return

1010 the return of the king
wards of the men at arms along the walls there came the
sound of song.
‘Farewell for this time,’ said Bergil. ‘Take my greetings to
my father, and thank him for the company that he sent. Come
again soon, I beg. Almost I wish now that there was no war,
for we might have had some merry times. We might have
journeyed to Lossarnach, to my grandsire’s house; it is good
to be there in spring, the woods and fields are full of flowers.
But maybe we will go thither together yet. They will never
overcome our Lord, and my father is very valiant. Farewell
and return!’
They parted and Pippin hurried back towards the citadel.
It seemed a long way, and he grew hot and very hungry; and
night closed down swift and dark. Not a star pricked the sky.
He was late for the daymeal in the mess, and Beregond
greeted him gladly, and sat him at his side to hear news of
his son. After the meal Pippin stayed a while, and then took
his leave, for a strange gloom was on him, and now he desired
very much to see Gandalf again.
‘Can you find your way?’ said Beregond at the door of the
small hall, on the north side of the citadel, where they had
sat. ‘It is a black night, and all the blacker since orders came
that lights are to be dimmed within the City, and none are to
shine out from the walls. And I can give you news of another
order: you will be summoned to the Lord Denethor early
tomorrow. I fear you will not be for the Third Company.
Still we may hope to meet again. Farewell and sleep in peace!’
The lodging was dark, save for a little lantern set on the
table. Gandalf was not there. Gloom settled still more heavily
on Pippin. He climbed on the bench and tried to peer out of
a window, but it was like looking into a pool of ink. He got
down and closed the shutter and went to bed. For a while he
lay and listened for sounds of Gandalf ’s return, and then he
fell into an uneasy sleep.
In the night he was wakened by a light, and he saw that
Gandalf had come and was pacing to and fro in the room
beyond the curtain of the alcove. There were candles on the