Chapter 3

"Mr Frodo? Frodo? Wake up sir." Sam's whisper was accompanied at last by a gentle touch on his shoulder and Frodo cracked open sleep fogged eyes, squinting against the headache that pounded at him mercilessly.

"What time is it, Sam?" Frodo murmured as he levered himself into a sitting position, wincing at the additional throbbing in his head. Sam arranged pillows behind him and draped a woollen shawl about his shoulders against the cooler evening air.

"It's nigh on supper time, sir. And the King is here to see you."

Frodo had vague recollections of Sam feeding him broth and some tea but he had been so tired that he had been asleep again before he had reached the bottom of the cup. Once or twice he thought he remembered Aldern's face too but he could not be sure of that for dreaming and waking seemed to flow together. Sam handed him a cup of steaming liquid just as the door opened to admit the healer, followed by Aragorn.

"Good evening, Frodo. I am so sorry that I could not come to see you earlier. As someone used to travelling alone I am finding it a little strange that I am now surrounded by people on all sides. I broke away as soon as I could."

Frodo sipped and found the tea to be a sweet and fruity concoction, flavoured with fresh ginger. "I understand, Your Maj . ." He was cut off by a wave of the King's hand.

"I am Aragorn to you. You need not bow to me for it was by your efforts that I assumed the throne." Before Frodo could protest any further, Aragorn laid a gentle hand upon his brow and, satisfied that there was no fever, settled himself upon the stool at the side of the bed.

"I have asked Master Healer Aldern to tell me what ails you but he says that he cannot do so without your permission."

Frodo glanced up at the slender healer gratefully. Aldern inclined his head, his voice carefully modulated to be heard only by those within the room. "If you wish to be alone with the King I will wait outside."

Tea sloshed over Frodo's hand as he leaned forward in his haste to keep Aldern and Sam had to rescue the cup and mop up. Even Frodo heard the edge of panic in his own voice, as he called out, "No. No. Please stay."

Aldern remained at the foot of the bed and folded his arms while Sam tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. Frodo smiled at his friend. "Please stay too, Sam."

"Very well Frodo. We are all here and I, for one am feeling curious and more than a little worried. Would somebody tell me what is wrong?" Aragorn pleaded.

Swallowing in a suddenly dry mouth, Frodo found that he did not know where to begin and he glanced across at Aldern for support. The healer smiled, his voice sure and calm.

"Perhaps you should tell the King of your examination and then, perhaps, your reasons for believing my suggestion to be correct?" he coaxed.

Somehow, the suggestion did not make Frodo's decision any easier. This was so personal. He would have to bear his innermost soul. Perhaps that was the purpose behind the whole thing . . . to leave him nothing that was his and his alone . . . to rip open his soul and strew the stinking entrails in the unforgiving sun for all to see.

Frodo looked down at his fingers, where they worried at a stray thread on the edge of the blanket. A large hand came to rest upon his, stilling his movements. Aragorn's voice was worried. "Frodo? Please tell me what troubles you and I will do all within my power to help."

Sam's voice was added to that of the man. "Please, Mr Frodo. Strider is the King now. That's an awful lot of power to help with."

"Oh Sam. I wish that he could help in this, but I think this is beyond even a King," Frodo replied, sadly. He worked his hand free of Aragorn's and rubbed his eyes, trying to knuckle away the headache and the tears that he could feel building there.

"We will never know unless you tell me," Aragorn coaxed quietly.

Frodo took as deep a breath as he could and let it out in a rush of words before his mind could stop it. "I think I may be with child and Aldern's examination seems to support my fear." He swallowed hard to prevent the meagre contents of his stomach from chasing the words out of his mouth. Although he had shut his eyes, the Ringbearer could feel those of the other's in the room boring into his face.

There was a long silence, finally broken by Aragorn. "Frodo. You are a male hobbit. I have travelled with you for many weeks and there is little that you were able to hide from me in your illness after Weathertop. I know enough about hobbit anatomy from tending you and from my foster father's tuition to know that you do not have the organs required to support a child within your body."

Opening his eyes, Frodo met those of the King. "I never told you what went through my mind when . . . when I . . . put on the Ring . . . when . . . when I . . . claimed . . . it. I never told you what it offered that . . . that I could not . . . refuse. What I most wanted. I never even told Sam." He wanted to swallow but his throat would not co-operate and Aldern handed him a cup. Frodo took a sip. It was the same honeyed water he had been given upon his arrival and it went down smoothly, coating and easing his dry throat.

"And I would never press you on that matter. The Ring made many promises, all of them seemingly good and all of them warped and evil. It is a thing personal to you and I know that you cherish your privacy," Aragorn replied. "But I do not see how that bears on your present assertion."

Frodo turned to Sam, who was standing uncertainly at the bedside. "Dear Sam. I hope that what I am about to say will not sully our friendship, for I hold your companionship more dear than I can ever tell you."

"Nothing you could ever say would make me turn away from you, Frodo. You should know that by now if you know nothin' else," Sam vowed, catching his master's hand in his.

Frodo allowed himself a weak smile. "Do you remember that morning in Ithilien? Not long before Captain Faramir caught us? You were talking about the Shire and Rose Cotton."

Sam began to pink, the colour rising from his neck to his ears. "You shouldn't pay too much attention to that. I was trying to make you feel better."

"Dear Sam. Do you think I don't know when you're in love? Although it took me a while to see it, I grant you. Your face changes completely when you so much as say her name. I think it was on that morning that I realised what I had truly lost to the quest . . . and I was . . . jealous."

"Oh Frodo. You gave up so much. We had no right to ask it of you," Aragorn sighed.

"You did not ask it of me. I volunteered and I blame no-one for my plight but myself." Frodo replied firmly.

Sam interrupted. "But what's that got to do with you feeling poorly now?"

Frodo took a deep breath. "When you spoke about Rose I suddenly realised what I had lost. At first I was jealous . . . please forgive me for that Sam? And then I realised that you were going to lose it too. You should marry Rose Cotton and have lots of little Rosie girls and Sam lads, and until I woke up in Ithilien . . . afterwards . . . I thought you would never have that opportunity. And it occurred to me, that I had always imagined Bag End filled with children but thought that there would be plenty of time for such things. As we drew closer to Mount Doom I realised that my dreams would never come true. There would be no Mistress Baggins and no little Frodo lad." His voice faded and Aldern coaxed him to take another sip from the cup.

All within the small room were now silent . . . waiting for Frodo to continue. He took another shuddering breath.

"When I stood on the brink I could see nothing but the Ring. It no longer whispered . . . it drowned out all other sound, all other thought." Tears began to trickle down his cheeks unheeded

"I tried so hard to resist it but then . . . then . . ." Frodo sobbed and Sam took his hand between both of his. Aldern moved to a side table and returned with a bottle, adding a few drops of pale liquid to Frodo's drink and encouraging him to sip again. Frodo was hardly aware of the action.

"What did it promise you, Frodo?" asked Aragorn at last.

The once Ringbearer turned tear filled eyes upon the once ranger. "It showed me a vision of a babe. He had my dark hair and blue eyes. It was my child, Aragorn. I saw the Ring offering me a family . . . home . . . wife . . . love . . . a future. All that I had lost."

Aldern coaxed him to take a few more sips of the soothing drink and Frodo leaned back into his pillows, tears flowing in earnest now.

"I said, "Yes". I wanted it so badly . . . to be normal . . . to go back to the Shire and be an ordinary hobbit with wife and children and, one day, grandchildren." Sobs began to shake him and tears were sliding down Sam's face too. "I should have known better. Everyone warned me that it twisted all its promises. It showed me a babe. It did not show me a wife . . . and then there was Gollum . . . and the Ring was gone and I hoped . . . oh how I hoped . . . that it would not . . . come true. But . . ."

Sam caught the cup as Frodo nearly dropped it, curled up onto his side, buried his face in his hands and sobbed violently. Aragorn reached out at once to rub the shaking shoulders and Aldern moved in to remove pillows and settle his patient under the blanket.

Frodo was aware of little of this as whatever had been added to his cup began to take effect. The headache that had plagued him since waking was fading, as was everything else . . . light . . . sound . . . emotion. Try as he may, he could keep his eyes open no longer and his sobs faded to soft hitches as the sedative and Aragorn's gentle stroking overtook him, tugging him gently down into oblivion.

TBC