Faramir Fiction Archive

Shattered illusions (R)

Written by Finduilas Minyatur

06 June 2013 | 8607 words | Work in Progress

Title: Shattered illusions
Author: Finduilas Minyatur
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Faramir
Warnings: Domestic violence, child abuse
NB: English is not my primary language and that the grammar and spelling mistakes,witch I know there must be quite a lot,are all mine.

How many times he repeated what had happened in his head he could not make it undone. He had hurt his wife, the one he swore to protect with all his power. He had lifted his hand and struck her fully aware of what he was doing.
Is Faramir really as loving and caring as so many seems to think? What if years of always comming second and never feeling anything else but ‘sufficient’ have become to much for him to handle?
Added: Chapter IV

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II

Aragorn strode down the halls in rage. He had just signed the judgment that was to fall on Faramir. Even though the man had committed one of the most hideous crimes there was, in his opinion, his hand still shook and his heart ached from having to condemn one so treasured to him to such a fate. The thoughts and rumbling feelings made him so oblivious to the world around him that he didn’t hear when Arwen called out to him, begging him to halter. It wasn’t until he felt her light touch on his shoulder that he even recognized her present. He turned around and looked at his beloved wife, her beautiful face, her graceful limbs, a woman’s body… Tears started to form in his eyes when he thought about someone hurting her. Arwen stood and looked into her husband’s troubled face. She lifted her hand and stroked the man lovingly and gentle on the cheek with the back of her hand. Without a warning, Aragorn pulled her into his arms and hugged her as if he was afraid that some grater power would steel her away from him. The queen felt hot tears wetting her shoulder. She kissed the man on his forehead and on his temple while she continued to caress him.

“Hush my love,” she whispered softly in his ear. “I have news from the healers. Éowyn has awakened and is going to be well again. She just needs to rest.” Hearing these words made Aragorn’s tears flow even faster and his shoulders shook as the sobs became more and more high pitched. Arwen was at loss of what to do. Wasn’t the news of Éowyn’s recovery supposed to be reveling? They had all been so worried for her. These were not tears of joy. That she was certain about. She had never seen her husband in such a state. “Tell me Estel, What ails you so much?” she asked with that soft and calming voice that always seemed to make anyone feel at ease. Aragorn lifted his head from the comfort in Arwen’s arms.

“He did it to her. He has been hurting her for so many years! And now he has started to hurt Elboron too.” Aragorn pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes in an attempt to stop the tears. “How could we not see? How could we have been so blind?” Fresh tears started to flow and he would have sunken to the floor if it hadn’t been for Arwen. She wrapped her arms around the trembling king and held him tight. Her own eyes had begun to water and soon big tears of her own dripped down her cheeks. Éowyn, Elboron… She couldn’t stand to think that something so awful had been happening to her closest friend and her son. And for such a long time!

“Who is this beast you speak of?” she asked and tried to hold her voice as steady as possible. “Does Faramir know? No of course he doesn’t know. If he did, he would have protected her, he would have told us. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt his family and those dear to his heart.” Arwen almost stumbled over her own words. It was not common among elves to do so. They always seemed so put together, calm and composed. But all of this was too much for the queen to comprehend. She needed to know so that she could help her wounded friend and child. Hearing the name of that… that fiend made Aragorn tear away from his wife’s embrace.

“Faramir!” He spat as if the name was pure poison and like it stung as much as salt does in an open wound just to enunciate it. “Faramir would never let them get hurt you say. Faramir would have protected them you say! Faramir was the one who hurt them! He is no better than Sauron himself. He is more of a monster than the Witch king of Angmar was!”
Arwen could do nothing else but stare at Aragorn. No one, except the king, the healers and a few guards, knew fully of what had happened to Éowyn. All that the others in the palace and the lady’s friends knew was that the princess of Ithilien had been badly hurt. Until now it had all been kept a secret. Subsections and real facts are dangerous things and must be handling with care. Arwen swallowed hard, not quite sure if she had heard correctly or if she had misunderstood. There must be some mistake. Faramir would never… Before she could give words to her thoughts and ask he husband if he was certain. Was he really sure that it was the truth? A new set of them appeared. Why was it so unreasonable that Faramir could do it? He was certainly strong enough, with a soldier’s body and, from what she had learned and heard, he had been more than enough exposed to violence during most part of his life to have learned the false truth that hands and action spoke better than words.

“Dear Valar,” she whispered. “Poor Éowyn, poor Elboron… Aragorn, you have to do something! We cannot let this happen ever again.” With a trembling hand she covered her mouth. She was so upset, so angry and distraught that everything around her seemed unfamiliar and hostile. “Fell beast is a too kind word for men like him!” The words were so covered in hate that it sounded like they came from another person. She would have continued if it hadn’t been for the sudden realization that they were not alone. A little boy of six years old with hair as black as his father, grey eyes and the same nose and chin stood and watched them with a pained expression on his young face. By the look of the boy he must have heard almost everything that had been said between the married couple. Big tears rolled down his cheeks and he sobbed quietly. Arwen let go of Aragorn and hurried up to the distressed child. She knelt down before him to take him in her arms to comfort him, but the boy stepped away from her and pulled his hands towards his chest so that the queen couldn’t touch them either.

“What is it little one?” Aragorn came up to them and he too knelt down next to the child. “Why do you recoil from Arwen’s touch? You have never done so before” Elboron swallowed hard and locked his eyes to the floor. He didn’t want to look either of the adults in the eyes. He bit his lip and wiped away the tears that continued to flow. “Elboron?” Aragorn took the child’s trembling hands, completely ignoring that the boy tried to wrench them away from the man, and held them tight. “Talk to me child. Tell me what troubles you so?” Like I don’t know, the king thought bitterly to himself.

“Will mama be in trouble now?” The boy whispered with so much sadness that it almost broke the King and Queen’s hearts. Aragorn pulled the small boy into his arms and held him almost as tight as he held Arwen moments ago.

“Never again, I promise you. Never will you or your mama have to be afraid or hurt again. Never again will neither you nor your mama have the reason to cry because that someone has hurt any of you.” Aragorn kissed the boy on the top of his head and Arwen tried her best to comfort the child with soothing words and gentle hand movements.

“What about papa?” The question was so silent that the two royals had a hard time hearing it. “What will happen to him?” Aragorn released the boy and held him on arm’s length so that he could meet the boy’s face.

“He will be put someplace where he can never harm another one ever again. He will spend the rest of his future with the same dark creatures that he is” He answered rather dark and tried to pull the boy into his arms again. But this time Elboron tore himself from the man’s grip. He stared at the King with such anger that both Aragorn and Arwen were amazed that a child so small could look that way.

“Papa is not a bad man.” The boy said definitely and tightened his hands into fists, looking so much like Faramir had done as a child that no one could question who had fathered this young boy. Arwen turned her sad eyes towards Aragorn and he met hers with equally sad ones. Elboron’s words and expression spoke volumes. Faramir had trained his son well into believe that there was nothing wrong with a father hurting a mother and child. Perhaps he thought himself that it was as it should be?

“It is very bad and wrong to hurt your child and very bad and wrong to hurt your wife. Don’t you know that little one?” Arwen said in her soft and kind voice. Elboron fixed his eyes on the floor yet again. But he refused to answer. Arwen repeated her question, a bit louder and firmer than before.

“I know,” Elboron finally spoke up with a thin voice. As if he was afraid that something terrible would happen. “Papa tells me that all the time. That it’s not mine or mama’s fault. He always tells me that it was an accident and that he is the one to blame, no one else. He tells me that he is sorry and he is always promising that it will never happen again. But…” The child closed his eyes and started to tremble. He should not be saying this! He had promised that he would never speak of this or tell anyone what had been happening for so long. He had grown up hearing the screams, the sound of things breaking, the tears and the soft comforting words afterwards. It was normal to him, something that happened almost every day in one way or another. It wasn’t the fighting that he became most upset and sad with. It was the silent acceptance. That this was how it was supposed to be and no one ever questioned it anymore. All of them knew that it would never change whatever either of his parents sad. He was old enough to know the promising to be nothing more than lies. But he couldn’t help but hope that one day the words, the promising and the apologizing would mean something and that they would be true, just for once. Even though he was still a child, a small one too, he knew that both mama and papa knew this as well. But they always seemed to pretend that they didn’t.

“But it always does,” Aragorn continued what it was obviously that the boy couldn’t. Elboron nodded quietly in response. The lump that grew day by day, somewhere deep inside his stomach and heart was slowly starting to travel up into his throat. He felt sick, like he was about to throw up. He was afraid that it would come out that he had spoken, that he had told. This was family matters, Mama and papa had said so. They had told him that no one needed to know, that it was alright. It was just this one time and it wasn’t even really that bad. For his parents sake he had stayed silent. But he had never been as afraid as he had been this time. Maybe because this was the first time this had happened to him. Never before had he gotten hurt. But he knew that it was his own fault. If he hadn’t tried to stop it, if he hadn’t come in between it would have never happened and things wouldn’t be as bad as they were now. He was to blame.

“What will happen to mama?” he asked and looked up in Aragorn’s face. It was a face that held an air of safety and security. The man’s face said that you never had to be afraid when you were near him. Aragorn lifted the boy up in his arms and stood up, followed by Arwen.

“Your mama and you will live here in the palace with me and Arwen.” He said with a smile. Elboron licked his lower lip, just over the cut. It stung a bit but nothing too bad.

“Do you think mama will stop screaming and crying if we live here?” The boy asked and rested his head against Aragon’s broad chest. “I don’t like it when she does that. It scares me.” Elboron suddenly felt extremely tired and closed his eyes, feeling completely safe in Aragorn’s arms.

“I know little on,” said Aragorn tenderly and kissed the child one more time on the top of his head. “I know.”

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