aren't going as well as expected; we're still suffering from last spring's flood. It washed out a bridge and flooded nearby farms, and Laketown is still repairing damages. I suppose that's the downside of living on a river. If the snow melts too quickly, we all end up swimming to work. That means people have less time or money to buy anything other than food or building supplies.

"Obviously things would get a bit difficult to manage while I'm out searching for merchandise, so I've hired a few people to run things while I'm gone. Otherwise I'd have to close shop for several months. Not very good for business.

"I sell a little of everything; I try to gather things from all across Middle Earth to interest the people of Laketown as well as visitors. Clothing, weaponry, pottery, jewlery, sweets, musical instruments, quill pens and everything in between."

She took a sip of her ale.

"I've told you a bit about my life," she said. "What about yours? What is it like in Rohan? I've visited there a few times, but only for a few days. Where do you live?"

[Envinyatar]

It was late afternoon by the time Derufin came down from the roof. The tar was set, the shingling in place. He was certain he’d been thorough, but the next rain would be the judge of it. It was quiet in the house below, the lads had finished as much as they could for the day. The extra room was done and painted, as was the rest of house. Ferdy had finished the cabinets and put them back. Now all that awaited was the paint to dry and the hardware put onto the doors and drawers.

Andwise was just finishing up the front door. He plied his soft brush over it, removing the wood shavings and fine dust in the creases of the carvings. ‘As a last touch, he took the soft handkerchief from his back pocket and rubbed away with a touch of saliva a spot or two of dirt. ‘Here,’ he said, motioning for the man to come give a hand. ‘Let’s stand this up on the porch beneath the eaves.’

The two muscled the heavy oak door up the few steps and stood it against the porch wall next to the doorway. Andwise took the handkerchief in hand and wiped the sweat from his brow. ‘What say we go for a pint,’ said Derufin, as he inspected the door. ‘The lads are already there, I’m sure. and we can get them to help us put the door on a little later.’ He clapped the Hobbit on the back, nodding with his head toward the Dragon.

[Amanaduial the archer]

Oh that I could travel with you, Aman yearned silently. I grow tired of seeing all who come pass, and the shadow of discontent has passed once too many times across my mind. But would you take me, Master Snaveling? Such a fine beast, that beautiful black steed, surely may be taken as some hint...

Foolish girl, Aman. His heart lies in the South.

As does mine...

Not the Innkeeper's thoughts towards Snaveling were quite so easy dwelling on such things at the moment. "'Free of this ridiculous folk'?"

Aman's throat was dry when she repeated the words and she cast a sharp glance at Toby, to see him wearing a weary, wry smile. Tobias shook his head and looked as if to speak in the same weary manner that his expression bore, but Aman jumped in first, standing suddenly and taking a step towards Snaveling. "Master Snaveling, there is nothing in the world worse than being isolated from your own people, especially when it is not at your own choice: exiled from all your knew and believed and grew up with. I would expect you to understand, Snaveling, for was it not you who was reunited with your people recently? Of course, the court of Elessar was not where you grew up, but they are your people, your kin - you were welcomed and are still welcomed - because they are your people. The Halflings are different from the men of the South, a different race, a different land, a wholy different way of living: you may not agree with their customs, their ways, their leadership, but these people are Tobias's people. And I would not for one second have him forced away from them against his will, exiled and never to return. And as his friend, I would expect that you would not either."

There was a silence after the almost-challenge as Aman, though rather more diminuitive in height than Snaveling, faced him nonetheless eye to eye, almost quivering with passion. And in that moment, Aman saw something change in the man's expression, the flash of passion soften to a sort of tenderness - but it was not a look that Aman liked, far too akin as it was to the condescending tone he had earlier used. And she knew that it was nothing to do with Toby.

"Of course I am his friend." Snaveling replied coldly.

"I...I did not mean to insinuate that you were not," Aman wavered. "It...oh, gods' fire, this is ridiculous." She half turned away, a hand to her forehead, before she turned back to Snaveling, crossing her arms. "This is quite beside the point and I am so het up about this that...I made the point because quite simply that is how I feel. No one should be taken from their people against their will, and this exile would be pressured - do you honestly think Toby would never wish to return to the Shire? Toby?" She turned to the hobbit.

Toby sagged slightly, then sat forward on his seat, his hairy feet swinging slightly, a few centimetres as they were off the ground, as he stared pensively into space. After a moment, he spoke, slowly and thoughtfully. "Would I miss the Shire for itself? Who knows. But I do know that if I was never to be allowed back, I would most certainly yearn for it all the more."

Snaveling nodded slowly, and Aman did the same as she returned to her chair and her untouched glass of port which she contemplated taking a quick gulp of to calm herself, and contented herself with swilling it gloomily. Snaveling returned to his perch behind Tobias' chair, seeming to prefer it to one of the two spare armchairs which were still absent beside Aman's and Tobias'. Breaking the moody silence, Aman said, "For the meantime, we must think of some short time resolution of hiding Tobias. You cannot stay forever in the stables, Mr. Hornblower," she added, a small smile gracing her slight features. "The question is where..." she sat forward suddenly, clicking her fingers and almost spilling the port across her dress in the process. "The Thain's men - and whatever opinions we may differ on over the nature of the Thain himself, I think we can both agree that such a trio of bumbling fools with assumed authority has not been seen since the Scouring - but they said that they had a warrant to check everywhere in the Inn 'except my own personal chambers'." She paused, looking from one to the other excitedly. "They cannot check my own rooms - and besides, only I have to key to this one, although there is a spare key to my chambers."

Tobias shifted a little uncomfortably. "With all respect, Aman...locked in here?"

Aman noted the gentlehobbit's discomfort with the idea - reasonable worry, she supposed, from such a lifelong rogue. Though not a criminal, she ammended hastily. She inclined her head. "It would seem the only way - do not worry, Toby, only I would have the key and none other would get their hands on it. No one will corner you in here. And there really is only one other place good enough."

"Dare I ask...?" Tobias probed, in a tone of voice that said he highly suspected that he shouldn't.

"The roof. Well, exactly, your friend Snaveling never had much enthusiasm for it either," she agreed as Toby recoiled from the idea. "But there is only one key, and with me it shall stay. But...Toby, on a more long term scale, I would press the idea that you should meet your sister." She held up a hand as Tobias went white and Snaveling started to protest. "Abominable or not, my dear friend, she is the only one who can change this situation."

Rising, she entrusted the glass of port to Snaveling as she passed him and excused herself. "If you will excuse me gentlemen, I must go and play my part of good, and rather stupid, Innkeeper of the finest Inn around for this 'ridiculous' folk." She looked to Toby, her green eyes straight and direct as her hand hesitated on the door handle. "Toby, I would advise you to think on it."

And with that, she was gone, back into the whirl of the Green Dragon, all smiles and shouts and hidden thoughts.