"We followed the North-South Road, passed through Tharbad, crossed Dunland, then passed Isengard and the southern roads of Rohan, and finally reached the capital of Gondor."
The two apprentice Rangers from Wayfort left happily, followed by the caravan leader Charlie, who reported to Garrett:
"The first half of the journey was very smooth, until after we had traveled for a while in Dunland, a group of grim-looking men blocked our way."
"They were dressed in clothes made of animal hides, holding stone spears and axes. They suddenly jumped out from both sides of the road, trying to spook the horses at the front. But clearly they miscalculated, our horses are never frightened by such things."
"But in the end we still had to stop. There were simply too many of them; they completely blocked the road ahead of us."
"Just when our guards drew their weapons and it looked like a tough battle was about to happen, a white-robed old man appeared. He said his name was Saruman, and he asked me to give his greetings to you."
"Those hostile Dunlendings were held back behind him. In the end, not only did they not attack us, they even escorted us all the way to the Fords of Isen, and only left after we reached the border of Rohan."
At this point, Charlie sighed.
Our lord truly has allies everywhere, wherever he goes, everything just works out.
"Dunlendings..."
Garrett repeated the term softly.
The Dunlendings weren't the point, the point was Saruman. That wizard was already starting to cooperate with them so early...
Perhaps some things were about to begin.
"Saruman, yes, he is indeed our ally for now."
For now an ally...
Charlie immediately caught the meaning in Garrett's words.
It seems they still must not lower their guard. With that thought, he continued his report, "In Rohan, at first our journey was still going quite well. The people there welcomed us, especially liked our cider and all kinds of woolen goods."
"Until we reached the capital of Rohan, Edoras."
At this point, Charlie's expression became rather difficult to describe.
"What's wrong with Edoras?"
"My lord, I do not wish to speak ill of another country's ruler, but the actions of the King of Rohan were truly... problematic."
"Go ahead," Garrett reassured him. "Don't worry, I'm here."
A calm and simple sentence, yet it gave Charlie full confidence.
"Yes, at first our trade in Edoras went smoothly, until the King of Rohan heard about it. He brought a large number of soldiers and surrounded us, then questioned our prices, I swear our prices were fair and reasonable. Look, our goods cost almost the same as in Gondor's local markets, yet were of much higher quality."
"However, that King of Rohan claimed we were profiteers, evil men trying to ruin the local market. He wanted to confiscate our goods, even seize the weapons of our guards, and even take away our horses!"
"We almost had to walk home on foot."
"Oh?"
Garrett sat sideways on the wagon, tapping the wooden board with his fingertip, silent for a while.
Thengel's father was being rather unreasonable, wasn't that basically planning to rob them outright?
There wasn't much difference between that kind of behavior and that of bandits or brigands.
"At that time the surrounding people of Rohan were all outraged. Of course, not at us, I could feel they were mainly angry at their own king's behavior. I also believed we'd done nothing wrong. Before going to Rohan, we had already studied the local laws in advance. I swear we absolutely abided by Rohan's regulations."
"This was not your fault," Garrett said. "His greed needs to have limits."
"But from the look of you now, it seems your goods weren't confiscated in the end."
"Yes, my lord," Charlie said. "One of Rohan's marshals saw your signature on our caravan's banner. He strongly advised the King of Rohan to let us go. Later several cavalry captains also came and tried to persuade him as well."
"The atmosphere was very tense. I almost thought they were going to rebel."
"Under the urging of his subordinates, the king finally let us go. After that we didn't venture to stay in Rohan and hurried straight here."
Even though the caravan guards were all elite, equipped to the standard of regular elven troops, they were still only so many people. They wouldn't stand a chance if even a single cavalry squadron showed up, much less a full force.
No one would risk that.
"I understand," Garrett said, keeping the matter in mind.
A new plan silently began to form.
"Alright, since you've gotten here, relax. Gondor is our officially allied friend. I was just about to go dine with friends here."
"May you have a good appetite, my lord."
With Garrett's assurance, Charlie finally felt at ease, and went back to organizing the caravan members to sell their goods.
Seeing there wasn't much else to handle there, Garrett waved and headed off.
Of course, before leaving he conveniently took some ingredients and a few bottles of Wayfort's specialty wine from the caravan, just in time to use for the upcoming dinner.
Fwoosh.
A firework sound rang out as Garrett quickly returned to the top level to meet Ecthelion and Thengel.
"I brought a few good things from the caravan."
When he reached the banquet hall prepared for the gathering, Garrett laid out the wine from his pack, he'd brought a whole barrel of each type of wine the caravan had.
Before the small, private feast began, Ecthelion and Thengel each brought their families to meet Garrett. Even Denethor was there, and Thengel's baby daughter, only just weaned, was also brought along to greet Garrett.
To this innocent one who couldn't yet speak, Garrett gave a small silver ornament from Wayfort as a gift.
"She will treasure it," Thengel's young wife said with a curtsey, expressing thanks on the child's behalf, her demeanor very elegant.
Her jet-black hair and tall figure drew the eye.
This wife of the Prince of Rohan was also no ordinary woman. Thengel had previously introduced her to Garrett, her name was Morwen, and she carried some High Númenórean blood. In other words, she had some Dúnedain heritage.
This showed in their children: both taller than the average Rohirrim, and with darker hair.
"A small gift, just a token of friendship."
Morwen smiled and said, "Anything given by your hand is more precious than any other treasure."
It was easy to imagine: in any social gathering her daughter might attend in the future, even if others wore exquisite gold ornaments or jewelry inlaid with rare pearls and gems, none would flaunt themselves in her presence.
Because in the presence of that seemingly simple little ornament, all other wealth would be utterly meaningless.