Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Much to Harry’s relief and happiness, both Boromir and Faramir returned safe and sound from Osgiliath, tired but victorious, just too days later.
However, that was the end of the good news.
A messenger had arrived from the elvish settlement of Rivendell, sent by Elrond himself, convoking a representant from Gondor to his home for a Council.
Though the reason was not mentioned in the message, probably for fear of it falling into the wrong hands, Denethor suspected it had to do with the One Ring, since the lord of Rivendell had spent centuries without any contact with Gondor for that very reason.
The wizard’s worries were not assuaged by his strange dreams.
And that was how Boromir was called to the throne room by his father.
“…you will represent Gondor in Elrond’s Council.” Had finished saying the seneschal. “There’s no one else I would entrust this mission to.”
“Then, my lord, I must ask for something first.” Replied Boromir, his eyes cold as he regarded his father.
Denethor seemed surprised at his attitude, but he made a gesture with his hand inviting him to talk.
“Before departing, I wish to marry Harry.”
Silence fell over the throne room.
Denethor rose from his seat, furious, but Boromir remained firm in his place, with squared shoulders and a straight back.
Suddenly, Denethor turned pensive as he watched his prideful son.
“Alright…”
Boromir’s face lit up.
“Thank you, father, I…”
“…however,” continued his father cutting him off. “you will not marry until your return from this mission.”
Boromir felt his excitement doused, but he remained calm. The mere fact that he had got his father to accept was more than he could’ve expected.
“Until then, your… lover” pronounced the seneschal carefully. “will remain in the Citadel. I don’t want any distractions in this mission; it is too important.”
Despite wanting to protest that Harry was not a distraction, Boromir kept his mouth closed. It wouldn’t do him any good to protest when he’d already got what he wanted. With time, his father would have to see the truth of his feelings.
With a last respectful bow in acceptance, Boromir left.
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When Boromir entered his rooms and caught him in his arms before kissing him passionately, Harry could not say he wasn’t surprised, but the youth returned the kiss ardently.
Finally, Boromir allowed their lips to separate slightly and brought their foreheads together.
“What was that for?” asked Harry with some amusement in his voice.
“Marry me.”
The youth blinked, surprised at the abrupt proposal.
“What?” he asked, stunned.
“Marry me, Harry.”
“Boromir, your father will never…”
“My father has allowed it.” Interrupted Boromir, full of euphoria.
“Your father has… allowed… for us to marry?”
Boromir nodded before taking his delicate hands in his and squeezing them slightly.
Then, the gondorian told him of the conversation he’d had with the seneschal, about him leaving and their possible marriage.
“Father doesn’t want us to marry until my return from Rivendell, but I don’t wish to wait. Marry me, Harry, in secret. I promise upon my return we’ll have a wedding such as you deserve and…
“Yes.”
Boromir stopped upon hearing that word and a smile started to appear on his handsome face.
“Yes?”
“Yes.” Repeated Harry in a firm voice. “I don’t need a grand wedding, Boromir; I only need you. I… I don’t want to see you leave,” admitted the youth. “but if you must, I will first marry you under the Valar’s sight.”
Boromir kissed him again.
ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
“This is not right, Boromir; Harry deserves…”
“I know very well that Harry deserves more than this, and I will give it to him. Upon my return, we’ll have a proper wedding.” Insisted Boromir firmly. “Besides… what do a few months matter when it is already agreed?”
Faramir, however, knew his brother too well.
“You fear father will regret it and change his mind, right?”
Boromir clenched his teeth.
“But if you’re already married, there’s nothing he could do.”
“Please, brother.”
Faramir looked over his brother’s shoulder, watching Harry laugh at something Arborn said.
He wore a white robe with a foreign cut, probably from his home, and cream-colored pants. His long hair looked like a pool of darkness under the light of the setting sun, contrasting sharply with his pale skin and his captivating eyes that looked like jewels.
Faramir felt as if a hand clenched around his heart at his beauty.
He remembered how his face radiated happiness when Boromir and he confessed their plans to marry in secret before his brother took him aside to explain himself and he felt a knot in his gut.
He looked again at his brother, seeing in his eyes his hope and stubbornness and something in his heart broke.
With a sigh, Faramir smiled slightly and nodded.
ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
The ceremony was short, respecting both the gondorian and the magical customs, but at the end of it, two thin golden rings hung from the neck of both husbands.
ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
That night, the young wizard awoke suddenly in the arms of Boromir, their bodies intimately intertwined and his head resting on his naked chest.
A hand run softly through his hair and Harry raised his head.
“Boromir, did I wake you up?”
The warrior shook his head.
“How could I sleep the last night that I will see my beautiful husband in who knows how long?”
Harry frowned a little and the Man run a hand through the lines on his forehead, softening them.
“You have a long trip ahead, you need to rest.” Reproached him the youth.
Boromir just smiled before kissing him.
When they pulled apart again it was Boromir who frowned.
“What has woken you up, my love?”
Harry tensed upon remembering his dream. He knew the gondorian would not like it.
“Boromir, do you remember that I told you the Valar sent me here?”
“Yes, you said they had a task for you. That you were free to act, but that at some point you would be called to…”
Boromir trailed off, watching his expression carefully. Then his face closed off in a way that Harry had never seen.
“No.” he said.
“Boromir…”
“No, Harry. That is final. This journey is dangerous; I shall not put you in such danger.”
“Boromir, the will of the Valar cannot be so easily ignored. In my dreams…”
“No, Harry. Please.” Asked the man swallowing. “If the Valar want this quest completed, I shall endeavor to make it so; I will take your place.”
“Boromir, I cannot ask you to…”
“You are not asking, I am offering. Please, Harry, promise me you will stay safe.”
They looked each other in the eyes, neither giving in.
“You really will not allow me to go with you?” asked Harry in a soft voice.
“It is not that I don’t want you to come with me. There is nothing I want more than that; that is, nothing more than your safety.” Replied Boromir softly. “If something were to happen to you, I…”
The Man took a deep breath and let it out, shuddering. Harry caressed his shoulder before laying his head down on his chest.
“It’s alright, I am fine.” He reassured him. “I will stay here and wait for you to come back. But you must promise that you will, Boromir.” Said Harry raising his head again. “Promise that, no matter the dangers you must face, you will always return to me.”
Boromir looked him solemnly in the eyes.
“I promise.”
They looked each other in the eyes, a strange intensity passing between them, before Harry’s face softened and he raised a hand to the man’s face.
“I will miss you.”
“And I will miss you.” Replied Boromir. “I will miss your hair, your eyes, your smile…” said Boromir touching each part of him slowly. “the warmth of your body, your laugh, the way your breath stutters when I kiss you…”
And he did just that.
ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
Boromir would have preferred a more discreet and less elaborate goodbye; just him, Harry and Faramir. Maybe Arborn and Tolan.
He would’ve hugged his brother, kissed his love until he stole his breath and got on his horse before galloping away from Minas Tirith.
As his father spoke of the honor it was that his son represented his city, the gondorian sent a forlorn look at his husband.
The mere thought made him smile.
His husband.
Harry was now his husband.
Denethor kept talking and Boromir made sure to wipe the smirk from his lips to at least present a serious face before his departure.
When finally the seneschal stopped talking, Boromir gathered solemnly Gondor’s Horn from his hands, strapping it to his waist, and started down the steps towards the Citadel’s courtyard. The White Tree shone under the sun’s glow and, for a moment, Boromir thought it looked full of life.
But it was merely an illusion; the White Tree hadn’t flowered in centuries.
Halfway down the stairs, Boromir stopped in front of his brother and his husband. Finally he hugged his brother, who whispered him to be careful and he’d take care of Harry, and turned to his beloved.
His angel was dressed in black in this occasion, with a robe covering his brown pants and high boots. He wore the cloak Boromir had gifted him in the solstice, green and with a clasp of a bird midflight.
His black hair shone under the little sun of that day, his skin pale but his beautiful green eyes firm as few times had he seen.
To his surprise, the youth extended a small package wrapped with rope. Upon opening it, Boromir found himself looking at a dagger made of dwarf steel, with a simple handle but incrusted with beads of black amber.
It was the same dagger that had caught his attention at a stand in the solstice but that he’d decided not to buy.
With burning eyes, Boromir hung the dagger right next to the Horn of Gondor before looking up to find those green eyes that pursued him even in dreams.
“Come back safe and sound, please.” Begged the wizard in a low voice.
“I will.” Answered Boromir.
And then he took a single step forward, till their bodies were almost touching, and bent down to press a soft chaste kiss to those red lips.
“I love you.” He whispered against his lips.
“I love you.” Sighed back his angel.
And just like that, the gondorian took a step back, forcefully dragging his body away from him, bowed slightly, and finished walking down the step to his horse.
Not long after, his silhouette disappeared in the distance.
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It had barely been a week since his brother’s departure and Faramir was summoned by his father.
“I have a task for you that I hope you can fulfill without bringing further shame upon this family.”
Faramir remained stoic at his father’s words.
“What may I be of help with, father?”
“You will get married.”
Faramir looked surprised.
“To who?”
“To that… catamite of your brother.”
Faramir felt all the blood in his veins freezing.
“Are you speaking… about Harry, my lord?”
“Yes, yes, the boy. You shall marry him, tomorrow, at sunrise.”
“But… my lord, you promised Boromir…”
“I promised him he would marry upon his return. I never said with whom. By the time he is back, I will have chosen a good woman for him.”
Faramir did not know how to react to what he was hearing.
“Father, Boromir and Harry love each other…”
“Then they should be glad that they’ll still be close.”
Faramir felt sick at what he was hearing. Was his father suggesting that he marry Harry just so he and his brother could have a dalliance whilst he found Boromir a woman of better breeding?
“What if Harry refuses?”
“You think that insolent boy is that ambitious? He should be glad I’m letting him marry my second son at all. If he refuses, I have other ways to deal with people like him. He can have my useless second-born but never my firstborn.”
Yes, Faramir felt sick.
“Now, leave. I have important matters to take care of.”
ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
Faramir walked slowly through the corridors of the Citadel.
On the one hand, his heart was beating fast at the mere idea of marrying Harry. Of loving him for the rest of his life.
On the other, he knew it would be nothing but a farce.
Harry and Boromir were already married under the sight of the gods; their union would not be accepted.
Besides, he couldn’t do that to them. He knew how much they loved each other and Boromir... Bormir was his brother. His older brother whom had taken care of him when their father wouldn’t, his brother whom he loved so dearly.
No, he could never do that to them.
He knocked on a heavy wooden door and waited to be invited in before walking in.
Sitting at a table, with a book in his hands and the light of the window falling over him, was Harry.
“Faramir, are you alright? You look a little pale.”
Harry who deserved to be happy after everything he’d gone through.
Harry who his father wanted him to marry, if only to keep him away from Boromir.
Harry who he loved.
It was the first time he acknowledged it in his mind and it was oddly freeing.
“Faramir?”
With a deep breath, Faramir closed the door and stood firm, choice taken.
ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
Harry was pale, a hand covering his mouth, the book completely forgotten at the table. Faramir would not look away from him.
“Only my brother can protect you from him.” He whispered, looking tired.
“I must go after Boromir.”
Faramir nodded, watching the light come back into Harry’s precious eyes.
“Alright.”
“Alright? That’s all? You’re not going to get angry? To rant at least?” asked Faramir, looking surprised.
“What would I achieve with that? To alert the servants that I am escaping?”
Faramir felt his anger leave him at the tired words. Yes, he was right. It was no use that he rant and rave over how unjust this was.
“What’s your plan?” he sighed.
Harry hesitated, reaching for the book and standing up.
“I will gather my things and leave at night. I will go through the northern gate and follow Boromir. When I find him, I…”
Harry cut off there and bit his lip. Faramir nodded.
“I will give you a letter for him, so that he may read it from my own hand.” He said. “You will need a horse. I’ll meet you at the northern gate and-”
But Harry was already shaking his head.
“No, it’s too dangerous.”
“I could meet you at night and give you the horse…”
“I don’t need a horse. And as I said, it’s too dangerous. Especially for you, if someone saw you, you’d be in big trouble.”
“I don’t care, Harry…”
“But I do.” Cut him off the young man before his look softened and he took a step forward. “I am grateful for all you are doing, Faramir, I am. But I can’t allow you to put your already precarious position into more danger. I will manage from now.”
Faramir hung his head.
“So this is goodbye?” he asked.
Harry took another step forward and looked up into his face, a small mischievous small on his lips.
“No, Faramir; this is see you later.”
Faramir snorted before bringing his dear friend into a hug and inhaling the sweet scent that surrounded him.
“Tell Arborn and Tolan not to worry and that I’m sorry.”
“I will.”
But he couldn’t help asking one last question.
“How will you manage without a horse?”
“Oh, Faramir, I have something so much better. One day, I will show you.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
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In the middle of the night, a shadow went into the forest closest to Minas Tirith and soon enough, two shadows left in silence.
ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
Sunrise came and Faramir presented himself to the garden his father had cited him to, dressed in his best clothes.
The gathering was small, just his father to officiate and a few nobles to stand as witness. Just further insult from his father to his least favorite son.
But time went by and nobody else showed up.
His father grew furious and sent some servants in search of the person they all were waiting for.
When they returned, it was with the news that the rooms were empty and the food from last night still cold and uneaten on the table.
Harry had fled.
Furious at his plans being thwarted, Denethor ran his eyes over everyone present until they stopped on person. His son, eyes full of love, stood looking unsurprised.
And the seneschal knew.
He would pay for his insolence.