Brania of Lorien
Dúnedain of the South
Wanderer Healer
Myrddin Dark Elf Elven Assassin
Posts: 84
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Post by Brania of Lorien on May 4, 2006 14:57:34 GMT
Brania led her horse on foot through the main gates of Minas Tirith. It had been over 20 years since she had called this place home, yet it hadn't changed too much. The same din and noise that echoed through the marketplace, the familiar guards standing watch over the city, the people, the smells, the streets were all the same. There was one thing that was different and that was a feeling in the atmosphere. The people were happier than she remembered, there was a feeling of safety and hope. She figured that it had to be because at long last Gondor's king had come back to them. One had to have lived in the White City to truely understand how desperately they had waited and dreamed of the King returning to them.
She didn't intend to stay here long, just a few days. As much as it felt like a homecoming, it was also painful. This had been her home. So many good and bad things had happened here. Brania left the marketplace for a higher level of the city. She had found something here last time she had visited and knew that she could do nothing else until she saw it again. It wasn't long before it came into view. It was a statute, a tribute, a memorial to the eldest son of Denethor II, Boromir. She paused and bowed her head, fighting the tears that came when thinking about her brother.
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King Elessar
Administrator
King of Gondor Lord of the D?nedain Ex-Wanderer Commander of the Armies of The West
"Put my sandwich down Gimli"
Posts: 105
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Post by King Elessar on May 4, 2006 20:12:09 GMT
Aragorn saw the young woman and recognised her as Faramir's sister. He had met her in the woods of Lorien, when he wandered the wild. He walked up behind her. He was wearing his full cerimonial dress and crown. 'Damn it he thought, she wont recognise me.' "Brania, what are you doing here?" he asked. Trying to look like the ranger she knew, but failed dismally. He was no longer the scruffy ranger that Faramir said he was. "Why have you come back to Gondor?"
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Brania of Lorien
Dúnedain of the South
Wanderer Healer
Myrddin Dark Elf Elven Assassin
Posts: 84
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Post by Brania of Lorien on May 4, 2006 20:33:56 GMT
(nope, she's not going to recognize her friend Strider, though please remember that you can't go off and tell Faramir I'm here. *grin* if you please, your majesty. Not that she knows you're the King.)
Brania turned as she heard her name spoken. The voice sounded familiar and she expected to see a friend behind her. Instead, she came face to face with a man who could only be the King. He was dressed in fully royal robes with a crown on his head and behind him she could see a group of the Watch, those who used to guard the Steward and his family. How did the King know her name?
"Your Majesty?" she asked, bowing her head, "I-I didn't know I was not allowed to be in Gondor. I am but a simple wanderer. I meant no offense. I," she paused and looked over at the memorial to her brother, "I just wanted to pay my respects to a brave warrior."
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King Elessar
Administrator
King of Gondor Lord of the D?nedain Ex-Wanderer Commander of the Armies of The West
"Put my sandwich down Gimli"
Posts: 105
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Post by King Elessar on May 4, 2006 21:27:44 GMT
He knew it. She didnt recognise him. "Of course you are allowed to be in Gondor my friend. Forgive my formal attaire, for you are not familiar with it and I am not a scruffy as I once was. I'm probaly best suited to a leather jerkin and a long green coat than I am to this cerimonial dress and crown." Aragorn said and smiling. "Everyone here knows me as Elessar, you of course will not know me by such a name, but you will know me as Strider the Ranger of the North." He said and smiled once more.
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Brania of Lorien
Dúnedain of the South
Wanderer Healer
Myrddin Dark Elf Elven Assassin
Posts: 84
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Post by Brania of Lorien on May 4, 2006 21:47:23 GMT
Brania looked up in confusion as she heard the King's words. Was he saying that he was her friend, Strider? That was insane. There was no way that the one Man she had trusted had lied to her, had decieved her. She seached the face of the man in front of her, looking for her friend behind the crown and the royal outfit. She took a step back as she saw the same eyes, the same face.
"Strider?" she whispered, shaking her head, "Why would you betray me like that? I trusted you."
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King Elessar
Administrator
King of Gondor Lord of the D?nedain Ex-Wanderer Commander of the Armies of The West
"Put my sandwich down Gimli"
Posts: 105
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Post by King Elessar on May 4, 2006 21:51:54 GMT
Aragorn looked confused. "How have I betrayed you?" Aragorn looked once agian confused at the girl. No, woman, for she was alot younger in the days when he wondered Lorien and the North. She haddent changed much though he had not seen her in years. She still had that same fire in here eyes that she always had, though dimmed slightly. "I cant think of anything that i have done could seem like betrayl to you." he said, still looking like a confused child.
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Brania of Lorien
Dúnedain of the South
Wanderer Healer
Myrddin Dark Elf Elven Assassin
Posts: 84
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Post by Brania of Lorien on May 4, 2006 22:14:58 GMT
"You did not tell me who you were, that you were the King," Her tone held such reverence that could only come from someone who had been born and bred in Minas Tirith. "Had I known..." Had she known she would have never told him some of the things she had. She wouldn't have trusted him as much as she had. Strider, a fellow wanderer was a kindred spirit, who understood that sometimes you didn't want to acknowledge your past, that you didn't want to be claimed by anyone. A Wanderer wanted to be a loner.
But a King....He was a public figure. He knew her brother. He was revered by all Men and many of the Elves. He demanded loyalty, respect. He had power. She bowed her head again. "I should return to Lorien, Majesty." A King wouldn't want a wanderer like her for a friend, anyway.
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King Elessar
Administrator
King of Gondor Lord of the D?nedain Ex-Wanderer Commander of the Armies of The West
"Put my sandwich down Gimli"
Posts: 105
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Post by King Elessar on May 4, 2006 22:22:26 GMT
"Brania, wait. COme inside and i will explain everything to you. There is alot more to this than it seems. Come, you can eat and drink, just please let me tell you the whole story." Aragorn begged. He turned to the guards and nodded. They left them be. "Come lets go." Not waiting for an answer Aragorn grabbed Brania by the hand and strode off.
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Brania of Lorien
Dúnedain of the South
Wanderer Healer
Myrddin Dark Elf Elven Assassin
Posts: 84
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Post by Brania of Lorien on May 4, 2006 22:47:27 GMT
Brania really didn't have a good answer as Elessar insisted that she come inside, then dismissed the guards. Her brain hadn't come up with an excuse as he took her hand and pulled her along with him. She really didn't want to hear his story, sure they would be full of excuses of his own. She wanted to just ride into the wild, maybe back to Lorien, and never set foot in Minas Tirith again. Though, Strider had been to Lothlorien many times and would know to look for her there.
She had to keep up a quick pace to match Aragorn's stride. He was apparerntly intent on getting where he wanted to go. "Majesty," she said, refusing to call him Strider anymore. He was the King and she had to treat him as such, "I don't want to impose."
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King Elessar
Administrator
King of Gondor Lord of the D?nedain Ex-Wanderer Commander of the Armies of The West
"Put my sandwich down Gimli"
Posts: 105
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Post by King Elessar on May 4, 2006 22:58:48 GMT
"Dont call me 'Your Majesty', call me as you know me." Aragorn said as they strode into the citidel and he sat her down at a table. "Now listen to me and listen carefully. I wasn't King of Gondor when we met in Lorien. I was crowned King of Gondor 6 years ago after the War of the Ring." Aragorn said. "Yes I did conceal that I was Isildur's heir from you but would it have made any difference at the time? You knew I was a Dunedain of the North did you not? I'm still the same person. I chose to return to Gondor and be crowned to unite the scattered people of Gondor under a single banner to defeat the forces of Mordor during the War of the Ring." Aragorn paused to take in a breath. "If I had my way I would still be roaming the paths of the North. I had to do this or there would not be any paths in the North for me to wander. So there you have the main part of the story." Aragorn said as a servent brought in food, wine and ale. "Here eat up you look like you haven't eaten well in weeks." Aragorn said pointing to the food.
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Brania of Lorien
Dúnedain of the South
Wanderer Healer
Myrddin Dark Elf Elven Assassin
Posts: 84
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Post by Brania of Lorien on May 4, 2006 23:16:49 GMT
Brania was trying to digest everything that the King...no, he told her to call him Strider, and he was the King and she really couldn't deny him. Strider was throwing a lot of information at her at one time. She didn't like it. She couldn't think. However his last comment brought a smile to her face, the same one she gave Strider often.
"Weeks, huh? Are trying to tell me I'm too skinny, Strider? I eat prefectly fine...I ate just last week, thank you very much." she teased, for a moment forgetting the whole issue that was going on.
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King Elessar
Administrator
King of Gondor Lord of the D?nedain Ex-Wanderer Commander of the Armies of The West
"Put my sandwich down Gimli"
Posts: 105
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Post by King Elessar on May 4, 2006 23:24:55 GMT
"Yes far to skinny, women should be more curvacious." Aragorn smiled. "Im sorry i had to give you all that information at once, but i rarely told anyone i was Isildur's hier. I didnt want many people to know. The more people that knew the more risk there was to my Rangers. I couldn;t take that risk so i didn't tell anyone. Gandalf knew who I was and Boromir didnt know until Legolas let it slip. Anyway here I'm, King of Gondor and still look a tad scruffy. I missed that smile you know. That smile on wanderer gives another. I was glad to see it again, especially from Faramir's sister. He will want to see you." Aragorn said lifting up a chicken leg and taking a bite.
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Brania of Lorien
Dúnedain of the South
Wanderer Healer
Myrddin Dark Elf Elven Assassin
Posts: 84
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Post by Brania of Lorien on May 5, 2006 2:56:55 GMT
She smiled again, a bit of sadness creeping into it. She looked down at the food and drink and poured herself a goblet. "No, I doubt that very much," she said. Brania took a sip of the wine. No her brother wouldn't want her to come back and mess up his life. It was better to leave things the way they were. She had her life, he had his.
"You were there when the Lady made me talk to Boromir again. I am dead to both him and Faramir and have been so for over 20 years. He has his own life now."
She looked up at him and grinned again. "Besides, we need to deal with the fact that your wife is going to not be happy when she hears that you've been telling me I'm too skinny. That means your paying too much attention to me, Strider." Brania brought back her teasing tone, trying to get him off the subject of her brother.
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Lord Faramir
Administrator
D?nedain of the South Lord of Emyn Arnen Steward of Gondor
In Desperate Hours Gentleness May be Repaid with Death....... So Be It
Posts: 241
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Post by Lord Faramir on May 5, 2006 12:56:17 GMT
Faramir pushed open the doors of the King's hall, not bothering to allow the Guards to open them and announce his arrival. Still dressed in his fatgues of the White Company, the Rangers of Gondor, he walked up to the King's throne. Faramir stopped and bowed curtly to the King. 'Your highness,' Faramir said, using a formal tone until he was told otherwise. 'I have informed the heads of the Fiefdoms of the Great Council. My Uncle, Imrahil may take some time to arrive, as will the others from further away.' It was at this point that Faramir turned and looked at the other guest of the King. He recognised her from some where. She looked distinctly familiar actually, but he couldn't place her. She had elven weapinry and the favour of the King, so he did not contest her being present. ((Didn't want to make it too easy on you for knowing who he was, but the Imrahil thing will make something click, no doubt ))
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Brania of Lorien
Dúnedain of the South
Wanderer Healer
Myrddin Dark Elf Elven Assassin
Posts: 84
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Post by Brania of Lorien on May 6, 2006 3:18:49 GMT
The easy smile she had been wearing vanished as soon as someone else walked into the room. He wasn't announced, yet simply came in. She watched as he came forward and spoke to the king. Brania felt herself stiffen, reminded by this man that she was in the presence of the King of Gondor. Even if she was friends with Strider, the Wanderer from the North, that didn't give her leave to be friends with the King Elessar.
She listened as the other man spoke. He seemed familiar to her for some reason. And the name he spoke...Imrahil, she knew that as well. Who was this man and why did he just walk into the King's room without permission? Realization hit her like a bolt of lightning. Imrahil was her Uncle's name...and he had called him uncle as well. Could this be...was this Faramir? Was she in the same room as her brother after all these years? No, that would be crazy...wouldn't it?
It was better not to take chances. She stood and gave Strider a soft smile. "I should go." Brania set her goblet down and inclinded her head to both men. "Amin naa lle nai, Aranya. Tenna' ento lye omenta." She took a step back to leave.
(I am yours to command, my King. Until next we meet)
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