Guest: Yes I agree but somehow I think the current one is 'alright'. And sorry for the confusion... ^^''
Chapter 20 (Future) - Like father like son part 1
It had been three years now, since he became Steward to King Elessar. And yet, he had thought things would change. That he would be able to move on, forget about the past and everything that happened. But he couldn't. Couldn't because he was not allowed to. Every time he would come, they would look at him as if he was a disgrace. Or maybe he was? It was not him that should have been Steward, but his brother. The only one who didn't look at him with those eyes was Aragorn. But that all changed one day, when he overheard Elessar talking to one of the council members.
"My Lord, how much longer are you going to keep him here? We have discussed this matter many times, and you said you would take care of it. The others are slowly losing patience. If it takes any longer, they will take it into their own hands."
Faramir, Prince of Ithilien and Steward of Gondor, was on his way to get some papers he had forgotten when he heard voices in the hall. At first he wanted to pass by as he did not like eavesdropping. But when he heard voices he knew and one of them being the King's, he got curious. And since he was a Ranger, stealth and silence were child's play to him.
He had no idea who they spoke of, but clearly it was someone dangerous. He continued to listen as Strider said: "I said I would take care of it and I shall. But he is an intelligent man. If we are not careful, he will suspect something," the King spoke calmly.
"I see… Very well then, I shall inform the others. My apologies for stepping out of line," he bowed as the former Ranger put a hand on his shoulder. "It is understandable. Now if you'll excuse me, Arwen is waiting for me," with a smile he left.
The council member waited a few seconds before going down the hall, past Faramir so quickly he didn't even notice the Steward.
The Prince was slightly confused. He doesn't recall ever having a meeting of this sort. And since he was in the council, it was strange he had no idea about the matter. Wondering what to do, curiosity got the better of him. He was deciding whether to go ask Aragorn or Enzo and choose the latter, not wishing to disturb his friend while with his wife.
"Curiosity killed the cat…" he said to himself as he silently followed Enzo. If this was kept a secret from him, then he didn't want anyone knowing he found out about it.
The Ranger had no trouble keeping up with Enzo and his hastened pace. He had known this man to be more paranoid, but not once did the member look over his shoulder, just kept walking. And with him, so did Faramir.
But that came to a stop when Enzo turned a sharp corner to a different hall. The Steward moved quickly but when he turned the corner as well, there was no sign of another being in sight.
Blinking a few times to make sure his eyes did not play tricks on him; he turned to leave, when his eyes caught something on the other side of the corridor. It was a figure, standing there, covered in a pure white light. This time he rubbed his eyes as he was sure he was seeing things. But the figure was still there, and it tilted its head to the side.
Faramir opened his mouth to say something, but he was at a loss for words. In all his days, he had never seen anything like it. At first he thought it was one of the Warriors of the Dead, but recalled them being described pale or green and all released back to the world of the dead.
"Faramir," it spoke, ever so silently yet he heard it loud and clear. Again the Ranger blinked. To anyone passing near, he must have seen like a complete imbecile.
"Over here Faramir. You want to know don't you?" the light pointed to the last door on the hall. Hesitating for a few seconds, the Steward swallowed and started walking towards it. Somehow, he didn't fear it. It actually felt right do follow what it said. It was rather familiar but knew he had never before seen such a thing.
As he stepped before the door, he looked it over. It didn't seem anything out of the ordinary. A simple wooden door. Then again, he wasn't sure what was inside. As a child he wondered the castle many times and knew almost every room. But as he grew, there was less time for such nonsense and had forgotten.
When he looked to his left, to ask the figure something, he found it gone. Looking about a bit he took a deep breath and opened the door only a crack. Taking a quick peek, he saw that it was empty and fully opened the door to allow himself to enter.
Once inside, he quickly closed the door behind him before looking around the room. It was rather large, almost a chamber, with a fire place lit. There was a large round table in the middle, with maps, books, notes and scrolls scattered about it.
There were bookshelves all about the room that had a vast collection. But what attracted his attention the most was a golden box on the table. He slowly walked to it and gently opened the cover.
Inside he saw more letters, but these were organized and neatly put away. Reaching inside he took the first letter he could and glanced it over. He put his head slightly back in confusion as he read it.
"The target has been inactive of late. Usual routines and meetings. Nothing out of the ordinary," he looked at the top, where it was dated.
"This came two days ago…" he muttered and put it on the table, before taking another one.
"Target seemed in a hurry to get to his chamber. I followed him as far as I could and waited for anything. There was no further activity that day," this one was dated 5 days ago.
He scrambled with the letters, taking random ones and checking their corners. Every single one was dated. Some went as back as months.
And then he found one, which made his heart stop. This one finally had a name, but it was not something he was prepared to read.
"As ordered I sent a servant to search Lord Faramir's chambers. He found old letters, which dated back to before Lord Boromir left for Rivendell," his mouth was shaking as he sat on the chair nearby.
All these letters, they were about him. They have been watching him for who knows how long and he never noticed it! But why? What reason would they have to spy on one of their own? What could it all mean? Were the council members plotting something? He was so in thought that he didn't hear the two people talking until the door was opened. Shooting his head up, the door didn't open fully as the two men argued about something. But the Steward didn't have time for that as he quickly made a dash behind one of the bookshelves. A few seconds later, the door opened fully as the two men walked in.
"I'm telling you that is a bad idea. I don't see why you had to pull them out in the middle of it all! We were finally getting close," one of them spoke, and Faramir recognized him as Andreas, one of the council members.
"I've told you! It was getting to risky! Last time Bengal almost got caught! I will not support this action any longer!" the second one was Louise, another of the council.
"Alright then…" Andreas sighed. "But we will have to find another way. What about the evidence? Should we destroy that as well?"
"We best do so yes. Wouldn't want anyone to find out about this little secret," the other one nodded and walked to the table.
He froze for a second, and the Steward feared he had been found out. But Louise didn't seem to notice as he started picking up the letters from the box. When he collected every single one of them, he went to the fire place. Hesitating for a moment, he threw the letters into the fire and watched them burn.
"Well, now that that's done…" the first one walked to the door and left, with the second following behind.
When he was sure the coast was clear, Faramir left his hiding place. He had no idea what was going on, but someone was defiantly trying to get rid of him. And maybe not just him, but the King as well.
"I need to warn him," he said in his head and went to the fire place, hoping to have some solid proof. But everything was now just ash.
Clicking his tongue, he checked the table as well. Nothing. He will just have to tell Aragorn what he heard and read. He was sure his word was more than enough.
Quickly he left the room and closed the door behind him. He had forgotten all about what he overheard and the white figure that showed him this door. The only thing on his mind was telling his friend about this danger.
But as he walked down the halls, something didn't feel right. He wasn't sure what exactly, but there was an ominous feel to it all. Shaking it off, he quickened his pace until he reached the King's chambers.
To be continue in Like Father like Son part 2