Flashback in Italic.

Denethor POV

A door closes with a soft click. Denethor walks toward the nearest chair and falls into it. He closes his eyes while leaning with his head back against the backrest. Exhausting falls off him in waves just like stress. Tomorrow is an important day because Gil will be crowned then. And today, he has been incredibly busy making a final check on the progress. He needed to be sure everything was in order. As such, he checked to see if all the preparations were complete. To do that, he met with those who were doing it. They had everything well in hand. All the preparations were on schedule. The decorations had either been placed or hung already or they were in the process of doing it. The people seemed excited about what is to come tomorrow though some seemed a bit hesitant. All in all, good news to receive.

He frowns. The hesitance still confuses him in parts. They must have noticed because some instantly started to talk to him. It gave him some clarification but not nearly enough. Nevertheless, as he had an appointment to check on the crown one final time, he was unable to question them further. He just has to hope they will accept Gil.

He shakes his head. Why is he worrying about this? They have very little to say about this. All they have to do is accept it. Besides, Gil will most likely earn their love and affection in a short time. He scowls at this thought. He has been unable to gain it; respect yes but no love nor any affection from his people. He does not know why nor how Gil was always able to gain both so quickly.

He shakes his head. He should not be focusing on this. He truly should not. His mind turns back to the inspection. While he was in the city he also checked on the state of the repairs. He wanted to have made enough progress to allow the city to resume its normal routine as soon as possible. And what he saw pleased him. The repairs were well underway.

Later he attended his meeting with master Amardil. It allowed him to inspect the crown one final time. And more thoroughly than during their last meeting. What he saw, pleased him. Master Amardil finished all the work he mentioned and then some. Those were things which would need to be done eventually but it was no priority. Still, it is a relief it was done. The meeting did not last long though one thing remains on his mind. Master Amardil mentioned that some of the work turned out to be more difficult than initially anticipated. Nevertheless, it was repaired beautifully. So where it came from, he has no idea.

On the way back to his room, he stopped by the throne room to ensure it was fully prepared. He knows he was assured it would be ready in time but he had to make sure. His final inspection proved his concerns to be unfounded. Afterward, he wanted to leave but was stopped as he was needed in the King's house. As such, he inspected it also. And like he expected it was not ready. But then he was approached by the contractor and their worries much to his annoyance.

"My lord, thank you for meeting with me. I apologize if our meeting proves to be an inconvenience to you in any way."

"It is an inconvenience but also inevitable. So tell me why did you wish to meet with me?"

"We have been making some progress. At the same time, we have been wondering if it is sufficient. I apologize for my imprudence but we have not been given a deadline."

"Mhh, I am not sure if we had spoken about it but to my understanding, you were told to finish as quickly as you can. So with your current progress, how long would it take?"

"If I am being optimistic then one year."

"That is much too long."

"When would you like us to finish, my lord?"

"In about three months."

"I am afraid I will not be able to do that, my lord. More time is needed than that even if I bring in more craftsmen to aid my current staff."

"And if you bring in more craftsmen then how long would you need."

"Six months, my lord."

"Mhhh, six months? That is still a long time but a better timeline than at first. I can accept that. Tell me, how long would it take for the living quarters to be ready?"

"All?"

"No, only the bedrooms for the king and queen, a drawing room, and dining room."

"Only those rooms, I say a month but there is still more work to be done. More than we first thought."

"Focus on those first, master Dammorron, and then you can finish the rest. I want our king to be able to live in the house which rightfully belongs to him."

"Yes, my lord."

He nods and mentions for master Dammorron to leave. When he does not leave quickly, his eyes narrow.

He closes his eyes and rests his hand over them. His exhaustion has only increased. Nothing more and nothing less. His mind feels as if it'll explode from everything which pushes on it. He takes a few calm breaths and quiets his mind. It does nothing to ease his exhaustion but eases the strain on his mind.

It is then he allows his mind to consider what happened after his meeting. Master Dammorron left eventually. It was at this moment he realized he forgot something; to inspect the house Faramir found. He did it immediately afterward and got no more unwelcome surprises. It was a stark contrast to the King's house for this house was fully prepared. A weight he wasn't aware of fell from his shoulders. The staff selected for Gil was finishing some last-minute preparations. Among them were the last member who Faramir and he selected just this morning; one of them was Gil's body servant.

A wry smile grows on his face as he thinks about it. Or actually, as he thinks about Gil's reaction. Gil, he suspects, will be highly annoyed and do all he can to get his body servant to leave him alone. Knowing this, he made sure to appoint someone who would be able to handle all of Gil's antics. His choice will be able to do his duty as Gil's body servant. And who knows; maybe they will become close. As close as a servant and lord can become.

There is one other thing he is certain about; the reaction he will receive from Gil once he learns about it. It brings back a memory from his time as Captain-General. While he was in the field, he was expected to clothe and prepare everything for his bathing by himself. He enjoyed the freedom he had then. He did not appreciate that when he was back in the city, a body servant attended to him. He found this nothing but annoying.

But as for Gil, he expects him to feel something similar. Gil will not like it one bit and want to do everything on his own. Especially pertaining to clothing himself and more importantly to choosing his clothing. He has no idea how Gil will try to get out of it but has a few ideas. It is inevitable and he will have to see how it works out. Nevertheless, as before, he is certain his chosen body servant can handle whatever Gil does to try to do things by himself.

Maybe he could make this easier if he convinces Gil of the benefit of a body servant. He shakes his head. Gil knows perfectly well how he thinks about them. Or he did when he was younger. It means it will take him quite some effort to convince Gil. And there is only one way he will have a chance of succeeding. He needs to have his arguments prepared in such a way that Gil will be unable to undermine them.

Leaning back in his chair and puts his hand against his chin. He will sort out those arguments now before he forgets to do so. And thus, he spends the next twenty minutes sorting out all the arguments he has. All the while more than certain no one will inform Gil about the assigned body servant. Unless he does it himself. The lords and servants deem it so common that they forget about it. At least until there is no body servant around. At this, a smile grows on his face. He begins to look forward to Gil discovering it and having to deal with it. It will ensure a good number of rumors, irritation, and amusement throughout the citadel. For him, it will be well-earned payback.

Citadel, Minas Tirith

Faramir's POV

Turning a corner, Faramir looks ahead. He knows where he is going but worries still. It is the reason why he is walking to his father's room. He needs to talk to his father. He is glad they will have a king again but worries about what the future will hold for his family tomorrow after the crowning. Until now, he has managed to suppress it. There was just too much to do to spend any time worrying about it.

This changed right now; everything which needed to be done is finished. It allowed his mind to return to worrying. And even now, the worries return to the forefront of his mind. It is why he seeks out his father now. He needs answers.

After a while, he manages to suppress his worries once more and looks around. He frowns. He must have passed his father's room but cannot remember it. He shakes his head and turns around. His eyes widen. His father's rooms are a while back. He bites his lips. He must have been so lost in his thoughts as to forget where he was walking. He quickly makes his way to his father's room and knocks on the door. He waits for an answer. Something which does not take much time.

"Enter!"

He takes a deep breath and enters the room. His father's leaning back in his chair and seems to have his mind occupied by something. What it is, he does not know yet. In time, he will most likely learn about it if his father is willing to share it. This more often than not proves to be a problem. His father looks up with a confused look.

"Faramir, is something wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong with the preparations but you know that already father. I just have some worries on my mind that I would like to talk about with you."

"Then explain them to me."

"I will. Adar, I could not help but notice that something seems to be bothering you also."

"That is not important right now. Tell me about what is bothering you."

"I am glad we will have a king again but worry about what the future will hold for us."

"As in whether or not we will lose our position. I did not know you were so attached to it."

"I am not, adar. Your position as ruling stewards, I am certain we will lose it. But I do not know if the king will want to keep us around as advisors or even a member of the court."

"We? I am certain you speak mainly about your future."

"Aye, that is true. I do not know what possibilities I will have."

"You will have more than one possibility. More than you think. I do not doubt we will retain our position as a steward but as you said no longer a ruling steward. We will be the king's proxy whenever he leaves the city as well as his chief advisor."

"So more like the stewards of old."

"Aye, and that means as my son you will have plenty of possibilities. I know our future king, he will not have you do something you do not enjoy."

"Mhh, possibilities like?"

"You could work as a scholar which you have always wanted to do."

His eyes widen. How does his father know about this? He never spoke about it in his presence. Only around Boromir when they knew they were alone. His father chuckles.

"Oh, come on, son. You never had to say it; I could tell. So is this what you would like to do? I could discuss it with our king."

"Aye, and he would not make a problem of it as you implied before. But what other options do I have?"

"You could work as a farmer or a warrior. Or anything else you would want."

"That is good to know. I will have something to think about then."

These are not ideas he could ever dream of. He knows a few have his preference depending on how close the king would let him stay. He also knows what he would do if the king were to not want them close but they were never those his father just mentioned. Besides, it will not be surprising if they are allowed to stay close to the king considering how his father spoke about the king.

"Adar, there is something else I would like to know; what made you change your opinion about our king?"

"Gil and I were friends years ago."

"Gil, yes. Why does this sound familiar?"

He frowns. He does not know where he remembers it from. Has his father mentioned it before? He is not sure. His father smiles sadly. He tilts his head. There is a story behind this smile.

"Aye, I would imagine. Gil is a nickname I gave to Thorongil when he served here in Gondor. Our first meeting was wrought with strive as I did not trust a sellsword. Thankfully, he managed to convince me of his loyalty but not without some trouble on his part. In time, we came to be close friends and helped each other out. However, it all ended before the raid on Umbar. He intended to leave afterward and after I learned about it I confronted him about it. It ended in a fight I have regretted ever since. And till days ago, Gil had disappeared with only sparse rumors letting me know he was still alive. But where he was I never knew. Or if I did then only after he has left a while before I learned about it."

"That means you must have had many adventures with the king, am I right Adar? Could you tell me one?"

If his father agrees then he will hopefully get a better idea about the friendship between the king and his father. And through this, he will hopefully also gain a better understanding of the king. If, as his father believes, he will be steward in the future then he needs to know what the king is like. And how faster he begins to gain such an understanding the better it will be.

"There were many adventures Gil and I had. One which remains the most with me is our shared defense of Ithilien. I was there first but the incursions were just too many for me to handle on my own. It is the reason why my father had sent Gil - much to my displeasure - and his troops to support me. When he arrived, he saved my life as well as our position. You have to understand we were nearly overrun."

"Then it was good grandfather sent him. But do continue. What happened next?"

"Next? We tended to our wounded. Or well, we? It was more Gil who cared for our wounded especially those who were severely injured while we cared for the scrapes and bruises. Without him, we would have certainly lost at least half of those severely wounded. And afterward, we planned our defense. At Gil's urging and with his suggestions we even made some attacks on the intruding orcs."

"How did that go?"

"Our defense or our attacks?"

"Both I guess but I am more interested in your attacks."

"Those went well, we managed to …"

The door opens behind them which stops his father from continuing with his story. He turns around. A servant, Brenior, enters with an apologetic look in her eyes. He tilts his head. She slowly walks into the room. Only now does he see the tray she is holding in her hands. On the tray stand two wine glasses, a bottle of wine, and some food.

"I apologize, my lords, but mistress Carwegiel thought you would like to have some refreshments."

"Put it on the table and then you can leave."

"Yes, my lord."

He frowns. There is some history between his father and this servant. From the looks of it, she is new. Certainly, her young age is indicative of it. The servant puts the tray on the table, bows, and hurries - more like runs - out of the room. Once she has left the room, he turns to his father.

"Adar, what is this about?"

"This servant tried to pry into matters which do not concern her only recently."

"Will she continue to work in your household?"

"Yes, where else?"

"Maybe she can join the king's new household? She seems afraid of you, adar."

"All I did was warn her not to repeat her mistake. It is not my fault she grew afraid. But that means … you may be right. She can prove she has learned from it so long as it is ensured that she is not in the presence of sensitive information."

"Mhh, it may be a first step for her then. Adar, could you continue your story?"

"Certainly, where was I? Oh yes, our attacks. They went well; we managed to take out nearly all the groups capable of causing us trouble without many injuries on our side. We even managed to destroy some of their supplies. It stopped the orcs from harassing us until they regained their supplies. It gave us time to send the badly wounded back to the city and to give the other wounded time to recover. In time, we managed to even push them far back into Ithilien. To our uhm… annoyance, we didn't manage to push them out of Ithilien."

"And how were your interactions?"

"Our interactions? They were good even though we had our disputes about some of the tactics. Sometimes, it would get heated but… we always managed to find a solution. Even if it meant we would both act as we thought fit. Adar even praised the successes we always had whenever we worked together though he was commonly extremely praising of Gil. I never liked it but adar was right; Gil is a highly skilled leader though I feel needs some aid with ruling as I do not think he has had much experience with it."

"You think he will acknowledge it?"

"He will and will not make a problem of it. I know him well enough to say so. You, Faramir, will also get along with him just fine. You can take my word for it."

He smiles even though he is not certain about it. The interactions he will have with the king will prove if his father's words are true. He is certain he knows how the king and his adar were around each other at that time. But one thing he is certain, he will have a similar relationship as his adar with the king. Adar gave him the impression he and the king will have an even closer relationship in time. Something he is not certain what it will mean but time will tell.