Boromir licked his fingers and tossed the cotton candy stick onto the ground. The carnival was a big hit; everybody was loving it. He wondered, not for the first time, where his brother was. He hadn't seen Faramir since about five o'clock that evening, after he'd gotten all huffy about fighting with Rohan. Boromir didn't see the big deal. It was just a war.

He strolled by a hot dog stand, snagging a hot dog. When the vendor asked for payment, Boromir just stuck out his chest, which had a homemade badge on it that read: I'm Steward of the Week. Bow, Peasant.

Needless to say, nobody made him pay for anything. So Boromir was on his tenth hot dog, sixth cotton candy, and third mega-sized coke.

Biting into his hot dog and 'accidentally' squirting mustard all over a peasant passer-byer, he eyed the sign over the roller coaster that said 'Fiery Death'. That sounded cool. And if the line was long, he would just flash his snazzy badge, and everyone would part, and he would stroll through like Moses going through the Red Sea. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

He heard some clanking behind him and rolled his eyes as two guards tried to catch up with him. He'd said he wanted bodyguards at the carnival that night– after all, you never know when a psycho peasant might attack you.

But they just couldn't keep up with all their armor. So Boromir usually strolled off, and they were left to carry the giant teddy bear he'd won at the bottle-throwing game, and the life-sized stuffed giraffe he'd won at the drinking booth. [The only reason he'd won was because he wasn't allowed to have ale, so he had birch beer instead. But no one needed to know that. Especially not the other competitors.]

He'd gone into the Freak Show Fun House earlier; his favorite was the 'World's Shortest Man'. The little guy was only about three feet tall. Boromir suspected they had used a hobbit instead of an actual man, but whatever. It was a carnival– you were supposed to get gypped. That was half the fun!

Boromir passed a few of the attractions: the Tilt 'N Hurl, a giant slide, and the Maze O' Mirrors before remembering the attached circus– that would be fun to go to, and see all the clowns, unicorns, gryphons, and wizards. Boromir decided to head over; who knows, maybe it'd be interesting. So he made his way over to the Big Top, shoving his way through crowds as he went [he was sure they were all only crowded around because he was there], feeling oh-so superior.

When he finally got there, the show had already started, but that was okay; Boromir had told the performers beforehand that they'd be performing all night long. They were a little shocked at having to perform for twelve whole hours, but he'd told them that it was an honor to be able to work for him, and they'd reluctantly agreed.

Now that he was watching them up close [He'd bullied a little kid into giving up his second-row seat. Boromir always liked to be in the second row; then he could put his feet up on the back of the chair in front of him, which is exactly what he was doing now], he could see that they were kind of a crummy circus; but he supposed that's what he got for ordering a carnival with an attached circus, instead of ordering them separate. But now he knew better for next time.

If there was a next time, that is. After finding out his son had started a war, Boromir wasn't sure what Denethor would do; he had an unpredictable temper, and he was like an angry rhino when something didn't go his way. That was a trait he'd passed along to Boromir.

Boromir sat contemplating all the ways he could get out of being in trouble [claiming he'd been temporarily possessed was his favorite], and didn't realize that someone was tapping his shoulder.

"Hey," said the little kid he'd bullied into giving up his seat, "Hey, I want my seat back."

"Yeah, and who's gonna make me get out of it?" Boromir leaned back lazily, glanced over at the kid…and did a double take when he realized that the boy was standing next to a man. Well, Boromir thought it was a man…if men could grow to be about ten feet tall and have muscles bigger than Middle-Earth itself. Boromir's jaw dropped as he quickly took his feet off the seat in front of him and stood up.

"Uh – I – um…gotta go." Boromir ran through the ring, ducked under an Oliphant's tusk, and zipped out of the circus tent. Whew! Got out of that one!

Unfortunately, he ran smack into the palace guards that had been tagging along with him, and they were not happy that he had run off and made them carry his larger-than-life stuffed animals.

"Uh…Thumbs! Gonzo! What a pleasant surprise!"

"It's hard to carry a giant teddy bear when you don't have any thumbs," Thumbs told Boromir in his low, growly voice. He stuck out his hands for Boromir to see, and sure enough, the poor guy only had four fingers on each hand.

"Oops. I guess we should have nicknamed you Thumb-less instead of Thumbs, huh?" Boromir gave a weak laugh, which he quickly turned into a cough when neither of the bodyguards joined in.

Gonzo had resorted to dragging the stuffed giraffe by the head because it was too heavy to carry. He looked about as happy as Thumbs. (Which wasn't happy at all, by the way.)

Boromir thought fast. "Uh, say, Gonzo, why don't you leave the giraffe with me and go try the Tilt 'N Hurl? I hear it's a lot of fun."

Boromir and the body guards stared as a man staggered by them, having just left said ride, hand clamped over his mouth and looking very green, before diving headfirst into a bush.

"Uh. Okay, maybe not…how 'bout the Ferris Wheel? That seems more up your alley."

Just then, a guard came puffing up to Boromir. "Sire! Sire, our lookouts have just spotted a caravan of Rohan approaching!"

Oh shoot. This was not good at all. "Uh…how far away are they?"

"About a day's ride, my liege!"

"Then why're you pesting me about it now? Pfft, we've got time."

The soldier looked taken aback. "But…what will we do, sir?"

Boromir waved him off. "Let me know when they get within an hour's walk from the castle."

"But…but…"

"C'mon, man – I've got stuff to do!"

Boromir walked off without another word. Sometimes you just had to be stern with these soldiers that thought they knew everything.

"C'mon, Gonzo, Thumbs!" he called over his shoulder to the guards, "let's go check out the roller coaster!"