The two sons of the previous Steward
Even if Faramir had been the spare as the second son and Boromir the heir as the oldest of the two brothers, the late Denethor knew what sort of foolish idea it would be in the longer run by not having both his sons have the same kind of education and preparation to become the next Steward of Gondor.
"At least all that hard work as I was schooled by my tutors, have really paid off in this unexpected situation…"
No one had expected Denethor to die while Boromir was away on his mission that he still had not returned from, and Faramir knew that while his paternal cousins would have jumped in to fix the most pressing stuff if he had been sent out on a mission to Ithilien around the time that his father suddenly died, but Faramir was still the one to do most of the duties for now until that Boromir returned.
"I hope that my brother manages to come home before Sauron sends out an army from Mordor to attack Minas Tirith. If he was captured…"
Faramir did not want to imagine what a terrible loss of moral a such scenario would be for the soldiers of Gondor, and for himself, to see Boromir suffer a similar fate as Celebrimbor, the Elf who had crafted the nineteen Rings of Power under the guideline of Sauron.
"Lord Faramir! Gandalf is here and he has said that Lord Boromir likely has passed the border between Gondor and Rohan by now!" a servant suddenly reported to him, after taking a quicker path through a hidden corridor for servants so they did not disturb their employers while doing their chores.
"Gandal is here and my brother is within the borders of Gondor?!" Faramir repeated, suddenly forgetting his tiredness for a moment. Finally, some other form of good news outside that the evacuation of the city population had gone well thanks to clear orders and trying to organize everything even though the decision came at short notice.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
The door opened after Gandalf had knocked on it, but no one could be seen to open it. Pippin looked into a great hall. It was lit by deep windows in the wide aisles at either side, beyond the rows of tall pillars that upheld the roof. Monoliths of black marble, they rose to great capitals carved in many strange figures of beasts and leaves; and far above in shadow the wide vaulting gleamed with dull gold, inset with flowing traceries of many colours. No hangings nor storied webs, nor any things of woven stuff or of wood, were to be seen in that long solemn hall; but between the pillars there stood a silent company of tall images graven in cold stone.
Suddenly Pippin was reminded of the hewn rocks of Argonath, and awe fell on him, as he looked down that avenue of kings long dead. At the far end upon a dais of many steps was set a high throne under a canopy of marble shaped like a crowned helm; behind it was carved upon the wall and set with gems an image of a tree in flower. But the throne was empty. At the foot of the dais, upon the lowest step which was broad and deep, there was a stone chair, black and unadorned, and on it sat an adult man, his appearance close enough to Boromir to reveal them as brothers from the same set of parents. He watched the wizard and hobbit as they paced the long floor towards him, until they stood three paces from his footstool. Then Gandalf spoke:
"Hail, Lord Faramir, brother of Boromir, Steward of Minas Tirith! I hope to come with counsel and tidings in this dark hour. If it eases your heart to know, so do I believe that your brother shall soon be here as well, for he departed not long after me, though you shall have to excuse that he did not get to borrow one of the famed Meraras of Rohan for a faster ride."
Though Faramir were happy to see Gandalf, both could not deny the shadow of darkness over this situation.
"I am glad to have you here, Gandalf, those dark times, any form of hope is needed. But I see that you have brought someone with you as well?"
Still recalling what Gandalf had said earlier about that he basically was presenting the Shire as the future Thain, Pippin tried to not do anything foolish, though knowing himself, that was asking to happen in some form because he was the youngest of the four hobbits in the Fellowship of the Ring.
"Peregrin Took of the Shire in Eriador, sir," he addressed Faramir and knelt in respect, for he knew that Boromir would have wanted his brother to be treated with the same respect as he himself got from the hobbits.
"From Arnor? Sounds like quite a tale to hear."
Giving the servants a request for some food and drink to be served for all three, Faramir bid Gandalf and Pippin to tell the whole story of what had happened since the previous summer.
Once all this had been told, Faramir realized something that Elia had mentioned in her letters to him and Boromir, since she had wanted them to know of a detail that the Martells had found through the water mirrors. Elia and her family had not been able to confirm this suspicion so far, but Faramir could connect the dots with what Pippin and Gandalf mentioned of having seen in Moria.
"I see…" he thought for himself, drinking a little from his goblet as excuse for not talking, "This fits in with Rhaenys being the current reincarnation of Princess Mara of Kemet, the older one of the two daughters of Khamûl who survived the massacre of their family and the devastating ending of the Golden Age of their homeland. Fourteen years ago, she was still a toddler at three years old, her powers having newly awoken…of course, having complete control over this vast amount of magic would be too much to expect from such a young child, even if she must have tried to hide herself from Khamûl. Her memories may be gone, but still spiritually remembering the loss of her earlier family in Kemet, and the wish to avoid such a tragedy again…with how protective Rhaenys is of her whole family, it is no wonder."
At least the orcs in Moria had not been sent through the random portals to Gondor or Rohan, that would have been a hell to deal with. Instead Rhaenys must have reacted somehow to Tywin Lannister being a threat to herself, her mother and brother, and trying to weaken his resources as both the Head of House Lannister and the Warden of the Westerlands in Westeros.
"You said that this sword was found at the start of your journey towards Imladris?" Faramir wondered, as he looked over the small weapon that Pippin wore. For a Man or an Elf, it would be nothing else than a dagger, but for a hobbit or a child, it was as perfect as a sword.
"It came out of the mounds that lie on the borders of my country," said Pippin, "But only evil wights dwell there now, and I will not willingly tell more of them."
Well, the mention of wights did not surprise Faramir. Arnor had a long history, and given that the Witch-King of Angmar had been fighting against the northern kingdom, it was not impossible that ghosts could not find peace in death or hear the call to the Halls of Mandos.
"Since you have come here, Pippin….would you like to aid Minas Tirith as a soldier? My brother may be the Steward, but I can accept the oath in his place until his return and you can swear it to him directly.
Going back to the chair of the Steward and seating himself there again, Faramir laid the sword along his lap, and Pippin put his hand to the hilt, and said slowly after Faramir:
"Here do I swear fealty and service to Gondor, and to the Lord and Steward of the realm, to speak and to be silent, to do and to let be, to come and to go, in need or plenty, in peace or war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth, until my lord release me, or death take me, or the world end. So say I, Peregrin son of Paladin of the Shire of the Halflings."
"And this do I hear, Boromir son of Denethor, Lord of Gondor, Steward of the High King, and I will not forget it, nor fail to reward that which is given: fealty with love, valour with honour, oath-breaking with vengeance."
Then Pippin received back his sword and put it in its sheath.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Even at the beginning of Gondor as a Kingdom, its rulers had been well aware of the need for resting stations where messenger riders could give the horses food and water, as well an overnight shelter as a place for resting to both animal and rider. After all, even the most well-trained and long-lasting horse had its limits to how far it could travel in one day.
"Even if we are in a hurry to Minas Tirith, we can not have those four-legged friends strain themselves so hard that they will risk becoming ill," Boromir said as he checked on the gelding he had gotten to borrow in Rohan.
"Yes. Even the famed Meraras like Shadowfax need to rest once in a while, and we all know how a lack of food and water can affect your energy to do something."
Taking a chance to meditate on the ground with crossed legs, Arash could feel something in the distance. No danger from the direction of Mordor as he could tell, but rather the movements of the population of Minas Tirith on their way south and west.
"Boromir, we may not have many days left before Sauron attacks Minas Tirith, do you have any suggestions on how to handle a possible siege?"
"I need to discuss this with my brother and the other commanders left in the city, but I was hoping for you to somehow find a way to put a distance between the city walls and any siege towers that the orcs may bring along. After all, keeping our soldiers forced to the walls would make it harder to defend the main gate," the Steward answered, watching the Dornishman cross his arms in deep thought for ideas.
"A long enough distance so any siege towers do not reach the walls, you say? Well, I may be able to do that if I can find enough seeds for a massive barrier of thorny plants like non-decorative rose bushes and hawthorn, but any form of catapult can be tricky because they are meant to attack the target from a longer distance ..."
Using a stick to make some quick drawings on the ground, Arash began to make a basis for his ideas. He knew that they would soon set off again, once the horses were ready for another day of long travel, but having a mental seed to "grow" possible ideas from, was also good.
"Hm, I will need to borrow a map of Minas Tirth and the area around to make some calculations once we get to Minas Tirith, and probably see how far the city's own catapults can reach, in order to map out a circle around the city…a massive hedge of thorns, so the orcs can not climb over it that easily even with armor, thick enough to cause trouble for orcs and possibly leaving a single, very narrow opening so they will have to drag any siege towers and other such weapons though, one by one. Delaying their own attacks so the defenders of Minas Tirith get more time to make a responding counterattack and be ready to attack…"
Lucky for Arash, mathematics had been one of the school subjects in which he was a good student as a boy back when growing up in the Water Gardens with his siblings and cousins from Aria, so he knew that the long-deceased Lewyn Martell and his paramour Rhoyne would be proud of him as their eldest son if he succeeded in using this knowledge now in a great time of crisis.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Author note: Tolkien mentions Denethor II to have two older sisters, so it would be pretty logical for Boromir and Faramir to have cousins on both sides of the family unless both aunts chose a religious life or found another reason not to marry and have children, it is just that he only named the maternal ones in Dol Amroth
Since Faramir is not in Ithilien with the Rangers in this AU and instead have to tackle both the defense of Minas Tirith and other duties for Boromir as the acting Steward until the return of his brother, he naturally does not meet Frodo and Sam there, so Pippin is the first hobbit he meets
Since Celebrimbor is the smith who crafted the nineteen Rings of Power while Sauron made the One Ring all by himself, I think the story of how his body was treated after being tortured to death by Sauron would likely exist as a horror tale for why Sauron is so dangerous: a master of lies and manipulation
Yup, Arash is going to copy Maleficent from the 1959 Disney movie and make a forest of thorns around Minas Tirith. It is one of the most memorable scenes from that movie, after all!
