Note - I'm very sorry for the screwy quotes, I will continue to try and find a way around 's screwy 'editing' system.


Right Side of Justice
Chapter 9: One Engagement Symphony

Benito's mare jogged through the brush, the lone mountain on his right. Anytime now, Mateo would leap out from behind a bush and…

"What do you have for me, old friend?"

The mare gave a start and pivoted her ears sharply in the speaker's direction. Benito mirrored her surprise in human mannerisms. "Do you really wish me dead, Mateo? My heart is not so strong as in my younger days; please do not tax it beyond what it is able."

Mateo laughed, and dropped back to a crouch. There was very little possibility of being seen this far out from any establishment of human life, but caution was rarely foolish.

"We seem to have an ally from out of town. Your name proceeds you, Mateo – what were you up to in the days before I came to shepherd you? You couldn't always have been fighting for independence."

Mateo handed him a skin of water, "An ally, you say?"

Benito received it gladly, "Aye, calls himself 'John Peters'. He gave an excellent sob story."

"That suspicious?"

He bobbed his head, "Oh aye."

"But?"

Benito swiveled an eye down towards Mateo. "But what?"

"Why would you tell me I have an enemy – I know I have enemies – what else about this John Peters situation?"

Benito pushed his heels down in the stirrups, stretching his knees. "Bah, I don't know. He was so guilty, he couldn't be."

"Oh, reverse psychology."

"What?"

"Nevermind." Mateo tapped his lower lip. "What was the story? Condensed please."

"He claims to know Bryne, thinks you're a bloody murderer, and is offering his home for a hide-out."

"Oh, not suspicious at all."

Benito again eyeballed Mateo incredulously. "Was that sarcasm?"

"No! Not at all. It would have been much more suspicious if he had made no suggestions toward my supposed shady nature. Was he very much in doubt of my existence?"

Benito nodded, waiting for Mateo to continue. He had only a vague idea where he was leading him.

Mateo looked pleased. "How does he wish you to make contact with him again?"

"By way of his brother's 'stead. You remember Matthew Peters?"

This time, the corner of Mateo's mouth crinkled in a half conceived frown. "That's not so good."

Benito matched Mateo's expression, though slightly more disgruntled. "Your strategic mind never ceases to muddle mine."

Mateo sat, drawn in and contemplative, and looked as if he would have remained so for a significant time more if not for Benito's intervention. "If that's all, Commander, I'll be on my way back."

Distantly, Mateo nodded, delivering his last instructions. "Don't go back immediately. Ride to the outpost. There will be a letter there from your aunt."

This last bit threw Benito completely off the trail of comprehension. "My…aunt? Dear boy, you must sleep, you know as well as I haven't had an aunt for these past –"

"It's only a façade, Benito, " Mateo explained patiently. "You've been in town for far too long to suddenly disappear again for a day. Suspicious, don't you think?"

He cursed his slowing mind, "I see…now. You're my aunt, eh?" His mare begrudgingly woke to his prodding.

"I delivered the letter, yes, under the pretense of a messenger. The master there awaits a 'Benito' to fetch a letter from his ailing aunt. You have been expecting it for some time. Eager, you rode ahead to see if it had arrived – or wait for it. In fact, the letter has been there for some days, awaiting the mail carrier for Harris who is sick and has not been hale enough to make the ride. That is your story if anyone should question your sudden departure."

"Sick? I suppose you engineered that convenient happenstance too, didn't you Mateo?"

Mateo only smiled from under the shadow of his hat.

"I suppose you'll be in contact with me concerning Peters?"

Mateo nodded, "I'll speak to Bryne." He lifted a hand, palm out, "Go safely."

There was a softly spoken word, Benito didn't catch it. Something about that gesture struck him as odd.

Something about Mateo struck him as odd. But that was nothing new.

---

"Move? Why? We're invincible!"

Legolas shifted nervously, restless, eyes never stationary. The air was hostile. The wind had returned, moaning between the rocks. Full night had just fallen and lights were being kindled in Harris. The groaning of the wind muted any sound.

"We aren't. We're vulnerable." How he felt it! This 'hideout' was a pile of rocks, visible for miles around. Any minute, any second he expected to hear an unfamiliar hoof or foot upon the shale. Godard must have gathered his wits by now.

Not only did logic point to disaster. Legolas was endowed with the gift of his race, a special sense, an ear attuned to the melody of the Song that had been composed for this new World. Ilúvatar was still the Great Conductor, named by another name, but still the same. Ilúvatar Was, Is, and Will Be.

Legolas had heard the last strains of Middle-earth's song, so many years ago in heat of battle - at the End of that World. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, he had been caught up to the home he'd never seen with his eyes, but always knew he belonged in. It was a home beyond the physical, beyond destruction, beyond chaos and discord.

The Symphony of Middle-earth had ended. The Firstborn, the Secondborn, all the children of Ilúvatar were called back to their Father. Legolas had been among them. Frodo, Aragorn, Elrohir, Galadriel, Gil-Galad, Turin, Beren…all were there.
All were home.

There was no time, only joy – he never knew when the Second Song began. He only knew when his part in it began – neither did he know when it would end.

At the end of the Second World?

He was listening to the song of the Second World for the first time, a symphony played only once. But what he heard foreboded a turning tide, foreshadowed a foul turn of events.

---
A/N: As promised, a short chapter, faster update.

Daw, Jasta, Yavie, EverKitsune, Tinnuial, Raider-K (Thanks for enduring eight chapters all scrunched together!), Jazmin3 Firewing (I may have to put that line in here sometime. :P) – Really appreciate you taking the time to share with me your thoughts and feelings. You guys have to be some of the best reviewers I've had. Hope you enjoyed.