Five Things that Faramir Never Said to Andrahar

[altariel]

From the Unabeauverse. Sometimes the right words are hard to find.


Five Things that Faramir Never Said to Andrahar

1. An Education

Dol Amroth, 2998

That year taught Faramir many things about manhood.

From his uncle, he learned to take praise, and observed how a husband and wife might be sources of delight for one another.

From his grandfather, he learned that lordship could be gentle, and how easy it was to serve such a master.

From the Armsmaster, he learned swordplay, and a smattering of his language. And from a battered book found on the market, bought to improve his Haradric, he discovered that Asinyal was a man, who loved Kedara still.

Already keeping his own counsel, he went home with much to ponder.

***

2. What Forgiveness?

Minas Tirith, 3019

And what chance was there, in those last dark days, to speak to each other of their shared sorrow? The world was ending.

And what would he have said, besides? For if he thought of Andrahar at that time, Faramir felt only a rising, choking rage; thinking of what Boromir’s last letter had contained, what he knew now on Andrahar’s account.

Then, in the days after the downfall, it was easier to give himself over to the new experience of happiness. To lock away the old griefs, to bury them, for fear of where that burning anger might take them.

***

3. Gifts

Minas Tirith, 7 F.A.

The trunk had rested undisturbed in some distant attic for more than thirty years. Unsealing it, Faramir discovered an archive – of the games they had played, the lessons they had learned, the boys they had been. School books with uneven lettering and near-miss numbers. Birds and beasts carved for them by the kitchen maid’s sweetheart. Beads and counters, trading pieces in a complex game of their own devising. Toy soldiers. Two childhoods woven together so tightly by necessity that one could hardly see the join.

“Here,” he said, opening the chest for Brand. “Here it is. Take whatever you like.”

***

4. Hall Faces

Minas Tirith, 18 F.A.

Quite whence the idea had come to raise the stone in memory of his father, Faramir no longer remembered. The old guard, probably, keen to curry favour with the new power in their lives – the other, uncourted son.

For who, he wondered idly, listening to the eulogies, knew the whole tale? Family, yes; the King and the Queen; a long-departed wizard; a distant perian; Beregond... and three former servants, recipients of generous pensions.

Rising to give his own tribute, his eye inadvertently met Andrahar’s. Faramir looked away. On this matter, there could be no private understanding. Only stony public faces.

***

5. Family

Minas Tirith, 23 F.A.

When the news reached the White City of the death of the Commander of the Swan Knights, the Steward of Gondor was sitting in his garden with his daughter, Morwen, and her companion, Serindë. Their morning had been spent trading tea and tales, and in veneration of leather-bound volumes of great beauty and antiquity, handed round.

He read the letter and, wordlessly, passed it to his girl. As she read, he looked down the garden to where old ghosts lingered yet. “I should go...” he heard Serindë murmur. And: “Stay,” said the Steward, without a second thought. “You are family.”

ooo0ooo

Altariel, 3rd April 2011

Comments

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Don't know the fandom and characters well enough to grasp that one (I only read Part II and III of LOTR) but through the link found this one which really impressed me:

http://www.tolkienfanfiction.com/Story_Read_Chapter.php?CHid=2181

[altariel.livejournal.com]

You definitely wouldn't recognize Andrahar, as he's an original character created by my wonderful partner-in-crime Isabeau of Greenlea. We have been collaborating on writing Tolkien-based stories for nearly a decade now, with frequent help from two other wonderful writers, Dwimordene and Soledad, in a shared universe known as the "Unabeauverse". Some of the stories are listed here, if you're interested in exploring further.

Thank you for the response to Lady of Silences: not an easy story to write, and not to read either, I think.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

It is saddening because in his own, rather frozen way Denethor loves her, but cannot stop his deadening influence choking the life out of her and out of everything else he touches, including, if I recall correctly, the city of Numenor, which he surrenders with the same weary, cold resignation.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Choking, yes. You might be interested in my Denethor POV story, The Burial of the Dead.

In the end Denethor implodes pretty spectacularly, burning himself to death on a pyre. (He attempts to burn Faramir alive too, and when he's prevented from doing that, tries to knife him.)

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

is this in the LOTR book or in the fanfic? Because I can't remember that from my reading (which was nine years ago so I could just forgotten)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

The pyre and the knife are straight from Tolkien.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Beautiful prose. Sad epitaph of a failed king, failed husband, failed father. I wish I could write such an unlikable character so mellifluously.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I'm particularly proud of that piece. I'd been soaking myself in Wilfred Owen and, particularly, TS Eliot around that time. It's one of five pieces that I wrote named after the constituent parts of The Waste Land.

[muuranker.livejournal.com]

Very good - technically very fine, and very satisfying!

Serindë in particular. Have you written more about her?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Serindë has hitherto only appeared in unpublished WiPs, and in the narrative-in-my-head. I'm glad she stood out.

[brendan-moody.livejournal.com]

I'm also not familiar with the back story, but even so I can tell this is lovely.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Brendan.

[melinafandom.livejournal.com]

This is lovely, Altariel. Thanks for posting it.

I know it would be a massive undertaking, but it would be fantastic to someday see this entire shared universe in a Collection over at Archive of Our Own, where it could be easily found and enjoyed for a long time to come.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Melina!

I have some fiction archived at AO3, and the interface is wonderful to use. I have to admit the thought of adding the entire back catalogue does leave me feeling pretty faint!

[wormwood-7.livejournal.com]

This is beautifully written. I loved Isabeau's stories about Boromir and Andrahar, and these drabbles about the years that followed ring very true. The sometimes uncomfortable compromises one is forced to make in peacetime and the occasional wish to leave the anger behind: it was easier to give himself over to the new experience of happiness.

Two childhoods woven together so tightly by necessity that one could hardly see the join. That is a lovely description of the relationship between Boromir and Faramir.
And: he looked down the garden to where old ghosts lingered yet. Yes, they probably always would.
Thanks for sharing!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! It's been such a pleasure to get immersed in this world again.