Chapter 5 - Worries and Concerns

Éowyn had left before the funeral ceremony, but she was worried. She was worried about Faramir. After the first night when she walked into him drinking, the subsequent two nights, she lay witness to Faramir talking in his dreams and waking frequently. She did not stay the night but made sure he fell asleep again before she left quietly. She kept her hand on his forehead to calm and soothe, and he felt him calm upon her touch. However, when she probed him to speak of the nightmares, and gave him some tea to assuage the fears and keep him present, he would be closed off, not offering any insight to his dreams or opening up to her. 

“I’m fine, dear lady, just a dream, just a dream,” he had insisted. He didn’t want his lady to worry about him as she had to ride off to Rohan. He will recover from the dreams; he always had.

“I do not think you’re alright and you have to let me know how to aid you,” replied Eowyn insistently. “I am opening up to you, and you have to do the same.”

Faramir would not reply. He felt a headache coming on and felt no energy to explain.  “I will be fine, my lady. Now, please excuse me-I have work to do.” Escaping to his office, he did not leave time for any more questions from Eowyn.

Eowyn tried to find him in the morning, but he would have already departed for the day for meetings. Faramir didn’t make time to talk. Finding him during the day was hard -it was either a meeting or he was in his study, closed off.

Faramir was not making things easy, making Eowyn feel upset. She understood his busy mood was because of funeral preparations and duties, but this was not how she wanted to leave. She felt anxious so she went to the hobbits, Merry and Pippin for advice.

She found them with Frodo, Sam, Legolas, and Gimli.  She smiled at them for they seemed to enjoy each other’s company, still recollecting the Quest and filling in the gaps for Frodo to remember to write.

“You all have to talk about the Ents again and how they made you so tall,” Sam said.

“And I still did not tell you how we came up from the river to Gondor so quickly,” Gimli interrupted.

“And i have to tell you who won the battle of killing orcs at Helm’s Deep and that a certain dwarf may have won our game,” said Legolas.

“Frodo will have to be locked up in the tower in Minas Tirith and write it all down. Otherwise he will forget half of it, and poor old Bilbo will be dreadfully disappointed,” said Pippin *** 

“Is that right?” Eowyn said with a grin.

“My lady!” Merry said. “Welcome to us telling stories that must be in Frodo’s book. Do you have one to add? Please tell them how brave I was in slaying the Witch-king with you!”

“That is indeed a tall order,” said Eowyn. “I will share that soon, do not worry. The book will be many many pages. I am sure I would like to read when it’s done. May I speak to you, Merry, alone?”

“What happened?” Pippin asked. “Can I come too?”

“No, nothing is wrong but I am leaving tomorrow and I just want to say my farewell for now. We need to bring our soldiers and horses back to Rohan and then return to take King Theoden too, when the funeral is ready for him in Rohan. But I need a favor from you two,” Eowyn motioned the two hobbits over.

“What happened, my lady?” asked Merry, eyes wide with concern.

Eowyn replied, “I know the funeral for Lord Denethor is tomorrow- I would like to know how Lord Faramir will be in my absence. He has been having dreams lately…and I worry.”

“What kind of dreams?” asked Pippin.  

“Yes, we mentioned how his father passed away just a couple days ago and we talked about the Black Breath during our conversation,” said Merry. “He said nothing about the specifics of his dreams to us either.”

“We need to be on the lookout for him!” said Pippin with resolve. “Is that what you want, my lady?”

“Why yes,” said Eowyn with a smile. The hobbits always made her smile and she was a bit more at ease that the Fellowship was still there. If anything, they could look after her betrothed until they meet again. “You also write to me please if anything is amiss.”

As if Merry was reading her mind, “Yes, we will make it our duty to see how our Steward is. We will make sure he will ride out to Edoras so that he can pay respects to King Theoden—”

“And propose to you in Rohan!” Interrupted Pippin.

Eowyn laughed, “You are all scheming hobbits, but I thank you. Please take good care all of you. ” Then she left and said her goodbyes to the other hobbits and companions and went to Faramir’s quarters.

“What was that about?” asked Frodo.

“Yes, what did our lady require of us?” asked Sam.

“She just wants us to look after Faramir which makes sense,” said Merry softly.  He had remembered Faramir’s healing in the Houses of Healing. He had made sure there was something to occupy him and he felt that there was more to do now than ever. That is why he made sure to introduce the White Lady of Rohan to him. They could mend each other’s hurts. Merry saw in Eowyn’s eyes her need to die in the battlefield, while he learned from Beregond and Pippin the foul mood that took Faramir to ride out to defend Minas Tirith.

“We need to make sure Faramir is well and ready to go to Edoras,” said Pippin.

“Is he suffering from dreams?” asked Frodo quietly.

Everyone looked at Frodo. “Why yes, cousin, that was the concern,” said Merry. “We did tell him to beware the Black Breath.”

“Well everyone is recovering,” Frodo’s blue eyes had a deep look of understanding and his heart wringed with pity. “We should make sure he will be alright tomorrow during the ceremony. We need to see that the work meetings don’t go too long after tomorrow. I’ll ask Strider about seeing him.”

The hobbits, Gimli, and Legolas nodded in agreement to spare some eyes on the Steward, and in the meantime, they continued to talk about lighter matters to keep the hope bright in the new age.

 **taken from Steward and the King, Return of the King 

TBC