The remainder of that week was, and remains, mostly a blur for me. I remember returning to Gondor that night, though it was late when we reached the city gates. And it was in Gondor that I stayed for some time before I could allow myself to return home, broken as it was. My attendants returned to care for my estate, but I bid them to clean the blood from play room without touching the scattered toys of my children. I wanted it to remain as normal as possible, but I did not have the heart to right away return to it.
In all events, the week progressed and together, Aragorn, Gimli, and myself followed what leads we had to tracking down the boys who had murdered my family. For us, it became much more than a task, but an obsession. And day by day, we came closer to finding them. Our leads concerning the daggers turned out to be dead-ended, for the handful of knife shops in the city had recently sold hunting daggers that would have been too large to make the small wounds my family had borne. On this, there is no denying that we felt disappointed and slightly discouraged. But luckily, for us, we still had our lead with Darius the Bootmaker.
It was a cool, windy day when we entered his shop, the overwhelming smell of new leather assaulting our senses. Gimli and I hung back slightly, allowing Aragorn to do the talking. Darius was nowhere in sight, so I rung the small silver bell on the counter. A few moments passed before Darius emerged from the back, holding a new pair of hunting boots in his hands, but not before he called out from behind the thick red curtains.
"Just a moment if you please! I have your order in hand, I just need to put a few more stitches in the right one. I'll be right with you Master Elkton."
When he finally did emerge, I gave him a look over. He was a short, portly man with thick black hair and a pleasant face who wheezed slightly when he spoke. At seeing us, especially Aragorn, he dropped the boots on a low table behind the counter and bowed, apologizing as he did so.
"Begging your pardon my lord. I mistook you for Master Elkton. He was to come by and pick up his boots this afternoon, so when you rang, I thought you were him. A thousand apologies."
Aragorn shook his head. "It's quite alright Darius."
"Is there something I can do for you? A new pair of boots perhaps? Ah, but I have no such leather as worthy for royal feet. Give me but three more days and I will have such leather as would be fit for you."
Aragorn smiled. "That is a kind offer, but I am afraid that is not what we have come here for. We come seeking information."
"Ah," Darius said. "Let me just close shop for a bit, so we are not interrupted."
He went to make for the door, but I just waved for him to stay. I crossed the creaking wooden floor to the door and drew the bolt into the lock after flipping the small window sign to the "closed" side. Now we all sat on chairs that Darius drew out from his back workshop. They were old looking and badly worn in places, but they were clean and we gladly took a seat. Aragorn sat forward a little, as if he were sharing a secret with Darius and from the small pouch that hung at his side, he produced the measuring sticks he'd made at my estate. But these he did not right away address, but placed them on a small, round top table in the center of our chairs.
"Darius, there is information that we are in desperate need of. There has been a terrible crime committed in the kingdom, and I believe that you may hold the key to solving the mystery behind who committed it," Aragorn began.
"Surely, my lord, you do not think I had anything to do with it!"
"No, of course not. But I think that you may know who was involved, whether or not you realize it. I need to know all of your most recent sales, from say, the last two weeks or so."
Darius thought for a moment. "I have sold many pairs of boots to the men of the city. It would take a while for me to make you up a list."
"These would not have been for men," I said, speaking up for the first time. "Have you sold any to boys lately?"
"These sticks mark the length of the boot tracks we found at the crime site," Aragorn said, handing the two over.
These Darius studied for several long moments, occasionally looking up to the ceiling, as if in thought. Once or twice he closed his eyes, scrunching up his brow, with mummers of the fact that he was trying to visualize all those who he'd made a sale to. At length, he opened his eyes again.
"I have not sold boots this size in a long while," he said at last.
Panic rose within me, as I saw the last of our leads slipping away, like sand in an hourglass.
"But there were two pairs that I had stolen from my shop last week," Darius continued at last. "Two young boys came in. The shop was busy, as there were a group of Lord Legolas' people here, all wanting to buy new boots. The boys came in then, and as I was busy, they made off with a pair of boots each."
"Were they this size, do you think?" Gimli asked.
"I would say so, yes," Darius said, nodding his head. You see those shelves over against the walls? I keep my boots lined up by size and make, so as to make things easy for my customers when they come in. The stolen boots were kept over there, being just one size in difference." He pointed out to two empty spaces on the shabby wooden shelves. "So yes, I would venture to say that they were about the size that you are looking for. In fact, I was about to make new pairs to fill in those spaces tonight. My shop has been rather busy this past week."
"Do you know the names of the boys? Were they familiar to you?" Aragorn asked.
Darius nodded. "They were two brothers…Tenoan and Eleros by name. Their father was one of your guards, I believe, but he died last year. Now just the mother raises them."
"Tenoan and Eleros. Their father was Anteron," Aragorn said, thinking aloud it seemed. "They live not far from here, I believe."
"Three alleyways down and to the left," Darius said. "I know the family, and I know that they've fallen on hard times since Anteron's death. That's why I never bothered chasing them down for payment for the boots."
A sudden knock at the door broke the somber mood of the discussion. Darius peered around Aragorn to see Elkton standing just outside of the window. Aragorn stood, with Gimli and myself following his lead.
"Please, go and reopen your shop. You have given us priceless information and I thank you," he said.
"I hope the boys have not gone and got themselves into too much trouble," Darius said, thoughtfully. "They're good boys, but a little misguided at times."
"I am afraid that at the moment, they are in great trouble," Aragorn replied, dismay in his voice. He had known both boys since they had been born, and their father had been well respected within the palace. "Thank you once again Darius."
"My pleasure to help if I can," came the reply.
