Ch. 30

Rosie slowly turned to Pippin, shaking her head. She looked at his hands and saw the steaming bowl and the plain one. "Bring it here, Pippin. Merry, the cloth."

Reaching for the cloth, she immediately ripped it in two. One half she dipped into the cold, the other into the hot. The hot cloth was placed on Aragorn's chest, atop the wound. The cold cloth was laid upon his forehead. Rosie held the hot cloth tightly over the wound for a minute, before lifting it and dripping cold water onto the cut. The blood, which had been flowing freely, due to the poison, Pippin guessed, clotted.

Rosie stood and reached for her bandage kit. Inside was a small, bulb shaped object. She took the thing over to Aragorn, squeezed the large end and inserted the slim end into the still open edge of the slice. She let go and blood was sucked into the thing. Squeezing it over one of the empty bowls, she emptied it before repeating the procedure. Five more times she did this, and on the fifth time, the blood that was emptied from the bulb came out dark forest green.

Rosie grabbed a bandage and a sewing kit. Using the needle and thick thread, she sewed together the two sides of the crevice that marred the strong torso of Aragorn. She then proceeded to bandage it up, to keep him from moving too much and to catch any stray blood.

Standing she turned to the crowd that stood there and said, "There, Arwen," her voice full of spite, her eyes of tears. "Your husband is cured." With that she left the room, her face in her hands. Arwen looked at her feet, ashamed.

"What happened?" Pippin asked, now near to Gandalf.

"Nothing. Just a dueling of passion between two women."

"Ah." Pippin knew better than to attempt to comprehend to workings of the female mind. Suddenly, he remembered his plan to empty the hall of all but Merry, Sam, and himself.

"Er, Gandalf." he began. His voice caught in his throat. Gandalf would see through the lie. His plan would not work. Even if Gandalf did not catch it, Galadriel was present. Galadriel, who saw into his mind. and Elrond, who saw into his future.

"Yes, Pippin?" asked Gandalf, beginning to worry.

"Nothing." The reply came far too quickly, and Gandalf placed his hand on Pippin's shoulder and steered him around the crowd. As they walked past, Aragorn opened his eyes. Perfect, thought Gandalf.

As they entered the kitchen, Rosie was sitting in a chair, in less of a state then she'd left in. Arwen sat by her on the floor, their eyes level. They were smiling, each just a little. "Arwen, Aragorn is waking. Rosie, Elanor calls for her mother." Gandalf shooed the two of them into he hall. A question emanated from Arwen's eyes, but in her excitement, she chose to ignore it. Grabbing Rosie's hand, she pulled her into the hall.

Gandalf walked over to the table, motioning for Pippin to follow. He sat down at the too small for him table, and Pippin was seated comfortably next to him.

"So, said Gandalf. "How do you plan to cure Sam?"