The Fellowship's Silvertongue: Part 3

House of Healing.

A/N: Shout out to @JLMaile for the spam in votes for this series. Thank you!

My chest was still extremely sore and my head hurt. Except it felt cool... like cold water was being pressed against it. I opened my eyes. There were men dressed in white with the Tree of Gondor on their tunics. They were healers. I was in the House of Healing. One man was pressing a wet cloth to my forehead.

"H-how long has it been?" I croaked out.

"You were brought in here two hours ago." The man with the cloth answered. "You have two broken ribs, and a slight fracture to your collar bone." Something seemed quite familiar about him, although my vision was quite blurry. Golden-brown, wavy, shoulder-length hair, green eyes, broad shoulders. "It was quite a fall you took."

"Boromir?" I asked. 

The man smiled thinly for a moment and sat down. 

"No, he was my brother." He replied. Oh yes, he's dead. 

"Faramir," I said. He nodded. 

"How do you come to know my name?" Faramir asked. 

"Boromir told me of you. He was a companion of mine." I replied. Damn, it really hurt to breathe. I coughed a bit. 

"I am relieved to see that you are awake," Faramir began. "The elf would not leave your side, we had to remove him from the house to make room for the others who were injured in battle." 

"Hm," I hummed. "I probably scared him out of his wits." 

Faramir nodded then spoke. "You need some rest, your friends will see you in the morning." He stood up to leave. 

"Faramir," I stopped him. "Is Pippin alright?" 

"I'm sorry, I have no knowledge of his whereabouts." He shook his head. 

Probably still looking for Merry, poor boy. 

"Here, drink this." Faramir held up a bottle. 

"What is it?" I asked. 

"It'll ease the pain, and help you sleep better," Faramir replied. 

I nodded and he held the top to my lips. I took a swig, and he took the bottle away. Sleep came over my body, my eyelids heavy. Damn, that stuff works fast.

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The sounds of books came to my ears. Not like books opening or pages, but the voices of the words. Silvertongue problems. You can hear every word of the books, just whispers in the back of your mind. I used to be able to control it, working in the library would have been a hard job. But my subconscious mind had little power to subside the whispers, so I had to endure it. 

"Mo, close the books. I'm trying to sleep." I mumbled. 

I heard some quiet laughter and the voices of the books continued.

The fire licked up from Dustfinger's hands and danced around his body.

I immediately sat up with my eyes open. Legolas, Pippin, and Merry were looking through my bag of books... And Pippin held Inkheart in his hands. 

"Put it back!" I yelled. I winced at the pain and put my hand to my chest. Legolas ran to my side and took my hand. 

"Stay calm, try not to move mela." He pulled a chair next to my bed and sat down. "Your injuries are not yet healed." 

Pippin walked over to me with Inkheart. 

"Why can't we read this?" He asked. 

"Bad luck comes wherever that book is," I answered, laying back down. "Might have been the reason I was picked up by a Nazgul." Legolas eyed me at those words. "Kidding!" I added. 

"Well, why have it in the first place?" Merry asked. 

"I have no clue how it got in my bag, and I want nothing to do with it. So put it back," I said. Pippin did as he was told and put the book back in my bag.

"How long has it been since the battle?" I asked. 

"Two days," Legolas answered. "The steward, Denethor, has fallen, many think that leaves Aragorn to the throne, but he's trying to sort that out." 

"He didn't even fall fighting... He literally fell." Said Pippin. "Off the castle, at the drop-off, on the top of Minas Tirith." 

"Alright, that's enough Pippin." Merry nudged him.

I looked over at Legolas. "Thanks for the catch." He smiled shyly. "No, I'm serious, you'd be great at football." 

"Fuh-foot-ball?" Pippin questioned, trying to say the new word. 

"It's a sport where I'm from," I replied. 

"By the way," Legolas started, "what is 'sugar honey iced tea?'" 

I burst out laughing. It hurt my chest, but I didn't care.