Caroly- I would have updated sooner, but my computer wasn't letting me log in for some reason. And congrats on the good guess.

Disclaimer: Lt. Calmacil, Tarfea, Dinanna, and Nenlom are mine, but nothing else is.

CHAPTER THREE

"The message was from Mithrandir," Boromir told Father later. I waited tensely by the door, wondering how deeply he would be questioned about the encounter. "He was saying something about the problems of wizards, which is not something I care much for, so I only listened with half a mind and do not remember everything, but I'm sure Faramir could describe our conversation in more depth than I could."

Here, I held my breath. This was the critical moment in our careful planning. We had chosen each word carefully with the knowledge that neither of us would every directly lie to Father, indeed, I never lied at all; so our only defense against his questioning was to be as vague as possible and hope that he wouldn't interrogate us further. And it was also a fact that the lord Denethor cared more for the thoughts of his elder son, so that was another thing to work for us and contributed to his last statement.

Father did cast a quick glance at me, but his eyes soon returned to rest on Boromir. "No," he said, "the Grey Pilgrim's business does not interest me, either."

I could have sighed with relief, but my father was too skilled at reading what was in peoples' hearts and minds, and I feared he would have picked up on it too easily. So I did not allow myself any change in expression until Boromir and I were in the palace gardens, casually wandering the many paths. We both appeared appropriately more relaxed than we had been in the throne room, but inwardly, we were both feeling a conflict of emotions.

On the one hand, we had just escaped from the meeting with our father without him discovering our plans, but on the other, we still had to find the wizards and gather information successfully before anyone caught on. A rumor that the wizard/advisors had been seen recently in the garden had led us to that location, and soon after we arrived there, we were stopped by a messenger. He happened to be a guard from the advisors' palace. He had been stationed there only about a month, having just transferred from the army, so I didn't know him very well. And he hadn't quite gotten a grasp on the concept of formality, which came and went in erratic waves. But he did have a military stiffness which I was actually more inclined to appreciate at times.

"I was instructed to give this to you, Captain," he said, handing me a scroll.

"Thank you, lieutenant." My attention went instantly from Lt. Calmacil to the message. I eagerly unrolled it and scanned its contents, and after a slightly annoyed cough from Boromir, I showed him as well. It read:

'Captain Faramir,

Not all of the wizards are evil, and I hope you may avoid painful mistakes of misidentity. Please remember that you still have friends.

Yours, Anon.'

Boromir raised his eyebrows curiously, his expression asking, "Mithrandir?" I shook my head. It wasn't his handwriting.

"Will there be a response, Captain?" Calmacil asked.

"No, thank you, lieutenant." He turned to leave. "Lieutenant," I called after him, "who told you to give this to me?"

"I am not allowed to say." He didn't stammer, but he did seem extremely uncomfortable with the question.

"What if I order you to tell me?"

"He ordered me not to, and he has a higher rank than you."

"What about..."

"Or you." He cut off Boromir's question, but rather than looking offended, my brother shrugged and dismissed him; then the two of us watched him go.

"One of the advisors then," Boromir observed. "Probably one of the three... What are their names, again?"

"Tarfea, Dinanna, and Nenlom. But I do not believe it was any of them."

"Not their writing?"

"Not their style," I corrected. "Which of them would abbreviate anything? They don't even use contractions."

"Good point," he conceded. "But if it's not them, how does our anonymous 'friend' know about the wizards?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, I felt a sharp blow to the back of my head and passed from consciousness.