The matter had been complicated from the start and Bordir, the Warden of Henneth Annûn, had accepted it as it was. People like Captain Magordir, who was now standing across from him on the other side of the command table in the middle of the great hall of Húrin’s Hall, could never aspire to rise to a position of the Warden because he lacked the qualities demanded for the position: imagination and ambition, and the ability to see and think about the big picture.
Bâr Húrin was the traditional ancestral home of the Stewards of Gondor. This was the place where Denethor and his family had hailed from many years ago. Today it served as the main stronghold of the Rangers south of Osgiliath. It was a gloomy and dreary place, dark and dilapidated.
Bordir slammed his hand against a large map of eastern Gondor on the command table again. Captain Magordir knew the gesture was meant as an accusation against the way he had handled the matter so far.
”How could you let the knowledge about Romenstar to leak out?” Bordir demanded to know. ”How could you let this scholar find him and approach him, in front of the Haven of all places? Am I surrounded by complete idiots?”
”We have used the Haven before”, Magordir tried to explain. ”It’s a good inn, they don’t ask a lot of questions and…”
”But your chain of mistakes didn’t end there, did it?” Bordir interrupted. ”No, then you had to send a squad of thugs to the scholar’s home to harrass her, a citizen of Minas Tirith. Whatever made you feel like that was such a good idea at the time?”
Magordir ran his fingers through his thick brown hair. Magordir wasn’t very tall but he had wide shoulders and a square, staid face.
”It was Maethaben’s fault”, Magordir said. ”I never asked him to do what he did. He made a wrong decision in trying to correct the mistake that had happened. He will be disciplined for his mistakes.”
”But what can we do to minimize the damage caused?” Bordir asked. ”Last night I received a missive from Rohan. It seems Saruman has gotten wind of the situation as well and is sending an emissary to Gondor to meet our visitor. Too many people know about this now, and too many are showing interest.”
And that wasn’t all. What Bordir could not tell Magordir was that last night he had received a late night visitor from Gondor, a visitor who had strongly implied that if Bordir could not keep the matter of Romenstar under wraps, it could cause grave damage to a certain arrangement between Torthadir, the Captain of Gondor and the chief of the Rangers, and a certain influential lord of Gondor. Torthadir would not be happy if this arrangement lapsed because of the ineptitude of the Rangers, and it would also mean the end to all the new supplies, food and weapons the Rangers had been enjoying since Torthadir became the new Captain of Gondor.
”Are you suggesting we should… get rid of him? You can’t actually mean…”
”You idiot!” Bordir snapped.
”Then what do you want us to do?” Magordir asked, spreading his arms.
”We relocate him.” Bordir rubbed his stubbled chin. ”Then we retreat into a safe distance to observe. To see what happens.”
”Imloth Melui?”
”As soon as it can be arranged. And you’d best make sure the old man stays alive until he’s out of our hands. Who do we know in Imloth Melui?”
”Maegon. The chief healer of the Hall of the Gentle Hand. We can trust him to keep a low profile. He did some favors for us twelve years ago. He’s a friendly.”
”Good, good. See that he releases us from Romenstar and make sure he does it discreetly. The farther we get him from Minas Tirith the better. There are way too many spooks sniffing around in Minas Tirith to my liking.”
”But what if he starts talking to people in Imloth Melui?”
”So far Romenstar has shown no inclination of talking anything sensible to anyone”, Bordir remarked dryly.
”Maybe he just doesn’t like us”, Magordir replied.
Bordir frowned. ”The damage has already been done, Captain. We can’t undo the damage but we can mitigate some of the further damage. Now the important part is to get him out of our hands, and out of Minas Tirith.”
”So… you’re expecting more damage then, Warden?”
”I am”, Bordir admitted. ”Much more.”
