*** Now comes a really big jump in time (does this expression exist??). I just wanted to tell that quite some time has passed by since the events of last chapter, so nobody will get confused or something. I hope you enjoy the chapter! ***

.

.

.

.

.

It had been only two days since Aerilyn had regained consciousness, but already she was bored to death. Only hours after waking up she had been transferred from the houses of healing to her bedchamber because her father wanted her as close as possible to his own rooms, and she hadn't gone anywhere else since. She wasn't allowed to go anywhere but had to stay here, locked up and with one of her father's primary guards watching her. Denethor had offered to put some of his own guards at Aerilyn's disposal to make sure she was protected in the best possibe way, but Ribensis had rejected. Not that he blamed Denethor or his sons for what had happened to his daughter, but as long as he didn't know what exactly was going on he didn't trust anyone but his own personal guard who enjoyed the Steward's full confidence for ages already.

Aerilyn had not told her father, or anyone else about her assumption that it had been Faramir who had tried to kill her the other day. Before she had the chance to do so, she had learned that it actually was Faramir who had saved her. Her father had told her that Faramir had found her in the gardens, unconscious and bleeding, and that he had carried her to the houses of healing. It made no sense to her that he would do so if he had wanted to take her life. It would have been the perfect chance for him, or anyone else, to kill her as she lay on the ground, helpless and injured. But he had rescued her instead and that had to mean that she had been terribly wrong about him when she had accused him of being the attacker. The more she thought about it, the surer she was that he was innocent on this matter, and she was ashamed that she had thought different once. Unfortunately there was no way of contacting Faramir and apologizing to him, or thanking him for rescuing her, because nobody was allowed to pay her a visit. She felt like a prisoner and her room seemed to shrink with every hour. Slowly, it was driving her mad. She needed to distract herself a bit, but there were very few options of what she could do. Her gaze wandered across the room and she watched her guard polishing one of his weapons.

"How is your wife, Torgen?" she asked and crossed the room to let herself sink onto her bed. The man's head snapped up, he was obviously surprised that she was trying to start a conversation with him.

"Fine, thank you," he said and then continued with his dull occupation.

"And your children? How are your children?" Aerilyn asked, rolled onto her belly and rested her chin on her arms that she crossed in front of her.

"Fine," Torgen answered.

"I'm sure they all miss you a great deal," she said with a sigh.

"I miss them too," the sturdy guard admitted, causing Aerilyn to smile faintly. She always had liked Torgen, although she had been rather scared of him when she had been a little girl. She was glad it was him her father had chosen to accompany her twenty-four hours a day, and not one of the impolite, rough guards. Torgen might not be very talkative and entertaining, but at least he was well-mannered and friendly.

"You will go back home soon again," Aerilyn said, not yet knowing how much truth lay in her words.

Only minutes later, they heard somebody knocking on the door and Aerilyn knew immediately that it was her father, just from his style of knocking. Torgen rose from his chair, unlocked the door and opened it only a crack to look who it was, his hand already at the hilt of his sword. When he saw that it was indeed Aerilyn's father he pulled the door open and let his Steward pass. Aerilyn sat up on her bed wonderingly when she discovered that he was followed by several servants who, as soon as they had entered the room, started to gather her belongings.

"Father... What does this mean?" she asked in confusion while she observed one of the servants getting her dresses out of the wardrobe and folding them carefully.

"We will leave Gondor. Till our departure you will stay here together with Torgen," Ribensis informed her and stepped closer to the bed his daughter was sitting on. She raised her head and stared at him, thunderstruck.

"We will leave? When?" she asked, her dark brows furrowed in disbelief.

"As soon as possible, when everything is packed."

"But what about Atalar?!" Aerilyn asked terrified and rose on her feet abruptly. "We cannot leave without him!"

"But we cannot wait for him, either. I am not willing to stay at a country in which my daughter's life is threatened. Two assaults in a row are enough for my taste, I won't wait for a third and maybe fatal one. Besides, we don't know whether or not Atalar is still alive and will ever return. As soon as we are home again I will send out scouts who will find him, dead or alive. We will leave Minas Tirith tomorrow morning, and I am not willing to have any discussions about it."

"But the weather conditions are really bad for travelling such a long way! There's a thunderstorm about to come, it's already pouring outside!" Aerilyn tried to convince her father of waiting at least two or maybe three days until they departed.

"Expect us to leave at dawn," her father said, not a tiny bit impressed by her arguments.

"And what about the wedding?" Aerilyn asked, her voice hardly above a whisper. There was only one word her father needed to answer her question, but it made her heart shatter to thousands of pieces.

"Cancelled."

.

.

.

She sat on her windowsill like the other day before her emotional outburst at dinner, only the sun wasn't shining, caressing and warming her skin. It was dark outside although it was early afternoon, heavy clouds had gathered in the gray sky and it was pouring as if the rain wanted to wash away the city. At least the weather matched her mood. She couldn't stand bright sunshine and singing birds just now, anyway. She drew her legs nearer to her body, lay her chin on her knees and sighed downheartedly.

"Lady Aerilyn?" a deep, male voice came from across the room, sounding slightly worried.

"I'm fine, Torgen," she murmured, not making the effort to turn her head so she could face her guard. Instead, she let her gaze drop down to the street that lay quite some feet underneath her window and felt sorry for the second guard who stood there in the rain. He was soaked all over and although it was dark she could see that he was freezing. With another sigh she shifted her gaze back to direction the company had to come from when they returned again. That is, if they returned...

She sat like this for hours, not moving at all. A servant brought food and drinks, but she refused to eat anything and just kept on staring at the muddy, wet street, listening to the rain and thunder while Torgen had his meal and watched her with huge concern.

"Are you sure you don't want to eat?" he asked finally.

"Yes," she replied, and the conversation was finished again.

As time passed by, she became more and more tired and her eyelids fell shut every now and then. Torgen must have noticed that she was almost sleeping and not far from falling from the windowsill as he suddenly rose and approached her to carry her to the bed. His heavy footsteps made her open her eyes again, and then she saw it...

Within a split second she was wide awake again, straightened with a gasp and lay her hand flatly against the window, holding her breath and narrowing her eyes. The sight was more than bad, but there was no doubt about it. There were a few horses approaching, a small group of riders. They were back.

She tried to make out who exactly was straddling which horse, who was sitting upright and who just hung limply in another one's arms, and who had not returned at all... But it was just impossible from where she was looking. Aerilyn jumped from the windowsill and stormed towards the door in order to run after the company, but Torgen moved in front of her quickly, causing her to bump into him.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked and closed a large hand around her upper arm. His grip was gentle, but nevertheless rather firm.

"The company just arrived! Please, I need to go and see them!" Aerilyn begged, raising her head so she could look the guard who was towering over her in the eyes. He sighed and his eyes expressed that he understood her feelings, but then he shook his head.

"Your father wants you to stay here in your chambers. I am sorry, but I have my orders."

"Please, Torgen!" she said desperately and grabbed his strong forearm. "I only want to know whether Atalar is back! I need to know whether my brother lives! Please!"

He looked down to her again and hesitated for a second before he said: "Alright, but I will come with you."

"Thank you," she said and attempted to shove him aside to open the door.

"Don't you want to get your cape? It's storming outside," the sturdy guard pointed out.

"No, let's just go," she replied determinedly. She wouldn't have cared if she had been barefoot and only dressed in undergarments, she just wanted to meet the people she had waited for so long.


She pushed the heavy doors open and left the heated building, entering the coldness of the thunderstorm outside. Heavy rain lashed in her face and in only few seconds her clothes were soaked, but the last thing she wanted to do was withdraw back to her comfortable chambers. The company was gone, of course. She had to get to the houses of healing as quickly as possible, and so she started to run again although the ground was very muddy and slippery. Torgen was at her heels all the time, and if she hadn't been fully concentrated on finding the people who had returned, she would have sensed how tense he was.

They arrived at the houses of healing quite quickly and discovered that the company was still outside in the rain. The first thing Aerilyn's eyes caught was a man with dark hair and dark clothes who was unfamiliar to her. He was the only one who still straddled a horse and he just lifted the limp body of another man down into the arms of Faramir who must have arrived here before she had. Aerilyn thought her heart would stop beating when she realized that it had to be the body of Boromir. Due to the bad weather conditions she couldn't see any details like facial expressions or hear what Faramir and the dark man were saying, but it was enough to see Boromir's slackened body being carried into the houses of healing by his brother and another man who had long, blond hair and looked rather young. She was so caught up in watching the whole scene that she didn't even notice how Torgen wrapped his own cloak around her shivering shoulders.

As soon as Aerilyn overcame her paralysis of shock she wanted to run after them, but suddenly she heard somebody calling out her name and turned to the direction of the familiar voice. A small whimper escaped her throat when she saw her brother coming towards her and the overwhelming relief about his wellbeing made her forget about Boromir for a second. She threw herself into Atalar's open arms and clung to him tightly while tears started to burst from her eyes, merging with the rain that ran down her face. He held her so close that she found it hard to breathe properly, but she wouldn't want to have it another way.

"I am so glad that you live, I thought you were dead," she sobbed and pressed her face against his trembling body.

"I thought you were dead too," he replied and she heard that he was crying as well. His hands closed tightly around her upper arms and he made her back away a bit so they could look one another in the eyes. They both were drenched, their black hair glued to their skin that was freezing cold already, but they didn't even notice they were both shivering.

"I thought you were dead too," he repeated in only a whisper and gave her a quick, brotherly kiss on the mouth. Then he drew her close again and embraced her small, slender body tightly, burying his face in her wet hair.

"What about Boromir? Is he fine?" Aerilyn suddenly asked against Atalar's chest, her hands clutched to his dirty, soaked and partly ripped clothes. When Atalar didn't reply she freed herself from his firm hug to look at his eyes.

"Atalar... What about Boromir?" she repeated, feeling more tears welling in her eyes.

"We brought him back, but it looks bad for him," Atalar told her calmly, feeling his own heart crack from the desperate expression on his sister's face.

"I have to see him," she said and drew away from him to rush towards the houses of healing. Torgen, who had waited silently for the siblings to disconnect from each other again, wanted to run after her, but Atalar grabbed him firmly, a pleading for letting his sister go. Torgen could have easily broken free from the young man's hand, but he came to a halt and gazed at Atalar questioningly.

"Give her the chance to see him. Please, Torgen... I will take full responsibility of this, just in case my father finds out. Give Aerilyn the chance to bid him farewell," Atalar said, his hand still clutching the sturdy guard's sleeve. He wanted his sister to have the opportunity he unfortunately hadn't had. He hadn't managed to give Inunyen support while she was dying a painful death, he hadn't managed to tell her all the things he had wanted her to know, and now she was dead and the opportunity was gone. Forever. He didn't want the same to happen to Aerilyn, for he knew how much it hurt to not have been able to say goodbye to the somebody one loved.

Inside of the houses of healing was a state of sheer excitement, it was crowded with people who all wanted to know in which condition their future Steward was, whether he was dead or alive, and large numbers of nurses and healers rushed up and down the corridors and in and out of one room. Aerilyn felt a knot forming in her stomach when she started to push herself a way towards that particular room, until somebody got hold of her arm when she had almost reached the door that swung open and close again and again.

"Aerilyn, what are you doing here? I thought you were to stay in your chambers?" a male voice demanded to know. Aerilyn looked up and met the worried gaze of Faramir. She knew she owed him an apology, but at the moment there were other things that occupied her mind.

"I need to see him," she told him, close to tears.

"I don't think that's a good idea," he replied, only feeding her anxiety.

"Please..." she whispered, trying hard not to cry, but his hand didn't give way.

"Lord Faramir!" a male voice suddenly yelled from somewhere further back. "We need to get all the people out!"

Aerilyn felt Faramir's grip losing some strength when he was distracted by one of his father's guards and took the chance. She freed herself with one abrupt, forceful movement and slipped past some more curious people who tried to snatch a glimpse of Denethor's eldest son. She entered the room, almost running over a nurse who tried to push her back again, but her fear and worry set free unknown strength inside of her and she easily escaped the nurse's hands.

There were quite some people in this room, but she had eyes for Boromir only. The second her eyes caught him she came to an abrupt halt, afraid of what she might discover when she approached and looked closer. She felt her legs getting shaky and her heart started to race, but she had to see. She had to know. She stepped closer, slowly starting to feel dizzy, and when one of the nurses turned away to put down a piece of cloth that was soaked with blood and get a fresh one instead, she had almost full view of him, how he lay there, bleeding, bruised, lifeless.

Aerilyn's face turned white as snow and she gasped heavily, her eyes widened in horror. Then she turned away from the horrifying sight of Boromir's tortured body and almost bumped into somebody who had just moved close behind her to guide her out of the room again. She didn't even look up to see who he was, but sank against the broad chest she was facing while massive sobs made her whole body shake. Aragorn stiffened a bit at first, but then quickly closed his arms around her carefully to give her some comfort. Suddenly her legs gave in and almost made her slip from his soft embrace. Aragorn tightened his hug just in time to keep her collapsing body from falling. He carefully lowered her onto the ground, supporting her head with his large hand.

"What happened?" Atalar asked, who had just fought his way through the masses of people to both join his sister, but also to get his own wounds cared for. Compared to the ones Boromir suffered his were rather harmless, but still they hurt and needed to be cleaned.

"She passed out, I think," Aragorn said while Atalar got down on his knees and bent over his sister.

"Lyn, can you hear me?" he asked worried and cradled her face in his palms gently.

"Is he dead?" she asked in a whisper, not opening her eyes.

"No," Aragorn said soothingly, "Boromir is only unconscious. I am sure you can talk to him tomorrow."

"Please tell me the truth," she begged desperately and blinked her eyes open in order to look at Aragorn with the most sorrowful expression he had ever seen in a human's eyes.

"This is the truth, Lady Aerilyn. Boromir is not dead."

"Thank you," she whispered and closed her eyes again. Then she heard the harsh voices of guards, and also a few nurses, who ordered the healthy people to leave the building immediately, while the injured and sick ones were brought back to their own rooms. Atalar lifted her up on his arms to carry her into another room where he lay her down on the bed that was reserved for the injured, but at the moment not occupied.

"I will get you dry clothes, then you can stay here and wait for Boromir to wake up again," he told her and caressed her moist and cold face while she nodded gratefully. When he came back she had fallen into light and troubled sleep.

.

.

.

"Lord Faramir, you should go back to your chambers and have a rest," a brunette nurse said softly when she discovered him still sitting on one of the benches on the now empty corridor. Hours had passed by since the company's arrival and there were still no news about Boromir's condition.

"No, I will stay. I want to be here when my brother wakes up."

"I will get you a blanket."

"No, but thank you," Faramir replied and then watched the nurse vanishing in the room Boromir was in. The torturing silence drove him mad and it seemed like an eternity until it was broken by low noises of anguish that went right through Faramir. He couldn't just sit and listen to the heartrending whimpers, but he didn't know what to do instead either. Faramir paced up and down in front of the door that separated him from Boromir who obviously went through unbearable pain this very moment. Faramir knew his brother more than well, he knew that he would try at all costs to suppress any evidence of his pain and never would show his suffering openly if he could avoid it. Faramir didn't dare imagine what intense agony it needed to actually make Boromir wail and weep although surrounded by people. It ripped his heart to pieces to hear his brother like that, to hear his usually strong and steady voice filling the air with low sobs and weak cries. At least those sounds proved that Boromir was alive, but although Faramir was glad about this circumstance he felt more and more miserable with every single feeble noise that came from his brother's throat, disturbing the silence of the night.

"Faramir...," a low, female voice suddenly came from behind him and he turned around abruptly, discovering Aerilyn in the doorway of another room. He almost had to smile when he noticed that she was clad in garments that were usually for the sick and injured to wear and also were far too big for her slender and small frame. Before he could reply anything, a low but heartrending cry echoed through the corridor, followed by a few erratic sobs and groans that slowly ceased again. Aerilyn lifted a hand to her face to cover her mouth and tried hard to fight tears back, but when Faramir quickly came closer and embraced her soothingly she let them break free and cried against his chest, her hands clinging to his shirt.

Some moments later they waited on the bench together, Faramir sitting in his earlier position while Aerilyn lay on her side, legs curled up to her body and her head resting on Faramir's lap. He held her hand and felt her kneading his fingers absently, until she seemed to have fallen asleep again. He didn't know how long they sat like this, but finally his exhaustion overwhelmed him and he couldn't do anything anymore to prevent himself from entering the land of dreams.

.

.

.

Boromir opened his eyes very slowly and the first sound he released was a groan of pain. He felt as if every single bone in his body had been broken and most of his skin was burning like fire, while his hands were cold as ice. The throbbing pain in his head was so bad that he felt sick from it and could hardly move or see. He blinked a few times with a lot of effort when he felt somebody touch his forearm. Slowly, he managed to see past the blur, and he couldn't believe what he saw. His mind was obviously playing a trick on him, but she seemed so real...

"Aerilyn?" Boromir whispered in disbelief, his gaze shifting over her face.

"Yes, it's me," she whispered back and clutched his hand.

"But why...how... Am I dead?" he asked in confusion, his voice hoarse and weak. A smile spread on her face and she softly shook her head.

"No, you are at home. In Minas Tirith."

"Minas Tirith?" Boromir echoed weakly, furrowing his brows.

"Yes. In the houses of healing," Aerilyn explained slowly, emphasizing every word as if she was talking to a little child.

"But how come you are here?" he asked almost inaudibly and choked with great efforts.

"Well, I live here too since I am going to be your wife," she said with a smile.

"No, I mean... You are not dead?"

"I am not dead," she said and carefully squeezed his hand, "And I am so happy that you aren't either."

"Aerilyn," Boromir whispered again and wanted to raise a hand to stroke her cheek, but he couldn't gather enough strength to do so. He gave a frustrated sigh and then looked her in the eyes again. "I am so sorry for everything."

"It was not your fault, and you suffered a lot more than I did," she replied, lifted his hand and lay her head against it, nestling her face to his palm.

"Forgive me, I did not notice that we weren't alone," he told her, watching her caressing the back of his hand while her cheek pressed against his palm.

"I didn't notice either," she said.

"I should have noticed. I should have protected you."

"It is not your fault," she repeated in a whisper, drew her head back and placed a kiss in his palm. Then she took his hand in hers again, gently continuing to caress the back of his hand with her fingertips. They looked one another in the eyes for a few silent moments, savoring the state of being close to each other again.

"How is Faramir?" Boromir suddenly wanted to know, his voice hardly above a rasping whisper.

"He is well. He sleeps just the room next door," Aerilyn told him. When she saw his eyes lighten up for a split second, she continued: "Faramir sat by your side for hours and hours, waiting for you to wake up. He didn't want to leave before you opened your eyes, although he hardly could keep his eyes open himself because he was so tired. I almost had to beat him to bed."

"Really?" Boromir asked and an exhausted smile crossed his bruised face.

"Yes, Faramir loves you above all and everything," Aerilyn assured him. "Do you want me to go and get him?"

"No," Boromir said and swallowed hard. "Let him sleep."

"He will come to see you as soon as he wakes up again," Aerilyn said with a smile that quickly faded again when Boromir gave no reaction. His eyes had fallen closed again and the weak grip of his fingers had lost its exhausted strength entirely.

"Boromir?" she asked fearful and bent further down to hear whether he was breathing. He was, but very slowly and flatly.

"Don't leave me, Boromir," she begged desperately and turned her head to kiss him. Tears gathered in her eyes when she felt his cold, motionless lips underneath hers. Of course he was too weak to return the kiss. It almost felt like kissing a corpse.

"Please, don't..." she whispered and stroked his cheek. "I love you. Don't leave me alone."

After a short, tensed pause she added in a very low voice: "We need you."

Slowly, Boromir blinked his eyes open a tiny bit and looked at Aerilyn's wet and flushed face, her words keeping him from slipping into unconsciousness.

"We?" he repeated wonderingly, in a more than low voice and with a lot of effort.

Aerilyn nodded weakly while more tears fell from her bloodshot eyes, and she swallowed hard before she told him of the suspicion that had been growing inside of her mind for a few days now.

"I think I am expecting your child."