CAPTAIN OF MEN.

          ‘ surely you will choose not to shy away, áðum!  you may have won the heart of my sister, but my men have yet to learn your STRENGTH of character. ’ 

“      you do enough ,  brother   ---      ”      there is no bitterness on his tongue ,  for the words he speaks are meant with earnest.  where should he be ,  without the love of his brother  ?   a flower ,  wilted ,  without the warmth of the sun.  their father ,  for all his nobility and renown ,  has not the draw of his firstborn son   --   nor the care for anything beyond what concerns borormir.  there is a darkness grips denethor’s heart ,  a shadow clouds his eye ,  and  yet  --  despite it all  --  faramir loves him still.   a dutiful son   /   loyal to a fault.      “      i must learn to accept what i cannot change.  in this ,  i could ask of you no help.      ”

“she is not what i might have expected of a wife of yours, dear cousin.” soft smile borne upon her face and words spoke soft and quick, all lilting playfulness of tiny waves, soft-crested. “yet how well i can see what great love grows between you! and i wish you every happiness.” 

soft breeze carries now no bite of winter, light unmarred by creeping shadows, and to walk in time of peace at her cousin’s side is happiness indeed (though yet there remains some sadness, unspoken memory of another cousin who might - - even now! - - have (laughing, teasing) come upon them walking!).

       “ their ways are rather different. i have read of the rohirrim, yet to read of and to meet are two different things entire. i must confess to you in secret, cousin…i know not how to act among them. they strike in me some nervousness. still, father does speak highly of both the old king and the new, and of the men who fought beside them. ”

“      the ways in which they are different ,  little cousin ,  are no thing compared to all that we may have in common.  books ,  for all their wisdom ,  seldom capture the complexities or the essence of a people.  almost always is there a bias ,  one way or the other.  but ,  this is well.  it falls to you to unravel these ways for yourself.      ”      he hums ,  looking beyond the walls of minas tirith.  there’s a ghost of a smirk on his lips thereafter ,  hidden   --   or so the steward would think   --   by the sun’s glare.      “      as for how to act ,   surely you need not alter yourself so.   to be one’s self ,  i’ve found ,  can do no harm.  not much ,   at least.      ”

“      what a mind i must have then ,  éomer king ,  to  CONJURE  up such an image.      ”      he says ,  back straight as his mount treads forward.  there’s a smirk that curls it’s way onto his lips ,  looking down ‘pon the flaxen haired  KING  with a glint of mischief in his eye  ----  and a king he is ;  broad ,  brutal ,  and regal by all accounts.  quite the regent to behold.  to the gondorian that rides beside him ,  however ,  he is not only a monarch ,  but kin.  bonded not by blood ,  but for the love of a woman far nobler than either.  one brother lost ,  another gained.  ‘tis not the same ,  but there’s an ease in faramir’s countenance reminiscent to that which he’d bid farewell with the breaking of a horn.  old wounds mend ,  life continues on.     

“      --  though ,  surely ‘tis not the tricks of such a mind that would account for the mud on your breeches.      ”

DO I  ??  oh man ,  oh boy.  this is a topic that i think about a lot ,  honestly ,  because we really don’t get too much of an idea on their relationship.  mother and son had so little time together ,  not that either of them knew that ,  and it breaks my heart because i really can see that a strong bond existed between them  –  even with him being so small.  this was no stronger than finduilas’ bond with boromir ,  in my opinion ,  but different. 

whereas her first born obviously took after his father ,  faramir had inherited her gentle heart and far more of her characteristics than denethor’s.  his father already found his heir in boromir ,  what he imagined his legacy would be ,  and i think there was a similar thought process in finduilas in regards to faramir.  not as strongly as with denethor and boromir ,  and certainly not to the extent of displaying even slight favoritism ,  but a slight understanding that this youngest child of hers was really hers ;  an extension of herself.  

strong is her arm ,  sword thrust wildly but with purpose.  he has to jump back on his heel ,  in fact ,  to avoid the sting of steel meeting flesh ;  a fitting punishment such would be ,  for he’d been foolish enough to underestimate the strength of so small a child. the next time he comes to the training grounds ,  faramir will wear armor.     

“     --  a fearsome and  NOBLE  one you shall be ,  of this there is no doubt.     ”