Overcoming Prejudices
By washow
Rating: PG
Summary: Things go badly for the elves of Mirkwood and their only salvation may come in the form of a ranger of the north. Will the woodland king swallow his pride and ask for help?
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings nor am I making any profit from this story. Any similarities to other fan fiction are purely coincidental. This is not slash but a tale of friendship and family love.
Chapter 5: The Day of Reckoning
The pair had ridden in silence for several hours when Thranduil suddenly looked over at the man, "Are you always this quiet when you ride with my son?"
Aragorn shook his head to rid himself of the daze he had drifted into, "Sometimes my lord, it depends on our moods at the time."
The king nodded his understanding but instead of dropping the matter continued to press ahead, "and when you do feel like speaking, what do you speak of?"
Aragorn had to smile at the tenacity of a father who would do anything to learn about this son's friend. "Again my lord it differs depending on the day. Sometimes we speak of our friends and families, others of our dreams for the future and the encroachment of the shadow and still others we recount fond stories from days past. Of which would you now like to speak you highness?"
The king smiled, "Just Thranduil out here young one and I think I'd like to hear of those pranks you and my son are said to play on the twin sons of Elrond. I too was quite the prankster in my day and I may be able to give you some fresh ideas." And so it was that Aragorn and Thranduil spent the rest of the trip to Lake-town in happy laughter.
When the pair were within elven sight of the gates the laughter was silenced and the two beings went on their guard. Thranduil had the pair stop in their forward travels to discuss the plan of action, "I'll need to meet with Bragal tomorrow to discuss the problem at hand and hopefully he will convince the council to unseat Gordor."
Aragorn smiled at the elf, "With all due respect my lord the council will not take your word over one of their own. While I know that an elf would never lie it is not a commonly held belief among men and so you will need to show proof of Gordor's treachery."
The king smirked, "And how do you suppose I go about getting that young one?"
Aragorn smirked back, "Well I do not believe it will be hard but it will require you to go against the desire of your son." The king's eyes lit up at the prospect of getting one over on his son so he pulled the ranger toward him and they spent a lazy afternoon by the river hatching a plan.
The next morning the king and ranger split up, entering lake town separately so on one would ever guess they were together. The king made his way directly to the home of the governor and upon identifying himself was immediately granted an audience. Bragal, the governor of Lake-town, bowed when the woodland king entered his parlor. "Your highness, what a surprise to see you here. What can the people of Lake-town do for the elves of Mirkwood?"
The king took the seat indicated and leaned forward, "You can sell me the wheat my people need to get through the winter."
The governor smiled, "Forgive me your highness but I believe you have come to the wrong man Gordor is in charge of our grain market, you will need to see him."
The man then stood to his feet with the intention of seeing the king out when Thranduil responded in his darkest tone, "I have tried dealing with him but have found him unwilling to sell me what I need which is why I came to you."
The governor retook his seat and looked kindly at the king, "I'm sure he has his reasons. Perhaps we have no wheat to spare."
The king's demeanor darkened even more, a feat which the man sitting across from him found improbably, " I have it on good knowledge that he has plenty of wheat to sell but that he won't sell it to me because of ulterior motives."
The governor's eyes opened in surprise, "you sent a spy!"
The king understood the governor's reaction but he had no patience for the mortal's outrage, "I did and I would do it again if it meant the survival of my people. Now, my spy is here with me, meet us at the east dock just after mid-day and I will prove my words to be true." The king stood up preparing to leave but before he did he turned back to the governor, "Oh and come cloaked, it will not work if he knows either of us are there." The king then turned and left the room – leaving a distraught governor behind.
Just after the mid-day meal two cloaked individuals stood along side Aragorn who was once again assuming the role of spokesman for Greenbor. After going over a few rules the ranger turned and led his "councilmen" to the grainery.
Gordor stood up when he saw the man from Greenbor enter his office but grew suspicious when he saw the two cloaked individuals. "Thorongil what is the meaning of this? Are you planning on robbing me of my grain?"
Aragorn, moved closer to the grainery manager. "Calm down Gordor it is nothing like that, my fellow councilmen wished to come along and hear for themselves why you are willing to sell to us and not the elves. We are concerned that there is something wrong with the grain."
Gordor smiled, "Oh, it is nothing like that I just don't like the elves and don't wish to sell to them."
Thorongil learned forward, "And so you are willing to deprive the farmers of their income because you are prejudiced?"
Gordor smiled slyly, "Oh don't worry about them I believe they will be paid for that grain in due time!
Thorongil narrowed his eyes at the man and put a heavy bag of gold on the desk, "We are prepared to pay for our grain right now" Gordor was practically salivating at the sight of that gold, "But first you must tell us the whole story of the elves because we do not believe you and refuse to deal with a man who will not be honest."
Now Gordor was a greedy man, of that Aragorn was certain, and often took more than his fair share of the grain price – a fact that led Aragorn to believe this would be his way of getting Gordor to admit his treachery. The grain merchant contemplated the situation for a moment than leaned back in his chair and grinned, "All right, I'll let you in on it but only because I trust you. I'm going to sell the grain to those elves but later, much later. I'm going to wait until the first flakes of snow are falling then offer it to them in exchange for a quarter of their lands. By that point in time they will be so desperate that they will do anything for that grain. I'll bet I could even get them to kick in a few elven brats to use as free labor!"
That was the thing which put Thranduil over the edge, he threw back his hood and glared at the grain merchant with such intensity that Gordor fell backward out of his chair. The king roared, "I would never give you anything much less my people or our land! You are truly a disgusting piece of filth and I can't wait to see you in prison."
Gordor had managed to gain his feet and was now leaning against the rear wall, "No chance of that happening your highness – this is Lake town not Mirkwood. You have no power here."
Suddenly the third person in the room stepped forward and threw back his hood, "No, but I do." The governor stepped forward until he was leaning against the desk. "I hereby remove you from this office and declare you under arrest for unlawful business practices and endangering the people of Lake-town." The man looked at all three individuals in his office with wide eyes then pushed on the wall and disappeared out the secret back door. The ranger moved to follow him but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see the governor smiling at him, "It isn't worth your effort, I told the gate watchman to detain him should he try to leave before I met with you. He shall not be able to leave Lake-town." The man then slid behind the desk and took up quill and parchment, "and now your highness if you'll tell me what you need I'll make sure your order is filled."
TBC