Chapter one – Spy Games
"I will not tolerate such behaviour in my city! I want them crushed!" King Aragorn II Elessar punched the table really hard, releasing his anger and frustration, as its sound startled everyone around it. He got up from his chair in the meeting room where matters of warfare were discussed and started to walk back and forth. He passed his hand through his hair and beard, thinking of what to do, as he looked at his generals seated at the table. Nine years had passed since Aragorn was proclaimed King of Gondor and Arnor. He had achieved many things so far, he had overcome many evils and he was now known as the king of the Reunited Kingdom of the Dúnedain.
But yet something that seemed so simple and so easy to achieve was still incomplete, and it was something that Aragorn despised above all things. He was outraged with the fact that his White City was not yet a model of peace and freedom as he wanted it to be. The gangs and thieves guilds that once had ran somewhat freely in the city were now almost completely erased. But Aragorn wanted more! He wanted them permanently eradicated, so that the city could live in peace and harmony.
They had assembled a plan some months ago to infiltrate the guild that controlled a great part of the underworld and have been giving him headaches since he had become king – the Silver Cloak guild! - and it had been successful for quite some time, the results were very satisfactory and according to plan, the final and definitive blow against the guild was just a couple of months away. They just needed more thorough information of the guilds movements and business and it would be end of those bastards. But unfortunately, as Aragorn thought, clenching his fists with fury, it all went sour when the spy they had infiltrated on the guild was caught… The poor man's body was found just that morning on the main square, with clear signs of torture and impressive sadism.
Aragorn took a deep breath, calming down a bit and moved again towards the table and put his hands on it, looking fiercely at his generals.
"My friends, any ideas on how will we solve these matters? It has become my main priority to "clean" the White City of those filthy beasts and it should be yours as well." He looked at his men as he thought of some sort of plan or strategy to apply to the case. The generals looked at each other, confused and puzzled, not knowing exactly what to do or what to say.
"Sire." Said one of the younger generals and as Aragorn nodded to him, he continued. "So far all our efforts have accomplished quite satisfactory results. But as we all witnessed this morning our foes are cunning. That brave man was a good person, and it was a damn good spy. He trained under my command when he joined the guards, and I know that if they caught him it's because their skills are beyond the average level. So, it is my opinion we must change the course of our actions, and act swiftly this time."
"Yes, I believe you are right. But how will we accomplish this?" Aragorn asked, wishing that someone in that room would come up with a good plan, because he, despite his best efforts, could not.
"I agree with you, Elaran." said an older Gondorian. "Sire, if you permit me, I think I have a good idea on how we should act now." Aragorn smiled, proud of his men. He nodded and gestured so that the general could continue.
"Speak, Herion. Tell us of your plan."
Aragorn laid back on his big chair, in front of his office desk. On top of the desk were various papers related to the governing of his kingdom. The draught of the past summer gave Aragorn many sleepless nights, as he and his advisors struggled to make up ways to keep his people fed with the resources of previous years. Luckily the winter was rainy and there were good perspectives on the following year.
However, these matters seemed trivial in Aragorn's head. Lately all he could think of was the criminal life of Minas Tirith. How he despised the gangs that once walked unchecked through its streets. The time had come to finally put an end in those matters and start another chapter of the life in the White City. The time has come for him to…
"Come in." Aragorn ordered, as a knock on the door took him away from his thoughts. Instantly a guard open the door and bowed to his king and nervously said:
"I apologise to disturb you, your majesty, but…" But he was stopped by Aragorn, who added quickly:
"I did say not to be disturbed. What is the matter?"
"The Prince of Ithilien, Lord Faramir, Steward of Gondor as just arrived to the city, my lord. He crossed the main gate a few moments ago."
"So soon? Perfect…" Aragorn got up and walked around his desk and addressed the nervous guard again. "Inform Prince Faramir to meet me at the entrance of the gardens. I wish to speak to him alone. Also tell Eldiron to come to my office as quickly as possible. You may go now."
"As you wish, my lord." The guard said, as he bowed with and closed the door on his way out.
The king quickly sorted up the papers on his desk and soon there was another knock on the door. Aragorn ordered the person to enter and a middle-aged servant opened the door and bowed to him.
"You summoned me, my liege?"
"Yes, I did Eldiron." Aragorn said and walked up to his servant. "I want you to go to the meeting of the counsellors and tell them to act as we discussed last night, concerning the food supplies."
"Right away, sire. Do you wish anything else?"
Aragorn scratched his chin and took a few moments to answer. "I'll have you do another thing. I want you to go to the stables and prepare one of the spare horses there to leave soon. However, you will speak of this to no one, I want you to do this yourself, in secrecy."
"But your majesty, will you not have your own horse prepared?" Said Eldiron a bit surprised.
Aragorn shook his head and said firmly: "No! I want another horse prepared to leave. And use no military equipment. Have the horse saddled with some old equipment. Go now and make haste."
Eldiron looked even more surprised, but dared not to question the king's decision. "It is done, your majesty." He bowed and turned to leave the Aragorn's office, but he was stopped by the king.
"Remember Eldiron, I do not want you to tell this to anyone." Eldiron bowed yet again and walked away.
Aragorn looked around his office and decided that it was time to leave. He walked through the long corridors of the palace on his way to the gardens outside. Many guards were on the corridors, all of them bowed to the passing King. After some moments he reached the gardens and saw that Faramir was already there waiting for him, sitting on a bench.
"It is good to see you my friend!" Aragorn walked towards him, smiling. As soon as Faramir noticed Aragorn coming, he got up and bowed.
"I made haste as soon as you summoned me, my King!"
Aragorn laughed and put his right hand on Faramir's left shoulder. "Please Faramir, no formalities. I have enough of that on my own." Faramir smiled back at Aragorn and shook his head teasingly.
"I see that you haven't grown used to the formalities."
"No, my friend. I have not. I've had many names, but never had I so many used at the same time in such a short time. It's 'my liege this', 'your majesty that', 'my lord', 'sire'… and list goes on!" Aragorn laughed and pointed towards the garden. "Will you accompany me in a walk?"
Faramir nodded and they started to walk. The inner gardens of the palace were of a fair size and they were practically alone there, so they could talk privately.
"What of Éowyn?" Aragorn asked Faramir. "How is she?"
"Éowyn is well. She went to spend some weeks in Rohan with Éomer, her brother."
"Those are comforting news. I have not seen her for while now. Her brother as well, for that matter."
"And how is your Queen, Arwen?" added Faramir. Aragorn looked at the gardens with dreamy eyes before replying.
"She is doing very well." Aragorn stopped walking and faced Faramir with a smile on his face. "You know, I like being a King. For a long time I did not think it, but now that I've reached this point I feel I was made for this. But I will be honest with you, I would not last long without Arwen. She is the cornerstone of my kingdom and no matter what the history books will say in the future every deed I have done and will accomplish is all due to her support." Faramir laughed and patted his friend's shoulder.
"I am glad, my friend. Very glad indeed." They started walking again, but this time they walked in silence. They walked all around the gardens and after a while they were back to where they had started. Faramir sighed, knowing they could not avoid the subject that had brought him to the palace.
"Are you sure you want to go through with this? I am sure there are other ways, you should not put yourself at this kind of risk." Aragorn sighed and was about to reply when a patrol of guards passed by. They saluted the King and the Steward, who saluted back, and the guards continued on their path. The King waited until the guards were out of sight and finally said:
"I must do it. What kind of king am I, if I want things done but never move from my throne!" Faramir was about to reply, but Aragorn raised his hand and did not allow him. "No, it must be this way!" He turned away and started walking out of the garden. "Please, come with me."
"Where are we going?" Faramir asked, following his king out of the garden.
"You'll see… I have something I'd like you to see." Aragorn kept walking, as he led Faramir through the halls and corridors of the palace. At first Faramir did not know what Aragorn wanted, nor where he was leading him, but knowing the palace as he knew it he soon realised where they were going: up to one of the towers. When they got there, Aragorn opened the door of a room and entered, with Faramir right behind him.
The room was small and simple. It seemed like a storage room, but there was nothing stored in the room, nothing but a simple chair that was in front of the only window of the room. Aragorn moved to the window and opened it, signalling Faramir to look through it. The steward did so and was amazed with what he saw.
"I found this room when I got lost in the palace, some months after I was crowned King." Aragorn started "It was a simple storage room. Seemed to have little use, for it was almost empty. The window was open, however, and I entered to close it and I saw for the first time what you are seeing now." Faramir looked at his friend, unsure what to say or what Aragorn meant with all this.
"There are many balconies in this palace, many places that are higher than this storage room, where your eyes can reach farther away. But none gives you this view of the White City… My city…" They both stared at the city in silence, admiring the sublime sight the window allowed them to have. After a while Aragorn continued:
"I have asked myself if this is purely a coincidence or it was a secret of whoever designed the palace. But after that night, I have ordered that it should be cleaned and a chair should be put here, and I came here repeatedly, when time allowed me, and spent endless time doing nothing but staring at the city." With an effort, Faramir removed his gaze from the view and turned to his friend.
"I had no knowledge of such a room. And no knowledge of such a view…"
"Do you understand now why I must do this? I cannot leave such a task to anyone else's hands…"
"Then let me do it! I'll go! Surely you trust my skills…" Faramir quickly added, but Aragorn strongly shook his head.
"I am sorry my friend, this task is meant for me and me alone. I do trust your skills, which is why I have asked you to take care of the affairs of the kingdom while I'm away." Faramir tried to argue, but Aragorn put his hand on his friend's shoulder and said:
"I do not force you to do it. I'm not asking this as a king, and I don't want you to answer me as a prince. I am asking you this as a friend, as a brother."
Faramir shook his head and sighed. He leaned over on the window and looked to the city again, the wind blowing on his face. "I do not know how, but somehow you managed to convince me…" He then turned to face Aragorn again. "When do you leave?"
"I will leave tonight, right after dinner, and spend a month on the wild. Officially I will leave to go to the Shire tomorrow, but only a few know the truth. No, don't worry," Aragorn added, in response to Faramir's surprised look. "no one will suspect anything, I have arranged everything and according to plan, to the eyes of everyone I will leave tomorrow, heading for the Shire." Faramir nodded, but he was suddenly struck by another thought.
"But what of Arwen? I am sure she does not support this decision?" Aragorn was about to reply, but someone else answered in his stead.
"No, Arwen does not support the decision." The two men were startled and turned around to face the Queen. She was standing at the door, smiling at both. "So the two boys came hiding in Aragorn's little smoking room?" Aragorn walked over to her and hold her hands.
"We did not hear you coming, my love. I was just telling Faramir of my plans."
"So I see. Tell me Faramir, did he give you the speech about the city view from this window?" Faramir laughed and nodded.
"Yes, he did, my Queen." Arwen laughed and walked over to Faramir, holding his arms.
"Nonsense, Faramir. You are among friends, no formalities needed." She turned to Aragorn. "I shall leave you two alone now. I am sure you wish to brief Faramir on all the details." Aragorn nodded in confirmation, and the Queen faced Faramir again. "We will have time to talk, Faramir, but it was good to see you again."
"The pleasure was mine." Said Faramir, as Arwen made her way to the door and out of the room. Aragorn faced Faramir and pointed towards the door.
"Will you accompany me to my office, we have much yet to discuss."
"Yes, sure."
The stables were really quiet and silent, and there was nobody else there other than Aragorn. As he had asked, a horse was readied for him. It was not a great horse, it seemed, but it would suffice for the task at hand. The saddle too, was nothing special, it was worn out and clearly had been in storage for some time.
He kneeled and checked his bag one last time, making sure he had all he needed. Everything seemed to be in order, some rations, a set of short knives, and a sharpening stone. The rest he would gather from the nature, as he had done so many times before, on passed years. He got up and started to tie the bag to one of sides of the saddle.
But unexpectedly he felt a presence behind him and a pair of arms surrounded his torso, as he felt a familiar scent next to his face.
"Were you running away without saying goodbye, my love?" Arwen whispered to his ear. Aragorn put the bag back on the ground and turned around to face Arwen.
"I would not dare, my Queen." He told her, grabbing her hands and kissing them. He smiled and caressed her cheek with his hand. "I was merely preparing my things. I was going to you afterwards."
Arwen smiled and kissed the palm of his hand, caressing his face as well. "I know, I know."
Aragorn pushed Arwen even closer to him and placed a warm kiss on her lips. It was a sad kiss, for his departure caused him a bit of sadness. For long he had left Arwen alone with her worries, while he risked his life, venturing himself in countless dangers, longing to be in her arms at the same time. Now, at a time when he had thought that he could be with his love, he had to leave again, without knowing when he would return. Even worse, it was his choice!
"I can tell we are both sad over this, my love. Are you regretting your choice already?" Aragorn sighed in response to Arwen's question and rested his forehead on hers.
"Yes, I'm afraid I am, to a certain point." He fell silent for some moments as he passed his hands through her black hair. Aragorn then faced her and looked closely at her face. "It hurts me so to leave you alone with your worries. I have done it in the past and it's hard to do it again."
"And like in the past I've carried through. It pains me to see you leave, specially knowing where you're heading. But I know it must be done, and I could not bare to see you with even greater pain if this task had been assign to others."
Aragorn leaned his forehead against hers and sighed again. He said nothing, because he knew he had no words to describe the turmoil of feelings than reeked havoc inside him. Instead he just smiled, and caressed her soft hair, asking himself once again why had Arwen chosen him. He knew not why she had, but he was extremely happy she did it!
"I have to go now, my love…" He said, sadly, after some moments when words were not needed for them to share their feelings. "I wanted to see you first, but since you came here, I have no real reason to postpone my departure."
Arwen nodded and gave Aragorn a tender kiss. "I agree, my dear. Please, for goodness sake, be careful and come back in one piece. Oh, and this…" She paused and gave him a long and passionate kiss. "…is for you to remember when you're out there on the wild!"
Aragorn laughed, happy with his gift, and hugged her tightly feeling her scent for the last time in what could be a long time. "I love you!" He whispered in her ear. "So much…"
"I love you too, my heart."
The two stared at each other for a while, until Aragorn mounted his horse, making his way to the stable doors. When he reached them he turned around to face Arwen one last time. "Goodbye my love. Wish me luck." A tear streamed unnoticed down his face as he waved at Arwen. She did not see that tear, but Aragorn didn't also see the tear that streamed down the elf's face, as she waved back, wishing him luck.
With the hood of his cloak covering his head, the king rode slowly in the night, through the empty streets of Minas Tirith. He was going out for the wild for some weeks. He had to loose his kingly look if he was to be able to fulfil his task properly. Time passed by quickly, with Aragorn lost in his thoughts and he soon found himself in front of the main city gates. He stopped and looked back at the city, thinking of how he already missed Arwen's touch… He shook his head, knowing he had to forget of all that now and turned to the gates, exiting the city towards the wild.