This is a great story.  I always imagined the adjustment from ranger/warrior to king would be difficult.  Aragorn is much too down to earth and concerned with the "every man" to put up with pompous people like Calderond.  But also, he's wise in the ways of diplomacy having grown up with the elves in Imladris and with Elrond as a father.  Still, it must have been a daunting lifestyle change, especially because he also got to marry his beloved, Arwen.  I bet he wished he'd had some time for a REAL honeymoon vs. jumping immediately into his role as king.  I like how you have him show Faramir what is truly important, though...the people, for Faramir is only used to seeing the pomp and ritual of being a Steward's son. But through all this, I know Aragorn will succeed, since his primary concern is always for others and never for himself.  *sigh* What a very fine man he is! :)

When I feel like returning to LOTR fanfiction, I always return to your stories, most of all. Because I love your depiction of Aragorn. He truly is a magnificent character, is he not?

Thank you for this story. It had such warmth in it, such humanity and sadness, too. I hope you are well, Amarok. I hope that you will continue to write.

It's so good to see you're writing again. I've missed your stories!

I must say, I was surprised halfway through that this was as much a story about Faramir as it was about Aragorn. I can never really imagine how Aragorn must have felt when he finally became king. Yes, he *did* work towards that goal for most of his life, but I still think he must have found that goal to be somewhat vague and far away most of the time. So I can understand that he was surprised and overwhelmed we he did indeed became king!

I liked the very frail friendship between Aragorn and Faramir. His "I wish I could have presented her to you in a better state” was a revelation to me. Such a poignant sentence!