Disclaimer: The Tolkien estate owns the characters. Unfortunately, we can't. Well, we get to own the plot bunny.

Beta: Aranel

2.

"Could you have been too harsh with him?" Aragorn asked Arwen over breakfast.

Arwen shook her head. "He's not a child," she replied simply. "And it never occurred to him to be less harsh when he spoke about Eldarion."

Aragorn nodded. That much was true. Besides, the sun had barely risen for an hour. The elf might simply have been enjoying himself in the woods. He turned, watching Eldarion eat his bread quietly. "Don't take too long, Eldarion," he said. "We've got work to do today."

The boy looked up, a hint of eagerness in his eyes. "What are we doing, adar?"

"You'll know in a bit," Aragorn replied mysteriously. Arwen was giving him a suspicious look but he shrugged. "Oh, it's nothing, really," he said. From the corner of his eye, he saw a smile curve on Eldarion's lips. The boy was eating faster.

"We shall return by noon," he said. "I shall have to spend some time on the harvest reports." He scowled at that thought. The city store seemed to be more bare than in past years, which meant a potentially difficult winter. That whole mountain of reports should not have been part of a king's job but it was, apparently. Arwen was in all likelihood far better with such administrative work than he was.

Arwen gave him a smile that was not entirely encouraging. But whatever happened, surely he could make time for a morning with his son.

"Dried leaves make more noise and they can get slippery when it rains."

Eldarion nodded.

"But given a choice between loose pebbles and dried leaves, well, it depends."

The boy nodded again. He could hear the birds sing as though they had not a single care in the world.

Eldarion looked up at his father.

"Yes?"

"Must I really go down there?"

His father shrugged. "You could always decide not to, but you'd never find the surprise waiting for you, then."

Eldarion looked down the cliff. They had climbed over the city walls and walked a distance down but this was, he was sure, a vertical descent. He squinted in the morning sun but there was nothing he could see in the field below. He was sure that there was a road that would lead there, but he also knew that would take quite a detour. He looked up at his father who was busy looking over at the walls. He gave a little sigh.

His father smiled. "Eldarion, you'll feel like you're falling. The trick is to run down it and let yourself fall. If you keep running, you'd be all right. Trust me, you'll be there in less than 10 steps."

Eldarion drew a deep breath. He could do this. It was just like walking, was it not? It might just be faster. That was all. He glanced over at his father again. This was it. He placed a foot down, lowering his weight slowly. So far so good. He had started on the right foot, had he not?

He tried to shift his other foot forward and this time, he could feel himself leaning precariously forward. He kept his weight backwards while taking the next step. The pebbles shifted under him and he wriggled his foot onto something more stable. Two steps done and his heart was already beating faster than it had ever done in his life. This was not looking any easier than before and as far as he was concerned, it was a long way down.

He shifted his right foot forward and this time he lost his balance. He knew that he was falling and he was stumbling, and he tried to grab at something but there was noth— Oh, he was upright again. He turned to look around him. His father was laughing and jogged down the slope to join him.

"There, it wasn't that hard, was it?" his father patted him on his back.

Eldarion smiled just a bit. Actually, he had to admit that it could be rather fun.

"Come, ion nîn, your present awaits," his father led the way and he ran over driven by his curiosity and just a little bit of adrenaline.

Eldarion was worn out by the time they had returned and after sending the boy for a bath, Aragorn entered his study, ready even if not willing to tackle those reports.

"You're at least two hours late," Arwen looked up from the desk.

Aragorn shrugged, walking over. "Our boy spent at least an hour looking at a slope," he said. "For a good while, I thought he would never try." Legolas had not exactly been exaggerating, after all.

Arwen did not sound impressed. "And?"

"And I showed him how to use a bow and an arrow but what have you been doing all morning anyway?" Aragorn conveniently glossed over the details, trying to change the topic quickly.

Arwen raised an eyebrow. She must have known him too well to know how he would slur his words whenever he was trying to avoid divulging something. But this time, she did not press the subject and it was, in fact, worrying him.

"Aragorn, you should have looked at the reports. Something is not right," she said.

He noticed only then that the desk was organized with neat stacks of parchment. Had she been that bored all day to start going through all those documents?

Arwen continued, "I thought something was amiss so I had a look at last year's harvest. The total number of crops..." She showed him the figures that she had noted down. "Here..."

Aragorn pulled the parchment over. That must have been a quarter less than the previous year. He certainly was not aware of any bad weather in the last few months. If anything he recalled that the harvests were going well. Perhaps Legolas might be able to contribute something.

"Have you seen Legolas?" he asked.

Arwen shook her head. "It is not usual for him to go off like that, not especially when he had planned to speak with Eldarion in the morning."

Aragorn frowned.

"How's our boy?" Arwen asked.

Aragorn smiled. "He's...learning," he said.

"I'm certain he takes well to archery." Arwen gave him a playful smile.

Aragorn shrugged. "He's quite a natural," he said finally.

"Of course," Arwen was clearly teasing him now. "Anyone would be a natural compared with you."

"Well, I was a natural with slopes," Aragorn tried to defend himself.

"And look where that got you!" Arwen laughed.

Aragorn found Eldarion watching the archers practice.

"Ada, do you think I could be that good someday?" Eldarion asked.

Aragorn ruffled his son's hair. "Well, it's a matter of practice," he said.

Eldarion looked thoughtful. "Uncle Legolas once said that some humans can't seem to get it right."

"Ah." Aragorn was feeling somewhat uncomfortable. "Well, I say you practice and show him what you can do."

Eldarion beamed at the prospect. "When is he coming back?"

Aragorn shrugged. "An elf comes and goes when he wishes," he said simply. There was no reason to get the boy worried yet.

Eldarion propped his head up on an elbow. "I wonder where he went."

End of Chapter 2.