"This way! Faster, my lady!" Faramir yelled playfully at Éowyn, who was right after him. They were both running like wild horses through the forests nearby Gondor's territory. Their horses were a few miles away, for Faramir told Éowyn they should follow that way on foot. Catching her breath and holding the base of her dress with both hands, the Queen of Rohan was quite confused but incredibly amused with Faramir's behavior that day. He had been acting amazingly mysterious yet funny since the early hours in the morning, and it seemed like he was holding a secret. Éowyn was too clever not to realize he was surely planning something. Her only insecurity towards that situation was: did she have something to do with Faramir's plans? A shadow crossed her heart when Éowyn considered the possibility someone else would be surprised that evening instead of her. Fortunately, at that moment this vile thought was nowhere but in the past, and the Queen of Rohan felt just like a free animal in the nature, far away from all the responsibilities and commitments that a Queen would be tied up to.
"It's the fourth time I am asking: Faramir, where are we going?" she tried to sound angry, but it was just impossible to refrain her laughter. "I am sweating! And my brother must be furious at me by this time!" Poor Eomer. His sister could not be more right in her words: he had been looking for her since the beginning of the day, for the royalty of Rohan had serious business to deal with on that day. The death of King Théoden, their beloved uncle, had caused a great impact on the people of Rohan, and his nephews had still to prove they were capable enough to continue Théoden's legacy. In fact, Eomer did not expect such an irresponsible attitude coming from Éowyn. She had never been the type to run away from compromise – not until she met Faramir. Deep in her heart, the Queen knew there would be a punishment when she came back. However, following Faramir that day was a choice she had not regretted at all
Éowyn and Faramir were supposed to get married in 40 days, which was also a worrying fact for Eomer. He knew they were together by that time, and probably alone. What would the citizens think of their Queen? Maybe someone could start rumors about Éowyn's reputation, questioning her authority and ability to behave as a Queen should. On the other hand, Éowyn did not care for this type of comments. She would rather give the haters a smile and prove her intelligence and power by doing one of her wise speeches, which had been quite successful recently. And no, she really was not an irresponsible being – her purpose on taking a one day break was to fresh her mind in order to govern Rohan in the best way possible. Éowyn strongly believed a stressful leader could bring a city to its ruin, and her love for Rohan was great enough for the Queen to know when it was time to take a deep breath and disappear for a while. Eomer would be angry at her for a moment, but she had her reasons. Hopefully, her brother's love would make him able to understand and forgive her for that unexpected reaction.
A smile reached Faramir's lips as his eyes laid on a familiar rock formation, and his body slowed down and finally caused him to stop in front of a huge cave, which seemed like a monster's big mouth ready to swallow any living thing standing nearby the entrance. Faramir's heart rushed instead of slowing in recovery from all his recent effort as he heard the steps behind him. Turning around to face the most beautiful lady in all Middle-Earth (at least to him), the son of Gondor grinned at the sight of an exhausted, yet stunning woman. But she was not facing him back. Éowyn had her widened eyes laid on the cave's entrance. After a few seconds which seemed like an eternity, she looked at Faramir. "Where are we?" the Queen whispered, for the atmosphere in that place was somehow unstable and terrifying to her. Unconsciously reaching to Faramir's hand, Éowyn did not feel like a Queen anymore; she was a frightened girl instead. Éowyn had never told him this, but when she was a child, she used to hear a lot of horrifying stories including caves and trolls who devoured humans, elves, dwarves, hobbits or any creature who was brave enough to step into their territory. As much as it could sound silly and childlike, it was more than a simple sensation of frighten to her: it had become a phobia. A little chill ran down Faramir's body when the man felt that gentle touch on his skin, but he quickly faked a laughter in order to keep his beloved one calm. "Do you remember those stories I told you when we met in secret?" he gazed into her eyes, feeling like their souls could get connected in just one look. Hypnotized by his confident, amazing eyes, Éowyn mumbled something that sounded like a "yes". Squeezing his Queen's hand and walking towards the entrance, Faramir whispered: "This is that secret cave me and Boromir found when we were teenagers. We had our greatest adventures as brothers inside this cave." Looking back at Éowyn's sweet face, Faramir found a trait of frighten locked up in her eyes. Grabbing her hands with his own, he placed her palms over his chest, where she could feel his heart beating. "There is no need to hesitate, my lady. You shall find much beauty in that cave. Otherwise I would not have brought you here." He kissed her fingers and looked at her beautiful face once again, and now there was a sincere smile on her lips. "I will not be afraid, for you are by my side", Éowyn said. Faramir was the living being she most trusted in the whole world, and also the one she most loved. And he could not help but blush as the sound of those sweet words reached his ears. After a soft, brief kiss laid on the woman's lips, Faramir looked into the cave's entrance once again and finally took firm steps towards it.
The couple could feel the air around them becoming heavier in each step they took. Faramir was certainly relaxed about it, though. He had been there too many times before and was familiar with the atmosphere inside the cave. As much as Éowyn's heart was rushing and rushing as the sunlight vanished around them, the adrenaline running through her veins was quite an enjoyable sensation. The risk of walking through a completely dark place was terrifying and still tempting to the Queen. She could hear unfamiliar sounds inside that cave, and every time her ears warned her about something, those delicious shivers ran down her spine. Éowyn was trembling. She approached her body to Faramir's, and now she was hugging him with all her strength. Her breath was heavier and she could feel the blood underneath her skin warming up and coloring her cheeks. But the imminent fear the cave caused her was not the only reason why she could feel her face burning. Éowyn had never been so physically close to Faramir like that. In fact, she had not been that close to anybody. One of her hands were almost ripping the fabric of his shirt while the other one was basically squeezing the skin of his side, and the innocent Queen did not realize it until now. And as much as she thought it would be more appropriate to return to her original position, part of her was still too afraid to let him go. 'I only hope he does not feel the same way I do right now', she thought to herself.
Within a few more minutes of walking, they were almost in complete darkness and Éowyn started to worry as she had not done before. Instinctively and thoughtlessly, her mouth reached to Faramir's ear to whisper in frighten once again: "Faramir, I am scared. I know I should not be, but I cannot lie. Promise me we will be safe." After saying so, Éowyn let out a suffocating gasp as she heard a fearsome sound coming from the direction they were walking towards. She squeezed his skin harder this time, unaware of what her actions might have caused on Faramir. But that sound was not like the other she had heard before – this one sounded like a sharp scream. It brought her awful memories: it was very alike the sound of the Nazgul creatures, which had given her nightmares now and then (specially after she killed one of those creatures in an epic scenario of bravery).
Faramir's emotional state could not be more different than hers at this point. He was obviously familiar with the cave, including the sounds that might come from it, and watching Éowyn so fragile and needy was quite peculiar and even adorable to him. But there was something disturbing about the way she touched him. It had never happened before. He would be lying if he told anyone he had not imagined what her hands would feel like touching the bare skin of his shoulders, chest, among other parts of his body. Faramir was not as innocent as his beloved Queen, but it had been a very long time since he had felt anything of this nature (actually, it had happened before Boromir left Gondor for the last time). He could barely remember it – but it would not matter anyway, for Éowyn gave him sensations he had not memory of. A brand new rush seemed to take over his body, but he was doing a great job on hiding it from her. However, it was not possible for him to contain himself as the soft touch of her lips contacted his ear lobe. It was so unexpected and oddly delicious that Faramir could not help but run his hand over Éowyn's back and gently grab her waist. The little gasp that came out from her mouth right after her mumbles was even worse – or better. And this time something worse happened: Faramir's mind allowed some deep, inappropriate thoughts wander through itself, causing an impact over his whole body. His nostrils were wider, his lips redder, his pupils dilated – even in the dark, his heart was once again faster than normal, and finally, his pants gained some volume. As soon as he realized that last fact, the son of Gondor sighed heavily and his voice echoed through the cave, which was in complete darkness by that point.
"Faramir?" Éowyn cried in despair, "What has happened to you?" Her mind was filled with tragedy thoughts. Reaching her hands to his face, she touched his cheeks and pulled her beloved man closer, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying face on his chest, fighting as much as she could against tears. By doing that, Éowyn should be able to notice Faramir's excitement, but she was overly distracted by her own frightened mind to feel anything. "I want to come back. Please! I cannot stand this anymore."
As much as he desired to calm her little Queen down, Faramir had to take care of his own physical reactions. The moment Éowyn hugged him and approached their bodies as much as she could, he did not know wether to pull her away, preventing her from noticing his accidental boner; or to hug her back and make her feel safe in his embrace. Instead of doing any of these things, he kept standing there, not touching her or even interacting with his horrified Éowyn. Faramir's negligence was surely disappointing for the woman of Rohan. "Faramir, what is wrong with you?" She could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks. "I am terrified of this hideous place and you simply ignore my cries!" Éowyn punched his chest and finally sobbed in frustration. Apparently, it needed to happen to open Faramir's eyes and lead him to do something. Taking a deep breath and pulling her closer, he laid her head on his chest and kissed her blonde, perfect hair. "Sssshhh, calm down, calm down, my little flower," he whispered in her ear in the most romantic way possible. Éowyn's hands instantly grabbed his shoulders as she softly whimpered, her face hidden on his chest once again. "Éowyn, listen: you need to trust me. I know this cave as the palm of my hand. There are no creatures but the both of us here, do you understand that? And I am planning to give you the best day of your life, so just trust me. Will you trust me?" after whispering those sweet words by her ear, Faramir kissed her forehead and held her hand again. He noticed she nodded with her head, and so they proceeded on walking through the darkness.