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Kingly Gifts by Dreamflower	5 Review(s)
Gryffinjack	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 12/10/2005
Aragorn and Eomer are so cunning! "“Now you must understand, Pippin, that what I give to you is a part of the ceremony; I do not want you to tell me that you cannot accept it, or that it is ‘too much’. This is part of what a king does.” Aragorn gestured to the box beside him. Pippin nodded. ... “After your knighting I will present you with your stipend--a gift of money. This is something that all retainers of a court receive, so I do not wish to hear any objections to it.” “Money? Aragorn, you are not buying my loyalty.” Pippin looked mildly offended. “I told you, it is part of it. A retainer owes certain duties to his king, and his king must insure that the retainer is able to carry out those duties. Trust me on this, Pippin.” Aragorn had no intention of telling him that the stipend he had arranged was about three times more than was customary, nor yet that Faramir had added a goodly sum to it. Nor did he intend to mention that a stipend was an annual custom." Sheer brilliance on Aragorn's part! Pippin is going to be furious, but won't be able to do anything about it. The same with Merry! You brought out an excellent point about how pitiful would be the condition of Merry's and Pippin's clothing. They had no changes of clothing other than those provided by the Rohirrim and the Gondorians, which would not have included everyday attire. "Now, do you remember your oath?” “I could never forget it.” Indeed it was seared into his brain, those words spoken so solemnly to the proud and stern Denethor, who had accepted them both seriously and mockingly. He ducked his head to hide the tears that suddenly sprang to his eyes. Aragorn placed a finger under his chin and lifted his face. “It will be different this time, Peregrin. This pledge will be given and taken in love.”" shudder Poor Pippin had such a different experience than Merry when he pledged his fealty to Gondor. Whereas Merry's was made out of love for a gentle, kind king who appreciated him and returned the affection, Pippin's was made without such love and affection. Pippin's oath was made out duty to repay the debt of Boromir's saving their lives and was made to a man who cared nothing about Pippin and whom Pippin did not like. I am glad that Aragorn recognises this and is going to make sure that Pippin's experience this time is filled with love. Is Menelcar the minstrel who prepared the lay and composed the hymn of praise? Oh, I hope so! "Pippin muttered under his breath. Legolas laughed. “What did he say?” asked Gimli. “He said that ‘Aragorn might be an easy-going king, but Strider the healer is a tyrant.’ ”" LOL! Now that is such a typically canon impertinent remark by Pippin! Excellent! More members of the party that we see later on in On the Road to Edoras! Huzzah! That was a lovely knighting ceremony. Very nicely described. This story is coming along so well and really is filling in a missing moment! Author Reply: Well, Aragorn and Eomer are pretty sneaky! But as long as they can convince Merry and Pippin that these stipends are a customary gift, and part of the knighting ceremony, they will get away with it. Of course, the hobbits might be a tad ticked when they find out how much the two kings have stretched the custom... Yes, any extra clothing they had at all would have been completely lost at Parth Galen. So, except for their livery, they've been making do with the clothes on their backs--clothes they wore while being whipped and drug through Rohan, and also during the flooding of Isengard, which can't have done it much good. And I don't much imagine it fit very well anymore, since they have grown so much. It had to be a source of embarassment to a couple of gentlehobbits (well, at least to Merry--I don't see Pippin as being quite so concerned with his appearance, LOL!) Yes, this time the oath will mean something completely different. As you said, the first time, it was something Pippin felt he had to do, for Boromir's sake. This time it is something he wants to do, for Aragorn's sake. No, I'm afraid it's not Menelcar. But rest assured, he'll be hearing of it. (I'm such a tease, I know). I think one of the first things Pippin would have recovered was his cheekiness, LOL! And I am so glad you liked the ceremonies!

Isil Elensar	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 8/31/2004
The knighting ceremonies were excellent! Kinda makes me wish I were there, or that they had been each knighted at an event... ;-) Author Reply: I suppose you recognized several elements of the ceremonies.8-D Having been to enough courts... Of course, Pippin's oath is the one I know by heart, but I had to do a little research to come up with Merry's. Now that would be a cool event: hobbits! Maybe at the Great Court at Gulf Wars, LOL!

Grey Wonderer	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/4/2004
I just had to leave a review here too. I loved this one on the challenge sight and am very glad that you decided to post it here. I love the image of Pippin sitting on his bucket! I also love how you've taken things from the book and the movies and woven them together. You've filled in the gaps nicely. I enjoyed this very much. Author Reply: Wow, that's incredibly nice of you to leave two reviews. I tried to imagine what they would have had Pip do, if Aragorn didn't want him to stand so long. Most of the seats would have been too large, and leaving his legs dangling over the edges wouldn't have done his knee any good. So, a bucket! 8-) I'm so glad you enjoyed this.

Meldewen Ilce	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/4/2004
What a wonderfully written and lovely story! I look forward to reading the rest of it! Author Reply: Thank you very much.

Lotrgirl1415	Reviewed Chapter: 2 on 7/4/2004
squeals with delight I love this story's plot! keep up the great work! I look forward to the next chapter! love, -_~_KATIE_~_- Author Reply: Thank you, dear, I'm glad you like it. 8-)

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