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A/N: I'm a typical updating queen... Three chapters in one day. I promise to keep you in the suspense for the last chapter --winks--
The garden of the House of Healing was quiet and peaceful. Faramir and I sat on a stone bench in the bright sun. The color was beginning to return to his pale cheeks. He had a long strip of bandage running around his chest and shoulder where the arrows had stuck him.

"Why did the Warden bind your hand?" I asked, indicating the burnt one.

"I keep bursting the blisters," he said under his breath.

A breath of wind swept into the garden and rocked the poplars that sprouted there. We could see the Field of Pelennor. Dead bodies still littered the field. It was still a smoking ruin. Orcs and Haradswere tossed into an enormous pile and burnt according to Rohirrim tradition.The oliphaunts wereleft there to bloat and decay.The dead Riders and horses were burnt with honor. The smell of burning flesh mingled for days.

Faramir took a deep breath and commented, "This is the first breath of fresh wind in the last week."

True. The wind brought the smell of flowers...not from Minas Tirith. From the Gap of Rohan, maybe. No flowers have grown in Minas Tirith since the days of Ecthelion's youth. Maybe orcs poisoned the ground.

The Warden came up to Faramir and I. "M'lord," he said softly. "Lady Eowyn would like to speak with you. Her handmaiden Raya is with her. Should I send the servant away?"

"Nay. Let them both in and leave us," said Faramir. He gave a great sigh and yanked at a stray string coming from the hem of his grey linen shirt.

Lady Eowyn was beautiful. She had gold hair spilling in slightly frizzy curls down to her waist. Her grey eyes were stern and cold. She donned a white velvet dress. Her arm was in a sling. She bowed slightly. Faramir rose and both of us bowed.

And then she took a step to her left...

And I saw her.

Raya. The name meant 'The Unfortunate Lass'. If I were her mother, I would have named her Kana, meaning 'The Most Beautiful'.

Raya is even more beautiful than her mistress. She had black waves to her waist and dark blue eyes. In the sunlight, they looked like two scraps of dark blue velvet. Black hair was uncommon among the Rohirrim. Perhaps her mother or father is of Gondor, where darker hair is more common. She had pale pink lips that curled up slightly in her fair face. She was not as finely dressed as Lady Eowyn. She wore a brown linen dress.

"My Lord Faramir," said Lady Eowyn. "I have a request."

"I will do it, m'lady, if it is within my power, for I have not taken up my place in the city," Faramir said. I could tell he was doing all in his willpower to keep his knees from buckling under him. I bit back a laugh. The two nobles strolled to a shadier part of the garden, leaving Raya and I alone.

Finally, Raya said in the tongue of the Rohirrim, "Are you Eorl?"

"Aye. Did the Warden tell you that?"

"Aye."

"Could we speak in the Common Tongue? Though I know this tongue, I am more fluent in the Common Tongue." I saw amusment in those eyes of her.

"Aye," she said in the Common Tongue. "Pray, tell. How did you come to know the tongue of my people?"

"My mother is of Rohan," I said.

"Ah. Are you Lord Faramir's handservant?"

"Oh no! I am his..." I thought of a past conversation with Faramir. "... brothers. Not bioligical brothers, mind you. We have been friends for many a-year."

"I know. Ioreth told me when you were little children, you slipped spiders into the soldier's armor and hog-greased the Ranger's saddles," Raya said. I thought she was trying ever so hard not to laugh. I couldn't help blushing. I had to change the subject.

"The only Rohirrim in this city are the Riders and Lady Eowyn who hid disguised herself as a lad. Did you disguise yourself too?"

"Nay. Lady Eowyn sent word for me to come. Her brother Eomer, Marshall of the Mark, was displeased. It was a dangerous journey, with many orcs guarding the known roads. My guide and I had to come by boggy paths. I am glad to be here, for Merry Brandybuck the Hobbit is in this city too. I have grown fond of him."

I am glad you came, I thought to myself, for I could get acquainted with you Raya-the-Beautiful.

"Why aren't you riding out with the rest of the men to the Morgul Vale?" Raya asked.

I indicated my bandage that still wound around my head. "Lord Aragorn says I am not fit to ride out." I rolled up my sleeves and showed her my burnt arms. The skin was browned by the heat. The scars will be there forever, joining with the white lines of battle. Raya smiled with symphathy.

Raya sat next to me on the bench. We watched the two nobles as they walked in the shade. Lady Eowyn came over. "Come Raya. Let us go."

The maid stood up and winked playfully at me as she disappeared down the stairs.

Faramir let out a whistle.

"What are you whistling at? I can tell you like Lady Eowyn too," I said and punched his shoulder lightly. Faramir punched me back and we ended up scuffling on the floor.

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We saw Lady Eowyn three days later. My scuffle with Faramir had burst his stiches. He had to get his wounds restiched and now, he was pale again from the henbane they had given him to kill the pain.

The Warden was swearing and cursing as he sewed Faramir up. "Imagine! Two grown men wrestling like boys. If this wound bursts again, I'm not stiching it up again. I have better things to do."

Faramir had tried to protest through the strip of leather between his teeth. Instead, it had come out as a garble of nonsense and streams of saliva.

Faramir and I were playing chess when Lady Eowyn came up the stairs. She had a small smile on her face as she bowed to Faramir. Her sling was gone. I left my seat. Raya had her hair in a tight knot.

"Come Raya," said I. "Come. I want to show you something."

I led her up a flight of stairs to a higher level of the garden. It overlooked the entire city of Minas Tirth. I could see Osgiliath. The sky was blue and clouds were scarce. Raya's mouth opened a little. She threw her head back and her hair slipped out of the knot and spilled down her shoulders.

"It's beautiful, Eorl. I swear we can see the Gap of Rohan or maybeevenEdorasfrom here," she said and shielded her eyes against the Sun. "Look! There is an eagle, high up. No, three of them! Look how graceful they are."

I looked up. True enough, three black specks flew across the blue vault of the sky. They flew faster than most eagles.

"Faramir and I used to come up here, after his father had reprimended him. He always felt better when he stood up here," I said.

"Then Lady Eowyn should come up here," Raya said. "She has never been the same since her uncle King Theoden died. She has been withdrawn and lonely. Lord Eomer can do little to help her." She looked over her shoulder and gave a great cry. "Look, Eorl! Look!"

I turned and looked. My mouth dropped open at the sight I saw.

Faramir had Lady Eowyn in her arms. His mouth was pressed against hers. Lady Eowyn's arms was wrapped around his neck. I laughed and laughed and hooted with more laughter. Raya was giggling. Faramir's cheeks turned red but he did not turn to look at me. Many people must have seen them. He didn't care. He was in love. Love is copatetic, like my father used to say.

And then my captain took Lady Eowyn's hand in his. He led her downstairs. Raya and I doubled over with laughter.