Armond saddled Rhovanion and pulled on his helm.
Nuthemel had asked him to envade the enemy's lines and find some way to either kill Zuth or, if he had already spilled secrets, kill Zuth then kill everyone else.
It would be a long night.
He rode all night, until barely before dawn, He arrived in Sondan.
He dismounted Rhovanion, and was about to scale a wall into the bedroom that for some reason -he couldn't recall why- he knew was the queen's chambers when the queen herself, blonde hair flowing behind her on a silvery horse flew past.
Armond scowled and mounted Rhovanian again, preparing to chase after Finduilas when he halted. He could here a man's voice inside the castle, coming out from the window, groaning as if in great pain.
Now he had two choices. He could go inside the castle while everyone was asleep, and find Zuth, and kill him, or, he could go inside the castle while everyone was asleep, hide in Finduilas's chambers, and wait until she came back.
Or, he could go inside the castle while everyone was asleep, find Zuth, kill him, then go hide in Finduilas's chambers.
He stared up at the stars for a short moment, then dismounted Rhovanian again. He ran to the wall and scaled it, then tiptoed out of Finduilas's room and ran, lightfooted, down into the servant's wing. The elves wouldn't stick Zuth in a dungeon, he was sure, they were entirely too soft. But they wouldn't put him on the same wing with the Queen. So, the servant's wing was the next obvious choice.
Armond crept through the hall until he heard the heavy breathing of a dwarf.
He glanced around and carefully pulled open the door, slipping inside. He put a spell around the room to be soundproof.
Then he crept to the bed, trying to decide how to kill the dwarf. He put another spell up, this time around himself, to filter the air around him. then he pulled a small bag from a sealed pocket at the bottom of his cape. He undid the tie at the top of the bag and dumped out the contents into the keresone lamp by the bed and lit the lamp. Then he slipped back out of the room and snuck into Finduilas's chambers again and resumed his hiding place under the bed.
* * *
Finduilas pointed out Arthon's chambers to the healer she had brought.
She stumbled into her chambers and shut and locked the door, walking into the small private room and locking the door. She came back out in a silk white nightgown with a blue almost transparent silk robe over it, tied loosely in the front, and her hair braided simply down her back.
She took Faelwen to bed with her, hiding it under the covers with her, and blew out the candle she'd been holding.
Suddenly there was a small sound as if something was being dragged out from under her bed.
Finduilas slowly gripped Faelwen and pulled it out of its sheath, preparing to slash the air when a knife point appeared at her throat.
"stand up, hag" said a cruel voice. An all-too familiar cruel voice.
"You are a fiend" she said quietly, not moving. The sword pressed into her chin and blood appeared, trickling down her neck. She stood up, hiding Faelwen in the shadows.
The man standing before her (at least she thought it was a man) seemed vaguely familiar, although she could not place him.
"Where have you come from?" she demanded. "What do you want?"
A chuckle came from the dark. Suddenly there were footsteps in the hall. The healer was probably going or sending someone to go fetch things for Arthon. but the mysterious invader didn't know this. his eyes widened, and he sunk into the shadows, hiding his sword.
Finduilas sprang at him, sword drawn, and pressed it against his throat, also pulling a dagger out with her right hand and pressing it to his gut.
"Now you will answer my question." she said, quietly, harshly. "Where have you come from and what do you want?"
The man said nothing, but slid slightly to the left and glanced over his left shoulder. The sword pressed into his neck, leaving the same trickle of blood. He made a face and leaned backwards out the window.
Finduilas ran to the windowsill and leaned over as the man landed on a silvery black horse and rode away.
* * *
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
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