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Chapter 5 - Talk of Sketches and Song

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The following morning, Diamond awoke with a smile.  She eagerly got out of bed and dressed herself for the day, hoping to get to first breakfast as soon as possible, for it was there that she was likely to see Pippin again.

Before Diamond left her bedroom, she took a moment to regard herself in the mirror.  She stood there for several minutes, experimenting different styles with her hair, wondering which style would be the most flattering on her.  But suddenly her heart became heavy, and with a sigh she took her hands out of her hair, letting her dark tresses settle limply on her shoulders.

No, she thought.  This is silly.  There’s no point in letting vanity take hold just because someone was being friendly towards me.

But as she walked out into the hallway, she could not help but smile with excitement at the thought of seeing Pippin again.

It was still rather early in the morning, so not many people were at the table when Diamond arrived.  She was happy to note that Pippin was among them, sitting next to his father and eating silently.  When he saw Diamond enter, he grinned and gave her a small wave.  Diamond smiled and waved back as she took her seat at the opposite end of the table.

“Good morning, Diamond!” her father said in his loud, merry voice.  “I trust you slept well?”

“Very well, Father,” she replied, smiling at him.

“Ahh, you’ve got yourself a pretty one there, Feldigram,” Paladin remarked, causing Diamond to blush.  “Now how old are you, Diamond?”

“She’ll be turning thirty-one this December,” Feldigram answered for her.  “Though being the tiny thing that she is, many don’t believe us when we say that she’s been a tween for quite some time.”

“Thirty-one, eh?  Well, I can see how some would mistake her for being younger.  I certainly did not think her to be in her thirties, and she definitely could pass for a pre-tween.”

“Indeed she could,” said Feldigram.  “Especially with that tiny figure of hers.  Most unnatural, her appetite.  Why, we’ve even caught her skipping meals!  Very un-hobbit-like behavior, that.  We keep telling her, if she’d only adopt a better diet, she wouldn’t be so small!”

Diamond could not help but fidget in her seat.  Change the subject, Daddy, please change the subject...  It made her extremely uncomfortable to be the topic of conversation, especially when the conversers spoke of her as though she wasn’t there (as her family members were wont to do).

Her spirits considerably lowered, Diamond finished her meal as quickly as possible, excusing herself from the table no more than five minutes later.  She went outside and began walking towards the little grove where she so often sought solitude.  It wasn’t until she heard a voice calling her name that she realized she’d been followed.

“Diamond!”  She turned to find Pippin jogging up to her.  When he reached her, he smiled and said, “It was getting rather stuffy inside, so I thought I’d come out here.”

But Diamond could tell what he was really saying with those words:  “Those other lasses started coming in and I had to escape as soon as possible.”

Fighting a laugh, she said, “Well, I am glad you came out here before it got too stuffy.”

Pippin’s smile widened into a grin.  “As am I.”  He paused for a moment, gazing at her with a look that made Diamond blush and smile at the same time.  “May I walk with you, Miss Diamond?”

“Yes, I’d like that,” she replied.

He held out his elbow for her, and she slipped her arm through it shyly.  They walked in comfortable silence for a minute or so before Pippin spoke up.  “Does your father talk about you like that often?  As though you aren’t there?”

Diamond kept her gaze fixed on her feet as she walked.  “Not all the time.”

“Doesn’t it bother you?”  After several seconds, she nodded.  “Why don’t you ever say anything about it?”

“Well, I...”  She lowered her voice to a near-whisper.  “I don’t know.”

Pippin could tell he had made her uncomfortable, and he wanted to slap himself for doing so.  Instead, he decided to change the subject.  “So, what sort of things do you enjoy doing?”

Giggling at this rather abrupt subject change, Diamond replied, “Let’s see - I’m rather fond of sewing and knitting and such, but what I really enjoy is... well...”  Here she muttered something inaudible.

“I’m sorry?”

Diamond sighed, wearing an embarrassed smile.  “Drawing.  I know, it’s silly...”

“How so?” said Pippin with a grin.  “There’s nothing wrong with being artistic.”

Wrinkling her nose slightly, Diamond said, “Mum says I should use my time more wisely than to sit around sketching things all day.”

“In that case, I am forced to disagree with your mother.”

Diamond found that he had led them into the grove where she had originally been heading towards, the place where she and Pippin had first met.  She was surprised - but not unpleasantly so - that he remembered where it was.  They sat down on the long grass and were silent for some time, content to simply watch the rustling of the leaves and the passing of the clouds overhead.

After several minutes, Diamond realized that Pippin was humming softly.

“What song is that?” she asked.

“Hm?  Oh, it’s something I learned several years ago, from a very old creature of the forest.”

Diamond’s eyes widened.  “The Old Forest?”

“No, much farther away than that.  It was in Fangorn Forest, which I don’t think you’ve ever heard of.”

She shook her head.  “What is the song about?”

Pippin lay down on the grass, stretching out his long legs.  “Lost love.  It’s a very sad tale told by the folk of Fangorn Forest, though the song itself is an Elvish one.  Whenever I sit and watch the trees, I think of that song.”

Diamond lay on her side next to him, propping her head up on her hand.  Running her free hand through the grass, she said, “Will you... will you sing the song for me?  Or just tell me the tale as it was told to you?”

Pippin looked up at her for a moment, then smiled.  “I shall gladly do both.”

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