The Pretender Chronicles - Discussions in the Farside Tower

Gondorian Chambers(#19974Xen)

A series of comfortable though not extravagant chambers, accessible from two different sets of doors leading to the main hallways of the second floor of the tower. There are beds and hearths and tables and chairs and other necessary amenities, and food is provided by the Farside servants. Tower Guardsmen are on duty at the main doors at all times, and a patrol checks on the interior at the passing of every hour.

[+TIME] Middle-earth time is:

Nighttime on Sterday, 2nd Lithe.

Execute the +TIMEFRAME command for year information.

Real time is: 15:19:41 MDT on Mon Mar 23 2009.

Night has fallen, and at last there is a letup to the otherwise unrelenting heat in this desert city. Though most of the men and women of the party from Gondor have fallen asleep in their quarters off these rooms, at least one, a man, sits by the cold hearth. He idly pokes a stick at the coals, as if bored.

[Nasrudin(#22125)]

A muffled discourse can be heard from the entrance of the Gondorian quarters - it seems a foreigner is requesting to visit the envoy, and is being refused.

\"Let him in...what\'s the harm?\" Ceredir calls lazily, bored, from the chair where he still sits. Rather, he is draped over the armchair in a way--his legs up on the arms. \"It passes the time. And if he kills us now...so much the better.\"

[Nasrudin(#22125)]

\"Kill you? My, no, we are friends!\" A sonorous Southron voice heralds the approach of a swarthy old man, Nasrudin, who is portley and lightly dressed. \"I can prove it,\" he further declares in strongly accented Westron, spoken slowly and carefully as if to make a good impression, \"I have brought you gifts!\" On his shoulder he bears a large watermelon, and a young woman following close at his side carries an absurdly large basket full of fruit. \"A kingly gift indeed,\" the old man whispers, \"such things are not easy to get in the city these days, as you no doubt know!\"

\"A what?\" Ceredir says, his bored poking of the cold coals interrupted by the arrival of this entourage. He drops the stick and jumps out of teh chair. \"What is that?\" he asks, pointing to the watermelon. \"And why do you bring us gifts?\"

Nasrudin

[Nasrudin(#22125)]

\"This?\" Nasrudin questions, surprised by the man\'s reaction, \"It is a melon of course food.\" He sets it on the ground, before doing so himself, stiffly. The girl follows suit and kneels behind him, arms around his neck in a self-consilliatory sort of way, as if she were his daughter. \"I have come to ask you a favor,\" he says in a tone imbued with the highest degree of solemnity.

\"Food?\" The word draws a blank and the Gondor man stares at the green thing now on the floor before him. \"A melon....of course...I have just never seen one quite like this..\" Ceredir looks up, grinning. \"Nor do I have a knife to cut it open, and neither will they permit us such. So I must ask you, sir, to share this with me. You and your....\" he glances to the girl, considering...\"your woman.\"

\"What sort of favor could we possibly bestow?\"

[Nasrudin(#22125)]

Smiling pleasantly, the old man slips a knife, no doubt meant for this very use, from his belt and hands to to the girl. He speaks a few words to her in the Southron tongue and in short order she is poised above the melon, set to drive the point deep into its heart.

\"It concerns this girl, here.\" He indicates her with a gentle gesture, \"You see, I won her in a wager from a local madam.\" Sadness colors his expression, \"She is fifteen years old, and would have been made a prostitute, or worse, had I not chanced to be lucky on the day in question. In any case, my request is that you take her with you when you return to Gondor - I assure you any life she may have there will be far better than what I can provide her, that is the problem really, I cannot afford to keep her, and I will not use her as her prior owner would have.\"

In the meantime the girl has cut a large slice of the succulent red melon, and with all the trappings of an obeiscent underling, offers it to Ceredir. \"Her name is Laeal,\" adds Nasrudin, \"or, that is what I choose to call her. It /sounded/ Gondorian to me.\" He beams with a grin.

\"Thank you,\" Ceredir says, taking the watermelon slice from the girl. And then it is all he can do to keep from spluttering bits of watermelon across the floor as the man spells out his request. \"What?! To...what?!\"

\"Impossible...no, it cannot be. They would put her to death instantly. And then I would follow.\"

[Nasrudin(#22125)]

Nasrudin is visibly shocked, \"But why? She is no assassin, I assure you! She is a simple girl, a washer of floors. Please, you must understand the fate that is likely to befall her here, unless, by some providence, I am able to take care of her.\"

\"No, no,\" Ceredir protests, putting a hand out to ward off the man\'s request further--so that it looks as if he is offering back the half eaten watermelon slice, pink fruit juice dripping sticky on the floor. \"She...she is from Harad. They would kill her outright. Our Steward..he is not so forgiving as Lord Alphros...\"

[<#19036>]

The doorway is crowded of a sudden.

The youth that stands now in it looks within with narrowed eyes, black eyes falling to this girl, and Nasrudin and finally Ceredir, who knows him. Of him, at any rate. \'Tis Yussef.

\"\" He tells the Haradrim quietly, firmly, looking to Nasrudin more closely. \"\"

[Nasrudin(#22125)]

\"Give her a chance, please! You and your folk on the ship will know her origins, but when you arrive in port, you can let her go. She will blend with the locals as well as anyone would - I have instructed her to feign muteness until she has learned your language, and can find suitable work for herself. She will be a beggar as like as not, but she is no stranger to that. I can,\" he pauses, interrupted by Yussef, whom he addresses in the southron tongue: \" I am doing a bit of business,\" an easy smile plays on his lips, \" I am offering them this girl as a concubine, to loosen their money-belts!\"

\"No, no...she will be put to death. Thrown off a mountain to her death. Why can you not just...just keep her as yoru servant? She has a good life here, no? She...\"

Ceredir cuts off his outpouring of words as Yussef\'s voice harshly cuts through their conversation.

\"Yussef al ibn...tell him!\" he asks hastily. \"I cannot take this girl.\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

The guardsman\'s glance widens... and widens.

His cheeks grow darker, by a reddish hue, as he looks from Nasrudin to Ceredir when the former makes his plea, and then back again, be his flush risen from the offer in itself or the name he is given. \"He\'s telling the truth, trader,\" He concedes \'ere a moment in rough westron:

\"That is not their way.\"

[Nasrudin(#22125)]

Nasrudin signs deeply with resignation and stands, motioning for the girl to follow him. \"It is no use then - I am sure you have your reasons.\" A few moments pass as the girl realizes what has transpired, and she begins to weep. The old fellow places an arm over her shoulders and guides her through the doorway, with nothing further to say either to Ceredir or Yussef.

\"I...I am sorry.\" Ceredir sighs as the girl starts to cry and the man leaves. He puts the watermelon slice on a nearby table and sinks down into a chair with disgust, frustration or both.

[Yussef(#19036)]

The guardsman looks to the pair, moving within and out of their way as they go without, his brow creased, lips twisted wryly. He stands thus for a while, looking at the void they leave in the doorway.

\"How could I bring a woman of Harad to Gondor to meet her death like that?\" Ceredir now protests to Yussef, since noone else seems to have stuck around to listen. \"No matter what her life here...she is alive. Not thrown off a cliff.\"

[Barjad(#29188)] Slow, heavy footsteps sound on the stairs, and then a muffled exclamation as Nasrudin and his weeping slave-girl pass. Moments later a single figure appears, head still turned to view the departing pair - the fellow known as Barjad. He halts in the doorway, neatly filling the void.

[Yussef(#19036)]

His sand-hue complexion smoothens as Yussef turns his black eyes to Ceredir.

\"Thrown off a cliff?\"

He looks to Barjad with a nod, \'ere he himself comes further within. \"Tell me more.\"

\"It is...traitors are thrown off the side of the mountain into which Minas Tirith is built,\" Ceredir explains flatly--and then despite himself, he shudders slightly. \"I do not know if women would be so treated, or if she would be simply sent back to Harad somehow...but it is my fate if anyone finds out I am here.\"

[Barjad(#29188)] \"Yussef.\" With a single word the newcomer greets the young guardsman. He looks to Ceredir then, and his heavy brows crease. \"It is as well there are other lands than the Stonelands. Why, then, are you here?\" The words come swift and without hesitation in the Westron tongue.

Glancing back to Yussef, he queries carefully, puzzlement evident in the slow speech, \"What did the woman do? Why did she wish to leave Umbar?\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

\"And you would have difficulty explaining your absence if you returned with a Southron girl on your arm...\" Yussef\'s words are calmly delivered, as he seats himself opposite to the scout. His lips curl slightly.

\"...No?\"

The smile is fleeting, and vanishes quickly as he looks up to Barjad with words in their own language: \"The man she came with wanted to sell her to... this man. As a...\" His own brow wrinkles temporarily, \"...slave.\"

\"I am here,\" Ceredir answers Barjad\'s query first, \"because I believe that Gondor needs her King. And that Lord Alphros may well be that man. If he is justly the King, then such....punishments for my coming here will not happen. Though likely we will have to fight for him to be recognized in Gondor, but I would gladly do so.\"

\"The girl...I do not know,\" he says.

[Barjad(#29188)] Topaz-coloured eyes narrow briefly at Yussef\'s explanation. \"Ah. And he did not buy? Perhaps he has not the money.

Looking back at Ceredir, he regards the Gondorian thoughtfully, but says nothing. It is difficult to tell what he might be thinking, with his features mostly hidden by the keffiyeh (does he ever remove it?). Then he shrugs. Moving out of the foreigner\'s line of sight, he murmurs to Yussef softly, \"And your Lord trusts these?\" The scepticism in those few short words is all too evident.

[Yussef(#19036)]

The guardsman\'s eyes linger on Ceredir, \'ere they move again to Barjad. \"No, he does not,\" He answers. \"That is why he holds them here, away from the rest of the city. They can go nowhere without guard.\"

And then he shakes his head, \"The northerners do not trade in people, like we of Farside. Also, I think he hopes to return -- and with slaves in tow, he\'d surely die a traitor\'s death quickly.\"

[Barjad(#29188)] Yussef\'s answer brings a lifting of Barjad\'s heavy brow. \"Back to the Stonelands? Him and all his folk? Will the Lord send them, you think?\" A pause, then he adds, slowly as though the thought had just occurred to him, \"By Sea?\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

\"I don\'t know,\" Yussef replies. \"Maybe, if he trusts them. And maybe, even if he doesn\'t.\" His own voice slows for a moment with his words, \"That could serve a purpose, too.\"

But then, when he speaks on, it is on a different matter, and not thoughtfully: \"Have you given any more thought to... being seaworthy?\"

[Barjad(#29188)] That is easily answered. \"Am I not here?\" A silence, before the words continue, slow and stilted as always when this one speaks the Harad tongue. \'I told you, I seek a ship. One that journeys north, not south.\' That is said with finality. \'But I know little of farside. I try to understand, but it is hard. I have no love for

Warily watching the two men talk in Haradric, Ceredir frowns...then stands up and retrieves his half-eaten slab of watermelon. \"Of what do you speak,\" he asks them finally, apparently curiousity gettiing the better of him.

[Yussef(#19036)]

Barjad is afforded a grin. \"True. You may understand better the longer you remain.\"

Yussef then looks to Ceredir, his grin fading as he turns to the use of westron, \"Your customs when it comes to slaves. They are not unlike our own -- we of Farside.\"

\"What about your mountain?\"

[Barjad(#29188)] Barjad says nothing to confirm or deny Yussef\'s words, his own brows lifting in silent enquiry as he turns back to the young Gondorian.

\"What do you mean by that, about slaves?\" Ceredir asks. \"We keep no slaves in Gondor. It is...\" He struggles for a moment, lips twisting as he thinks. \"It is just not done.\"

\"What of our mountain? It is high into the reaches of the sky, stone and sand and trees. Like any other. But that we use it as a fitting end for traitors, but then death is death, no matter how it is done, no?\"

After a moment\'s pause, quietly: \"I am not a traitor.\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

\"Exactly,\" Yussef tells the man of Gondor. \"It is not done.\"

He pauses, an eyebrow perched higher above his glance than the other, \"I thought, by coming here...\" His eyes shift to Barjad in that moment.

He shrugs.

[Barjad(#29188)] At Ceredir\'s first words, Barjad\'s head dips in a nod. One might almost deem it approval. The rest of the speech, however, brings on a shrug. \"No man can serve two masters,\" he tells the young man bluntly. \"Already you are a traitor to one of them. Belief in the rightness of your deeds cannot change that.\" To Yussef he looks then, and offers naught but a sigh. Stonelanders.

\"Not so!\" Ceredir protests with vehemence. \"Lord Alphros may well be the true king of Gondor, descended from the long line of kings. We have a steward who rules us now, but he and his line are there but to hold the sceptre until the day the king shall return.\"

\"And, from all accounts I have heard, that day is now, the King is returned to us!\" The Master Scout\'s eyes are bright as he speaks this. \"I serve Gondor and Gondor alone--and that means I serve the true and rightful King of Gondor. It is but one master.\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

\"Your stewart no doubt would disagree,\" Yussef remarks, his tone now dry -- for the first time betraying some humor in the presence of this scout of Gondor.

[Barjad(#29188)] \"A somewhat twisted reasoning,\" is Barjad\'s own comment in turn.

\"Tis not twisted at all!\" Ceredir looks between the two men, seeming confused and impassioned at once. \"Gondor needs her King--many in our lands feel this way. We stumble without her, without guidance, without hope. If the Steward, as you note, does not see it that way, well, then it is the Steward himself who commits treason, by holding on to that which is not rightfully his.\"

\"He will have to be...convinced.\" Ceredir grimaces.

[Yussef(#19036)]

\"Perhaps you could throw him off your mountain,\" One of the twain guards by the door remarks with glee.

The other barks a laugh.

Yussef holds his gaze on Ceredir\'s face, but says nothing.

[Barjad(#29188)] Perhaps Barjad, too, smiles. His eyes, focused on the Gondorian, give little away. \"Perhaps,\" he remarks softly, \"he is not the only one who will need convinced.\" He murmurs something to Yussef in slow, measured Haradaic. \"I leave him to you. I will speak with you some other day, or maybe your Captain. But this I will say - I do not want to serve a Stonelander.\" There is doubt in his gaze as it shifts back to the young guardsman.

\"Goodnight,\" he offers, once more in the Westron, then turns on his heel and starts to descend the stairs.

\"It would be a fitting end for him, yes, if he did not recognize the true king of Gondor,\" Ceredir says in all seriousness. He looks to Yussef--stares, in fact, if briefly so.

And then, with that light in his eyes once more, \"Things will change. Gondor...Gondor will be like a home to me at last. A better home, for Nelladel and I. We will be recognize. Her family will be forced to recognize me and no longer shun her. The nobles...the families there...\" he scowls, face darkening. A quick nod is given to the departure of Barjad, but the Master Scout does not seem to take notice of the conversation that the other two have in their own tongue.

[Yussef(#19036)]

The guards say no more, but by Ceredir\'s answer they both laugh quietly, exchanging a glance.

The southron youth looks up at Barjad\'s departure, and tells him somewhat darkly, \"Good night.\"

\"Tell me about that,\" Yussef now says, turned to Ceredir.

\"About?\" Ceredir puzzles, brows furrowed as he looks at the southron. He wipes his hands together, trying to rid them of the watermelon\'s stickiness. \"My family in Gondor? Or should I say my lack of a family?\" he adds bitterly. \"And will you tell me of your life here in Umbar? Why are you here for your family? Are you an officer of the guards?\"

\"But...\" Ceredir sits on the edge of the chair he had vacated earlier. \"I am the product of two noble houses of Gondor, yet because my father\'s house will not recognize, I am denied my birthright. Worse than that...my father hid me away as a child, so ashamed was he at having a bastard. Put me in with a stinking tanner, a scum of the earth of a man if there ever was one.\"

\"One day my father\'s family wil pay for this.\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

The youth leans back in his seat, hands rested on his thighs. Thus settled, he offers, after the lengthy explanation: \"Perhaps later. We are talking about you, and Gondor.\" He does not continue at once however, glance downcast and distant, jaw set.

But, at length: \"A... bastard?\" His brow is arched, and his mouth forms oddly around the word. \"What does this mean? And which two houses?\"

\"And why are we talking about me and Gondor only? We are not officially prisoners..we are the guests of your Lord. Are you, actually, sworn to Lord Alphros?\" Ceredir then presses.

\"Yes..\" he says, pausing for a moment. \" A bastard. It means that my parents were not married when they had me, never married, never gave me a name or a house. I am..Ceredir, the son of Silivrenwen of Anorien. My mother\'s line. My father...he killed her in a way, by refusing to marry her, by taking her away from me, so that she died from grief.\"

\"Of my father, I foolishly swore never to claim heritage to his line again.\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

A nod is all the answer that is given.

\"You think me an assassin in disguise?\" Yussef\'s glance lifts off the floor then, meeting Ceredir\'s head on. His smile is bleak. But \'ere he can answer, the southron youth gestures at his attire, and then the guards, clothed alike, when his speech concerns them: \"These are the colors of the Farside Guard and these men know me.\"

\"Your mothers line is Ano... Anorien? Is this a large house?\"

\"An assasin?\" Ceredir considers this, then shakes his head. \"No, not from how you spoke of them. No. I was just wondering, and curious, too. I know nothing of who you are, but then perhaps I have no right to know.\" He shrugs.

\"It is a small house. A minor house of little consequence and no power. My father\'s house...it is old and powerful. And the jealously guard their honor, which is why my father hid me and my birth. He was...he was despicable. If ever I were to be an assasin, it would be to murder him on my mother\'s behalf.\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

\"That would not be assassination,\" Yussef objects, but his tone is naughtsaying all the same, void is its temper. \"That would be murder.\"

\"Justifiable?\" Ceredir watches closely for the southron\'s reaction. \"He essentially murdered my mother.\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

The reaction is a shrug, in which Yussef looks away. \"It would be.\"

\"But by your laws? I do not know them, but they seem very strange.\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

\"So why is he still alive?\" Yussef adds as his glance fleets back to Ceredir, tone eerily aloof from the subject at hand.

\"In Gondor..it would be murder. Or I could duel him and then it would still be murder, though honorably so. But still...death would be the outcome either way for me. So you see,\" Ceredir smiles, answering Yussef\'s question, \"my father\'s design worked. He did not want a son or a marriage to my mother. And he managed to arrange it so because he is a nobleman and rich and powerful. This is what I wish Lord Alphros to change. And my wife, Nelladel...her family has shunned her because she married me, a bastard with no name. She is a noblewoman, expected to marry to further her family\'s name and line and power. Not to marry for love.\"

Ceredir frowns. \"Only commoners do that, marry for love, and she has sunk to my level.\"

\"How are such things handled here? Nelladel...she seems to have some strange ideas that this place...that she could live here.\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

The thin youth\'s black gaze is level at Ceredir\'s answer offering a nod at the mention of death.

\"I don\'t know.\" Yussef responds quickly, with an unchanging tone. But his brows arch as he asks in the same breath: \"Does she now? What do you think about that?\"

I think it\'s foolish and naive,\" Ceredir mutters. \"Lord Alphros warned us that we will not be liked here--not ever, likely. Though..how is it that he is a Lord here, if that is the case? He warned of our being stabbed on the streets.\"

[Nelladel(#7905)] \"Stabbed on the streets?\" A female voice echoes, not sounding very perturbed despite the words. Nella emerges from the doorway of a small chamber her hair has been meticulously brushed until it shines, and thick coils of it are pinned on top of her head. Such a simple act- doing something with her hair- that seems to have cheered Nella up considerably. Her eyes are not for her husband, nor for the young corsair Nella moves straight for the basket of fruit, fingers reaching for something bright and ripe.

[Yussef(#19036)]

\"He told you the truth,\" Yussef answers. \"But you know that full well by now if you are not all imbecils. Why does s--...\" His words halt at the entrance of the northern woman, a glance thrown thither. He offers her no more than that look, however. \"Why would someone think such things?\"

Again, he answers not the question. More soup without fish.

\"Nelladel,\" Ceredir says, standing as the woman enters. \"You look...beautiful,\" he continues, and his eyes shine as he looks toward her. \"Yussef would like to know...no...I would like to know...\"

\"I keep thinking that you feel you want to live here. In Harad.\"

\"Why?\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

And he, Yussef, turns a new glance on Nelladel, his brows perched high above it in expectance.

[Nelladel(#7905)] From the way Nella is smiling, she was anticipating what Ceredir would say. She looks pleased, like a cat with cream, as she comes to stand beside her husband. At his question, however, Nella\'s cheeks begin to color and she stalls for time in the most convenient way: she takes a bite of the fruit in her hand. After swallowing, the girl fervently shakes her head. \"What a preposterous idea! Yussef- that is this man?\" Nella points at the young corsair. \"He made up this lie about me? Surely you did not.\" And yet, guilty eyes chase away from her husband\'s face, looking around the room, at the various doors and windows- anywhere but at the men.

[Yussef(#19036)]

There is a twitch about the corners of Yussef\'s mouth as Nelladel looks away. Just that.

He makes no answer to the accusation however, observing only with some manner of interest.

[Azradi(#20135)]

The door opens with no knock to precede it. In strides Azradi anAzulada, Captain of the Variyah and frequently, a Commander of Farside\'s regular soldiers. She appears to be sweltering in her armor, dirty, irritated and spotted with blood here and there.

He gray eyes, this day bearing a fierce aspect, quickly dismisses each Gondorian and narrows upon the Corsair. \"Yussef!\" she calls roughly, speaking in the common tongue, \"where is Su\'ad!?\"

\"This is Yussef ibn Yussef al Asad,\" Ceredir says, making an effort to get the name right. \"Guard of this tower. And he said no such thing, and you know it.\" Ceredir\'s tone has gone cold, as have his eyes.

\"Is this, then, how you plan to serve Lord Alphros? By making up lies about the men who serve him?\"

The Captain\'s arrival perhaps interrupt any else the Master Scout was about to say.

[Nelladel(#7905)] Nella opens her mouth and closes it again she can find no words for her husband, at first. \"The...you...you accuse me of \'making up lies\' when you just said that this man here wished to know if I wanted to live in Umbar? Where would he get that notion, if not from his own head?\" Nella snaps. Her fingers clench much too tightly around the fruit as her anger rises sticky juice drips down her fingers and onto the floor in a small puddle as the fruit becomes pulp in her fist. \"And who are you today, Ceredir? My friend or enemy?\" the girl asks with wounded eyes, even after the Captain has entered.

[<#19036>]

The hollow-cheeked youth comes to his feet quickly, eyes astir, head bowing in deference. And this posture he retains for a sentence. \'Cap\'n!\'

\'I do not know ma\'am, I have not seen her since the other day in the embassy,\' But then, as he stands erect, he goes on in the southron tongue dryly, glance fleeting to first Ceredir and Nelladel next: \"\"

[Azradi(#20135)]

Azradi appears interested, yes - but not amused. She turns her fierce gaze Nelladel\'s way and snorts. \"Perhaps Yussef thinks you wish to live here because you lauded the freedom of our women when you were two sheets towards the wind.\"

\"I accuse you of nothing,\" Ceredir hisses, glancing over to the two southrons watching them. \"I asked you...I keep getting the feeling from your words here that you want to stay here...that you see this place as better than Gondor somehow. And I want to know if this is so...and if so, why? Yussef did not make this up. I told him and he was curious.\"

\"Now...there is no need for that...\" Ceredir frowns, answering Azradi sharply without even thinking.

[Yussef(#19036)]

\"You will address Lady anAzulada with respect or not at all,\" Yussef growls, blank stare now turned to Ceredir, level and firm tone obviously darkened.

\"Apologize.\"

[Nelladel(#7905)] \"Well, Captain Azradi,\" Nella says tactfully, and also with the reverent glance she always gives that woman, \"With all due respect...that would be quite an impossibility, wouldn\'t it? So regardless of what I said under the influence of your excellent whiskey..\" Nella shrugs. \"It doesn\'t matter anyway.\" Then she turns to her husband. \"That is not so,\" Nella shakes her head, even as her face betrays her and flushes brilliant crimson. She falls silent when Yussef interjects.

[Azradi(#20135)]

Azradi, glaring at Ceredir, narrows her eyes dangerously. She seems however, to allow Yussef to deal with the slight - waiting for the apology in silence.

As such, she does not yet answer Nelladel.

The room is quite silent, quite still for several long seconds. Then Ceredir exhales slowly. \"You are right. I misspoke out of anger toward my wife, but direcrted it toward you. I apologize, my Lady Captain. It will not happen again.\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

The southron\'s youth\'s glance endures for a long moment. And Yussef nods, slightly and slowly, almost grudgingly.

Apparently sated, if barely.

[Nelladel(#7905)] Nella says nothing yet, still holding the fruit that\'s now just a mess of pulp, bits of it dripping onto the floor. Meanwhile, she looks daggers at her husband, her lips pressed together as if to keep herself from shouting something.

[Azradi(#20135)]

The Corsair lady does not acknowledge the apology but she does withdraw her hostility. Her regard is drawn back to Nelladel. \"Then stop slinging accusations of falseness upon my men. If you wish to quarrel with your husband, it is your business - but not my people.\"

With another sigh, quieter, Ceredir sinks back down into his chair. \"Seems I cannot say the right thing tonight. I am on edge so much...waiting to speak privately with Lord Alphros...that words come unbidden. I apologize to you, too, Nella.\"

[Nelladel(#7905)] \"My apologies, Captain Azradi...Yussef...\" Nella curtsies, bowing her head. \"I meant no disrespect to you or your men. I only did not wish to be accused, myself, of something untrue..\" Nella rises, and looks to her husband, then, her eyes softening. \"Already forgiven,\" Nella says, moving toward his chair. She\'s momentarily forgotten about the fruit mess she\'s made, and tries to grip Ceredir\'s hands with unpleasantly sticky fingers.

[Yussef(#19036)]

The guard Yussef speaks no word in turn, but his nod to Nelladel is in like appearance to the one given her husband: at least insofar that it is brief, and his brow arches lightly with an equally brief level look at her eyes -- but he is silent for the nonce.

[Azradi(#20135)]

\"Then I suggest learn to steel your nerves, Northerner,\" Azradi replies, her gaze shifting to the Master Scout. \"We are at war. That is my brother\'s priority for the moment.\"

\"I will look elsewhere for Captain Su\'ad. If you see her, Yussef, tell her I need to speak to her,\"

The Corsair woman walks to the door.

\"Yes ma\'am,\" Ceredir answers, respectful, yet resigned, too. Then, as Azradi walks toward the door, he takes a single step that way, though it does not bring him anywhere within reach of the woman.

\"Ma\'am....could you think...how might we serve Lord Alphros?\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

\"I will look too, Cap\'n,\" Yussef answers, also making for the door then though his glance turns quickly to Ceredir as he moves thus, not halting his stride.

[Azradi(#20135)]

\"Assuming my brother finds you worthy and loyal,\" Azradi replies, turning back once more. She looks doubtful of her own words. \"Then your work would be in Gondor. The nature of that service is up to your King - but I would have you gain support for him clear the way for him to win hearts and minds - get the people of Gondor to think of Alphros and a King as a desirable thing.\"

\"You have spoken, I trust, to the one called Baiz? I mentioned him to your brother yesterday, but it was only briefly, as...the rest of our party save my wife do not know who he is. But..he and I have been trying to accomplish this as best we can in Gondor. It is difficult work for the Steward...\" Ceredir gives Yussef a wry glance, \"would not hear of such things. We would be put to death if found out, and that defeats our purpose, of course.\" Another wry grin.

\"It may come to civil war.\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

The wry glance is seen, but unanswered save for one expressionless in turn. Yussef halts a pace before the Captain then eyeing the two of Gondor. But still, he says naught, and listens only.

[Azradi(#20135)]

\"I have spoken to this man,\" Azradi confirms, impassively \"and reported it to my brother.\"

\"It will come to civil war. Are you prepared for it?\"

\"I am,\" Ceredir answers immediately, no uncertainty in his voice or eyes. \"We will need to raise an army clandestinely. Baiz...is more than capable of leading an army, and I have sworn to him. But our numbers will be few so we will need some means of winning. A weapon, perhaps, that could give us an advantage. An ally to draw the forces of the Steward off to a second flank. Both, likely.\"

\"Yet civil war reigns here, and we cannot count on Lord Alphros\'s aid in this, at least not yet. I would...I would offer my own blade to him, to help bring an end to the civil war here, ensure its outcome. It will delay my return, and I will be an outlaw in Gondor, but perhaps that is for the better.\"

[Yildirim(#24191)]

A swift rap comes from the door and it opens. Yildirim strides in, without hesitation but he soons finds it as he sees the group of Haradrim already here.

\"Captain!\" he says with some surprise, \"I apologize for disturbing. I thought...\" he shakes his head, \"I shall return after you have finished.\"

[Azradi(#20135)]

\"You are of no use here,\" Azradi replies, simply. \"No Gondorian will ever be accepted in Umbar and only a very exceptional Gondorian would be tolerated.\"

\"You cannot and will not be allowed to bear arms in Harad.\"

\"As I have said,\" the Corsair woman reminds, \"My brother will decide your fate. But I doubt very much that it will lie in Harad - and if it does, it will be as the place you die or live as a slave.\"

The Captain turns upon the arrival of Yildirim. Whatever business has drawn her to these quarters, it is clear she has recently seen fighting. \"I am finished here, what it is it?\"

[Yildirim(#24191)]

Yildirim motions to the prisoners, \"I have arranged some time for them on the fields. To stretch and move about unmolested.\"

He then adds, \"I also thought...\" he pauses, thinking \" To have the men teach me some of their lessons with the sword. Obviously with some training tools. And to have some fun with their women, since they seem to cower of the idea of a woman with a sword.\"

He smiles to the Captain then looks to Ceredir, \"I apologize for the Haradaic. The concept is difficult to translate for me. I will study on it tomorrow so it does not happen again.\"

[Yussef(#19036)]

A glance on Yildirim as he gives his account on two tongues. A nod to the Captain.

And Yussef moves out the door.

\"Yes, my lady,\" Ceredir bows his head. \"Nevertheless, I will offer your brother my sword and my fighting skills. He asked why he should trust us, what we have to offer him, and I have little more but that to give him. That and my help in Gondor, as you say, but that is a future promise, not something I can use to prove my sincerity to him now. Unless you have other suggestions? I know not what to say.\"

\"Apologies are not needed,\" the Northern man continues to Yildirim. \"Time on the fields? That would be...to be outside, yes...\" Ceredir smiles.

[Azradi(#20135)]

Azradi frowns but nods slowly, reluctantly. \" Alright, but they are to use wooden batons, soft ones - like children use. They are to come no where near the armories and have plenty of guards nearby - especially when the Knight or Ceredir is present.\"

\"Offer him your sword if you wish,\" she says then in Westron, her gray eyes flickering to the Gondorian man. \"But he does not need it here. It would harm his cause and his name. Heed well what he said should you do that, either with malice or innocence: He will not be merciful.\"

[Yildirim(#24191)]

Answering the Captain with a nod, Yildirim holds the door open for the Gondorians.

\"Will you be joining us?\"

\"Then tell me what I must do to avoid harming his cause unknowingly,\" Ceredir frowns. \"Is there aught that I must not say or do? Other than, well, blatant things?\"

[Azradi(#20135)]

\"No, I will not,\" Azradi replies to Yildirim and offers no further explanation. She seems on the verge of leaving once more when another question calls her attention. Without turning, she replies to Ceredir over her shoulder, \"Do not try and help him here. Here he is Lord Farside a lord of Umbar and you are an enemy of Umbar. Remember that.\"

And she strides out the door, shortly after Yussef.

\"I understand,\" Ceredir replies as the Captain leaves, a sudden frown coming to his face. \"Yes, I very much understand.\" He turns back to Nella and reaches for her hand.

The pair then disappear down one of the corridors in this apartment.

[Yildirim(#24191)]

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Yildirim closes the door behind them all and follows down the corridor.