Summary: In the spring of 2012, four American children find themselves thrust into an unfamiliar world and part of an unexpected adventure.  This story is AU, and blends Lord of the Rings book-verse and movie-verse.  This story also contains a lot of spiritual and religious content as a part of the AU elements.

Disclaimer: The world of Middle-earth and all its peoples belong to the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien; the three films of The Lord of the Rings​ belongs to New Line Cinema and to Peter Jackson.  This story is not for profit, but is a gift for the enjoyment of those who read it.

Citations: In most chapters, there will be some quotations directly from both the books and/or the movies.  Quotations from Tolkien's books are in italics, and quotations from the movies are underlined.  Occasional quotations from other sources as well as silent dialogue, words spoken in emphasis, and passages from the Bible will also be in italics, and those citations will be footnoted at the end of each chapter in which they occur. We will also footnote research sources and credit the ideas of other people.

Thanks: We would also like to acknowledge the invaluable help of our beta, Linda Hoyland, another well-known and prolific LotR fanwriter, whose many wonderful stories also grace this site.

A/N:  One of the things that KG asked me (DF), when we were going to partner in this story, was that we try to include my OC, Mendelcar, who appears in my story “Chance Encounter”.  I agreed.  Therefore, you may see bits of that story quoted here and there in the next few chapters.  Those are from my own story, so be assured that if you see something you recognize, it is not plagiarized.  Thank you.  DF and KG.

Chapter 102: I Seek the Truth

Steve looked over now at the hobbits.  "You were just about to tell us something before Jennifer arrived?"

Pippin nodded with a grin.  "Yes.  I know that your family had been invited to the dinner with the King last night as well, but you were unable to attend."

"Yes, it had been a very busy day, and Megan and Kaylee were tired.  And Aragorn understood," Steve said.  "And both Kevin and Jennifer were working."

Pippin nodded.  "Well, my friend Menelcar was there, and he sang several songs.  And then Aragorn offered him the position of Court Bard!"

"He wanted to think about it," Merry added.  "But more importantly, Pippin asked him about playing and singing for your wife's party, and he said, 'Yes'."

"Well, that is good news.  Have we decided exactly when it's to be?" Steve asked.

"We were hoping for the evening of the day after tomorrow," Merry answered.  "Would that be too soon?"

Before Steve had a chance to answer, the door to Steve and Gail's room opened, and Gail stood there. "Would what be too soon?" she asked.

Merry grinned, and without a beat, said, "We hobbits were hoping to have all of you down to the guesthouse to have dinner with us all!  We would really enjoy a chance to make a good old-fashioned hobbit meal for you all."

“And that includes Kaylee and Megan,” Pippin added.  “And bring Lucy with you, too!”

"Yes, all of the family."  Merry nodded.  “We’ll invite Aragorn, too, and Faramir and Boromir.”

"And Gandalf, Legolas, and Gimli are living there, too, so they will be there, as well," Pippin threw in.

"Oh, my!"  Gail shook her head.  "Are you sure it won't be too much trouble?"

Both hobbits laughed.  Then Merry said, "This is no trouble at all.  Bilbo had one hundred and forty-four hobbits at his last birthday party before he left the Shire, and Gandalf, too!"

"And the dwarves and the extra people who just turned up!"  Pippin chuckled.  “No, this will be no trouble at all.”  Just then, the bells rang the hour.  Pippin stood up.  "I need to attend on Boromir!"

Merry stood also.  "And I must get to Rath Dínen to stand my watch at the tomb.  Thank you for the lovely breakfast," he added, before the two hobbits left. 

Kevin left as well, to attend the King if needed.  He kissed his mother on the cheek and told the rest of the family farewell, and found himself accompanying Merry and Pippin down the corridor.

-oo000oo-

Menecal had already been up to the Citadel to meet with the Chatalan, Master Ondahil.  He was now on his way back from his small lodging place with his meagre belongings.  He would need to be fitted for livery and find his new quarters, so he could start his job soon.  But he was a little winded with all the walking.  He stopped at a tavern, The Queen's Cats, and went in to find a table out of the way, where he could sip an ale and think in peace.  Stashing his rucksack behind his chair, he leaned back to think about what his new duties might entail.  He'd already been told that any other bards, jesters, or other performers would have to come through him if they wished to appear before the King…what other duties would he have, he wondered? 

Then a voice behind him caught his ear.

“They’re the apple of the King’s eye.”  The voice was a bit oily and insinuating.

His ears caught the sound of the low conversation taking place behind him.  There was something furtive about it which he did not care for.

“So, I hear.  Not much he wouldn’t do for them, or give them little creatures.”  This voice, rough and gravelly.

Menelcar raised his brows.  They had to be talking about the hobbits.

"They're not staying in the Citadel no more," said a third voice with just a bit of a lisp.

“This is true,” said the first one.  “I hear they are staying at one of the King’s guesthouses.  But they’ve got the Wizard, Dwarf, and Elf staying there as well.  We’ll have to get an opportunity to speak to one of them away from the place.”

"Do you think it will work?" said the third voice.

"Oh, I think it will.  The word is they are as soft-hearted as they come, and so I have no doubt they would likely believe any hard-luck story they might be told."

Menelcar felt a rage building at the obvious plot to take advantage of his small friends.  The hobbits were much shrewder than these villains were giving them credit for, but if a sad story were plausible enough--well, he could imagine that Pippin, for one, might be taken in.  He did not think that they would find it so easy to deceive Merry or Frodo.  Sam, though, was like Pippin--he, too, might believe such a story, if it were told well enough.

"Do you think we can find one alone?  Does it matter which one?" asked the second voice.

"Maybe the youngest one, or the servant would work best.  But so long as we can find one of them alone, I am not sure it matters."

There was a bit of rough laughter, and the three plotters got up to go out.  Menelcar observed them carefully, and then threw the payment for his ale on the table, grabbed his rucksack, and sauntered out as well, trying to keep them in sight without being spotted.

Menelcar followed them down into the second circle and into one of the less reputable parts of the City.  When he was certain that they had reached their destination, he fixed it in his mind and hurried back up to the Citadel.  He hoped that the Steward was available.

-oo000oo-

Faramir was in his outer chamber, looking over some old contracts that the Steward's office had held with various merchants.  They were quite informative, and Faramir could not help but feel admiration for the way his father had made the most advantageous dealings to the benefit of the realm. He put aside two of the contracts to speak with his father about.

There was a knock on the door, and the guard opened it to announce the new Court Bard.  Menelcar stepped into the chamber.

"How may I help you, Menelcar?" he asked.  He was surprised by the grim look on the minstrel's face.  It was not an expression he had ever seen there before.

As Menelcar told his tale, Faramir's expression soon matched his.

"This is insufferable!"  Faramir rose.  "Let us find the King.  He wants to know anything at all that affects the hobbits."

They saw Kevin standing guard by the door of the King’s study.  "May we see the King?" Faramir asked.  

"I'll ask," Kevin said.  The King hadn’t asked not to be disturbed, so it wasn't a problem.

He knocked, and when the voice within said, "Enter," he poked his head in.

"Your Grace," Kevin said, "Lord Faramir and Master Menelcar are here to see you."

Aragorn nodded.  "Very well.  Show them in.”  Kevin ushered them in, and then returned to his place by the door.

Aragorn took one look at their faces and led them to his private study.  "Gentlemen, what disturbs you so?"

"It is a dire plot against the Hobbits," Farmir answered.

Aragorn held his hand up.  "We need Pippin here, and your brother," he said.  "Have Kevin go and get them." 

Kevin was surprised when Faramir came back out and asked him to fetch Boromir and Pippin.  "I know that Pippin was to be accompanying my brother today.  They should still be in Boromir's quarters, eating second breakfast if I know anything."

Kevin hurried off.  Boromir was surprised at the summons, and he and Pippin hurried off with him as he led them back to the King's study.

When they got there, Kevin was surprised to be invited in as well, as he thought he would just be resuming his guard post.  As he went in, he saw the little office was rather crowded with six people in it.

Menelcar related the conversation he had overheard.  As the newly hired Court Bard spoke, Kevin was surprised to hear a low rumbling sound.  It took him a moment to understand that the King was actually growling.  The sound stopped abruptly, as Aragorn, Kevin noticed, evidently realized what he was doing.

There was a brief silence after Menelcar finished his tale.  For a long moment, Aragorn closed his eyes and clenched his fists.  His knuckles were white.  Faramir and Menelcar watched warily, as did Kevin, who understood exactly why Aragorn was so angry.  Kevin could see that both of the other men were very nearly as angry themselves.  And so am I, for that matter!  Kevin clenched both fists tightly and pressed his lips tightly together.  Next to him, Pippin did the same.

Finally, the King blew out a long breath, and when he looked at the others once more, his expression was still grim, but composed.  He turned to Menelcar.

"Tell me, Menelcar, is it your judgment that these wretches intend to offer any violence to my friends?"  He glanced at Pippin as he spoke.

Menelcar thought carefully back to all he had overheard in the tavern, and on the street as he followed.  "I do not think so, my Lord King.  It seemed to me that the idea was to cozen one or more of the little folk with a sad tale of hardship, with the idea of relieving them of a goodly sum of coin."  He glanced at Pippin.  "I think the idea was that the pheriannath would ask it of you, and that you would give them whatsoever they wished."

"I see."  Aragorn stuck his tongue in his cheek and looked very thoughtful.  With a glance at Pippin, he added, "Well, we do not wish to take the chance that you are wrong about harming them, but I do think that your judgment is probably correct.  You are fairly shrewd about people, I have found."  Nodding thoughtfully, he looked again at Menelcar.  "How soon do you think these villains plan to act?"

"I think that the only thing holding them back has been a lack of opportunity to find one of the pheriannath alone."

Kevin watched Pippin's face, so much older and more mature than the young and carefree hobbit he had met in Rivendell, as it looked grim and troubled.  Tears stood in the green eyes, but they were tears of anger.  Pippin reached up and dashed them away roughly, and then he looked back at his King.

"How could they?" he exclaimed.  "After what Frodo and Sam went through, after they offered their very lives?  After Merry nearly died?  And they want to use us to make money!"  His face had gone dead-white, except for two bright red spots on his cheeks.  "Strider, what are you going to do to them?"

Aragorn leaned forward and placed a hand on Pippin's arm.  "We are going to watch them for now; I must ask you to please not to tell the others about this yet."

Pippin flushed.  He knew that was a command of his King, and he would obey.  He didn’t mind not telling Frodo or Sam.  It would hurt their feelings dreadfully, he feared, when they found out.  But it was going to be hard not to tell Merry, since he was used to telling Merry everything.  Aragorn could tell what he was thinking.

"You may tell Meriadoc when the time is right, but not yet.  And if you agree, this is what we are going to do--"

As Aragorn spoke, Kevin noticed the expression on Pippin's face began to clear, and the hobbit began to grin.  Kevin thought his expression looked like his small friend was remembering a prank--he'd noticed that same look on Joey's face from time to time.

Kevin wondered why he had been asked to join them all.  Why had the King summoned him?  But Aragorn had not forgotten him.  He soon found out why, as the King addressed his Steward.  "Faramir and Boromir, we will be a part of this.  Choose about a half-dozen guardsmen to join us--and include Sir Kevin among them."  He looked at Kevin as he spoke.  "You are a guardsman, too, Kevin, and as one of our Fellowship, you deserve to be a part of this.  But tell no one, not even your family."

Kevin nodded, furrowing his brow in consternation.  “Not even my mom and dad?”

Aragorn shook his head.  "You are a Knight of the Realm and a Guardsman of the Citadel.  I know that your father and mother still think of you as a child, and in your own land, you would still be a child.  But here, you are a man, and you have a man's duties.  Your father, at least, will understand why you could not tell them, for he was a warrior once himself."

Keven nodded.  Aragorn was right about his dad.  And it was true, he had not even been treated as a child by anyone in Gondor since the Battle of the Pelennor.  They had treated him as still needing training, but more like a new recruit than a kid. Why, there had been an expectation he would go to the Black Gate, and not stay behind as his sister and little brother had been ordered to do.

"Pippin, will you have any problems keeping this from your cousins?  I know how close all of you are."

Pippin shook his head.  "Merry has his own duties tomorrow; he has to guard King Theoden's tomb.   And Frodo and Sam will be really busy, too, planning a party."  He glanced at Kevin, who nodded.

Aragorn turned to look at Kevin again, and the young man smiled.  "Uh, yes, sire.  The hobbits are helping my family throw a surprise birthday party for my mom the day after tomorrow, and we wanted to invite all of you there.  Merry and Pippin and Sam and Frodo are handling it all."  He looked at Boromir and Faramir.  “You, too, are invited, Boromir and Faramir.”

Aragorn smiled back.  "Of course.  I would be pleased to come."  He looked at Boromir.  "Speaking of the day after tomorrow, I am going to ask you to please be the official escort to Éomer and Éowyn to the outer walls, since Faramir and I will be working on this business.  We will need Pippin, so please take Joey with you.  Merry is likely to be melancholy after such a duty, and Joey can cheer him on the return to the City."

Boromir nodded. "Joey will know how to cheer him, if he has not to have the company of his cousin."

Aragorn turned to the newly hired court bard.  "Menelcar, I thank you for your timely warning of this plot.  You have scarcely begun your time in my service, and already you prove most valuable."

"I am honoured, Sire," the bard said with a slight bow.  "But I could do no less, for I am part of your court now.  It is my duty to let you know if anything is wrong.  And in this case, I am very fond of the hobbits myself, and I would not have them wronged, either."

"My thanks still stands. I would not see the hobbits treated ill." He glanced around the room.  "Faramir, if you would remain to discuss this affair, the rest of you are dismissed."

They filed out of the room, and Kevin resumed his post at the door.  He had a lot to think about.