Author's Note: Hello and welcome to chapter seven of "Wounded"! I would like to thank everyone who read the last chapter and also those who reviewed, MerryKK, Nari-chan SND, and Sarahbarr17. Thank you all so much! I do not have a beta for this fic and while I have proofread this chapter many times, I am sure I have not caught all my mistakes. Any errors that occur in canon, grammar or spelling are my fault and my fault alone. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I claim not ownership of Tolkien's masterpiece.

Chapter Seven Apologies

He stood across from her. Stood and stared. She noted the displeasure in his grey eyes, the firm stance of his body. His hands were folded behind him and he stared. Not a word did he speak.

"Captain Faramir." Aniror placed her palm on her chest and then extended her arm in greeting. He still said nothing.

The other man moved behind her then and she felt his shadow. It chilled her. Would neither of them speak?

Aniror tried to think, but panic began to drown her along with their smothering rage.

"I have come to see you," she said at last. The words hung in the air, dead. The second man had moved around her now and he stood by his brother. They looked alike in a way, she thought, though humans all seemed alike to her.

"Will you speak with me?" Aniror asked. Perhaps a question would induce him to talk.

Faramir shifted. His resolve seemed to fail and left him vulnerable. "I will give you a moment," he said.

She smiled. His voice was the same, even in anger.

His brother grunted, or made some sort of indistinct noise that convinced Aniror of a plot between them.

"But perhaps I should be more prudent," Faramir continued. "After all, you did not bother to extend the same courtesy to me four days past."

Ah, so his brother was trying to bolster his resistance. She had seen this many a time amongst her own kin. Fools often traveled in pairs, if only to compensate for their lack of sense.

"I apologize for that," Aniror said and allowed her voice to tremble just so. Faramir drew back his shoulders and his hair brushed the collar of his tunic. He wasn't an unpleasant man to look at, Aniror decided and the dark of Ithilien had helped to shade most of his imperfections.

The brother cleared his throat and Aniror looked at him sharply.

"Is that all you might offer me?" Faramir asked. "A simple apology for such disregard, for such insolence?"

He thought her insolent? She rubbed her forearm and felt the raised scar upon her flesh. "Perhaps we could speak alone?" The brother looked horrified. "Perhaps I could better explain myself then."

There seemed to pass a moment of silent conference between the two. The brother turned and blocked Aniror's view of Faramir with his wide shoulders. She lowered her eyes to the floor and scowled. This was almost too much trouble.

Suddenly, the brother departed. He hurried past her and his eyes cast a warning greater than any words. The door opened and shut and she was alone with Faramir.

"What have you to say?"

He was pacing the room now, agitated. Aniror narrowed her eyes and watched him. His footsteps were steady but light and he jerked his right heel up ever so often. An old wound pained him perhaps or the fatigues of travel.

"I have much to say," she replied. He paused by the window, parted the curtains and gazed outside. Rain dripped in. He withdrew his head and replaced the curtain. Water droplets clung to his brow.

"I will not grant you much time. Choose your words with care."

"I always do."

"I should think not."

"You often said you admired my speech," Aniror said smugly. He glanced at her.

"We may love how the birds sing, but who can tell what they say? I rather dislike the sound of your voice now."

"Why?"

"I do not believe it is your place to question me."

"Then make your inquires."

She had him there. Faramir appeared confused, trapped and he resumed his pacing once more. He did not speak for a long time.

"Why did you claim not to recognize me?" he said.

Aniror sighed and hoped the sound tugged at his heart. "I was frightened, if you must know."

"Frightened? Of what?"

"I did not expect you to come."

"You called for me." Faramir stopped his pacing and sank into a spindly chair, his arms thrown over his knees. "I came, I swore I would."

"Not many of your kind dare enter Lorien," she said. "Perilous, they call it. I never thought you would come."

"Did you not believe in my fidelity or affection for you?" His face hardened. "Or perhaps you never shared it yourself."

"Faramir, please." Aniror began to move forward but thought better of it. Instead, she hovered awkwardly by the door. Rain dampened the threshold.

"I did not even know your name, your rank." Faramir raised his brows with sudden skepticism. "What brought you to Ithilien in the first place?"

"An errand. Some of my kin still go aboard in the world, as you know. The Lady sent me to seek out news."

"As a spy?"

"No." She crossed her arms over her chest. "We would never harm your people, never. I was sent on an errand, as I am sure your lord has sent you. I came to Ithilien upon my way home and I saw you at twilight. Darkness fell, but the shadows did not touch you and I called you from sleep and…you came."

Aniror noticed his eyes widen slightly with memory and her heart lightened. Perhaps her charm was working, it had the first time.

"Why would you tell me so little of yourself when me met?"

"What bearing should my history have upon yours? Were you happy for that time, Faramir? I think so, otherwise you would not have followed me. Why must you know my name and place? Did you not care for me without it?"

He shifted in his chair and a single droplet of water slid down his temple. "You called me a fool before your Lady and my brother. You fetched me from my land and people and brought disgrace upon me. Tell me now, Elf, why should I care for you?"

Aniror abandoned her reserve and crossed the room. Kneeling by his chair, she grasped his hand and held it tight in between hers. He did not recoil from her touch.

"Because I beg you to accept my apology. Even those of my kind might be overwhelmed by emotion and words can become twisted as lies. I meant not what I said."

"You offer me little proof," he said but she saw a glow return to his cheeks. Even now, he flushed as she pressed her hand upon his, her thumb stroking his palm.

"Do you know that by our laws and customs, we are husband and wife?" She chuckled as his mouth dropped open. "Yes, Faramir, we are joined. But I will not impress upon you the role of husband if you do not wish it."

Silence took him and he stood suddenly, brushing her off. Aniror sat back on her heels, her jaw clenched. How long did he intend to carry on like this?

"You are no wife of mine," he muttered. She was shocked to hear distaste in his voice.

"Then what did you expect to find in coming to Lorien?" Aniror asked lightly. "You were hasty and foolish, ignorant to the ways of the Elves. How might your people think of you, if they knew of me?"

"That is what I fear," Faramir said. He stood by the window again. The curtains trembled, touched by the chilled wind of a spring storm.

"Why?" She slipped into the chair he had vacated. "I have already said that I will not impress upon you the role of husband. I am not a cruel Elf, Faramir, as you will come to learn. Do not fear me, beloved."

He faltered, Aniror noted with glee. Slowly, the steady resolve left his eyes and form and he looked as he had that first night in Ithilien. Pale was he brow as though starlight glanced upon it and in his gaze there swirled the ashes and fires of forgotten battlefields. He nodded.

Aniror contained a smile. She had not failed. "You have come to Lorien for my sake. Allow me some time in your company and I will show you my Wood."

"But what of your duty?" Faramir asked. "The Lady said you were in her service. Will you not be needed? Or are things so different in this place?"

Aniror froze for a brief moment. But soon her mind found a flattering lie. She raised her brows.

"You have taken leave from your duties to please me and I have done the same. That is the only fair way I think."

"Yes." He smiled then, a little grin that tugged at his lips and softened the lines crossing his forehead. "I should like to see Lorien in your company."

Aniror stood. "As you wish, my dear lord." She reached the door and paused. "Thank you for your understanding. Let my kin have no prejudice against yours."

Author's Note: Well, I think pretty much everything Aniror said in this chapter was a lie, poor Faramir. I really hate to see him this way. He is such a wonderfully strong character. Fortunately, the tables will turn soon and Aniror will get her comeuppance.

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