A young blacksmith fell on his knees. His shoulders were twitching. ”They are going to kill us!” he whimpered miserably. ”They are going to kill us all!”
Ingrandor walked towards the man and laid his left hand on his shoulder. The fear was starting to spread to the others too, Hellrien could see it in their eyes and restless movements.
”Get a grip of yourself!” Rosethorn snarled. ”You'll ruin everything!”
”They will not but if someone dies it will be an honorable death, one to be remembered”, Ingrador explained gently. ”Go to the house with the women, try to relax. I will prepare traps. You all stay here and discuss, whoever wants out can leave. There is no shame in that.”
”For the sake of the Valar, let's just all get out of here and let them have what they want!” the blacksmith screamed. ”I have a family in Bree. A wife. Children!”
”Shut up now!” Rosethorn barked. ”Just shut up!”
Ingrandor started gathering pitchforks, shovels and anything potentially useful to place them in various places around the worksite. Then he began breaking the stairs, stomping at them with his boot. None of the workers had moved an inch, but the murmur and grumbling in the crowd was intensifying.
One of the men turned to address the group. ”Jim is right though. We have no stake in this. We just work here! We can always find another place to work, it's not worth dying for.”
”Then go”, Ingrandor said. ”We’ll stay.”
The grumbling in the crowd grew even louder. The air was filled with a pungent smell. That’s what fear smelled like.
”But if they win, they'll come where you will be next”, Ingrandor continued. ”And if you leave again and go somewhere else, they will come there. Until someone stops them. They want to take over the whole land. Unless you want to go south maybe, find a new land, be a foreigner, know no one.”
The workers started all shouting over Ingrandor and each other. ”You cowards!” Rosethorn yelled.
”I am not from here”, Ingrandor continued, trying to get his voice heard over all the shouting. ”I am from Gondor. I know how it is to leave my land. I know how it is to be a foreigner. But, go. Sooner or later you'll taste it if they pass through tonight. Let them take your lands.”
The workers had lost their spirit. One by one they dropped their tools on the ground and started walking towards the Greenway. Some were shuffling their feet and hanging their heads in shame, but none seemed willing to risk their lives now, with their numbers dwindling fast. The blacksmith turned to shout: ”Come with us, Rosethorn! Don't be a fool!”
Rosethorn wasn’t looking after them. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.
”Maybe you should go”, Ingrandor said in a low voice, but loud enough to be heard. ”And when your children learn that you gave up a land. Tell them you fled, teach them to leave their lives behind.”
”I’m no coward”, Rosethorn said out loud. ”I will stand and fall here, if I must. For Rose's sake.” It was then that Hellrien realized the foreman was in love with his employer.
Ingrandor suddenly looked into a pot filled with molten metal and grimaced in thought, as if he had just come up with an idea. Then he looked around and suddenly laughed.
”What did you have in mind?” Hellrien asked.
Ingrandor motioned her to wait and turned to the workers. He was going through his pockets and produced the gear he had taken from one of the machines earlier tonight. ”Hey, do you see this?”
The workers stopped moving and looked at Ingrandor expectantly. He lifted the gear up for all to see and spoke loudly:
”This I took from one of their boxes, if my army days serve me well, this is a gear from a catapult. Without this it can't work. Do you know what this means? Once they take this land they can build siege machines and lay siege to Bree. So, you're lost either way. Run today to die another day. But that day your families will die also. I am not from here. I am a sellsword, I will probably not get paid enough for this night and I may die. But before I do, I will take a lot of them with me. I will burn them.” He burst into a fierce laughter.
”Then we must flee from Bree also!” said one of the workers. ”Take our families with us, settle somewhere else!”
”Then piss off!” Ingrandor barked. ”We’ll do without you. Bugger off!”
After grumbling for a while the workers continued their slow departure. None of those who had stayed paid any more attention to them.
