Leon wasn’t used to a place like this; the landscape was full of so many colors, not just the browns, blacks and reds he was accustomed to. The trees were lush and healthy with dark green leaves, the sky was a brilliant blue, and flowers bloomed everywhere. He listened to the sound of a bee buzzing as he basked in the bright rays of sunlight and breathed in the hot, aromatic air. Though he appeared to be meditating, he was actually waiting for Addie to make an appearance.
For the past few weeks, Leon had strategically put himself in places he knew the woman intended to go; she was intent on avoiding him and this was his way of showing her that she couldn’t. Today, he was sitting on the bench by the fountain in front of the Prancing Pony.
It wasn’t long before the thin, blonde woman strolled up the cobblestone street toward the tavern, but she only stayed in view for a brief second; as soon as she spotted the familiar red and grey robe, long graying hair, and salt and pepper beard belonging to the man at the fountain, she quickly dove behind the cover of the stone wall on her right. Addie balled up her long limbs as tightly as she could and hoped that she wasn’t seen; but as her mind worked to formulate a plan, she heard a voice call down to her, “Are you all right, Miss?”
Every muscle tensed as she looked up, fully expecting to have been caught by Leon; but instead, she locked eyes with the concerned gaze of a Watcher. With a sigh of relief, her body relaxed and she smiled brightly at the man. “Oh! I’m quite all right,” she replied as she pretended to be searching for something. “I thought I saw a bunny hopping through the grass and I wanted to catch it.”
He looked around at the ground for a brief moment and then stared at her for a solid minute with eyebrows raised- much as one would do while trying to determine the mental stability of a person. Finally, he asked, “Do you need help?”
Addie smiled at him again and shook her head. “I believe I am mistaken about the bunny… I suppose it was just the sun playing tricks on my eyes with the shadows in the grass. It is rather bright outside today, isn’t it?” Her eyes widened as a new idea crossed her mind. “Oh! Some shade would be perfect!” And after that declaration, she grabbed at the satchel on her side, brought it up to cover her face, and scurried off down the street toward the scholar’s stair market.
The guard just stood there, dumbfounded, and watched as she fled. With a shake of his head and a mumbled utterance, “I don’t get paid enough for this…” he returned to his post.
Moments later, Leon’s ears perked up to the sound of rustling of leaves and the guard turned his head to see what looked to be a large, potted houseplant with thin legs slowly creeping up the street toward them. The Watcher stared at the sight, wide-eyed, and then determined that it was time for his break, and perhaps a stiff drink, leaving Leon alone in the square with… whatever this was.
Behind the thick foliage, Addie struggled to carry the plant up the path; it was heavier than she had originally thought and the leaves prevented her from seeing what was in front of her. With each step toward Leon, she grew even more anxious that he would realize it was her, and she even held her breath when she passed by the fountain area to try to be as quiet as she could. When she made it to the bottom of the steps, she paused and slowly looked over her shoulder to make sure that he hadn’t noticed her. At seeing that Leon still appeared to be meditating, Addie released the breath she was holding and started to proceed up the stairs.
The corners of the old man’s lips curled up into a small smirk- not only had he been aware of her presence, but he had even opened one eye to watch this new evasion attempt. Silently he chuckled to himself as he watched the woman struggle to position the plant where she could keep herself ‘hidden’ and still turn the doorknob to open the door; and he did his best to suppress an amused laugh when she ran into the doorframe on her way into the building. He couldn’t help but admire her determination, though he knew it was folly; after all, he, too, was escaping from a path that had been set for him.
Once she had closed the door behind her, Leon reached his ruined left hand, a hand that had two fingers fused together from an old burn, into the cuff of his loose sleeve to bring out a bread roll. “Soon, little spark,” he whispered, “the time is coming where you will have to acknowledge that you can no longer run from your destiny, even though you will suffer for it.” He closed both eyes again and lifted the roll to his mouth to take a hearty bite. “I will be waiting.”
______________________________________________________________________
Several hours later, Ellsabeth entered the Pony and quickly glanced around the main room; she immediately noticed the new decor next to the door, but didn’t see the person she was expecting to be there. “Nice plant, Barli; it really brightens up the place… Have you seen Addie around?”
The tavern owner nodded and gestured toward the stairs. “She came in a few hours ago, dropped that plant off by the door, waved at me, and then ran off to the back. I assumed that she was going to the kitchen to make herself some cinnamon milk and that she would come back for one of our usual chats, but I haven't seen her again.”
Elsa turned and started for the stairs. “Thanks, I’ll go find her.”
“And remind her to take that plant with her when she leaves. Nob won’t be happy if he has to fetch water for something else each day.” Barliman waited for a response, but there was none- the woman was already up the stairs and out of sight. He sighed as he looked back to the plant and hoped that he hadn’t just inherited a new item to clean.
Elsa was going to check the kitchen first, but when she walked by the hallway that led toward the back rooms, she spotted the familiar figure sitting in one of the chairs by the fireplace. Addie appeared to be trying to hide her face by holding up a large book; however, her clothes were easily recognizable and there was the slightest glimpse of her pale golden hair over the top. Elsa shook her head at the sight and approached. “Evening, Addie. May I join you?”
Recognizing the voice, Addie slowly lowered the book so that her crystal blue eyes could peek over the top and looked around for any signs of Leon; once confident that he was no where around, she gently closed the book and set it down in her lap. With a bright smile, she gestured to the seat across from her. "Of course, Miss Elsa; you are always welcome to join me."
Elsa returned the smile and sat down. "Find something of interest to read this evening?"
"Unfortunately, I have not,” Addie replied. “I have searched though countless census records for any mention of Ryn's family and I have combed through all the history tomes and scrolls that I could find to see if there is any additional information on Aganalu, but there is nothing… I am afraid that I have exhausted all of the resources here."
"Answers will come in time Addie. Just because they are hidden today does not mean that will be the case tomorrow."
Addie returned her gaze to the book and she let out a small sigh of frustration. "I fear that we are running out of time, Miss Elsa. If there was just... something... one little piece of the puzzle that could help put all of the other things into some kind of logical focus..."
Elsa’s voice maintained a calm confidence as she reassured Addie, “It will happen, usually when we are not trying so hard to find answers.”
Addie’s frustration only seemed to worsen. "If I cannot find answers, Miss Elsa, what good am I? It was one of the reasons that I stayed behind and did not venture into Fornost with the rest. This is the way that I thought I 'could' be of help."
Before Elsa could respond, Nob entered the room and presented Addie with a steaming cup of tea. The blonde woman raised her brow in question since she knew that she had not ordered it. Nob cleared his throat and gently nudged the teacup to one side of the saucer to reveal the note that was hidden underneath. Addie looked to Elsa and then took the note from underneath the cup to read it.
"Addiela of Tol Lochul, We met in the gardens of House Palaniel. Might I have a word?"
Nob waited as she read the note and then cleared his throat again. "Begging your pardon Marm, but they wished a response. What should I be telling them?”
Addie’s brows furrowed in confusion. "This was quite the odd way to ask for an audience, was it not?” Nob just shrugged and waited for an answer. “Very well,” Addie continued. “Would you please inform her that I am happy to meet with her? And tell her that I have the requirement that Miss Elsa is allowed to remain."
Nob bowed to the two and exited the room to deliver the message, taking the tea with him. A few moments later, a nondescript traveler, dressed in clothes so ordinary you would barely even notice her in a crowd, slipped in and pulled up a chair. After looking around, the mysterious figure flipped her hood back to reveal that she was Lyra of the Doves. In her usual businesslike fashion, she greeted the two with a polite smile. "Hail Addiela of Tol Lochúl....and....Ellsabeth of Clapsgate, is it not?”
Elsa nodded, but seemed to be confused as to how this person she had never seen before knew her name. "Yes...that is my name."
Addie knew who the woman was, but since she had taken great care to conceal her identity, she refrained from introducing her to Elsa by name. “This woman is one that we know from Gondor; she is looking into some of the matters that also concern us, specifically dealing with Nethrida's mother.” As Elsa worked to process that information, Addie turned back to Lyra, “Greetings, Miss; it is quite curious to see you here.”
Lyra cast a disdainful look at the quaint room . "Yes, well, there’s never a night of rest for the Scouts.” Her gaze turned back to Addie. “I... well, a mutual friend rather… mentioned that you were in Breeland and that you could be trusted to help us in a small....matter.”
Elsa sat back and quietly listened while Addie inquired, "Might I ask what mutual friend that might be?"
“A certain one eyed scallywag who should remain nameless for the moment.”
Addie nodded, she knew exactly who the woman spoke of.
Never one to beat around the bush, Lyra got right to the point. “I must ask you, Addiela, would you be willing to come to the aid of your adopted home?”
Addie's expression showed some concern. "I am always willing to aid, but it would be unwise of me to agree to something before first understanding the conditions. Seeing that you came all this way to ask this of me in person, it must be rather urgent."
“I needed to come regardless, knowing that you were here simply allowed me to, well, narrow the curve, I suppose... I know that Bite is back in Gondor now, my Captain briefed me on her, and I also know that Bark has gone north for purposes unknown.” Lyra glanced over to Elsa. “We also know of what happened in Arnach...” her gaze lingered there for a moment before returning to Addie, “… but my concerns are here in this lovely village.” She pulled out a small sketch of a portly, middle-aged man, he looked to be both decadent and arrogant. “On your time in Bree, have you seen this man?”
Elsa shook her head. "I cannot say that I have seen anyone like that while traveling the Bree-Lands as of late."
Addie studied the man’s features, but she, too, shook her head, "I do not believe that I have met him before."
“His name is… was Phineon; he was a minor councilman in what Bree laughably refers to as a government… He was moderately corrupt and had debts to several fixers and crime lords. He liked his drinks too dark and his girls too young; and he was always good for a bribe or a favor.”
Addie looked to be confused. “I do not understand. What interest might you and your company have in a matter such as this? It sounds like a criminal met with an end of his own design.”
“He was also one of our assets.”
“Assets?” Elsa and Addie both questioned.
“Yes, an asset... a resource we can make use of. Phineon worked for the Doves; he provided us with information on the local scene and personalities.”
Addie nodded to show that she understood. "An informant..."
Lyra nodded to confirm. “Yes, and he did odd jobs as the need arose… Unfortunately, he is now dead. He was found just outside the city walls a couple weeks back, drowned in eight inches of water.”
Elsa frowned as the topic changed to one of potential murder. "Do you have any leads?"
“None... save that he may not be the first. We have had a half dozen assets go silent over the last few months and Phineon had just been assigned the task to look into the situation. We needed to know if the others had turned, gone on a bender, or had been eliminated… We still haven’t found the other assets or their bodies, Phineon’s is the first that has turned up.”
Addie's eyes widened. "I see… Six disappearances and one confirmed dead? That is quite troublesome indeed. Were these assets trained or were they just ordinary men?"
“Phineon was very careful; he made sure he kept his debts just high enough to keep his contacts happy, but low enough where they felt they would always get paid. He was a professional.”
Elsa didn’t seem convinced. “Sounds like a leak of information from within your network if your assets are being killed by someone.”
Addie sighed, “Unfortunately assassins are professionals as well.” She looked back to Lyra, “Might I ask what these others were reporting on when they disappeared?”
“The six assets that we lost had been looking into other disappearances around this area.”
“More disappearances?” Elsa questioned.
Lyra nodded and gave Addie a pointed look. “Yes… mysterious disappearances that occurred just about the time a certain sweet old lady returned to her old warrens in Ered Luin.” Addie's face turned pale at the realization. “It could all just be a coincidence,” Lyra continued, “but my Captain does not believe in coincidence. As of now, we are assuming those six are dead...or worse.”
Addie took in a deep breath to calm herself. "When that fell spirit is involved, you can always assume the worst."
Lyra studied Addie’s reaction carefully. “This is why I have come to seek your aid. You are familiar with how the little old lady operates... and your eye could be very valuable to us in this matter.”
Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Old lady?"
"It was likely before you were abduc... I mean, ‘recruited’ by the Sisters,” Lyra answered. “She is a person of great interest to your friends, as well as Gondor.”
Addie stated it plainly for Elsa, "Neth's mother… or what was Neth’s mother, now just a shell inhabited by the fell spirit Mans."
Elsa leaned back in her chair. “This is an interesting turn of developments.”
Lyra sighed. "We have never felt a need to keep a large presence in this area; Breeland is... well, it’s nice to retire to with a cup of warm milk, but hardly on the mind of Minas Tirith. However, losing seven assets means that we are practically blind from weathertop to Evendim… and that is just when matters here seem to be growing....fateful.”
Elsa sat back on the edge of her seat again. "Fateful? That sounds rather dangerous.”
“To a certain degree,” Lyra confirmed. “Is there anything these days that is NOT dangerous, Ellsabeth of Clapsgate?”
Elsa thought for a moment and then shook her head. “Nothing that quickly comes to mind.”
Lyra stood up and her posture straightened to show the formality in her next words. “Based on our one eyed friend’s recommendation, I am authorized by my captain to make you a Scout, Addiela, at least on a temporary basis, with all rights to act in pursuit of Gondorian Justice.”
Addie's crystal blue eyes locked on Lyra's. "So, you wish for me to be asset number eight?”
Elsa interjected and boldly declared. "I shall be assisting her. I will not allow her to go alone into a dangerous situation that could cause her injury or worse." She glanced over to Addie with a smile. "I shall stand with you should you wish to do this Addie."
Lyra peered at Elsa in thought for a moment and then nodded her approval. "When the Last Lion first came across this ‘spirit’, she was then tasked by Minas Tirith to deal with the ongoing drain on the war effort posed by Angmar slaving in Eregion… That situation has shown signs of becoming an issue again and we need to know how deeply Kheledûl is involved, if at all. These may just be local criminals that are feeling confident as the rangers depart, but my gut says no.” She looked to Addie once more. “I am not asking that you ride into Kheledûl again....the last time you did that was....complicated. We simply need to know how concerned to be. If Kheledûl did remove our assets, we may be compromised; that is why only myself, my Captain and the one eyed man know I am speaking to you of this.”
Addie considered what was being asked of her. "I am inclined to agree with your gut feeling on the former, but not the latter... It very well may be that your presence is known here. Even so, I will agree to do what you have asked."
Lyra nodded softly. "Gondor thanks you....and hopefully you will find this is all nothing.”
“I still owe a debt to Gondor... If this shall help in any way, then, I shall be glad in knowing that I have been of service.”
Elsa sat back down, but kept her eyes on Lyra. “Where exactly do we start?”
Lyra reached into her pocket and pulled out a key. “This is to Phineon's council office. You should be able to find any information, which he may have kept, there. Remember though, he was an asset of the Doves...but he also had his own interests.”
Elsa thought for a moment before she nodded. "About as good a place as any to start I suppose."
Addie held out her hand for the key. "How shall we reach you?”
“A message may be left for ‘Miss Bolingbrook’ with the innkeeper here or if there is true need or danger, use this…” Lyra reached into another pocket and presented a small tube to the two.
Addie looked at the tube, but did not reach for it. "Might I ask what that is?"
“Crush it; it will emit a dense but highly buoyant purple smoke. I, and perhaps someone else, will see and come to your aid.”
Addie seemed satisfied in that explanation and reached out to take the tube.
“Before I go, there is one last bit of information I can give you... When I arrived here in Bree, I checked for any messages Phineon may have left; there was only one and the innkeeper said he left it in person. The message was only two words...."Three Torches".”
Addie's eyes narrowed in thought as she made a mental note of that. "It is likely he knew he was being watched or followed... a code of some sort."
Elsa pondered it as well, “Three Torches...not much to go on but at least it is a start.”
Lyra turned to leave them to their new task, “Good luck Addiela of Tol Lochul and Ellsabeth of Clapsgate....do try not to get killed.”
Elsa smirked. “We always try to avoid ending up like that. We shall be as careful as possible.”
Addie bowed her head politely to Lyra in a farewell. "May all of our paths lead us to a brighter future."
Lyra flipped up her hood and smiled softly. "That is...a pleasant thought. I understand what Bite sees in you."
Addie softly chuckled at the woman and retorted, "Then you are just as mad as she..."
“Perhaps so....perhaps so… I hope you realize that we don’t want to create rumors or a panic. Let’s keep this to just the three of us; if Bark returns from parts unknown, you can brief her, but no one else.” And with that last agreement, the Scout was gone.
(Continued in Part 2)
