Two weeks had passed since Delioron’s first meeting with Muldal. During that time he had sent two ciphered letters to Parthadan in Minas Tirith and received as many replies. Parthadan had arranged the protection for Delioron and Radawen in cooperation with Bangion, the Captain of Tidings of Minas Tirith. Captain Bangion was in charge of errand-riders throughout Minas Tirith and other parts of Gondor, and he was essentially yet another spymaster in Minas Tirith. Bangion had some of his errand-riders stationed in Pelargir too, and Delioron had used their services to make contact with Parthadan.
He had sent his first letter after he had talked to Muldal on that first morning in Pelargir. The first reply had arrived six days later. Delioron used to go to the modest stone building in the Court of the Ship-Kings near the harbor during the late watches, when it was easiest to spot or lose potential tails. It was a time when even spies and assassins slept.
The messenger station was a long stone structure built from pale grey limestone with dark slate roofing. The emblem of Gondor was carved on the tall archway: the White Tree crowned with stars and flanked by seabirds in flight. Rows of windows lined the upper levels of the building. The house was staffed at all times, but most visitors were only permitted entrance during work hours. There were some exceptions, like Delioron, who were allowed to enter at all times.
Now he was sitting in the Scribes’ Alcove and deciphering a letter from Parthadan, the second of such letters since his arrival in Pelargir two weeks earlier. In the first letter Parthadan had apologized for the incident where two men – presumably spies from Umbar – had visited Delioron’s great-aunt Meldis a couple of months ago asking questions about Delioron. Such a thing should never have happened in the first place, but as there had been no sightings of suspicious activities inside Gondor since last summer, it had not occurred to either Parthadan or Bangion to keep tabs on Pelargir. Since Delioron had barely spoken to his great-aunt in twenty years, Parthadan had completely forgotten about his relation to Lady Meldis of House Orchaldor. Parthadan had promised to investigate the matter of Muldal, Su’mokr and the other freed Harad slaves in the city further.
When Delioron had deciphered the letter, it read:
When a Corsair ship is captured on the sea and captives from Harad are found aboard the ship, the captives are released and brought to Pelargir. The freed slaves are then given a choice to either be escorted to the Harad Road and find their way back home or stay in Pelargir under supervision – essentially confined to the garrison. But the Harad Road is long and perilous, so most of them decide to stay in Pelargir.
There has been some increase in the numbers of freed Harad slaves brought to Pelargir during the last decade, and Pelargir authorities have been complaining about the increased expenses of keeping these people housed and fed. Of course they cannot be kept in the garrison eternally, but on the other hand they cannot just be released to roam freely in Gondor either. Many of them don’t even know how to speak Westron or any other civilized language. The authorities of Pelargir hope that the noble houses in Pelargir would employ them as their servants, but few nobles want to employ a dark-skinned servant from Harad with no shared language, so the responsibility to teach them the language and customs of Gondor mostly falls to the authorities of Pelargir.
Some of them have lived in the city for a very long time, gradually learned the language and culture of Gondor and eventually been granted the rights to settle in Pelargir as free citizens of Gondor. Su’mokr is one of those individuals. He was brought in Pelargir more than a decade ago, and for the last few years he has practiced a trade as a successful merchant in Pelargir. I have found nothing suspicious about Su’mokr or his conduct during those years. Su’mokr seems to be a model citizen, and frankly I find the idea that the Corsairs would be using people from Harad who don’t even speak Westron as their spies ridiculous. What would they even be looking for there? However, based on the recent developments you have reported it seems evident that something is not as it should be. It was a dangerous thing to reveal yourself to Lady Meldis’ servant, if she indeed is a spy for the enemy. Stay put, keep your eyes and ears open and watch your back. I will keep investigating the matter further on my end. As always, burn this letter after reading.
P.
Delioron closed his eyes after reading the letter. He was tired, not only because of the early hour but because of some kind of fateful exhaustion that had crept up on him during the past weeks. He did not even want to do anything about it. During his many years in service of the throne of Gondor, survival had always been his first concern. Now even that was slipping out of his hands. And he could not care less about it.
