Chapter 29 A Vision of Things to Come
The festivities soon died down and Mariell and Aragorn retired to their room. Though she'd received much more sleep than he had, her
husband did not seem the least bit fatigued. In fact he seemed to be in a rather playful mood. The moment their door closed he swept
her into his arms and kissed her full on the mouth. He dropped her onto the bed and came down on top of her. Mariell giggled as he
began kissing her neck. "You're in a quite a mood," she said.
"I'm celebrating," he said. Mariell giggled as Aragorn came down on top of her . Mariell muffled her cries against Aragorn's mouth as he made love to her bringing her pleasure to the highest platuea. They held tightly to each other until they
had come down from their peak. Aragorn rolled over onto his back and pulled her against his side.
"You should sleep," she said as she played with the hairs on his chest.
"I am not tired," he said getting up. He pulled on his pants, shirt and boots.
"Legolas stands watch," he said. "I'm going to go check on him." Mariell nodded and leaned back against the pillows. She felt a bit
chilly and pulled the blankets tighter over her chin. When that did not help she got out of bed and pulled on her clothes. Even that did
not take away the cold child that crawled up her spine. It was though there was some sort of evil presence in the room. She reached up
to her pendant and squeezed it hard. There was something not right. Then in a flash she knew. He was here! Sauron! She hurried from
the room and down the hall. She heard yelling in the distance and hurried toward the sound. She saw Legolas and Aragorn hurry into a
room and ran to catch up with them. Her breath caught in her throat as she beheld the sight. Pippin was on the floor struggling with what
appeared to be a ball of fire. She knew what it was. Gandalf had told her about the palantiri stones and how Pippin had been too
intrigued when they had found one in the ruins of Isengard. Aragorn ran forward and yanked it from Pippin's grasp. The ball of fire
turned its attack on Aragorn. Mariell went to help him but Legolas held her back.
"You cannot let him see you!" he shouted at her. Gandalf moved toward Aragorn quickly and wrapped the stone in cloth. Aragorn fell
backwards as the stone left his hands. Mariell and Legolas both rushed to his side. He wasn't' hurt.
"Fool of a Took!" Gandalf snapped. That was when they all realized that Pippin lay still, comatose. Gandalf rushed to the hobbit and
spoke a few words in elvish. Pippin's eyes blinked and he looked at Gandalf.
"Oh Gandalf," he whimpered. "Forgive me." "Look at me," Gandalf demanded. "What did you see"
"A tree. A white tree. It was burning"
"Minas Tirith. Did you see Minas Tirith"
"He saw me. He asked me my name. I did not answer"
"Did you tell him about Frodo?" Gandalf demanded.
"No," Pippin whispered. Then he closed his eyes and turned away. Gandalf turned to look at them.
"This is very serious indeed."
The king listened as Gandalf told him of what Pippin had seen. Mariell watched the king's reaction with nervous tension.
"There was truth in Pippin's eyes. He did not tell Sauron of the ring. He is a fool, but an honest fool." Mariell looked over at Pippin. The
hobbit was looking downcast at the floor. Merry stood behind him his hand on Pippin's shoulder.
"This glimpse of the future has given us an advantage over the enemy. Sauron's defeat at Helm's Deep has shown him that men are not
as weak as he had thought. He knows that the heir of Elendil lives. He will not risk the race of man uniting under one banner. He will
strike hard at Gondor." Mariell felt Aragorn tense beside her. She reached out and took his hand, trying to bring him what comfort she
could. His hand was cold in hers.
"Where was Gondor in our hour of need?" Theoden asked. "Why should we help them when they did not aid us"
"I will go to warn them," Aragorn said.
"No," Gandalf said. "I will go myself and I won't be going alone." The wizard's eye turned and fixed on Pippin.
Within the hour, Gandalf was hurrying to the stables with the hobbits. Aragorn watched as Merry scolded Pippin. Mariell came to his
side and rested a hand on his shoulder.
"It is for the best," she said. "Pippin isn't safe here. Sauron will think he has the ring. I can't expand the pendant's power again. If we go
to war I will not be able to protect everyone"
"It should be me going," Aragorn said. "I am Gondor's king"
"And you will do much more for Gondor by staying here and rallying troops to her aid"
"Theoden will not send Rohan to Gondor's aid. You've seen how stubborn he is once he makes up his mind about something"
"You forget, husband of mine, I am made of the same stuff Theoden is. I am not so easily put off." Aragorn smiled a little at that. He
saw Shadowfax run from the stable with Gandalf and Pippin on his back. Merry was rushing from the stable and up to the watchtower.
He looked very upset. Aragorn hurried after the hobbit and met him at the top.
"He and I haven't been apart since we were born," Merry whimpered. "What if something happens to him? What if I never see him again"
"You mustn't give up hope, Merry," Aragorn tried to comfort him. "Hope is all we have to hold on to"
"I can't just sit here anymore, Aragorn. I want to do something to help the fight against our enemy"
"I'm sure you will, Merry," Aragorn said squeezing his shoulder.
