Hunter of the Rings

Chapter 16

From the time that Maddie had managed to climb that gigantic cliff and light the beacon, five and some days had passed. Though it wasn't all that easy for the young girl. She had noticed, now with his father whispering in his ear, that Boromir's earlier greed for the ring had returned and was growing by the day; she had instantly informed her friends of this, including Faramir who she had grown to see as a good and trustworthy friend. He was far from the level Aragorn and some of the other's within the Fellowship were when it came to her trust, but he was on there for sure and was certainly higher than Boromir. Quite frankly, his brother wasn't exactly on the list at all. Faramir had warned her to try to stay away from his family members, insisting she find either Gandalf, Arwen or himself to be with her if it was unavoidable. However, Maddie hardly needed to be given such advice, having already been thinking the exact same thing and planning where she was going to hide out. It was a good thing too, as the pair were right in their assumptions. Less than a few hours after having that conversation, Maddie found herself being pursued by the father-son duo. Denethor, being the type of man he was, never actually sought her out himself; that would have been far too below him! No. Instead he would sent a servant or guard to summon her for a private meeting. As for Boromir, he began trying to pull her to the side to talk, to which Maddie would use a series of excuses to make a quick escape: she was desperate for the toilet, she had promised to meet with Arwen or Gandalf at that very moment, she was having 'lady problems', etc. Whatever came to mind, she made it work. The young girl never allowed him to stop her, rushing away before he could utter another word; it infuriated him, of course, and made his obsession and anger increase every single time. Maddie knew it was dangerous. Continuing to avoid and dodge the man was making his heightened emotions build up and the dam would soon break. Violently. But it would have to do for now. In all honesty, if she had to pick between the two, Maddie would have to say it was the Steward's methods that she preferred; it allowed her the chance to hurry around Gondor to find one of her three trusted friends before making her way to the throne room where Denethor would be waiting, his eldest son by his side nine times out of ten. And they always blew off the summoning once they noticed the uninvited guests, bitterness staining their voices and faces.

It was during the same time, however, that Théoden and his army had spent travelling across the lands until, finally, they had reached Gondor. Entering the city, the soldiers were all shown to the stables before being set up in the barracks that had been prepared for them while the King and the few members of the Fellowship rode through the city, making their way up higher and higher until they reached the palace. Handing their horses over to the stable boys, the four of them entered through the two large doors that led them into the throne room; it was inside where the Steward was waiting for them, sat in his throne with his two son's standing on either side of him, Faramir being on the side where a certain wizard and She-Elf were waiting. "It is so good to see you all" Arwen declared as she embraced her love before greeting everyone else; they all returned the statement quite as easily, pleased to see one another. However, it was all too apparent how Denethor felt on the matter; he made it a clear statement that he had not summoned for the beacon to be lit "but since you are here, I suppose some preparation couldn't hurt" he mumbled. With further plans and arrangements needing to discussed and arranged, the King of Rohan, the Steward of Gondor and Gandalf the White left to speak in private; Boromir quickly made his excuses to leave, secretly wishing to find a certain someone before she had the chance to meet with the reunited Fellowship of the Ring. But that same certain someone's absent presence didn't go unnoticed by one quick eyed ranger "where's Maddie?" Aragorn questioned, concern lacing his voice with a hint of eagerness; he had wished to see her immediately, both to just finally see her again but also to check she was okay. "I'm not quite sure, but she should be here any minute now" Arwen reassured, knowing the young girl could be anywhere within the city of Gondor; she had noticed how much Maddie enjoyed exploring the new place, especially with the promise of momentarily safety from any Orcs.