Even in the court of Harad, nobody had ever felt quite comfortable around the Dark Lord's emissary, but under the circumstances, all were ready to mourn him like a brother.
It was not long, however, before Shasta, to the frustration of all, returned to his obsession with the Acolyte, while everyone else gave each other sidelong looks and made vague, unpleasant insinuations. The Imperial Palace of Harad had never been much of a place for trust or openness, but now these qualities had been scoured away altogether, as if by the desert winds.
Suddenly Court Physician Thinlómien stood up. "Enough! I have an announcement to make. I am– the Acolyte!"
"Really?" asked several voices. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"I didn't know! It is true that– like some others here– I am a student of the mysteries of the Serpent God, but it never crossed my mind that I was
the Acolyte! It was not until last night that I was able to overcome my holy awe enough to break the seal on the scroll that She Who Now Bestrides the Milky Way had written with Her Imperial hand. As She ordered, I went to the Envoy and he taught me as much as he could of sorcery."
Here Lottie was seen to scowl, and to mutter what sounded very much like,
"Aw, it just isn't fair
..."
"But did you learn anything... useful?" the others asked.
"Yes." said Lommy solemnly, and she pointed at Boromir. "He is a spy!"
Boromir, instead of shouting denial, merely shook his head in rueful acknowledgement.
"Touché, Lommy. Touché. But you should have let me keep yapping away, I probably could have handed to you my spy-mates."
"Well, hats off to you," said the Acolyte, "for convincing me of your innocence for some time."
As they were getting quite good at this sort of thing by now, it was not long before somebody came up with the marvellous notion of having the confessed spy trampled by his own mûmakil. Bound and chained, Boromir could do nothing to resist as he was carried down to the stables and rolled under the very feet of the vast, savage beasts.
The others, gathered just outside, watched expectantly.
But there was a drawback– the mûmakil were quite accustomed to Boro, and merely felt him curiously with the sensitive tips of their long snouts.
All were at a loss, until Greenie thought of flinging in one of her reptiles (not one of those consecrated to the Serpent God). Instantly the stable became a nightmarish chaos of trumpeting, stamping and goring elephantine monsters. By the time the mûmakil had finally calmed down, there was even less left of Boromir than there had been of the ill-fated Legate of Khand. This time, though, what skin still covered the jellied mass that had once been a human body immediately began to lighten in colour, even as Nogrod's had, and the one remaining eye changed to a cloudy grey.
The snake was flattened too, but everyone agreed it had been in a good cause.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Living
Sally –Messenger girl.
Shasta –Particularly attentive guard-lieutenant.
Pomegranate –Entertainer.
A Little Green –The Empress's favourite snake-charmer.
Pitchwife –Captain in the "Provisional Royal Númenórean Navy" and emissary of Angamaitë IX, Lord of Umbar.
Lottie –Accident-prone sorcerer's apprentice.
Inziladun –Minister of the Treasury.
Lommy! –Court physician.
Dead
The Empress of Harad. Mod.
–assassinated in her sleep.
Bom Tombadillo –Greatly afflicted beggar. Ordo.
–multiple stab wounds.
Eruhen –Court eunuch. Ordo.
–burned to death on the Empress's funeral pyre.
Rikae –Empress's handmaiden. Royal Executioner.
–garotted with own wire.
Nogrod –Camel and coffee trader. Spy.
–poisoned with own merchandise.
Galadriel55 –Professional assassin. Captain of the Guard.
–neck broken in stairwell fight.
Legate of Amon Lanc –Legate of Khand. Ordo.
–crushed to death by an enormous waggon.
Steve –Court Jester (from Umbar). Envoy of Morder.
–sliced up by the spies on Night Four.
Boromir88 –Wealthy mûmak breeder. Spy. Trampled by own mûmakil.
It is now Night Five.