March 18th, Third Age

Halbarad is resting calmly in his private room in the Gondorian wing of the Houses of Healing and is trying to sleep a bit. He doesn't have anything else to do because the warden and his cousin have forbidden him from leaving his bed without aid. This still annoys him greatly as he wants to be out in the air and not stuck in this room. Halbarad knows that he wants to see what is happening for as much as he will be able to see from Minas Tirith. He has never been able to cope well with having no influence over important things nor be able to watch them. It makes him feel useless. The only thing he can do now is resting and sleeping as there is nothing for him to occupy himself with besides brooding. The visits from Aphadon Halbarad greatly enjoys as it takes his mind of any possible brooding. Aphadon is a friend from his youth and also a captain. He has told him not to brood and to take all rest he can while he has the time for it. That way Halbarad will be up and about earlier. When Aphadon comes to visit Halbarad can talk to someone about what is on his mind. This is really refreshing as it calms him down from worrying.

Just as Halbarad is about to fall asleep he hears the door to his room opening and turns to look to see who is coming to visit him. He is surprised to see that it is the warden, master Neston. Halbarad learned his name during one of the warden's previous visits. It still surprises him that the warden himself checks on him. Halbarad believes that Neston has enough work to do and doesn't need to take on more work when one of the other healers is more than capable of doing it. When he mentioned it to Neston Halbarad got an annoyed reaction. Master Neston told him that he always personally checks on the important patients in the houses of healing. After a short discussion, Halbarad admitted defeat for it became clear to him that he wouldn't be able to win. Ever since he has allowed master Neston to check on his wounds.

"Good morning, my lord. Did you rest well tonight?" Master Neston asks with an expected look on his face.

"I had a good night and thus rested well. In fact, I was trying to sleep a bit more when you came in." Halbarad tells master Neston. He gave this answer for he could tell that master Neston expected such an answer from him.

"That is a good thing, my lord. I do hope you will be able to rest a bit after I have checked on your wound." Master Neston says while moving closer to the bed Halbarad is lying in. He doesn't show any particular reaction to the reaction he got on his question. Master Neston takes his time to carefully check the wound. He doesn't want to miss anything that could cause troubles in the future. Once master Neston is satisfied that he has seen everything he needs to see he turns back to Halbarad and says.

"My lord, your wound is healing well. I believe that only a scar will be left by this wound once it is fully healed."

"That is good to hear. Does that mean that I can finally leave this room?" Halbarad asks hopefully. If he is honest with himself than he has had enough of spending so much time inside. He feels that urgently needs to spend time outside or he will lose his mind. He knows that he never liked spending much time inside buildings unless it is considered necessary. Even then he takes every opportunity he can find to leave the building and spend some time outside.

"No, my lord. You need to rest for another two days. Afterward, you can go outside for a short time if you wish to do so. You can't be outside for long in the beginning as you need to build up strength again. You need to slowly increase the time you spend outside. That way you won't get a setback." Master Neston explains and waits for an answer from his patient.

"Thank you, master Neston. It greatly eases my heart to know that I soon will be able to go outside. I will, of course, take someone with me the first few days that I go outside." Halbarad tells the warden in an attempt to pacify him.

"That is good to hear, my lord. I will leave you now so that you can rest. I have other patients that need my care. Good day, my lord." The warden tells Halbarad and promptly leaves the room.

Halbarad is glad to know that soon he will be able to go outside. Also, he is grateful that the warden left a few hours before Aphadon arrives. Once his friend is here then it will be unlikely that he will get much rest for the remainder of the day. The time he has left Halbarad decides to make the most of by resting.


A few hours later a DĂșnedain captain names Aphadon enters the room Halbarad is staying in. Aphadon is a DĂșnedain of around eighty-five years of age. His injuries are still healing and visible for he still has a bandage around his head and a bandaged arm in a sling. These injuries are the result of a hit over the head during the battle. The hit knocked him out and when he fell he cut his arm open on the armor of a dead orc. He was quite lucky that no enemy noticed that he was just unconscious. If they had then he would surely have been killed even though at that time he was defenseless. For that Halbarad is glad because it means that he didn't lose a good friend.

"Good morning, Mellon nin. Did you rest well tonight?" Aphadon asks once he took a seat on the chair that stands near Halbarad's bed. He knows that his friend will have expected him for whenever one of them is injured the other always come to visit.

"Good morning to you too, Aphadon. I did have a good night rest until the warden and you interrupted my peaceful rest. Can you not give an injured person the time to take the rest he needs?" Halbarad asks teasingly. He can't leave out the opportunity to tease his friend a bit. When Halbarad looks at Aphadon he can tell that his friend is curious about the visit of the warden.

"I would have given nearly everyone the rest they need except you. You deserve to have your rest interrupted by me." Aphadon answers with laughter in his eye. He is glad that his friend can still banter with him as it shows that his friend is not so badly injured as he feared.

"You are the worst friend I ever had. Get out!" Halbarad answers back.

"No, I won't. You'll have to learn to deal with it" Aphadon says before his expression grows serious and he asks.

"Well, what did the warden tell you?"

"He told me that my wound is healing well and that in two days' time I will be allowed to leave the room for short periods of time. To pacify him I gave him my word that I will take someone with me the first few days. Do you know anyone who could accompany me then?" Halbarad asks. He wants to know who will be able to accompany him so that he knows what he can do and talk about.

"A good thing you did that, mellon nin. And yes, I know a few of our men who will be able to accompany you in two days' time." Aphadon answers. He shares a room with everyone else who came from the north to the aide of their lord and was injured in the fighting. They are all jealous that Halbarad has been given a private room. They would have liked to share it with him because then their room would not feel so crowded as it does now. That his friend needs to rest for the next two days doesn't surprise Aphadon at all considering what he knows of his friend's injury.

"That is good to know. Will you inform them?" Halbarad asks because he won't be able to approach them. Also, if they don't know that they are to accompany him then it will not be possible for him to leave the room in two days' time. And that is something which he wants to avoid at all cost. Once he receives a nod in acknowledgment from Aphadon he asks.

"What did you come to talk about, Mellon nin? I'm sure that you did not come to simply talk about my injuries."

"No, I did not. I would like to talk about what we will be doing in the coming days. I have heard that the lord Elfhelm has been left in charge of the cities safety. Also, I heard that our lord and most of the uninjured have left for Morannon. Do you possibly know what they will be doing there?" Aphadon asks. He hopes that Halbarad knows the answers to his questions because that would take some worry from him. He doesn't like it when he has nothing to do. He wants to help out as much as he is able to.

"I do know that they are marching on to Morannon and will be making a last stand there against the enemy. That is what I have managed to gather, but I also have the impression that it is not the real reason for them to leave. But for what that reason is, I have no idea. Aragorn didn't tell me that and I believe that there are but few in the city to know the real reason. I haven't met those people yet thus can't tell you what the real reason is for the march. But for what we will be doing, I imagine that we will spend most of our time recovering from our injuries. If you want to do something I suggest you ask the healers if there is something which you can do to help them. I imagine that there is little else for you to do until you are fully recovered." Halbarad tells his friend. He can sympathize with him when it concerns doing nothing but knows that there is nothing to do about it. Until both are fully recovered they will not be able to do a lot unless there are emergencies.

"Of course the lord chieftain would not tell you that. If you don't accompany him then you will only know what you need to now and nothing more. You would do the same were you in his position, am I right?" Aphadon asks. After Halbarad confirms it he says.

"As for asking the healers for something to do, I will surely act on your recommendation. You, Mellon, won't be able to do that as you need to ensure that you fully recover. I'm sure Annel will be more than relieved to know that you are alive and recovering from your injuries." Aphadon says with a glint in his eyes. Halbarad instantly knows what he is aiming at.

"I know my wife will be happy when she learns that I'm alive and recovering once she receives a message about it. When she sees me again she will more than likely skin me alive for nearly dying and making her a widow." Halbarad answers with a laugh. He acts jovially about it but what he says he means seriously. He knows that his wife will do what he said she would do because she loves him deeply and doesn't want to lose him any time soon. Whenever he had to go on a patrol she would fret about his safety and health until the day he returned home. She was always incredibly relieved to see him returning to him even if he came back injured. At those times she would nurse him back to health. It always served to amuse the entire village. No matter how often they have witnessed it. They would say that it is a show of her love for him to do so. It would always serve to annoy him as he wants to take care of himself and doesn't like relying on others.

"Why don't you write her then? The people here would surely ensure that you have everything you need to write to your wife." Aphadon says. He knows that Annel would be more relieved to receive a message from her husband than from anyone else informing her about her husband's survival. He knows that the healers will give Halbarad what he needs to write his wife is he asks for it.

"I would do so if I could be sure that is is possible to send a messenger north. I don't know enough to be able to determine if a messenger can be sent north safely. Besides I don't know if the city can miss them nor do I know if a messenger can leave the city at all. But most importantly I do not know if the road is safe. I am not willing to send a messenger north and possibly into his own death. That is why I will have to be patient. Hopefully, in time, I will learn if it is possible to send a messenger north." Halbarad says. He has his doubts if it is possible to send a messenger for as long as there is no message from the march to Morannen. He intends to wait for so long with sending a message to his wife. If it goes wrong then he knows that there is still a chance that he will die in an attempt to allow the wounded and healers to escape the city. He doesn't want to give Annel hope only for her to learn later on that he was killed. He doesn't want her hope for his return to be crushed. He believes that it is better to have her wait anxiously for news than to hope for his return and have it crushed later on.

"Well, if you have made up your mind then I won't argue with you. I will leave you to rest for the remainder of the day. Unless of course, someone else decides to disturb your rest. I hope you will have a good day, my lord Halbarad" Aphadon says formally. He only acts like this to annoy his friend a bit. The reaction always tells something about his friends state of mind.

Halbarad gives Aphadon a mean scowl because he doesn't like it when his friend acts like this. He decides to rest for the remainder of the day and hopes that he won't be disturbed by anyone wanting to talk to him. He keeps eye contact with Aphadon until Aphadon looks away. Then Aphadon stands up and walks out fo the room. At the same time Halbarad turns his head away from him and doesn't say anything. He knows that his friend won't take it as an offense but understands that he is displeased with behavior.

Aphadon meanwhile calmly leaves the room happy with the reaction he got from his friend. His behavior will have lifted Halbarad's spirit some and that is what he intended to do. Even though Halbarad is currently displeased with his behavior. As he leaves the room he sees a Gondorian walking away from the garden. Aphadon knows that the garden is in that direction from which the Gondorian came for he took a walk in the garden during the early hours of this morning. He nods once to the Gondorian and continues on his way back to his own room.

Meanwhile, the Gondorian is surprised by what he heard. He heard the last part of the conversation that took place in the room. He finds it strange that a lord has a room in the Gondorian wing and not the noble wing where all the injured nobility has a room. Normally, only the common men will reside in this wing of the houses of healing. He decides that he will talk with the warden about what he heard. He wants to have this situation sorted out.