Once upon a time, a warrior full of happiness and motivation arrived to Bree. This warrior was neither that weary nor that distressed, a smile perhaps as bright as Laurelin itself covering his unscathed face, his eyes gleaming with kindness and support which he brought with him warmheartedly. He enjoyed his stay to the fullest, especially upon reuniting with his long lost beloved. This was no more than two years ago.
“I was an ignorant. I could not see what was hidden deep inside, for I did not know it was there to begin with. Full of treachery, disbelief and falsehood this town is – like I wrote in an old entry of mine.”
Despite this belief, Garethred could not simply ignore the folk. He met a few new people, of whom one nice woman had the luck of getting more of his attention…
“Morarthel, a young, slender and good-looking ‘exile’ from Rohan. Her parents disliked her and she apparently left them. I do not think, however, that she will find much comfort in this spoiled town. I can already sense the rapid change on her. Only a week earlier she was the merriest lady around, now she is full of stress and fear. She has a much harder time than she says.
Then there is Syndre – also from Rohan – but she left because of king Theoden’s disability to lead his people. Why does this not surprise me? True, I have heard rumours of the White Wizard controlling his mind, but they could as well be silly excuses to retain that tiny piece of honour the Rohirrim still claim to have.”
He also got acquainted with Jazilin’s father, Irad Gwiberskarn, after this mysterious man helped him get information about House Bratton’s alliance with the Heirs of Ruin. Garethred paid him well for his work, but the identity of this man remained hidden to him for a good few days.
Speaking of Jazilin, to his greater relief he also found his old acquaintances to be quite alright.
“Jazilin, the young girl who has the bad luck of having the Watch after her all the time, yet she mostly manages to evade. For someone of such a young age that really –is- amazing. I do not care she likes to shoot provokers. I myself would react just as she does! This young girl now works with her father in what they call the Black Market, and I am glad she finally found some allies to help her out in need. I would love to protect her myself, and I will whenever I can, but my major purpose here is, unfortunately, a very different one.”
Garethred also met Cangiante, Amnildir, Ithilvalan, Thylance and the Hawthorn family, all of which provided him with a bit of information, and some promised to support the war against the Heirs of Ruin. “I am taking a huge risk here, but haste is haste. I hope they won’t slow me down nor endanger the quest. Ithilvalan is a promising warrior and I trust that she will not fail me, but the others might not be as keen as to put themselves at risk for the sake of this town. If they found out that I am not doing this for Bree’s safety but for a personal matter, I can barely imagine how angry they could be.”
While socialising, Garethred worked hard and rapidly gained useful information, some of which he passed on to those he trusts. By now he sensed that he will be tempted to leave Bree very soon, but he had to remain focused. Muiliel kept coming to his mind and he kept bouncing the thought back away, still falsely believing she had left to Valinor...
