**Author's Notes:
First off I want to thank Fraulein Snuffles for pointing out that it wasn't set up to accept unsigned reviews. I now have it set up to accept anonymous reviews, so everyone that has been unable to review it that wanted to but couldn't because of that, can now leave a review. Flames will be deleted, and I don't mean constructive criticism, I mean flames... mean words said to just hurt. Also, ME132 calm down Sweetie, yes Eowyn loves Faramir and yes she was kissing on Boromir, but as a friend to comfort him and nothing more. Also Fraulein Snuffles, don't worry, this is a love story/drama/angst/comedy/fantasy... you name it, this story will have it. ME132 don't worry, everything is fine, keep reading, you have trusted us this far, keep trusting us, because what upsets you today may have you laughing tomorrow. ;) Now, on with the story! Remember, so far, we have no plan for when this will end, so this is only the beginning as far as that is concerned. = O **


***************Chapter 28***************


It is hours later and just after midnight when they arrive back at Edoras. Calling out to a few waiting guards he orders that the room Faramir had stayed in be prepared with a hot bath and clean linen. He orders the same for Eowyn's room. And that the healers be called as well. Then he climbs off his horse and carefully pulls his sister down into his arms. He carries her quickly into the Golden Hall and to her bed chambers. Once there he sets her down on the floor by the fire that had been kept lit incase of her return. He tells the guards to summon Monica and then to only let her and the healers in. Once the guard leaves he starts to undress Eowyn, taking a blanket from the bed to wrap her in while Monica, who had just come in, fills Eowyn's bath with warm water. "Monica? There is a man as well, Lord Faramir's brother. I will bathe Eowyn. You must tend to Lord Boromir. Yes....I know. I did not believe it myself till he was pulled into my view. Just....see he is taken care of." He watches as Monica leaves, then he gently takes the blanket off his sister and picks her up, placing her gently in the bath. He gently washes the dirt and grime off her, taking note of her injuries as they are uncovered. Her wrist looked the worst. "Oh Eowyn....I am so sorry." He ignores the tears as they course down his face.

She doesn't start to waken until her body starts to warm and turn pink in the bath. With a moan, her head rolls back and she blinks a few times. "Eomer?" she asks softly. She hears him answer her and she lifts her head to smile in the direction of his blurry face. "I am home? Really home?" She moves through the water, wrapping her arms around his neck as she sobs into it. "Oh Eomer, I didn't think that this would really happen." She had tried to hard to hold onto hope for Boromir, but now in the privacy of her bedroom, alone with her brother, she could speak her fears. "I was beginning to think that I had seen the last of you that afternoon we had lunch." She pulls back and lays weakly against the side of the tub, her eyes closing wearily. It had taken what energy she had left to hug him just then, she really couldn't seem to muster up enough to even finish her bath. So she lets her brother bath her, sighing when he washes her hair, feeling as if the grime of all the orcs was washing out of it. "What happened?" she asks softly, wanting to know what he had heard of her.

Eomer holds her when she hugs him, smiling softly at his sister. "Oh Eowyn. Do not worry. I am not. I am just happy you are home." He kisses her forehead, then goes back to washing her, smiling when she giggles at him running the cloth over the bottom of her foot. "Sorry." He finishes bathing her and then he gets her to stand up and lean against him as he dries her off. Finally he pulls her out of the tub and carries her over to her bed. He gently lays her on it and then gets her one of her flannel night gowns. He dresses her then kisses her forehead again. "I am going to get you some broth and warm wine. It will help you, Wyn." He smiles at her sleepy nod and then gets up, pulling off his wet armor as he walks to the door. Opening it he looks out at the guard. He had two watching Eowyn's door and two watching Boromir's. "The Lady needs a bowl of broth and a glass of warm wine. Have the kitchen help bring some as well to Lord Boromir's room. Then return to your post." The guard, nods and rushes off to deliver the message. Turning to the other guard he nods to him. "Bring me a change of dry clothes please." The guard, a friend of his as most were, nods and asks how Eowyn was. "She is tired and has a broken wrist I fear, but she is better than the Lord Boromir. Go now." He smiles at the man and then walks back into the room. He sighs and sits on the bed beside his sister, only getting up long enough to get his dry clothes from the guard and change into them. Then he sits once again beside the sleeping Eowyn. The healers should arrive soon he hoped. He had been told that there was a birth happening somewhere in the village and it had gone bad so both healers were busy at the time.

She drifts in and out of sleep, waking when Eomer sits on the bed again. She carefully moves over and with her good hand she pats the bed next to her. "Hold me, Eomer." She was glad she didn't have to explain why, it was as if he knew, for he laid down instantly next to her and she curls up against his side. In his protective arms she felt safe and she knew she would finally be able to sleep fully. Ever since they were little her brother had protected her, yet played with her as well, fake sword battles and sparing matches as they grew older. They had grown close because they had had only each other. Each one protecting the other fiercely, and it would always be so.

"I am sorry if I scared you, Brother," she says softly, her voice thick with sleep. "I was stupid and did not take my sword. But it was one of the men that betrayed me, Garron. He drew me away from the others and hit me from behind." So far Eomer hadn't asked details, yet he still hadn't given any either. He said he wasn't worried, but she was. Then another thought hits her and her eyes go up to Eomer's. "Faramir?" she asks softly, worry on her brow.


He holds her close, listening to her as he shakes his head. "I suspected something of the sorts when he did not return with you. I thought either he knew something or was behind it. I have a patrol out searching for him because he will pay for this treason!" He kisses her on the top of the head then smiles. "Do not worry. He will be here. When you went missing, I decided to send a rider to him. The fastest rider we have, Eowyn. He should have the message by noon. And knowing Faramir he will be off an hour later." He looks up as the door opens and a healer comes in. "Where is Mordia?" The healer, Mathias, informs Eomer that Mordia was tending to the Lord Boromir. Nodding, Eomer gets up and allows the healer to look over Eowyn. "There is broth and warm wine coming for her. I will return. I wish to check on the Lord Boromir." He waits until the healer dismisses him, then he leaves the room and goes to the room across from his. Looking inside he notices Monica showing the healer some of Boromir's wounds. He watches, nodding to the two women when he is noticed. When the healer turns to him and tells him there didn't seem to be much hope for Boromir he shakes his head. "Do not tell me this. There is always hope. Do everything you can for him. My sister would not with her Love's brother to die before Lord Faramir could see him alive again."

She is awake when the healer goes to set her wrist, but not for long. She can't help it, she screams, a scream that can be heard down the hall, then passes out. The pain had just been too much. She would sleep now for some time before waking, her body trying to heal as much as possible in that time.

He hears the scream and rushes out of the room, leaving Boromir in the capable hands of the healer Mordia and Monica. He runs down the hall to Eowyn's room, rushing inside. "Mathias!!! What happened?" He is told that it was merely the pain of having to set her wrist. With a sigh he nods and walks over to the bed. Sitting behind her, he props Eowyn up against his chest and holds her like that while the healer, after mixing some herbs in with the hot broth, starts to spoon feed her the liquid. When he is done feeding the broth to Eowyn, the healer informs Eomer that she was out of danger. He had put a splint on her wrist and wrapped it so it would heal properly, and the herbs he mixed with the broth should keep any fever she might get away. Now all they could do was let her rest and keep feeding her warm broth every few hours. With a nod, Eomer sets Eowyn back down gently on the bed and kisses her forehead before drawing her blankets up around her and leaving the room, though the door he leaves open a little so the guards could see in. He wasn't worried about the two guards. They were fiercely loyal to Eowyn and himself. So he knew he could trust them watching over his sister. Moving down the hall he enters Boromir's room, watching as Mathias moves to help Mordia with Boromir. "How is Lord Boromir? You did a good job Monica. If you do not mind, I would like you to stay with Lord Boromir tonight. I will be watching over my sister." He smiles when Monica nods, then turns his attention to the healers as he hears a hiss of pain come from Boromir. "What?" Mordia informs him that the wounds were severe but Boromir could survive. But it would be a long road to recovery, that is if he survived the night. With a deep sigh he nods and listens as they list off the many wounds and injuries. Shaking his head he frowns. "If he does die, it must be after his brother has seen him alive." He sees the nod. "I will be in Eowyn's room if anyone needs me." He leaves the room, stopping and holding the door open for the kitchen staff who passes with a bowl of broth and cup of warm wine. Hopefully Boromir would survive. He makes his way back to Eowyn's room and lays down on the other side of her bed. He kicks off his boots and pulls the blanket at the end of her bed up over him. He had slept beside her before, when she would have nightmares, so this was no big deal for anyone to see.


Monica nods to her King and leaves the room, heading down the halls towards the room that Lord Boromir had been taken too. When she arrives there she finds the men had laid him out on the bed. She shakes her head at them. "Pick him up, we don't want to get the bed wet. Help me." She moves to his side as they lift him up into a sitting position. Once there, she undresses the Lord with the men's help. Then ordering them to get him into the tub before ordering them out of the room, she can't help but keep shaking her head at them. "As if you hadn't undressed a man before, you need to be more gentle." But she was talking to no one, for she was kneeling by the tub, the man propped up against the side as she takes a wash cloth and soap to him, shaking her head at each cut and bruise that it exposes. "You surely are in a sorry shape, Lord. I will have to call them in to get you out as well, but not until I get you cleaned and soaked though."

Boromir starts to come around as the warmth from the bath water seeps into his bones, warming him effectively. But he is more in a daze than awake. He looks at her but can't make her out, his vision blurry. He moans out a name softly, that sounds very much like Eowyn, before he falls unconscious again. He doesn't feel himself being lifted from the bath or being placed on the bed and dressed in some clean clothes, given by a guard that was his size. He also doesn't feel a blanket being drawn up over him or the soft caress of a hand on his fevered brow. For he did have a fever, not only from the cold he had developed but also because his shoulder wound had become infected.

When he is clean and in bed she sit by his side, taking a cloth from the bowl nearby and wiping it across his brow. Monica keeps this up, wringing it out with fresh cold water before moving it across his brow and over his chest and neck. She watches him sleep, having never seen Boromir before, yet fascinated by his look. What was it about him that drew her to him? She had no right looking at a Lord in such a manner, she was but a handmaiden. But she could not help it, there was something about him, that tugged at her heart strings