Regiment

The Captain looked at his men assembled, and his heart swelled. Like the very stones of Minas Tirith they seemed to him: perfectly ordered and arrayed, each uniform and unique, together impenetrable. Were faint heart among them it was well tempered; the Enemy would find no purchase here.

To the south his brother stood; to the north men he’d known as boys, but the Captain wished himself amongst no other company. With their lives his men had entrusted him, with their swords and spears they would protect him; his heart’s blood would flow as theirs.

Only victory could separate them.