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A while later, a horse came back through the gates of the city, dragging its rider behind it. Tepeu was the first to recognize the horse and rider, having waited near the gates since Faramir had left.

"Faramir! No!" She couldn't believe it-- she wouldn't. Faramir couldn't be dead. She called to the other guards to bring a stretcher. They lifted him onto it and carried him up to the courtyard of the White Tree.

"No, my son! My son has been taken from me!" Denethor cried.

Tepeu and Pippin, who had been kneeling over Faramir, looked up at each other. "He's alive," the hobbit said. "My lord! He's alive! He needs medicine!" Pippin ran to Denethor, trying to get it through the man's thick skull that Faramir was alive.

Tepeu, still kneeling over Faramir, put a hand on his forehead. "Wake up," she whispered. "Please... please, wake up... don't die... please..."

Gandalf soon came and literally tried to knock some sense into Denethor with his staff, and yelled to the Tower Guards to stay at their posts.

Denethor, overrun by madness, had the guards carry Faramir into the hall, where he was dressed in burial garb, and then they carried him to the tombs of the ancient kings.

"No tomb for Denethor and Faramir..." Denethor said. "Bring wood and oil."

The guards left, but Pippin and Tepeu stayed. "My lord, this is madness! Faramir is alive! He needs medicine!"

"Do not hold onto a false hope, girl. My son has been taken from me," Denethor said.

"My lord, please!"

Denethor ignored the pleading tone in her voice. "Tepeu, daughter of Tenyu, Lady of Healing, I release you from my service."

Flames of anger flared in her eyes. "I may be released from your service," she said, "but not Faramir's."

The guards returned with the wood and oil and began piling it around the pyre. "He's not dead!" Pippin cried. "He's not dead!"

Denethor grabbed the hobbit and led him out of the tomb, saying, "Peregrin, son of Paladin, I release you from my service."