If Nathan Mahler was anything, he would be the most successful Chevalier in the history of the Chiropteran race. Not only was he perfectly in tune with what his Queen was seeing, what she was hearing, what she touching and listening, he had perfect sense of what she was feeling. And he knew, from the very moment he entered the Golden Hall after a hunting lesson with Boromir as his student, that Arya I the Fair was completely seething in rage.

"That Halfling could have had all of us killed!" she exclaimed to Gandalf, forgetting the fact that many would have thought her to be dead in the first place. Of all the things she had feared in her lifetime, there was nothing more that she had feared than the chance of Sauron wiping out her family into extinction, and she would not risk anything that would jeopardize their cause. "Thousands of lives would be at risk, and perhaps millions more, who knows what he could have told Sauron?"

Luckily for her, Gandalf understood that Arya I was speaking out of line, only because of her loyalty towards Middle Earth. He had known her for a long time prior to her disappearance, and he would not blame her for her outburst. Instead, he quietly motioned for Nathan to calm her down, while Diva quickly went to tend to Pippin.

Holding both her hands on either side of the Hobbit's head, she concentrated her healing powers on calming his soul, and to draw out whatever damage Sauron had done. She had come to something particularly difficult to remove, and which, she knew, was causing much harm as well. "Pippin, relax, I am here," she whispered in his ear, "Let it go, he can't hurt you anymore..." It was only then when Pippin forced his eyes open and immediately sat up to cough out a splutter of black blood. "Pippin, its alright, it needs to get out of your body..."

Then, upon noticing what he had done, the Halfling's eyes started to well with tears, and he began apologizing to everyone, to Gandalf in particular. "Gandalf... forgive me..." he murmured, and Gandalf nodded.

"Look at me," the Wizard commanded. "Look at me... What did you see?"

But no matter how much coaxing, no matter how hard he tried to tell Gandalf what he had saw in the Palantir, he could not find the courage to do so. Boromir, knowing that his powers would be of help, readily volunteered to project what Pippin saw, and what they all saw staggered them. It was a tree, a tree that was white in every sense of the word, and it was dead, and the courtyard that surrounded it was burning. This vision was one that shook Boromir greatly. It was Minas Tirith, it was his home! He would not allow such a thing to happen, he would not!

Soon, Pippin began to speak slowly, "He asked me my name, I didn't speak... and he hurt me..." This statement made matters worse. If Sauron could not only communicate with whoever was in contact with the Palantir, but cause physical harm as well, it would mean that there was a huge chance that Pippin might have disclosed more information than they would ever dare imagine...

"What did you tell him about Frodo and the Ring?" Gandalf demanded, and literally everyone fell silent, awaiting the Halfling's answer.

Dawn, the next morning, the mattresses from the previous night had been rolled away, leaving the Golden Hall as it always was, as a throne room and audience chamber for the King of Rohan. The night previous, Arya I and Nathan had been fully briefed about what had happened during the times they were removed from the world, literally by the two youngest Queens and Boromir, and by that time, they had known all that had happened.

"What has the world come to?" Arya I asked her granddaughters. "That the Wise places their fate upon a Halfling, and he is bearing the Ring to Mordor on his own, with only his gardener for company?" A long time ago, she had been a loyal agent to the White Council while her sister held the seat of Lady of their race, and although she had been keen on the politics of Middle Earth, she had never doubted their actions at all, but not her son-in-law's decision that a Hobbit was the most suitable candidate to destroy the Ring. But her prejudices could not be helped, as she had lived during a time where the Halflings have not yet come into prominence, and even at these times, very little was known about that strange people.

Arya was the one who answered her grandmother. She found it strange, that one so famous for bringing out the sun or moon with her laughter would have such an authorative approach on things. Perhaps it was her own motherly instincts to protect what was left of her children, the scions of their race, or perhaps she had come from a time in Middle Earth where the Elves and great Men were revered and held with utmost respect. "Grandmother, even the most honorable of Men would be... shaken by the influence of the Ring, and Frodo has proven nothing but his ability to stay true to the Quest."

Sighing, the more ancient Arya held her hand to her granddaughter's shoulder and said, "I hope that you are right, child. For the sakes of us all."

Their chatter soon ended when Gandalf and Theoden entered the hall, and moved to the table where several among them were poring over maps and maps, discussing their next moves. "There was no lie in Pippin's eyes," Gandalf announced. "A fool, but an honest fool he remains: he told Sauron nothing of Frodo and the Ring." At that moment, Diva gave Pippin and brightened smile and hugged him shortly. "We have been strangely fortunate... Pippin saw in the Palantir a glimpse of the enemy's plan. Sauron moves to strike Minas Tirith, his defeat at Helm's Deep has shown him one thing. He knows that the Heir of Elendil had come forth, Men are not as weak as he supposed. And now, the Chiropterans have been bolstered by the retrun of Arya I the Fair and her Knight Nathan of the Blade-Arm. Never before has three generations of Queens and Knights fought against Sauron under the same banner, and this proves that there is still strength to challenge him."

He took a pause, to ensure he had the undivided attention of everyone in the hall, and waited until the Rohirrim were done marvelling at the Queen who was thought to be dead. "Sauron fears all this, and he will not risk the peoples of Middle Earth uniting under one banner. He will raze Minas Tirith to the ground before he sees a King returning to the throne of Men." Then, he turned to Theoden, and said, "If the Beacons of Gondor are lit, Rohan must be ready for war."

However, Theoden had a different train of thought in his mind. For one thing that he had seen clearly was that when Rohan needed Gondor the most, she did not come. Even the Elves had known the troubles of his land, and the Lord and Lady of the Chiropterans, but Gondor, who was supposed to be Rohan's closest ally, did not send even a word of concern. "Tell me, why should we ride to the aid of those who did not come to ours, what do we owe Gondor?"

If Boromir had still been the rash human he had been, if Boromir was as proud as he was in his youth, he would have already attacked Theoden for speaking such words of his country. But Boromir was now a different being, more tolerant, and perhaps, with the Chiropteran blood that now flowed through his being, more wise. Arya saw this, and she smiled, putting an encouraging hand on his that now rested upon the hilt of his sword.

"I will go," Aragorn said, turning to Gandalf, but strangely, the Wizad turned down his request. "They must be warned!" he retaliated, only to have Gandalf pull him closer, and whisper into his ear that he had to reach Minas Tirith by another road, that he needed to look to the black ships, before moving his words to the entire hall again.

"Understand this," he said, "That things are in motion that cannot be undone, I ride for Minas Tirith, and I will not be going alone." At that, everyone knew that Pippin would be certainly tagging along, but he seemed to be awaiting responses from others.

Boromir stood out and proclaimed, "I may be a Rochir now, but I am still a son of Gondor. I will go with you, Gandalf, and so will my Queen." At his words, Arya stood out as well. Gandalf looked at them and agreed that they could join him.

"And what about you, Diva?" Gandalf asked. "You and your sister are famous for protecting Gondor and Minas Tirith under the service during the times of the Kings, and the Stewards, will you not join them?"

Diva smiled and shook her head. "My place, I think, is where the people of Rohan are," she reasoned. "My parents and cousins are in the North currently, and with Arya going to Gondor, somebody needs to be the indestructable secret weapon." Eomer patted her on the shoulder, as a form of thanks for her assistance.

With that, Gandalf, Pippin, Arya and Boromir gave the rest of the people in the hall a quick bow, and left, with a few individuals sending them off. "Of all the inquisitive Hobbits, Peregrin Took, you are the worst!" Gandalf scolded, and it was the harshest thing so far that he had said to the Halfling. He could have been killed by Sauron, or worse. And Pippin was very, very sure that he would not meet a better end should Arya I have her hands on him.

Meanwhile, the one thing that kept Arya from pouring herself into their new mission to save Minas Tirith, was Diva. "Are you sure that you are fine without a Chevalier?" she asked her sister. Ever since Boromir had become a Chevalier, he had been feeding blood for both Queens, and while Haldir was now the Knight of her sister, he was still a long, long way from her, and he would not be able to quickly dash to her rescue if she needed any help.

"And I thought that you were the optimist between the two of us," Diva teased. "Have you forgotten that Nathan and Grandmother are staying? I am sure that he will spare a drop or two of his blood for me."

Arya I heard their conversation and said, "If he dares scrimp on Diva, I promise you, Arya, that he will suffer for a long, long time." There was that mischeivous smile that all the third-generation Queens had, the same one, Nathan noted, that Diva I possessed, upon her face, and she huddled her granddaughters closer. "He still stores his operas and great artworks in the Glittering Caves, and I shall burn them one by one if he dares to do anything otherwise."

The Queens shared a small bout of giggles until they were interrupted by Boromir. "Forgive me, great Queens, but we must leave now," he said with a slight bow.

"But where is Ferarri and your horse?" Arya asked, but Boromir answered that they would not be needing them. "Why?" she enquired further, only to see Boromir spread a set of wings that she never knew he had in the first place. "How... when did you sprout wings?"

There was a slight sheepish smile on Boromir's face when he answered, "Nathan taught me that our apperances are not limited to what we have currently, that we could change our form as we liked..." With that, he picked his Queen into his arms, and shot into the sky just as Gandalf and Pippin bolted through the gates of the city on Shadowfax.

Seeing that they were leaving, Merry immediately went up one of the sentry towers, accompanied by Diva, and Aragorn soon after. "He's always followed me," he told his friends, "Everywhere I went, seens we were 'Tweens. I would get him into the worse sort of trouble, but I was always there to get him out... but now, he's gone, just like Frodo and Sam."

Diva smiled and said, "Don't worry, I feel the same way with Arya too. Perhaps the mischief we ran into was quite similar to what you and Pippin did, and now, she's off to Gondor with her Knight instead of me. But look at it this way, Merry, they can keep one another company, and so can we."

Her words lightened Merry's heart. They always did.

"One thing that I have learnt about Hobbits, they are a most hardy folk," Aragorn said. "Your people can give the Chiropterans a run for their money any day."

Merry grinned a little at Aragorn's comment. "Foolhardy, maybe," he replied. "He's a Took."