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Ring Around the Merry	By : emma Category: -Multi-Age > General Views: 1731 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Lord of the Rings (and associated) book series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 49
- 50
- 51
�If we do not find some way to get Frodo away from Merry, they will both be lost. And the fact you loved them both with all your heart won�t mean nothing after its too late.�
Chapter 48: Realignment

______________________________________________________________________________
�He�s NOT THERE! Fix him, Merry! Bring him back, damn you! Fix him!�

Tears streamed down his flushed cheeks as Pippin's face contorted in impotent rage. "FIX HIM, FIX HIM, FIX HIM, FIX�"

Merry stood stock still as Pippin proceeded to pummel his chest, Pippin�s small fists having all of the effect of briny surf pounding harmlessly against ageless, rigid breakers.

�Answer me! Will you!� screamed Pippin as he continued to lash out. �Say something! Tell me how you are going to fix Frodo!�

Merry remained silent, his face inscrutable. Pippin fell into convulsive sobs, butting his head against Merry�s chest in impotent fury.

�Why won�t you answe, yo, you bastard!�

Pippin�s strikes had slowed considerably by the time he felt a gentle hand land upon the back of his head, comforting, infantilizing. Pippin pulled back, lifted his hand to strike out against the offending monolith. But the blow did not fall. Merry caught Pippin�s swinging wrist and, lightning fast, twisted his cousin�s arm behind his back.ppinppin made to cry out in protest but was stopdeaddead in his tracks as Merry pressed Pippin forcefully against his own body. They were nose to nose and Pippin stared into Merry�s glacial eyes. For an agonizing moment they stood there, Merry breathing eerily slow, Pippin breathing shallow and ragged, waiting in hope and fear for Merry�s response.

Without warning Merry leaned down and kissed Pippin with such violence that the younger hobbit felt as if he had been struck. Pippin�s frazzled mind flew back to the first time Merry had kissed him in this very room � when Pippin had felt as though his soul would melt and Merry had sparked in him an ecstasy he had never known.

No! No! No!

Pippin�s rational mind seemed to crash back into his body at that moment, painfully, as if it had fallen from a great height. He mustered all of his strength, and with a mighty flash of self possession, yanked his mouth away from Merry�s claiming kiss.

�No!� screeched Pippin, shrill but strong. �Frodo! I want to talk about Frodo!�

Merry, still holding Pippin�s wrist in a vise grip, again pressed Pippin against him, his lips quirked in a discomfiting smile, his hand falling paternalistically upon his copper curls, now drenched with sweat. Pippin defiantly tipped his face toward the floorboards.

�I want to talk about Frodo,� repeated Pippin, drawing slow, sharp breaths between each stinging word.

Pippin did not see the ominous cloud of fury fly across Merry�s face before a cleansing breath swept it away.

�Pip,� sighed Merry as he ruffled Pippin�s curls. Merry traced a finger along Pippin�s quivering jaw line, now drawing the resisting chin upwards, forcefully but with tenderness.

But Pippin would not be gainsaid.

�No!� cried Pippin. �Not until you talk about Frodo!�

Pippin felt the once-gentle hand crush his wrist, and the other hand that a moment ago had finger-combed his hair, dig into his scalp untilyelpyelped in agony. Merry did not relent. He yanked Pippin�s curls until the sharp, defiant face turned up to him. Merry�s hands were savage, but his voice, on the razor�s edge of control, remained strangely calm.

�Frodo can wait.�

Merry again leaned in to kiss his prey. In response, Pippin twisted his head away, scrunched his eyes closed against the attack and battened down his teeth upon his lips until the coppery taste of blood seeped onto his tongue. Merry did not relent. He had been emasculated by much stronger forces than Pippin this night, and would not have himself reduced again. Merry gave Pippin�s hair a yank, causing Pippin�s eyes and mouth to fly open. As Pippin squeaked out in pain, Merry�s lips again locked upon his own.

Pippin did not remember drawing his hand up in a flailing defense. And he did not recall how on earth it came to be that the flesh of his palm connected with the side of Merry�s face. All he knew was that one moment Merry had been kissing him, and the next he was being brutally impelled down the hall, both of his wrists captured in Merry�s unforgiving grasp, crying out against his captor.

In seconds they were in their bedroom, Pippin pushed face first into the feather bed, the bedclothes stifling his screams. Still Merry did not speak. With horror, Pippin felt cords wrap around his wrists and pull tight. Pippin struggled wildly, but to no avail. He had been subdued.

Merry flipped over his cousin, expecting to see fear, but discovering only anger. Pippin immediately sat himself up.

�Damn you!� Pippin raged. �You had the rope ready! You had the rope ready for me!�

Merry�s expression cleared. He had felt a measure of control flow back into his being and it washed away his anger. Merry smiled indulgently at his fuming cousin as he benignly drew out a handkerchief from his pocket.

�Yes,� said Merry flatly. �I did. I dicauscause I love you.�

As Pippin contemplated some spirited retort, Merry leaned down and planted a gentle but sensuous kiss upon Pippin�s resisting mouth, then pulled the handkerchief between Pippin�s lips as a gag.

�Stay here,� said Merry without anger. �And calm down.�

Merry stepped about the room, blew out all the candles save one on the bed stand, ensconcing the room in a flickering sputtering half-light.

�When I return,� said Merry, �we shall discuss your difficulties. But right now I have to care for your cousin.�

With those words, Merry kissed Pippin�s forehead, ignoring emerald eyes glinting with deep, pure anger. Merry smiled as if amused, pushed Pippin�s chest until he fell backwards into the pillows, then gave Pippin�s toes an affectionate squeeze.

�Rest, my pet,� said Merry sweetly.

Pippin yelled out curses behind the gag as the door closed softly and the lock slid languidly and comfortably into place.
* * *
Sam looked up to see his door swing open, and Merry, armarm arm with Frodo, a small plate of bread and cheese in his other hand. Frodo was blank-eyed and beautiful. Merry�s face glowed, though the et wat was discomfiting.

�Sam,� said Merry. �I have brought Frodo to you for a short visit. We shall start small. He is tired.�

Sam nodded, barely concealing his enthusiasm.

�I would like,� began Merry as he maneuvered Frodo to the table, �I would like you to get Frodo to eat a bite of supper.� He sat Frodo down in the wobbly, wooden chair.

Merry did not mention his own dismal failure in that regard, not since the celebration dinner. Frodo had stopped responding to Merry�s prompts, preferring, if one could call it a preference, to sit open-eyed and closed-mouthed by the fire. Merry was relieved he could still get Frodo to walk when led, though he did so with no great style. Still, he said none of this to Sam, though the sudden upturn of Sam�s lips told him that Sam guessed.

Nor did Merry mention Pippin�s little tantrum, as he had perceived it. And to save himself from the obvious path of Sam�s guesses, Merry added, �Pippin tried to feed him but to no avail. And that upset the lad. It will set his heart at ease if I tell him that Frodo ate at least something tonight.�

Without hesitation, Sam screeched his own chair by that of his master and smiled sweetly into his clouded face.

�Mr. Frodo,� said Sam in a low, gentle voice. �Time to eat, love.�

Unlike Merry, Sam did not lift the food to Frodo�s mouth like a nursemaid feeding a babe. He reached down, gathered his limp right hand in his own, and guided it to the bread setting on the edge of the plate. With a small prod, Sam coaxed Frodo�s slender fingers to fold themselves around it.

�There, me love,� said Sam. �Just as you used to.�

Sam lifted o�s o�s arm with fingertips upon his forearm, barely touching, allowing Frodo to feel the responsibility of using his own limbs. The bread, clutched in awkward hands, floated in front of Frodo�s closed mouth for several long seconds.

�Time to eat, Frodo,� said Sam firmly. �You can do this by yourself.�

No light came into Frodo�s eyes yet something seemed to click with the sound of the familiar voice eliciting a familiar task. And to Sam's delight, Frodo opened his mouth, bit a small piece off the bread, then dropped his arm. The remainder of the bread fell from limp fingers onto the floor.

�Not too bad,� said Sam, despite the bread�s untimely end. �Not too bad.�

He glanced up to see Merry turning his face toward the door, unsuccessfully hiding his tears. He had a look of relief mixed with abject, soul-crushing defeat.

�Merry,� said Sam as he turned back to Frodo. �Leave us. You know I can�t go no where. You promised�alone.�

Merry grimaced but he leaned down, kissed Frodo on the cheek and whispered something in his ear. Then he stepped out the door without ceremony.

�Close it,� said Sam curtly.

The door slammed shut, though with the absence of footsteps, Sam knew that Merry had planted himself just behind it.

�Rat,� muttered Sam.

He gatd upd up a napkin from the table and stuffed it into the peephole for privacy and to let Merry know that Sam was well aware of his cloying presence.

Sam fell heavily back in his chair, his chains skidding abrasively across the floorboards as he settled himself. His anger forgotten, he leaned over and gathered the limp shell of his master in his arms, feeling with dismay Frodo�s head fall like a weight upon his own shoulder. Without warning, Sam began to sob.

�Mr. Frodo! I�m so sorry! I�m so sorry I let him do this to you! Wherever you are, please know that I shan�t give up on you! Frodo! Come back to your Sam!�

Sam felt he could stay this way forever, cuddling his stricken master in his arms, offering what comfort he could, never to let him go until the breaking of the world.

Sam was unsure how long he remained there but the jarring knock struck him as painfully as an arrow in his heart.

�Give me a few more minutes, damn you!� called Sam, his voice shredded by emotion.

Sam straightened Frodo in his chair and with violent fingers, rubbed the wetness from his own eyes. He stared once more into the vacant depths of Frodo�s fathomless blue orbs.

�Frodo,� said Sam. �Frodo, time to rest awhile. But you will see your Sam soon, alright?�

Frodo made no move and Sam dropped his face into his sheltering palms, collapsing into heaving sobs.

Warm fingers. A touch upon his cheek. Sam�s breath caught, and for a moment, time seemed to stop. Sam raised his eyes slowly. Frodo�s arm was outstretched, his fingers cold but soft, now ghostingoss oss his jaw line. Frodo�s eyes drew into focus for a split second, and for that beauteous moment, those blessed eyes looked at Sam and saw him.

�Frodo?� cried Sam as if he would burst. �Frodo!�

Sam grasped Frodo�s hand in a crushing grip and tears fell upon it. �Frodo!�

Through his veil of tears, Sam saw the ghost of a smile reach Frodo�s lips, and his face, for that intoxicating second in time was open to him.

In that wonderful, horrible moment, the door swung open and Merry inserted his unwanted presence into this now sacred space of Frodo and Sam�s connection. Sam stared into F�s e�s eyes, watching in horror as the light of recognition retreated down into their fathomless depths like a gold coin sinking slowly into a deep pool. The smile disintegrated into a featureless death mask, as Sam thought it, and Frodo Baggins was once again lost to him.

Merry noted Sam�s shattered countenance, and misunderstanding its cause, said, �Don�t worry, Sam. You shall see him again tomorrow but now it is past his bedtime.�

Sam watched in numbed silence as Merry stood Frodo up and gently bore him out of the room. The door shut with an ominous clunk and Sam scarcely noticed as the cloth he had stuffed in the peep hole was pushed through from the outside wafting silently to the floor. Merry�s gray eyes appeared and Sam resisted the primal urge to poke them out.

�Frodo wanted to tell you,� said Merry from behind the door, �goodnight.�

Sam smiled, chocking back a bitter laugh and finding enough reserve of spirit to see Merry�s �conversation� with Frodo as pathetic.

�Good to know, Merry,� he muttered condescendingly. �Good to know.�
* * *

Sam.

My dear Sam.

Frodo had longed to break through his self-induced fog to speak with his Sam. He had mastered his body enough to follow some basic prompts, to walk when guided, to eat when fed, to sleep when put abed. These near instinctual actions, for the most part, were fueled by a primal desire to avoid pain. Though most times, when not required to move, he would retreat to the comfort of his own mind and let himself be buoyed by memories of bright skies and happy times.

But Sam�s voice, Sam�s voice transcended the separation between mind and body. His comforting presence was part of the happy memories deep inside his retreat yet still part of the physical world from which Frodo had all too successfully separated himself.

Once he knew that his Sam was still part of the physical world, he stopped taking sustenance from the head one, the hurting one. Perhaps if he only ate by the hand of Sam, the other one would be forced to produce the one he longed to see. It was a miniature rebellion yet subtle enough to go undetected. And if Sam still existed in the real world, perhaps there still was a reason to keep some frail attachment to it. If only he had not been so hasty to slice the mystic cord that separated mind and body. Only diaphanous threads remained now, and if these frayed, he would be lost to Sam's world for good.

But Sam was with him now, he had thought he�d lost him, thought Sam had left him like the others. A miracle it seemed. Frodo�s mind, confused, muddled, and lost in a haze thick as mud, clawed its way through the quagmire. Slowly. Desperately. The � he surfaced! Sam was sobbing. Frodo wilhis his hand to reach out, guide his fingertips to soothe away the sorrow writ plain in salt tears upon the beloved face. Sam looked up and for a moment Frodo was home in Bag End again.

�Sam, dear Sam! Do not cry! I am here! And we are together."

Those were the words Frodo longed to speak had his conscious mind been capable of words. As it was, Sam�s expression of elation stuck to Frodo�s heart and produced, almost without effort, something like a smile.

Then a crack. A door!

The other. The one who brings only pain.

Pull back!

And Frodo dove back into the deep, black waters of his mind.

Submerged.

Protected. Hidden.

Goodnight, dear Sam.
* * *
Pippin jerked his head up at the sound of the door swinging open. Merry appeared at the threshold, arms akimbo, smiling. Pippin propped himself up on an elbow and glared.

�Frodo is sleeping peacefully,� reported Merry. �Despite your best efforts to upset him. You know, love, you rather distressed him with your rebellion but I assured him that all would be set to rights between us.�

Merry sat himself on the bed beside his bound cousin, lifting Pippin�s head upon his lap, and threading gentle fingers through his curls until Pippin�s tense little body began to relax. Merry stared into Pippin�s eyes and found they still burned with defiance.

�I�ll unbind you and remove the gag in a moment,� said Merry kindly. �But at present you will hear me out.�

Merry stood up from the bed and stepped toward the window. The light of the single candle fluttered and flickered over Merry�s back, making his body seem to sparkle and blink like the stars Pippin saw twinkling in the night sky outside the window. Merry�s hands were clasped behind his back in unconscious mockery of Pippin�s own hands, now clenched into impotent fists and bound in place. Pippin imagined what might occur if their positions were switched--if somehow Merry was the bound one and he were free. What would he do? He could leave, yes, but only to be recaptured by Merry�s allies, or by his cousin's even more fearsome enemies. Either way, Pippin�s terror at his helplessness gnawed at his complacency and he was terribly afraid.

�Frodo is fine, Pippin,� said Merry.

Pippin cried, �no!� through the gag but Merry did not turn.

�Pippin, I know Frodo is not talking to you or Samt het he is talking /to me/.�

Pippin shook his head violently. His most beloved relative was speaking like a lunatic.

No! NO! Stop this madness! Stop talking like this!

�He talks to me in my head, Pippin, so only I may know his mind. Straight to me. Straight to my head. Straight to my heart. He trusts only me. We have a special bond, Pippin, something that I�d hoped you, of all people, would understand.�

Merry leaned into the windowsill, bracing his hands against the wood and pressing his nose against the glass, as if he were looking for something to emerge from the bushes. When he spoke again, it was as if Pippin was not in the room.

�Perhaps it is best that Frodo is silent. Perhaps it is best that we only speak to each other in this way. Yes, I think that it would be best for all concerned that Frodo not speak aloud. If he has something to say, he will say it to me, and there will be no danger of it falling on ears that would not comprehend his needs. His silence is not a bad thing, I think. He shall remain as he is.�

Pippin screamed out his agony through the gag and this time, Merry spun on his heel and rounded in on Pippin. Pippin flinched, preparing for a blow, but none came. Merry gave Pippin an indulgent smile and gentled his finger along Pippin�s jaw line. Pippin shook his head once again. Merry�s eyes glinted against the defiance and his features grew hard.

�Why must you all fight me!� Merry cried suddenly, gripping Pippin�s arms harder than he meant to and plowing into Pippin�s widened eyes with his own savage stare. �I have given you everything! Frodo is the only one in the world who loves me now! Yet, Pippin, you are my brother, my partner, my friend, my other half! You are my heart and soul! It stabs at my heart that I cannot trust you�to trust me!�

Tears streamed down Pippin�s face at the sight of Merry again coming unhinged. Merry�s features softened. He thumbed Pippin�s tears away, mistaking heartbreak for supplication.

�I forgive you for striking me, Pippin,� said Merry. �So there is no need to be sad. Frodo needs for you to trust me now. Frodo wants us all to work together on this.�

On what?! thought Pippin in fear. What are we working on?

Without warning, Merry rolled Pippin on his side and undid his bonds. Pippin�s hands flew up to remove the hateful gag. Before the gag had hit the bed sheet, Pippin saw that Merry was leaning down to kiss him. Pippin quickly drew is pis palms to block Merry�s advance.

�No!� cried Pippin, shocked by the strength of his own voice. �Not until you fix Frodo! I shall not have you keep him as he is!�

A complex mix of anger and pain flitted across Merry�s face.

�So you would abandon me!� said Merry harshly. �So you would betray me!�

�I LOVE YOU!� screamed Pippin. The words bounced off the walls, the echoes melding into Pippin�s wrenching sobs. �I love you, Merry, and I hate to see what you�ve become. You aren�t yourself,� continued Pippin in a voice ripped to shreds by tears. �Can�t you see that Frodo is very sick? Why can�t you see it, Mer? Open your eyes! See what you�ve really done to him!�

Merry loomed over Pippin now, with darkened eyes, like a storm cloud ready to burst. His eyes stabbed into Pippin's now, and Pippin felt Merry�s body resting heavily on of hof his own, barring either defense or escape.

�And what, pray tell, have I done to him?�

Pippin hesitated. Merry sank his claws into Pippin�s shoulders, his face inches from Pippin�s own, his hot breath cascading over Pippin�s face.

�Speak!� cried Merry.

�We have destroyed him.�

The brutality of Merry�s backhand sent Pippin�s head spinning. But before Pippin could speak or cry out, Merry was kissing him as violently as he had just slapped him. Pippin struggled wildly but was no match. He felt Merry�s breathing, heavy and uneven, their heartbeats pounding out a frantic rhythm of anger, pain, and fear. Merry�s eyes were terrible to behold, and in this horrifying moment, he felt as though Merry might kill him, kill them all and tear their bodies to dust. Pippin stopped thrashing and went still as a corpse.

�I shall not let you fall into folly!� cried Merry. �I shall not let you bring about your own destruction, and the destruction of us all. Your are my lamb and I shall lead you to death and back if it will save you.�

Pippin shut his eyes against the sight of Merry�s contorted face, now glowing with power and anger. He did not move a muscle. Merry slapped Pippin�s face again so that his eyes flew open.

�I love you, Peregrin,� breathed Merry in an otherworldly tone, his nose touching Pippin�s, his eyes like burning brands, his voice itself a torment. �And I need you. You are mine. You wear my mark. You are my everything and I shall not ever let you go. You will love me and rejoice, or love me and despair. But you WILL love me.�

Merry reached over and extinguished the sputtering candle with his bare fist, encasing the room in darkness. Pippin braced himself against Merry�s relentless siege, understanding with sudden, wrenching clarity why Frodo might choose deathless silence over this onslaught of complete and utter control.

But Pippin's body soon twisted and turned and arched under Merry's knowing and powerful touch. And controlling though it was, Pippin was reduced once again to helpless surrender. All the while, Pippin avoided looking into Merry�s eyes, as he had not the strength of will. Merry then gathered Pippiep iep in his protective arms, and whispered that Frodo was safe and well and happy. Merry�s promises faded into the deepening night without hitting their mark. Still, Pippin chose to let himself be calmed, not because he believed him, but because he feared not to. For this moment, this now, Pippin let himself feel loved and needed. Whether to rejoice or despair he did not know. And for the moment, he did not care.
* * *
Pippin had expected to awaken as he had slept � entwined in Merry�s arms, held so tightly he felt he might burst. He had felt important, loved, vital, manipulated, and claimed. But he woke up alone, the sheets cold, as if his cousin�s warm body had been gone for hours- as it indeed had.

Pippin sat up, pulled on his nightshirt with clumsy fingers, and crept down the hall. He had a very good idea of where he would find Merry.

Frodo�s room was unlocked, and Pippin was able to open the door without a sound. Peeking in, he saw Frodo lying in bed, covers pulled up to his chin, face turned toward the fire, eyes open but unseeing. Merry lay asleep atop the covers, his arm wrapped tightly around Frodo as if he were clinging to a piece of wreckage in an endless, roiling sea of grief Sorrow pierced Pippin�s heart followed by the sharp sting of another emotion of equal strength. He ran from the room into the welcoming shadows of the hallway but not back to his room.

Instead, Pippin�s feet led him inexorably to another room, the room containing what had become an island of stability and sanity in a storm-tumbled sea.

Sam.

Pippin hungered to speak to Sam.

Pippin knocked on the solid door, standing on tip toe to stare into the peep hole. Pippin could see Sam�s dark shape under the covers, his chest rising and falling in front of other less dark shapes. He was snoring soundly.

�Sam!� whispered Pippin in a low voice. �Sam!�

Sam grumbled and stirred.

�Sam, it�s Pip.�

�What time is it?� mumbled Sam groggily.

�Late,� answered Pippin, then sheepishly added, �or�early.�

Sam stretched and grumbled out something unintelligible.

�Sam, may I speak with you a bit? Merry�s asleep and it would be safe, I think.�

Sam�s dark form rose, a black silhouette against the small window of deep blue, starry sky.

�Try the door,� said Sam quietly as he stretched again. �It may not be locked this time.�

Pippin turned the knob, and to his astonishment, it gave. He stumbled into the dark, holding up the reluctant candle to the dim room.

�Why would Merry leave it open?� asked Pippin incredulously.

�An oversight, p�raps,� said Sam. �But not one that should trouble him.�

�What do you mean, Sam?�

�Hand me your candle, Pippin.�

Pippin did so and gasped as he saw the angry glint of metal upon Sam�s ankle.

�So you see, dear Pippin,� said Sam morosely. �If you�ve come to free me, it seems you�ve come too late.�

Pippin dropped his head. �I�m sorry, Sam. I�m sorry he�s put you in irons. I can�t help you and it would do no good anyway, Sam. There are enemies everywhere and you�d be caught! Besides, you�d have no luck getting Frodo away �as he is.� Pippin glanced down again at Sam�s chains. �And as you are.� He added lamely, �Is it awfully uncomfortable?�

Sam snorted as he moved his raw ankle within the confines of the iron collar. �It ain�t built for crt.�rt.�

�Merry�s had dealings with some unsavory folk, or so he says,� sighed Pippin. �I s�pse he got that from one of them, maybe in Bree, for all I know. It would be like those folk to have such things but nothing like that in the Shire, for sure--not even in the lockholes, I wager.�

Sam shook his head. �The fit's too perfect. Had it measured for me especial, probably when I was out cold. D�ya understand what that means, Pippin? It means that he planned this. All of it.�

And here Sam took a calculated risk.

�Right down to pulling you in, Pippin.�

Pippin raised his eyes, now swelling with pain, to face Sam.

�What are you to him, Pippin?� asked Sam abruptly.

�I am,� said Pippin haltingly�

My brother! My partner! My friend! My other half! My heart and soul! My everything.

�I am his cousin.�

�Balls!� sputtered Sam. ��You�re a lad of at least middling smarts. You didn�t mistake my meaning. You love him, ourseurse, but what are YOU to HIM?�

�Everything!� cried Pippin in an injured tone. �He loves no other!" Pippin stopped for a moment but could not escape the knowing look in Sam's eyes. He sighed. "But for, well, Frodo, but that is, it is�.�

�Difficult?� offered Sam.

�Different,� snapped Pippin.

�Poor fool,� sighed Sam obliquely. �Well, then, ain�t Merry aware of his everything�s absence?�

�He isaidsaid Pippin sharply, �sleeping in with Frodo, keeping watch.�

Sam did not miss the wounded look in Pippin�s eyes and chased further.

�Sheets feeling rather cold of late, Pip?�

Pippin�s face went from aghast to astonished, and back again.

�I guess more than you know,� said Sam, but not unkindly. �Merry�s used every tool at hand. One of them being his cousin.�

�Frodo�"

�I meant you, Pippin.�

Pippin�s shoulders sagged as if a weight had suddenly been placed upon them.

�You don't understand, Sam. He does love me,� sniffed Pippin. �And he needs me too, so much it terrifies me. It may seem mad to you, for his cruelty of late, but I love him, whether or no�and I always will.�

Pippin saw Sam shaking his head.

�You might understand, Sam. You might understand if only you could see him as he was.�

�Rather than how he is?� said Sam with a cold edge to his voice.

Without warning, Sam grasped one of Pippin�s slender arms and forced the sleeve down, exposing Pippin�s pink and abraded wrists.

Pippin sucked up his breath ae une unexpected betrayal.

�You�ve been bound�recently by the look o� it.�

Sam looked accusingly at Pippin for a few moments before letting go of the struggling limb. Pippin yanked his hand back, cupping it near his body as if to shield it from prying eyes.

�You won�t speak of yourself, that�s clear enough,� said Sam. �So then, tell me what I long to know of Frodo. Tell me of your co�s n�s new happiness.�

With this, Pippin burst into tears.

�I�ve no time for tears, lad,� said Sam, his sternness melted by his obvious empathy for the pathetic figure sobbing in front of him. �Let�s start by telling me of what happened the night you and Merry took him away. He weren�t the same afterwards."

Pippin looked up at him.

"Tell me what happened at the river.�

Pippin�s eyes grew huge. He shook his head and made to stand.

�You said you came here to speak!� demanded Sam. �Now speak!�

�No! I can�t�

�That won�t do,� said Sam. �You came to me. You said we were to speak and we�ll do just that!�

Pippin stood quickly.

�It would do no good! Please, Sam! Don�t make me!�

Pippin took a hesitant step toward the door, unaware that Merry had indeed given Sam a good deal of slack. Sam was beside him, holding his arm in an iron grip before Pippin knew he was caught.

�Let go, Sam!�

�I won�t!� said Sam, his features hard again. �Not tilu tau talk.�

Pippin arched toward the door, Sam held him fast. In a frenzy, Pippin yanked at his arm, only to have Sam grasp a handful of his nightshirt at the neck.

�Stay put!� ordered Sam, low but fierce. �I�d hate your dear Merry to come and find you here!�

If this comment was meant to quiet Pippin, it had the opposite effect. Pippin grit his teeth, and with a strangled �No!� hissing between them, he gave one more almighty pull.m, sm, surprised by the strength of Pippin�s little body, momentarily loosed his hold on Pippin�s arm but found purchase on his sleeve. Pippin leaned out, Sam yanked in, and with a distressingly loud roar, the nightshirt ripped open at the neck. The The sound of Sam�s gasp filled the room, and Pippin was suddenly and achingly aware of what Sam had laid eyes upon.

�Dust and ashes!� cried Sam as he seized Pippin�s forearms and leaned in to gape at his shoulder. �What�s he done to you?�

Pippin felt suddenly naked. He meekly covered the black brand with what remained of the tattered fabric of his nightshirt.

�By the gods! What is it?� demanded Sam, pulling the material back again.

Pippin cringed, and mumbled out, �It�s a B.�

�Course it�s a B!� cried Sam. �I know my letters. But what by the Shire is it doing branded into your flesh?"

A terrible silence ensued as Pippin looked away. "It's just a B," he whispered again, almost too qly tly to hear.

Then suddenly Sam remembered the mark he'd seen on the pony in Crickhollow's barn. His breath caught in his throat. "B is for Brandybuck! Isn't it! Isn't it, Pippin?! Oh, by Eru, lad--as if you�re one of his stock--Pip? One of his trained ponies!" Sam sighed heavily. "When? Why? What happened to make him this mad? What?�

�Mine was�� muttered Pippin, �voluntary.�

The incomprehensible idea that Pippin would agree to this mark hit Sam as only an afterthought, an afterthought to his primary flash of horror.

�Yours?� chased Sam, a wild look coming into his eyes.

Pippin cringed hard, realizing what he�d just revealed.

�Yours!� repeated Sam, now grasping both of Pippin's arms and shaking him. �Peregrin Took!�

Pippin stopped breathing, begging the floor to swallow him whole.

�Did Merry do this to Frodo too?�

Pippin did not answer. He began to quiver and his breathing went ragged.

Sam tiged hed his grip upon Pippin�s shoulders and began to shake. �Tell me! Did Merry put his damn mark on Frodo? Did he burn him?�

Pippin lifted his head, and seeing ak thk that would brook no prevarication, nodded though his tears. He braced himself for an explosion, however when it came, it was not an explosion of violence, as he had expected, but one of Sam�s convulsive sobs.

Meekly, Pippin edged up to Sam, and placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder.

�I�m sorry, Sam.�

Sam snapped his head to face Pippin, his eyes still alight with shock and rage.

�When,� he sputtered out savagely, �when did you start being sorry, Pippin? When you took the whip in your own hands and laid down Merry�s blows? Or was it way back when you hit Frodo atop the head with a cookpan at the start of this nightmare? When does your sorry start? When!�

Pippin sobbed into his hands like a broken thing but did not answer. Sam�s stern grip around his forearms brought him back to the present.

�Go ahead! Strike me!� cried Pippin. �I deserve it! Of course I do! I have let everyone down! I love Merry! I love Frodo! I am fond of you! And I have let everyone down, Sam! Everyone! You should see him, Sam! Frodo is in such a bad way. He�s been broken, Sam. Merry promised me over and over that he would make Frodo happy but he broke him instead. When he first took off the blindfold � those eyes! Those horrible eyes. They were dead eyes! They are dead eyes!"

The words poured from Pippin�s mouth as fast as the tears from his eyes.

"Frodo is gone. His eyes fasten on the fire; it�s the only thing he seems to see, or maybe he doesn't see it, I don't know. He doesn�t talk unless it's crying out, and even then not in words, but sounds, ghastly, wild, animal sounds. And when he�s 'awake' he thrashes about so. And Merry, Sam! Can�t he see there is something wrong with our Frodo? Horribly wrong! He talks to Frodo as if he�s speaking back to him! You saw it! It is just not right! Merry�s eyes light up when he speaks to Frodo. He tells me Frodo is happy. Can he not see? Is my Merry mad? Please, Sam! Hit me all you like but promise me that you can bring Frodo back. Please tell me and make me believe it! I�m so scared, Sam!�

Sam regarded Pippin now, sobbing like a shattered thing before him. He was torn between fury and ridicule, though his compassion was what won out. Sam cleared his mind and found his hand landed reassuringly upon Pippin�s quaking shoulder. Sam waited until Pippin�s sobssidesided before speaking a word.

�I don�t want to hit you, Pippin,� said Sam gently. �I wish to throttle your Brandybuck cousin for what he�s done to us all. And I can�t make no promises about making Frodo whole. But this I know.�

Sam saw that Pippin�s gaze had fallen to the floor. �Look at me lad, so I know you understand.�

Pippin lifted his forlorn tear-streaked face to Sam.

�This I can promise, Pippin.� Sam�s eyes now bored into Pippin's. �If we do not find some way to get Frodo away from Merry, they will both be lost. And the fact you loved them both with all your heart won�t mean nothing after its too late.

�Now Pippin,� said Sam sternly. �I need you to tell me everything.�
TBC

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Ring Around the Merry