(Untitled)

[ostro_goth]

Teja is in the bar, playing his harp, and waiting whether some that he would speak with, show themselves.

Two in particular he hopes to see; and both are women.-

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[sonofwhitecity]

Boromir is definitely not a woman, and probably not someone who Teja was expecting to see, but nonetheless there he is, bowing his head in greeting when he recognizes the Ostrogoth.

"Greetings, Teja son of Tagila. It has been some time."

[sonofwhitecity]

"I know. I have not seen my brother for some time now, and fear he will not be passing through the door anymore." He pauses, smiling faintly. "The women of the Rohirrim are both fair and fierce. In fact, my brother married their king's sister, the Lady Eowyn."

[ostro_goth]

"That's the one I spoke to," Teja says.

[sonofwhitecity]

This, my friends, isn't something you see every day. In fact it isn't something most people get to see in a lifetime.

Boromir son of Denethor is speechless with surprise.

Okay, it only lasts for a second or two, then he takes a seat by Teja, a smile upon his face.

"Tell me, for I never met her though I had heard of her. How is she?"

[ostro_goth]

"She is blond and fierce and honourable," Teja says. "A shield-maiden, very much like my friend Hilde, who I grew up with. We understood each other well, as her people are much like mine, and that which is strange and old-fashioned to most here, was natural to both of us."

[sonofwhitecity]

Boromir nods enthusiastically. He had heard as much from Faramir, but somehow this is different. For one, Teja is not in love with the woman he is describing. "That is what I had heard of her, yes." There is hope, then, that Faramir will once again visit this place, which is what makes the son of Denethor so excited.

[ostro_goth]

"She is all that would make a warrior proud, and happy," Teja says. "Their children will surely turn out well, and bring glory to your country."

[sonofwhitecity]

"I am sure of that. On both accounts, even. Although my brother is more gentle than me, less inclined to seek glory in arms..." There is a pause, and a humble little smile. "I have learned, at last, that there are other roads to greatness."

[ostro_goth]

"There are," Teja says. "One may make art, or save lives, or open the hearts of others."

[sonofwhitecity]

"Or be a just and fair ruler who makes the lives of his subjects both happier and easier." He knows that's the kind of ruler his brother will be. And under his rule, Ithilien will once again be Gondor's garden.

[ostro_goth]

"Indeed," Teja says. "Those are the greatest."

Totila had set out to be such a ruler, before the war began again, and annihilated the realm.

[sonofwhitecity]

"True." Boromir nods gravely "But it is also true that sometimes, in moments of hardship, a leader needs to make decisions that would seem cruel to the people. The mantle of leadership is not for those who would not stand being misunderstood."

[ostro_goth]

"Indeed," Teja says. "I was that sort of leader, when that duty finally fell to me. I was not loved, the way Totila was before me -- but then, I did not mean to be liked, merely to do my dire duty that none other had the hard heart to do."

[sonofwhitecity]

"I... Wished to be a leader." There is a very brief pause, and then he chuckles grimly and shakes his head. "I lie. I was a captain of men, and in time would have been a Steward of the White Tower, but I wished to be a king. Though seeing how my tale ended, it was probably for the better that I never got to."

[ostro_goth]

Teja nods.

"I was a captain of men, all my grown life," he says. "Being a king, for the last three months, was a dire duty none other would undertake, at that time."

[sonofwhitecity]

"I did not understand then as I do now. And I did not know, either, that the Crown of the Sea Kings had a rightful heir. His time had not come yet, but it did before the end and that was the better for the kingdom..." Boromir pauses, tilting his head to look thoughtfully at Teja.