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Just Desserts by Lindelea	4 Review(s)
Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 14 on 10/26/2005
I am horror struck. Author Reply: sorry Don't give up. The King is coming and there is a Higher Power.

Dreamflower	Reviewed Chapter: 14 on 10/26/2005
Somehow I don't think all is lost, here, though everything is screaming that it is. I'll not say more, as if I guess right, I don't want to deal out a spoiler, and if I'm wrong I will be mighty surprised. The Steward looked down. 'I beg your pardon, sir,' he said. 'I do not understand your objection.' Now that it appeared that things were falling into place, he could afford some time to deal with the hobbits and their misapprehensions. They were known for their tender hearts, famous for their mercy (this reputation, of course, reflected men's knowledge of Bilbo and Frodo, the most famous of the Shire-folk, though the rest of the Travellers came in for their share of fame), and for the most part, woefully ignorant of the dangers of the world outside their Shire. Talk about blinkered. He's looking at the three hobbits who faced greater evil than he has ever seen: one who walked the darkest paths of the Black Land itself; one who wrestled mind-to-mind with Sauron himself and managed to hold out, who saw battle before the Black Gate; and one who took a hand in slaying the great enemy of the North, the Witch-King of Angmar; three who led the Shire in expelling all the ruffians within its borders without a single Man to help! This Man needs to get a clue; he is patronizing the wrong hobbits, and I have a feeling that his King is not going to thank him for it. The Steward smiled and shook his head slightly. How did these Halflings think they knew better what the King would do, than this Man who had served him faithfully for years, yea, even while Aragorn laboured to safeguard the Shire, long years before he claimed the throne? Well, duh, because they are his close and dear friends, who traveled with him for months under the direst of circumstances? Because they are the apple of the King's eye? Because he has made them Councillors of the North and listens to their opinions? This Man definitely is guilty of the most stupendous hubris! Really, he reminds me more and more of another Steward who was blinded by pride...they couldn't be related could they? Ahem. clears throat sorry, I'm getting carried away here Author Reply: You are a shrewd guesser, and I'm trying hard not to be too predictable. Do let me know if I succeed in surprising, one way or another? You might not be able to teach an old Ranger new tricks, but something tells me the Steward is in for a training session. My one hesitation... I'm having trouble coming up with a Ranger-ish name that "sounds" right to my ear. Would the Northern Rangers have the same sort of names as the Men of Gondor? Halbarad and Aragorn (and Arargorn's ancestors, who, I think, all start with "Ara" which means royalty, I think) are all I have to go by. He has been "the Steward" all through, for the most part to depersonalize him as he is certainly being impersonal about the whole business, but as soon as Elessar begins to deal with him he is going to have to be named. I would love for him to be Halbarad's older brother, left to guard the Shire when Halbarad went South to support the King, but would his name perhaps start with "H" in that case, or would it be more likely to end in "barad" and have some other prefix attached? O Name-meisterin, lend me some of your wondrous ways with monikers!

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 14 on 10/26/2005
Now, I'm trying to be fair. . . . I'm trying. . . . No. The Steward is a know-all idiot. And patronising. Poor little hobbits. How can they possibly understand the evil of a fourteen-year-old child who has risked his life to save their kin? One who has never, since his brief foray into the Shire, done anything even marginally illegal - and who has never done anything cruel. The Steward is clearly right. He must save the poor little suckers from themselves. 'How did these Halflings think they knew better what the King would do, than this Man who had served him faithfully for years, yea, even while Aragorn laboured to safeguard the Shire, long years before he claimed the throne?' How indeed? Could it be because of the circumstances in which they came to know him? Could it be because he counts them, rather than the Steward, among his intimate friends? (He will learn.) I don't quite know how they can think that Will is faking - he would have to be a remarkably good actor. And he's dangling there with a rope around his neck - the only thing to save him now is the arrival of the king. Within the next thirty seconds preferably. And then Will might be able to compare scars with Ferdi. Get that king there - screaming for the hangman to cut Will down before it's too late! Please! You can't orphan young Robin! Or make the hobbits feel like murderers. And a little bit of brutality towards that rather arrogant Steward wouldn't come amiss. Author Reply: The Steward's punishment will fit, let me assure you. It might seem at first a fate worse than death, to a man who doesn't suffer fools lightly, but the King is indeed wise in his judgments. Poor Ferdi. He hasn't had much, if any role in this story, but he's due for a nasty bout of deja vu (though it must be carefully handled, so as not to pull the threads I'm weaving out of warp). But since this is your prize, and you're fond of Ferdi, well, that could well be enough to pull him into the story, if it can be done right.

harrowcat	Reviewed Chapter: 14 on 10/26/2005
Oh you evil Author, truly evil, this is the cliffie to end all cliffies! Come ON Aragorn I know your horse is carrying two but go just a little faster! Author Reply: Whew! What a relief to read your review! I was afraid my readers would not be talking to me, after this chapter. Don't give up... story's not yet done.

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