*** Yoda, and everybody else who's wondering: Inunyen is pronounced Ee-noon-yen, second syllable stressed.

Chrisi: Diesmal ist Lyn auch wieder mit dabei, ich hoffe es gefällt Dir!

This chapter consists mostly of flashbacks. Time passed by between flashback 1 and flashback 2: one night. Between flashback 2 and flashback 3: a few days. ***

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Blindfolded and tied up again, the rope around his wrists tighter and more painful this time, Boromir passed the time Aerilyn had been at Gondor in review, the two weeks they had more or less spent together before the assault had ripped them apart. Only two weeks. It was such a short time now he was thinking about it. And in the beginning they had done nothing but quarreling with each other. What a waste of precious time. Perhaps he would never see her again and those two weeks would be everything left of their relationship. It weighed heavily on his heart that half of the memories he had of their time together were dominated by ugly words and hateful gazes they had thrown at each other. He wished he could undo what he had said to her when he was driven by his arrogant anger. He wished he could rewind time and spend two weeks of only joy with her. No tears, no fights, no hurt feelings...

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//
"I did not choose to take you as my wife! It was not I who arranged this absurd wedding!" Boromir exploded, not able to control his rage any longer.

"Nor did I!" Aerilyn shot back, a furious sparkle in her eyes, "Do you think I desire to marry a man twice my age?!"

She saw that he clenched his teeth, staring her in the eyes with a rather shocked expression. She never before had shouted at him but always had been intimidated by his presence. It was the first time that she was defending herself and struck back instead of silently tolerating his aggressive outbursts. Her unexpectedly hostile reply had totally taken him by surprise.

"I do not wish to insult you, Lord Boromir, but you are old enough to be my father," she added lower, but still outraged.

"I know," he pressed forward the words, "you do not need to teach me."

An uncomfortable silence built up between them and when Boromir couldn't stand it anymore he raised his voice and said:

"Whether we like it or not, we will be married soon. And I expect you to not show your rejection to it in public. I am the son of the steward and I have people to lead. I need a wife by my side my people can look up to and who supports me, not a little girl who acts defiant towards me."
"I am the offspring of a steward, too! Stop acting as if you were superior to me! I deserve your respect!" Aerilyn snapped. Boromir couldn't help bursting into light laughter about her last remark.

"I do not find this a laughing matter!" she hollered angrily and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Well, I do," he said, still chuckling.

"You need to take me seriously," Aerilyn demanded, "If you want a wife who supports you, you must treat me with respect and curteousy."

He all of a sudden turned somber again and pierced her with a gaze that produced physical pain inside of her.

"I do treat you right. As long as you act as awkward as you do at the moment you deserve no better treatment," he said with a harsh voice.

She parted her lips to reply, but his roughness left her speechless. She closed her mouth again and shifted her gaze to the floor so he could not see that she was deeply hurt.

"I suggest I leave you alone now so you can think about what I told you. Perhaps you will be able to grasp the meaning of my words when you calmed down again," she heard him say, his voice arrogant and hurtful.

"I am not daft," she replied silently, her own voice starting to crack.

"I hope you will be able to prove that to me one day," he responded coldly.

Aerilyn felt tears building up in her eyes. No matter what she said, he always had an answer ready that made her look like a fool. He made her feel worthless.

"We will talk tomorrow. I do not see any sense in prolonging this conversation at the moment," Boromir stated.

"Me neither," Aerilyn said in a very low voice and lifted a hand to her face to quickly wipe away a single tear that had escaped her eye although she tried her best to pull herself together. She would rather die than burst out in tears in front of this awful man.

"Sleep well," he said with stiff politeness and left the room.

//
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//
"Good morning, Aerilyn," Boromir said after he had discovered her in one of the huge stables. He tried to make his voice sound nicer than usual, but obviously failed with it. Aerilyn turned away from the brown horse she was with and glared at him with dark eyes.

"Just say it and then leave me alone!" she spat out, fumbling with the currycomb she was holding in one hand.

"Say what?" he asked, leaned against a pillar and crossed his arms in front of his chest. His lips formed a little smile when he captured her facial expression more closely. She was beautiful when she was furious.

"Well," she started and then continued with a sudden change in her voice, mocking Boromir's tone near to perfection, "Aerilyn, you stupid little thing, what are you doing?! It does not suit a lady to work in the stables! Do you want my people to laugh about us behind our back?! I need a wife who supports me, who hides in the house all day long doing nothing else than working on embroideries and looking pretty, not a wife that acts defiant and spends her days helping the stablemen!"
"Actually I only wanted to ask you for a walk," Boromir said calmly when she was finished. He couldn't deny that he was satisfied when she blushed, but he did not show it. He was getting tired of their quarrels. This had to stop, after all she was his betrothed and he did not want to have a wife who loathed him.

"Oh," Aerilyn only said surprised and turned around to the horse she was caring for again to hide her embarrassment about her outburst.

"You come, then?" he asked the backside of her head. He could hear her sigh, but it was hard to determine the nature of the sigh. He wasn't able to tell whether she was angry, relieved, unsure, or else without seeing her face. Boromir shifted his weight on his other leg and bit his lower lip.
After a moment of silence he sighed too and forced himself to say the word he had never said to her before, not even once.

"Please."
Aerilyn turned around again to face him.

"Now was that so difficult?" she wanted to know with a teasing smile and raised her eyebrows.

"I tell you, do not push it too far," Boromir replied gravely.

"Or what?" she asked, putting the currycomb aside. Boromir opened his mouth to tell her she was in great danger of breaking the limits by straining his nerves to the extreme, but then decided to better leave it for now.

"Let's go, or it will be dark once we are finished with our... discussion," he only said, trying his best to ignore the urge to give her the scolding of her life. Instead of rebuking her he offered her his arm. She hesitated for a moment, but then approached him and put her own arm through his, her touch light and shy.

"And where do you wish to take me?" she asked curiously, her mood suddenly switched to the better again. Perhaps it all wouldn't turn out to be as bad as he had feared at first. She might be young, stubborn and defiant, but at least she managed to surprise him time and again. And one thing he was loathing like hell was boredom, a state that would surely never take control over his life as long as this unpredictable woman was around.

//
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They were sitting in front of each other silently, separated by a table. There were only a few candles illuminating the room, bathing both of them in a soft and dim light. Aerilyn stared down to her hands that lay in her lap folded. They had not argued anymore since they had walked together the other day, but still there was an awkward atmosphere between them.

"Did they finish your wedding dress yet?" Boromir asked a bit clumsily, but he couldn't think of anything better to say and he couldn't stand the silence. Aerilyn looked up to his face and nodded slowly.

"Yes, it is beautiful," she replied in a low voice.

"I bet so," Boromir said.

Silence.
"Would you like to go for another walk tomorrow?" he tried again to get a conversation started.

"Yes, why not. It was nice the other day," Aerilyn agreed.

"I only wish we could go without being accompanied by your brother Atalar," Boromir said.

"We could go together with Faramir tomorrow if you wish."

"No, I mean without anybody. All on our own."

"That's not possible yet, my father wouldn't allow it. You know that."

Boromir nodded, lifted a hand to his shoulder and tried to rub the pain out of an aching muscle.

"Did you hurt yourself?" Aerilyn asked worried.

"No, not really. I'm just a bit stiff, that's all."

"Take your clothes off," Aerilyn said and rose on her feet.

"W...what?" Boromir stuttered, staring at her startled.

"Not what you think!" Aerilyn replied with a chuckle and blushed slightly, "If you want I will ease your pain a bit. And you do not need to take off your trousers for what I have in mind."

Hesitatingly at first, he stripped down to the last layer of clothes that covered the upper part of his body and looked at her with an expectant gaze.

"Well, I think this will do," she sighed when she realized he wouldn't get rid of the last piece of clothes and stepped close behind him. Carefully she put her hands on his shoulders and started to give him a soft massage.

"Your shoulders feel as though you are trying to single-handedly carry all the weight of middle-earth," she exclaimed when she explored his back and his shoulders, feeling the tensed and well defined muscles underneath her gentle fingers. She also could feel the heat of his body through the fine fabric that prevented her from touching his bare skin. It felt unexpectedly good.

"You are talented," Boromir suddenly said, "You do this often?"

"Well, every now and then," she answered caught up in her thoughts and then quickly added, "When Atalar comes from his training."

"You like your brother a lot, do you not?"

"Of course. He is my brother, I love him" Aerilyn said and moved her hands deeper down Boromir's back, "I am sure you love your brother too?"

"Well yes, but I do not give him any massages when he comes from his training," Boromir said. Aerilyn smiled and worked her way up to his shoulders again, her touch harder now.

"Does it hurt?" she asked when he gave a small groan.

"No," Boromir said, closed his eyes and concentrated on the wonderful sensation of her skilful hands on his body. Silence filled the room again, but this time it was comfortable. After a few moments he felt her playing with the neckline of his shirt, and suddenly her hands slid forwards to his chest and started to loosen the buttons. He blinked his eyes open again and sucked in a breath of surprise, but before he found his voice Aerilyn spoke.

"Relax," her soft voice ordered, "it will do you good."

Her hands were shoved underneath his shirt, found back to his shoulders and squeezed them carefully, her fingers gliding over his bare skin.

"Better?" she asked. Boromir made an approving sound and she continued to work on him, his skin firm and hot against her fingers and palms that tried to loosen his tensed muscles. Boromir's body did not relax as quickly as Atalar's used to do and Aerilyn's grip got harder.

"Ow!" Boromir cried out when one of her fingers produced a sharp pain on his right shoulder.

"Shh! Not so loud!" Aerilyn hissed in a low voice. They both hold their breaths and listened alarmed for some moments. Just when they thought nobody had heard it there were quick steps approaching Aerilyn's room.

"Oh no," she groaned and let go of Boromir's shoulders. Before Boromir could say a word somebody was knocking on the door.

"The window," she whispered and quickly crossed the room.

"You want me to jump down there?" Boromir asked when he had joined Aerilyn who opened the window rapidly. It looked pretty high from where they were standing.

"Do you have a better suggestion?" she asked.

"Lyn? Are you alright?" a male voice came through the door.

"Atalar. Somehow I knew it would be him," Boromir said.

"He's a bit overprotective," Aerilyn whispered back and then went back to the table.

"I am fine!" she yelled while picking up Boromir's clothes.

"May I come in?" her brother asked. Boromir rolled his eyes.

"Yes, in a minute! I... I am naked!" Aerilyn said and came back to Boromir who tried to fight back a grin.

"What?" she asked a bit offended, "I couldn't come up with a better excuse so quickly."

"Don't you think he will wonder why you were naked?"

"Why, it's a warm night. And now get out of here. I don't think it's a good idea to hide in the closet or under my bed."

"Why not?" Boromir asked.

"Trust me, I know my brother," Aerilyn replied with a smirk and threw Boromir's things out of the window. He watched them falling down to the street speechlessly. Then he shook his head in disbelief and sighed heavily.

"This is by far the silliest thing I've done in my whole life," Boromir stated while he climbed the windowsill. When he heard Aerilyn chuckle he looked back down to her face and discovered a pair of eyes with the most beautiful sparkles of joy he had ever seen. She indeed was beautiful when she was furious, but when she was cheerful she just took his breath away.

"You better hurry, my brother will not be amused to find you in my room half-naked in the middle of the night," Aerilyn said with a grin.

Before he knew what he was doing Boromir put a hand behind the back of her head and pulled her close abruptly. Aerilyn's smile faded away, her eyes widened and she gasped in surprise when she was crushed against his broad chest. Only a second after he had brought their lips together roughly she broke from his grip and stared at him almost horrified. What Boromir not knew was that she was not shocked about his sudden approach, but about her own feelings that he had released with the quick kiss. It just made no sense, she thought. Only days ago she had hated him more than anything else, and now she felt electrified by a single short and dry kiss from his lips. Her body longed for more. She could not fight against this heavy urge, no matter how much it confused and disturbed her. Just when he wanted to apologize she suddenly took his face in her hands and made their mouths collide again. He almost fell from the windowsill down to the street and quickly grabbed the frame of the window for support while Aerilyn was sparking off a fire in his heart, kissing him deep and hot kisses. He responded with rough passion, not getting enough of the sweetness and softness of her lips.

"Aerilyn!" Atalar's voice disturbed the moment, followed by an angry pound against the door.

"Yes, only a second!" she yelled back. She took a deep breath and wiped a few strands of hair behind her ears nervously. Her cheeks were deeply reddened and her heart was racing so heavily that she feared even Atalar must hear it although he wasn't even in the same room.

"Go now," she whispered breathlessly and gently stroked Boromir's rough cheek.

"Will we meet tomorrow?" he asked expectantly in a low voice. She nodded and her lips formed a small smile.

"Good night, my Aerilyn," he said and kissed her a last time.

"Good night, my Boromir," she whispered back happily and watched him getting down to the ground with a thud, gathering his clothes and vanishing in the darkness.

//