III: Days of Minas Tirith

And so it was that come the morning, when the sun once more glimmered against the walls of the white city, Faramir found the lady Éowyn atop the wall of the House of Healing, staring to the east. Faramir had spent a sleepless night, for thoughts of his father and brother had long clouded his mind and yet the sight of her, so serene upon the wall, made his heart lighten a little and he walked to join her. Upon hearing his tread she turned her gaze and he detected a slight smile upon her face at his approach yet sadness also, as if she felt some hidden sorrow that she hid from view.

"What do you seek lady that causes you to look eastward?" he asked, as he approached.

Éowyn looked back out towards the eastern horizon and shook her head slightly.

"I know not my lord, for I know that I will see nothing. I doubt that my lord Aragorn and his men have even reached the darkened land. And yet I look for them. It is foolish, I know but what else am I to do?"

Faramir leaned on the wall next to her, though his eyes were drawn to her face rather than to the horizon where Éowyn's gaze had wandered, and again he was struck by her beauty even in sadness and shadow.

"It is not foolish to follow the ones we love, or to hope for their safe return," he said gently, "I too watch the horizon though I know that the company will not yet have left the once fair land of Ithilien and have some days yet before they will reach the land of Shadow."

"There has been no news?" Éowyn asked, her face turning once again to the horizon.

"None my lady," he replied, "and I doubt that we shall hear of them until…until after"

She nodded sadly, as if it was as she had been expecting.

"If there is anyone left to bring the news or tell it to us…"

"Let us not speak of such things lady, for they make a fair day go ill within my heart" he answered quickly.

"How can such a day as this be fair, when we are doomed to wait for the world's ending my lord?" Éowyn asked, looking across at him for the first time.

"You would have my plain answer?" he asked, knowing full well that she would, for Éowyn was of a plain speaking people who did not look kindly upon idle words and rhetoric.

"I would"

He glanced down for a second, unsure of how to express himself without offending her for he was perceptive enough to have seen and heard of the lady Éowyn's fondness for his liege lord and king. And he had seen the pain within her eyes as she had spoken of the lord Aragorn and his company and guessed that her heart had been taken long ago by the new king, though he also knew of his liege lord's love for another; an elven princess who resided in fair Rivendell. Eventually he looked up again, meeting her eyes.

"Then, Éowyn of Rohan, I say to you that you are beautiful. In the valleys of our hills there are flowers fair and bright, and maidens fairer still; but neither flower nor lady have I seen till now in Gondor so lovely. And though I know the darkness may yet come to us all, I cannot call this an ill day when I can look upon such beauty."

Éowyn immediately broke from his gaze though a blush rose upon her cheeks that told him that his comment, though surprising to her, had not been entirely unwelcome.

"I do not desire the speech of living men," she said quietly, "though I…thank you for your kind words my lord."

"Forgive me. I have offended you lady, and do humbly peg you pardon," Faramir said hastily, sensing her unease.

"No," she relied softly, "I am not offended, though I think that perhaps this is not the time for such words my lord."

"Perhaps not," he agreed, "though it may be a time for friendship do you not think Éowyn of Rohan? Must you be so formal in you speech or would you have me as a friend and use my name?"

Éowyn blushed again but smiled warmly and it seemed to Faramir that some of the sunlight had come into her countenance as she did so.

"I would welcome your friendship with pleasure my lo…Faramir," she said kindly and looked across at him again, "Though you must call me Éowyn for I am unused to the title of lady, being as I am a Shieldmaiden of Rohan and of ungentle temperament and speech."

Faramir smiled and settled a little more easily upon the parapet, "I would not call you ungentle Éowyn, for I perceive as much kindness in your heart as there is valour in your spirit. Master Meriadoc told me as much about your care for your people as of your brave fight against the Witch-King."

"I doubt now my people would so look upon me," she said sadly, "for I failed to protect my king and lie here now, mending but a scratch, whilst the battle rages far away."

Faramir could see then in Éowyn's gentle countenance, a pride akin to that of his brother Boromir. The same valiant care for her people and shame at what she perceived as defeat. Could she not see what she had achieved, defeating a menace that even great Mithrandir had feared? Was it so hard for her to accept that she was every bit as much of a hero as her brother who rode to war with the king? Gently he reached for her hand, clasping it gently within his own. Though he felt her tense, she did not pull away and he kept his voice gentle as he spoke.

"Éowyn, listen to me. You are as much hero as anyone who rode with the king. You defeated a foe far greater than any mere Orc or Uruk-Hai and if your people do not respect and revere you for that, then they do not deserve to call you theirs."

A tear rolled down her cheek at his words, falling gently onto the stone parapet of the eastern wall. Feeling immediately anxious that his words has been the cause of her angst yet knowing full well that these were tears that she needed to shed, Faramir turned away from her again to the eastern horizon to allow Éowyn to take some measure of her tears.

"I thank you," she said sadly, ferociously wiping the tears from her eyes, "for your kind words though in my heart I still doubt my actions."

"It will be many months before any of us can fully judge our actions worthy," Faramir agreed, his thoughts straying back to his father and the way in which they had parted: in anger and bitterness.

"From what I hear you have nothing to be ashamed of in any of your actions Faramir," Éowyn replied, watching his troubled face. He smiled slightly in pleasure at hearing her speak his name in her soft Rohirric lilt but his face deepened to a frown once more when he thought back to the siege and fall of Osgiliath.

"That is not how everyone saw it," he replied sadly, his gaze lingering on the still smouldering ruins of the former capital of Gondor, lying away across the plains. Éowyn hesitated and then spoke, her voice more tentative than he had ever imagined her capable of being.

"You…speak of you father? I did not know him but I am sure that he was proud of his son as only a father could be"

Now it was Faramir's turn to feel unbidden tears well up behind his eyes and he fought to keep his mind on the present and not return to that darkened hall where his father had freely admitted that he wished his youngest son dead and the elder returned to life.

"I know you speak in kindness Éowyn for, as I say, your words are gentler than you give them credit for and already lift my heart from many cares. But you did not know my father, nor can you presume to judge his character or his love for me."

Éowyn's face took on a determined quality and she did not lower her head but met his eyes with her own.

"It is true. I did not know him, nor do I presume to understand him. But I know enough of men and kings to know they do not always act with kindness to those whom they love most. Yet, often they remember their love before the end. It was the same with my uncle Théoden when his mind was corrupted by Saruman and he sent away my brother, who had been almost a son to him."

"I doubt there is little similarity between my father and your uncle, Éowyn," Faramir replied, softly.

"Do you hold him in your memory with such bitterness?" Éowyn asked gently, studying his face with her piercing blue eyes.

Faramir thought long about her question, his mind wandering over that last meeting with his father and the memories of life before that, forever in his brother's shadow. At last he answered his voice full of sorrow.

"No, not bitterness. But I regret that we were not closer and had little time or kind words for each other."

"Will you not speak of him more than these few words Faramir?" Éowyn asked, "Not even to one who has passed within the same Shadow as you yourself have seen?"

"Another time maybe, my lady," Faramir replied, "but for now the moment is too close to my heart and I would not wish to burden you with my sorrows whilst your own heart is still broken."

He heard her sharp intake of breath and guessed from the blush in her cheeks that she had not realised that others knew of her love for the lord Aragorn.

"My heart will heal," she replied softly, "in time. As will yours."

Faramir smiled slightly and lifted his head to look at her fair face. Though still tinged with sadness, he saw a faint colour in her cheeks and a brightness in her eyes that she had not had the day before.

"In your presence Éowyn, I have no doubt that it will," he replied, rewarded by yet another renewal of the blush in her cheeks.

"Now," he continued, "We had best return to the house or the Warden will chastise me for keeping you here too long."


A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the first couple of chapters - I hope you find this one to be of the same caliber as the first two!

Thayzel - I hope that this chapter explains a little bit more about the fact that Eowyn does still have a shadow hanging over her. I don't know why but I always think that Eowyn makes this fact rather less obvious that Faramir in the books and, although still atroubled figure, she tries to be less preoccupied with her troubles maybe. Added to that I always find Eowyn more difficult to write for some reason so it can sometimes be difficult to bring out some of the morecomplex aspects of her character.

Thanks for reviewing again! I'll try and post again soon!

Emeraldstargazer -