Promise Me

Chapter Ten

Gabriella didn't look back as she stormed away from Boromir's apartment because if she did, she knew she'd turn around and go back and finish the fight with him and that was the last thing she wished to do. But at the same time, she knew something troubled him, something weighed so heavily upon his mind, it had to, for him to lash out the way he did. The Boromir she knew was no pushover, but he was at his core, a gentle man. Despite his training, and despite all the weight he carried upon his broad shoulders, he was not hard and cold, like his father. He was no dreamer, like Faramir could be, but he was not made of stone, either.

But what was it that troubled him so greatly and why did he feel he had to carry that weight alone?

Instead of marching all the way back to the tavern, she instead went to the infirmary, where she found Dory at the back of the main room. "Do you have a moment?"

Dory looked up. "What is it? What's wrong? You look upset, Gab."

"I am upset." She looked about at the crowded room. It didn't seem anyone was straining to listen in on what she had to say, but of course that didn't mean nobody was trying to at all. "But not here. Perhaps we might go out in the courtyard?"

"Of course. We've everything under control here, more or less, so I don't think Ioreth will mind." Dory slipped her arm through Gabriella's and steered her toward the doors that opened onto the sun splashed courtyard. There were few people out there, patients well enough to sit up and take in the sunlight, but Dory didn't stop near them. Instead, she directed Gabriella toward the far back corner, where along the white stone wall ringing the courtyard, stood a small table and chairs of wrought iron.

They settled in the chairs and Dory said, "So, give over and tell me, Gab, what happened? What has you so upset? You look ready to spit nails."

"I do believe I've agree to marry a jackanapes."

"Wait..." Dory's eyes went wide. "Do you mean that Boromir... and you... wait... he proposed?"

"That is exactly what I mean and at the moment, I could cheerfully throttle him blue."

"Wait... slow down and go back to the beginning. When did he propose?"

"Last eve. Or perhaps it was early this morning, I'm not exactly certain what time it was. But that hardly matters, so—"

Dory leaned closer, her eyes bright as she whispered, "Do you mean to tell me you were with him last eve?"

"I just said I was, didn't I?"

"Well, yes, but I didn't—did you sleep with him?"

"Dory!"

"What?" Dory was all innocence as she smiled. "You promised me details. Or, at least, some details. Remember?"

Gabriella sighed softly. "Yes," she nodded, "I do remember and yes, he is the sort of man who just knows what to do and how to do it and was not be happy until he made my eyes cross and my heart threaten to leap right out of my chest."

"So, what happened between the eye-crossing and this morning?"

"That's just it, Dor, I have no idea. Everything was fine and then... and then it wasn't."

"What do you mean, it wasn't?"

"I don't know what upset him so, but it had something to do with a halfling who's here. With both of them, I think, but especially the one who wasn't hurt."

"Pippin."

"You know who he is?"

Dory nodded. "He sang for Denethor before he—well, before—and he has a beautiful voice. Boromir knows him?"