behind. His Majesty reminded that Faramir’s life was sacrosanct in any and all circumstances, and that anyone who would provoke an open confrontation between the Ithilienians and the White Company (which event would immediately cause a civil war in the princedom and tear apart the Reunited Kingdom) will be executed for treason. To put it succinctly: once you start the job, finish it, but don’t start if you’re not sure.
His Majesty wrote in a post-scriptum: “There are many sovereigns in this world who love cloaking their orders in hints in order to later blame those doing their will for ‘misunderstanding orders.’ Be it known that Elessar of Valandil is not one of them – he always accepts responsibility and calls things what they are, and his orders say only what they say. Should there be found among the White Company any officers who – motivated by excess zeal – would mistake explicit bans for a veiled desire of the King, Captain Cheetah is to neutralize any such officer at any cost.”
“As you can see, Lieutenant, by letting you live during your escapades last night, I was going against the King’s orders, to some extent.”
“So you’ve known about this order?” Sir Elvard looked at Cheetah with superstitious fear.
“You’re overestimating my abilities. It’s just that, unlike you, I can figure at least two moves in advance.” “…They’re leaving! Look, they’re really leaving!” Grager breathed finally, watching the column of Whites take to the Osgiliath Highway. He kept the fingers of his left hand crossed in a special way, just in case. “To be honest, I didn’t quite believe it and kept waiting for some treachery to the last moment… You’re a genius, Your Majesty!”
“That’s ‘Your Highness,’ Baron, and please keep in mind – I absolutely will not tolerate any joking in this matter.”
“My apologies, Your Highness.”
“However,” Faramir looked over the Ithilien regiment fighters gathered around him with a slight smile, “each one of you is hereby entitled to address me as ‘my Captain,’ for old times’ sake. Obviously, this will not be a hereditary privilege. All right, guys. Her Highness will show you to the castle – the food is served and the bottles are uncorked – while myself and the officers and… erm… our Eastern guests will catch up with you in ten minutes or so… So what were you wishfully saying there, Baron Grager: you really think that they’ve left?”
“No, my Captain. Their spy network…”
“Yes, exactly. What do you propose to do about it?”
“Nothing, Your Highness.”
“Explain.”
“Sure. It makes no sense to prosecute those of Cheetah’s people that we’ve identified: since Ithilien was and is a vassal of Gondor, they’ve committed no crime by working for the monarch of the Reunited Kingdom. Sometimes in such circumstance you do away with a spy quietly, but that’s an extreme measure: by doing so we’d announce to Minas Tirith that we’re at the very least openly hostile, if not at war with them. Most importantly, Prince, I’m almost certain that we have not identified the entire network. Should we arrest the ones we know, we’d allow them free use of any remaining agents. Whereas if we touch nobody, it’ll be impossible to figure out which ones we know about and which we don’t, so they’ll have to consider the entire network compromised. Even if they don’t simply abandon it, they’ll for sure put it to sleep for a long time. At least I wouldn’t touch such a semi-compromised network with a ten-foot pole.”
“Very well; this will be your call now, Baron Grager. I hereby promote you to Captain and grant you the requisite powers.”
“Wow!” Tangorn laughed. “I see that the setup of the state of Ithilien is proceeding in an unusual fashion – its first institution is the counter-intelligence service!..”
Faramir shrugged: “With neighbors such as these… In any event, I doubt that this is of much interest to our guests. Tzerlag, where are you?.. I have to admit to a certain difficulty: your exploits of last night definitely make you worthy of a knighthood, but that would create a host of technical problems. In any event, what use is Gondorian knighthood to a desert warrior?”
Tzerlag shook his head. “No use, Your Highness.”
“See? Well, I guess there’s no choice but to fall back onto the ancient legends: ask your heart’s desire, Sergeant! But please keep in mind that I don’t have daughters of marriageable age yet, and as for the Prince’s treasury… what do we have there, Beregond?”
“A hundred thirty six gold pieces, Your Highness.”
“Yeah, not quite the Hoard of Vendotenia… Perhaps you’d like to think about it, Sergeant? Oh, by the way, I have another debt to pay – for your rescue of this fair sir.”
The Orocuen was abashed. “I’m sorry, Your Highness, but we… how should I put it… we’re kinda together, so our request will be mutual. Better let Baron Tangorn tell you; consider that I gave my rights over to him.”
“Ah so?” The prince looked over the three comrades with gay amusement. “This just keeps getting more interesting. I suppose it’s a confidential request?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“…As I understand it, Baron, you’re going to ask for the
“So you’ve guessed already, Prince?”
“I’m not a total fool; why else would you ask me to escape with it? I just couldn’t imagine that you’re working together with these guys. So now I’ll have to hand a magic crystal over to Mordorians. A nice bind you got me into, no question.”
“That is not so, Your Highness. Haladdin is not in Mordor’s service any more; he is acting by himself and on behalf of entire Middle Earth, if I may be so bold. The sad thing is that I don’t have the right to let you know what his mission is, therefore I ask you to trust my word.”
Faramir brushed it off: “That’s not what I’m talking about. You know that I’ve always trusted you; more than I trust myself, in some things. It’s just that – what if all three of you are someone else’s puppets and that someone is using you for his own gain? Try analyzing this situation once more, this time as a professional spy, rather than a friend of Haladdin and Tzerlag.”
“I’ve done so many times and have this to say: whoever had started this originally, Haladdin will only play his own game, and this guy is very, very resilient – take my word for it – even though he doesn’t look the part. And another thing – I really like him, and I will do what I can to help him win.” After some thought the prince grumbled: “All right. Let’s consider me persuaded. How can I help you three?”
“First, please accept my resignation,” the baron began, and explained to puzzled Faramir: “I will have to visit Umbar for some time, and I plan to operate there as a private person, so as not to put Your Highness in a false light…”
Chapter 31
