Disclaimer: I have no creative rights over the characters and places you can identify in this story and have no way profited from this work.
27/04/2013
From the reviews this story has received since being published I daresay this is a much anticipated chapter. I hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as I did writing it.
In my after-notes last chapter I forgot to acknowledge that Tolkien himself of served on the Western Front. It just goes to show how fragile a brilliant work of imagination can be if it depends on the life of just one person to create it.
MasterXMaster: Main course is now served. Bon appetit!
ColdFang: Without it containing even a trace of humour, this story would not be entertaining for me to write.
Chapter 27 – Voices of Judgment
The Royal Guards part of Theoden's company were ordered to remain near the Gatehouse remains. Gandalf assured them they wouldn't be needed to protect the King from Saruman. Gandalf also secretly wanted to minimise the number of the company who would be exposed to Saruman's voice. Nonetheless, Gamling insisted on remaining at Theoden's side that the King assented to.
"You accompany me as a friend not Captain of my guard," Theoden graciously told him.
Gandalf then led the company into the Orthanc's now waterlogged interior. After the company had passed into the Orthanc, a pair of the Royal Guards dismounted and climbed the pile of rubble that Merry, Pippin and Banner had been sitting on. The pair collected the remains of the 'elevens' meal and brought them back to their comrades to be shared. Even Rohan's elite soldiers weren't entirely above opportunistically rewarding themselves with the spoils of victory.
Gandalf advised those accompanying to follow him in a straight line. The main reason being least they fall into one of the many caverns now hidden by the floodwater. The dread of the company rose with every inch of the half-mile their horses traversed in getting closer to the Tower.
Gandalf, Banner, Merry and Pippin had warned their companions what to expect. The rest of Theoden's company was only slightly less stunned than they would have been at seeing the Ents for the first time. The company eventually reached the stairs at the base of the Tower where the most senior Ent greeted them. For those previously confused by Pippin's strange impersonation, they all now realised who the Took was trying to sound like when the Ent spoke.
"Young Master Gandalf!" Treebeard warmly welcomed him, being one of the few in Middle-earth who could call Gandalf 'young' without any sense of irony. "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."
Looking up the length of the Tower, Aragorn whispered to an absent Saruman, "Show yourself."
"Be careful," Gandalf cautioned him and the rest of the company. "Even in defeat, Saruman's still dangerous."
Gimli thought of an immediate solution to the problem. "Well, let's just have his head and be done with it."
"No!" Gandalf sharply vetoed the idea. "We need him alive. We need him to talk."
As if on cue, Saruman appeared standing atop the Tower leaning on his staff.
"What does he look like, Legolas?" Rogers asked the owner of the sharpest pair of eyes in the Fellowship.
"Long-faced with a high forehead," Legolas observed. "His hair and beard are white with strands of black. A look as haughty as Mithrandir's is kind."
"Like, and yet unlike," muttered Gimli.
There was a nervous pause before Saruman eventually spoke.
"Welcome, my friends," he greeted them seemingly gracious. "I've been waiting for you."
Many of the Fellowship had heard Saruman's voice only once before. That was when it came across as a demonic growl through a possessed Theoden. Saruman's voice now washed over them in soothing and reassuring tones. Although the confrontation was taking place outdoors, the acoustics of Saruman's voice was like he was speaking within a tall enclosed dome.
"In all wars, each side tries to slay as many of its enemies in order to achieve victory," Saruman continued conversing with the company. "But all wars come to an end. Its participants must negotiate terms to continue their relationship into the future." Saruman then focused his attention on Theoden. "As one who has fought many wars and slain many men you know this, Theoden-King. Our war is now ended. Can we not again have peace between us? Can we not take counsel together like we once did, my old friend?"
Rogers immediately realised why Gandalf had warned the company about the danger surrounding Saruman's voice. Saruman wasn't technically hypnotising the company. But like many evil geniuses, he had a brilliant talent for sophistry. After all Rohan had suffered by the White Hand, objectively it was nonsense to believe that Theoden could fall for what Saruman had just said. But there was something in Saruman's voice that made you consider he had a point. Rogers admitted this was how the 'voice' of the One Ring first sounded to him. Theoden's initial reply made Rogers worry that Saruman's voice had already claimed its first victim from the company.
"I'm happy to share my counsel on how we shall have peace again," Theoden calmly replied.
The King's eyes then blazed and his 'counsel' fully contained the anger that was behind them.
"We shall have peace when you answer for the burning of the Westfold and the children that lie dead there!" Theoden began listing Saruman's crimes. "We shall have peace when the lives of the soldiers whose bodies were hewn even as they lay dead against the gates of the Hornburg, are avenged! We shall have peace when you tell me why your orcs slew my son in a cowardly ambush! We shall have peace when you hang from a gibbet for the sport of your own crows!" Theoden paused for a moment before concluding "Accept this counsel, 'old friend', then we shall have peace!"
All the company felt a quiet sense of pride at how emphatically Theoden had rejected Saruman's honeyed arguments to him.
"Gibbets and crows?" Saruman spat back realising that he would not be able to control Theoden like before. "Dotard!" He turned his anger towards the individual who was mostly responsible in preventing this. "What do you want, Gandalf Greyhame? Let me guess. The Key of the Orthanc? Or perhaps the keys of Barad-dur itself along with the crowns of the seven kings and the rods of the Five Wizards?!"
Gandalf drew Saruman's attention to the fact that he was the Istari who had coveted such power.
"Your treachery has already cost many lives," Gandalf coolly pointed out. "Thousands more are at risk." The White Wizard held the tinniest hope his former friend wasn't completely beyond redemption. "But you can save them, Saruman! You were deep in the Enemy's counsel."
"So you have come here for information," Saruman replied, satisfied that the Free Peoples still needed something from him. "I have some for you."
Saruman then held up his palantir in his left hand.
"Is that a crystal ball?" Rogers asked aloud to the rest of the company.
"It's a palantir, Steve, a seeing stone." Gandalf quietly clarified before raising his voice so Saruman could hear. "A dangerous tool even a wizard shouldn't use lightly!"
Saruman seemed amused at this.
"Tell me, 'Gandalf the White'," Saruman mockingly countered. "Has your newfound purity allowed you to forget your own actions when you wore the colour grey? Such as how quickly you enlisted the aid of three strangers with far greater powers than any seeing stone?" Everyone present knew Saruman was referring to the Avengers as he continued, "It's a pity their paths didn't first cross with mine when they arrived in Middle-earth. I would've told them you have no hesitation sacrificing someone – no matter how much you profess to care for them."
"Like you can pass judgment on anyone!" a voice from the company snapped.
The voice belonged to Banner. He still shared Hulk's frustration that Saruman hadn't yet directly accounted for the hurt he caused. Gandalf was already unnerved by Banner's response. Not even Legolas noticed the tiny smile that curled on Saruman's lips from the satisfaction of Banner being angered by his words. The corrupted Istari thought 'rattling the beast's cage' was an appropriate metaphor to the words he now directed at Banner.
"One shouldn't misjudge things that appear to be incomprehensible and frightening," Saruman coolly argued. "Wouldn't you agree, Doctor Banner?"
Banner gasped much more about Saruman knowing his name rather than his thinly veiled reference to the Other Guy.
Saruman continued arguing in the same tone as if he was the aggrieved party. "My actions were born out of sheer desperation from the Free Peoples' apathy towards the threat posed by Mordor! Unlike you and your two friends, Doctor Banner, they could not claim the defence of ignorance.
"I concede that even by the Istari's standards, you are a genius in a number of areas. Unfortunately, you're still as feeble minded as any from the race of Men in understanding the ways of the Dark Lord."
Those of the Fellowship cast a nervous glance in Banner's direction. They were surprised and relieved to see him smirking at Saruman's insult. Banner was well aware that Saruman was trying to provoke him to release Hulk in a fit of anger. It was almost a carbon copy of Loki's tactic on the SHIELD Heli-Carrier. This time, Banner wasn't going to give his provocateur the satisfaction of turning him and the Other Guy against their friends.
"So how much does it burn that this feeble mind totally kicked your ass?!" Banner derisively asked eliciting a number of quiet chuckles from the company.
A seemingly unruffled Saruman replied, "I'm afraid the Free Peoples' will regret the beast's actions more than any of mine."
Rogers decided to speak up even though Gandalf mightn't like it. If Legolas and Gimli suffered Captain America's anger from their remarks implying Banner was a mindless beast, then Saruman certainly deserved to suffer it from saying it explicitly.
"The only thing they'd regret, Saruman," Rogers argued, "is that the Other Guy didn't act sooner!"
Saruman turned his attention now to Rogers. He spoke to him with the same combination of flattery and insults that he did with Banner.
"As the exemplar soldier, Captain America," Saruman addressed him, "you know that battles may be won. Yet the war they are fought in can still be lost. Is it not so that seemingly disparate forces must sometimes combine to stand against powerful threats that pose a common danger? That any offer of aid against those threats should not be so lightly cast aside whatever their source?"
Like Banner, Saruman knowing one of his identities threw Rogers. Saruman's remarks could also be interpreted as asking Rogers to recall the Allies in World War Two and the SHIELD Initiative that created the Avengers.
"Is that what you're offering us?" Rogers queried sceptically. "Your help against Sauron?"
"Let me demonstrate my goodwill by giving you some help right now," a gracious sounding Saruman replied. "Some information that I have gleaned from the palantir that Gandalf would have you so fear."
Saruman menacingly held out the palantir and stared into it. He delivered its information to Theoden's company with a shark-like smile of enjoyment.
"The Great Eye presses his advantage, you're all going to die!" Saruman then lowered the palantir before teasing the company with "Unless…"
"If you wish to help us, Saruman, then speak plainly!" a frustrated Boromir berated him. No matter the objective of Sauron's next assault, it was a good bet that Gondor would be caught up in it one way or another.
"Ah the Son of Steward speaks!" Saruman condescendingly acknowledged. "A role model of steadfastness against the temptations of evil."
Holding from behind, Rogers felt Boromir's whole body tense at Saruman's 'compliment'. Boromir was horrified at the prospect that Saruman knew about when he tried to take the Ring from Frodo. Aragorn was the only other person he had confided about this incident. He was even more horrified at the prospect that Saruman was now going to shame him by revealing it to the whole company. Rather than twist this knife, Saruman cut the Gondorian's confidence with another.
Saruman gestured towards Aragorn as he questioned Boromir, "I'm sure you remain committed to your father not being usurped by this Ranger from the North? With Gondor sliding towards her doom, I'm sure you'd agree this exile reclaiming its throne is the last thing she needs?"
"That's enough, Saruman!" Gandalf loudly intervened.
He had allowed his former friend to derail these negotiations too much already. While the others speaking hadn't yet led to disaster, Saruman had still been able to unnerve a number of them. The longer these negotiations dragged on the chances of Saruman shattering the unity of Theoden's company increased. Gandalf nudged Shadowfax a few more yards forward of the rest of the company. The more Saruman focused his attention on him the better for all concerned.
"You're right, Gandalf," Saruman soothingly agreed. "You and I have deluded ourselves for too long that the Free Peoples were ever capable of standing against the threat of Mordor. But as you told me yourself, we still have time to counter Sauron if we act quickly. We now have an opportunity to not just counter the Dark Lord, but to destroy him forever."
"And you can allow us to seize that opportunity by saying where he intends striking next," Gandalf argued and encouraged.
"I shall tell you, Gandalf, at a more appropriate gathering," Saruman enigmatically advised.
"What do you mean, Saruman?" a genuinely confused Gandalf asked.
With a smirk Saruman briefly locked eyes with Thor before returning his attention to Gandalf as he made reply.
"The old ways are done, Gandalf!" Saruman exclaimed in exasperation. "The Valar would have us continue to teach wisdom while Middle-earth falls all around us."
Now it was Thor's turn to be the Avenger startled by a remark of Saruman's. The words Saruman just spoke were almost an exact repetition of the ones Thor once spoke in anger to Odin. Thor had little doubt that Saruman was directing his argument towards him as much as Gandalf. More worryingly, part of Thor still agreed that effective actions were more important than words of wisdom.
"Let us form a new body from the remnants of the Wise with the addition of the Avengers," Saruman enthused to Gandalf. "Never before has such a force existed throughout the Ages! With our combined knowledge and power, we can rule Middle-earth as it was meant to be. Together we can defeat Sauron, end this war and bring a new order of peace and justice throughout Middle-earth."
Rogers heard all this and largely scoffed at Saruman's argument. But maybe there was a way for the ex-White Wizard to at least make some amends for his actions. By sharing his knowledge of gunpowder and explosives with the Free Peoples, Saruman could help balance the scales away from Sauron. Rogers remembered reading the United States employed scientists that served the Axis powers to help give it a technological edge in the so-called 'Cold War'. Maybe Sar-
Stupid! Rogers angrily cursed himself.
Rogers now realised how close he had come to being taken in by Saruman's voice! Rogers was angry with himself that, even if it was just for a few moments, he seriously had considered cutting a deal with Saruman. This was the individual whose orcs seriously wounded Boromir and captured Banner, Merry and Pippin. It was Saruman who would have experimented on Banner like the most unethical HYDRA scientist in effort to extract Hulk.
After coming to terms with Saruman, Rogers thought in self-disgust, I may as well spit in the face of all those boys I made Howling Commandos.
Rogers answered Saruman with dignified firmness, "I've previously said 'no' to two other tyrants who each promised to bring a new order. Come down, Saruman. And I'll tell you to your face why you're now the third."
Rogers's words instantly snapped out any other member of the company from the daze of uncertainty that Saruman's voice had lulled them into. Each of these members shared Rogers' anger that Saruman had managed to make them overlook, however briefly, the monstrous evils he had recently committed.
"Will I come down?" Saruman mocked. "Does an unarmed man come down to speak with robbers out of doors?"
"Come down, Saruman," Gandalf reiterated Rogers' offer but in a kindlier fashion. "Surrender your staff and the Key of the Orthanc and you have my word your life will be spared."
Saruman seethed at Gandalf's words. He had no doubt, in his mind, that Gandalf was the main reason that the rest of the company had resisted the sorcery behind his voice. Saruman decided to solve this problem directly.
"Save your pity and your mercy!" he angrily snapped at Gandalf. "I have no use for it!"
In the blink of an eye Saruman released a jet of flame from the end of his staff. The jet engulfed Gandalf and Shadowfax in a ball of fire. Thor rapidly drew out Mjolnir in response. The only thing that stopped him from releasing a lightning bolt at Saruman was his earlier word to Gandalf outside the Orthanc. That said, he was just as amazed as the rest of the company at what he saw when the flames cleared. Gandalf and his mount hadn't even been singed by Saruman's attack. In a voice of doom, Gandalf pronounced his judgment on this and all of Saruman's actions since his betrayal.
"Saruman," Gandalf intoned. "Your staff is broken and hereby cast out of our order!"
There was a loud crack and Saruman's staff splintered into countless tiny pieces. Saruman reflexively soothed his right hand with his left. But this was more out of dismay at how easily Gandalf had stripped him of his power than any cuts from splinters. Gandalf's display of power also troubled Thor somewhat. It was very similar to the words and actions of Odin when he cast Thor out of Asgard.
While all of Theoden's company, with the exception of Gandalf, was momentarily reeling from the events that just transpired their attention was drawn by an individual who had warily crept up to be just behind Saruman's left. Eomer correctly identified the individual through angry clenched teeth.
"Wormtongue!"
Saruman had originally forbade Grima from joining him on the Pinnacle to confront Theoden's company. But upon hearing the commotion outside, Grima's curiosity got the better of his fear of disobeying Saruman. He tried to be inconspicuous in peering over the edge of the Pinnacle but everyone in Theoden's company had spotted him. No one was more surprised than Grima at what Theoden told him.
"Grima, you need not follow him," Theoden calmly pointed out to him in reference to Saruman. "You were not always as you are now. You were once a Man of Rohan. Come down."
"A Man of Rohan?" Saruman derisively scoffed. "What is the house of Rohan but a 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, Theoden, Horse-master. You are a lesser son of greater sires!"
By the way Theoden's eyes flickered in reaction to this, Rogers could tell the King had been genuinely hurt by Saruman's insult. Rogers couldn't believe he was paraphrasing one of Stark's insults to him as he spoke out in the King's defence.
"Saruman," Rogers got his attention. "Out of you and King Theoden, which one of you has a) been completely stripped of his power and b) recently suffered two humiliating defeats on the same day?"
With the loss of his staff, Saruman's hate of the three Avengers who played a pivotal role in his downfall was there for all to observe.
"Don't flatter yourself of your significance, boy!" Saruman angrily snapped back. "You so-called 'Avengers' are still nought before the might of the Dark Lord. What are the three of you really? A faded demi-god and two freaks of experimentation!"
Banner shrugged his shoulders at the nervous looks some in the Fellowship were giving him. Remembering Loki's taunts on the SHIELD Heli-Carrier he casually reassured them, "The Other Guy and I've been called worse."
Saruman had indeed hoped to anger Banner with his insult. He failed on two counts. First, Banner remained unruffled. Second, he angered another Avenger who didn't need to physically transform to unleash a deadly rage. The God of Thunder ominously pointed Mjolnir with a murderous gaze.
"Just say the word, Gandalf," Thor angrily requested before using Saruman's own words against him. "And I'll give this old dog a taste of my fading power!"
"Patience, Thor!" Gandalf urged him.
It was then Gimli who angrily spoke out.
"I'm sorry, Gandalf," Gimli spoke in support of Thor. "My patience's at an end! We should shut the traitor's gob now. I don't care if it's by arrow or lightning bolt."
Legolas commenced drawing an arrow as if to honour Gimli's request.
"No!" Gandalf emphatically ordered.
In the interim, Theoden had aside the hurt he felt from Saruman's insightful insult about his worthiness.
"Grima, come down," Theoden again regally offered. "Be free of him."
"Free?!" Saruman scorned the offer. "He will never be free."
"No," Grima meekly disagreed.
Saruman shot Grima a gaze as murderous as the one Thor just gave him a few moments ago. The only greater humiliation for Saruman than losing his staff would be if such a pathetic man as Grima Wormtongue just walked away from his service.
"Get down, cur!" he growled at Grima as an order for him to get back into the Tower.
He followed it up with a nasty backhand slap that fell Grima to the Pinnacle floor.
"Saruman!" Gandalf called out to regain his attention. "You were deep in the enemy's counsel. Tell us what you know!"
Lying flat on the ground, the sting of pain Grima felt from Saruman's blow was replaced by a burning hatred. He hated Saruman for the way he consistently treated him despite his loyalty. He hated that Saruman saw him as a mere pawn to advance his greater schemes. He hated how his betrayal of Rohan had lost him everything he once held there. In Saruman, for the first time in many years Grima hated something more than he hated himself. From within the folds of his robe, Grima slowly began drawing a hidden dagger from its sheath…
"Very well then!" Saruman angrily conceded trying to salvage something from the situation. "You withdraw your guard, and I will tell you where your doom will be decided. I will not be held prisoner here!"
Rogers had been wondering how Middle-earth's version of the parable of the Prodigal Son would play out. He got his answer when he and everyone else in the company saw Grima begin plunging his dagger into Saruman's back multiple times. Legolas quickly drew an arrow with his bow and aimed it at Grima. But he was shocked to see the head of Mjolnir resting on the arrowhead's point preventing him from releasing it. He spun his head right to give Thor a confused look.
"King Theoden has offered one of his subjects clemency," Thor explained his actions. "Until that offer is withdrawn or rejected, no one in our company has the right to ignore it."
Thor lowered Mjolnir only after Saruman's now lifeless body toppled down the Tower. The corpse fell until it was impaled by one of the spikes on one of the few headframe wheels that Hulk and the Ents hadn't destroyed. The palantir Saruman had tucked away in one of his sleeves fell out and made a noticeable splash as it sunk beneath the floodwater. Theoden's voice brought Grima out of his frenzied state.
"Grima," Theoden addressed him again. "I wasn't lying to you before. Please come down so we can at least speak without having to shout. I swear by my oath as King of Rohan that you'll not be harmed!"
Grima pondered Theoden's words for a couple of seconds before nervously replying "I'll…make my way down…this moment, milord."
While waiting for Grima to join the company, Gandalf urgently ordered Gamling, "Send word to all our allies, and to every corner of Middle-Earth that still stands free. The enemy moves against us. We need to know where he will strike!"
Gamling wheeled his horse around before quickly trotting towards the waiting Royal Guards to pass on the order. For the first time since welcoming Theoden's company, Treebeard began talking.
"The filth of Saruman is washing away," He said matter-of-fact before outlining the Ents long-term plans for the Orthanc. "Trees will come back to live here. Young trees. Wild trees."
Pippin was paying no attention to Treebeard. The Took's attention was captured by the orange glow under the floodwater from where the palantir had fallen. He immediately hoped off the mount he was sharing with Aragorn to take a closer look at it. Pippin ignored the calls of concern made to him by Aragorn and Banner.
"Bless my bark!" Treebeard remarked after Pippin pulled out the palantir from the water.
"Peregrin Took!" Gandalf strongly commanded him. "I'll take that, my lad. Quickly now."
The other members of the Fellowship were puzzled at how reluctantly Pippin handed over the palantir. Gandalf quickly tucked it under the folds of his robe. Gandalf then moved back to beside Theoden. Aragorn helped a distracted looking Pippin back on to his horse. As he sat the hobbit to his front, a series of loud clanging noises came from the Tower doors.
With Saruman dead, the spell that blocked their opening had now been negated. One of the doors opened and Grima walked from out of it. He pensively looked around as he walked down the stairs to where the floodwater line crossed them. Grima then knelt on both knees with his head down.
"King Theoden," he humbly began "I surrender myself to your judgment for my crimes. I would ask for mercy. But I don't because I know I thoroughly deserve none. I shall accept without rancour whatever sentence you pass on me. Even if it is death."
Eomer secretly hoped his uncle passed such a sentence on Grima. And that he was the one Theoden gave the pleasure of carrying it out. After receiving a quick nod from Gandalf confirming the sincerity in Grima's words, the Lord of the Mark then began to speak.
"Very well then, Grima." Theoden spoke in a business-like manner. "First, rise and look at your King as he passes judgment – as a Man of Rohan should."
As fellow royalty, Thor was very proud of Theoden's approach in this matter. Thor remembered how he and Aragorn had to halt Theoden from striking down Grima in a fit of rage just outside the Golden Hall. Even after what Theoden had discovered and experienced since then, he was to going met Grima with justice not vengeance.
After Grima complied with his command, Theoden passed his judgment on his former Chief Counsellor.
"Grima, son of Galmod. Your crimes are very great. You willingly betrayed your oath of office, your king and your fellow countrymen by swearing service to Saruman. Your actions played their part in causing death and suffering to a great many Rohirrim."
A shamefaced Grima nodded as he cast a downward glance.
"I said look at me, Grima!" Theoden firmly reminded him at which Grima sharply looked up. "Now I can say to your face that I do believe your contrition is genuine. Genuine enough for you not to have your life forfeit."
Theoden held his hand up to stop his nephew's objections that Grima's life was going to be spared.
"Am I to return with you to Edoras, milord?" Grima asked with a mixture of hope and dread.
"No, Grima," Theoden flatly told him. "You have a long way to prove yourself worthy of returning to the Riddermark."
The rest of the company sensed that Theoden was going to sentence Grima to sort of exile. Theoden first asked Grima a question that was strange at face value.
"How well stocked are you for supplies within the tower?"
"There's several months worth of food and drink if that's what you mean, milord," a baffled Grima answered.
"Maybe we should take the quality stuff ourselves?" Pippin pondered aloud.
"Hush!" a smiling Aragorn gently silenced him.
With his question answered, Theoden then passed sentence on Grima.
"Grima, son of Galmod. I Theoden-King hereby order that you confine yourself to this tower. You are to remain here until this sentence is rescinded by royal decree. On the steps of the Meduseld you claimed you've only ever served me. Now's your chance to prove it.
"I want you to examine any book, any document, any scrap of parchment that was Saruman's. I want you see if they contain any information that could tell us what Sauron's plans are. Any information no matter how seemingly insignificant I wish to know about. I shall be sending an eored here two weeks hence for you to deliver your report to. Do you understand what I'm telling you, Grima?"
After Grima nodded in response, Theoden then turned and spoke to Treebeard.
"I hope this is not too big an imposition on you and your fellows, Master Ent?" he politely asked.
"None at all, young Horse-Master," Treebeard magnanimously replied.
"I sincerely hope you take the opportunity that has presented itself to you, Grima," Theoden warned him. "Because there will not be another one should you betray my trust again."
"I will not fail you on this, milord," Grima promised.
"Good," Theoden curtly responded. "Is there anything else you wish to say before our company departs?"
"Only to say milord is most g-" Grima began grovelling before being cut off by Theoden.
"Grima," Theoden sternly halted him. "Now's the time for the truth not meaningless flattery."
"There is one thing, milord," Grima said after carefully thinking for a moment. "Please give my apologies to the Lady Eowyn. Tell her I shall haunt her steps no more."
Theoden gave a curt nod of consent to Grima's request before turning Snowmane around and leaving. The majority of the company began following the King's lead.
"Wait," Banner told Thor before they joined them.
Banner had to give a sad and fond farewell first.
"Take care of yourself, Treebeard," Banner told him. "If you Ents are still here when I next see you, I'll be glad to give you a hand with your reforesting." After a pause Banner then added, "The Other Guy can also help move some stuff if you need him to."
Treebeard gave a wide Entish smile to Banner's words before making his reply.
"We have become friends in so short a while that I think I must be getting hasty!" Treebeard happily reflected. "The two little shirelings and you, Master Bruce, will be considered friends of the Ents as long as leaves are renewed. And I must say Master Hulk would be most welcome to return. He is one of the first new things under Sun or Moon that I have seen for many a long, long day. Fare you well!"
Grima gave a huge sigh of relief after all but one of the company had their backs turned to him. Despite how badly he betrayed Rohan, its King had shown him mercy. Saruman was wrong about no one else accepting him. Grima now only wished he had first said 'no' to Saruman when he persuaded him to be an agent of his. Even if Grima never saw Rohan again, he wasn't going to betray it a second time. Treebeard interrupted Grima's thoughts.
"Hroom, come now, little worm," Treebeard gently encouraged Grima. "Both of us have much work to do."
After a beat, a dazed Grima agreed, "Er, yes of course, Master Ent."
As Grima climbed back up the steps into the tower he realised that, for the first time in his life, someone had called him 'worm' not intending it to be an insult.
Eomer and Merry rode close to Theoden. Merry hoped the King wouldn't be offended by what he was about to remind him of.
"Excuse me…Your Majesty." Merry hoped he spoke the correct title. "Do you still want to…er…um."
Theoden laughed for the first time in days at Merry's touching awkwardness.
"I may be a King, Master Meriadoc," Theoden informed him with an understanding look. "But I have the same basic needs as any other man. Please direct us to where those tempting refreshments you found are currently kept."
Behind Theoden and Eomer, Thor and Banner rode to the right of Boromir and Rogers.
"Hey, Steve," Banner sought Rogers's attention. "Over the last day and a bit, we've also checked out some of the other storerooms. One of them was an armoury of sorts."
"We found the daggers the Lady gave me and Merry!" Pippin proudly piped up from behind.
"Well, apart from that," Banner said after a short laugh. "I also found four iron cases that looked like cannonballs. Guess what was in them?"
"Napalm?" Rogers rhetorically guessed.
Banner was taken aback at Roger's quick and correct guess about the cases' contents.
"How did you know that?" he asked somewhat stunned.
Rogers released a deep sigh. "Over lunch, I'll tell you all about the Battle of Helm's Deep."
The one member of the company that had not yet turned away from the tower was Gandalf. He remained staring at Saruman's corpse that was still impaled on the spike it landed on atop the headframe wheel. Externally, Gandalf was stony-faced. Inwardly, he grieved at the fate his former fellow Istari and close friend had chosen for himself. Even after his own coming back from it, Gandalf wasn't sure what now awaited Saruman after physical death. Gandalf silently spoke to Saruman's corpse.
Due to your actions, the Free Peoples shall always remember you as a tyrant and a traitor. But even if the rest of Middle-earth forgets, I shall always remember the time when you were Saruman the Wise.
"Goodbye, old friend," Gandalf whispered with sincere regret before turning Shadowfax to join the rest of Theoden's company.
No one witnessed that about the body of Saruman a grey mist gathered, and rising slowly to a great height like smoke from a fire, as a pale shrouded figured it loomed next to the Tower. For a moment it wavered, looking to the west; but out of the west came a cold wind, and it bent away, and with a sigh dissolved into nothing.
I hope the final confrontation with Saruman was worth the wait. The last paragraph is to acknowledge that Saruman's death in the movie was completely different to that in the book.
A few reviewers were hoping for a plot twist during this chapter. I hope Grima's survival was one that readers didn't think was too obvious. Be assured this wasn't just for show. Grima's sentence will have an important part to play later on in the story.
Tolkien intentionally left many instances of canonical doubt in his works. Examples include the real nature of Tom Bombadil and the ultimate fate of the three other Istari. I leave it to the reader's interpretation whether Saruman actually did know about the incidents he hinted at involving members of the Fellowship or whether he was just bluffing. I'm not too keen to chase the matter up myself. I'm reminded of the old proverb that Gildor told Frodo in the book – Do not meddle in the affairs of Wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.