"Fool of a Took! Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!"
Pippin cringed. That had hurt, but it
was no more
than he deserved, he realized. What was he thinking
of,
making a noise like that? It could bring every orc
in Moria down on
them. Well, it was too late to do
anything about that now. All he
could do was keep
silent and pray that his mistake would have no
serious
consequences. No one else seemed angry with him,
so Pippin
assumed he would be forgiven if nothing happened.
Even so, he found
it difficult to forgive himself, or shake
off the crushing guilt and
feeling of impending doom.
"We must
have a look and see what the hammer and the
anvil have done to
you."
That was the last thing Frodo wanted. Bilbo had
told
him to keep the mithril shirt a secret, an
obvious
impossibility now, and removing it would hurt even
though
Aragorn would do it very carefully. Frodo shut
his eyes tightly as
this was done, and opening them
slowly to see the Fellowship's
reaction, he was
touched by the obvious joy and relief that he
noticed
there. Aragorn gave Frodo a smile as he very gently
tended
to his injured side. The scent of athelas
filled the air and Frodo
smiled back, almost content
in spite of all that had happened.
"No living man am I! You look upon a woman."
Of course! Dernhelm
was really Eowyn. How could
Merry not have known? No matter, he had
pledged
to serve King Theoden and by extension Eowyn his
successor
and if there was ever a time Eowyn needed
him it was now. He was
only a small hobbit, but he had
to do something. He would not die
like a coward or worse,
let Eowyn die while he did nothing. It was
just so wrong
that this evil being held so much power. Merry grabbed
his sword and stabbed at the Witch King with every
bit of strength
and determination he had.
"Praise them with great praise, the Ring-bearers Frodo and Samwise."
Sam looked
completely nonplussed when he heard those
words.Why praise him,
he wondered. Frodo deserved the
praises. Yes, he had stayed by
Frodo's
side the whole time,
but that was his job. And he had
saved
Frodo's life many
times during the quest, but Frodo
was the
Ring-bearer
on whom all of Middle-earth depended.
Sam thought
he
had only done what was sensible, as well
as morally
right. Even so,
the king wanted to honour him
and clearly
Frodo would have it no
other way, so how could
Sam
object? And deep down, he rather liked
it.