Part 23, "Chance Encounter"
Mar. 6th, 2005 09:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamflowerIn which Menelcar has a lot of thinking to do...
PART 23
Menelcar drew his cloak more closely around him as he made his way back down to the second circle of the City. It was late, and he had been offered a bed at the Citadel. But he needed to think.
Court Bard.
Bard to the King, but more than that. As Court Bard, he would also control the access of *other* minstrels and bards. It was a lot of responsibility. Did he want that? It would mean being tied to the capital, and to the Citadel, for the most part--it would mean an end to his wandering days. He would no longer be carefree. He would be constrained to a certain level of formality much of the time--the free and easy ways of a minstrel on the road would not be appropriate to court. And though he certainly knew he could do it--every bard had to be a diplomat to a certain extent--it did not follow he would like it.
But he had to face it, he was no longer so young as he used to be; sleeping rough and missing meals, sometimes going days without an audience through largely deserted lands, alone. Of course, he could take an apprentice to alieve the loneliness, but he had not met anyone else since Pippin whom he felt would be as good a companion.
As Court Bard, he would receive a generous stipend. It would mean he could send money to his mother, and to his sister and her family. It would not make up for all the years he had neglected them in the past, but it could definitely make a difference in their lives in the future.
And he had a chance to see history made. The reign of the new King, the beginning of a New Age--he could be a part of that, and could chronicle it in song.
The new King.
He found himself very impressed with their new King. He had heard of course, of the healing hands of the King, and how he had spent himself among the wounded after the Battle of the Pellenor, and again after the Battle of the Black Gate. After meeting him, he now gave much more credence to those tales. A certain air of empathy and deep understanding seemed to radiate from King Elessar--he obviously *cared* about people, as people, and not simply as subjects under his rule.
And he was not relying here on merely his own judgment: the hobbits clearly adored their “Strider”--there must be a tale there worth the telling, how they came to call him by that name--and he found that he trusted their instincts.
More and more, he felt, he could like the job. But was he up to it? He cast his mind back over the evening. The King had not pressed him for an answer, but had told him to think it over for a few days.
Minas Tirith was going to be much different place, without the grimness of the Enemy staring across the River, without Denethor’s hard and inflexible hand upon the reins. It might be good for the court to see things through the perspective of one whose whole world had not been enclosed within the walls of the White City.
And now he knew why he had been offered the job. His own experience in wandering the world would be a reflection of the King’s.
Menelcar nodded to himself. He did not need a few days. When he awakened today, he would return to the Citadel and deliver his answer.
This was not a opportunity to pass up.
*****
Thought I'd post this before leaving for work this morning. I have a long day today--they are having the big scrapbooking dealy-bobber today, and it won't be over until 5. And I'm scheduled to work tomorrow too, so not much time for fic this weekend.
PART 23
Menelcar drew his cloak more closely around him as he made his way back down to the second circle of the City. It was late, and he had been offered a bed at the Citadel. But he needed to think.
Court Bard.
Bard to the King, but more than that. As Court Bard, he would also control the access of *other* minstrels and bards. It was a lot of responsibility. Did he want that? It would mean being tied to the capital, and to the Citadel, for the most part--it would mean an end to his wandering days. He would no longer be carefree. He would be constrained to a certain level of formality much of the time--the free and easy ways of a minstrel on the road would not be appropriate to court. And though he certainly knew he could do it--every bard had to be a diplomat to a certain extent--it did not follow he would like it.
But he had to face it, he was no longer so young as he used to be; sleeping rough and missing meals, sometimes going days without an audience through largely deserted lands, alone. Of course, he could take an apprentice to alieve the loneliness, but he had not met anyone else since Pippin whom he felt would be as good a companion.
As Court Bard, he would receive a generous stipend. It would mean he could send money to his mother, and to his sister and her family. It would not make up for all the years he had neglected them in the past, but it could definitely make a difference in their lives in the future.
And he had a chance to see history made. The reign of the new King, the beginning of a New Age--he could be a part of that, and could chronicle it in song.
The new King.
He found himself very impressed with their new King. He had heard of course, of the healing hands of the King, and how he had spent himself among the wounded after the Battle of the Pellenor, and again after the Battle of the Black Gate. After meeting him, he now gave much more credence to those tales. A certain air of empathy and deep understanding seemed to radiate from King Elessar--he obviously *cared* about people, as people, and not simply as subjects under his rule.
And he was not relying here on merely his own judgment: the hobbits clearly adored their “Strider”--there must be a tale there worth the telling, how they came to call him by that name--and he found that he trusted their instincts.
More and more, he felt, he could like the job. But was he up to it? He cast his mind back over the evening. The King had not pressed him for an answer, but had told him to think it over for a few days.
Minas Tirith was going to be much different place, without the grimness of the Enemy staring across the River, without Denethor’s hard and inflexible hand upon the reins. It might be good for the court to see things through the perspective of one whose whole world had not been enclosed within the walls of the White City.
And now he knew why he had been offered the job. His own experience in wandering the world would be a reflection of the King’s.
Menelcar nodded to himself. He did not need a few days. When he awakened today, he would return to the Citadel and deliver his answer.
This was not a opportunity to pass up.
*****
Thought I'd post this before leaving for work this morning. I have a long day today--they are having the big scrapbooking dealy-bobber today, and it won't be over until 5. And I'm scheduled to work tomorrow too, so not much time for fic this weekend.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-03-05 03:22 pm (UTC)and hobbitsknow who the good people are :)no subject
Date: 2005-03-05 03:24 pm (UTC)Sounds a *lot* like the choice Strider had to make when he became king!
I love the fact that Menelcar trusts the hobbits' judgment about the king, as much as he trusts his own conclusions about him.
:D
no subject
Date: 2005-03-05 06:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-05 07:12 pm (UTC)I imagine the established court musicians are going to be a little pig-sick at the arrival of this intruder. Do them good to realise that Gondor is under new managment. No hide-bound Denethor, no omni-present dark shadow over the river - the world is opening up and Menelcar can be part of it. Not surprising he's getting excited at the thought.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-05 08:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 03:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 03:03 am (UTC)After his time in the Shire, he knows hobbits are Good People! Especially OUR hobbits!
no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 03:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 03:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 03:07 am (UTC)A lass? Hmmm...
Have to think that one over.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 06:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 07:25 am (UTC)Very much like a certain Took did a few years back. Menelcar *can* be impulsive at times.
no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 08:08 am (UTC)Ok I will stop feeding that bunny now..
no subject
Date: 2005-03-06 08:25 am (UTC)Well-fed bunnies are easier to catch.
My tummy's feeling a bit better now. Think I'll try going back to bed.