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!
***Boromir sat up as the door opened again and the Sea Hawk returned. She again assumed her seat on the chair and raised an eyebrow at him. "Have you reconsidered your position here?" she asked politely.
Boromir pointedly returned to his prone position on the bunk, refusing to return her gaze. "If you mean will I give you my word not to attempt escape, I will not," he replied tightly. "I cannot."
"Not even if it means your brother's life?" the pirate threw back at him nonchalantly. "Even now, there is an agent in Minas Tirith, waiting for my signal. If you refuse to cooperate, Boromir, I will send word and Faramir will join your father in the Silent Street."
Boromir came upright in a blur of movement, his left hand tightening around her throat so quickly she had no time to cry out. He pushed her against the wall, holding her there, letting her see very closely the rage in his face. "You will not harm my brother, or by the Valar, I will kill you myself and slowly, so slowly you beg for death," he hissed.
"Release me," she demanded, though her voice was hoarse from the pressure on her throat. "Or my first mate will send the signal."
He held her gaze, green eyes boring into brown, until he was convinced she spoke the truth. He felt despair welling up inside him, despair that he could not protect his brother, despair that this woman, this wench should have such a hold on him. Slowly, he forced his fingers to unclench from her throat, knowing as he did so that she now owned him. He could no more risk his brother than he could stop breathing.
"What is it you want of me," he asked, his voice tired. His despair threatened to overwhelm him, until he remembered. He had overcome Death itself, to mention the most obvious obstacle. He would overcome this, and find a way to save his brother.
"Nothing that you cannot do, Boromir. I have no wish to break you. Merely to control you, that no one gets hurt any further by this. If you had simply given me your word, none of this would have been necessary." The pirate moved away from him, conspicuously not rubbing her throat. "I want your sworn word that you will not try to escape, and that you will cause no mayhem among my crew. In turn, I shall swear to you that you shall be treated well, unharmed, and in general returned in the same shape I took you aboard in. Do we have a bargain?"
Boromir nodded slowly. "I will abide by your rules of conduct." His voice was soft, yet harsh. "You have given me little choice, Fileg, and mark my words, when this is over, you will regret threatening my brother." He moved away from her to reclaim his place on the bunk.
"And I have given my word that you shall be well treated. For instance, you are free to move about the ship, now. Explore her to your heart's content. We will make landfall by dawn tomorrow, and there you will have free run of my camp." She gazed at him speculatively. "It's a pity you're such an honorable man. You'd make a grand pirate." And with that cryptic statement, she left him to think.
TBC