" 'What! My Bill?' cried Sam. '...There's another wish come true!' ...Sam would not go to bed until he had visited Bill in his stable." ~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 'Homeward Bound'

"At the last we come to the very heart of Edoras, my holbytla. For as you know, we of the Riddermark cherish our horses above all else," Éomer said. He indicated a long building made of stone and wood behind him. The facade was intricately carved with scenes of horses roaming in the fields, to engaging in battle.

The four hobbits felt very small as they stood in front of the large wooden doors with gilded handles sculpted into the bust of a horse. They craned their necks as they looked up ... and up ... and up. Even Merry and Pippin, who had grown tall for hobbits after drinking Ent draughts, felt rather small again given the structure's vast size.

"Most of our peoples' herds roam freely about the land or are stabled in the areas where the common-folk dwell." Éomer indicated the building behind him with a sweep of one hand. "These here have long been the stables of the King of Rohan and the Rohirrim since days of old when the lands of Riddermark were given to Eorl and our people by Cirion, Steward of Gondor, after the Battle of the Field of Celebrant," Éomer explained with more than a touch of pride to his voice and bearing.

It had been late evening when the procession bearing the King's wain had entered into the chief city of the people of Rohan yesterday; the hobbits had dismounted and been escorted to their guest room by Éowyn and their ponies had been seen to by the waiting stable hands. Even Merry, who had stayed briefly in Edoras, had not seen the inside of the King's stables where the most finest of horses Rohan had to offer were kept (save only the wild Mearas, of course).

Éomer opened the heavy wooden doors to the enormous stable

Sam stopped in the doorway of the stable in awe, having never seen the likes before. "Why, I bet you could fit an oliphaunt in this here stable. My Gaffer will never believe this!" he whispered, staring down the endless double row of stalls. A great horse stood in each one, a single iron link chain the only method used to contain them. Shadowfax, as the lord of horses, had his own stall at the very end of the long building. It was centered between the two rows of stalls and was easily the largest of any. There was no chain to his spacious abode; a rope was the only thing baring the Mearas from leaving the stall, as if that could stop him. In fact, Gandalf often let the rope hang loose, allowing the great horse to come and go as he pleased, which suited Shadowfax just fine.

"This puts the stables of Buckland to shame," Merry remarked. He walked over to the nearest stall and reached up to pet the large bay horse that came forward and leaned its head over the chain to its stall, whickering softly in greeting.

"Berilac would absolutely love this."

"Which of your family is Berilac again, Merry?" Éowyn asked. During their stay at the Houses of Healing in Minas Tirith, Merry had told her much about his family, but while she grew accustomed to hearing the various names and degrees of relation, she could not place whom was whom in the hobbit's large family. She hefted a bucket laden with carrots and let the hobbits feed them to the many horses as they wished.

"He's my only first cousin on my father's side." Merry explained. "Beri's father, Uncle Mac, was in charge of the stables and breeding at Brandy Hall. Beri is following in his footsteps, for he loves the ponies and Buckland's are widely renowned in the Shire as being the finest. If we ever visit here again, I will have to bring him with me if I can pry him away from Brandy Hall. ...Come to think of it, Uncle Mac would be rather impressed too."

"Of course! We would welcome any of your family to visit, as we would any of you. I'm only sorry that you did not travel here initially under more pleasant of circumstances." The honored Shield-maiden knew how Merry had fretted so over not joining the final battle before the Enemy's Black Gate and had made himself ill with ease, not knowing the fate of his cousins and his friend, Sam.

Speaking of Sam, the little gardener was taking a bunch of the carrots and feeding them to the horses as he went down the line, admiring their beauty and their shiny, silky coats. After each horse received a carrot, Sam would give it a good scratch behind the ears. One large mare nudged him playfully in the chest with her velvety muzzle. The horse had misjudged her strength and power and sent Sam sprawling onto the hay-strewn floor. "Now just you see here!" he said indignantly, getting up with help from Frodo and brushing off the fine clothes given to him by Aragorn in Minas Tirith.

At the end of the stables, Shadowfax gave a warning snort and tossed his head, stamping a forefoot. He had grown protective of the four little ones his Istari loved, as much as any of the others who had encountered the hobbits along their journey far from home. Understanding she needed to be more gentle, the mare bowed her head and flattened her ears in apology to the odd little creature standing before her.

Sam laughed and fed the mare an extra carrot. The horse's ears pricked up again and gave a soft whiny in appreciation, having learned that hobbits were amazing little creatures.

Towards the very back of the large stable, near to Shadowfax's stall, was a section of several smaller stalls with low hanging chains. "As these are the Royal stables, this is where the children of the King would keep their ponies until they grew big enough to manage a fully-grown horse. The last ponies to reside in here were those of my cousin, my sister, and myself; no ponies have stood in these stalls since. We thought it fitting that the steeds of our honored hobbits reside here until you continue on your journey homeward." Éomer showed the four hobbits were their steeds were housed, much to all their pleasure. They saw firsthand that their smaller steeds were being well looked after by the stable hands ... and by Shadowfax.

Sam fed the pony given to him a carrot and he was thankful this sleek pony did not resemble old sturdy Bill save for the fact that they were both ponies. Whereas Bill's matted coat had been a light brown with a golden mane and tail, along with a white blaze and socks, Sam's new pony was a deep chestnut color with a black mane and tail and no markings upon its body.

Sam sighed as he stroked the pony's neck. He missed Bill so very much that he had not yet been able to bestow a name upon his new pony. Sam wondered for the umpteenth what ever became of the run-down pack pony that had showed such spirit and endurance to accompany the hobbits to Rivendell and then later the Fellowship. He feared the old lad had become food for the wolves outside of Moria, but he was still full of hope that Bill made his way to safety ... somewhere. Why, perhaps the pack pony would be waiting for him to return to Rivendell; maybe he'd even have learned Elvish from Asfaloth and the rest of them fine Elvish horses.

Shadowfax left his stall and came to stand by Sam, bending his graceful neck to nuzzle the little one who's passion was to help things grow. Merry, Pippin, and Frodo watched their friend and knew that he was grateful for this fine new pony, but that his heart continued to long for the tenth member of their Fellowship.

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