Disclaimer: I own Gwennêl, Faervell and Faerlain. All other credit goes to JRR Tolkien himself! Any movie dialogue is a credit to Peter Jackson and his team of writers.

A/N: Thanks to my beta PopcornLeader and to my reviewers. Individual
Thank-you's are at the end. Enjoy the rest of the story....

Chapter 4: Osgiliath

It didn't take long for the company to reach the city. Luckily the weather
had been on their side, the sun was shining and there was a light breeze. They arrived at the city to be welcomed by Madril, Faramir's second in command. Faramir dismounted his horse, waiting to hear reports of Orc movement.

"Faramir, there have been sightings of at least a 100 orcs nearing the banks of the river," Madril began.

He continued, "They will be here soon, and although I think we have a chance of keeping them at bay, attacks will come nonetheless."

"The men will need to be ready, orcs have a tendency to ambush, we must be ready for them," Faramir said sternly.

"Faervell, prepare the men," he told his second in command.

"See that they are at their posts immediately."

"Yes, milord," Faervall said, turning on his heel to ready the men.

"Faramir, if their numbers are too great that we are unable to hold the city, we will need reinforcements. We must send word to Gondor," pleaded Madril.

"Have there been more sightings?" asked Faramir.

"Yes milord, more Orcs are headed this way," he replied. "Two parties, with at least a hundred in each."

"Very well, a messenger will be sent if we need reinforcements," said Faramir.

"But for now, just make sure we are ready, long have we kept the enemy at bay, and we will continue to do so."

"Yes, sir," Madril replied, making his way to prepare for an attack.

Gwennêl was at the archery range practising her skills. Ever since Faramir and her father had set out for Osgiliath 2 days ago, most of her time had been spent trying to master her skills of the bow.

"Gwen, will you ever remove yourself from here?" a voice came from behind her. She turned around to find her good friend Faerlain standing there with his arms folded across his chest.

"I am only trying to improve my skills, is it so bad that I am learning to
defend myself? A woman should learn to defend herself, especially in these dark times," she replied.

"Yes, that is a good thing, but must you spend every minute of your spare time here? You need to rest," he said, his voice carefully concealing an underlying tone of concern.

"I try to, but I cannot help fearing for my father and for Faramir, and our
people-" she began, but was cut off by Faerlain.

"We have known Faramir for a long time, he can defend himself, as your
father can. You are worrying for nothing, they are quite capable of defending themselves," he said. "Do not worry yourself."

"Perhaps you are right, if anything had happened we would have been told," she replied, feeling slightly better about the situation.

"Yes, now come, Boromir has invited us to dinner as the Steward has taken to locking himself in his study."

"Very well," she said, smiling lightly at her friend's concern for her. With that she went to get changed for dinner with Boromir.

"My Lord Faramir, Orcs are approaching from across the river!! There are too many, there is no way we will be able to hold them back!" Madril shouted to Faramir. "You must send word to Minas Tirith, we need reinforcements!"

"How many?" he asked.

"Around a hundred, maybe more, we cannot be certain," Madril replied.

"Faervell!" Faramir called.

"Sir?" he replied.

"I need you to send a rider to Minas Tirith and request more soldiers, then I need you to prepare the men for battle," he told him.

"Right away," Faervell replied, walking away to do as he was ordered.

Gwennêl was talking to Boromir and Faerlain about fighting when one of the guards stormed in on them.

"Lord Boromir, a rider has just arrived from Osgiliath requesting
reinforcements. There is an Orc attack and they fear they will be unable to hold them back," the soldier said in barely one breath.

Gwennêl froze, her heart started to beat faster and faster. Faerlain noticed her discomfort and gave her a worried look.

"Very well, gather as many men as we are able to, and get a message to my Father. We ride for Osgiliath as soon as possible," Boromir told the guard.

"Faerlain, I'm afraid we will need you, prepare to leave," Boromir said
sternly.

"I want to go with you," Gwennêl interjected.

"No, you need to stay here," Boromir said quickly.

"But my Father is out there. Boromir, I've lost most of my family, I will not lose him also," she said, tears stinging her eyes.

"I know, but you will always have us, the people need you here, you may be able to help with the healing," he said softly. "Everything will be all right"

With that Boromir turned on his heel to prepare for the journey ahead.
Faerlain put a brotherly hand on Gwen's shoulder, and followed the
Captain-General.

A/N: Had a bit of trouble with chapter for some reason.... ooh well! Review plzzz!!!!

Thank you's:

Voldie on varsity track- Thanks for the use of constructive critism!
Hopefully my story's layout is better now. Thanks for the review.

Popcornleader- Thankyou for being my beta!! luv yah!

Butterfly-elf- Thanks for the review! Glad you like the story.

Rosie26- Thanks or the review! I know there may be quite a few typos, but oh
well. I'll try and change them as soon as I can. I have a beta now as well!
. Thanks for the reviews.

Miranda.G- wow looooong review there. But it was helpful and thanks for
taking the time to review. This chapter may have some mistakes because my
beta's away I think... so I just posted it anyway because I'm going away soon.
Thanks for the review, hope the story picks up!

I'm away for a week so there wont be any updates until I get back, but I'll update as soon as I can when I return. Keep reviewing! =)