Throne of Stone -II- Book Three of the Tales of the Fourth Age Series

Chapter Four

Fo.A 2, March 4th

Screams. Yelling. Furniture toppling. It was chaos all around.

Aragorn sprung into action as soon as the lights had gone out, drawing his hidden dagger and rushing towards Lord Falcon.

Keeping his eyes shut and pretending to be dazed had paid off; his eyes, already adjusted to the sudden darkness, helped the speed of his movements and had taken Falcon's men off guard.

Aragorn ran into one of the guards who was fumbling around looking for whoever was attacking them. A quick knee to the gut and a hard blow to the head took care of the man. Aragorn could hear Falcon yelling and swearing at his men to do something. Apparently, they had gotten comfortable in their power and did not expect such an attack.

Aragorn took care of another guard before finally getting his hands on Lord Falcon, who quickly realized who it was that grabbed him, and he began begging for mercy. It was pitiful.

There was a part of Aragorn that was relieved that this had worked out so well, but on the other hand, he was disturbed by how comfortable these people were in their power that they didn't dream of anyone coming after them. It seemed there were only more questions, rather than answers.

Light entered the doorway behind Aragorn. He turned around and could just make out Faramir's face in the torchlight underneath his hood.

"Have I missed anything?" Faramir asked, walking into the room.

"Oh, nothing much," Aragorn replied, trying to hide a smile.

Faramir pushed back the hood from his face and took a closer look around the room. Tapestries hung on the walls in a myriad of colors, and plush furniture was knocked over and shoved aside. Rugs were stained red with the blood of several guards who lay dead. Faramir looked around once more and then to Aragorn, the question on his lips. "Where is Tachion?"

A scream sounded from the other room, and Aragorn quickly followed behind Faramir, dragging Lord Falcon with him. As they entered a side room, they saw Ninel leaning over Tachion's body, a long dagger sticking out of his shoulder. The girl was mumbling incoherently as she sobbed. Falcon chuckled but was quickly silenced by Aragorn's fist.

Faramir kneeled down, examining the wound. He stood gazed up at Aragorn, his features grim. "He doesn't have long, we must hurry."

Aragorn gave Lord Falcon another punch for good measure and ordered Faramir's men to take Tachion to the House of Healing, he would follow close behind. He stopped Faramir and said, "Take his sister and do not let her out of your site, I do not want her wandering off or having a repeat of this. Do you understand?"

Faramir nodded. "Understood. She will stay with Eowyn and I until you say otherwise." Faramir motioned to a now bloody Lord Falcon. "What of him?"

The lord was whimpering and mumbling something about his nose being broken. Aragorn resisted the urge to punch him again and instead answered his friend. "I'm going to question him once we get back to the Citadel. Then tomorrow, he hangs."

Fo.A 2, March 5th

Dalion's blood had finally dried on the cell floor, though the scent of it lingered in the air, and Lord Falcon tried to not let it unsettle him. He sat alone in the unending darkness with his thoughts. Falcon had told Aragorn what he wanted to know without divulging everything; all the names of the inner circle here in the city, and the conspirings with the Easterlings and Haradrim to attack Minas Tirith in a few months. Falcon suspected that the others he'd named would be joining him in a few hours at the gallows if they were not dead already.