Stories of Arda Home Page
About Us News Resources Login Become a member Help Search
swiss replica watches replica watches uk Replica Rolex DateJust Watches

A Healer's Tale  by Lindelea

Chapter 46. Interlude

'I...' Merry says, uncharacteristically at a loss for words.

'You must,' Diamond insists, 'you must be there to honour Samwise, not only because he is Mayor, but because he is your friend, your fellow Traveller...'

'Do I have a sign around my neck that says, "Lecture Me"?' Merry says, looking from Mistress to me and back again, sounding for once as full of whimsy as his younger cousin, the Thain.

Diamond is not to be turned from her course. 'Not to mention the fact that he travelled thousands of leagues to bring a marvel...'

But Merry's eyes turn to me, and his troubled look has returned. 'Fennel said,' he begins, and then stops, not wanting to alarm Diamond, who evidently thinks her husband is on the mend and not half in the grave.

'Fennel,' I say, 'is labouring under the weight of worry and sleeplessness.' Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! --but I am feeling wondrously well, indeed, younger than my years. Only the draught can account for it. I am not even weary, and one good stretch of sleep would not be enough to undo all the wakeful nights and weary days. And if one sip of the draught has had this effect on me, what might the Thain be experiencing?

Diamond looks from one to the other of us in puzzlement. 'What is this about Fennel?' she says.

'Naught to trouble yourself about, Mistress,' I say firmly. Pippin's snores grow louder, and I steer her away from the bed, that I need not raise my voice. The hobbit needs his sleep! 'My chief assistant is weary and troubled in his mind; this Ent-draught is beyond his experience, and he has no faith in it.'

'But you...' Diamond says, apprehension returning to her eyes. She has walked with Pippin a long path, one step away from death, and through too many times when one foot has slipped into the grave. Somehow he has managed to pull his foot free, time after time, or we've pulled him through, the fierce love of his wife, not to mention that of his cousin Merry, and the determination of the healers. But in these latter days, neither love nor determination was enough. We came so close to losing him, and even now there is no assurance... but for the steady breaths, perhaps...

'I have some experience with the stuff,' I say. 'I took a sip, do you recall? And it has been working in me ever since. Believe me, I know.'

In Merry's eyes, I can see doubt warring with the knowledge he has of his cousin. How he wants to believe in this healing!

'Go to the feast,' I say. 'Honour the Mayor. Reassure him as well; he was horrified at the effects of the draught, and yet he may still have occasion to rejoice, when the draught has finished its work.'

'It didn't affect you that way,' Merry says, still trying to work through the problem of what to believe.

I laugh, and Pippin stops snoring. We all turn to stare at him, but he merely moves into another position and resumes his soft susurrations. 'Do not be so certain,' I whisper. 'The draught, for all its miraculous healing qualities, is certainly not a comfortable cure.'

Merry stares at this understatement, and Diamond gives him a push.

'Go,' she says. 'Pippin would want you to be there for Sam's sake.'

'Yes,' he answers, looking down at her. 'He would.' Very gently he kisses her on the forehead, and with one more look at the peaceful occupant in the bed, he turns on his heel and leaves the room.

'And you, Mistress?' I say. 'Won't you attend the feast, honour the Mayor and his wife, welcome them home to the Shire?'

'I...' Diamond says, her eyes on her husband. I recognise the look. She is counting his breaths, all unawares. It is a habit we all have fallen into, and I suspect it will take some time to overcome.

'He is deeply asleep; healing is taking all he has in him,' I say.

'Healing,' she echoes.

'It is an exhausting business,' I say. It certainly is! What healer in his right mind would ever choose to be a healer to the Tooks, if he had the choice? Not for the first time, the thought crosses my mind, to be followed now by a whisper, But so I have chosen, and if I had my life to live over, I'd do no different.

I take her elbow and turn her from the bed. When she looks at me in surprise, I say, 'Go and have yourself a proper dinner, Mistress. I'll sit with him until you're done. You've had no rest this day.'

'But I...' she says.

'Go,' I insist. 'If he wakens--which I doubt, considering the woodpile he's sawing on at the moment, I'll send word to you at once. But you need to eat, for your own sake and that of the babe. And the Tooks will be reassured, to see you away from the Thain's side, Fennel's gloom notwithstanding.'

'Fennel...' she says, a frown creasing her forehead.

'Pay him no mind,' I say firmly. 'He has no idea of the power of the draught. If he'd had a sip of his own, I've no doubt he'd be singing a different tune, and a much happier one at that.' It occurs to me that I might slip a sip of the draught into Fennel's tea... but no, I finish the thought regretfully. Such an act would not befit a healer. We do nothing by stealth, no matter how sorely tempted. Certainly I might exaggerate the power of a potion, for the mind can do wondrous things in aiding the healing of the body, but never would I allow myself to sink to the level of outright trickery.

'Perhaps he ought...' Diamond says, echoing my own thought.

'No,' I say with real regret. 'The stuff is precious, if it can bring a hobbit back from the last gasp. Better to save it for a rainy day.'

Diamond nods, and I return to my original point, still holding Diamond's arm, and tugging her towards the door. 'But you need to go to the feast,' I say, 'to reassure the Tooks, and the Mayor...' though nothing will reassure that unfortunate hobbit, not until he sees Pippin standing on his feet again, laughing at some jest. How I hope to see it!

'Pippin,' she says, casting a longing look over her shoulder.

'After the feast is over, you can return and tell him all about it,' I say. 'And in the morning, when he's slept himself out...'

'In the morning?' she says.

'Aye,' I say firmly. 'He'll waken by morningtide, I've no doubt in the matter. He's looking so much better, by the hour. He needs only to sleep, to recover from the healing that the draught forced upon him, but I am certain he'll waken in the morning, if not before. I'd stake my professional reputation on it.'

And somehow, it does not feel as if I am taking such a terrible risk.

Best of all, I am able to convince Diamond to go to the feast, while I return to the bedside and take up the watch once more.





<< Back

Next >>

Leave Review
Home     Search     Chapter List