fic update: Luster of Snow
Apr. 25th, 2006 09:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
auntiemeeshI've decided that in order to move Luster along, I need to just post a little bit each day. So, this is only a little snippet really, and unbetaed, but it's better than nothing, I hope. There's actually not a lot of Pippin in this segment, other events taking center stage.
Chapters 1-5
Chapter Six
It was a long night for Paladin and Eglantine. Pippin was restless, the pain in his leg keeping him from settling into deep sleep but the sedatives preventing him from real wakefulness. Just shy of dawn there was a soft knock at the door. Eglantine had just given Pippin his latest dose of medicine and was crooning softly to him, easing him back into whatever rest he could get, so Pal went to see who it was.
Answering the summons, Paladin was surprised to find his cousin Reginard outside the room, looking rather pale. Stepping into the hall so as not to disturb Pippin, he waited to hear the news.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Pal, but it’s Ferumbras. He took a turn for the worse a few hours ago. Dag’s with him now, but it doesn’t look good. I doubt he’ll live out the day. The others have begun to gather.”
Paladin sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before nodding. “Thank you for letting me know, Reggie. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be right along.”
“Aye,” Reggie answered solemnly, “I’ll let the family know you’re on the way.”
Cursing the timing of this, Pal returned to the room quietly. Inside the door, he just stood for a moment, looking at his youngest child, wrapped in blankets except for the bandaged and splinted leg which lay atop the covers. The lad looked alarmingly fragile and Pal didn’t want to leave his side. He had no choice, however, and felt an unexpected flash of anger that Ferumbras couldn’t have held on just another day or two. Shaking those thoughts away, he approached the bed. Eglantine looked up as he walked over to her, face softening into sorrow as she read his body language.
“Ferumbras?” she asked quietly.
“Aye. I’m sorry, love, but I have to go and I don’t expect I’ll be able to get away again any time soon.” Bending, he pressed a light kiss to her temple, lingering just a moment before pulling away. “I’ll make sure Dag’s apprentice comes by shortly to check on Pippin.”
A few minutes later, Paladin stood at the side of another sickbed, this one surrounded by grim, sorrowing faces. Ferumbras was struggling for each breath, eyes closed, skin yellow and papery, lying in folds over a frame that had shrunk considerably in these last few months of illness. The room was hushed, the Thain’s gasping breaths the only sound.
Ferumbras had no immediate family left to him, having no siblings or children, but several cousins had gathered to ease his passing. Reginard and his father, Adelard, stood to one side of the bed, while Rosamunda and Oldovacar Bolger stood at the foot. Ferdinand Took stood on the opposite side of the bed, leaving a space beside him, near the head of the bed. Paladin nodded to each of his cousins as he moved into the space left for him. In this way they provided a guard of honor for their cousin and head of family. Although they moved aside for Dag as the healer moved about the room, checking his patient, mixing and measuring medicines by the fire and administering doses, they never left Ferumbras’ side.
It was nearly noon when Ferumbras awoke, looking around him through clouded eyes. “Paladin?” he rasped weakly.
“I’m here,” Paladin answered, moving closer to the bed and gently clasping the Thain’s age-spotted and gnarled hand.
“Now…is your…turn,” Ferumbras said, pausing to breathe between words. “You…will make…good…Thain and…Took. Have…my…” there was a long pause while he struggled to find the strength to continue. “Have…my…approval.” The old hobbit smiled, just a slight hint of curving lips, and then closed his eyes with a sigh.
Paladin set Ferumbras’ hand back down upon the coverlet gently and stepped back slightly, allowing Dag to move closer. The healer fussed around the dying hobbit for several minutes before settling at his side, fingers pressed lightly to the pulse point on Ferumbras’ wrist.
They waited another half hour like this, listening to each harsh, rattling breath, waiting for the next, until inevitably there came a silence, a moment when the awaited breath did not come. Finally, Dag stood and turned to Paladin. “He is gone.”
Chapters 1-5
Chapter Six
It was a long night for Paladin and Eglantine. Pippin was restless, the pain in his leg keeping him from settling into deep sleep but the sedatives preventing him from real wakefulness. Just shy of dawn there was a soft knock at the door. Eglantine had just given Pippin his latest dose of medicine and was crooning softly to him, easing him back into whatever rest he could get, so Pal went to see who it was.
Answering the summons, Paladin was surprised to find his cousin Reginard outside the room, looking rather pale. Stepping into the hall so as not to disturb Pippin, he waited to hear the news.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Pal, but it’s Ferumbras. He took a turn for the worse a few hours ago. Dag’s with him now, but it doesn’t look good. I doubt he’ll live out the day. The others have begun to gather.”
Paladin sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before nodding. “Thank you for letting me know, Reggie. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be right along.”
“Aye,” Reggie answered solemnly, “I’ll let the family know you’re on the way.”
Cursing the timing of this, Pal returned to the room quietly. Inside the door, he just stood for a moment, looking at his youngest child, wrapped in blankets except for the bandaged and splinted leg which lay atop the covers. The lad looked alarmingly fragile and Pal didn’t want to leave his side. He had no choice, however, and felt an unexpected flash of anger that Ferumbras couldn’t have held on just another day or two. Shaking those thoughts away, he approached the bed. Eglantine looked up as he walked over to her, face softening into sorrow as she read his body language.
“Ferumbras?” she asked quietly.
“Aye. I’m sorry, love, but I have to go and I don’t expect I’ll be able to get away again any time soon.” Bending, he pressed a light kiss to her temple, lingering just a moment before pulling away. “I’ll make sure Dag’s apprentice comes by shortly to check on Pippin.”
A few minutes later, Paladin stood at the side of another sickbed, this one surrounded by grim, sorrowing faces. Ferumbras was struggling for each breath, eyes closed, skin yellow and papery, lying in folds over a frame that had shrunk considerably in these last few months of illness. The room was hushed, the Thain’s gasping breaths the only sound.
Ferumbras had no immediate family left to him, having no siblings or children, but several cousins had gathered to ease his passing. Reginard and his father, Adelard, stood to one side of the bed, while Rosamunda and Oldovacar Bolger stood at the foot. Ferdinand Took stood on the opposite side of the bed, leaving a space beside him, near the head of the bed. Paladin nodded to each of his cousins as he moved into the space left for him. In this way they provided a guard of honor for their cousin and head of family. Although they moved aside for Dag as the healer moved about the room, checking his patient, mixing and measuring medicines by the fire and administering doses, they never left Ferumbras’ side.
It was nearly noon when Ferumbras awoke, looking around him through clouded eyes. “Paladin?” he rasped weakly.
“I’m here,” Paladin answered, moving closer to the bed and gently clasping the Thain’s age-spotted and gnarled hand.
“Now…is your…turn,” Ferumbras said, pausing to breathe between words. “You…will make…good…Thain and…Took. Have…my…” there was a long pause while he struggled to find the strength to continue. “Have…my…approval.” The old hobbit smiled, just a slight hint of curving lips, and then closed his eyes with a sigh.
Paladin set Ferumbras’ hand back down upon the coverlet gently and stepped back slightly, allowing Dag to move closer. The healer fussed around the dying hobbit for several minutes before settling at his side, fingers pressed lightly to the pulse point on Ferumbras’ wrist.
They waited another half hour like this, listening to each harsh, rattling breath, waiting for the next, until inevitably there came a silence, a moment when the awaited breath did not come. Finally, Dag stood and turned to Paladin. “He is gone.”
