Semi Charmed Life
Author: Dingue
Rating: PG/PG-13
Summary: A rebellious rescue mission turns the lives of two women of Rohan upsidedown. Merry/OC Eowyn/Faramir AU
Author's Note: Enjoy
"Rochendil." A female voice rang out into the small, dimly lit bedroom.
"Ugh, no." Her companion replied.
"Castien?" The first continued.
"Maybe."
"Eomer?" The latter didn't respond. Giggles erupted from the two young women, one sitting on the edge of an unkempt bed, the other at a small table. "I knew you'd always had a thing for my brother!" The golden haired lady on the bed exclaimed with triumph. Her friend shook her head.
"Oh I said he was handsome, not that I had a 'thing' for him. Besides," She rolled her eyes. "He's Eomer."
"Aerin and Eomer.." The girl with fair hair sang out. The other swatted at her.
"Eowyn!"
"Fine," The both laughed. "I suppose I should tell you who I like?" Her friend, Aerin, nodded conceding. "Well, last month when Eomer," She couldn't suppress a grin. "When my brother took me to see Gondor, I met someone." Aerin gasped.
"You never told me! What happened?"
"Nothing happened, Aerin. I only learnt his name and nothing more. He was so handsome though." Aerin smirked.
"What is his name?" A look of nostalgia washed over Eowyn's features. She knew very well that something more had happened. She remembered standing on the edge of the fortress, her blue eyes lost in the black oblivion of Mordor when a soft hand grazed against her own. Startled, she looked up to see a kind face apologizing...
"My apologies, milady. I meant not to startle you." Eowyn smiled and reassured him that it was quite alright. "Might I ask your name?"
"Eowyn." She replied. He nodded knowingly.
"Ah, sister to Eomer, master of the Rohirrim. I good man if I ever knew one. Got along quite well with Boromir. Friendly chap. Would you walk with me?" Eowyn, slightly startled by his string of words, agreed. The man kept talking as they walked along the edge of the highest level of the White City. "You hail from Rohan, then. I've never been there, myself, though Boromir has countless times."
"And this Boromir, he is your brother?" He nodded. "He sounds like a very important person." Eowyn knew nothing of Boromir's status as heir and favored son of Denethor, Steward of Gondor. She found out from Eomer, later on, that the man she had in fact been speaking with was-
"Faramir." She breathed. Aerin snorted. "Oh, do be quiet." Eowyn reprimanded. The two friends continued talking for some time when a soft knock on Eowyn's door startled them. "Yes?"
"Ah, 'scuse me ma'am, but the King wishes to have a word with you." Eowyn opened the door slightly to let some of the room's precious light fall onto the shadowed face of a young messenger boy.
"Tell him I shall be there shortly." The boy nodded and ran off into the corridor. Eowyn turned to her dark, curly haired friend and sighed.
"I should be getting back anyways. Mother will have a fit if I don't get home before dinner." Aerin left from her perch on Eowyn's chair and started for the door. Eowyn had a fleeting vision of Aerin kissing her brother. In most situations it would not be humorous, but in the case of her best friend Aerin, it was very much so. Aerin was terrifically short. Much, much shorter than one of the Man race. Eowyn often wondered how this came to be.
Aerin only came up to half of Eowyn's average height. This had always been a curious bit of gossip among the townspeople. Aerin's mother and father were both townspeople of Rohan and of the race of Man. Her father, however, had died before her birth, but her mother often stated that he was a fine man unfairly stolen by the hands of sickness. Her mother was now her only living relative.
"What?" Aerin wondered, a bit unnerved by her friend's reaction.
"Oh, er," Eowyn knew Aerin did not like to be teased. "Nothing." The shorter raised an eyebrow, but led the way through the darkened corridors of the King's Hall.
xXxXxXx
Shoving her hands into the pockets of her work dress, Aerin trudged along the dirt road winding down from the Golden Hall to the cluster of the townspeople's homes. Night was settling in upon the town but the moon was quick to rise. She loved being with Eowyn at the top of the hill, for it was lovely watching the moon rise from there. Unfortunately, with her mother's age she could not stay out late like she did when she was a young girl.
Aerin was on the verge of womanhood, in her early twenties. Of course, many refused to believe that as they judged her height. Aerin usually thought nothing of it, for she had grown accustomed to taunting words and jeers from the other children years ago when they seemed to reach for the sky while she stayed on the ground. Now those mean words were replaced with odd stares, but the majority of the townspeople had gotten used to it.
Her stature also crippled her chances of marrying an upstanding young man. Each time there was a wedding, she couldn't help but wonder what man would marry a woman who still looked as if she should be under the supervision of an adult as she wandered through the marketplace? Thankfully she had Eowyn. Eowyn had never turned her away when all the others did so. Eowyn was her friend.
This of course did not go over well with the King. He thought it kind of his niece to reach out to the "less inclined", but it too laid a blemish on her desirability from young men. Eowyn did not care, much to Aerin's relief. Eowyn was strong, much stronger than most people could ever hope to be.
A small candle flickered in the window of her small home. She smiled slightly seeing the silhouette of her mother sewing.
"You are late, child." A soft voice greeted her gently as she shut the door. Aerin kissed her mother lightly on the cheek and pulled up a chair beside her. "Your dinner is getting cold." The mother laid down her sewing and motioned in the direction of the small kitchen. Aerin nodded and apologizing for her tardiness, lit a spare candle and made her way through the door leading to the only other room in the house.
It was times like these when she sat alone that thoughts of her father often drifted into the harbor of her mind. She had never met him nor did she know much about him. All her mother thought best to reveal was that he was a wonderful husband and would have made an even better father. She never told Aerin his name directly, but some nights Aerin could hear her whispering a name to the darkness as she fitfully slept.
"Berilac.."
Berliac.. Whenever she was sure she was alone, she would let the name roll back and forth on her tongue as if she were tasting it and not quite sure if she liked it. She repeated it over and over trying to place a face to the name, but failed, certain she had never met anyone named Berilac. Judging by the way her mother called it softly into the night, it was someone she loved, or had loved, dearly. After wiping her spot at the table, she extinguished her candle and joined her mother.
"I'm making you another scarf." Her mother spoke as Aerin let her head rest gently on her shoulder.
"It's beautiful so far." She murmured, her eyelids feeling heavier and heavier by the minute. "Tell me a story, mother?" Aerin's mother laughed aloud.
"Why Aerin! You're almost a grown woman. A story?" Aerin pleaded and finally her mother consented. "Well, if you want."
"Tell me about the sea of green."
"The sea of green.." She paused, trying to recall the exact storyline. "Ah. Once upon a time, there was a land so fruitful and lush that it was often called the 'Sea of Green'. Rolling hills, small fields, little river, and dirt roads adorned this spot of land. The inhabitants were tiny, tiny people-"
"Like me?" Aerin interrupted laughing slightly. Her mother nodded.
"Much like you." She inhaled deeply before continuing. "These people loved to dance and sing and eat and have a jolly time. There were parties every day and good fellowship around every corner. These people were called.." Her aged but motherly voice drifted off as Aerin's breathing slowed and steadied. "Hobbits." She whispered, kissing her daughter lightly on the top of her head.
A/N: That's all for now :D This chapter was more explanatory than action (not to mention short).. but it is the intro chapter. I hope nothing was confusing or anything. I think I made Faramir a bit too talkative but it's all good. It will start heating up in the next chapter.. and Merry and the other hobbits should show up in the 3rd. Review s'il vous plait! Peace