[Airerûthiel]

Maikadurion's irrepressible cheeriness seemed to have left him for once. He sat alone, wrapped in his cloak, staring out into the darkness...and thinking. It was at times like these that he missed his brother immensely, even though they had mutually parted ways. Laitalathion had always been content to remain in comfort and places of security, and in these times that roughly constituted that the further west you were was a guide to your safety.

Maikadurion, on the other hand, was a thrill-seeker. Adventure seemed to find him rather than the other way around. It had been his decision to leave his uncle's house and seek his ancestors, his choice to go back to Gondor...his choice to remain in Rohan, where alliances sifted like the tides of the sea and the proud yet isolated people loved their horses more than life itself.

Ælfritha had noticed how quiet he was, and suspected that there was something wrong. "What's the matter?" she asked, not unkindly, and received no reply. "Maikadurion, you've helped us considerably on this quest, and now it's our turn to help you. You don't seem to want to continue, I feel. The opportunity to return to Edoras is still freely available."

The young half-Elf turned around and shook his head. "My thanks to you for your gracious offer, Ælfritha, but I must decline. When I joined you on this quest I swore to myself that I would remain part of it until my task was filled or I fell at the hand of evil, whichever fate I met with first. I fear to go into the land of Gondor, for its ways are barred to outsiders in these times of trouble, and I am most certainly not welcome in that land. No son of Théomer the Traitor -" his eyes narrowed and his voice hardened as he spoke, "- will walk freely in that country until the true King returns.

"My father was not an outright traitor - he was not in league with the evil ones who rise in the East. But he was outspoken and aired his views with no concern for what any other thought of them - regardless of whether he was talking to his family or the Steward of Gondor. He did not believe in the Steward's laws, despite being lucky enough to become a Ranger of the borderland, and would often say - with or without the aid of drink to loosen his tongue - that he would follow none except the one who could prove himself to be the true King of Gondor. It was lucky the wargs killed him, for the rumour was that he would have been killed for his views shortly afterwards.

"If I walk into Gondor, I will be slain as soon as any guard catches sight of me. But if I do not, I will lose everything - my mother's horse, my brother, and the honour that rightly belongs to my family and my name."