Title: Restless
Author/Email: MaraJade (LadyJadeSky@comcast.net)
Rating: PG
Summary: Aragorn is restless
Archive: Mellon Chronicles and The_Istari archives, anyone else just ask
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. I don't make any money off this. Please don't sue!
Warnings: Not beta'd (I don't know what happened to my beta reader, he still hasn't gotten back to me. Any volunteers?) Post-RotK, so possible spoilers if you don't know what happens.
Author's notes: This one is for all those who have supported me and given feedback, but most especially to Sienn for your encouragement and your idea for helping me with my writer's block. Thanks for your help.
Aragorn was bored. He was tired of court, meetings, nobles, courtiers, and most of all of being cooped up within the stone walls of Minas Tirith. He was not an elf, but being raised among them, and later as a Ranger, he needed the open spaces of nature. There was only so much he could take, and he was rapidly approaching his breaking point. Ruling was in his blood, but being the king wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
Aragorn was on his way from one round of endless meetings to another, and after that he had three more before he would be done for the day. He idly wondered if it would be possible to postpone them, but decided it would be best to go ahead and get them over with. He walked to the meeting chambers as a convicted criminal would to his execution. He despised these meetings where everyone would bicker needlessly over trivial things!
He arrived at his destination and made his way to his seat. As usual, most everyone was running late. Aragorn did not know why he rushed to be prompt when the meetings did not start until at least half and hour after their scheduled time. Next time he would be late. It wasn't as if they would start without him.
He stared out the window as he waited. Was it possible to have Spring Fever in the middle of winter? Aragorn needed to be outside. It was an almost physical ache. He wanted to walk through the forest and sleep on the ground and do his own hunting. He wondered if he was even capable of surviving on his own anymore, after living in the palace for three years.
"Your Highness?" Someone was intruding upon his thoughts. "We are ready to begin."
"Proceed then," Aragorn responded, barely reigning in his temper.
Everyone began loudly talking at once, trying to be heard over everyone else. Aragorn quickly lost interest, his focus wandering no matter how hard he tried to pay attention. He wasn't sure how long this went on, but someone was calling out, "King Elessar?"
"Are you feeling well, Sire?" one of the advisors asked, concerned at the king's inattention.
Aragorn stood abruptly, saying, "We will continue this tomorrow. Good day, gentlemen." To hell with getting it over with, Aragorn thought, striding out of the room. He was going outside. The Queen's Garden-which he had constructed for his and Arwen's private pleasure-would be perfect for escaping, since he couldn't just take off into the Wild.
He quickly made his way to the garden, closing his eyes and breathing deeply as he passed under the archway entrance.
"Rough day?" Aragorn started visibly at the soft, musical voice.
"Legolas, you have no idea!" Aragorn said, turning slightly to face the elf. "When did you get to Minas Tirith?"
"Just a few hours ago. Is that crown weighing heavily on you today?"
"Not just today. This has been building for a while. I'm a Ranger, I don't know why I ever thought I could be a king!"
"Calm down! You are a great king and you know it. You are just a little stressed out right now. You, my friend, are in need of some serious playtime! Take that off," Legolas said, pulling the crown off Aragorn's head and setting it on a nearby bench. "Follow me, I know exactly what you need." Aragorn followed, wondering what exactly his friend had in mind.
===
Arwen finished speaking with Aragorn's chief advisor and then went in search of her husband. She searched several places before stopping to ask one of the Palace Guards.
"Have you seen King Elessar?" she questioned.
"No, Your Highness. Perhaps one of the King's Guard would know his whereabouts," he suggested.
"You are correct, of course. I should have sought one of them out immediately, but I'm worried. One of his advisors informed me he left a meeting early and it is not like him to do so."
"I hope the king is not ill. I will help you in your search. We will find him or someone who knows where he is soon enough," the guard encouraged.
"Thank you. I'm probably being paranoid, but I'll feel much better when I talk to him," Arwen said, walking with the guardsman.
It wasn't long before they encountered a member of the King's Guard. Arwen quickly approached, recognizing the man as a lieutenant assigned to guard Aragorn.
"Where is my husband?" Arwen asked.
"He is in your private garden, Your Highness," the man replied. "He called off his meetings and went there immediately afterwards. He's been in there for several hours and if we weren't under strict instructions, I would have gone in to check on him." The man sounded genuinely worried, and frustrated at not being allowed to aid his king.
"Did he seem ill earlier?" Arwen asked.
"He has been distracted all day. Other than that, he has not given any indication of not being well."
"Thank you. If I need any assistance, I'll call for you," saying that, Arwen entered the garden. She couldn't immediately see Aragorn, so she walked a little further into the garden. It was then she noticed the crown sitting on the bench. The guards entered at her call, and the lieutenant immediately took over, snapping out orders.
"Assemble the rest of the King's Guard! Call in several more Palace Guards. Escort the Queen to her chambers and guard her room. If the king was taken, we cannot allow that to happen to his queen." The guards immediately set out to perform their appointed tasks, and the three unlucky guards assigned to protect the queen herded their loudly protesting charge to her room where she resigned herself to wait.
It was well past dark when two drunk figures literally stumbled upon a guardsman. "Who are you?" he asked gruffly. The king was still missing and everyone was being questioned.
"I'm-hic-Shtrider, Ranger of the Northhhh."
"You aren't Strider anymore, Strider!" the elf told the man.
"Oh. Who am I now?" The man staggered and fell into the guard, who got a good look at the drunk's face.
"King Elessar!" he cried, relieved to see his king unharmed, if not in the best of conditions.
"Oh, yeah! Thas who I am now! I ssshould quit changing my name. Makesh it hard to 'member, sshpeshally when I get drunk," Aragorn slurred.
"Uh, yes, Your Highness. If you would come with me, your wife is extremely worried, as are all the guards."
Aragorn stumbled along, hanging on to the bewildered guard and asked, "Why ish ever'body worried?"
"No one was aware of your location. We weren't sure if you were ill or had been taken."
"Legolash took me. We had lotsh of fun!" Aragorn replied.
"Yes, Your Highness. Captain!" he called out, seeing the leader of the King's Guard. The captain turned and sighed in relief.
"Where was he?" he asked, trying to see if his king was injured.
"He wash at hish posht like the good sholdier he ish!" Aragorn replied, patting the guard's shoulder in approval.
"Thank you, King Elessar. He was out getting drunk with his friend, evidently."
"Lord Legolas, always a pleasure to see you," the captain said, not very successful at hiding his disapproval at their state, but the two royals were too drunk to comprehend or care.
"Thanks! It's nice to see you too," Legolas replied, trying to maintain his dignity despite his somewhat diminished capacity.
"Gonna go sleep now," Aragorn declared, turning towards the direction he thought his room was. The captain stepped over to dismiss the guard and turned the king in the right direction, steadying the king when he stumbled. It took several minutes to navigate the hallway with two falling down drunks, and then several more to convince Legolas to let himself be helped to his own room, but they made it to the king's chambers without mishap.
Arwen was resting on the couch in the sitting room when the door opened. She immediately stood up and rushed over to her husband. Her voice was breathy when she said, "Estel! Are you all right?" She held on to him tightly.
"Hmmm. Tired," he answered.
"Where were you, love?"
"Wif Legolash."
"Are you drunk?" Arwen asked indignantly.
"Mm-hmm."
"I've been worried sick about you! We called out all the guards and you were out getting drunk with Legolas?!"
The captain beat a hasty retreat after saying, "Now that the king is safe I'll go dismiss the men that aren't supposed to be on duty. Excuse me, please."
"Aragorn-"
"It just got to be too much! I spent most of my adult life by myself, with no one counting on me but myself. I never spent more than a few weeks at a time with other people. I just...needed some time to myself." Aragorn started sobering up when it penetrated his haze that his wife was furious.
Arwen sighed, her fear, anger, and frustration draining out of her at the despondency in her husband's voice. "Let's just go to bed. We'll talk about this more when you get up in the morning. Or should I say afternoon? We'll take tomorrow to ourselves. We can tell your advisors you aren't feeling well, and we'll have a picnic in the garden. Legolas can join us and you both can tell me about your day today."
They went into their sleeping chamber and got ready for bed. Arwen smiled when Aragorn snuggled close to her and murmured, "I love you." She never could stay angry with him.
End.
One last note to clear up any confusion. The Palace Guard and the King's Guard are two separate forces. Think of the Palace Guard like city law enforcement. They take care of making sure everyone is obeying the laws and they patrol the city. The King's Guard would be like the Secret Service. Their job is to protect the royal family with their lives, spotting any danger before it makes itself apparent.
Author/Email: MaraJade (LadyJadeSky@comcast.net)
Rating: PG
Summary: Aragorn is restless
Archive: Mellon Chronicles and The_Istari archives, anyone else just ask
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. I don't make any money off this. Please don't sue!
Warnings: Not beta'd (I don't know what happened to my beta reader, he still hasn't gotten back to me. Any volunteers?) Post-RotK, so possible spoilers if you don't know what happens.
Author's notes: This one is for all those who have supported me and given feedback, but most especially to Sienn for your encouragement and your idea for helping me with my writer's block. Thanks for your help.
Aragorn was bored. He was tired of court, meetings, nobles, courtiers, and most of all of being cooped up within the stone walls of Minas Tirith. He was not an elf, but being raised among them, and later as a Ranger, he needed the open spaces of nature. There was only so much he could take, and he was rapidly approaching his breaking point. Ruling was in his blood, but being the king wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
Aragorn was on his way from one round of endless meetings to another, and after that he had three more before he would be done for the day. He idly wondered if it would be possible to postpone them, but decided it would be best to go ahead and get them over with. He walked to the meeting chambers as a convicted criminal would to his execution. He despised these meetings where everyone would bicker needlessly over trivial things!
He arrived at his destination and made his way to his seat. As usual, most everyone was running late. Aragorn did not know why he rushed to be prompt when the meetings did not start until at least half and hour after their scheduled time. Next time he would be late. It wasn't as if they would start without him.
He stared out the window as he waited. Was it possible to have Spring Fever in the middle of winter? Aragorn needed to be outside. It was an almost physical ache. He wanted to walk through the forest and sleep on the ground and do his own hunting. He wondered if he was even capable of surviving on his own anymore, after living in the palace for three years.
"Your Highness?" Someone was intruding upon his thoughts. "We are ready to begin."
"Proceed then," Aragorn responded, barely reigning in his temper.
Everyone began loudly talking at once, trying to be heard over everyone else. Aragorn quickly lost interest, his focus wandering no matter how hard he tried to pay attention. He wasn't sure how long this went on, but someone was calling out, "King Elessar?"
"Are you feeling well, Sire?" one of the advisors asked, concerned at the king's inattention.
Aragorn stood abruptly, saying, "We will continue this tomorrow. Good day, gentlemen." To hell with getting it over with, Aragorn thought, striding out of the room. He was going outside. The Queen's Garden-which he had constructed for his and Arwen's private pleasure-would be perfect for escaping, since he couldn't just take off into the Wild.
He quickly made his way to the garden, closing his eyes and breathing deeply as he passed under the archway entrance.
"Rough day?" Aragorn started visibly at the soft, musical voice.
"Legolas, you have no idea!" Aragorn said, turning slightly to face the elf. "When did you get to Minas Tirith?"
"Just a few hours ago. Is that crown weighing heavily on you today?"
"Not just today. This has been building for a while. I'm a Ranger, I don't know why I ever thought I could be a king!"
"Calm down! You are a great king and you know it. You are just a little stressed out right now. You, my friend, are in need of some serious playtime! Take that off," Legolas said, pulling the crown off Aragorn's head and setting it on a nearby bench. "Follow me, I know exactly what you need." Aragorn followed, wondering what exactly his friend had in mind.
===
Arwen finished speaking with Aragorn's chief advisor and then went in search of her husband. She searched several places before stopping to ask one of the Palace Guards.
"Have you seen King Elessar?" she questioned.
"No, Your Highness. Perhaps one of the King's Guard would know his whereabouts," he suggested.
"You are correct, of course. I should have sought one of them out immediately, but I'm worried. One of his advisors informed me he left a meeting early and it is not like him to do so."
"I hope the king is not ill. I will help you in your search. We will find him or someone who knows where he is soon enough," the guard encouraged.
"Thank you. I'm probably being paranoid, but I'll feel much better when I talk to him," Arwen said, walking with the guardsman.
It wasn't long before they encountered a member of the King's Guard. Arwen quickly approached, recognizing the man as a lieutenant assigned to guard Aragorn.
"Where is my husband?" Arwen asked.
"He is in your private garden, Your Highness," the man replied. "He called off his meetings and went there immediately afterwards. He's been in there for several hours and if we weren't under strict instructions, I would have gone in to check on him." The man sounded genuinely worried, and frustrated at not being allowed to aid his king.
"Did he seem ill earlier?" Arwen asked.
"He has been distracted all day. Other than that, he has not given any indication of not being well."
"Thank you. If I need any assistance, I'll call for you," saying that, Arwen entered the garden. She couldn't immediately see Aragorn, so she walked a little further into the garden. It was then she noticed the crown sitting on the bench. The guards entered at her call, and the lieutenant immediately took over, snapping out orders.
"Assemble the rest of the King's Guard! Call in several more Palace Guards. Escort the Queen to her chambers and guard her room. If the king was taken, we cannot allow that to happen to his queen." The guards immediately set out to perform their appointed tasks, and the three unlucky guards assigned to protect the queen herded their loudly protesting charge to her room where she resigned herself to wait.
It was well past dark when two drunk figures literally stumbled upon a guardsman. "Who are you?" he asked gruffly. The king was still missing and everyone was being questioned.
"I'm-hic-Shtrider, Ranger of the Northhhh."
"You aren't Strider anymore, Strider!" the elf told the man.
"Oh. Who am I now?" The man staggered and fell into the guard, who got a good look at the drunk's face.
"King Elessar!" he cried, relieved to see his king unharmed, if not in the best of conditions.
"Oh, yeah! Thas who I am now! I ssshould quit changing my name. Makesh it hard to 'member, sshpeshally when I get drunk," Aragorn slurred.
"Uh, yes, Your Highness. If you would come with me, your wife is extremely worried, as are all the guards."
Aragorn stumbled along, hanging on to the bewildered guard and asked, "Why ish ever'body worried?"
"No one was aware of your location. We weren't sure if you were ill or had been taken."
"Legolash took me. We had lotsh of fun!" Aragorn replied.
"Yes, Your Highness. Captain!" he called out, seeing the leader of the King's Guard. The captain turned and sighed in relief.
"Where was he?" he asked, trying to see if his king was injured.
"He wash at hish posht like the good sholdier he ish!" Aragorn replied, patting the guard's shoulder in approval.
"Thank you, King Elessar. He was out getting drunk with his friend, evidently."
"Lord Legolas, always a pleasure to see you," the captain said, not very successful at hiding his disapproval at their state, but the two royals were too drunk to comprehend or care.
"Thanks! It's nice to see you too," Legolas replied, trying to maintain his dignity despite his somewhat diminished capacity.
"Gonna go sleep now," Aragorn declared, turning towards the direction he thought his room was. The captain stepped over to dismiss the guard and turned the king in the right direction, steadying the king when he stumbled. It took several minutes to navigate the hallway with two falling down drunks, and then several more to convince Legolas to let himself be helped to his own room, but they made it to the king's chambers without mishap.
Arwen was resting on the couch in the sitting room when the door opened. She immediately stood up and rushed over to her husband. Her voice was breathy when she said, "Estel! Are you all right?" She held on to him tightly.
"Hmmm. Tired," he answered.
"Where were you, love?"
"Wif Legolash."
"Are you drunk?" Arwen asked indignantly.
"Mm-hmm."
"I've been worried sick about you! We called out all the guards and you were out getting drunk with Legolas?!"
The captain beat a hasty retreat after saying, "Now that the king is safe I'll go dismiss the men that aren't supposed to be on duty. Excuse me, please."
"Aragorn-"
"It just got to be too much! I spent most of my adult life by myself, with no one counting on me but myself. I never spent more than a few weeks at a time with other people. I just...needed some time to myself." Aragorn started sobering up when it penetrated his haze that his wife was furious.
Arwen sighed, her fear, anger, and frustration draining out of her at the despondency in her husband's voice. "Let's just go to bed. We'll talk about this more when you get up in the morning. Or should I say afternoon? We'll take tomorrow to ourselves. We can tell your advisors you aren't feeling well, and we'll have a picnic in the garden. Legolas can join us and you both can tell me about your day today."
They went into their sleeping chamber and got ready for bed. Arwen smiled when Aragorn snuggled close to her and murmured, "I love you." She never could stay angry with him.
End.
One last note to clear up any confusion. The Palace Guard and the King's Guard are two separate forces. Think of the Palace Guard like city law enforcement. They take care of making sure everyone is obeying the laws and they patrol the city. The King's Guard would be like the Secret Service. Their job is to protect the royal family with their lives, spotting any danger before it makes itself apparent.