another snippet of "The Master and the Servant"

[rabidsamfan]

On his way back to the library Elrond stopped to look in on his patient. Frodo was still unconscious, and his color was no better than it had been, but his face was more peaceful than it had been at night, probably because he was surrounded by his kin. Bilbo was sitting in a chair by the bed, reading aloud from the Red Book which was the pride of his heart. Merry and Pippin had got right into the bed and were flanking Frodo, giving him the contact Elrond had prescribed as they listened to the old hobbit. When he stepped into the room, a tousled head appeared over the footboard of the bed, and two brown eyes blinked up just long enough to identify the intruder before vanishing again. Elrond found Samwise already snoring, sleeping across the foot of the bed with one of Bilbo's winter cloaks tucked over him. "I thought Arwen had shown him his room," the Master of Rivendell said, when Bilbo looked an inquiry to him.

"She did," said Pippin, "and we sent him to it, but he came back. Said he couldn't sleep in the middle of the day and he wanted to listen to Bilbo's stories."

"Not that he's been awake to hear them," Merry observed. "He's not taking sick, is he Lord Elrond? He didn’t eat more than a bite of breakfast, nor lunch either."

"No," said Elrond. The elixir was fading now, or Sam wouldn’t be sleeping. His appetite should return by the time he awoke. "He is weary. This is the first sleep he has had since reaching Rivendell."

"Is it?" Merry looked thoughtful, as if he were calculating the hours.

Pippin shook his head. "That's just like Sam, thinking that no one can manage to do things right without him there; not even Gandalf and Elves!"

"It's not like they're cooking pancakes, Pippin," Merry remonstrated. Pippin blushed. "I expect you needed Sam to tell you what happened, right, Lord Elrond?"

"Yes," said Elrond, "and to bring comfort to Frodo, as you do now." Elrond looked at each of the hobbits in turn. There was a resemblance between the three who were wakeful, and the Ringbearer, ties of blood that left a mark on their eyes and mouths and the shape of their faces. Samwise was quite different, his hair bleached and his skin browned by sun, and the very set of his square chin bespeaking a different family line. "He is not related to the rest of you?"

"No, of course not," Pippin laughed. "Sam's a gardener. He takes care of Frodo."

"Not Frodo's gardens?" Elrond said, seeking clarification.

"Well, those too. But ever since Marigold got married he's done most the inside work at Bag End -- at least any time I've been visiting. Isn't that right, Merry?"

"He's made first breakfast at Bag End since before Bell died," Merry said. "Which you'd know if you ever woke up in time to help."

Bilbo looked surprised. "Bell Gamgee's dead?"

"Nine years since," Merry said sadly. "And she was sick for nearly a year beforehand. If I'd known where to send you letters, I'd have told you all the news." He looked soberly at Elrond. "Sam is Frodo's servant," he explained with care. "The Widow Rumble does the laundry, or did do it anyway, and Sam does the heavy work, and cooks the first breakfast and gets the baths ready for when Frodo wakes. But mostly he works in the gardens and the Gaffer, Sam's father, who used to do the gardening, does some of the inside work because it doesn't bother his rheumatism as much. But Sam goes off at harvest and planting to help on the farms, of course. Frodo can take care of himself perfectly well."

"Usually," Pippin added, looking down at his cousin's pale face. "Shouldn't he be awake by now?"

"Sleep may heal what herbs cannot," Elrond explained, touching Frodo's forehead, and shoulder, and hand to gauge the temperatures and keeping himself from frowning while Pippin's bright eyes watched. "And he has been much hurt." He looked at the elderly hobbit who had become his friend. "Does he know your tale?" he asked, "The dark places as well as the light?"

"He frets if I skip ahead," Bilbo reassured Elrond. "He's heard me tell it many times before."

"It's like an old friend," said Merry, smiling at Bilbo. "One we've missed."

"That is well," Elrond said. He touched Bilbo's shoulder gently. "When you tire, send one of your cousins to me, in the library; Gandalf and I are trying to learn all we can about the spells which were put onto the blade. But Glorfindel is in the next room, should you need a healer more quickly."



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