Boromir had been waiting outside in the courtyard since he realized that Faramir was not right behind him. He was surprisingly tense until he saw Faramir exit the Tower. He hurried over to him at once and said, "Faramir, i apologize."

"For what?" Faramir said, unmindful of how truly sorry his big brother was.

"For my father. I should have stayed with you, it's just i was so angry with him. I need you on this mission and he will not see... He's gotten so much worse lately. He never used to be like this. It all started when mumma lost her baby when i was 5." Boromir was surprised that he was able to talk of such things to Faramir, ordinarily he would not even admit these truths to himself.

At that moment, something of a revelation came to Faramir and he realized something that made him understand many things that he had wondered about. When Boromir said that his mother had lost a child when he was 5, it all made sense. For years he had wondered how it came to be that they bore such a resemblance to one another, and, more than that,he was plagued by something his father had said before he left: that had he left him in Gondor, he would have been raised as the son of the Steward. Faramir never understood it until now, but he and Boromir were half brothers, he'd stake his life on it. Yet,he knew that still this was neither the time nor the placefor discussion ofthe matter.

Instead Faramir just smiled at Boromir and said, "you need not apologize for him. Let's go, i will pack up what i need and meet you in the stables. Is an hour long enough?"

Boromir just looked confused. "What do you mean, Faramir?"

"I mean, let's go. I know you figured on waiting a couple of days to leave, but i am not really willing to wait that now. Let us just get gone," Faramir said.

For a moment Boromir looked petrified. Only just a moment ago, his father had insisted that there was no way he would permit Faramir to go along. Now here was his little brother urging him to get ready so that they could be gone. Had Faramir done something? Had he taken a swing at the Steward, perhaps, and now wanted to get away as fast as possible?

"Sidh, brother. I merely had words with him," Faramir said, reading his brother like a book.

"What words could possibly make father change his mind, or mood?" Boromir said almost hesitantly.

"The words, 'i quit,'" Faramir said seriously.

"You what? Faramir, you cannot just quit the service of the Steward! It is not done." Boromir was near a state of panic and only just realized that indeed his brother was not wearing his tunic.

"I quit because he failed to uphold his end of that pledge," Faramir explained calmly. "'A man must be accountable for the fealty given him,' as someone very wise once said. I would be a fool to remain in his service at this point and since i am not sworn to the service of Gondor, only to Denethor, i was able to make that choice."

Boromir just shook his head. "Are you really certain that is legal?" he said.

"Most assuredly it is! That is how the system of fealty has worked for many hundreds of years," Faramir said.

"Then you will come north with me?" Boromir asked, attempting to change the subject.

"I would love to, if you would get a move on and get yourself ready," Faramir said with a grin.

With that they parted and were quick to be ready to leave. As Boromir was heading back across the courtyard, though, his father called to him from steps of the tower. Boromir rolled his eyes but fixed a pleasant smile on his face as he turned. "Yes, father?"

"Come with me," Denethor beckoned.

Boromir sighed. "Father, i am just leaving."

"Come, now, Boromir," Denethor ordered. Boromir reluctantly followed his father into the Tower of Ecthelion and up to it's highest room. "I should have brought you here years ago, but now i will have to trust that this will do," Denethor said, reaching for a lamp which was suspended from the ceiling. Pulling it, a secret opening was revealed and Denethor climbed up, Boromir following, now curiously. "I will not have you go into the north, into the land of the Elves, without seeing you strengthen your mind against their trickery. You must remember Gondor while you are in that place, for they will try to dissuade you from the right path."

"Father, i do not understand what you are saying," Boromir said, fed up with this paranoid behavior of his father's. "I must go if i am to get anywhere before nightfall."

"Look, Boromir!" Denethor cried, pulling back a heavy cloth which covered the pedestal.

ooo

Faramir waited nearly a half an hour longer than he expected before Boromir finally showed up. "It's about time! I thought maybe you got lost... Boromir? What is wrong? You look unwell." And he did, Boromir was deathly pale, and Faramir was nearly ready to usher his brother across the street to the Houses of Healing.

"I am fine," Boromir said in a brusque tone that Faramir did not much care for. In truth, Boromir did not feel fine, but he suddenly wanted to be as far away from Minas Tirith as possible. "Let's go," he said, mounting but nearly missing the stirrup.

"Boromir, we should not set out if you do not feel well. It could turn serious and it is not wise to be out in the middle of nowhere if you need medical -"

"I said i am fine. I do not want to be gainsaid on how i feel! Come on, now it is you who is holding us up with your nervousness." Boromir rode passed Faramir and out of the stable, leaving his little brother standing there in shock. He finally remembered to close his gaping mouth and get into the saddle when his horse nudged him in the back. He caught up with Boromir in the fourth circle, but neither said a word to one another until they broke for camp at Greywood that night.

Both knew the procedure for setting up a camp well enough and neither spoke until they were settled into their bedrolls for the night. Now that he was away from the city, Boromir had no idea what had brought on his sudden foul temper. "Faramir?" he whispered to the figure his back. He received a mumbled reply that sounded enough like "yes?" for him to continue. Leastways it didn't sound much like "shut up and leave me alone." "Faramir, i'm sorry. I do not know what made me behave that way. You were right, i did not feel well, but i am truly all right now. Forgive me?"

Both were sitting up by then and Faramir hugged him. "You are lucky you are my brother and you can get away with behavior like that."

"I am lucky to be your brother," Boromir said earnestly. "I promise i won't be like that again. Something just came over me, i did not feel myself."

"Dina," Faramir said gently. "Let us get some sleep, we have a rather long road ahead of us, and i, for one, have not been sleeping well lately as it is."

ooo

Sidh- peace

Dina - be quiet, hush

linda: The brothers are so dear to one another. I was going to make this chapter longer, but there is more ahead for their road trip.

The Last Hope: Thank you very much for your generous words! It is reassuring for me to know that even if my ideas are "controversial", shall we say, they can still capture your attention. It is also always good to know that my readers are seeing the core elements i have written into the story.

Escribej: Glad to hear from you! Hopefully i can continue to meet your expectations :)

steelelf: Yep and yep. I promise to i will not to use too much sarcasm, but a funny thing about that: last week at work we had a visit by three nuns from Poland. They had some background in English, but because it was taught by a Polish person, they were basically learning the language all over again since they got here on Monday. They are being escorted by a nun whose good friend is teaching them "American English" - one of the first words they learned when they got here was "sarcastic" as applied to Sr. Dorothy by her friend, their teacher, which they found hilarious. It just goes to show how important sarcasm is in the English language.

Chibi - Thank you. I was just dying to finally write a Faramir that is different from everyone else's Faramir. I've wanted to see him stand up for himself without running away, but walking away.

Elenhin: Their road trip will indeed be interesting. I was going to pad this chapter out and include the rest of the trip up until Rivendell, but i will hold that off for the next chapter so that i can be a little more detailed in it. We have to see more of the brothers together, that is for certain.

irene: Thank you, thank you, thank you! Wasn't it refreshing to see Faramir tell Denethor off for a change? It felt so good to write.

AM: Your equation is correct... i think. Denethor and Aragorn are half-brothers. So are Bori' and Fara'. That might make them cousins, but i'm not terrifically sure. You'd have to ask a Hobbit about that.

estelle: I am glad that you are enjoying. I've glad that the brother's bond hascome out so vibrant. Sometimes you write something and then wonder if others will see the picture you were painting.

I'm glad everyone enjoyed that last chapter so much! I love all of your reviews!