You don't look like a king - not now, and not when I met you. Your beard is ragged and uneven, your clothes simple and worn; you're covered with the dust and sweat of travel and battle. To even my veteran eyes, you look just as any other ranger might. Now that I know better, however, I can see it in your movements. The way you stand, the way you walk - there's an air of nobility somewhere, though hard to see beneath the gait of a soldier. Perhaps that is why you've taken to the name "Strider".

	Yes, I can imagine you adorned with a king's finery - a crown of gold, smooth garments, and that beautiful elf-woman whose pendant you wear at your side. She would suit that image of royalty, I suppose, in the traditional sense... but is she truly what you would want? Or do you desire her for her magic, perhaps? As a way to protect your people? You are a man, both in flesh and in race, and I doubt any elf-woman can understand your needs. 

	Not as I can, for I am also a man and know what a man desires. I can't be sure if I'm furious with you for forsaking the people whom you should be protecting, or envious that you escaped such a difficult duty for a simpler life of freedom. The heritage of Elendil and Isildur may be fulfilled through you, but my family has watched over Gondor - /I/ have watched over Gondor - and we thirst for the same thing.

	At first I thought you an arrogant usurper, Aragorn, but you and I are much the same, aren't we? I've learned that, these past days together. We may be noble in name, but we are not the soft, pale nobles who abide in luxury. Our nobility is of the blood, and blood that is spilled often. Our tasks lie not in audiences and courtrooms, but on the battlefield, where one's rank provides no protection against sword or pike. Your skin is like mine, tanned and weathered, and your hands are broad and callused from swordplay. I imagine that if you were to touch me, they would feel just as mine do. And you /would/ touch me, wouldn't you? You've no care for rank either - you are at heart a man and no more, just as I myself.

	Though it would mean my becoming nothing more than a servant, Aragorn, for you I could become a servant, if you were to take the throne - for I trust your ability, your spirit. I would gladly kneel before you, kiss your hand and swear allegiance, and wield the ring's power for the good of Middle-Earth, and for all mankind. For the good of /you/. Yes, I'm aware of the dangers of the ring, and I would take that burden upon myself, that you might not need to face it. The king should remain pure, unspoiled, and it is a risk I would be unwilling to let you take.

	...The hobbit seems not to trust my intentions; I fear he has already fallen prey to the ring's whisperings. He clutches it to himself and covers it out of my sight each time I'm close - as if I were a common thief, to steal it from him! A hobbit has no concept of how to use something such as the ring to its full potential... Is it not right that I should have it, and put it to use in the best interests of Middle-Earth, knowing its power?

	We could cleanse the land, you and I. You with the blood of kings to rally all man, I with the ring to protect and serve. Nothing could stand against us, and I swear that I would never betray you. My blood runs old and deep for Gondor as well, and for the kings you were born from. Not for all the promises of might or wealth or glory the ring may tempt me with could I betray my own blood.

	You know that, don't you, where the hobbit could not? Though you rebuked me when first we met, we have come to understand each other in this time travelling together, haven't we? You know that my motives are earnest and unselfish... The way you smiled when I spoke of us returning to Gondor side by side shows me that you know. You and I know things no one else among our company knows, don't we? No matter how much time you've spent among the elves, you are a man and I am a man. The elf, the dwarf, the hobbits, the wizard, even your elf-woman... none of them are like you and I.

	We could leave them all behind, Aragorn. If I could but convince the hobbit to give me the ring, we could leave them and return home, just you and I. We can protect ourselves with much greater ease if there is no one else to look after - we've been warriors nearly since birth, after all - and without the ring, the others would be in no danger. They could slip easily into obscurity, unseen by the enemy, and the two of us could go on.

	You and I, Aragorn - you and I. Two men with two swords, a king and his loyal retainer. We could rid the land of evil and become heroes of legend, whose names are sung throughout the ages, you and I.

	All I need do is take the ring.