This day I came to the Bridge, hard by the Spire of Meeting, where my retinue gathered. There I saw three of the Fountain’s guards, with shields and spears in their hands, and beside them stood my clerk Sorontar, who carried a stack of papers, and was dressed all in somber black cloth, as if he were part of a mourning procession. I saw my friend Elloen, pretty Nimgileth, and Linguleth of the Pillar Order clad in red robes, sitting on the stairs petting a cat, and close to them stood Rainith, who had come to say farewell to the Ambassador and his retinue. I did not see Talkale, which surprised me, as he is rarely late, and remarking this to Rainith, she kindly offered to go look for him in the library and quickly left.
Lord Anglachelm strode up, and kneeling before him, I received a lavishly decorated scroll, the letter bearing his seal, which he said would ratify any bargain I made with the Naugrim. Then he entrusted me further with the fortunes of the House, and before departing, entrusted to my care a large leathern bag that contained eight hundred and eighty pieces of gold, a tremendous sum!
I was resolved to make the utmost advantage of the heavy bag that was pressed in my hands, and I told my lordship that I would drive a sharp bargain with the Naugrim, although, truth be told, I did not know what might happen, and if the Naugrim would sell their metals at a high cost, and I was not certain if we would be received friendly, if at all, by that folk. To my dismay, there were only three guards to provide escort, and there was far to go on the Road.
Plunking down the bag of gold upon the ground, some of it spilled out and gleamed on the dusty stones. The more I looked at it and listened to the others talk, the more uncomfortable I felt, and I began to wish Talkale was with us, so I could trust with him, and see if he counseled me to secure it as one part, or split it up. This is how desperate the others had made me, with all their talk of being attacked on the road, and who would be the most likely to survive such an attack. Limiriel sat down on the stairs, obstinately refusing to carry any gold, because she had to guard me, and thought that was quite enough. She said it should be given out amongst the envoys, and Sorontar agreed, and offered to carry it all himself, which I did not see how he would manage. Then Linguleth said that if something happened to our guards, she suspected all of the gold would be lost.
She said this with such force, and it was so well argued, that I could not decide which was the better plan. Each seemed an equally wise course, but glancing up at the sky, I saw that we could not afford to dally any longer, so I brought the argument to a swift end by declaring that we would share the risk and the burden of carrying the gold. I directed Sorontar to divide it in four equal portions, one to be carried by the Warden Aranglachel, who put some in his boots, and I do not think anyone would care to look there for treasure. The other four hundred and forty pieces would be carried by Sorontar and the sensible Linguleth, and the last portion carried by myself, because Limiriel was my guard, and therefore, she would be guarding the gold too, whether she wished it or not.
The matter of the gold being settled, Talkale finally arrived to join the party. I asked him what made him so late, when I had told him the appointed hour of meeting, but he only smiled mysteriously and did not provide a satisfactory answer, other than to say that punctuality is not so important as some think. It annoyed me greatly, and seemed to be a bad setting-out for this important business of our House; but every road has hills to be climbed, after all.
