Mission Secured
by gustaf
Chapter 6: The Turn of Tide Part 2
“NO! Father, you would not send Faramir into peril! You must let me go
instead! This decision is folly to let him go! I...I...this is insane!”
~~~
6 minutes before
“Father before I leave, I again want to ask your permission to go on
this quest. I have thought more on the words in my dream and I believe
that the sword mentioned indeed is Elendil’s sword and I deem we should
have it to strengthen us and bring hope to the people. And perhaps the
elves may know whether Isildur’s heir lives which would be huge help as
well as hope if the answer is favorable of course. As for Isildur’s
bane, depending on who’s holding it now, I think we should take it to
Minas Tirith for safekeeping because if it is a weapon of the enemy we
must not let him find it! Where better than to keep it safe in Gondor?
Therefore it would be utterly foolish of us to leave this matter alone.
Perhaps we might even find the king of Gondor since these tokens bear
so much in relation to Elendil, so I beg your permission for me to seek
this out”, recited Faramir holding his breath.
“Faramir, what do you think this is? Some quest where you can
attempt vainly to prove your worth, is it? I would not trust you to
take those back to Gondor. Not only would you not survive, but you
might not even have the guts to take it from whoever has it now!
Boromir would do it for the good of Gondor if need be, but you would
not change your ‘policies’ to obey me or to help Gondor in her need!
Ever have you been like that, so tell me, why should you change now?”
Denethor replied. In his mind though, he doubted whether he should
indeed send Faramir since he managed to make his stance quite important
making it hard for Denethor to ignore. If he didn’t, his sons might
think he was being irrational and that there must be some other reason
why he wouldn’t allow them to go. Additionally, he himself did
think that was a good idea. For Boromir to go that was; but he would
not let his son die! But Faramir...perhaps he should give Faramir a
chance. First he would need to win this argument though. Then see
whether he would survive the dreaded quest or not and if he did,
whether he would prove himself better by acquiring the
desired...things.
“Father! I have always been loyal to you and to Gondor and that
is not about to change! This quest has much potential and if I don’t
take it, the fate of Middle Earth might come swimming down when the
enemy has found his favorite weapon!” Faramir lowered his voice, “I
love Gondor, father; I would not see it fall when it has no need to”,
then added after a few seconds with a voice that held a challenge,
“Neither would you.”
“Neither would I, but it is not like this quest would change the
course of the entire world now, would it? Won’t you think that keeping
Gondor safe by defending her borders is more important?” said Denethor.
“Well father, you do not seem to think I am much good in defending Gondor though I do my best...”
“But that does not mean you are free from your duties!”
“Then why in the first place would you have let Boromir go? Because he was free from his duties, is that why?”
“When did I say this quest was unimportant?”
“Then why did you reconsider so drastically, father?”
“Why? Because my son that I can have faith in is needed here and I would not trust you to do it, son.”
“Would you trust me enough to give me a chance on this important quest then?”
Silence ensued. Finally Denethor sighed and said, “I suppose so.”
Faramir sighed in relief but Denethor bit back saying, “I would not
mind your absence as you never cease to cause me grief by your
unwillingness to simply follow instructions.
Faramir bit his lip to keep from a sharp retort keeping his voice
as even as possible. “Then I thank you, my lord and shall inform
Boromir about it immediately.” Faramir bowed and exited soon finding
Boromir in the courtyard pacing.
“Boromir!”
“Brother! What brings you here?”
Faramir drew in a deep breath praying to the Valar that his brother
would not get extremely mad, “I just finished talking to father and he
acquiesced to let me go on the quest...Boromir?” Boromir stood
nonplussed with a blank expression on his face that scared Faramir. He
quickly turned on his heels and headed towards the room where their
father was.
~~~
The night before
“Faramir, do you need help with the bath?” asked Javan.
“Yes, that would be good”, said Faramir with a sigh.
Javan decided to risk Faramir getting mad and asked playfully, “Still in a bad mood?”
Faramir sucked in a breath then answered, “As I said, personal matter;
I’m having trouble convincing my father to let me do something. And
Boromir is tied up in this whole thing too.”
“What are you trying to convince lord Denethor of?”
“I shouldn’t be telling you. It’s quite private really. Although if I do end up succeeding, it would be quite public.”
“Well, mayhap I could help you think how to convince him. Maybe my
brain will think better as it may be clearer at the moment”, Javan said
slyly.
“How obstinate”, remarked Faramir in an obviously false dry tone that
was on the edge of breaking into laughter. “Well I suppose it wouldn’t
hurt much as I intend to succeed. To start off thinking of defeat is
the same as inviting it. Basically I want, rather, need to go on a
quest but my father would not let me because he thinks I’m not capable
of it and that I’m needed to perform my duties. But I know there’s
something he wants to accomplish by that quest. I have a guess, though
I’m not sure.”
“Does Boromir know what he wants? Cause if he does then just ask him. He usually tells you everything anyways.”
“Yes, I should. But what if what my father wants requires unethical means to obtain?”
“Well...men of Gondor are truthful; we don’t lie. So if you agree
that the end result would be good, then mislead your father that you
would obtain it by all means but plan on doing it ethically.”
“Isn’t misleading lying?” said Faramir with a grin.
“Ha. Do what you must.”
“I am not going to lie to my father.”
“Then don’t.”
Faramir gave him a withering gaze that said “you’re insane”.
“You’re not going to lie, just say it like you...oh I don’t know.
At any rate I’d think your brother is more capable of lying than you.”
“Now that would be stretching it a bit. Boromir does not lie.”
“Oh no need to defend him.”
“You started insulting him.”
“Uh, I would not call what I said an insult.”
“Alright, enough. Help me get my clothes now. I’m going to find
Boromir and ask him if my guess is right. Then I need to plan how I’m
going to ask father and I’m definitely doing that without Boromir.”
Faramir got dressed then headed down the hallway to Boromir’s room.
“Boromir. Boromir?”
“I’m in here Far.”
“Oh. Today when we talked with father, he kept saying I wouldn’t do something but you would or...?”
“Hmm...remember when he told you to leave the other day? Well he told me what he really
wanted but strictly instructed me not to let you in on this. But again,
how could I not even though I promised him?” said Boromir with a slight
grin. After all it’s his fault that you’re asking me now. Plus I’m sure
you have an intelligent guess don’t you?”
“I shall tell you if my guess is right after you tell me what
actually is. So would you be so kind as to inform me what is going on?”
“Father wants me to get that sword and Isildur’s bane. He thinks we can use those two as weapons for Gondor.”
“Wait, he wants you to do that? He changed his mind again?”
“No, no. I just want to convince him to let me go, so I’m thinking of victory now”, teased back Boromir.
“Ah so as for my guess, that was basically it. Except I didn’t
think he would want to use Isildur’s bane as a weapon. That makes me
uneasy. Anyhow, just wanted to confirm my suspicions, so thanks.”
“Yeah sure”, said Boromir as Faramir made his way to the door, “wish me luck tomorrow as I confront father.”
Surely not brother, thought Faramir silently. I wish me luck though. By the time Faramir went to bed, he had formulated a plan that seemed foolproof, or so he thought and hoped.
~~~
Present
Boromir stormed into the room and shouted at his father saying,
“NO! Father, you would not send Faramir into peril! You must let me go
instead! This decision is folly to let him go! I...I...this is insane!”
“Whoa calm down now Boromir”, said Denethor in a cool voice, “do not
call my decision folly as I would never do such a thing. I have
reasons. You cannot go because your place is in Gondor and I need you
here; why I let Faramir go is because this quest is important, I
believe.”
“But father”, said Boromir in still an agitated voice, “Faramir can
hold our defenses as well as I, and for the long journey I am more fit
to go than he is! Father, please let me go because...”
“Boromir, please don’t get mad at me.” Four eyes turned to see who the intruder was and saw Faramir.
“You would think that I’m not mad at you?” hissed Boromir. “This
mission should be mine not yours. There are so many reasons why...”
“Boys, stop it. It’s very obvious that Boromir must stay in Gondor
and since we all agree that this quest is of importance, Faramir will
go instead. The reasons for my decision are obvious so stop complaining
and be happy about it”, Denethor intervened.
“As if I’d be happy about it”, muttered Boromir.
“Boromir please. I thought at first that you agreed with me that it
would be better for one of us to go instead of not at all, so since
father won’t let you go, why not just be happy that he allowed me?”,
said Faramir.
“I still agree; I would just prefer it better if father had let me go
instead. But it matters not now as he has made his decision. I love our
White City so I suppose it would be good for me to stay here. I do not
grudge you the quest, Faramir”, said Boromir, notably calmer.
“Thank you, both of you”, acknowledged Faramir as he headed for the doors.
Once the door had closed again with Faramir outside, Boromir began
pleading with his father with all reasons imaginable to let him go
instead of his brother but to no avail because this time, Denethor was
set. So after much talk, Boromir walked out of the door dejectedly but
with more acceptance than before realizing the truth in the decision of
his father though never would he admit that because of his pride.
~~~
AN: Just to clarify, Faramir does NOT plan on 'stealing' the
sword/Isildur's bane. He wishes that Elendil's sword would come with a
rightful owner which hopefully he can convince to come to Minas Tirith
and bring hope to the people. But he does sincerely wish those things,
he didn't just say it to convince his father though that was the reason
he started thinking more.
