Chapter 17.  The King Returns

Their horses ate up the distance to the City, although after some miles Elessar pulled his horse down to a trot, the beast tossing its head, lathered, and breathing hard, and the others followed suit. Hilly, as experienced a rider as he was, burned with impatience, but he knew that twenty miles at a gallop all the way... if they were too late, and they killed the horses in the bargain... it would be a double portion of bitterness.

'But I do not see how we will come too late, Hildibold,' Elessar said, as if he read the hobbit's thoughts. 'I was swept up in the emotion of the moment, but I have been thinking as we rode... I know my cousin, the Steward, well. If you and Bergil stole Balanurthon away without sending him word, there is no reason he would come to the gallows, to be outraged at the impropriety of keeping condemned men waiting in the shadow of the rope, prolonging their suffering in such a pitiless way. Unless word came to him, he'd have put Jack and his sons out of his mind just as soon as he signed the death warrant, and would have turned his thoughts to other matters.'

'Are you saying he rules carelessly in your absence?' Hilly muttered, feeling more than a little outrage himself at the idea of such an attitude--signing lives away... and then pouring another cup of tea and saying, "What's the next item of business?" Surely Ferdi had the right of it, and Men were ruffians, all. Some had a veneer of respectability, but most...

Balanurthon breathed a little easier at the King's level-headed outlook. ' 'Tis true,' he said, stroking the lathered neck of his horse. 'The prisoners arrive at the gallows, and if I am not there the gallows guards will send for me wherever I might be, for hanging takes up very little of my business. And since Falathar and Meneldor knew I'd been called away, and expected to return "momentarily" they had no reason to send for me, or to rouse Hunethon from his sickbed.'

'So you see?' Elessar said. 'We will arrive before the sunset bells ring and I will find Haldoron in his study, where he always spends the first few and last few hours of the day. I will inform him of my intention to grant Jack and his sons a full pardon, and then we will go down to the gallows together to order their release.'

'No need to kill the horses,' Bergil said in relief, patting the neck of his own head-tossing mount. It had grieved and frustrated him, the long search for the right track leading to the hunting lodge, and all the while wondering how long Pippin might be able to delay the Steward's "justice".

'It is a good thing you thought to fetch me, however,' Elessar said. 'We would not have returned to the City until some time tomorrow, and if Hunethon were to awaken in the morning feeling well enough to take up his duties once more...' The others shook their heads. It didn't bear thinking about.

They trotted along, giving the horses a rest, and as they went Elessar asked questions, and Hilly told the full story, as much as he knew, anyhow, of how Will had rescued him from the bog. 'My face was in the water, Diamond told me, when he reached me, and I was drowning, though I didn't know it at the time. Merciful sleep had taken me, ah, the numbing cold! ...and so I knew nothing of the peril, or Diamond's grief and distress, nor even of Will's courage, until some time after. Will pulled me free of the bog's embrace, and Jack used his Elven-rope to haul us both to solid ground, and then he picked me up and hung me over his arm as if I were a little child, and forced the water from me, until once more I drew breath.'

'But you say that Jack saved Diamond and Farry as well,' the King said.

'He did! They were wet and cold and night was coming on. He found a sheltered place and built a warm fire, and wrapped us in his and Will's cloaks and both of the blankets that they had, and fed us warmed soup. I think if he had not come along when he did, I would have drowned in the bog, surely, but Diamond and Farry would have perished as well, of the cold.'

'And Jack was the man who saved the little hobbits, ten years ago?' Balanurthon said in wonder. 'How could such a man be a ruffian?'

'How, indeed,' Elessar said, and nudged his horse into a fast canter once more.

***

The sun was making the tallest of the fair towers gleam golden with her evening's farewell when they entered the main gate of the City, and they had to pull their horses down to a walk in the congestion of workers coming in from the surrounding fields, farmers from outlying villages who'd come to the large city market now driving out to their farms once more, and citizens of fair Annuminas in the streets, pursuing a last spot of business before the sunset bells should ring and all the shops close.

Bergil pushed ahead, bellowing, 'Make way! Make way!' They rode slowly through the crowded entry, Elessar nodding to acknowledge the guardsmen's salutes. It was a relief when the crowds diminished as they left the Gate behind and passed the inner gate set in the wall that surrounded the palace grounds and the Citadel where the King's officers took care of the business of the realm, from defence to commerce.

Elessar dismounted, leaving Hilly in the saddle. 'Mind him for me,' he said, pressing the reins into the hobbit's hands.

'Bandobras, I am not,' Hilly said, but he took the reins and established contact with the horse's mouth, just as if he were astride a pony, and stretched his legs as far as they would go.

Bergil and Balanurthon dismounted as well, to rest the horses from their weight, after the fast journey back to the City. Balanurthon yawned. It had been a long day, and the shadows were growing long. Soon the sunset bells would be ringing, and he looked forward to returning home to a good meal, a kiss from his wife (and more, perhaps, after the children were abed), and the joyful greeting of his little ones. Ah, the story he'd be able to tell them this night, before tucking them into their beds! He idly watched the lamplighters go about their business.

A passing guardsman hailed them. 'Bergil! They've been looking all over the City for you!'

'Have they?' Bergil said in surprise.

'Yes! The Steward wanted to see you--immediately--and that was some time ago!'

'You're in for it now,' Balanurthon muttered.

'Thank you,' Bergil said, and not to Balanurthon. 'I'm sure I'll be seeing him shortly.'

'Are you going to the gallows then? For you'll not find him in his study.'

'The gallows?' Bergil said, his blood turning cold, and he heard Hilly's bitten-off oath. At that moment the sunset bells began to ring, their tolling usually a comforting call to rest from labour, but in Bergil's mind, now, a death knell.

'He was called to the gallows less than an hour ago,' came the cheerful reply. 'Some matter of unfinished business or other.' The guardsman slapped Balanurthon on the back. 'So, you've returned! They said you were on an errand for the King! Lord Haldoron was quite disturbed that you did not inform your assistant, to arrange for him to discharge your obligations in your absence...! But I guess you have a sufficient excuse to avoid his wrath.' He lowered his voice, and his expression sobered. 'Get a good night's rest, my friend. You've a host of floggings in the morning.'

'A host...' Balanurthon echoed.

'Haleth, and all the men under him. Come out to the "Swan" tonight and fill my mug with ale and I'll fill your ears with a tale,' the man said. 'But I have one more message to deliver before I go off duty, and so I cannot stop.'

'Do not let us keep you,' Balanurthon said, but Bergil was staring up the steps of the Citadel, wondering if he ought to pursue the King, to tell him of this chilling development.

There was no need, however, for the King himself appeared at the top of the steps, descending rapidly.

Elessar's face was grim as he swung himself into his saddle behind Hilly and took up the reins, and he said nothing, but turned his horse's head and dug in his heels, leaving Bergil and Balanurthon to follow.