13. Uncertain Dawn

Trouble, however, did not wait for the morning’s light, but gusted in from the darkened street in the form of an exasperated hobbit who unceremoniously shook them awake a short hour later.

“Up now, lovebirds!” Dan growled, his face a mix of worry and ill-concealed amusement.

Pippin frowned, pulled from blissful sleep, and turned a wary eye on Diamond’s brother.  Despite the easy friendship they had begun, there was no telling how far the other’s good humor would hold when it concerned the honor and welfare of his twin.

Diamond, however, was furiously embarrassed and annoyed by his arrival.

“Danobras Took!!  What are you doing here?” she demanded, clutching the sheet up to her chin.

“I don’t need to wonder what you’ve been up to, sister-mine,” the young hobbit replied, smirking.  “I just hope it was worth the fury Father will loose on both your heads if he finds you here.”

“Are we discovered, then?  Or have you come to offer a warning?” Pippin asked quietly.

Dan’s gray-green gaze held his for a long, unsmiling moment.  The tension mounted in the silence until the younger hobbit shook his head, breaking contact, and wandered to the window, where he stood with his back to the bed where the two of them still sat.

“Just a warning, since you will have trouble enough without my word on it.  Just remember, Peregrin Took: where Diamond goes, so do I, with very few exceptions.”

“Well, good, for I cannot imagine a more trustworthy escort for my bride than her own brother,” Pippin replied, pulling on the clothes that had been haphazardly discarded upon the floor.

“And what, pray tell, do I need an escort for?  I’m coming with you,” Diamond said, voice leaving no doubt he would find as little leeway this morning as he had the previous night.  Displeasure radiated from every line of her body, but Pippin came to sit at her side, taking her hands in his own.

“Propriety.  Tradition.  Honor.  In short, to prevent what just happened here tonight,” Pippin said, knowing full well none of it had an ounce of weight with her.  He hurried to interrupt the coming tirade he could see bubbling up.  “The simple fact is that no matter how much we fight it, there are certain things that cannot be ignored.  I’ll ask for your hand at dawn, and I’ll not leave you behind, should it take a year of waiting upon your father’s doorstep.  But you are no longer the youngest daughter of your father’s house, your actions unexamined by any but your kin.  You are the future Mistress of Great Smials, and that is a task you dare not begin as a runaway from your father’s righteous censure.  Trust me, life’s hard enough without that,” he finished, his last words an earnest whisper.

Diamond shook her head, face set in grim determination.  She snatched her shirt from its precarious perch at the edge of the bed and shrugged into it.

“I will come with you to speak to him in the morning, he will have to understand,” she said.

“Are you really sure that his trust extends so far, sister?” Dan asked, still staring at the night outside.  “Others love you…  Are you truly ready to leave us all so soon?”

“I thought if anyone would be glad for me it would be you…” Diamond murmured unhappily, continuing to dress as quickly as she could while her brother’s back was turned.

“I am glad,” Dan replied as he turned to face her.  “But I didn’t expect…  Diamond, why not wait a while, to be sure?”

“I *am* sure, Dan.  When did I ever misjudge the rain coming on the wind, or the path of the predator pursued?”

“It’s not the same!  This is your life we’re talking about, and a choice you will have to live with forever!”

Pippin watched as certainty, doubt, irritation and love crossed her face quick succession, knowing he must wait upon her thoughts, and maybe lose her to the loyalty and caution her brother advocated.  He couldn’t quite bring himself to be angry at the other hobbit, though he would have rather not faced these questions so soon before the test of his proposal to her father.  But it was not long before she smiled up at her brother, and Pippin’s heart fluttered in his chest.

“It is strange to hear such advice from you, little brother, but I am quite sure of my decision.”  She stood up to give him a quick hug and then pushed him towards the door as she moved to pick up a fallen pillow.  “Thank you for the warning, though.  It will indeed be best to greet Father in a decent mood rather than in a temper.”

“I’ll wait for you outside.  Don’t be too long,” her brother admonished, striding from the room with a last pointed glance at Pippin, who returned it with a short nod. 

A happy smile bloomed across Pippin’s face as soon as the other had left, though, and he swept Diamond up in a giddy embrace, kissing her lips and face with light-hearted abandon.

“Oh, tomorrow is going to hurt, my love, but I think we may yet stand a chance,” he murmured, grinning mischievously all the while.

“You are quite completely mad, you know that??” Diamond muttered, pushing at him half-heartedly.

“Perhaps it’s all that fine fierce fire I’m holding in my arms, because now I know that nothing will stop us from riding away together, even with archers at our heels!”

“You’ll have to pay for your doubts, Master Bounder, but sadly at a later date!” she teased, planting a single kiss at the corner of his mouth, and she stepped to the door.  “Mind you leave the room as we found it, or there will be trouble when my sisters return to freshen the place this Spring.”

His clear laughter echoed after her until the front door shut behind her back, gray light marking the approaching dawn at last.

“Aye, Barachiril, I’ll pay long and large and gladly for the trouble I’ve gone this far to find…” he murmured to the empty room as he distractedly straightened the rumpled bed.

***   ***

Bright morning and good-humored company gathered in the broad kitchen of Long Cleeve’s chief family, and it was with a peculiar lightness in his head, due in all likelihood to lack of sleep as much as nerves, that Pippin approached his host as the entire family gathered just outside the great red door to bid the visitors farewell.

“There is a last bit of business between us, sir,” Pippin said, drawing Angrim aside.  “Might we speak in private?”

The burly hobbit raised a curious eyebrow and wordlessly indicated the small sitting room, whose open door revealed it to be empty.  The start of a broad grin twitched at the corners of his mouth when Diamond joined them, fingers just brushing the tall Bounder’s hand as she stopped beside him.  Closing the door, Angrim turned to them, face schooled to calm despite the spreading warmth of happiness that was growing in him.  He had little doubt regarding the nature of young Peregrin’s ‘last bit of business’ here in Long Cleeve.  His moor-wild daughter had finally found a suitor she was pleased with; Mara would be thrilled.

“Well, what may I do for you this fine morning ere you go, Peregrin Took?” Angrim asked.

Pippin colored slightly, certain that the older hobbit had a rather clear idea of his intentions.

“Well, sir, I’ve come to ask your permission to wed your daughter.  Today.”

Angrim’s wide smile lingered a moment longer before the last word penetrated past his laughing reply.

“Well, of course…  Today?!!  Oh, no, my lad!  That is not even remotely possible!” he said, glower chasing grace from his expression as he turned to his daughter.  “Diamond, what is this nonsense?”

“Not nonsense, Father, but our true wish and intent.”

“But you barely know him, lass, and besides you are too young!”

“There are precendents…” Pippin began.

“You will wait upon my word to speak, lad!” Angrim interrupted, and his anger was palpable.  He took two steps closer, accusing finger directed at Pippin.  “I welcomed you here, into my home, despite all I’d heard of your scandalous ways!  I gave you shelter and the aid you sought, and yes, I had indeed considered granting you my daughter’s hand.  But if you think you can carry off my youngest on a whim and without a by-your-leave, you are most certainly mistaken!  Your father may run roughshod over our southern kin, but you’ll not find it so easy here!”

Pippin flushed, anger rising in his cheeks, but he chose to ignore the insult and replied with all the calm and sincerity he could muster.

“It has never been my intention to give either you or Diamond less than all the honor that is owed.  So while I may be reckless and eager to claim a happiness long sought, I truly meant no offense.”

“And if you must blame anyone for impatience, then it should be me,” Diamond said, leaving Pippin’s side to take her father’s hand.  Disapproval leaching slowly from his expression, Angrim’s disbelieving gaze fixed upon his daughter’s face.  He saw there no tears or constraint, only the same stubbornness and fierce pride, now softened by the joy that had replaced the sharp edge of loneliness that had become so familiar.

“You love him, then?”

Diamond nodded.

“You are certain of this path?  There is no turning back…”

“I know.  How strange that choosing happiness makes everyone around me question my judgment and resolve…  I have thought it through, Father, and I am decided.”

Angrim nodded, gray eyes still troubled.

“Very well…  Always you’ve made your own path, over and against any obstacle or challenge.  But you’ll not be going anywhere today.  You know it takes your mother an age to pack for even the shortest jaunt.”

“What?”

“If you insist on doing this quickly, then we’ll have to do it right,” Angrim said, turning to look Pippin squarely in the eye with grim amusement.  “My wife may survive her disappointment of preparing a Shire-wide wedding feast, but you’ll not escape being your father’s heir, Peregrin Took.”  The tall young Bounder squirmed at the reminder. “I am quite certain Paladin will not be the only one with serious concerns about you bringing home a strange and unexpected bride.  We leave on the morrow.”

He strode from the room, leaving the two of them stunned and staring at the closing door.

“Well, that went better than I had anticipated,” Pippin offered with a sigh.

Diamond whirled back to find him smiling at her, one hand held out to beckon her closer.

“Better?  You haven’t yet seen my mother all aflutter, it isn’t a pretty sight,” she replied, staying where she was.  Diamond wasn’t sure what she had really expected to come of this morning’s conference, but the large and loud familial escort her father had just promised was the last thing she had imagined and desired.  This would mean dresses, and lots of them…  She frowned darkly.

“It can’t be all that bad…  Your father, shocked as he was, didn’t throw me bodily through the nearest window or fall in a hysterical fit of laughter, so I do indeed count myself lucky in this instance.  It seems you will have to marry me after all,” he teased with a wink.

“You are incorrigible!” she snapped, but the slap she gave his shoulder was playful, and now that she was within his reach, Pippin drew her tight against him.  The light of her flashing eyes still thrilled him completely, though it was now mixed defiance and passion rather than challenging disdain.  He pressed a burning kiss on her welcoming mouth, sealing between them the promise of long years of gentle tempest and fearless love.

The End

(of this tale, anyway *wink*)