The Council Meeting
‘Well, I’m glad that’s over, I’ll damp the winter fires down next time to cool everyone down a bit’ muttered Aragorn as he strode away from the Council Chamber in Minas Tirith. It had been a lengthy and difficult meeting, deciding on a programme of revising the laws and legal system of Gondor. Aragorn had asked for input from the main merchant guilds, and important individuals like the Head of the Houses of Healing, as well as the Lords of the Realm. Everyone had something to say, and many of the Lords had been quite outraged by the idea that they would have to comply with any new laws passed. As well as the existing ones put in place by Denethor and his predecessors.
‘Are you quite sure it was wise to say that you, the King, would follow all duly constituted laws and regulations as well?’ asked Faramir as they claimed the worn stairs to his office.
‘At the time I couldn’t think of anything else to stop all the arguments, and you could say it’s my duty to set a good example in these matters.’ Aragorn sighed. ‘I just hope I haven’t caused myself too many future problems. It’s not so much the new laws, it’s the odd regulations left over from the years of the Stewards, that haven’t been reviewed for centuries. Oh well, I’ll just have to hope the current Steward can help me out if things cause us trouble.’
A well-practised look, combining endless patience and mild exasperation, crossed the Steward’s face, so quickly that only someone knowing him well would have caught it. ‘Well, we will just have to see’, he said, clapping his King on the shoulder, ‘let’s not worry about things that haven’t happened yet’.