Brothers: A LOTR Fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings. At all. None of it. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Ok? Except I do own Halabin and Romelin, and Arador (the Arador that's Aragorn's brother-not the Arador that's Arathorn's dad), and also Eledhwen (who you will meet later).

Chapter 1

Gilraen was standing on the balcony of her home in Eriador. Her sons, four-year-old Arador and two-year-old Aragorn, were both taking an afternoon nap. She had been awaiting the return of her husband Arathorn, Chieftan of the Dunedain. He was gone on a trip to hunt Orcs.

As she looked at the surrounding fields and forests, Gilraen saw a group of soldiers coming towards the house. She recognized the men as they came closer. They were the soldiers that had left with Arathorn. At the head of the group was Romelin, who was second-in-command to Arathorn, and was also a close friend of Arathorn and Gilraen. He was leading Arathorn's horse, but Arathorn was not riding it. Behind Romelin were four soldiers. They were carrying a large board on their shoulders. On top of the board was what looked like a body, covered in a large cloth.

"No....." Gilraen began. She ran inside, went downstairs, and ran out the front door.

"Romelin! Romelin!" she cried as she ran towards the soldiers. "Where is Arathorn?"

Romelin god down from his horse and walked over to Gilraen. He said, "I am sorry, my lady, but Arathorn is dead."

"No! But how.....when...." Gilraen stammered.

"He was shot in the eye with an Orc arrow, about three days ago," said Romelin. "But we have brought his body back for a proper burial. I am truly sorry. We are all truly sorry."

Gilraen's lip quivered, and she threw her arms around Romelin. "No! No!" she sobbed, and she buried her head in Romelin's chest.

Romelin returned the hug and said, "There there, Gilraen. He was a noble man. He died for all of us. He died for you and your sons....to protect you all."

Gilraen looked at Romelin. "What am I supposed to tell my children?" she asked in a quavery voice. "What should I say to them?"

"Only you will know what to say," Romelin replied. He let go of Gilraen. "You should go see them now. We will prepare Arathorn's body for the funeral."

Gilraen wiped her eyes and walked back to the house.

Gilraen slowly and quietly opened the door of her sons' bedroom. Arador and Aragorn were both sleeping in their beds. She walked over to Arador's bed and gently sat down. She began rubbing Arador's back when he yawned and opened his eyes.

"Mama?" Arador mumbled.

"Darling, I need to talk to you," said Gilraen in a quiet voice. "But we need to talk quietly because I don't want to wake your brother. He is too young to understand what I need to tell you anyway."

"What is it, Mama?" asked Arador. "You look sad."

"Honey, you know how your Daddy went on a trip?" Gilraen said. Arador nodded his head. "Well, Daddy won't be coming back."

"Why not?" asked Arador.

"Because your Daddy died," Gilraen answered. "And we won't get to see him again." Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"But why would Daddy leave us?" Arador said. "He'd miss us too much."

"It wasn't his choice," said Gilraen. "But he died to keep us safe. He died....because he loved us."

"So Daddy's gone? Forever?" Arador asked, and Gilraen nodded. "I'll miss Daddy."

"So will I," Gilraen said. She pulled Arador over to her and hugged him for a long time.

The next day, a funeral was held for Arathorn. He was buried on a hillside near the house where his fathers before him were buried.

During the funeral, Gilraen stood with Arador at her side. She held his hand tight. In her other arm, she held Aragorn, who sucked his thumb through the entire ceremony. Even though he was very young and didn't really know what was happening, he had a serious look on his face, and never laughed or smiled during the funeral.

Later that night, after the ceremony was done, and everyone had returned to their homes, Romelin had a talk with his next-in-command officer, Halabin.

"Halabin, I fear that Lady Gilraen's children are in danger," Romelin said.

"What sort of danger?" asked Halabin.

"As you know, the Orcs that killed Arathorn were Sauron's Orcs," Romelin explained. "And they know that they killed Isildur's heir. Now that Arador is the heir, he is in danger, and Aragorn is as well. If the Enemy finds out where they are, they will be killed."

"And what do you suppose we do?" said Halabin.

"I think we should send Gilraen and her sons to Rivendell," Romelin said. "There they will be safe in the House of Elrond."

"What does the Lady think about this?" Halabin asked.

"She does not know of these plans yet," replied Romelin. "But I must tell her soon. A messenger shall be sent to Rivendell to tell Lord Elrond of this. Then they must set out as soon as they can."

A week later, Gilraen, Arador, and Aragorn were on their way to Rivendell. Romelin and some other men came along to protect them on the journey.

When the group reached the gates of Rivendell late one evening, Lord Elrond and his children were there to greet them.

"Lady Gilraen, I welcome you and your sons to Rivendell," he said. "May your time here be safe and enjoyable."

"Thank you, sir," Gilraen said, as she got off her horse. She then helped Arador get off and took Aragorn down as well.

Gilraen turned to Romelin. "Thank you, for everything," she said, and she gave him a hug. "I will miss you."

"I hope you enjoy it here," Romelin said. "And may the three of you be protected."

Gilraen turned back to Elrond. "Let me show you to your rooms," Elrond said. Gilraen picked up Aragorn and took Arador's hand, and they followed Elrond and his daughter, while his sons took Gilraen's horse to the stables.

Gilraen stared in awe at the lavish bedroom where she would be staying. There was a four-poster bed covered in beautiful linens. A velvet couch stood along one wall along with a huge carved dresser. There was also a balcony which looked out at the garden.

"This is....incredible," she said. "How can I ever thank you?"

"You do not need to thank us," Elrond said. "It is a pleasure to have you here."

Gilraen set down her things, and Elrond showed her to Arador and Aragorn's room. It was the same as her bedroom except there were two smaller beds, two smaller wooden dressers, and two little chairs. There was a box full of toys next to each bed as well.

Arador immediately went for the toy box, and Aragorn toddled over with him.

"I cannot thank you enough," Gilraen said.

"Like I said, it is a pleasure to have you here," said Elrond. He turned to his daughter Arwen. "Arwen, can you watch the children?" he asked. "I need to talk to Gilraen."

"Yes, Ada (father)," Arwen replied.

Elrond and Gilraen stepped into the hallway. "Gilraen, you know that your sons are not completely out of harm's way here," said Elrond. "But I can assure you that they will be safer here than in Eriador. Rivendell is well guarded, and the Enemy does not often come here. However, there are some precautions we must take."

"Like what?" asked Gilraen.

"We must conceal your sons' heritage," Elrond replied. "Nobody must know who they really are. They cannot be know as descendants of Isildur. Especially Arador, since he is the next heir. We must also give them new names...Elvish names. And nobody must know their true identities."

"And what would you have their names be?" said Gilraen.

Elrond thought for a moment. "Arador will become 'Beleg', and Aragorn will become 'Estel'," he said. "Beleg means 'strong', and Estel means 'hope'. And we need to be strong and have hope."

"I will have to teach them their new names then," Gilraen said. "Beleg and Estel....strong and hope....my sons."

"I know this must be hard for you," Elrond began. "To lose your husband, to come to a new place....but I know that you will make it through. You have a strong spirit....I can tell."

Gilraen smiled. She said, "Thank you, again, Lord Elrond. I truly appreciate all that you have done."

Elrond smiled back. "I will have to introduce you and your sons to the rest of the Elves," he said. "They will be delighted to welcome you here."

"Lord Elrond, I was just curious, but do most people here speak the Common Tongue, or do they all speak Elvish?" Gilraen asked.

"Most speak both," answered Elrond. "But you will probably learn Sindarin, along with your sons. It is a beautiful language, and I'm sure you will all pick up on it quickly. But do not think about that yet. Now, you and your children need to get some rest. It was a long journey for all three of you."

Gilraen went back into the bedroom. Arwen was sitting on the floor with Aragorn, who was sleeping in her lap, and Arador was sitting nearby playing with some toys.

"Thank you, Arwen, but I'm going to put them to bed now," Gilraen said. "And then I'm putting myself to bed."

Arwen stood up and carefully handed Aragorn to Gilraen. "You have very beautiful children," she said.

"Thank you," said Gilraen.

Arwen headed towards the door. She turned back around and asked, "What are their names?"

"Ara-" Gilraen began. "I mean, the little one is Estel, and the older one is Beleg."

"Oh," Arwen said. "Those are beautiful names." She smiled, turned around, and walked out.

Gilraen looked at Arador, who was still playing with some toys. "Honey, time for bed," she said.

"Already, Mama?" Arador whined. "But I'm not tired!"

"You need to get some sleep," Gilraen said. "Now come get your pajamas on." She pulled out Arador's pajamas and set them on his bed. Then, she got Aragorn's pajamas on and laid him in bed.

Arador took his pajamas and got them on. He threw his clothes in a dresser drawer and crawled in to bed. "Mama, tuck me in," he said.

Gilraen walked over to his bed. "Goodnight, darling," she said, and she kissed Arador's cheek.

"Goodnight, Mama," Arador said.

Gilraen walked over to Aragorn's bed. "Goodnight, my other darling," she said, and gave Aragorn a kiss on the cheek.

She walked out of the room and closed the door. When she went into her own room, she saw that the portrait of Arathorn that she had brought along had already been hung on the wall across from her bed. She walked over to it, and kissed her fingers. Then, she placed her fingers on Arathorn's face and said, "I love you, Arathorn."

After changing into her nightgown, Gilraen crawled into bed. She laid down and looked at Arathorn's portrait before falling asleep.