A Sweet Release

Éowyn fanned herself as she sat in the cool shade of a tree. This was her first summer in Ithilien and was unaccustomed to all this heat. It had never been this hot in Edoras.

When she heard footsteps, she turned around to see Faramir walking toward her. She smiled and walked over to him. “What are you doing here?” she asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

Faramir smiled. “It’s too hot to get any work down today. I thought I would come and see how you were doing. How are you handling the heat, my love?”

“It’s difficult to say. I can definitely tell you that it is much hotter than Rohan, though. I suppose I’ll get used to it in time.”

“I have an idea,” he told her, taking her hands and pulling her towards the house, his eyes lighting up. “You’ll enjoy this.”

They did not go inside, though, but went behind the house and led her to a small pool. Éowyn looked at him strangely, wondering what he had in mind.

Faramir quickly stripped down to his undergarments and walked towards the water. “Come on, Éowyn,” he said, beckoning to her. “Get undressed.”

“Excuse me?” she asked, shocked.

“Take off your dress and come in the water,” he elaborated, “It is very refreshing.”

“I don’t think so,” Éowyn laughed, “Who knows what’s in that filthy water.”

“I will have you know that this is fed by one of the purest springs in Ithilien,” he told her matter-of-factly, “I can assure you that there are no ‘filthy things’ in here. Now get in here. That’s an order.”

“Oh, really?” she asked, coming to stand at the water’s edge with her arms crossed defiantly over her chest. “And just what will you do if I decide to ignore that order, my lord?”

Faramir stood and walked through the water over to Éowyn. She had a hard time containing herself when she saw how the water on his chest glistened in the hot afternoon sun. He looked so handsome that she could just eat him up.

“I shall be forced to do this,” he said, pulling her closer and kissing her.

She was caught off guard, but quickly kissed him back and her arms wrapped around his neck. He deepened the kiss, and Éowyn barely registered that he had picked her up, slipping her feet out of her shoes. She did not notice that he was slowly moving them into deeper water until Faramir pulled out of the kiss and said, “I shall be forced to do this.”

He let go of her and she fell into the water with a loud shriek.

“Valar, man! Why did you do that?” Éowyn asked, standing up and wiping water out of her eyes. “Now I’m soaking wet!”

“Then it worked. I couldn’t very well let you bake out there in the sun. Doesn’t the water feel good, though?”

“Yes, it does, but you tricked me,” she told him, splashing him to accentuate her point. “That’s not fair.”

“All’s fair in love and war, love,” he answered, splashing her back.

“You did not just splash me,” she said.

“I think I just did,” he answered, his eyes glinting mischievously.

Éowyn saw the glint in his eyes and backed away, not knowing exactly what he had in mind, but he still had an idea. That was never good. “Oh no you don’t,” she warned.

Faramir grinned and splashed her again. “You look good wet,” he said.

“You look even better,” she shot back, splashing him again.

He splashed her back in retaliation, and soon it became all out war, complete with Éowyn’s shrieks every time she got splashed.

“All right! All right!” she yelled after a while, “I give up; you win!”

Faramir laughed and pulled Éowyn close once he stopped splashing her. “It is impossible to defeat a Captain of Gondor,” he said, “You should know that by now, my love.”

“I would hardly say that,” she teased, “Us shield maidens can be very worthy opponents.”

“Oh, really?” he asked, one eyebrow raised slightly.

“Yes, really,” she replied, shoving him back so that he fell into the water.

A moment later, he resurfaced, spluttering and spitting water out of his mouth.

“You should have expected that,” she told him with a laugh, “I told you that shieldmaidens are worthy opponents.”

“But you failed to mention that they do not fight fair.”

“I was no more fair than you were in tossing me in the water.”

“Ah, you have me there, love,” Faramir said, pulling her close and kissing her on the cheek. “But this water is such a beautiful release from the day’s heat that I could not let you miss it.”

Éowyn smiled and returned the kiss. “Let’s go back inside. I am sopping and should change into some dry clothes. The same goes for you, but you’ll need to put your clothes back on, love; I should be the only one to see you like this,” she said, running a hand over his well-developed chest.

“All right, but first you must help me dry off,” he answered, drawing her in for another kiss.