[Imladris]

Jinan stared at Frôzhal: he was like a cute puppy with those dancing eyes and the constrained step of excitement that threatened to explode into a jump of delight. And why was he happy? Because he was in command of a platoon: twenty-five men. Besides the fact that he didn’t deserve it, that he didn’t have the backbone for it, but twenty-five men was such a measly number. Could one change the course of a loosing war with twenty-five men? I think not.

A clammy, wet hand, that was very much like a sponge, gripped mine. It reminded me of how a terrified child would cling to his mother’s comforting arms for protection. But why would he be frightened now…they weren’t even in the Gondorians’ territory yet. We were just crossing a bridge that spanned the river. Frôzhal glanced at the river and gulped before he stopped in the middle of the bridge. “Let go of me,” Jinan ordered, but the other Haradrim did not hear him. Suddenly Jinan remembered Frôzhal’s strange aversion to water, and, with a toothless smile, Jinan guessed the source of Frôzhal’s fear.

Gripping his shoulder, Jinan shoved him towards the edge of the bridge and with a twisted smirk said, “Nice view, eh? Can't you just feel the smell of...water?” Do you know what happens to unwanted puppies? The question flitted through his mind only briefly as he felt Frôzhal tremble, glancing first at the water and then at Jinan.

Jinan contemplated whether he should let the little runt sweat some more or whether he should just hurl him over the bridge now and laugh as the puppy gasped for air and paddled to the shore. Just as he was about to heave him over the side (no matter how Jinan phrased it and imagined it in his mind, Frôzhal was too heavy to heave overboard), the Captain’s voice cut through the air.

“We are crossing the river, not waiting for the river to cross us.”

"Just learning my platoon about how we can make rats like this one shiver..... Tremble.... wishing he would never been such a sniveling recreant.”

Jinan hoped that the Captain wouldn’t hold up the march any longer than it had been held up. It wasn’t as if the Gondorians would sit easily in their Poros settlement waiting for the Haradrim to attack. Though idiotic, the Gondorians were no fools.