The Prince of Ithilien and his wife sat at the breakfast table, the morning after their wedding night. Faramir was taking a sip of water when Eowyn made a request that took him by surprise.
"Tell me about your love life before," she said.
He coughed into the cup, causing water to splash in his face and dribble down his front. This earned a remarkably girly giggle from Eowyn.
"Eowyn, why do you want to know about that?" he asked, his voice muffled by the napkin he was using to dry his face.
"Because," she said simply. "I know you were not…untouched before our wedding night, I am merely curious…Also, I would very much like to know how many women I have made terribly jealous," she added playfully.
"It is not very interesting," he admitted. "I've never courted any woman very seriously…and, of course, the ones Boromir got me into trouble with."
"Just tell me about your first interest, then continue from there," she encouraged. "I hope it has not been so many that my Lord cannot remember them all!"
He laughed. "Certainly not, love. I remember the few women I have been involved with."
"Tell me about the first," she repeated.
"Well…let's see…that was when I was six years old. My brother and some other older boys had taken a doll from a girl little younger than myself," he told her. "I felt terribly sorry for her, for she was in tears, so I fought very hard to get it back. The moment I returned to her, she kissed me, right here on my cheek." He indicated with his index finger.
"I see," she said, and a smirked cracked upon her fair face. "My husband was a ladies man from a very young age."
"Not really," he chuckled. "The next time I was kissed was not until I was fourteen. Boromir learned that I had yet to be kissed properly, and took it upon himself to set me up with a young lady working at the flower shop who was about my age. She told me she found me quite handsome and kissed me square on the mouth. It was really rather silly."
"Did you see her anymore after that?" she asked.
"No," he said. "She had an arranged marriage, which Boromir had neglected to tell me."
She let out a sudden burst of laughter, in which he joined. "Oh, Boromir seems like quite the prankster. I do wish I could have met him now. He must have had some really great stories about my husband," she said.
"No, you don't," he told her, smiling. "He would have made up stories to embarrass me."
"It still would have been funny," she retorted. "Anyway, go on with your story."
"Oh, I was hoping you had forgotten about that," he sighed. "Well, this next one does not put me in the most honorable of lights….The first time I laid with a woman was when I was eighteen years old. Once again, Boromir found out I was 'untouched,' as you put it, and dragged me off to a saloon. Not very romantic, I admit, but the other times were of a similar nature. I was quite intoxicated and unaware of my actions."
"Well, you needn't tell me anymore," she conceded. "I get the general idea."
"Tell me about your love life," he requested. "Certainly there was a dashing marshal of the Rohirrim who was courting the fair Lady Eowyn."
"Actually, no," she told him. "There was no one. I mean, I did have feelings for Aragorn, but before the day you proposed, I had never even been kissed."
Faramir's mouth fell open. "Surely, you're joking. No one tried for your hand, in all of Rohan?"
A fleeting image of Grima Wormtongue flashed across her thoughts, and for a moment, she considered telling Faramir about him. She pondered what her husband might say about a man who had caused her so much fear and pain…she decided against it.
"No," she lied. "If anyone did wish for my hand, I was unaware of it."
"That is ridiculous," he stated.
She merely smiled.