Chapter 22
Elizabeth opened her eyes to a brightly lit room. It was morning! She felt the warmth of the sun on her face and boy, did it feel good. She remembered that she was supposed to go to Isengard with Gandalf. Silently,the childwondered if today was the day. Hopefully it would be. Elizabeth, at this point, would have done anything to get her mind off that servant girl.
The servant girl had looked kind of like Elizabeth's other cousin, Amanda. Elizabeth had caught Amanda at their house doing something verynaughty. Elizabeth shook the mere thought of the memory from her mind to keep her from thinking that way.
The 8 year old stretched before she slid herself off the oversized bed that made her feel small. Her feet searched for a pair of slippers and she found them. They had been especially made for her. They were a baize color and fuzzy. With Elizabeth, fuzzy was important. She'd told Eowyn how she liked her pink fuzzy slippers back at home. Well obviously there weren't pink animals in Middle Earth.
But that was all right. At least Elizabeth had slippers. Nice, warm, fuzzy slippers. At least now, Elizabeth wouldn't have to walk around in her shoes 24 hours of the day. And she wouldn't have to walk around in her socks and get them dirty when her feet got tired of being in shoes. And her feet wouldn't be cold if she coincidentally couldn't find socks or shoes.
Elizabethshuffled her slipper feet out the door and down the hall. She heard soft talking in the Golden Hall and shuffled her slipper feet into the hall as fast as she could. The many pairs of eyes were upon her as soon as she entered.
"I see you enjoy your slippers." Eowyn said softly, daring to speak first.
"They're my favorite!" Elizabeth exclaimed in return. Although that was a partial lie, it was also partially the truth. She loved her pink fuzzy bunny slippers better, but since they weren't here at present, these baize fuzzy slippers were the perfect thing.
She shuffled her fuzzy feet over to Gandalf and hugged his leg. Letting out a deep and long exhale, Elizabeth looked up at Gandalf and smiled. The aged wizard smiled back down at Elizabeth and muffled her mid-back length blonde hair gently.
"I take it you had a wonderful sleep." Gandalf said as a half statement, half question.
Elizabeth nodded her head firmly.
"Good," Gandalf said. "We leave for Isengard at noon. Eowyn has already packed a bag for you."
Elizabeth's morning smile brightened visibly. "Yay!!"
"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there now?"
"No,"
"How 'bout now?"
"No!"
Elizabeth was hesitant to ask the same question again. Obviously Eomer wasn't big on small talk. Come to think of it, Eomer didn't seem big on talking at all. Elizabeth frowned at Eomer's back. He didn't seem like the kind of person to be a daddy.
"Now?"
"NO!"
Elizabeth flinched. She didn't like Eomer. He wasn't kind to her like Gandalf and her friends were. He always looked like he was annoyed or angry with something. In fact, Elizabeth didn't remember ever seeing him smile.
"Do you hate me?" Elizabeth asked.
"What?!" Eomer exclaimed. "What reason would I have to hate you?"
"Well," Elizabeth said hesitantly. "You're being awfully mean right now."
"And you are being awfully annoying." Eomer responded.
Elizabeth was silent for a few moments. Ok, maybe Eomer didn't exactly hate her, but he sure wasn't her best friend...still, that was no reason to be mean.
"Will you be my friend?"
"What?!" Eomer exclaimed once more. He couldn't believe he'd been stuck with this little child who had no reason at all to go to Isengard. What good would a child—a little girl no less, do against Saruman's magic?
"Well, I just thought that since you don't seem to like me very much that maybe if I asked you to be my friend, you would say yes and you would be nice to me." Elizabeth answered.
"I am not nice." Eomer said stiffly.
"Well you should be. If you're not, than no one will ever want to marry you!" Elizabeth exclaimed.
"What business is it of yours to tell a lord of Rohan if he cares to marry?" Eomer asked, rather coldly.
"Well don't you want to have kids?" Elizabeth asked innocently.
"Not if they act like you!" Eomer snapped harshly.
Elizabeth winced. That had hit a soft spot. Most people had thought that Elizabeth and her questions were cute and adorable. Not that Elizabeth thought that she, herself, was adorable and cute, but that was just what people said to her.Besides, Mother had always said that questions were good for little girls.
Suddenly, Eomer's horse slowed. Elizabeth looked up at who was approaching Eomer. Elizabeth couldn't stop her tears from flowing just a little bit.
"Come, Elizabeth," Gandalf said. "Shadowfax would like you to sit with me."
Elizabeth smiled despite her tears. Gandalf had always been her lifeline out of teary situations. She felt Eomer pick her up under her armpits and rolled her eyes. He didn't even know how to pick up kids the right way. She felt Gandalf's gentle arms take her from Eomer's grasp and transfer her to Shadowfax's back in front ofhim. Elizabeth quickly found her favorite spot in front of Gandalf on Shadowfax's back and settled into it.
Elizabeth saw Gandalf give Eomer a warning glare before resuming his position in the front of the group. Gandalf was silent for a few moments, but Elizabeth could tell he wanted to say something.
"Would you care to tell me what happened?" Gandalf asked softly.
"He started it." Elizabeth said, pouting.
"It does not matter who started it." Gandalf said. "What happened?"
"He was being mean."
"How?"
"He yelled at me and said that he didn't want kids especially if they acted like me." Elizabeth said.
"Did he cause your tears?" Gandalf asked gently.
"No, those came out 'cuz I couldn't keep them in my eye."
Gandalf had to admire Elizabeth. Eomer had hurt her feelings, and yet, she was sticking up for him in a different sort of way. That was a very good thing for her to do. He wasn't sure if she was telling the total truth, but Gandalf knew that she was telling something close to half the truth.
Gandalf sighed and urged Shadowfax forward a bit faster. They were coming out of the forest now. Elizabeth looked ahead when she heard eager laughing. She suddenly realized for the first time that Merry and Pippin were sitting on the high, but broken wall of Isengard smoking and drinking.
Elizabeth's eyes widened.
"MERRY!! PIPPIN!!!" she yelled. She hadn't seen her friends for a long time.
Merry stood up, smiling brightly as Pippin waved merrily. "Welcome my lords—and little lady to Isengard!"
"You young rascals! A merry hunt you've led us on and now we find you feasting and-and smoking!" Gimli scolded.
"We are sitting on a field of victory enjoying a few well-earned comforts." Pippin said. "The salted pork is particularly good."
Gimli was shocked. He hadn't had meat in ages. "Salted pork?"
Gandalf did nothing but shake his head slightly and mutter 'Hobbits'. Elizabeth was so happy to see her friends that she did not know what to say. But Merry spoke up before she could even think of anything.
"We're under orders from Treebeard who's taken over management of Isengard." Merry announced. Now this was news.
Not only was Saruman out of "command" but a talking tree with a beard had taken control. Elizabeth was bothered by the quirky idea that Isengard was being controlled by a talking tree with a beard. It sounded worse than Saruman. But then again, the only thing worse than Saruman was his thousands of minions (which were dead) and Sauron (who was far away). SO actually, a talking tree with a beard taking over Isengard didn't seem so bad afterall. But it still bothered Elizabeth.
Nevertheless, Merry and Pippin hitched a ride on the backs of Aragorn and Eomer.
Treebeard, or whoever he was, approached the group of "exterminators" as they headed towards the tower. Elizabeth saw immediately that Treebeard's name suited him well. He was indeed a talking tree with a beard. How Disney-ish. It reminded Elizabeth of one of her former friends: TV.
"Ah, Young Master Gandalf." Treebeard said clearly and slowly.
Elizabeth's jaw practically dropped to the ground. Young? Since when was Gandalf young? Either Treebeard was really old or he was really flattering with his words. Elizabeth figured that Treebeard was really old.
"I'm glad you've come. Wood and water, stock and stone I can master. But there is a wizard to manage here locked in his tower." Treebeard said slowly.
Ah, so Saruman was stuck in his tower. HA! Served the meanie head right. Elizabeth fought the urge to voice her thoughts out loud. A strong wind passed over the land as a short silence was endured. All knew there was magic at work there. Elizabeth looked around and even chanced a look towards the top of the tower. Woah...it was quite a tall tower indeed.
"Show yourself," Aragorn muttered.
"Be careful," Gandalf said. "Even in defeat, Saruman is dangerous."
Elizabeth looked up at Gandalf. "Does that mean he could still hurt me?"
"I would never let him harm you, Elizabeth. You know that." Gandalf said reassuringly.
"Well let's just have his head and be done with it," Gimli said impatiently.
"No," Gandalf contradicted. "We need him alive. We need him to talk."
Elizabeth glanced at Eomer and saw him sending a slight glare to Gandalf. She turned her gaze away from the Rohan man and nestled herself in Gandalf's robes so that in her mind, she was safe.
"You have fought many wars and slain many men, Théoden King and made peace afterwards," a voice said. Saruman emerged from his tower and looked down at the group of travelers. He was on the very top of the tower. "Can we not take counsel together as we once did, my old friend? Can we not have peace, you and I?"
Elizabeth expected Théoden to flat out say no, but his words were far from different and a lot longer than a simple no. In fact, his words, no his speech seemed to have as much enthusiasm as a herd of charging, wild horses. Literally.
"We shall have peace," Théoden began. "We shall have peace when you answer for the burning of the Westfold and the children that lie dead there! We shall have peace when the lives of soldiers whose bodies were hewn even as they lay dead against the gates of the Hornburg, are avenged!
"When you hang from a gibbet for the sport of your own crows we shall have peace." Théoden finished with just as much malice as he had started with.
All eyes were now on Saruman to see what his response to Théoden's little speech was. Would he yell and go crazy? Or would he mount a last attack on his own on the travelers? Or perhaps he'd start doing a quirky little jig to make hte situation less frightening.
"Gibbets and crows?" Saruman repeated. He was getting angry now. "Dotard!"
He was silent for a moment and then turned to Gandalf. His soft, gray eyes seemed to have kindness behind the many years of evil and hatred. They rested themselves on Elizabeth and she found that it was hard to move under their stare.
"What do you want, Gandalf Greyhame?" Saruman asked. "Let me guess. The Key of Orthanc. Or perhaps the Keys of Barad-dur itself along with the crowns of the seven kings and the rods of the Five Wizards!"
Elizabeth was impressed. She'd never even heard of the rods of the seven kings or the crowns of the five wizards. Or was it the crowns of the seven kings and the rods of the five wizards? Oh, it was all too complicated anyways. She'd never evenheard of such things.
"Your treachery has already cost many lives." Gandalf said. "Thousands more are now at risk. But you could save them, Saruman. You were deep in the enemy's counsel."
"So you have come here for information," Saruman said, smiling evilly. "I have some for you."
He brought out a dark sphere that held a fire within. Gandalf's expression darkened. Elizabeth's eyes locked onto the dark sphere and would not transfer their gaze to anything else. There was something about this sphere...she'd seen it somewhere before...
"Something festers in the heart of Middle Earth. Something that you have failed to see. But the Great Eye has seen it. Even now he presses his advantage." Saruman said. Gandalf took Shadowfax's reins and urged the horse to walk forward. "His attack will come soon. You're all going to die. But you know this, don't you Gandalf?
"You cannot think that this Ranger will ever sit upon the throne of Gondor. This exile, crept from the shadows, will never be crowned king. Gandalf does not hesitate to sacrifice those closest to him, those he professes to love. Even children," Saruman said, looking directly at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth looked fearfully up at Gandalf. "Gandalf?"
"Hush, child," Gandalf said softly.
"Tell me, what words of comfort did you give the Halfling before you sent him to his doom?" Saruman asked. Gandalf's eyes were downcast. "The path that you have set him on can only lead to death."
"Gandalf?!" Elizabeth cried.
"Be silent, Elizabeth!" Gandalf said, a little harsher than he wanted to. Elizabeth winced and looked at the water that covered the ground. She felt a reassuring hand on her arm and knew that Gandalf was silently apologizing to her.
"See child?" Saruman hissed. "Gandalf does not want you to hear the truth. He pretends to love you so that he can use you later on."
"Do not listen to him, Elizabeth; he is the one trying to use you." Gandalf warned softly.
"Ah, trying to keep me from spilling all your secrets?" Saruman asked. "Have you told her why you were not deeply disturbed when you learned the Halfling had separated from the rest of the Fellowship? Have you told her about how separating Frodo was your plan?"
Elizabeth's fears flared up once more. Shewas almost crying now. "Gandalf?!"
"I've heard enough!" Gimli exclaimed. And then in a lower tone, he said, "Shoot him. Stick an arrow in his gob."
"No!" Gandalf said loudly. "Come down, Saruman and your life will be spared."
"Save your pity and mercy." Saruman said, disgusted at Gandalf's words. "I have no use for it!"
He aimed the bottom of his staff at Gandalf and Elizabeth and shot a huge jet of fire straight at them. Elizabeth lifted her arms in front of herself as a shield and started crying. She had not anticipated that she would die because of a stupid ball of fire. She waited for the hot, burning sensation to pass over her skin and engulf her.
But she did not feel her skin burning, or her life force quickly draining itself from her small body. In fact, she still felt the cool breeze passing through her hair. And before she knew it, she again felt the sun's warmth on her face.
Elizabeth lowered her arms and looked around, the fresh tears glimmering on her cheeks. It occurred to Elizabeth that her friends might think her a cry baby or too emotional if they saw that the magic fire had frightened her. So she quickly wiped away her tears and tried to appear brave like she had during the battle of Helm's Deep.
The little girl looked up at the evil wizard with a defiant and confident look on her face. She, or rather Gandalf, had triumphed once more.
"Saruman," Gandalf said slowly. "Your staff is broken."
Saruman's eyes quickly darted to his staff and his hand began to shake as a red light spread through the black staff. It exploded in his hand, leaving his hand shaking and his eyes still shocked, staring at where his staff had been.
It was then that the man with the pink hair chose to make his appearance. He approached from behind Saruman and Elizabeth remembered him as the one that had helped Saruman control King Théoden. His hair was surprisingly still pink, causing Elizabeth to wonder if Elrohir and Elladan had meant what they said about how long the hair dye would last.
"Grima, you need not follow him," Théoden said when he noticed his former friend and advisor behind the defeated wizard. "You were not always as you are now. You were once a man of Rohan. Come down."
Grima bowed his head low and made to come down, but Saruman spoke first.
"A man of Rohan?" Saruman asked slowly, as if he hated the name. "What is the House of Rohan but thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek and their brats roll on the floor with the dogs?
"The victory at Helm's Deep does not belong to you, Théoden Horse-Master. You are a lesser son of greater sires." Saruman finished.
Théoden appeared to be contemplating Saruman's words carefully and chose to ignore the defeated old man. He had clearly won an internal battle amongst himself.
"Grima…come down," Théoden pleaded. "Be free of him."
"Free?" Saruman asked, making a face. "He will never be free!"
Grima shook his head. "No,"
Saruman turned around and slapped him harshly, sending him to the floor. "Get down, cur!"
"Saruman!" Gandalf said loudly. "You were deep in the enemy's counsel…"
Gandalf was speaking, Elizabeth was sure of it, but his voice started to fade. She turned her head and looked up at him to see his mouth moving, but nothing coming out. She shook her head to try and unclog her ears but nothing happened. Something came over her, and she lost control of her body as her eyes rolled up and she began to convulse violently.
Gandalf glanced down at Elizabeth as soon as he felt something was wrong. Apparently Grima who'd gotten up and began pulling out his knife had noticed too and had put his knife away. He and Saruman were watching Elizabeth interestedly.
"Elizabeth!" Gandalf cried, trying to hold the child still. She did not respond. Gandalf looked up as he heard a snort.
"See what your magic has done to her?" Saruman asked. "As I said, you do not hesitate to sacrifice those closest to you."
Gandalf's brave face faded as he looked down at Elizabeth. But than it returned. She had stopped her fit and her body was glowing. Gandalf had seen this happen before, when the octopus monster had grabbed her back at the gates of Moria.
Suddenly the glow disappeared and Elizabeth's eyes snapped open. She looked up at Saruman and narrowed her eyes at him. She pushed herself onto her feet and stood on Shadowfax, staring up at Saruman.
Then, in her young childish voice, she said in a mocking, sing-song tone, "I'm coming to get you; I'm coming to get you."
Saruman arched an eyebrow incredulously. "And how, pray tell, are you going to get up here?"
Elizabeth smiled. "I'll fly, of course."
Saruman snorted. Elizabeth folded her arms. If Saruman didn't believe her, than she'd just have to show him. She concentrated hard and felt herself lifting into the air and getting closer and closer to Saruman's face.
Before Elizabeth knew it, her mind was clouded and someone was speaking through her. She was face to face with Saruman. She opened her mouth and blew hot air in his face. His nose turned up as he smelled her morning breath. She had purposely not brushed her teeth this morning because somehow she'd known this would happen.
"Ha, ha, bad breath!" Elizabeth giggled. She turned to Grima and suddenly spoke with a different voice. "Take my hand Grima. Come down to your people."
"He will never be free of the Dark Lord's eyes. Never!" Saruman shouted as Grima took a few steps towards Elizabeth.
"I will be free," Grima said defiantly as he passed Saruman and reached out to take Elizabeth's hand.
"You will never be free, cur!" Saruman said taking his place in front of Grima with his back to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth, or at least the spirit controlling Elizabeth, smiled and placed its hand on Saruman's back. The hand glowed bright red and Saruman yelped in pain. Elizabeth removed her hand and smiled. She had branded Saruman with her hand. He stared at her like she was some disturbed child controlled by a force more evil than Sauron.
"He shall be free, incompetent fool!" Elizabeth yelled. She held out her hand for Grima and he took it somewhat gratefully and hesitantly.
Elizabeth smiled triumphantly at Saruman and began to float safely down to the ground. Suddenly Saruman lashed out at Grima, causing the both of them to fall towards the ground below. But Elizabeth, being the clever, possessed little girl she was, grabbed a hold of Grima's hand and watched as Saruman plummeted, arms flailing towards the water wheel below.
The sickening thud of the old man's body was ignored as Elizabeth pulled Grima back onto the invisible cloud she stood on. He stared at her as if she was his guardian angel.
"Why?" he asked as they continued to float down.
"You deserve to live. You're gonna help." Elizabeth said softly.
"How can a child know this?" Grima asked.
"I don't know," Elizabeth said, looking away as she rocked back and forth on her heels. "I see things. Things that no one else sees. Sometimes it scares me. I just thought that maybe you'd like to die a good guy and not a bad guy."
Grima gave a smile for the first time in a long time. The child, a mere child, had saved his life and given him the second chance that he'd needed. His feet touched the ground but his eyes were still on Elizabeth. The surreal, angelic voice that had come from her mouth was no longer there. In its place was her regular little girl voice that was adored by all her friends.
King Théoden's horse splashed water from behind Grima and he turned around slowly to await his death. But death did not come for him. A look of forgiveness replaced Théoden's previous look of anger.
"There is a spare horse, fortunately." Théoden said. "You will be guarded, but you are welcome to reclaim the trust you once had."
Grima bowed low in acceptance. "Thank you…my l-lord."
Meanwhile, Elizabeth had landed herself on top of the water wheel and was staring at Saruman's dead corpse. He'd been run through with one of the wooden legs of the water wheel.
She heard the splashing behind her and knew that Gandalf was watching her intently.
"Elizabeth?" he asked softly. "Are you all right?"
Elizabeth turned her head to look at him then returned her gaze to the old wizard. Tears stung her slightly dirty face. Gandalf could see not only Elizabeth's pity and sadness for Saruman, but the pity of another behind her eyes. This spirit had obviously known Saruman and had wanted to help him very badly.
"I wish people didn't have to be evil. Then no one would die." Elizabeth whispered. Those words could have been said by both the Elizabeth and the spirit inside her and no one would have noticed a difference.
Gandalf urged Shadowfax closer to the water wheel and held out his hand to her. She turned around and looked at it silently, unable to decide whether or not to take it. It seemed there was little reason to go on if any at all.
"People would die whether or not there was evil. And evil will never cease to exist." Gandalf said wisely.
"But that's not fair. It means we can't win." Elizabeth said sadly.
"It is true, we cannot win, not completely. But we can stop evil from taking control entirely. If we stop evil here, then it will find another host somewhere else. And when that new evil is found, it will be up to the bravery of others to defeat it." Gandalf said.
"But what if they don't?"
"Evil is always overcome by good." Gandalf said simply.
Elizabeth stared at Gandalf. The wizard had always been there for her. He was like her father/friend/grandfather. She took a deep breath and then exhaled.
"Come now," Gandalf said, beckoning to her. "Shadowfax would like you to join us."
Elizabeth jumped into Gandalf's arms and found her place on Shadowfax's back. It felt good to be able to lean against Gandalf again. Elizabeth hadn't returned to Gandalf a moment too soon, either. The water wheel began turning and Saruman's body was soon underwater.
Elizabeth glanced at Grima and blinked at him. He blinked in return but then looked away and continued looking elsewhere. Suddenly, Elizabeth heard a heavy splash as something fell in the water. She looked around, but all she saw was a round black rock. Elizabeth didn't think much of this since there were a lot of black rocks in Middle Earth.
"The filth of Saruman is washing away," Treebeard said slowly. "Trees will come back to live here. Young trees. Wild trees."
Just as Treebeard was finishing his sentence, Pippin leapt off the back of Aragorn's horse and splashed through the water. It seemed as if he'd found something. Something that to Elizabeth's eyes, glowed underwater.
Pippin dunked his hands into the water and came out with the black round rock that Elizabeth had seen earlier. Except this was no rock. It was the strange magical sphere that Saruman had showed them earlier. And now Pippin had it.
Before she knew it, Gandalf had guided Shadowfax towards Pippin and held out his hand.
"Peregrin Took," Gandalf called out. "I'll take that, my lad."
Pippin glanced at the sphere and looked hesitant but began to hand it to Gandalf.
"Quickly now," Gandalf ordered sternly. He took the sphere from Pippin and buried in his robes before Elizabeth. Without a second glance at Pippin, Gandalf turned his horse away and headed back to the group of travelers.
Elizabeth frowned down at the robes covering the sphere and wondered why Gandalf had covered it. She lifted the edge of the fabric up and peeked under it at the sphere. It actually was quite pretty. Elizabeth tried and tried to resist the urge to touch it, but could not. As she put forth a tentative hand to touch it, her curiosity grew larger. But suddenly a hand covered the sphere and blocked it from Elizabeth's view.
She looked up at Gandalf and saw him frowning down at her.
"Do not touch it, Elizabeth." Gandalf said sternly.
"Why?"
"Because this sphere enjoys hurting all who touch it. And it will enjoy hurting you very much." Gandalf said.
Elizabeth sat on her hands. She didn't want to go near that sphere now that she'd heard what Gandalf had said. And Pippin would rest well if he did the same.
((Wow, that seemed like a looong chapter....or maybe it's just me...anywho, tell me what you think...oh ya and I have a little survey for the reviewers...
1. IF there is a sequel, what should happen in it? Should there be another ring? If not, then what should happen? If there IS another ring, than what should they do about it? Please tell me, I'm kinda at a writer's block for writing the plot.
Thanks,
Silent Watcher, 1st Fury))