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At the End of His Rope  by Lindelea

Chapter 65. A Sip of Royal Tea

Estella led Elessar and Bergil down to the kitchen in search of food for Merry, Berilac, and Pippin. Looking in the door, she saw Nasturtium Brandybuck tiredly mincing beef at one of the tables. 'Wait here,' she whispered to the Men. Auntie Nasty with a knife was not one to disturb lightly, especially if she were to get the idea that the ruffians had returned.

'Nasturtium?' she said, entering the kitchen.

The old hobbit matron looked up, wiping back an errant curl with the back of one hand, and answered wearily. 'Yes, dear, how may I help you?'

'Auntie, there are some Men in the Hall, come to help us,' Estella said as soothingly as she could.

The other stiffened, knife coming up. 'Men?' she asked suspiciously.

'Yes, dearest Auntie, the King himself has come, and one of his guardsmen.'

'How do you know it is the King, and not one of those scurrilous ruffians come back, saying he's the King, to trick us?' Nasturtium growled.

Estella smiled reassuringly. 'Because my husband is a good friend of the King's, you know, and he was very happy to greet the King just now.'

Nasturtium was not satisfied. 'I thought that King-fellow had issued some sort of order or other banning all Men from the Shire,' she said truculently.

'O he did, but he has suspended it during this epidemic, you see,' Estella said smoothly. 'He has ordered his guardsmen, fine upright fellows they are, to help wherever they can.'

'Well, I can't say that we cannot use the help,' Nasturtium grumbled, slightly mollified.

Estella raised her voice slightly. 'King Elessar,' she called. 'Are you there? I would like to present to you the head pastry chef at Brandy Hall, Nasturtium Brandybuck.' Nasturtium put the knife down, wiped her hands on her apron, and preened as the King ducked through the doorway, followed by Bergil. Thankfully the kitchen had high ceilings, allowing the Men to stand comfortably upright once they'd entered.

'At your service, and your family's,' Nasturtium simpered, with a surprisingly graceful courtesy for one of her bulk.

'I am honoured to meet you,' the King said gravely in return. 'You must be a jewel among hobbits to be elevated to the position of head pastry chef of Brandy Hall.'

'O Sir,' Nasturtium actually blushed as Estella stared in astonishment.

Elessar added, 'May I present one of my guardsmen, Bergil, a friend of the Thain.' Nasturtium bobbed to Bergil, a more casual acknowledgment fitting his lower station.

The King surveyed the makings on the tables: large jars filled with minced beef, empty jars waiting, more meat in the process of being minced. Large kettles of water were heating on the stoves. 'Beef tea?' he said, nodding. 'Very strengthening, just the thing for recovering from a fever.'

Nasturtium nodded back. 'It is not my usual area of endeavor,' she said, 'being a pastry cook and all, but I'm the only one on my feet at the moment.' She brushed her forehead with the back of her hand and swayed.

'But you are still not completely recovered, I think,' the King said with a meaningful look at Estella. The Mistress moved forward, taking Nasturtium's arm, and guided her towards a kitchen stool.

'Sit down a moment, Auntie. I'm sure these Men can help out a bit. The King's a healer himself, you know.'

At a nod from the King, Bergil washed his hands, moved to the table, knelt to be at the proper working height, took up the half-sized knife, and began expertly mincing the beef.

'When you finish that, there's more hanging up,' Nasturtium said. The King glanced in the direction she indicated, seeing a line of carcases hanging beyond a partially opened door. He was surprised for a moment at the abundance of meat, then realised... of course. They did not have the grass nor grain to feed the cattle, and so were slaughtering them and making use of the meat before the animals starved away to skin and bone. Nasturtium seemed to guess his thought. 'We've plenty of meat for the nonce,' she said, 'though I am sure we will miss it later.' She sighed.

'I could do with a cup of tea, how about you?' Estella said.

'Thankee, dearie, that would be a boon,' Nasturtium murmured.

The water in one of the kettles came to the boil, and Elessar carefully lifted the kettle to pour water into the jars that were already filled with the minced beef. 'How many of these are we making?' he asked.

'As many as we can,' Nasturtium added. 'We've more than two hundred here in the Hall who've been stricken, and the Steward has said we'll send extra out to the rest of Buckland as best we can.' Bergil's eyes widened, but the rhythm of his knife never paused.

A hobbit entered the kitchen, sliding a hand along the wall to steady himself as he walked. 'Auntie,' he began, 'have you any...?' Seeing the King and Bergil, he stopped in confusion. 'I'm sicker than I thought,' he muttered. 'I'm still seeing things.' He took his hand from the wall to wipe perspiration from his forehead, lost his balance, and fell flat on his face before any could leap to catch him. Nasturtium reached him first, turning him over, pulling him into her substantial lap, crooning to him.

'Easy now, lad, steady, my boy. Ah, nephew, have you hurt yourself? ...you're not seeing things,' she said gently.

He opened his eyes again, and the Men recognised him as Merry's cousin Merimas, who'd represented Buckland at the meeting a fortnight earlier. 'But I could swear the King is here in the kitchen,' he said, perplexed.

Nasturtium laughed, smoothing his hair back from his forehead. 'Yes, it's true, the Thain invited the King to join the Master for tea at Brandy Hall!' she said, trying for a gay tone, though worry for Merimas creased her brow.

'We'll have to break out the fancy cups then,' Merimas murmured. He blinked, started to add, 'Auntie, I--' but could not finish, and swooned.

'That we will, lad,' the old hobbit said softly, hugging her nephew closer, while tears began to fall. She rested her face on his head and wept. Estella knelt to hug Nasturtium, murmuring words of comfort, while the King bent to check Merimas.

Straightening up again, he said, 'He'll be fine, I think. He just needs to go back to bed. He wasn't well enough to be up yet.'

Sniffling, Nasturtium raised her head. 'None of the watchers is well enough, really,' she said defiantly. 'But we do what we must needs do.'

King Elessar nodded gravely. 'Indeed we do,' he agreed. 'Now you make yourself comfortable, and him, and we will finish making this beef tea, shall we?'

'Thank you, kindly, Sir,' she whispered, easing herself down with her legs out and her back to the wall, settling Merimas' head more comfortably on her lap. The King nodded again and went to the storage room to bring out another side of beef.

Estella made tea, bringing a mug to Nasturtium, then prepared a tray to take to Merry's room, a cosied teapot, sweetening, some lightly toasted bread. Elessar strained a pitcherful of the beef tea from a jar that had been steeping for some time before they'd entered the kitchen, and added it to the tray along with mugs. He forestalled Estella when she would have picked up the tray, taking it up himself and indicating that she should go before him. 'Carry on here,' he said to Bergil.

'Yes, Sir,' Bergil answered, knife flashing.

'If you need anything, ask my guardsman,' the King said to Nasturtium.

'Thank you kindly, Sir, I will do that,' she said, dipping her head. The King of Gondor and Arnor followed the Mistress of Buckland out of the kitchen, bearing the tea tray before him.





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