Chapter 41
As it would turn out, Rohan was seemingly somewhat close to the forest that they were currently in. Apparently it was thought that with swift speed they should easily manage to make it there around a week from their current location. Or at least that was what Aragorn was hoping. That was heavily laid with the implications that nothing goes wrong, and from Loki's own experience, things always went wrong when you did not want them to. It was the one thing that anyone could count on. They also did not know how long this servant of Saruman had been in play among the Rohan people. He was well versed in sussing out snaky people, though, so he should be able to manage it rather simply, but then again, there was a reason that certain people were used in these capacities.
"Who did this intelligence come from?" Gimli asked, and for once Loki agreed with the Dwarf on his line of questioning. Usually he was stupid, making rash and absurd comments, or saying idiotic things, but this was a question that Loki was having a well. He had not known that Aragorn would was capable of meeting anyone in this vast forest that seemingly very few had trespassed upon. There were other forms of communication, for certain of course. It was likely that there was some sort of missive that was passed through something or someone to Aragorn. He thought he would have known, but there was the fact that he had been rather distracted.
"Someone who would know the state of these things." Aragorn said, his words rather riddle like, something which was not like him at all. Aragorn, for all that he was similar to the elves, typically did not care for their whimsical way of stating things, at least, not to the extent that the Woodland elves did. Legolas was far more likely to dodge a question by answering a question without answering the actual question. It was strange to see Aragorn do it, and also suspicious. He would not really do such a thing unless he had a good reason to do so, something which led Loki to become quite questioning of who exactly this intelligence had come from, or if there was any intelligence at all and this was not a ploy to merely move them from one location to another.
Gimli, however, did not seem to be making the same connections as Loki and undoubtedly the other elves had done. Or if he had, he made no notion of having come to that same conclusion. It was fine, in the end, considering it did not mean much, merely that there was something going on that they were unaware of and that they should probably keep a somewhat close eye on the man. Whilst it was strange nonetheless, they could not condemn Aragorn for it. Barring that, they had all still agreed to go to this Rohan place. Furthermore, there was some point of logic regarding what was going on.
Rohan, from what Loki had managed to gather from the scraps of conversation over the last day now of a journey, was an interesting place. Apparently this Gondor which Aragorn was so fascinated with for whatever reason, was in some sort of alliance with Rohan. Now, Loki knew of alliances, but he was quite sure that when the people that you are allied with begin to go insane, you cut them off rather quickly. It is a dangerous affair, having alliances, and even more so when one turns crazy. Loki would know, he had seen it happen time and time again, and it was never pretty.
Apparently, however, these people had a different idea of how to handle allies gone mad and that was to rush over to aid them at any given moment. Personally, he felt it all quite stupid, but there was nothing that he could do to stop such things. He would just go along, and it was not as though he knew what was going on in this world. They were on the brink of a war, one that Loki was not entirely sure he should be participating in, and it was obvious who had the upper hand at the moment. He wanted to shake his head at the sheer pity of where they were at now.
They really did have all the odds stacked against them. It was a shame, but then again, Loki was used to these odds so at least he was not overly stressed about them. Despite all of that he still was not entirely sure that their going to Rohan was the most wise decision. They had many things going against them, almost a bit too much for Loki's taste, despite his used to unfair odds. They had no idea who this person that supposedly was spying upon the Rohan people was. Though Loki would wager that they were staying relatively close to the King, something he had mentioned off hand to Aragorn, and which the other man had agreed easily with him upon. However, that in and of itself posed an issue. How were they supposed to get close to this King of Rohan?
Really, Loki thought this plan was quite...impulsive. It also lacked any backbone, and he knew that the only reason the other Elves were agreeing to go was because honestly? It was either this or go handle whatever the issue with the Rohan was because with Merry and Pippin being in a lack of danger, they should probably be doing something else more worthwhile. Well, at least that was what Loki was guessing.
"My Prince, are you certain that this is a wise decision? We should at least ensure that we have a more solid plan before we enter Rohan." Haldir whispered to the Prince. Loki scoffed under his breath, though it was loud enough that both glanced back at him curiously. They were lagging now, slightly behind Gimli and Aragorn. It would almost have been a slight, if words such as these were not wiser said outside of the audio of both man and dwarf.
"I doubt that our lovely Aragorn would hear such words. He seems to be quite stubborn in some ways.' Loki said with a shrug. Legolas gave a small smile towards him as he stated such words. "Barring that whatever has to be done about this...Rohan...Well, it is doubtful that we will be able to concoct a plan before we know more rather than just a spy having infiltrated through the King's men. We don't exactly know much about Rohan...or well, I personally do not at least."
"Loki has a point. What use is making a plan when we do not know the details. Barring that, it is clear that Aragorn knows more than what he is telling us, but...we cannot force him either. We must simply wait until he deigns to come to us."
"Do either of you know who this...informant of Aragorn's is?" Loki pondered softly. Enough so that the man and Dwarf would not hear him. He did not want to run the risk of the man overhearing him and then questioning Loki's loyalty. He....well it was quite tedious and he had enough of it from Haldir. Speaking of, Loki turned to narrow his eyes at the Elf. He has not questioned me at all during this stretch...though I cannot help but feel that there is a sort of interrogation coming, it is a rather nice switch up.