Daughter of the Wind
Riding bareback and utterly free, she feels that there is nothing more perfect than this rising and falling, this galloping unrestrained across the endless plain. The fragrance of the wild, wind-swept grass and the salt-tinged scents of horse and sea intoxicate her. The rising sun fills her with a fiery wantonness as she scatters the damp mists in her wake, banishing the night.
Frozen in place, longing etched upon his face, Faramir stands alone and waits. He hears the steady beat of hooves as she appears upon the horizon, the wind tearing her hair flowing in golden flames behind her as if she were on fire.
It seems to him as if the sun had tumbled to earth and was racing the wind, chasing the wild beauty of this maiden, hurtling across the haunted Fields of Pellanor. She is no longer woman, but glistening motion and untamed light. Her mount leaps over a stony outcrop, rearing skyward; she leans forward, urging him higher, higher.
In a moment, they will disappear into the sun.
Suddenly afraid, Faramir calls out to her.
At the sound of his voice, she reins in her steed and rides toward him. She is laughing, radiant. Entranced by her joy, he watches as she canters in slow, teasing circles and figure-eights, weaving a spell about him.
He can not keep his eyes from her, mesmerized by the rhythm of her body as she gently shifts and sways, as she guides her mount with subtle motions, speaking only with the voice of sinew and skin and bone. At last, she halts before him and slides to the ground.
Stretching out his hands to her, he seeks to claim her. Face flushed, she tumbles eagerly into his arms, and he pushes back the impossible tangle of hair from her brow. He needs to look into her eyes.
But she is far away, her eyes dark with a secret ecstasy that he cannot touch. He tries to speak, but has lost his voice, shaken by what has been shown him. He has no right to bring her back to earth. No right. He turns his eyes away from her, ashamed to reveal his desire.
With a gentle hand, she caresses his face and forces him to look at her once again. She smiles up at him. "My lord, forgive me, but nothing on this earth is as wondrous... "
He interrupts her words with a kiss. All his hunger, fear and longing, expressed in this one fierce motion of claiming. A great trembling overwhelms him, and guiltily, he pushes her away.
Breathless and strangely awakened, she gazes up at him with questioning eyes. "What have I done?"
He shakes his head. "It is nothing. You have done nothing, but...I wish..." He pauses.
"You wish what, my lord? She speaks slowly. "If it were in my power, I would give you the very heavens, the sun, the sky."
Embarrassed now, he stares down at his mud stained boots and stammers, "I wish to be... a horse."
He blushes.
She laughs. "Do not be shamed. It is a worthy calling." Softly clasping his hands in hers, she kneels, guiding him to follow her. Then gently, she pushes him back upon the earth.
And as she falls upon him, he whispers, "Éowyn. Daughter of the wind. I beg of you, forgive me. Speak to me without words. Teach me to fly."
~fin~