Minas Tirith, November of 1436

Pippin woke Merry up early the next morning. At first Merry groaned and curled up in a little ball, wanting to go back to sleep, but Pippin's shakes were persistent.

"Get up" he said. "Get up now or you will be late."

"What time is it?" Merry moaned and reluctantly opened his left eye.

"Almost five o'clock" Pippin said. "You have to be dressed, fed and at the House of Healing at a quarter to six! I let you sleep until now but I honestly don't think you will be able to be there on time unless you get up right this minute."

Shivering in the cold morning Merry sat up and pulled his covers off him. Pippin was already fully dressed in one of his ceremonial outfits and Merry couldn't help but wonder at what time he had gotten up. He had almost forgotten that he was going to get to be at the House of Healing today, and had he known it would mean such an early morning he would have gotten to bed a lot sooner. He wondered how Pippin managed; he often went to bed at about the same time as Merry did.

"Let me run and fetch you some breakfast" Pippin said. "You can eat it here, by the table in the corner, though you need to hurry. Aragorn usually arranges for me to be able to have second breakfast if I'm not on any of my more formal duties, I am sure he will have made similar arrangements for you, so don't worry about going hungry."

Merry mumbled something incoherent and reached for the towel on his endtable. Pippin disappeared and came back with a tray filled with scrambled eggs and some sausages just when Merry had gotten his clothes on and was beginning to be able to control his yawnings. He sat down to eat and noticed Pippin beginning to make his bed.

"Don't they have people who do that for us?" he asked.

"I have a minute to spare, I might as well do it" Pippin answered.

"Can I ask you something?" Merry asked while wolfing down his breakfast at an impressive speed.

"Sure."

"Do you think it was odd for me to ask to get to be at the House of Healing? After all I am just a Hobbit, maybe it's not my place?"

"I think had I asked to be there it would have been odd" Pippin said and tucked the bedspread in under the new pillow Merry had gotten without showing a trace of having noticed that it wasn't Merry's old one.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that Hobbits in general probably wouldn't ask to be there" Pippin said. "And no Perian has ever worked there as far as I am aware of. But you've always taken an interest in herbal medicine so I don't find it queer, nor do I think Aragorn does."

"So that's something I did in the past?" Merry asked and finished his glass of orange juice in one sweep.

"Ever since you were little" Pippin told him and handed him a toothbrush. "Here, brush your teeth. Then we must get going. It's nearly half past five already!"

"It's comforting, knowing that I have some interests left from my earlier life" Merry said and obediently brushed his teeth at lightning speed.

"It never made much sense to me that you could be so interested in digging up old roots and drying up leaves" Pippin said and handed Merry his cape as they walked out the door. "I never had the patience for it. But it was Uncle Saradoc's pride that you took such an interest in it, among Brandybucks it is considered a very noble occupation."

"Saradoc? Is that my father?"

"Yes, and my uncle by marriage" Pippin said as they hurried down the halls. "Come along, we must make haste!"

"Was I any good at it?"

"I suppose so. I really can't tell you, for I never understood any of it myself. But Uncle Saradoc was proud enough to burst so I assume that you were quite talented. You sure had a lot of practice."

"Really?"

"You used to be out walking in the woods a lot with Frodo and Bilbo Baggins when you were younger, and then with me and Folco Boffin as well when we got older. If you found a wounded animal you would bring it back to your father's halls to cure it and make it better. It was rather charming; at least I know the lasses thought so. One winter you dragged home two wounded bunnies and didn't check whether they were both male or female bunnies, so before long you had a whole flock of them. Auntie Esmeralda was displeased; I remember that, for they were anything but housebroken. I also recall a lot of bunny stew being served at Brandy Hall that spring."

Merry grinned.

"Esmeralda, is that my mother's name?"

"Yes, and she was born a Took, sister to my father."

"Then that makes you andI first cousins."

"Exactly" Pippin said and opened the door leading out to the courtyard. "Hurry up now, I would be ashamed to show up with you late."

"Saradoc and Esmeralda" Merry said and pondered the names. "My parents… How peculiar."

"All through my childhood you used to drag animals home and try to cure them back to life. Sometimes you succeeded, sometimes you failed. But I remember I was angry when I was little and I wanted you to play with me, but you insisted on sitting by some wounded duck or fox all day long."

"And my father, he was proud of me?" Merry asked with a smile.

"Yes. Except that time when you were fifteen and you came home with a skunk that had a broken leg. I have rarely seen Uncle Saradoc so upset with you, yet you were as stubborn as I've ever seen you. You wouldn't normally talk back to your father but in this case you refused to give in. In the end he won of course, but if memory serves me right you pondered running away to the Great Smials where I lived."

"Did I?"

"No, your anger never lasted long."

"What about my parents now?" Merry asked. "Saradoc and Esmeralda… Are they still alive?"

"No" Pippin said with sadness in his voice. "Uncle Saradoc died two years ago; Auntie Esmeralda has been dead for eight. I don't think my uncle ever really recovered, he was not the same since I returned without you."

"He was that sad that I was gone?"

"I don't want to tell you too much… But there was a time earlier in your life when you left the Shire and your parents thought you would never return again. I think Uncle Saradoc took it harder than he let on that his heir was presumed dead. You were their only child and the… well, things would have been complicated had you died. And then you did die. At least as far as we all knew. He was strong enough to face it once but twice proved to be too much I think. And your poor mother was heartbroken, she was ill when you died and I think she lost the will to recover when her only child was gone. She held out for a few years but she was frail and eventually she gave in."

"I killed my parents" Merry sighed. "I was hoping to get to see them again."

"You didn't kill anybody" Pippin said and nodded to the guard standing by the doors at the House of Healing as they passed by him. "Neither of them were young. Besides, what happened was out of your control."

"You said I was my father's heir" Merry said. "Heir to what?"

Luckily for Pippin they were met up and interrupted by one of the old women working at the Houses, and he didn't have to answer Merry's question.

"You behave now" he said and gave Merry a pat on the shoulder. "I have to go; I have a whole heap of paper work waiting for me."

The next thing Merry knew Pippin was gone and the old woman had begun to lead him down a hallway, going on and on about something or other, and for a brief moment Merry wondered if this had all been a mistake.

"Now come sit in here and we will find you something to do" the woman said and led him into a study.

When he stepped inside Merry knew it hadn't been a mistake. He gaped and looked at the room he was in filled with wonder. Two of the walls had bookcases that ran along the entire wall, and each bookcase was filled with thick books. Merry could see from the titles that they all dealt with flora, fauna, medicine, herblore and anatomy. He felt like he could read each and every one of them. The room was not laid out like he was used to rooms being, he had entered through one of the long walls and to his right there was a wall with a large window overlooking the gardens, the only window in the room. Underneath the window was a work station where one could prepare herbs in different ways and even study them through a thick glass which made them appear larger than they were. There was also a writing desk, where one could work from. To his left there were two armchairs to sit in when you were reading from the books. In the middle of the room he saw a large collection of plants, some of them grown there and others brought in, most of them waiting to be studied or dried.

"This is amazing" he said.

"You should see the larger study, this one is just the secondary" the woman said with a voice filled with pride.

"I don't think I've seen anything so grand in my whole life!"

"The King said to leave you here, but you are not to touch any of the plants until one of our herblore specialists has made sure you know what you are doing. There are books for you to read if you want to know more about any specific plant."

"I'll be happy to read all of them" Merry said.

"Then by all means do" the woman said. "I will stop by with your second breakfast later in the morning."

With that she left him alone. Merry walked slowly through the room and smiled. He reached out his hand and gently touched anything it came in contact with. The whole room felt warm and welcoming, it felt like a place where he belonged, he instinctively knew that it was true that he had loved herblore earlier in his life.

He grabbed a book at random from one of the bookshelves and sat down in an armchair to read it. It was a whole book dedicated to trees and what bark you could use for what purposes. It was an odd feeling reading about it, some things he knew he must have known previously for it felt like he was being reminded rather than learning it anew. Other things were completely new to him and he read those chapters time and time again.

The old woman, Erfia, brought him meals through the course of the day and the only time he took a pause was to eat. He didn't notice how late it was getting and after what felt like only a couple of hours there was a knock on the door and a soldier told him he was expected to attend supper in the king's halls.

Merry glanced at the clock on the wall. It was indeed supper time already. His day had gone by so fast. He put his book aside, placing the leaf of a birch tree as a bookmark, and for the first time could not wait for the next day to begin so he could spend another twelve hours studying. When he realised he had indeed spent twelve hours at the Houses of Healing it dawned on him that he had missed dinner, but that was a minor matter. He had gotten to eat at the Houses and if the king had wanted his presence he would have sent for him.

By now Merry had learned that on a normal day in Minas Tirith dinner was a formal meal where the king and the nobles of the city dined together in one of the larger dining halls. Supper on the other hand was more informal and the king normally gathered his family and closest friends for a quiet meal together. It was only when there was a special occasion, such as a celebration or a prominent guest, that supper was the grandest meal of the day.

XX
XX

In the king's private dining room Merry was surprised to see that he was not the only one who hadn't arrived on time. Pippin and Legolas were both still missing from the table, but the meal had begun anyway and Merry quickly sat down in his seat and tried to pretend that he had been present all along.

"How was your first day at the Houses?" Aragorn asked him without looking up from his supper.

"Grand" Merry said with a huge smile. "The best day as far back as I can remember! It's all so interesting; I can't wait to get to work with the actual herbs."

"One thing at a time" Aragorn said. "First concentrate on reading up about them; we don't know how much you have forgotten."

Merry nodded and thought that it wasn't so bad to have to spend a few weeks reading. It was all so interesting and the feeling he got when he saw something familiar was as if he was unlocking some of his lost memory. Secretly he wondered if spending time studying herblore would help him remember other things, people and places which were still unknown and forgotten to him.

After a few minutes Pippin came storming in, obviously in a hurry, with Legolas in tow. While Legolas calmly sat down and ate a slice of bread before beginning to work on supper Pippin threw himself down on a chair and began munching at his supper so fast he barely had the time to chew it.

"What's with our young Hobbit today?" Gimli had to ask.

"He missed dinner" Legolas said with an amused smile.

Pippin didn't say anything; he just reached for his glass and downed what was in it without even noticing what he was drinking. Merry could understand his hunger, missing dinner would be awful, but he had never thought to see anybody eat like this in the presence of a king.

When he saw Pippin Merry remembered what they had talked about that morning. Pippin had mentioned some things about his family but they had been interrupted before Merry had been able to ask any questions. Confident that everyone at the table knew most of it already he didn't mind asking Pippin here and now, and perhaps it would slow the other Hobbit down and make him appreciate the food a bit.

"This morning you said I was my father's only heir" he said. "Heir to what, and who has taken my place since then?"

Pippin stopped chewing his food and looked up at Merry. Then he swallowed the bite he had been working on and returned to his meal without an answer. Merry frowned; annoyed that he wasn't given an answer when Pippin obviously had heard him.

"You shouldn't ask too much about those things" Gimli said. "It's better not to tell you, you have to see for yourself."

"Figures you wouldn't be any help" Merry muttered under his breath and chewed on a potato with a grumpy look on his face. His cheerful mood seemed to have vanished for now, which made him even more annoyed since he had been feeling great for the first time in months.

"You will have your answers sooner or later" Aragorn said. "Don't be hasty."

That sounded oddly familiar to Merry but he shrugged it aside and reached for his glass of wine. He felt a little better, and decided not to let anything to spoil the day he had had.

"Will you be at the Houses every day this week?" Aragorn asked.

"Every day of the month and year, if you'll let me."

"That is your choice; it makes no difference to me. But the Lady Éowyn arrives from Ithilien in three days and I assumed you would like to see her."

"Absolutely" Merry said with a grin. "She's gone for too long at a time."

"At least when she's gone the rest of us get a chance to see you" Gimli commented and finished his mug of ale.

"Pay him no heed, we are happy that you remember the lady and as far as we are concerned you can spend as much time as you'd like with her" Legolas said.

Merry nodded and finished the last of his supper. Then he stifled a yawn and realised how tired he was. He had not been up this early for ages and he had had a very busy day. Suddenly he longed to get to go to bed, the sooner he fell asleep the sooner the new day would arrive and he could continue to study the books at the Houses of Healing.

Aragorn saw his yawn and suggested he make an early retreat. Merry thanked him and rose from his seat.

"What about you Pippin?" Aragorn asked.

Pippin looked up with eyes that seemed to say what about me?

"You must be in need of a good rest as well, with all that food you've just eaten" Aragorn said kindly.

"I'm not tired" Pippin said and continued to eat.

Merry left the room and Aragorn leaned over the table and spoke in a lower tone to Pippin, in case Merry was still close enough to overheard.

"I wasn't referring to you perhaps being tired" he said. "You ought to have gone with him anyway. You need to spend more time together."

"And do what?" Pippin asked. "Read him a bedtime story? He's going to bed, and trust me I hear him sleep every night, that's nothing new."

"Out of all the stubborn Hobbits in the world I cannot make up my mind who is worse, you or Meriadoc!" Gimli roared.

"Calm yourself Gimli" Pippin said and finished his supper.

Aragorn leaned back and looked at Pippin with wondering eyes. If only he could figure out what was wrong, there was some reason why Pippin kept a distance to Merry. Aragorn was utterly confused by it; it was the last thing he ever would have expected. It seemed Pippin had grown further apart from him than he had realised. And for some reason he was walking further into the night instead of coming back out now that he had Merry back by his side.