Faramir Fiction Archive

Half-Hearted Holiday (NC-17)

Written by Laurëlóte

29 September 2006 | 19511 words

Chapter 10

There were two figures waiting for them inside the gates of Minas Tirith as the Steward and the future King of Rohan arrived just after midday.

“You are back!” cried Éowyn, throwing her arms around both as soon as they got off their horses.

“How was your trip?” inquired Aragorn while trying to read their body language, hoping that the two men had at least learnt to get along.

Éomer screwed up his face in disgust, “Do not ever ask me to do that ever again. I was forced to spend a night in Henneth Annûn… And they say that soldiers are uncivilised!”

Faramir looked momentarily shocked at the Rohirrim’s words. He had believed that they were well and truly past the insult stage, then quickly realised what Éomer was in fact doing.

“Just remember who took out over half that group of orcs. They would have ripped you to shreds if I had not been there,” he stated coldly.

“And good riddance it would be too,” he added under his breath while desperately trying not to laugh at the look of horror which passed between Éowyn and Aragorn. Neither had ever heard Faramir speak a harsh word about anyone. Things had got worse, not better!

It was Éomer who cracked first. An amused grin spread slowly across his face, earning him a playful slap from Éowyn, and causing Faramir to laugh.

“I believed you! How could you do that to me?” said Éowyn, trying her best to look angry. “You know how important this was to me.”

“We were good Éowyn,” replied Faramir with a smile, adding a ‘very good’ silently to himself. “Do not worry.”

Éowyn smiled happily and grabbed their hands, pulling them towards the citadel. “So, tell me all about your trip.”

Aragorn chuckled at her enthusiasm, “Maybe you should at least let them get cleaned up first?”

A while later Éomer was sitting on the bed in his chambers, while his sister was busy unpacking his things and putting them away, fussing over him, and paying no attention to the fact that he wanted her to stop so that he could talk to her.

“Éowyn, Éowyn!” he desperately tried to get her attention. Finally she turned to look at him. “Stop that for a moment and sit down, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

Seeing her brother’s serious look, she frowned, and sat down warily on the edge of the bed.

He took her hand in his and turned to face her, not quite daring to look her in the eye.

“Éowyn love, you know me better than anyone,” he knew however he said this it was never going to sound right. “And you know that what I am about to say, I do not say lightly. Please do not be angry, but…”

“Éomer what is it? You know you can talk to me about anything.”

She was very worried now, Éomer had broken off what he was saying and had buried his head in his hands in despair.

He did not know how he was going to tell her, what if she never forgave him? She was all the family he had left. For a brief second he could not help but wonder if he should forget the whole thing, but picturing Faramir in his mind, he knew that it had to be done, for he could never walk away.

“I am in love,” he blurted out suddenly, meeting his sister’s eyes briefly before looking away.

“Is that not a good thing?” prompted Éowyn, desperate to know what exactly was going on in her brother’s mind.

“It is Faramir. I am in love with Faramir.”

Éowyn sat expressionless as she slowly processed the information in her mind. This was defiantely the last thing she had been expecting.

“You can not choose who you fall in love with,” she said gently trying her best to remain calm but inside she was in turmoil. Faramir was hers; this was never supposed to happen. But at least it was her Faramir loved, and her brother would certainly not jeopardise her happiness over someone he could never have.

“I am not angry with you Éomer,” Éowyn continued softly. “I just feel sorry that you have fallen for someone who can not return those feelings.”

“He loves me too,” he replied quietly, his voice barely over a whisper as he struggled to say the words out loud for fear of breaking his sister’s heart.

“What?!”

Éomer could see his sister’s temper rising. This was certainly not going to end happily but he could not back out now.

“I love him and he loves me. Not as much as he loves you of course, but we want to be together. You can still marry him though,” Éomer spoke quickly without so much as a pause of breath, and then cringed as he repeated back what he had said in his mind. Faramir would have put it so much better.

“Oh, I can still marry him can I?” replied Éowyn with a glare. “Well that is all right then.”

With that she stood and ran out of the room, trying her best to stop the threatening tears from falling.

Moments later, the door to Faramir’s chamber was flung open.

“Is it true?” asked Éowyn accusingly.

Faramir’s heart sank as he saw the look on his betrothed’s face, she had obviously been crying. She hated them both.

“Éowyn, I am sorry,” he said softly, hoping to calm her down, if only slightly. “I am but a weak man, and we all have our downfalls.”

He walked over and stood before her, taking her hands in his.

“I love you so very dearly and want nothing more than for you to be my wife, but if it had not been Éomer, it almost certainly would have been another man.”

“I should have told you that from the beginning, but I thought I could resist, but I can not, and for that I am truly sorry. If you want nothing more to do with me then I understand. But I beg you to think long and hard before you finish what we have.

“We have nothing!” cried Éowyn, tearing her hands away and slapping Faramir hard across the face, then stormed out the room just as quickly as she came.

NB: Please do not distribute (by any means, including email) or repost this story (including translations) without the author's prior permission. [ more ]

Enjoyed this story? Then be sure to let the author know by posting a comment at https://www.faramirfiction.com/fiction/half-hearted-holiday. Positive feedback is what keeps authors writing more stories!