Disclaimer: I do not own any characters created by J.R.R. Tolkien (such as Boromir, Faramir, or Denethor). I own only Hallahiriel, the former Barmaid of Dol Amroth, Thaurelda, Corerith, Aethlien, Airigoniel, Ascafenien, Lady Brumwen, Therassa, Owynvan and Gweddyn.
The story is set in 3011, seven years before The Fellowship of the Ring. Boromir is 33 and Faramir is 28. Hallahiriel happens to be 26.
The Continuing Story of Hallahiriel, the Former Barmaid of Dol Amroth
By Leah Pensotti
Chapter Twelve: The Rescue
Boromir nudged his horse to run faster, the tracks were leading to Lebennin as Therassa had advised. They had found shreds of Hallahiriel's dress on branches, indicating that the company had rode hard and fast through the night.
He would skewer Owynvan if he touched Hallahiriel or harmed her. If one copper-colored hair was out of place, Owynvan would find himself on the very unforgiving end of Boromir's sword. Once in the realm of Lebennin, Boromir could hear his heart beating in his ears.
The tracks sectioned off near the banks of Gilran and they followed them until they disappeared into a forest. Boromir pulled his horse to a stop and Faramir and Theoden stopped beside him and they all scanned the space between the trees.
"No more tracks." Theoden spoke lowly and Boromir nodded, clearly deep in thought.
"Leave the horses here. We will go on foot to the mouth of the river. Faramir, have some of the Rangers keep watch here. Be prepared for battle at a moments notice." Faramir nodded and he carried out what his brother had commanded. Theoden, Theodred and Eomer followed Boromir as he dismounted from his horse and each rested his hand on the hilt of his sword.
When Faramir returned, the five of them led ten Rangers and ten Rohirrim to the banks of the Gilran. As they approached, Boromir noticed that the river forked off into a rocky cave. He heard the cries of tethered horses and quickly led his company back into the cover of the trees.
He pointed to the left where Owynvan and his men's horses where tied, grazing on the nearby grass.
"They're here, in the cave. Here is where the tracks end." Faramir could see the eagerness in Boromir's eyes, the leadership in battle was something that his brother was uncannily good at. Boromir's wheels were turning, a plan was coming into fruition quickly.
"What will you have us do, Boromir? There could be many caverns inside. How do we attack and ensure that Hallahiriel is not harmed?" Faramir looked at his brother intensely.
"I have a feeling that this whole situation is more about me than it is Hallahiriel. Owynvan will not allow her to be hurt. In some distorted way, he truly does care about her. However, he does mean to harm me. I was the one that embarrassed him and took away Halla. If I could distract him with King Theoden and some of the men in the front, then you, Eomer and Theodred could go in through the back and get Halla undetected. I doubt he even considered that there is a way through the back because it is not guarded."
Faramir looked to Theoden, Theodred and Eomer, who all nodded in agreement that the plan could possibly work. Faramir turned back to his brother and gave him a wry smile.
"It is agreed, then."
Boromir unsheathed his sword and readied his shield; he knew that the mission was dangerous, but he was looking forward to putting an end to Owynvan and his delusions of grandeur. Theoden put on his helm and called the Rohirrim to his and Boromir's aid. Before he, Theodred and Eomer departed with the Rangers to the other end of the cave, Faramir placed a hand on his brother's arm.
"Be strong, Boromir, but be safe. Halla and your children need you." Boromir gave Faramir a reassuring smile.
"I will see you on the other side. Have my horse ready and keep Halla close." Boromir slapped his brother on the back and watched as the others began to the back of the cave. He turned to the men that were to go with he and Theoden and spoke lowly.
"It is time. Make yourself aware and keep your weapons at hand."
Hallahiriel had been struggling with her bound wrists for an hour, making no progress. If she could only weave one finger through on piece of rope and loosen it, her hands would be free. The cave was lit only by the torch that was lit by Owynvan and the air was so thick and dusty that it was suffocating.
She felt dust and dirt settling in her nostrils and she coughed frequently as she tried to set herself free. A strong, bald mercenary that Owynvan had bid to keep watch over her, twirled a dagger in his hand idly as he lounged against the cavern wall. Hallahiriel turned her thumb upward and into the knot and pulled the other way, hoping that the piece of rope she was pulling on would give.
She focused all of her energy on it and honed all of her emotion on getting free and returning to her daughters. Boromir would come for her, she knew it in her heart.
At that moment, the resistance in the rope eased and her wrists were given an inch more room to move. Hallahiriel hid her excitement as not to alert her watcher and attempted to liberate herself completely.
All she needed was a little more room.
Owynvan suddenly appeared at the cavern's entrance with a blue, velvet bundle in his arms. Hallahiriel ceased her movements completely, slouched against the cavern wall and did her best to feign helplessness. Owynvan smiled down at her as he approached and she wanted no more than to knock his legs from beneath him and then snatch out his eyes.
"I thought you may need this for warmth, dearest." Owynvan dropped the cloak at her feet and Hallahiriel smirked at him. Owynvan had gone completely mad.
"Actually it is quite warm in here." Hallahiriel hoped that she sounded sharp. She was angry and Owynvan's delusions were becoming annoying. He looked at her, the smile still prominent on his face and shook his head.
"You know, I believe you're right. I shall leave it here for you, nonetheless. We won't be staying here long, Halla. A long journey is ahead of us and when we reach our destination we are to be wed." Hallahiriel's eyes burned angrily and she spat at him.
"I am already married, Owynvan. To Boromir and none other. I will never betray my vows to him, I would die first." Her words seemed to bounce off of him without even making a mark. Owynvan knelt down beside her and ran the back of his hand against her cheek.
"We do not have to worry about that; where we are going they do not adhere to or care about the rules of men."
Hallahiriel's eyes narrowed and searched Owynvan's soulless ones for a hint of sanity or reality–but there was none. Where was he taking her? There were no men there?
Wherever Owynvan's destination was, Hallahiriel realized that her only chance for escape was in the cavern. She pulled away from his touch, it was poisonous. Owynvan merely chuckled and rose to his feet.
"Someday you will not recoil so. You will return my love freely and forget all about Boromir and your little brats." He pivoted on his heel and walked out of the cavern. The guard at the door went back to slouching against the wall while Hallahiriel seethed.
How dare he talk about her children that way! With newfound anger, she went back to work at her bonds. Owynvan was going to pay.
Owynvan made his way back to where his men were gathered, taking rest and keeping guard at the encampment. Hallahiriel would change her mind in time, but now he must be prepared for her bitterness. He flung his cloak around him and called his men to gather.
As they all assembled, they found themselves under attack. Arrows zinged past them and at least four of his men were hit in the shoulder or in the neck. Owynvan drew his sword and waited for the foes to approach. The arrows did not belong to orcs, but to the Rohirrim.
As the arrows subsided, fifteen figures on horseback approached through the bushes. One in particular called out through the shadow.
"Give up Hallahiriel peacefully, Owynvan, or even more unnecessary bloodshed will ensue." Boromir growled in a guttural tone and dismounted. His rage was barely contained as he gripped his sword.
Owynvan painted on a wicked smile and twirled his blade in his hands. He had been wishing for this moment for a very long time, "Then bloodshed it will be."
Without tearing his eyes from Boromir's, Owynvan called to the three men behind him to guard Hallahiriel. Soon Theoden and the Rohirrim were upon the remaining members of Owynvan's company.
Boromir circled Owynvan carefully, watching every movement that the villain made. As Owynvan lunged at him quickly, Boromir crossed blades with him and met him eye to eye.
"This ends tonight."
Hallahiriel pulled at the ropes, her thumbs were loosening from the binds very slowly. Until finally, her left hand was completely free. As much as she wished to cry out with happiness, she Silently curled into a ball as if she were going to sleep and faced the guard. With her hands, Hallahiriel then began to untie the bonds at her feet.
The guard was still paying no attention and Hallahiriel reached for the unlit torch at her feet. She took a deep breath and then called to the guard in a horse tone.
"I need water. Please..." she did her best to sound weary and ill, knowing that if it were true, Owynvan would be very upset with his guards.
The guard ambled over from his place on the wall and bent down to place his water skin to her lips. As he bent down, Hallahiriel smacked him over the head with the thick end of the unlit torch and he went tumbling onto the ground. She popped up off the floor and grabbed the torch to use for protection.
She peeked around the corner of the cavern wall and saw three guards hovering halfway down the corridor. Hallahiriel was about to make her move silently in the opposite direction when a brisk, metallic sound came from behind her and a sharp, piercing pain entered her calf.
The guard that she had knocked off his feet, but had not knocked out had crawled behind her with his blade and hampered her escape. Hallahiriel felt the sting of warm blood oozing from her left leg and out of reflex and instinct, kicked his head so hard with her right foot that his neck snapped.
Hallahiriel sunk against the wall in horror, silencing her own scream with her hand. She looked down at her leg and saw the hilt of the knife protruding from her muscle. She could not run, but she was still determined to get away before Owynvan was able to take her to a place that did not adhere to the laws of men.
She pulled out the blade quickly, a pained gasp releasing from her lips. Hallahiriel limped out into the corridor quietly, and backed her way into the darkness. Her leg was giving out, however, she was not going to give up.
When she backed further, she felt a strong arm secure around her waist and a hand go over her mouth. Hallahiriel tried to bite at her captor, until she heard a familiar voice.
"Shhh, Halla. It's Faramir." Hallahiriel ceased the biting and threw her arms around her brother's neck.
"Faramir!" She squeezed happily, until she heard another familiar voice whisper.
"Actually, I'm Eomer." Hallahiriel pulled back a little embarrassed and put her hands out and felt two faces. She recognized Faramir on her left and Eomer on her right and whispered in return.
"I'm glad to see you both. Where is Boromir?"
"Out front with Theoden and the Rohirrim. Theodred and the Rangers are waiting for us in the back. Are you injured at all?" Faramir replied lowly.
"Yes. The guard stabbed me in the back of my left leg with his knife." Faramir grunted and Eomer hissed.
"Never you worry, Lady Hallahiriel, we shall teach him a lesson when we find him." Hallahiriel sighed thickly with regret and swallowed hard.
"There's no need, he's already dead. I-I killed him." Faramir sensed the sadness in his sister's voice and felt his heart sink. Hallahiriel never wanted to kill anyone, but she had to if she herself wanted to live.
Faramir squeezed Hallahiriel's hand and asked, "Can you walk?"
"I don't think so." Before another word was said, Eomer swept her up in his arms and he felt her blood thick against his hands.
"We need to get her out fast, Faramir, we need to stop the bleeding soon."
Boromir matched Owynvan's blows stroke for stroke and then caught his opponent open and notched him on the shoulder. Owynvan howled in pain, but recovered quickly and with a vengeance. Boromir was surprised with Owynvan's skill and the fact that he did not give up very easily.
As the Rohirrim disposed of Owynvan's men behind them, Boromir pushed the fight into the cave, where it was dark spare for a few lit torches. Owynvan lunged at Boromir and successfully knocked his sword away. Boromir stood, with only his shield and barreled Owynvan into the wall of the cave.
Owynvan released a anguished cry as his sword fell to the ground. Boromir discarded his shield and took his foe by the throat.
"It's over Owynvan. Your men are defeated save for three who do not come to your aid. I will let you go if you release Halla unharmed. I know your anger lies with me and you wish her no harm. You will be banished from Gondor, but you will have your life." Owynvan spit at Boromir and laughed.
"Your troubles are just beginning, Boromir. My master has told me so. Your line is doomed for pain and suffering. If you really loved Hallahiriel, you would let her come with me. You put her in danger. She will suffer as the shadow grows as will your city and all the lands of men."
Boromir shoved Owynvan harder against the cave wall and snarled, "What madness are you speaking of? Who is your master?"
Before Owynvan could answer, rocks and heavy stone fell upon them from above. The cave-in swallowed both Owynvan and Boromir whole.
Hallahiriel awoke beside a fire, not knowing how she had gotten there. She focused in on the blonde figure before her and saw that it was Eomer. He was tending to the wound on her leg, cleaning and bandaging it. Her right shoulder hurt badly and realized that it was rolled forward unnaturally.
"Eomer?" She rasped. He set her bandaged leg down and rushed to her side. He patted her forehead with a cool cloth and spoke lowly.
"I am glad to see that you are awake, my lady."
"What happened?" Eomer looked down at her, his face covered in dust and his brown eyes were sorrowful.
"There was a cave-in. We were caught in it." Hallahiriel's eyes widened and she panicked.
"What happened to Boromir?" She felt a fluttering in her heart and new that the answer was not good. Eomer took her hand in his and sighed.
"He is unconscious and has a few broken bones. Faramir is tending to him at the moment." Hallahiriel breathed heavily, glad to hear that her husband was alive and she wanted desperately to be by his side. However, there was something else that she needed to know.
"And what of Owynvan?" Eomer sat her up slowly and continued cleaning off the dust from her face.
"He's dead, my lady. He was flattened by the cave-in." Hallahiriel fell silent and grasped Eomer's hand in hers and pleaded with him.
"Take me to my husband." Eomer smiled weakly, seeing the concern in her eyes. He nodded and replied.
"I will, but I fear we have unpleasant business to attend to. Your shoulder is out of place and we have to set it back in. It will hurt badly, my lady." Hallahiriel nodded and looked at her ill-shaped shoulder.
She squeezed Eomer's arm as he prepared to jerk her shoulder back into socket. Hallahiriel closed her eyes and waited until she felt him place one hand firmly on her back as he pushed her shoulder quickly and painfully back into place.
Hallahiriel cried out with pain and sobbed into Eomer's shoulder. Hallahiriel felt the immediate pain subside and Eomer whispered into her ear, "Rest for awhile and then I shall take you to Boromir."
Faramir paced back and forth over the unconscious form of his elder brother. His heart was heavy as he surveyed the injured including Boromir and Hallahiriel. Theoden placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly and sighed.
"Your brother will recover and Eomer tells me that Lady Hallahiriel is tended to and awake. However, I do not think we should move them yet. We will have to camp here tonight."
Faramir nodded, he wholeheartedly agreed. He was released from his reverie by the sight of Hallahiriel being carried in their direction by Eomer. Faramir could not help but smile, even though Hallahiriel had been badly hurt during the rescue, she was indeed a sight for sore eyes.
"I told Eomer that I could walk, but he would hear none of it." Eomer smiled and put Hallahiriel down where she stood as wobbly as a newborn foal. She threw her arms around Faramir and hugged him close.
"Thank you brother, for coming to get me." Faramir smiled and embraced her back. He held her at arms length to get a good look at her.
"It will be awhile before you can walk on your own Halla, so Theoden and I agree that it would be best to camp here for the night." She nodded and looked down at Boromir, who was bruised, battered and dirty from the cave-in. Hallahiriel turned to her brother and pleaded.
"May I stay with him?" Faramir could not deny his sister anything and simply planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Of course. Call us if you need us." Hallahiriel nodded and sunk down slowly and laid beside Boromir. She stroked his hair and kissed his lips gently and not even his eyelashes fluttered.
This was all her fault. She should have never given Owynvan her promise of marriage three years ago. Her heart had always wanted Boromir, but she felt that she had to teach him a lesson and prove a point. Now her beloved husband was sprawled out and incapacitated because of her mistake.
Hallahiriel rested her head on his chest just as she did at home and fell fast asleep praying that her Boromir would wake up soon.
She arose the next morning to find Faramir and Eomer keeping watch over herself and Boromir. Hallahiriel lifted herself up, her right shoulder still stiff from injury, and looked upon Boromir's face.
"Did he wake during the night?" Her brows furrowed in worry and Faramir shook his head negatively.
"There has been no change, Halla." She watched the steady, but shallow rise and fall of his chest and willed him to open his eyes and look at her.
"Then I will not leave his side until he does. I wish to clean him up. Could you please bring me water and a clean cloth?" Faramir nodded and gave her a sad glance.
"Yes, I will. While I am at it, I will bring some breakfast. You need your strength and energy for the journey home." As Faramir stalked off, Hallahiriel turned back to her husband and brushed his hair out of his eyes.
"Boromir, come back to me." She whispered in his ear and there was still no response. When Faramir returned with food and the supplies she asked for, Hallahiriel went to work washing Boromir's hair and skin free of the rubble and soot from the damned cave.
Eomer watched Hallahiriel tend to her husband all day. Perhaps he was a fool to turn down the arrangement of marriage to Boromir and Hallahiriel's youngest daughter. Hallahiriel was brave, loyal and devoted and he was sure that she would raise her daughters as such. He traveled to Minas Tirith with his uncle and cousin with the full intention of agreeing to the betrothal.
That is until he first saw Thaurelda.
Though he had barely spoken to her, Eomer was immediately drawn to the seamstress's niece. Yet the night she was taken hostage by Owynvan, he knew that his heart was lost on someone to no avail. He saw the way Thaurelda looked at Faramir and how he in return had looked at her.
Eomer's heart had been wasted.
Perhaps it was not too late to consent to the betrothal.
Later that night, Hallahiriel was somewhere between dream and reality when she heard an airy voice beside her struggle to speak.
"Where is she? I cannot find her." Hallahiriel looked at Boromir's face, he wore a fitful expression.
"Boromir?" His head moved and his arms began to twitch.
"Where is Halla?" Boromir mumbled in a barely audible tone and Hallahiriel sat up and cupped his cheek with her hand.
"I am here, dearest. I am with you. You need not look any longer. Please open your eyes Boromir!" He blinked, but his eyes did not open all the way.
"Halla?" Tears sprung into her eyes and she fell onto his chest.
Boromir became cognizant that his wife was sobbing into his chest. She was safe. His left arm and leg pained him, they were most certainly broken. His right hand tangled in her coppery hair and Hallahiriel lifted herself up to meet eyes with him. As Boromir struggled to focus, he traced the outline of her face with his good hand.
"What a beautiful dream, you are. I thought I had lost you." Hallahiriel took his hand in hers and kissed it.
"You will never lose me, Boromir. Never." She kissed him gently on the lips and smiled through her tears.
Boromir wished to embrace Hallahiriel more than anything in the world, but his weary and wounded body would not permit it. She kissed the palm of his hand once more and then pulled herself to her feet. Boromir saw that she was unsteady and favoring her right leg, she had been injured. A fury built up in his chest, knowing that his beloved Hallahiriel was in pain. She smiled down at him and he saw the crystalline tears run down her cheeks.
"I am going to get Faramir and the others. They will be so pleased to know that you have returned. I will be back soon, my love."
A/N: Hey there you guys. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next chapter will feature the journey home, conversations with Eomer, more Thaurelda/Faramir and continued schmoopiness of Halla and Boromir. Also, a little light is given concerning Owynvan's dealings with his master and Thaurelda must tell Faramir something important.
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