Far Horizons ❦ Boromir

fσur: α grσwíng dαrknєѕѕ

FINDUILAS had been right, of course, Minas Tirith was not dreadful at all. Within the year she was already a sister to the brothers and it was well known in the city that the three of them would raise an unspeakable amount of mischief. Whether it be racing up and down the halls or playing tricks on one another.

Though there seemed to be a particular trick that Denethor's eldest son came back to over and over again simply because it worked so well. His lessons were over for the day, as were Aeardis's. Faramir was absent from the library, having chosen to join his mother in her trip to the market. That meant that Aeardis would be the poor soul he tormented for the afternoon.

The young warrior peeped out from behind one of the bookshelves, finding the girl sitting in the corner with an old book in hand. Just as she was turning the page, Boromir ran from his hiding spot and plucked the book from her lap. "Boromir!" Aeardis rose and reached for the book that he now held above his head, wagging it back and forth in a taunting gesture. He knew well by now it was one of the quickest ways to get under her skin.

"Give me the book!" She demanded but he shook his head and took a step backward before turning and bolting from the library. Aeardis was on his heels, she jumped forward she snagged the hem of his tunic and pulled it back with all her might. Boromir lost his balance and tumbled backward, the book flying from his hands into the air. She dove to catch it but the troublesome boy caught her ankle.

The stone floor scraped her hands and knees, in some spots blood began to well up. The girl looked over her shoulder at Boromir, who was grinning and on the verge of laughing. "Why can't you leave me alone when I'm reading?!" She shouted, though beneath the façade of anger she was close to tears.

The boy shrugged, "You're always reading, it's boring." Aeardis furrowed her brows and pushed Boromir back to the ground, pinning one of his arms down against the floor. They wrestled around, pulling one another's hair and clothing, pinching and whacking until their clothes were a mess and there would be bruises to come in the next hours.

"Children!" The stentorian voice echoed in the stone hall and was enough for the both of them to stop pulling each other's hair and scramble apart from one another. Boromir's face had gone impeccably red and Aeardis did not dare to meet her father's gaze. He sighed, taking in the roughened appearance of both his daughter and Denethor's son. "Do you two not have better ways to spend time together?"

He realized they were still young, but Aeardis and Boromir were constantly at each other's throats. The only time there was peace between them was when Faramir was present. Aeardis crossed her arms and looked at Boromir from the corner of her eye, "He keeps taking my books!"

The young Steward-Prince bounded up onto his feet in defense, "Only because all you ever want to do is read!"

Aeardis stood too, her hands on her hips as she stomped toward him, "I told you, if you read more then maybe you wouldn't be such a dimwitted boy!" Ohtar sighed.

"You're just a silly girl!" the boy spat, looking down his nose at her. Her cheeks reddened and the tips of her ears burned, "Ego, mibo orc," she enunciated the words clearly yet for all his tutelage he did not know the meaning of the insult.

"What did you just say?!" Boromir shrieked. Aeardis smiled and opened her mouth to speak again when Ohtar stepped between them.

"That's quite enough," he declared and before his daughter could protest he scooped both her and the book up from the floor.

Ohtar and Aeardis took their evening meal in the privacy of his work-study. For the time his desk was cleared of scrolls, books, and letters. His reading stone and quill had been set aside until the trays and plates had been taken away, then once more he was working on ledgers and messages by the light of what must have been candles.