(It has been three weeks since last we joined our friends, since Eldarion was born. In that time a great deal has been going on, mostly revolving around the baby and this big fight that Kit and Amrothos had while he was in Minas Tirith. Yeah, that was not so good. Anyway, Van and Stevie are in the nursery with Eldarion having loads of fun with the giggly little newborn baby. Strangely enough, it isn�t the baby preoccupying Van, it�s his shiny silver rattle his mother is holding.)
Van: I like it. It�s shiny!
Stevie: (smirks) Glad to know you aren�t the only one who thinks so. (cooing at the baby) That�s my little boy, yes it is!
Van: You and Aragorn are so lucky. I can�t wait until Halbarad and I have children.
Stevie: That time will come soon enough. But you wait and call it luck when you have to get up every two hours in the middle of the night to feed the little bugger.
Van: Ah. I heard about the little fit you had when you learned that there were women who go around here doing that kind of stuff.
Stevie: You bet I did. I love sleep, Van, but no much that I would leave my baby in the hands of others to be taken care of. He�s mine and I shall take care of him.
Van: (laughs) They just don�t want their queen getting those icky bags under her eyes from lack of sleep.
Stevie: The politicians don�t. The people on the other hand, they respect a hard working person. That�s why they love people like Faramir and Aragorn and everyone else so much. They can relate to them�there isn�t that status boundary right out in their faces all the time.
(As they are talking a very large commotion can be heard coming from the lower levels of the city. Van and Stevie look at each other in concern. Something really must be going on for all that noise to be able to be heard from the Citadel. Stevie grabs Eldarion and the three of them head outside. They end up running into the guys out in the courtyard. They�re all talking about something and they all look incredibly concerned. Aragorn and Faramir are gibbering about something and Boromir appears to be trying to calm Amrothos.)
Van: Guys, what�s going on?
Aragorn: We aren�t entirely sure right now. There are some people down at the gates that are making a commotion.
Amrothos: (pacing nervously) It�s Kit, I know it is! I�ve got to go down to her!
Boromir: Don�t be silly, little cousin. You needn�t go down there. I�m certain the patrol has found Kit and that she is perfectly alright. Everyone is just excited.
Stevie: You think they found her? I�m even concerned! I have a hard enough time believing that she ran off like that in the first place. She usually doesn�t overreact when she gets angry.
Amrothos: I�ve never upset her before! I don�t know these things! I had never meant to upset her. All I did was ask that she not go gallivanting down to that grungy tavern in the lower circles of the city that she likes so much. I didn�t know she�d get so upset about it.
Faramir: You couldn�t have known, Amrothos. I am certain she is fine and that we�ll find her. She�s probably staying somewhere to cool her head and she�ll be back.
(Just then a young messenger came running up the steps, looking rather panicked. He looked around and seeing the lot of them came running over and bowed to Aragorn.)
Aragorn: What news have you, Bergil?
Bergil: The Corsairs of Umbar stand at the gates, your Highness.
Faramir: The Corsairs? I thought you finished them off once and for all?
Aragorn: Apparently I did not get rid of all the pests. Bergil, what is it they want?
Bergil: My Lord, they have the Lady Kit. Apparently she went for a walk out on the Pelennor and was captured by them.
Amrothos: Kit! I will go out and get her back�
Aragorn: Is that all, Bergil? What do they demand?
Bergil: (becoming more panicked) They demanded that someone come out and get Lady Kit back and�
Aragorn: And what?
Bergil: Lady Harper was walking the walls of the first circle to look out over the fields when the arrived. I fear she went out to meet them.
Boromir: (suddenly enraged) She did what? She is in no condition to do such a thing! She�s four months pregnant!
Bergil: My Lord, I swear to you that I saw this with my own eyes. She reacted the same way when she heard what they had to say about the Lady Kit. They keep her prisoner now too.
Boromir: Did they hurt her? How many of them are there?
Bergil: Some say a hundred, some say it�s more than that. They both appear to be fine. Lady Harper didn�t appear to go out to fight, she came out talking.
Stevie: Dangit Harper! She is so totally up to something! I hate it when she does this.
Amrothos: (ridiculously upset) This is all my fault!
Bergil: They sent a message before I came up here. They said they want a man, a real person of authority, to come out and barter for their lives. You Highness, what are we to do?
Aragorn: Bergil, you shall do me the favor of watching my son with the nurse. Van, go and find Halbarad. Stevie, I need you to come with me and tell me what it is you think Harper is up to. Faramir, send for your Rangers to get ready for action, we may need them. And Boromir, keep your temper down.
Boromir: (disturbingly angry) It is down, Aragorn. I want to go out and get my wife back. I want to kill every Corsair down there for so much as looking at her.
Amrothos: We need to think, cousin. My love is down there now as well and all because of me. If anyone you should kill me for starting this. Come with me to the walls, we shall look for them.
Boromir: (nods) Why can�t anything very be peaceful around here?
(Meanwhile, being held captive by the Corsairs of Umbar, Harper and Kit are sitting out on the Pelennor being guarded by a bunch of smelly bad guys.)
Kit: Is it customary for the bad guys to always smell bad?
Harper: I suppose so.
Kit: I wanted to thank you for what you did.
Harper: No big deal.
Kit: It is! Especially because I am worried about the�
Harper: Shush! (lowers her voice) They don�t need to know about that. Give them no advantage; give them no hope of coming out of this alive. They will use it against the guys and everything will go wrong.
Kit: You are right. But if only I hadn�t done this! I was being silly and angry with Amrothos for no reason and look what happened!
Harper: Ah, get used to it. Weird stuff seems to happen all the time around here. But you know, I�ve never really been a hostage before.
Kit: What about the whole being kidnapped by Dawdle thing?
Harper: That was stupid.
Kit: (nods) True. So what do we do now?
Harper: (shrugs) We wait to be rescued and then we get to watch Boromir restrain himself from kicking my butt.
Kit: He wouldn�t do that!
Harper: He�ll think about it for a few seconds. He�ll be too glad that I�m okay to do anything else than escort me back to Tolfalas and lock my away in our room.
Kit: (laughs) Sounds like something he�ll do. So, you got a plan?
Harper: I have a really stupid one that involves a bucket of ice and a five iron, and maybe a sheep.
Kit: Frozen Sheep Golf?
Harper: (shrugs) I don�t know. I�m bored. Hey, you think these stupid guys know how to play tic tac toe?
