With Hope and Without Hope

Chapter 10: Under the Eaves of Fangorn

"Ai! There you rats are! We didn't leave you here! See, Machlhug! They were thinking of walking off! Norgry would've had our heads!"

"Well, now we get to teach them a lesson about wandering, I'm thinking!"

"Forget about lessons and remember your orders!"

"Eh, we're right where you left us!" Pippin said. He likely wanted to avoid their lessons as much as Merry did. "We've been here the whole time. You've just been distracted by whatever spectacle is happening over there."

"That spectacle is the call of the Master looking for his prisoners. And now it's your turn. You've been summoned." The orc smiled with a frightening glee.

Pippin looked at Merry. He tried to offer a reassuring smile, but he was quite sure he failed. Being summoned didn't sound much like fun.

"Get moving! This way!" The orcs pointed in the same direction in which Gimli, Legolas, and Strider had been taken. It seemed they would see their friends soon enough, but the notion did not raise Merry's hopes.

With a shove from an orc, Merry and Pippin began trudging through clusters of frenzied creatures. Merry squirmed under the sharply clawed paw that gripped his neck. If they hadn't tarried, they might have had their escape moments ago. Instead, they were to be brought before the treacherous wizard Saruman. But what he was doing here, under the eaves of Fangorn Forest, leagues from his Tower? And what did he want with Pippin and him?

What if Saruman asked for the Ring? Merry's heart froze. Of course he was after the Ring. Could he force them to reveal what they would hold secret? He was a wizard, after all.

The orc shoved Merry to his knees before Saruman and a crowd of curious orcs. This was the wizard whom their captors called Master, who held Isengard under his command, and the one who had betrayed them all. He wore long white robes, and his staff glowed dimly in the torchlight. His white beard, long and thin, ruffled in the evening breeze.

Merry thought of Gandalf and his heart ached, but he felt at once that this wizard was nothing like Gandalf. Saruman's eyes glinted in a way Gandalf's never had, and Merry began to understand the meaning of corruption.

Despite all he observed, there was something insubstantial about Saruman Merry could not explain. He had a suspicion that if he reached out to touch the being in front of him, he would feel nothing.

"Here are the halflings you asked for, Master. They have not been damaged, as you commanded. Took longer 'cause they were wandering."

"I see they are undamaged. That is good. These two are more important than you imagine. I will therefore stress that losing them would prove rather unhealthy."

Saruman then gazed upon the hobbits intently. Merry tried to hide his worry for Pippin's sake. He strove not to fidget, but as the silence stretched on, he became more uncomfortable. Then Saruman's eyes narrowed, and slowly he said, "I see."

He was silent for a moment more until he appeared to come to a decision. "You halflings presume much for your small stature. You should not meddle in affairs much greater than you. The world is much larger than the Shire." The condescension with which Saruman mentioned their homeland irked Merry. "You have only brought misery upon yourselves and your kin." Merry could see now a strange mixture of desire and disgust in his eyes.

The wizard looked to the large orc called Uglúk. "And these others you have found?"

"Here, Master." Merry's stomach flipped as Uglúk motioned for an orc to bring the other captives before Saruman. The orc grabbed Gimli by the neck and shoved him onto his knees, holding him in forced obeisance before Saruman. Legolas was shoved down with some struggle to his left, and Aragorn on his right, who hissed as he fell to the ground. "See how they look upon the others, Master? My guess is these three were hunting for the halflings."