"Day 5"
Arwen rolled over and crossed her arms as another heavy sneeze shook the bed. She'd not gotten a peaceful nights sleep in days since Aragorn had caught this cold. He was up all night, sneezing and shivering, unable, it appeared, to stay warm. All she wanted was some peace and quiet and to be left alone. She sneered at his back and rolled out of bed. They'd been on the ship for five days and her highly praised non-existent elven temper had finally reared its ugly head. She pulled on a heavy robe, tied it around her waist, and left the room, slamming the door so as to be sure to condemn Aragorn to the wakefulness that he had thrust upon her sleep.
The Chamberlain appeared behind her with a tray and she eyed him warily. "I cannot help but hear the King is not sleeping well. I thought to bring him some warm tea that might - "
Arwen lifted the tea from the tray and walked in the opposite direction. "Thank you. It will warm me quite well."
The Chamberlain blinked and turned wordlessly back toward the way he'd come. "This is going to be a very long voyage," He thought wordlessly and made his way back to the kitchen to fetch some more tea.
As the door swung open, the Chamberlain was startled to see a very hairy dwarf delving through shelves, making more noise than the King's Chamberlain thought appropriate for this hour of the night.
The ship rocked sharply to the side, causing the man to grip the doorframe for support. He winced as whatever Gimli had been searching through toppled to the floor with a loud crash. The Chamberlain sighed and closed his eyes. It was then that he heard the pitiful moan coming from the vicinity of his feet. Gimli had fallen over when the ship lurched suddenly and was now quite firmly hanging on to whatever he could find that would not move.
The Chamberlain bit back an amused smile and stepped beside the Dwarf. "Are you in need of assistance?"
"No!" Gimli pushed himself to his feet with a grunt, and what sounded like a groan. "I was simply searching for- "
Again the ship rocked sharply as another wave struck the elven craft. Gimli groaned in response, clutching at anything to remain on his feet.
"You do not look well." The Chamberlain observed. "Perhaps you should lie down and take some rest."
"If I could rest with all of this incessant rocking, that is exactly where I would be!" Gimli snorted and walked, weaving on his feet all the way, to the door. Without a look back, he stepped into the darkness and stalked back to his room.
The Chamberlain shook his head and went about his task of replacing the tea Arwen had liberated from his tray.
On his way back to Aragorn's cabin, the Chamberlain overheard a quiet bickering coming from a dark corner. Venturing closer, he noticed Legolas had appeared to escort the sick Gimli back to his own cabin.
"I am capable returning to my cabin on my own, elf!" The dwarf spat as he swayed to the motion of the ship.
"On your hands and knees perhaps," Even in the dark, the Chamberlain could see the amused look in the elf's eyes. "I only seek to lessen the burden you will put on the deckhands when you spew your dinner all over these nicely polished floors."
Gimli growled, carefully balancing on all fours as the ship rocked with the waves.
"I think Gimli is not the only one who will be doing such things," Arwen appeared, holding a supporting beam to keep from falling over.
Legolas gained his feet immediately and wrapped a strong arm around her waist. "My Lady?"
"Just lower me to the floor for a moment," Arwen swooned, her eyes crossing with each lurch of the ship. "I need to rest before returning to-" A slim hand came up to cover her mouth as the contents of her dinner threatened to return with a vengeance.
"I will assist you to your rooms, when you are ready."
"Lady, are you ill? May I assist-" The Chamberlain hurried over to his Queen.
Arwen motioned him away as Gimli, too, stood and offered what help he could. "No, please. I just need to rest and then will accept Legolas' assistance back to my cabin."
"Shall I wake Lord Elessar?"
"No." Arwen snapped. "He is ill."
"As are you," Legolas whispered in their native tongue.
"Do not pull him out of bed for this. I should not have been up walking around in the middle of the night. The sickness comes at night. It is my fault for setting foot out of bed."
"He would want to know, Lady, that-"
"Stop!" Arwen interrupted the Chamberlain, her voice echoing down the empty hall. "Please, go back to your own cabin and go to sleep. I will be fine." Another wave of nausea overwhelmed the pregnant queen and she doubled over, again nearly loosing her dinner.
Legolas kept firm hold on Arwen and noticed as she tried to hold back the painful moans threatening to slip through her lips. "Come, let us sit." He lowered her to the deck and she leaned against him heavily.
"Shall I make you some tea?" The Chamberlain, concerned over his Queen's well-being, knelt beside the two elves.
"No, thank you." Arwen whispered, her voice hoarse. " I do believe I should not have liberated the tea you'd made for my husband."
"It was mixed with herbs designed to lower his fever and lessen his cough." The Chamberlain nodded.
"An affliction I do not have." Arwen moaned, her head lolling against Legolas' shoulder. "It is no wonder that I am feeling worse."
Celeborn came around the corner then, his keen elven eyes seeing in the near pitch black, a sight that worried him. He rushed to Arwen's side and pulled her against his chest.
Arwen gazed up at him with sad eyes. "Oh, my child." Celeborn wiped her damp forehead with the palm of his hand. "You should not be out of bed. Especially this evening. The winds are much more tumultuous than is normal for this time of year."
Arwen didn't have the strength to explain and simply leaned against his chest,
her pitiful sobs and deep breaths to control the churning of her stomach,
causing his heart to fill with pity.
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When dawn broke, the sea was quiet once again. The waves lazily sloshed against the sides of the ships, their sound soothing to the elven ears that watched the Sea with longing in their eyes.
Aragorn groaned as he rolled over, his fever had broken in the night and he was exhausted. Arwen lay sleeping as far from him as her body could be without being rolled out of the bed. She was pale and equally exhausted, happy finally to have reached her bed and a deep, meditative sleep.
Until an argument above deck pulled them roughly out of the first uninterrupted sleep they'd had in days.
Aragorn groaned and pulled himself out of bed, much to Arwen's delight. She spread across the cushions, stretching like a cat who had been sleeping in cramped quarters for far too long. Aragorn watched her contented face contort at the harsh voices above.
"Stay and sleep," Aragorn leaned over her shoulder and pressed a warm kiss to her neck. "I'll wander up there and see what has Gimli so upset."
"Bring me some tea," Arwen mumbled before nuzzling into the coverlet and going back to sleep.
Aragorn smiled slowly as he watched his wife burrow deeper into the covers, then winced at the voices coming from above. Human ears could not ignore the sounds, he was unable to understand how his wife's more sensitive elven ears could.
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Imrahil was the first to see his King emerging from the cabins beneath the deck. He rushed over to Aragorn, an exasperated but concerned look etched into his face.
"How do you feel?"
"Better," Aragorn smiled slightly and placed a strong, reassuring hand on the Lord of Dol Amroth's shoulder. With a slight nod of his head in the direction of the bickering twins, Aragorn added, "with the exception of their arguments waking Arwen."
Imrahil paled. Arwen's irritability had grown in a few short days, undoubtedly because of her pregnancy. He'd already overheard a very one sided argument she'd had with her husband. Wisely, Aragorn remained silent for most of the exchange, earning him points with the already experienced father and husband. "Oh, I can imagine that was not a sight to see."
Aragorn flashed a wide smile. "I'm up here now, am I not?"
Imrahil laughed. "Kicked you out, did she?"
"Not in so many words. But, lets just say I chose to leave before she decided enter into another one-sided diatribe about me being the cause of her sickness." Aragorn's voice dropped so that no one could overhear. "This babe was definitely not a one-sided creation."
Imrahil laughed at Aragorn's long-suffering look. "It only gets worse, my friend." He dropped a heavy hand on Aragorn's shoulder as the King's eyes widened in fear.
"Eru protect us."
"Not 'us' Aragorn, 'you'." Imrahil winked and turned his attention to the arguing elf and Dwarf .
Imrahil chuckled softly to himself as Aragorn stalked toward the two arguing companions and bellowed. "Just 'what' has possessed you to argue so loud and long this early in the morning?!"
Immediate silence followed, as men and elves alike turned at the sound to stare at the King.
After the shock of the King's tone wore off, Gimli was the first to fly to his own defense. "The Elf thought it necessary to continue to berate me about the goings on's of last evening. I have had quite enough of his incessant teasing and yet he continues."
Aragorn turned silently to wait for Legolas' explanation, knowing full well that there would be one.
"I have done or said nothing that the Dwarf can contradict."
"I do not need be reminded!" Gimli spat, straining to meet the elf eye to eye without a prayer of ever being able to do so.
Aragorn sighed loudly. "Reminded of what?"
Gimli shot Legolas a threatening glare if the elf were to open his lips and speak of what he witnessed during the twilight hours.
"Gimli has been ill. I merely assisted him last evening."
Aragorn rolled his eyes. "And you find such an issue with Legolas' assistance?"
Before Gimli could open his mouth, Aragorn continued. "Perhaps you would like to share a chamber with my wife for the duration of the journey. Her demeanor is much the same as yours."
Imrahil shoved a hand into his mouth to keep from laughing aloud, Elladan and Elrohir dropped their heads, large smiles spreading across their features, and Cirdan and Celeborn exchanged an understanding look.
"That will not be necessary," Gimli gruffed, clearly terrified at the prospect of being forced into such a position.
"Then try to keep your banter, lighthearted or no, to a minimum for the duration of the journey? Please?" The pleading look in Aragorn's eyes elicited an amused look from Legolas and a pitiful one from Gimli. "For my sanity?"
"For you, my friend," Legolas nodded, "I will leave Gimli be for the rest of the voyage."
"Perhaps we should live at Sea," Gimli huffed under his breath. "Then I would be forever spared."
Aragorn's head snapped toward the diminutive Dwarf, his eyes narrowing.
Gimli muttered to himself as he walked away, ignoring the annoyed look on Aragorn's face.