Hama entered the Prancing Pony, thoroughly relieved to be back in an Inn after that idiot Archim’s performance at the last one. Hama had been hard-pressed to keep his temper in check after that little bit of foolery. And Archim had just been starting to seem like an all right fellow, but after his card shenanigan, Hama just couldn’t like the man. Not after losing a night’s rest in a real bed because of him. The Inn at Bree was much better than the wild lands between here and Rohan. There were beds, ale, and seats that didn’t move. As far as Hama was concerned, even heaven couldn’t get any better than this.
It had been just their luck that one of the men that Archim had been fleecing back in Tharbad hadn’t been as drunk as the youngest Forgoil had thought. He’d been utterly furious when he thought he caught Archim cheating, and Hama couldn’t blame him. That was why he didn’t gamble in the first place. It was far too easy to lose money and reputation when one gambled. Besides, it was a waste of time and effort, forget the money. Time that could be better spent practicing, heaven knows he needed it.
Hmm. Wasn’t one of the arguments presented at the trial of Heldor something along the lines of ‘the man couldn’t possibly remember killing the old man, he was drunk; he’d been gambling?’ Hama couldn’t remember. Still, even though Heldor had been a convicted criminal when he was in Hama’s charge, he’d not seemed like the type who lost himself in the game or the drink. It didn’t seem right. Besides, there were plenty of other men who Hama would have picked as more likely to kill someone. Archim, for one.
No, no, no. Of course Heldor had committed the crime of which he was accused. There were too many people who had good reasons for him to have done it, and why would someone frame a hero of Helm’s Deep for m.urder? It was silly, and Hama resolved to think no more on it.
[ August 21, 2003: Message edited by: Tinuviel of Denton ]
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