The Forgotten Love ~A Faramir Love Story~

Chapter IV

Gwen and Faramir walked slowly toward the houses that held the men and women whose positions were inside the Citadel, taking the long paths through the city so as Gwen could get a better view of the city. 

"You will like it here, I believe," Faramir said, breaking the ice a good five minutes into their walk. "After you get used to the quiet. Most people tend to keep to themselves, coming off as sometimes rude I am afraid."

"Is it very quiet here?" Gwen asked, disappointed. "I had wished it not to be."

"Why did you wish it to be, my lady?" Faramir asked in his gentle voice.

"A change of scenery means a change of sound," Gwen stated. "The Southern Woods have not a living soul of man nor elf nor dwarf. It was only my mother and I for miles and miles."

Faramir nodded. "I see now why you wished Minas Tirith to be so. Perhaps then it will be so, at least to you."

Gwen nodded, glad that he understood her situation. "It is very beautiful here," she said, glancing down at the different levels of the city. "And quite large, too."

"Now that we can both agree on!" Faramir said with a laugh.

Gwen laughed as well, noticing how contagious Faramir's laugh was.

"And what of you?" She asked. "What do you think of your city?"

"It is my home, my birthplace. I love it with all of my heart. There is no other city greater than Minas Tirith," he said with a gleam of pride in his eyes.

"Oh, I am not so certain, my lord. I hear Lothlórien is a marvelous kingdom," Gwen insisted with a sparkle of mischief in her eye.

Faramir looked at her out of the corner of his eye, a smile dancing on his lips. "My brother Boromir was right. You are a spritely thing, aren't you?"

Gwen looked down at the ground shyly, fearing she had overstepped her boundaries in joking with the son of the Steward.

Faramir, sensing her unease, changed the subject. "What about you, Lady Gwen. Have you always lived in the Southern Woods?"

Gwen shook her head. "I know not where I am from before I came to live with my adopted mother."

"I see," Faramir nodded, being far too polite to prod further.

They walked a short time more in quiet, enjoying the sights and sounds of the night. The hoot of a barn owl, the screeching of bats, the flicker of torches, and the clip clop of a horse's hooves were all around them.

"The stars do shine brightly tonight, do you not agree, my lord?" Gwen said happily as she gazed into the foreign night sky of Minas Tirith for what seemed the hundredth time.

"More than usual, I do say. I have not seen them so bright in quite a while," Faramir observed.

"Perhaps it is the full moon tonight," Gwen mused, looking at Faramir. "The stars wish to compete with the brightness of the moon."

Faramir laughed again. "I am not sure how logical that is, milady."

"It is a beautiful thought, though."

Faramir looked at this new, strange girl fondly. She was different from the other women.

In a good way.

She had an imagination, a humorous way of explaining her ideas, a charming laugh, and she was definitely not afraid to speak her mind.

He just hoped she would not do so in the presence of his father. That would end badly.