Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, some of the dialogue isn't mine, the settings are not mine, but I do like to work with them to come up with new designs and patterns.

I have been bothered for a long time by Beregond's hearing in "The Steward and the King" (The Return of the King). That pause, after Elessar pronounces judgment... I just couldn't see any good reason for it. Surely a Man of Aragorn's character would hardly keep Beregond hanging... and yet the way it reads, he did. How to explain it?

Not to digress, but that is a part of the background of this story, and the other part is this:

Awhile ago I started reading, with fascination, a series of gems, pieces of a story written by Rabidsamfan on that author's LJ. The story was called "The Errand Lad", and featured Bergil, Beregond's son, serving the hobbits in the days between the Coronation of King Elessar, and the trial of Bergil's father Beregond.

I quickly became hooked.

"The Errand Lad" is still a WIP, but well worth the read. RSF has a way with characters and descriptions and plot points and nuances. I keep hoping for more. Think good thoughts.

Lately RSF was looking for some Samfic. I cast about in the depths of my brain, coming out of a long desert stretch when I hadn't been able to write anything at all, and all of a sudden Sam popped up out of nowhere. And so this story was written, hastily because there was a deadline of sorts, but written all the same.

The final section of this story draws heavily (what information there is, anyhow) from "The Steward and the King" in The Return of the King and incorporates direct quotes. There is also material from "LifeWatch" and "Choices", both of which are undergoing editing and are not available on www.storiesofarda.com. (Once more, think good thoughts, if you wouldn't mind.)

I only realised recently that Beregond waited less than a week from the Coronation to his hearing. From the description in "The Steward and the King" it sounds as if Elessar might have been hearing cases and meeting with dignitaries and bestowing rewards for weeks, but the Coronation was on the first of May and the Rohirrim left on the eighth, after Beregond's hearing. So it was a little over seven* weeks from Beregond's "treason" to his hearing.

I have taken a small liberty with the original text, in the recounting of Beregond's hearing before the King, inserting a pause where there is none implied (though that does not mean that there was no pause--a passage can be read quickly or slowly and in different voices and only if the author reads it aloud does it reflect his desired shade of meaning, and even that can change over time), and also inferring that Faramir's reward, though mentioned after Beregond's hearing, might well have been bestowed beforehand. After all, it does say that Beregond came before the King "last of all", and JRRT does depart from his chronological telling in other places, most notably (to me, anyhow) in "The Scouring of the Shire" where his retelling does not follow in a straight line, chronologically speaking.

"Ansell" (who is mentioned briefly) is a character in rabidsamfan's "The Errand Lad", the first part of which may be found at http://rabidsamfan.livejournal.com/149289.html
Also taken from that story is the idea that Bergil was one of those chosen to run errands for the Ring-bearer and his companions, and that Elessar ran across Bergil after the lad had been weeping.

The description of the Hall of the Kings comes from the chapter "Minas Tirith" and Elessar's raiment during the trial is straight out of "The Steward and the King". As already mentioned, several speeches are taken word-for-word from that chapter as well, as are Beregond's reactions to what the King has to say. All the rest woven around that scene comes out of my imagination.

I don't know if Pippin will know of the date of Beregond's trial or not, in "The Errand Lad", as that story has not yet progressed that far, so I have written this to agree with "LifeWatch", in which Frodo and Merry have kept the knowledge from Pippin by Beregond's request.

(And thanks to Dana for speculating as to where Beregond's younger son, Borlas, might be during the events of ROTK. Borlas is mentioned in "Peoples of Middle-earth" but nowhere in ROTK.)

*Thanks to the alert reader who caught the math error in my recent calculations for this story. When I first started writing fanfic, I started with Beregond's story, for he fascinated me. I had done the math right at that time, but when revisiting the period for this story I left an entire month out of my calculations. Math has never been my strong point, and add to that an adverse reaction to some OTC medication and... it's a wonder that my brain works at all.