Disclaimer: LOTR or Silmarillion don't not belong to me, they are all the property of Professor Tolkien, and this applies to the next several chapters. I'm too lazy to write a disclaimer for every chapter. P
Day 7
Éowyn sat in her room waiting for the lady in waiting to finish brushing her hair, when a knock came from her door. The lady in waiting was about to open the door, when Éowyn told her to the retrieve her starry mantle instead. Éowyn arose from her chair to open the door and found Faramir at the door.
"Faramir, what brings you here?" she asked surprised. "Am I late, for our daily engagement?"
"Not at all, in fact, it is quite early. There seems to be more clouds in the sky this morning."
"The darkness only seems to continue growing each day," Éowyn agreed.
Éowyn's gaze fell on to the neatly folded colored material in Faramir's arms.
"Yes, the weather seems to be getting colder, and I believe these raiment would be more suitable for the colder weather." He held the dresses out to Éowyn.
"Thank you, Faramir. You did not have to bring them to me yourself. You could have had one of the maids bring them to me," Éowyn said, as she took the clothes from Faramir and gave it to the lady in waiting.
"I did not wish to bother the maids, from other important task, such as tending to a fair lady, to oblige a task I can easily do myself." Éowyn blushed at his reply. "Do not let me keep you from dressing. I shall see you later." Faramir excused himself with a bow and left. Éowyn could not help but smile at Faramir's sincerity.
"My lady?" The lady in waiting asked patiently.
Éowyn looked at the three elegant frocks that were now laid out on the bed. Éowyn looked at the beautifully detailed patterns embossed onto the pale golden dress. Her hands grazed over the smooth soft material of the simple white frock with gold flowers embroidered along the neckline and long draping sleeves. She turned and looked at the blue starry mantle still in the lady in waiting hand, and decided she would wear the third dress, which was a light blue frock with silver trimmings and beads along the neckline.
Faramir was sitting on the marble bench when he saw Éowyn approach wearing the light blue gown and starry mantle he gave her.
"I believe the sun has finally appeared from the behind the clouds," Faramir said, as he stood up to greet Éowyn.
Éowyn blushed. "The sun has not appeared. It is only I, Éowyn," she said taking his hand as he led her to sit down on the marble bench beside him. She looked curiously at the book in Faramir's hand. "What are you reading?"
"Remember the stories my mother told me when I was a young boy?" Éowyn nodded. "This was one of the books she read from. I remember eagerly waiting each day for her to continue reading a tale, while Boromir would eagerly ask her to skip to the great battles," Faramir said smiling at his childhood memories.
"May I?" Éowyn asked as she took the book from Faramir. She started to flip through the book and found various titles written in a neat delicate script and illustrations meticulously drawn and colored.
Éowyn continued flipping until she stopped at a page and began to read. "The Tale of Beren and Luthien. I believe I recall you saying this one was of your favorite tales."
"Yes, shall I read it to you?" Faramir offered.
Éowyn flipped through the book to find the end of the tale. "The tale is quite long," she said.
"It is not long, in fact, you will find it too short, after I finish," Faramir said taking the book into his own hands and began reading. "Among the tales of sorrow and of ruin that come down to us from the darkness of those days there are yet some in which amid weeping there is joy under the shadow of death light that endures…"
As Faramir read, Éowyn listened to Faramir's voice reciting the tale of immortal love and adventure. Éowyn moved to sit closer to Faramir so she could read along with Faramir. This did not go unnoticed by Faramir, for he placed the book between them allowing Éowyn to hold one side of the book and him the other as he continued reading.
After they finished the Tale of Beren and Luthien, Éowyn decided to return Faramir's kind gesture by reading the Music of the Ainur and a couple other short tales.
"It is a pity that Sauron was not destroyed in the Ages before, because of past failures we are also doomed to fail," Éowyn said after they finished reading several tales.
"I do not believe that these tales speak of the failures, for in many of the tales, it seems as though hope prevailed and outshone the darkness," Faramir said and looked with hope into Éowyn's eyes. "Come, shall we read another?" Éowyn nodded and found a tale that spoke of the Simarils.
The pair spent the rest of the day reading of the past and its lore, so they could forget the uncertain future that lay before them.