Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Tolkien's. I'm just playing around with them a bit and will put them carefully away when I'm done. The Sea Hawk, however, is all mine and please ask before using in other fics.
Dedications: I wouldn't have had the nerve to even start this without Evendim and my darling AJ reassuring me that it was decent. This entire story is dedicated to them.
A/N: This piece is set in Evendim's wonderful AU. Any questions can be answered simply by reading her wonderful fics. Which should be done anyway because they are simply excellent!
A/N 2:This being an AU piece, there are several discrepancies from the Professor's works. Not the least of which that Boromir lives!
Please, if you like the story, leave a review! It would make my day, as well as telling me that it's worth continuing!
ThreeThe Sea Hawk entered her cabin in a high rage. How dare the man act so superior? She'd caught him quickly enough, and with a ruse that a soldier of his experience should have seen through.
She thought back over what she knew of him. Prince of Anorien, Captain-General of Gondor's armies, High Warden of the White Tower, Prince of the Greenwood in Thranduil's eyes. All these things he was, and yet none of them told a single blasted thing of him. They were only titles, after all.
She needed something she could hold over the man, not the soldier. Otherwise, it was going to be a long time before he saw daylight again, and before she slept without one eye open. Not that she ever would, but still, she'd like to have some respite from worrying over what Boromir would do to her if she was caught unaware.
She fully intended to release him, alive and whole. The ransom demand was even now on its way to Minas Tirith with an agent she trusted. But if the blasted man didn't stop baiting her, she was going to be hard-pressed to keep from killing him, or at least doing more damage.
She truly hadn't intended him harm, but his words had made it clear he considered her no threat. She had to re-establish her power over him or he would have waltzed out that door and taken her ship! But she wondered if perhaps, there might have been a better way.
Wait. She had the glimmer of an idea. It would be perfect to ensure his behavior, if she could make it work. Faramir! Everyone knew of the closeness of the brothers. The wretch would do almost anything to keep his brother safe!
This would take careful planning. Boromir could never know the truth, or it would never work. She knew she could keep an expressionless face, but her eyes might betray her. Well, there was a risk to every plan. She'd just have to chance it.
She set about tidying her cabin, since she had been less than circumspect in her ire. Shards of broken pottery lay everywhere, and the bunk had been pulled askew. She hastily swept up and straightened the bunk, her mind awhirl with possibilities.
***
Boromir barely kept himself from heaving the wooden cup at the door. Valar, but the woman was infuriating!
He settled back to his chair, musing. Had he learned anything from that encounter? Indeed he had. Number one, never underestimate one's opponent because she's female.
She seemed to know much about him, but he knew little of her. Only that she was brash, obnoxious, and possessed of a temper that would put even hardened soldiers of his acquaintance to shame.
What would Faramir do in his place? No doubt he would be able to win the woman with sweet words, but Boromir was no poet. And he was beginning to feel decidedly unarmed in a battle of wits against this girl.
He needed to find out what he could. He needed to know what he could use against her, if anything. And that was the rub. The only way possible to accomplish that would be to give her his sworn word that he would obey her rules. And that was something he wasn't yet prepared to do.
***
Aragorn, the Elessar, King of Gondor, sat brooding in his rooms, anger sharpening his senses. It had been a long time since anyone had provoked his wrath, and he was certain this time would be far more than a mere nettling of his temper.
Prince Imrahil had arrived with the dawn, full of news, and none of it good. It seemed that Boromir had been taken by the very pirates he was pursuing! The Valour's crew had been thoroughly questioned, and the truth of the matter was that Boromir had boarded their ship, lured in by the appearance of a lifeless vessel, adrift on the water, and been surprised by the crew, who had been concealed somewhere. His men had been released to return to Valour, released and set adrift in a small boat where they would undoubtedly be seen.
The sailors had spoken of the Sea Hawk, of how he had planned the capture in order to hold Boromir for ransom. But no formal demand had yet been received.
Aragorn rose to pace. His hands were tied until the formal demand came, for he had no notion of which direction the pirates had taken, nor where they were sheltering. It was certain they were not in Umbar, since Aragorn and the Corsairs had at least a nodding acquaintance, and they would never dare his wrath in this fashion.
Until he had a formal demand in his hands, he could do nothing. And that was the hardest thing of all.
TBC