Ellowyn Tinuviel: Yes, she is thick. There are similarities between Denethor and a mother bear. The most noticeable: the both wear heavy clothes. You'll find out about the visitor. Don't worry, I won't be able to keep Eomer out of this for long.

Lirenel: Wow: another review from you! I have so much respect for your writing. It is a real honor to get reviews from you. I'm glad you are interested!

Nina: I admit it: I'm a sucker for almost any canon romance. This one is my favorite, but I found myself drifting into a lot of A/A in it. :-) Not much, but there is a little. I hope you keep liking it!

Chapter Thirteen

            "Mae govennen, Mellonin!" Greetings, my friend. Aragorn cried to the elf wearing the insignia of Rivendell.

            "Mae govennen, Heru Aragorn," Greetings, Lord Aragorn, The elf replied nervously. He had an odd accent.

            "Nayes man vinyar tielhiel lye eva Minas Tirith esteln," 'Tis good news drawing you to Minas Tirith I hope, Aragorn said gravely.

            "Nay," The elf responded in Common Speech, "I merely wanted to visit with mellonin Arwen ere I sail to the undying lands. I was half hoping that perhaps here I would find a reason to remain. I am not quite ready to sail, but I tire already of Middle-Earth."

            Aragorn nodded his understanding. "'Tis not an easy choice to make," he agreed.

            "Tielhathon lye sinome?" I will bring you inside? Aragorn asked.

            "Aye, thank you Milord."

            Aragorn nodded.

            "Estel? Who is there?" A voice cried over the courtyard. It was followed by, "Belegthon! Belegthon! O, 'tis so good to see you!"

            The two elves embraced warmly. Aragorn stood back and watched them in their happiness. He wondered again if he should have let Arwen marry someone of her own race. That way she wouldn't have to diminish in a different country than anything she had ever known. He loved her, and he wanted the best for her. How was bringing her to this stone city the best thing for her?

            "Estel, this is my old friend, Belegthon. Belegthon, this is my future husband, Es...I mean Aragorn.

            Wonder overtook Belegthon's eyes. "It is true then?" He asked in that strange accent of his. Aragorn could not place it, for it was well disguised, but not quite right. Where had he heard that accent before?

            "Yes, 'tis true. I am to marry the future king of Gondor. And I love him with all my heart," Arwen replied, looking at Aragorn, admiration making her eyes sparkle. All doubts about whether he should have brought her here disappeared in Aragorn's mind, never to return. Well, not until his wedding day that is, but that was understandable.

            "O, well, perhaps you are tired, Belegthon. You had a long ride. Would you like for me to show you where you can freshen up and lay down, or would you prefer me to show you where you could eat?" Aragorn asked.

            "Thank you, Milord. Could you show me my rooms, and tell me where I could eat afterward?" The elf asked with a glance in Arwen's direction. She gave an almost invisible nod, and Aragorn wondered for a minute if he had really seen anything. But he knew that he had seen her nod to the elf. Was there some sort of trick going on? Was this elf part of Arwen's secret. Was he the secret?

            That was ridiculous. Why would Arwen travel all the way to Gondor and leave her father and his people, and not truly love him? It was nonsense.

            "Gladly." He then motioned the elf to follow him, and lead the way to a guest chamber.

            There was another strange thing about this elf. He almost seemed to prefer Common Speech to Elvish, which was extremely odd. He wondered if there were any answers to all these strange questions. But every question had an answer. And he knew which reference he could turn to, in order to get those answers.

(new scene)

            "Eowyn! What am I going to do? Estel is pestering me constantly! He won't let me off!"

            "What is he pestering you about?"

            "He knows I know the secrets surrounding the new arrival, an elf named Belegthon. He knows! If he keeps this up, then I'll have to surrender and all could be lost!"

            "Look, Arwen, I don't really have time for this. Natalie is still sick, and I have to go see to her. Just avoid him. That's what every other girl does when she doesn't want to talk to someone. Avoid him. Spend your days in the village, stitching with the ladies, complaining, whatever women of Gondor do."

            Arwen cocked her head when Eowyn said complaining, and the younger woman tilted her head sharply to one side, and then started rubbing her neck to cover up for it.

            Arwen looked down the hall to see Niphredil approaching. Eowyn smiled at her.

            "Got to go see to Natalie."

            And then she was gone.

            Arwen turned to face Niphredil on her own.

            "Niphredil!" She cried out. "How are things faring for you?"

            "Oh, I'm doing so well. I complained about everything today. I made everybody laugh at the supper table when I asked for no lettuce on my salad, and then I complained that they forgot the lettuce! Everyone laughed. Well, except Faramir. He looked at his father, as though he wanted to laugh, but he didn't think his father would approve," Niphredil said excitedly.

            "That's wonderful Niphredil, Really wonderful. I think you will definitely win if you keep it up like you are doing. Though, Lady Quessefin might beat you, she has done some pretty amazing feats with her complaining. They say that she has won every single year since she began, when she was eighteen. 'Twould be a good thing for you to humble her a bit," she said, though she thought, No wonder Faramir didn't laugh. He was probably more concerned about how insane his future wife might be to care how funny she was. He was probably looking to his father to see if Denethor was yet adamant that he marry her.

Niphredil drifted away in a fantasy, much to Arwen's relief. Then she heard a CRASH! And turned around to see what had happened. Aragorn and Denethor had been walking, and Niphredil had drifted right into them.

            "Watch where you are going next time!" Niphredil shouted.

            Aragorn nearly laughed. "Milady, we were, but we couldn't get out of the way in time ere you walked right into us."

            "You dare blame a lady? How dare you!" she sniffed. And then she walked away with her head held high. Suddenly, Eowyn's words came back to Arwen. Avoid him. So she walked quickly away.

(new scene)

            When Eowyn entered Natalie's room, she saw that someone had already beat her to it.

            "I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit you for so long. The last five days have been terribly hectic for me. I assume you heard about Niphredil" The man sitting by Natalie's side said.

            "Don't worry about it. I'll soon be up and about again. I just suddenly fell truly sick after a left you and Eowyn. You knew I felt bad before, afterward I felt terrible. I'll be better soon though," Natalie replied.

            Eowyn knew immediately who Natalie's other visitor was. It was of a matter of course Faramir. Eowyn gulped under her breath. She really didn't want to talk to Faramir at the time, particularly not in front of Natalie. She didn't want attention diverted from the sick woman to other issues that were also nigh at hand. Slowly, she turned to slip out of the room, without making any noise.

She had her hand on the doorknob when it turned on its own. Suddenly, Eowyn was hit in the head with the opening door.

"Ow!" She cried as it hit her, flinging her to the ground where she hit the back of her head on the wall.

"Lady Eowyn?" the criminal asked.

"Of course it is Lady Eowyn!" she snapped back.

"Oh, dear. I'm terribly sorry, I did not realize that anyone was there," the man replied. "I was simply going to check on my comrade, on orders from Beregond,"

"Steady now, let me see your head. You could have been injured," a new voice said. Eowyn relaxed as someone took her head in his hands and examined her head.

"I'm fine! Really! Don't worry about me..." She protested as she relaxed. "really" And that was the last thing she knew.

(new scene)

            Eowyn slowly came to. The first thing she noticed was that it didn't seem to be morning. She hated waking up in the middle of the night. She rarely fell back asleep after that.

She then realized that she was not lying on her normal bed. She was lying in a strange room, and on a strange bed.

"Thank goodness you are awake!" someone to her right whispered. "We were worried that you would go into a bad case of a coma."

"Faramir? Where am I?" She asked.

"You are in my room. I didn't want to go into your room without permission, and Aragorn said not to take you to the healers yet. He was here up until just a minute ago, if it makes you feel any better. You see, he found out about Natalie. He said that he wanted to check her himself."

Eowyn nodded. He still thought she loved Aragorn. That was bad news. Then again, if he ended up marrying Niphredil, it could be a good thing. She didn't want him to know she loved him if he was to be married.

"How do you feel?" Faramir asked, concern creeping though his voice.

Eowyn sat up, and moved her head from side to side. "I think I'll be ok, but I don't really know yet. I'm sort of dizzy," she decided.

"That is understandable," Faramir said.

"What now?" Eowyn asked.

"What do you mean what now?" Faramir asked just as bluntly.

Eowyn blushed. "I don't know. I just...I was thinking about something else sort of. I suppose I should go."

"If you feel well enough to walk."

"Of course I do!" Eowyn exclaimed. This only made her head hurt worse.

She pulled herself from the bed, and stood. She swayed and her brain buzzed. She could think of nothing. All she felt was the vibration running through her head. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the dizziness was gone, and Eowyn realized that Faramir was holding her.

"You nearly fell," he explained.

"Oh," she said with a blush.

"If you wish to go to your room, I'll take you there myself. I don't want you walking down the halls in this condition. Especially with Gr...grim people out in the night." Eowyn didn't have the mental strength to ponder the strangeness of Faramir's words.

Faramir more carried than helped Eowyn down to her own room. Eowyn found herself loath to let him leave. She knew she would never fall asleep, and she didn't want to face the darkness alone.

"Is everything alright, Milady?" Faramir asked, sensing her regret.

"Oh, yes. I just don't...don't usually sleep well after I wake up in the middle of the night. I don't really like lying awake and thinking, and facing the darkness of the night."

Faramir smiled. "Then don't face the darkness. Face the starlight. The stars make it easy to fall asleep."

Eowyn smiled her gratitude, but she still didn't think it would help.

"Would it help if I stayed for a while? Maybe I could sing, that seems to usually tire you..."

"Thank you Faramir. That is a very kind offer. However, I'm sure you need your sleep," Eowyn replied, wishing that he would stay anyway.

"Don't worry about my sleep, 'tis yours I for which I fear."

"Well, in that case, I suppose you may stay if you wish, as long as you like," Eowyn said.

Faramir helped Eowyn to her bed, and then went to the other end of the room and opened the shutters for her. That way, she could see the stars from her bed.

Eowyn was already dizzy, so she barely remembered Faramir's song. It was something in Elvish.

Este si, Melnin, este.

Le man na vana,

Le man na beleg, este.

Nuvailye man, esse i met.

Nuvailye man, esse i re tielhiel.

Translation:

Sleep now, My love, sleep.

You who is fair,

You who is strong, sleep.

All will be well in the end.

All will be well in the day drawing.