Sorry for the delay in posting-the good news is that I made some significant writing progress over my vacation and now I have up to Chapter 11 ready to be beta-ed.
In this chapter, more Gandalf! More Pippin! And a certain disgruntled Lord Steward will make his first appearance in the next chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 7
They arrived at the gate just as the trumpets began sounding in the guard tower above them. The gates swung open, and Pippin held his breath as several riders trotted through, the first one of which was Boromir, sitting tall and proudly on his horse. Pippin called his name to get his attention, but a crowd had gathered to welcome their prince home, and his voice couldn't be heard above the noise.
Gandalf spurred Shadowfax closer, and the crowd parted to let them through. Pippin noticed a tall dark-haired woman riding next to Boromir and they were escorted by several men wearing green and brown, with the symbol of the white tree embossed on their leather armor. As they approached, the woman saw them first, and gave them a wide-eyed look of surprise before turning and touching Boromir's arm to alert him to their presence.
"Boromir! Boromir!" Pippin cried and waved frantically. Boromir started at the sound of the hobbit's voice, and turned, his face whitening with shock when he realized that it was Gandalf approaching him.
"Gandalf?" Boromir whispered, clearly unsure whether to believe his eyes. He glanced down at Pippin and his face brightened into a broad smile, "Pippin, is it really you? How did you come to be here?"
"Welcome home, Boromir," Gandalf said warmly, "you have been missed."
Boromir glanced from one to the other uncertainly, "I am sorry if I seem to have lost my wits, but Gandalf, I thought you were dead!"
"I was. I was sent back." Gandalf said simply.
Boromir shook his head in wonder and turned his attention to Pippin, "And I was worried to distraction about you and…" He paused and asked urgently, "Merry, is he…"
"Oh, he's fine, Boromir!" Pippin assured him, "He stayed in Rohan with King Théoden—and Aragorn and Legolas and Gimli, of course. Boromir I have so much to tell you! About the orcs, and Treebeard, and Saruman attacking Rohan…"
Boromir laughed, "Indeed you do, Pippin! I fear that my tale is far less exciting," he glanced at the woman next to him, "though it had some points of interest."
As Pippin watched, Boromir began to sway a little in the saddle, "I would get down and give you a proper greeting, but I'm honestly not certain I could get up again."
The woman sidled her horse nearer to Boromir's and caught his arm to support him so he could regain his balance. For the first time, she spoke, shaking her head in concern,"I'd swear he got through the last league on sheer will alone!"
Boromir met her eyes and smiled, patting the hand resting on his arm, "That, and the scolding I know you'd give me if I fell off my horse!" He turned back to them, "Gandalf, Pippin, this is Morloth, the lady who saved my life."
"Your friend Aragorn deserves some credit too," Morloth said wryly, "as well as your own stubbornness!" She turned to Gandalf and bowed deeply, "It is indeed an honor to meet you, Mithrandir." She smiled and added, "I am glad that the reports of your death were…premature."
Gandalf smiled at her and was about to speak when Pippin interrupted, "Morloth? Oh, I know about you! Aragorn told us how they found you and asked you to take care of Boromir. I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance."
She smiled warmly, "And I to make yours, Pippin. I'd only heard of halflings in tales and had never thought to meet one, so I admit I pressed Boro…Lord Boromir to tell me all about you and Merry."
Pippin brightened, "Oh, well then, you'll have to join us when I tell Boromir about our adventures. Being captured by the orcs was really horrible, as you can imagine, but most of the rest was very exciting, and of course we were happy to see Gandalf and Aragorn and Legolas and Gimli again. Then we met King Théoden, and he was quite nice too…
Gandalf interrupted gruffly, "That will do, Pippin. There will be time for your ceaseless chatter later, Boromir and I have urgent matters to discuss."
Boromir chuckled, "Well, some things never change, do they, Pippin?" Then he gave Gandalf a piercing look and said in an undertone, "Faramir saw Frodo and Sam in Ithilien; they were well and still intent on their task."
Pippin gasped and would have questioned Boromir, but Gandalf gave him a quelling glance. Gandalf sighed in relief, "That reassures me, Boromir, you will have to tell me everything you know, but not here."
Boromir nodded and asked urgently, "Gandalf, have the beacons been lit? Faramir sent a message some days ago requesting that it be done."
"No, they have not," Gandalf said sharply, "we have just come from discussing that very matter with your father, and he refuses to consider it!"
"What?" Boromir cried, "Why… Does he not understand how dire the situation is?"
"Gandalf tried to tell him, Boromir," Pippin put in, "but he wouldn't listen."
Boromir swore under his breath. Then he caught Gandalf's eyes and said resolutely, "At least this I can make right."
He dismissed the men who had accompanied them to the city, telling them to rest overnight before returning to their post in Osgiliath. Then he turned back to the three waiting for him and said, "Let us go, we have a beacon to light."
Boromir rode ahead, but Gandalf slowed Shadowfax to keep pace with Morloth's mount. "Tell me, Morloth, how is Boromir?" Gandalf asked quietly, "From what Aragorn said his wounds were terrible."
"Oh, they were," Morloth said lightly, though Pippin could see that worry clouded her gray eyes. "Not one man in a thousand would have lived past the first hour so grievously injured."
Pippin drew in his breath and asked anxiously, "Will he be all right?"
Morloth smiled reassuringly, "His wounds are knitting cleanly; he will mend. But it has taken a dreadful toll on his body; and it will be many weeks before he is back to full strength. I worry that with the battle coming he will try to do too much and put himself in peril, especially since his sword arm is still strong." She glanced up to see Boromir riding ahead of them. "Already he pushes himself past his limits."
Gandalf looked at her keenly, "But you did not try to dissuade him."
She sighed and shook her head, "This is something he feels he must do. I have only been acquainted with him a short time, but even I know it would be useless to try to deter him when he is so determined."
Presently they reached the stables on the sixth level, with Boromir leading the way in as grooms ran up to assist. Boromir started to dismount, but beside him Morloth gasped and cried, "Wait, my lord!" then dismounted herself and hurried to his side.
"If you insist, my lady," Boromir replied, but the look he gave her was warm and grateful as he moved to dismount with her help. His movements were uncharacteristically stiff and clumsy, and Morloth staggered a bit beneath his weight as he leaned against her.
She glanced at one of the grooms standing idle nearby and said sharply, "Some assistance, please!" Wide-eyed, the groom moved to help and she added, "Be careful, he has a wound in that shoulder."
"Lord Boromir is injured?" the groom asked in surprise.
Morloth snorted in amusement, then answered dryly, "Yes, I believe three arrow wounds in chest qualify as 'injured'."
Meanwhile, Pippin and Gandalf had swung down from Shadowfax, and Gandalf swiftly approached them, saying "If I may, my lady?" He moved to replace Morloth, easily shouldering Boromir's weight.
"I'll be better soon," Boromir said, heartily but not very convincingly, "I just need to get my feet under me and work out the stiffness."
To Pippin's surprise, soon Boromir was able to move with less effort, and walked slowly out of the stables, only occasionally needing a supportive hand from Gandalf.
When they left the stables, instead of heading toward the tunnel to the seventh level as Pippin expected, Boromir led them in the opposite direction, toward the causeway that led to the mountain's shoulder. But before they had gone very far, a guard in Tower livery approached them, bowing to Boromir before he spoke. "My lord, I have been looking for you. Your father, the Lord Steward, wishes to speak to you with all haste."
Boromir sighed wearily, "Of course he does." He looked up and met the guard's eyes. "I will come, but there is something I must do first."
The guard shuffled his feet, clearly uneasy, "My lord, it did seem quite urgent…"
Boromir bit off a curse, "Tell him I will come as soon as I may. As you can see, there is only so much haste I am capable of at the moment!"
Chastened by Boromir's tone, the guard blanched and bowed in response, "I will tell him, my lord." He turned toward the tunnel to the Citadel and was gone.
Boromir glanced at Gandalf, "We must hurry, my father will send someone else or even come himself if made to wait too long."
Gandalf nodded and they increased their pace, while Pippin exchanged a worried look with Morloth. They crossed the causeway and were soon deep in the narrow and tangled streets set on the mountainside behind the spur of rock on which the city was built.
Morloth looked around her with interest, "I have never been in this part of the city before; we lived on the fourth level, as my sister does now."
Boromir stopped to catch his breath before replying, "It is mostly the servants and merchants who supply the White Tower who live here." He turned to her and smiled, "And it has one other landmark of note—the Minas Tirith beacon. We are almost there."
He led them a short distance further, turned a corner and stopped at an unremarkable door set into the rock. Boromir opened it to reveal a steep staircase of stone carved into the mountainside. "This is the entrance," he said, "the beacon platform is there," pointing up; they could see, far above them, a small dome set over a promontory of stone, covering the stack of logs that made up the beacon itself. "As you can imagine, this is not a popular duty station."
Morloth looked from the staircase to Boromir in horror, "Oh, Boromir," she cried in dismay, "surely not! You're not planning to go up there, are you? You would never make it in your condition!"
Boromir had found a convenient barrel to rest on, and puffed out a tired breath in amusement, "No, Morloth, I'm not that lost to reason. I was hoping that Pippin would be willing to go in my stead. I doubt the attendants will trust his bare word that I want the beacon lit, so one of them will have to come down to speak to me."
"I'll be happy to help, Boromir, though it does look like a lot of stairs," Pippin said, peering up into the darkness. "But I bet they would take my word for it if I were wearing my livery," he said cheerfully.
"Your livery?" Boromir asked, "What do you mean?"
"Oh, you haven't heard," Gandalf said archly, "young Pippin has offered his sword to your father as payment for your valiant defense of himself and his kinsman. He is to swear his oath as a Guard of the Citadel."
Boromir grinned broadly, "Has he indeed? Well, Pippin, as High Warden of the White Tower, I can only approve! You will look very splendid in the black and silver." He shook his head, "Though I can't help but wonder what possessed you to do it."
Pippin shrugged, "It seemed like a good idea at the time, especially since your father didn't believe us when we told him you were alive."
"Enough chatter, Pippin," Gandalf said briskly, "up you go."
Pippin started up the steep stairs, and behind him, heard Boromir say, "Father refused to believe that I was still alive? I don't understand why that would be. I find it troubling."
"As do I," Gandalf said gravely. "Even more troubling is the fact that he somehow knew about Aragorn; not only that a Northern Ranger fought with Théoden in Rohan, but his name and his lineage as well."
Pippin had climbed out of earshot, so he concentrated on keeping his footing on the steep stairs. Finally, he stepped into the sunshine at the top of the stair and stopped to catch his breath in sight of the two beacon tenders who gazed at him in astonishment.
"Just who—or what—are you?" one of them asked testily.
Pippin held up a hand for a moment to stay them until he finished panting, "Peregrin Took, at your service," he said with a courtly bow, "a halfing of the Shire. I am here at the request of…" he searched his mind for the correct title and happily found it, "your Captain-General, Lord Boromir. He asks that you please light the beacon."
"Lord Boromir wants us to light the beacon?" the second guard asked skeptically, "Seeing how he's been gone from Gondor for months and might be dead for all we know, we won't be lighting anything on your say so. Besides, if Lord Boromir is here, why didn't he come up himself?"
"He thought you might say that," Pippin responded philosophically. "Boromir couldn't come up because he was badly injured not long ago and the stairs were too much for him. And I must say, gentlemen, that if you have to climb those stairs often, you have all my sympathy."
"Too right on that," the first guard muttered under his breath.
The second guard sighed, "One of us will have to go down, I suppose."
"Your turn, Beregil," the first guard said firmly, "I went down to fetch the midday meal."
"Oh, all right," Beregil grumbled, "but if this is a joke, Master Took, I swear you'll regret it."
Pippin started down the stairs, and though it was by no means easy, it was much less arduous than the climb up, and he was cheered by the thought that unlike Beregil, he would not have to climb up again.
He reached the bottom and led Beregil to where his three companions were waiting. Beregil paled when he saw Boromir, and bowed deeply. "My lord," he stammered, "the halfling said you wanted us to light the beacon, but we weren't certain…"
Boromir waved off his explanation, "It's no matter, you were just doing your duty. You know that war is coming?"
"Beregil" Pippin said under his breath.
"Yes, my lord," Beregil answered, "we've been expecting the order to light the beacon for some days now, but we didn't imagine you'd come yourself!"
"Consider the order given, Beregil," Boromir said with a brisk nod. He pressed a coin into Beregil's hand and clapped him on the shoulder, "Treat yourself and your friend at the top to some ale with my thanks—after the beacon is lit."
"It will be done, my lord!" Beregil responded with a grin, and headed up the stairs much more enthusiastically than he had come down.
"This way; I would like to make certain the next beacon is lit before we leave." Boromir led them to a place on the city wall a short way away where they could see the hill of Amon Dîn in the distance. The beacon above them flared into light, and as they watched the Amon Dîn beacon followed suit, causing the people in the streets nearby to point and gasp in surprise.
"Yes!" Boromir exclaimed softly, and Pippin noticed that the face of the comely healer standing next to him was the first one he sought in his happiness, and that somehow Boromir's hand had found hers on the railing.
Well, that's interesting! Pippin chortled to himself, and it took all his self-control not to shout with glee and pound his friend on the back.
Gandalf smiled, "Yes, it's done, and well done, Boromir."
Boromir sobered and turned to the wizard, "I told Faramir that Rohan would come if they can…can they? Will they?"
Gandalf sighed deeply, "It was a near thing, Boromir. Saruman came far too near destroying Rohan for my comfort. They prevailed, but with no little thanks to young Pippin here and his cousin for rousing the Ents of Fangorn. Rohan will come, though not in the numbers they would have had even a year ago.
"I was able to free Théoden from Saruman's influence, which had left him aged and witless before his time, but Théodred is dead, killed by Saruman's orcs. Théoden has named Éomer as his heir."
Boromir gasped in shock, "Théodred, dead? Éomer is a good man, and will make a fine king, but this is evil news."
"I am sorry, Boromir," Gandalf said somberly, "I know Théodred was your friend."
Boromir stood silent for a moment, his head bowed. When he looked up he turned to the hobbit and smiled, "Pippin, it seems there is another tale I must hear from you. Which reminds me, I promised you a proper greeting."
With that, he knelt and Pippin needed no further invitation to step into a warm embrace. "Welcome to my city, Pippin, it does my heart good to see you alive and well."
"I could say the same of you, Boromir; Merry and I were so worried about you!" he pulled away from Boromir. "Which reminds me…" he approached a surprised Morloth, bowed deeply, and kissed her hand with a flourish, "Morloth, my cousin and I are deeply in your debt for saving our friend. Thank you, my lady."
She smiled down at him and clasped his hands, "You are more than welcome, Pippin, it was my pleasure." Morloth turned to Boromir, "My lord, you neglected to tell me that Hobbits are as courtly as they are valiant!"
"Oh, well, that's the Took side," Pippin said confidingly, to the amusement of the other three. Pippin glanced east over the parapet and something caught his eye; a deep black cloud that was spreading west from Mordor, against the wind.
"Gandalf," he said, starting to feel a little alarmed, "what is that?"
Gandalf followed his gaze and his face grew grim, "That is the shadow of Sauron; a cloud of murk that he sends ahead of his armies to shield them from the sun. When it reaches the city, so will they."
Boromir shook his head, "Our histories tell of this happening when Sauron makes war, but I had never thought to see it in my lifetime." He swore under his breath, "The beacon should have been lit days ago! Now Théoden can't possibly arrive before Sauron's forces besiege us."
"The city will have to hold until they do," Gandalf said firmly. "Have you decided what you will tell your father about the beacon?"
Boromir smiled ruefully, "Through many years of dealing with him, Faramir and I have learned it is best not to ask for orders or instructions on matters where we may not like his answer. It is often…wiser to do what we see as right and then proclaim ignorance or seek forgiveness as needed." He shrugged, "I will think of something. What's important is that it's done and can't be undone. But now it is time to face him."
Boromir had struggled to his feet with Morloth's help a few moments before, and she looked at him with concern, "I…I know it is important Boromir, but must it be tonight? You're almost too weary to stand."
"Yes, I'm afraid it must; he hasn't seen me since I left for Rivendell, so he will certainly insist."
"Oh, I had forgotten that! My apologies; of course you will want to spend time together after so long." Morloth said contritely.
He laid his hand on her arm and smiled, "No need to apologize, Morloth, though I would like to assure him that I am alive and mending." Boromir glanced sidelong at Gandalf, "As it happens, there are a number of topics that I would prefer to avoid discussing with him if I can, so I will do my best to keep it brief." Boromir took a deep breath to firm his resolve, "Let us go."
