[Galadriel55]

That night no one met on the streets. No one argued about who to kill. No one made plans for the next day’s survival.

The last King’s Man was alone. He waited for all the lights to go out and for everyone to fall asleep, like he did every night. Then he stepped out of his house, and looked with hatred at the surrounding sheds. Any one of them would do. Anyone, to pay the price for the death of his comrades, plots and schemes be damned!

He strode down the street, not bothering to be quiet. The more would come, the better. He needed to give way to his grief and loathing. He needed revenge.

He walked into one of the houses. He did not even know which one. He saw a man lying asleep on the bed.

Taking a cloth, he stuffed it into the man’s mouth. The man woke up, startled, but he was unable to make a sound.

He was gagged?

Yes, and after that the King’s Man bound him hand and foot, before he could even get out of his bed. And he tied a knotted rope around the man’s head and stuck a sturdy stick in there too.

“Tell me now,” the King’s Man said with venom, “the reason for all this fuss. You – voting, arguing, killing each other even. You are still going to die, scum.”

The bound man just looked at him silently. The King’s Man twisted the stick. The rope tightened.

“I said, you are still going to die! You’ve tried so hard, have you not, to weed us out, kill us, and still prevail. You really thought you will succeed, because your cause is right. Because your precious Valar will be with you.” The man laughed. “Where are your Valar now? Are they with you? Well, you’re still going to die.”

“And tell me true now,” the King’s Man continued. “You are afraid to die. For all the words your friends Elves have told you, you cannot deny that death is death. No one is unafraid to die. Not even that man – the first one of your Amandil’s filthy line that I killed – was unafraid. He was just too proud to admit it. And you are not unafraid either. Because you are going to die.”

The King’s Man gave the rod another turn. Still the man did not say anything.

“You don’t want to die, scum,” the old man continued. “No one wants to die. Your death frightens you, and it will be meaningless for the rest of you Faithful scum. Would you not rather have lived? Do not lie: you don’t want to be here right now. You want to go home and rethink your life, and not come to this cursed village at all if you could redo it all. If I could redo my life, I would make sure I killed more of you scum when I had the chance.” The King’s Man gave another yank to the rope. His prisoner was dead.

The old man slowly walked back to his house. He wondered why the man did not say anything at all. Only when he was opening his door he remembered – he gagged the man himself.




ALIVE:
Morsul
Lottie
Manwe
The Phantom
Brin

DEAD:
G55, the hesitant King’s Man (modess) – stabbed on Night1
Eomer (ordo) – stoned on Day1
Boro (gifted) – drowned on Night2
Pom (ordo) – decapitated on Day2
Shasta (gifted) – throttled on Night3
Nerwen (KM) – hung on Day3
Sally (gifted) – struck by a stone and died of hemorrhage on Night 4
Steve (KM) – speared on Day4
Inzil (ordo) – pressed on Night5