Not All Enemies Are Overt
Chapter 1:
The Green Seal
Faramir slept fitfully under the old oak tree. Every so often, he would jerk to the sound of a horse whinnying, or the swish of a fellow ranger's boots in the long grass. Sleeping soundly was a luxury for a soldier, especially one stationed on the border.
He and his company had slew about a hundred Easterners earlier that morning, and had just finished disposing of the bodies. Now most of the rangers were taking well-deserved naps while a dozen or so kept a sharp eye out for enemies. It had been quite a successful attack; the only injury was a broken arm from Halmar falling off the tree he had been sitting. And even Halmar laughed it off, saying he shouldn't have drank so much ale the night before.
Faramir was awoken by the heavy clumping of horse's hooves on the ground. He opened his eyes and saw the messenger arrive into the camp.
Odd, the reports aren't supposed to come in until next week though the young captain. He eased himself up from the rough bark and walked over to the nervous looking courier. He was handed only one thin letter. Instead of the usual red seal portraying the White Tree, the letter seal was a green one, with a mortar and pestle stamped into the wax. Faramir suddenly went numb. He knew that the seal came from the Houses of Healing, the place where only the sickest people were sent to. Had something happened to his father or his brother? He slowly broke the seal and quickly scanned the short letter.
Fara,
I have just received word from the your Uncle Imrahil. Boromir has not arrived in Dol Amroth like he said he would. It's been a week since he departed from here and there's been no word from your him. It seems he has vanished. If you have seen him, please write back.
Ioreth
His held breath was exhaled slowly through his lips. It was worse, and yet, better than he thought. Ioreth seemed genuinely worried. After all, she was the closest thing to a mother the brothers had since Findulias had passed away. She could be a bit scatterbrained at times, but she knew the risks involved in being a soldier.
The young captain pondered at what he should. He had not seen Boromir for quite some time. The first thing to do was to write back, of course. What he would write was a different thing altogether.
Should he tell her not to worry? Tell her that his brother was probably just being slow? That made no sense. Boromir was almost annoyingly true to his word. If he said he was going be somewhere by a certain day, he would, even if there were a thousand Mûmakil blocking his path.
Should he tell her to start a search party? Boromir was in mortal danger? That made even less sense. The armies of Mordor were strong, yet they could not have penetrated that far into Gondor. He stood there thinking, fingering with the pommel of his sword, and then, with a almost audible snap, strode towards his second-in-command.
"Menel, I need you to take over for a week or two," he said, "I have some ... business in Minas Tirith to complete at the moment." Faramir did not think it wise to reveal what his true reason was. He had a feeling he wasn't even supposed to know, being that his former nanny, not his father had written to him. He got his belongings together, mounted his horse, and rode off into the light of the setting sun.
Thanks for reading this. I'm sorry if this chapter is a little short, I'm not very good at writing multi-chapter stories. I've finished the whole story already, but I'll give this chapter a week to get read and reviewed. Then I can make changes to my later chapters. Plus, I hate my Title. If anyone has a antonym for "hidden" that would fit, tell me.