Man am I tired. Well we won today's debate, yay for us. And now all the past week's fatigue has come crashing down on me.

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CHAPTER 19 : She'll Never Come To Harm

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Aislin grinned to see Boromir attempt to carry out a conversation with Liana. Liana obviously was not very interested in what Boromir was saying; she was looking down at all the people walking around below. "Don't lean out too far, Liana, you wouldn't want to fall down that far," Aislin warned. Boromir immediately drew Liana closer to him, and Aislin smiled again to see him so protective. "It's so easy to worry about children, isn't it?" she asked him teasingly.

"Well, children are children," Boromir said. "And I still need to learn how to handle them."

Aislin rested her head on his shoulder. "You'll be just fine. You love her already, and that's enough. That's the most important part."

"I love you, Aislin."

"I know."

*&*

After lunch, Boromir and Aislin brought Liana to see Aislin's parents. They warmed up to the child immediately, accepting her as a granddaughter. "Such a sweet child," Aislin's mother said.

Aislin's father grinned at the couple. "Well… why don't you two just leave the child with us for awhile, let us get to know each other, and run off to enjoy yourselves for awhile? You'll have to get ready for a lot of work, bringing up a child!"

Aislin began to protest, but her parents just ushered the two out of the house. Boromir shrugged. "They seem to really like Liana, perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea to leave her with them for awhile. The girl doesn't look the slightest bit afraid, she'll be just fine with them." He laughed and took her hand. "Besides, it would be really nice to be just the two of us, wouldn't it?"

To that, Aislin had really no argument.

*&*

Faramir looked out the window once more. In the distance he could see the White Tower looming over everything else. He wondered idly how Liana was. No doubt she would be very well taken care of by Aislin and Boromir. But would she be haunted by the night she had gone through? He hoped not; such young children usually did not have such troubles, and he hoped that Liana was no exception.

He turned back to his book. Everything was very well taken care of in Osgiliath, and that gave him some free time for reading. Life seemed to be simple again, and he had no complaints. He just hoped that this would last, hoped that whatever was stirring in the east would just go on stirring forever and not emerge. But that was just ridiculous, the hope of a fool. One day he would have to lead his soldiers to fight, and to protect Osgiliath.

He made a vexed sound and snapped his book shut. Reading felt like the wrong thing to do everything he began thinking about the east. There were enough soldiers now to keep watch on the city, yes, but if there would come a time when he would need to defend Osgiliath, it was likely that there would not be enough. His father insisted that there was enough, and so far Boromir saw no problem with the numbers in Osgiliath, and so there was nothing he could do for now.

Keeping his book, he shook his head. There was nothing he could do for now.

*&*

Where is that girl? Marian shook her head. No, she shouldn't think of Aislin as a girl any longer. She was 32; she knew what she was doing now.

But does she? Going around with Captain Boromir all the time, whispering sweet nothings, holding hands… Marian shook her head again. It wasn't right. Well, of course her father was well respected, but Aislin was still just a serving girl, and serving girls did not fall in love with captains, much less the son of the Steward. Marian wondered just how much Lord Denethor knew. If he knew as much as I do, he'd definitely have done something about it by now.

Aislin was a good girl, and Captain Boromir a good man. If they had been anyone else, Marian would have greatly approved, and she herself would probably have made sure that they got married. But they were not just anyone else, and that was where the tragedy came in.

Marian sighed. She had known the both of them for such a long time. She had never really spoken to Captain Boromir, of course, but she had seen and served him since she was thirteen, and she knew his ways. Aislin, of course, had come under her wing many years ago, and she had seen that young slip of a girl blossom into a woman. She had known the both of them for so long, and had suspected, if not known, that they had taken notice of each other long before anything had really happened, even back when Captain Faramir had seemed to be courting Aislin. Now, that had been another good match, but would not have been allowed by the Steward either, though he would probably not take it as seriously as he would with Captain Boromir.

Why did it have to be like this?

*&*

"I can't believe I didn't go back to work!"

Boromir laughed. "I can't believe I didn't check on the men today. But I suppose that's all right; they're always ready, always well-prepared." He squeezed Aislin's hand. "Anyway, it's been a perfectly good day."

"Yes, it has… and it's getting dark now. We should go get Liana. We've left her too long," Aislin said, quickening her pace, and pulling Boromir along behind her.

*&*

Liana was very glad to see them, if not a little reluctant to leave Aislin's parents (who had obviously done all they could to make sure she had everything she could possibly ask for). She followed obediently as they began to walk back to the servants' quarters, but stopped when it got darker.

"What's wrong?" Aislin knelt down before the little girl, who was staring straight ahead into a little road.

"I don't want to go in there… there are bad people in there," Liana whispered, pointing. "He took Mama away… he'll take us too."

Something tugged at Boromir's heart, and he picked her up gently. "We'll be safe here, I promise, all right? I won't let anyone harm you," he told her. I'll never let anyone harm her, he thought to himself firmly.

Liana burrowed her head into Boromir's shoulder, not daring to look about her.

*&*

Ah I've finally finished the chapter! Hahaha took me one whole week to write it.