Day Two: tea time to late evening

The formal installation of the Thain was to take place at Tea in the formal dining room of Great Smials.  Every adult Took who could be there was.  Pippin looked out at their expectant faces from his place on the raised platform that held the head table.  That piece of furniture had temporarily been removed and replaced with a small but higher, round table that contained a few very simple items that would be needed for the ceremony.

The serving of the High Tea was over and now everyone sat looking toward the platform and the four people it held.

As the room quieted, Eglantine Took stepped forward.  In a clear voice that carried surprisingly well for one of her years, she began to speak.  

“Today we gather to take another step on the path to healing.  Today we turn from remembering our past and we look toward our future.  It is in the spirit of this looking forward that I announce that I will not take the title of ‘The Took’.  That title should remain with the Thain whom I trust to lead our family with the same wisdom with which he will lead all our people.”

She stepped back to a spot next to her daughter-in-law.  The room was utterly silent now.  It had come as a shock to some, but a relief to others, that Eglantine had decided not to take the role of family head which was her right.  Some felt that she would be a steady guide to the family while others still remembered Lalia and her tyranny.

Now Reginard stepped forward.  “For the last nineteen years, I have served as the chief assistant to Thain Paladin the Second.  Most of the time, it was an honor and a privilege to do so.  There were other times when it was less so.  The year of The Troubles was hard for us all but it was particularly hard for Paladin.  He had, as far as he knew, lost his son and then was placed in a position of having to do something no Thain for generations had had to do.  He had to defend our homeland from forces that sought to invade, usurp and destroy all we had worked for.  He did what he felt had to be done and , whether we agreed or questioned, we were obligated to see his defense through.  We came through that time better than most, and that in large credit goes to Paladin.  However, even when peace returned, he could not let go of the fear and mistrust those days had engendered.  He became hard and mistrusting of others, including his own son who had miraculously returned in the very nick of time.  He remained insular and over-protective of the land he viewed as ours.  In the last fifteen years, people in the Shire have looked less and less to the Thain for leadership and more and more to the Mayor and the Master of Buckland.  These two have taken the lead and responsibility that the Thain should have.  Now, I want no one to think that I speak ill of the dead by stating these things.  I only say them to illustrate the differences between the past and the future.  Today is the day when we rejoin the Shire at large and reopen our eyes to those around us, not just Tooks and Tooklanders but to all hobbits.  Today we take that step into the future that Paladin was afraid to take.”

Regi motioned for Pippin to step forward.  They stood on opposite sides of the table.  While he had been talking, someone had lit the small candle that sat there.

Reginard began to speak the ritual words that had come down from the time that the North Kingdom fell, the days of the first Thain to lead the Shire.

“Peregrin, son of Paladin, of the house of the Tooks; do you solemnly swear to guide, protect and nurture both this land and the hobbits that dwell within it, and do you promise to uphold the laws of this land as the King upheld the laws of the land about, and do you accept the responsibility for the prosperity and wellbeing of this family and the Shire as a whole?”

Pippin’s response followed tradition as well.

“I do.  Here swear I, Peregrin son of Paladin, that I will with all my heart, soul, mind and strength defend, nurture, love and lead this land and all its people for as long as grace is given me to do so.”

Here Pippin carefully removed the simple signet ring he had worn on the middle finger of his right hand for nearly 11 years, since his coming of age and acknowledgement as the heir apparent to the Thain.  He placed it on the table and extended his now empty hand to Regi.

Reginard picked up the ornate signet of the Thain and slipped it on Peregrin’s finger.  Then he picked up the candle and allowed a small puddle of wax to fall onto the document laying on the table.

Taking the ring that had just been placed there from his hand, Pippin firmly pressed it into the warm wax.  

“Here do I, Thain Peregrin, set my seal to this document affirming the words spoken this day.”

As the audience cheered, he slipped the ring back onto his hand.

Then the seven witnesses that Regi had chosen each stepped up and signed their names in red ink.  There was Regi’s brother Everard, Ferdibrand, Martigrim, Halibras, Hildibold, Alvelard and Isumgrin.  Once each had signed, they returned to their seats

-----

After the installation, Diamond went to check on Faramir who had been left with the other children in the nursery while Pippin, Merry and Regi adjourned to the Thain’s office.  Once they were there and seated, Merry brought out a bottle that neither Regi or Pippin recognized.   

“What’s that?” asked Pippin, eyeing the bottle with unabashed curiosity.

“This,” answered Merry, “is a present.  A present that has been waiting several years for this moment.  At the time of my accession, I was sent two bottles of this with instructions that one was for me on that occasion and one was to be saved for you on this day.  This is to welcome you as the newest official Councilor of the North Kingdom.”

“It’s from Strider!”  exclaimed Pippin overcome with glee.  “I can’t believe he thought of this, and a whole two years in advance.  He really is amazing.”

He also sent you a letter, which I will give you later, when you have time to really read and ponder it.  I think, if it is anything like the one I received two years ago, you will find it enlightening and encouraging.  Now shall we partake of some of the South Kingdom’s finest grape.”

Grinning broadly, Regi set three wine glasses on the desk.

Once Merry had poured the drinks and handed them ‘round, he stood to propose a toast.  “To a bright future,” he said.  They drank.

Regi was next to take up his glass and rise from his chair.  “To the youngest Thain in history.”

Pippin’s eye widened a little at this statement.  “Oh,” he exclaimed.  “I hadn’t realized that till you said it, dear cousin.”

“You have already set several new records and it’s only your first full day.  You’re the youngest, the tallest and the farthest-traveled Thain.  Why, I don’t think even old Marcho and Blanco can match your travels.”

They sat for a while talking about old times and ideas for the days ahead.  

“You know, we really need to change the wording of that oath,” Pippin pointed out.  “The references to the King need to be put into the present tense since he has returned.”

“I'll look into having it updated,” agreed Regi.

As they were talking, Pippin kept playing with the ring on his hand.

“Is something bothering you, Pippin?” Merry asked.

“Huh?,” answered Pippin, looking up at his cousin.  “Why do you ask?”

“You just keep messing with you ring,” said Merry.  

“If it’s too loose, we can have it resized.  You wouldn’t be the first Thain to have to have that done.  In fact that particular ring has only been worn by one other and that was Paladin.  He had large hands by hobbit standards, and they were huge for a Took.  I wondered if the finer structure of your hand would require refitting.”

Pippin shook his head.  “No,” he answered.  “Surprisingly enough, the ring fits fine.  I guess my added size in general makes up for my more delicate frame.”  He looked down at his hands again.  “I just never thought about all these hands have done over the years and all they may do in the years to come until I felt that unfamiliar weight there.”  He looked up and gave them a big smile.  “This ring is really heavy,” he said.

“In more ways than one,” answered Merry as he touched his own seal of office.

-----

That evening, the Feast of Accession was held.  It was a grand affair and all the Tooks of Great Smials were in attendance.  Meriadoc was there as the Master of Buckland representing that part of Shire and Samwise Gamgee had come from Hobbiton as Mayor of the Shire.  Neither one had brought their wives with them.  Sam had said that Rose didn’t want to leave the children.  “More like she didn’t want to leave anyone at the mercy of our children,” he was heard to tell the Thain.  Both the Mayor and the Thain had a chuckle at this.  They both knew how much Rose loved her children.

Merry’s wife, Estella, had not been able to attend due to the fact that she was about to have the Master’s third child.  It appeared that the Master and his lady were as fertile as the Thain and his were not.

The evening was going splendidly as far as most were concerned.  Even the gossips and busybodies of Great Smials seemed to have enough to keep them content.  There was food in abundance, drink flowed like rivers and the music and dancing were grand.

Pippin stood off to one side watching it all unfold.  He was suddenly startled by a light touch upon his arm.  He turned and found himself looking into a pleasantly round face with laughing, dark eyes that was framed in chocolate colored ringlets.

A slow grin spread across Pippin's own face at the sight.  “I’ve been looking for you all evening,” she said.

“I’ve been right here,” he answered, “except when I was over there,” here he waved toward the opposite side of the room, “and when I was out dancing with one of my sisters or my nieces, or when I was getting something to nibble on or raising a mug with some well-wisher or not-so-well wisher on at least one occasion.”

“You really are a fool of a Took, aren’t you?”  She smiled adoringly at him.

“And you wouldn’t have it any other way,” he affirmed.

Suddenly, there was a look of surprise on her face.  “Look at where we are,” she said.

Pippin looked at where they were standing.  At first he didn’t see what she was getting at, then it slowly became clear.  His mind could clearly see a night like this almost 19 years ago when another Thain was celebrating the end of his first day in office and two tweens met on this very spot.

“I knew that night that we’d be together,” she said.

“I knew it even before that,” he answered.  “You literally walked out of my dreams that night.”

He set the glass he’d been holding down on a conveniently placed table and reached for her hand.  “Diamond Took,” he said in his most formal manner, “may I have this dance?”

She took the offered hand.  “For the rest of our lives,” she answered as she allowed him to lead her to the dance floor.