Idro stomped in a haze.

Father trusted him...and what does my idiot-of-a-brother do with it...wasted, just wasted it!

He stumbled onto the cobbled path that led to the outlook at the Sea of Grace. Even in his haze and in the darkness of night, he recognized it immediately as the place where he could think whenever he needed to mule over a dilemma. Usually no one ever visited this site, making it the perfect place just to sit and think. Without a moment's hesitation, he began to make his way to the outlook lover the sea:

My brother is a coward, no better than a mercenary when it comes to defending his people. How did he turn into this pawn in the Bankers' game? I remember Imrahil and me making fun of them by repeating what they said to our father during their meetings as we chuckled in the hallway outside.

As he sat on the rim of the lookout, he could see the twinkling of distant stars on the tip of the horizon that seemed to belong to a different world of pure starlight. The sight made him long for a homeland he never had: where the coward could be courageous, and the messes would be made right.

I should have called his attention to his waning courage when the bankers first started to intoxicate his governing. Why did I stay silent? Why didn't I encourage the honest bankers to stand their ground around Imrahil as a shield wall against the silent evasion to extort our people?

He sighed as he rested his head against the stone wall on the far end of the ledge. Without meaning to, he quickly fell asleep. He woke to the sound of a distant scream.

…

After two white-knuckled hours, Dwafelt realized that he wouldn't cool down or be any good to Malthil if he didn't get some air first.

"Stay right here laddy, I need to go on a walk to clear my thoughts", Dwafelt called back as he stomped out of the front door.

That sorry excuse for a prince has another thing comin' if he thinks the Sailing Smithery is gonna sail right out of Dol-Amroth. We might not be the best smithery, but our will is stronger than his wishy-washy, high and mighty will! We will make it work!

Dwafelt shook his beard as he quickly became drenched in the rain.

I came here to prove my worth to the brothers back home. I know smithery inside-and-out! I lost a smithery once before and I am not going to lose another, especially with Malthil hanging on by a thread while the prince looks smugly on like a spoiled elf princeling.

Dwafelt continued to dwell on his and Malthil's predicament as he stomped uphill with the determination of a veteran warrior preparing for battle. Suddenly, he was rescued from his rumination by a small voice.

"Sir, I think you left this sword here a moment ago. A girl stated with a shy voice.

Dwafelt looked down at a small homeless girl that was no more than 13 years old. Her face was covered in grime, inspite of the rain, looking like a helpless orphan. But her eyes told a different tale. They sparkled slightly like a distant star on a stormy night. There was a hidden strength about her ... and she was holding a sword

Sir, do you think I am owed a little something for my trouble retrieving your sword for you?

She looked with sad-puppy eyes that would have melted an orc's heart, if they had one.

"I would lassie but that is not my sword and I really need to be on my way." Dwafelt said with a compassionate gaze.

"But sir, this sword was just lying on the sidewalk and you are the only person I have seen on this street for an hour. This must be yours." she pleaded.

"Aww...let me take a closer look at it...it has sailing smithery's emblem on it...this is the prince's sword!", Dwafelt exclaimed in disbelief and concern. "Lassie, what is your name?"

"Abigail" she replied as she looked in wonder over the treasure she had found.

"Abigail, please show me exactly where you found this."

Abigail led Dwafelt over to an alley where a stack of crates had fallen over, blocking the path.

"Let me stand on your shoulders, maybe the prince will be in the alley", Abigail asked.

"Sure thing Lassie", Dwafelt said as he put Abigail onto his shoulders.

After a few moments, Dwafelt asked, "See anything?"

"I don't see anything, but a piece of paper.", Abigail reported back.

Intrigued, Dwafelt let Abigail off his shoulders before removing the 6 crates that blocked their path. As the dwarf and the girl made their way into the alley, Dwafelt saw the notice that the bank had given him and Mathil a few hours before the prince and his companion had shown up. Swirling emotions resurfaced as Dwafelt recalled how he had angrily given the notice to the prince. Crushing the notice, he stuffed it in his pocket as he surveyed the alley. Abigail called him over to an open crate by the end of the alley. Coming over, Dwafelt's worst suspicions were confirmed, as Abigail held up a bloody dart that was dripping with a vibrant orange liquid.

The prince has been kidnapped! He thought as a shiver ran down his spine.

Abigail interrupted Dwafelt's train of thought as she said, "I think I know where the prince was taken". She proceeded to move toward the left wall of the alley, and started to move away small crates and trash until Dwafelt's eyebrows raised up in surprise as Abigail cleared a small passageway that was just big enough for a fully sized person to crawl through. Abigail proceeded to crawl through the doorway as if she were walking through her front door.

Should I really try to find this coward? Isn't this what he deserves? I bet the city would be better off without him, Dwafelt thought.

He looked up into the sky as raindrops pierced his face. Letting out a long sigh, Dwafelt got onto the wet stone as he started to crawl through the passageway after her, almost becoming stuck along the way.

Following Abigail, the passage opened into another alleyway leading to four more passageways. "How did you know about this maze?", Dwafelt wondered aloud.

"Well … my friends and I ... ah ... use these secret alleys as shorcuts around the city", Abigail whispered as she stared at the damp stone floor.

After an akward silence, Dwafelt cleared his throat, "Well, no more about that now … do you know which doorway his attacker would have taken him?"

Cocking her head to the side she wondered, "How would an attacker be able to get past all of the guards at the city gate?"

Dwafelt eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "because they would head for the sea!".

"This way", Abigail said as she headed for the doorway on the far right wall of the secret ally. The girl and her dwarf companion burst out onto a very familiar alley as the sun began to rise above the sea.

"Hey, I know this alley. It's behind the Sailing Smithery!"

"You mean that dump where …" Abigail trailed off as Dwafelt gave her an uncharacteristic icy stare that quickly melted away.

"Well, anyway, we need to be on our way," Dwafelt said.

Just then, the back door to the shop opened as a dazed and teary-eyed Malthil walked into the alley with a bag of trash in his hands. Suddenly he caught sight of two people in the alley. Eyes wide, he started to back away till he recognized Dwafelt.

"Dwafelt! You scared me, what is going on? Who is your friend?"

Instead of answering his questions, Dwafelt took Mathil's shoulders as the three headed toward the docks. "Mathil, the prince has been taken". The boy's eyes widened. "We are trying to track him down before his kidnapper gets him out into the open sea," Dwafelt said earnestly. The dwarf stopped in his tracks as Mathil nodded solemnly. Giving the boy a curt nod, dwarf put a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Let's get to work," Dwafelt said with a wink.

...

Keep calm, head down, don't make a scene, Saphira rehearsed to herself as she made her way through the empty market by the docks. The few people about gave through the marketplace. The market was sparse this early in the morning, but the few merchants setting up their wares paid no attention to a peasant pushing a cart and were unaware of the precious cargo she was pushing. A snore booming from the cargo broke Saphira from her concentration. Rolling her eyes, she stuck yet another dart into the prince, cutting his snore short.

As she passed a merchant shop, she heard a gruff voice behind her. Spinning around, she analyzed three potential attackers in front of her, before her heart began to beat faster as she recognized the careless dwarf, the street girl, and the lanky young man from the smithery shop. Saphira put forth a warm smile as she reached for the knife hidden in her belt.

Dwafelt cleared his throat, "Excuse me miss, we are looking for a hooded man carrying a large bag of something" - "A man-sized bag miss" Abigail interjected.

"I haven't seen a thing like that out here, but this is a big city you know" Saphirra nonchalantly replied.

As Dwafelt was quickly ending the conversation, Malthil noticed something moving under the sheet of the cart.

"What do you have in the cart, miss?" Mathil curiously asked as he stepped forward.

Saphira stepped in front of him as she replied, ``that's just some of the luggage moving a bit, not to worr" - but she was interrupted by a loud snore.

Dwafelt, Abigail and Mathil suddenly tensed, but Saphira sprang into action before they could react. She slashed Dwafelt's arm before driving her elbow into his nose. As he staggered backwards she swept his feet out from under him. Without a beat she grabbed Mathil and threw him at Abigail, who tried to dive out of the path of the flying, screaming bundle of arms and legs but he smacked into her, sending them both to the ground in a tangled mess. Saphira glanced back at Abigail before pushing the cart towards the docks.

As Dwafelt rose to his feet and Abigail and Mathil staggered to theirs, Saphira weaved her way through the throng of incoming morning customers with her precious cargo. Dwafelt called out to the crowd to stop her, but they stared at him with passive expressions or didn't give him a glance. Mathil pushed past the dwarf and led the way through the throng with Abigail and Dwafelt close on his heels. Then Saphira turned up a small path that ran along the side of the cliff that overlooked the Sea of Grace.

The path made a sharp left turn taking Saphirra out of view. Dwafelt, sensing that something dreadful was about to happen, began to sprint. When they turned the corner, they stood in shock as the cart rolled right off the path and tumbled down into the Sea with a deafening splash, casuing Abigail to let out a scream.