The moon guided him by night and sun by day,
but Middlestar showed no sign of weariness.
On the third day Constantine reached the inn where he knew prince Arshae would stay for two days before he continued his journey with a friend.
The "Night Shadow Inn" was a popular meeting place for elves, men, dwarves and hobbits with the best ale out of all the nearby countries.
Constantine led Middlestar over to the guest stables where he spotted prince Arshae's horse Nemphis, a beautiful lightbrown horse with a silver-grey mane and tail.
Middlestar was left in the stable between a white and a grey pony before Constantine entered the inn.
The room was filled with laughter, loud discussions, smoke and sounds of the goblets and pints meeting each other in toasts. Luckily prince Arshae was never hard to find in a crowd of people, for he was either entertaining or being entertained. His laughter was like happy roars easily heard over the noise in the inn so Constantine made his way through men, elves, dwarves and other strange creatures.
"Prince Arshae" he spoke when he saw the noble man in a chair by the wall.
All eyes were turned in Constantine's direction, but with a gesture from the prince they all returned to their tables and continued their discussions and drinking.
"Ah Constantine" Arshae smiled. "What brings you here my friend?"
Constantine looked around the room, but too many ears were eager to listen and it was not safe to speak the matter in here.
"Sir, I need to speak with you, in private" he told the prince.
Arshae got out of his seat and slightly nodded towards the stairs.
"Let us go to my room" he suggested.
The room was proper, but not big.
Enough it was for a bypasser though, and the bed was king-sized with handmade blankets and dunefilled pillows. A quite small table and two wooden chairs were placed in one corner of the room, where Arshae got seated.
"Let me hear what your heart carries Mr. Constantine" He spoke and gestured him to come closer while putting a pipe to his lips.
"I have come to warn you Prince Arshae. I was called to a secret council on the day of your departure Sir, and plans are made to follow you... and to kill you"
Prince Arshae took the pipe out of his mouth and stared at the tall black-haired, young (97 years old) man in front of him.
"Who are you speaking of?"
"Nine men sir, among them is Colstedt and Master Maximillian"
"I do not understand. Colstedt is my friend Constantine, these are serious accusations"
Constantine took another step closer to Arshae.
"Yes Sir, but I was there and they intend to kill you if they need to do so, and everyone who comes in their way"
"Why?"
"They want to find Valinor Sir, they call it justice for men"
Prince Arshae got out of his chair and started to pace around the room with a troubled look upon his face.
"I have to leave for the Grey Havens early tomorrow" He finally said. "But I will need to take a different road"
Constantine went down on one knee. "I follow you Prince Arshae and with my sword I will protect you"
Arshae put the pipe back in his mouth.
"Rest now Constantine for I can see that you are tired"
"There is one more thing Sir" Constantine said. "Colstedt have many friends on this side of the country. He may send messengers to gather a troop. We must be careful and trust nobody"
"I see, thank you Constantine, now rest and I will wake you in the morning"
Constantine bowed politely and left to get some sleep, but it was hard, for darkness crept in to his dreams and worried him.
Before the sun had fully arisen the next morning, prince Arshae awaked Constantine.
"There is breakfast for you on the table" He said and lay off his olive-green cloak on a chair.
"I have sent messengers to many friends along the road to let them know we are coming"
Constantine was quickly dressed and ate the breakfast containing dark bread, warm milk and some dried fruit.
"My journey will be longer than expected and I will have to wait for the next ship I am afraid" Prince Arshae explained and picked up the cloak from the chair. "If I live to see water"
Constantine nearly lost his breath. "But Sir, you can not mean what you are saying"
Prince Arshae sat down on the opposite side of the table from his friend.
"If there is something I have learnt from my so called friendship with Closeted it is that he is not a man to underestimate Constantine. He is older than me, older than us both together and has fought in many battles.
Colstedt know how to get men on his side and how to make them believe that his words are wise"
Constantine dried off breadcrumbs from his chin with the back of his hand and swallowed before he answered.
"But when my friends are with us, we are five all together and with our strength, we can defeat them, can we not Sir?"
Prince Arshae stood up and turned to the circled window behind the table.
"They will be more than 10, more than 15 and surly more than 20 men all together" he spoke. "I can not tell you all I know, but long a go I was given a warning"
Constantine stopped chewing on the new bread piece. Instead he tried to understand what his master was talking about. "A warning? Against what Sir?"
Prince Arshae turned back to face Constantine. "I can not tell you, not now and not here"
"I see Sir" was Constantine's answer. "I just hope I was not part of that warning"
Arshae smiled weakly and fastened the cloak under his chin with a brooch in the shape of a blue flower and a white star in the middle. It was the symbol of his country and Constantine had one too, but his cloak was light-grey instead of Arshae's royal colour of olives.
"We must go now"
The two friends picked up their light baggage and left their rooms to begin a long journey.
but Middlestar showed no sign of weariness.
On the third day Constantine reached the inn where he knew prince Arshae would stay for two days before he continued his journey with a friend.
The "Night Shadow Inn" was a popular meeting place for elves, men, dwarves and hobbits with the best ale out of all the nearby countries.
Constantine led Middlestar over to the guest stables where he spotted prince Arshae's horse Nemphis, a beautiful lightbrown horse with a silver-grey mane and tail.
Middlestar was left in the stable between a white and a grey pony before Constantine entered the inn.
The room was filled with laughter, loud discussions, smoke and sounds of the goblets and pints meeting each other in toasts. Luckily prince Arshae was never hard to find in a crowd of people, for he was either entertaining or being entertained. His laughter was like happy roars easily heard over the noise in the inn so Constantine made his way through men, elves, dwarves and other strange creatures.
"Prince Arshae" he spoke when he saw the noble man in a chair by the wall.
All eyes were turned in Constantine's direction, but with a gesture from the prince they all returned to their tables and continued their discussions and drinking.
"Ah Constantine" Arshae smiled. "What brings you here my friend?"
Constantine looked around the room, but too many ears were eager to listen and it was not safe to speak the matter in here.
"Sir, I need to speak with you, in private" he told the prince.
Arshae got out of his seat and slightly nodded towards the stairs.
"Let us go to my room" he suggested.
The room was proper, but not big.
Enough it was for a bypasser though, and the bed was king-sized with handmade blankets and dunefilled pillows. A quite small table and two wooden chairs were placed in one corner of the room, where Arshae got seated.
"Let me hear what your heart carries Mr. Constantine" He spoke and gestured him to come closer while putting a pipe to his lips.
"I have come to warn you Prince Arshae. I was called to a secret council on the day of your departure Sir, and plans are made to follow you... and to kill you"
Prince Arshae took the pipe out of his mouth and stared at the tall black-haired, young (97 years old) man in front of him.
"Who are you speaking of?"
"Nine men sir, among them is Colstedt and Master Maximillian"
"I do not understand. Colstedt is my friend Constantine, these are serious accusations"
Constantine took another step closer to Arshae.
"Yes Sir, but I was there and they intend to kill you if they need to do so, and everyone who comes in their way"
"Why?"
"They want to find Valinor Sir, they call it justice for men"
Prince Arshae got out of his chair and started to pace around the room with a troubled look upon his face.
"I have to leave for the Grey Havens early tomorrow" He finally said. "But I will need to take a different road"
Constantine went down on one knee. "I follow you Prince Arshae and with my sword I will protect you"
Arshae put the pipe back in his mouth.
"Rest now Constantine for I can see that you are tired"
"There is one more thing Sir" Constantine said. "Colstedt have many friends on this side of the country. He may send messengers to gather a troop. We must be careful and trust nobody"
"I see, thank you Constantine, now rest and I will wake you in the morning"
Constantine bowed politely and left to get some sleep, but it was hard, for darkness crept in to his dreams and worried him.
Before the sun had fully arisen the next morning, prince Arshae awaked Constantine.
"There is breakfast for you on the table" He said and lay off his olive-green cloak on a chair.
"I have sent messengers to many friends along the road to let them know we are coming"
Constantine was quickly dressed and ate the breakfast containing dark bread, warm milk and some dried fruit.
"My journey will be longer than expected and I will have to wait for the next ship I am afraid" Prince Arshae explained and picked up the cloak from the chair. "If I live to see water"
Constantine nearly lost his breath. "But Sir, you can not mean what you are saying"
Prince Arshae sat down on the opposite side of the table from his friend.
"If there is something I have learnt from my so called friendship with Closeted it is that he is not a man to underestimate Constantine. He is older than me, older than us both together and has fought in many battles.
Colstedt know how to get men on his side and how to make them believe that his words are wise"
Constantine dried off breadcrumbs from his chin with the back of his hand and swallowed before he answered.
"But when my friends are with us, we are five all together and with our strength, we can defeat them, can we not Sir?"
Prince Arshae stood up and turned to the circled window behind the table.
"They will be more than 10, more than 15 and surly more than 20 men all together" he spoke. "I can not tell you all I know, but long a go I was given a warning"
Constantine stopped chewing on the new bread piece. Instead he tried to understand what his master was talking about. "A warning? Against what Sir?"
Prince Arshae turned back to face Constantine. "I can not tell you, not now and not here"
"I see Sir" was Constantine's answer. "I just hope I was not part of that warning"
Arshae smiled weakly and fastened the cloak under his chin with a brooch in the shape of a blue flower and a white star in the middle. It was the symbol of his country and Constantine had one too, but his cloak was light-grey instead of Arshae's royal colour of olives.
"We must go now"
The two friends picked up their light baggage and left their rooms to begin a long journey.