Disclaimer:- I do not own 'The lord of the rings' I do however own all characters not mentioned in the books.
The Last Evenstar:- It's nice to know you like the story so far, this chapter gets a little more involved in a plot.
ME132:- Mmmm Aragorn in restraints.....I mean thank you for your review, always love making you laugh.
Daisy:- I think most little girls have their Dad wraped round their little finger. Glad you like the story.
Queen Arwen:- Pippin is my favourite of all the Hobbits, I'll let you in to a secret, there is a Hobbit baby on the way.
The Converted:- I'm not sure why I usually portray Eomer as a drunken beast. Probably cos it's funniest that way. Christopher Walken!!! Is she sure? Good actor but not on my most bedable list. (Quick trivia:- Viggo played the devil in the Prophecy and munched on Christopher Walken's heart. Something your mother and you could watch together.)
Thank you maggie black, Natters, Cerridwen-Evereven, I hope you like this next chapter, no fluff I'm afraid except if you find father/son talks fluffy.
Chapter 3
Father and son
In what looked like the bowls of hell, a dark man with an cruel look, was pacing in front of a huge oak door. The under ground levels in the mountain of shadow, that had been made thousands of years before him, were dark and dank with the stench of stale air. The walls were unrefined rock, whose crevices were cast sinister shadows by the lit torches attached to them. The passage ways were narrow and confining and every one led to three others, it was an underground maze which would prove deadly to any unused to it.
The man's name was Moriksh, a man whose bitter greed had turned his soul black, he knew these caves inside and out, having been raised in the Ephel Quath mountain of Mordor. Behind the door an old woman sat crossed legged on the floor, now in silence, the room was bear save one lit candle and a gathering of stones with ancient writings on them. The woman's head was completely white and thinning extensively, a scar ran from the middle of her head right down her left cheek.
No man among us could speak of how she received the scar, for all who bore whiteness were now missing their tongues, she had seen to that. No man knew her name from birth either, to those who would dare speak to her, she was known only as Kuruni, The Elvish word for witch.
She gathered up the stones again and tossed them on to the floor, at whatever message she had received from the stones it appeared to please her, for her cackle echoed through out the entire underground, chilling the bones of all that hear it. Moriksh stopped dead in his tracks, his head turning toward the door, an evil smile now playing on his cracked lips. With little delay he pushed open the double doors and smiled, 'warmly' at the woman as he held out his hands to lift her from the floor.
"It is how we expected?" The smile never leaving him,
"Did you doubt me? Have I ever let you down?"
Moriksh could have kissed the old woman had she not smelled fouler then the air he was now breathing.
"When the stars align,
And the full moon shines,
As it was once told,
Awake the warriors of old'.
He danced at the old woman's words, there was nothing that could stop him now, no power on earth that could impede him.
"There is one who could." The old woman reading his mind was now telling him exactly what he did not wish to hear.
"Do not trouble me with details, the man is just that, nothing more. I will use the army of Ohtarba to bring him crashing to his knees, he will beg me to spare his wife and children, and end the suffering of his people, surrendering all to me."
The woman's smile was matching his own, for she knew something that Moriksh did not. The first daughter of Elesser was the greatest prize that she could see, her stones had told her of the blood that flowed through the child's veins. A blood so charmed that even the smallest drop was pure magic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Galadwen giggled as her mother tickled under her chin. The days had gotten cooler and the children had taken to playing inside. Arwen sat at her table, in her chambers, and began fastening her hair back in to several braids.
"Your Ada tells me that you will be joining them on their hunting trip when we return." Her voice kept cool, as usual, despite her gentle teasing.
Galadwen blushed and nodded. "Yes I want to spend time with Ada."
Arwen turned around and smiled at her daughter, so young and yet so wise. "Would you still wish to go if Legolas were not?" She smiled at her child's infatuation with her old friend. She saw no reason for concern, it was something that she would grow out of in time. Galadwen smiled, knowing it was useless trying to hide anything from her mother.
"Perhaps."
"Eldarion says that I am stupid for feeling this way. Do you think so too Naneth?" Her blue eyes scanned her mother's face.
Arwen turned and took her daughter's hand in hers. "I do not think it is stupid, I think that you are becoming a young woman and it is natural to develop the odd crush. Although it would be easier on you if it were not someone three thousand years too old for you." She smiled as she teased her daughter.
Galadwen smiled too, despite the urge inside of her to shout 'it is not a crush, I love him!'
Arwen stood and walked over to check on Luthien, who was taking a nap in her parents bed. She ran her hand over the child's check and sung in a soft, enchanting voice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eldarion stared at his father's ring, the silver band upon Aragorn's middle finger was the ring of Barahir. It was given to him by Eldarion's grandfather, Lord Elrond of Rivendell, along with Anduril before it was reforged.
"One day this ring will be yours, Anduril too. You will take my place as King of Gondor. It is a long way off yet, but it is time you accepted your fate. I spent most of my life running from the throne, I would hate for you to ever feel the same as I." The father and son sat down on the grass. Aragorn placed an arm around his son's shoulders and hugged him to his side.
"What I finally realised was that I could run forever and yet never run far enough. Being King is not wearing a crown or giving orders, it is about giving your people hope. To be a King is to bear great responsibility, not in strength or knowledge, in the end those things are not important, what is important is that you rule with your heart. That is something you can not learn or be trained in, it is inside of you. Everyday, every choice we make will lead us to where we are supposed to be."
Eldarion looked up at his father with so much pride that Aragorn knew in his heart, Eldarion would make a fine King. When Eldarion's eyes fell to the floor Aragorn tousled the dark hair on his head. "What troubles you?"
"I want to become a good man, like you. But what if I do not always make the right decisions? What if I fail and let our people down?"
Aragorn rested his chin on his hand and looked sideways at his son. "As long as you make the choice with the best intentions. Right and wrong, good and evil. We are not rewarded for choosing good every time, to be a good man through and through is its own reward. Everything that will happen in your life, my son, will happen for a reason. Every time you are tested, every time you are pushed to your limits, you learn a new lesson about yourself. What doesn't kill us can only make us stronger."
Eldarion smiled and nodded. "And I have a great teacher to learn from."
Aragorn laughed as he stood, he hauled his son to his feet and looked at the trees growing around them. "But that is all very far off, in the distant future. Now you are but a boy, and I think that for the remainder of the afternoon, I shall be one also." He gently pushed his son and ran towards the tree, Eldarion hot on his trail. The two royals climbed the tree and began throwing acorns at one another.
Well, army of dead warriors indeed! Nice big battle coming up, Aragorn and Eomer getting sweaty with swords, fluff to make you feel sick and a prophecy including Galadwen. Stay tuned!
Please review, I love getting them, especially from those of you who give me good ideas. Gionareth, hint hint
The Last Evenstar:- It's nice to know you like the story so far, this chapter gets a little more involved in a plot.
ME132:- Mmmm Aragorn in restraints.....I mean thank you for your review, always love making you laugh.
Daisy:- I think most little girls have their Dad wraped round their little finger. Glad you like the story.
Queen Arwen:- Pippin is my favourite of all the Hobbits, I'll let you in to a secret, there is a Hobbit baby on the way.
The Converted:- I'm not sure why I usually portray Eomer as a drunken beast. Probably cos it's funniest that way. Christopher Walken!!! Is she sure? Good actor but not on my most bedable list. (Quick trivia:- Viggo played the devil in the Prophecy and munched on Christopher Walken's heart. Something your mother and you could watch together.)
Thank you maggie black, Natters, Cerridwen-Evereven, I hope you like this next chapter, no fluff I'm afraid except if you find father/son talks fluffy.
Chapter 3
Father and son
In what looked like the bowls of hell, a dark man with an cruel look, was pacing in front of a huge oak door. The under ground levels in the mountain of shadow, that had been made thousands of years before him, were dark and dank with the stench of stale air. The walls were unrefined rock, whose crevices were cast sinister shadows by the lit torches attached to them. The passage ways were narrow and confining and every one led to three others, it was an underground maze which would prove deadly to any unused to it.
The man's name was Moriksh, a man whose bitter greed had turned his soul black, he knew these caves inside and out, having been raised in the Ephel Quath mountain of Mordor. Behind the door an old woman sat crossed legged on the floor, now in silence, the room was bear save one lit candle and a gathering of stones with ancient writings on them. The woman's head was completely white and thinning extensively, a scar ran from the middle of her head right down her left cheek.
No man among us could speak of how she received the scar, for all who bore whiteness were now missing their tongues, she had seen to that. No man knew her name from birth either, to those who would dare speak to her, she was known only as Kuruni, The Elvish word for witch.
She gathered up the stones again and tossed them on to the floor, at whatever message she had received from the stones it appeared to please her, for her cackle echoed through out the entire underground, chilling the bones of all that hear it. Moriksh stopped dead in his tracks, his head turning toward the door, an evil smile now playing on his cracked lips. With little delay he pushed open the double doors and smiled, 'warmly' at the woman as he held out his hands to lift her from the floor.
"It is how we expected?" The smile never leaving him,
"Did you doubt me? Have I ever let you down?"
Moriksh could have kissed the old woman had she not smelled fouler then the air he was now breathing.
"When the stars align,
And the full moon shines,
As it was once told,
Awake the warriors of old'.
He danced at the old woman's words, there was nothing that could stop him now, no power on earth that could impede him.
"There is one who could." The old woman reading his mind was now telling him exactly what he did not wish to hear.
"Do not trouble me with details, the man is just that, nothing more. I will use the army of Ohtarba to bring him crashing to his knees, he will beg me to spare his wife and children, and end the suffering of his people, surrendering all to me."
The woman's smile was matching his own, for she knew something that Moriksh did not. The first daughter of Elesser was the greatest prize that she could see, her stones had told her of the blood that flowed through the child's veins. A blood so charmed that even the smallest drop was pure magic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Galadwen giggled as her mother tickled under her chin. The days had gotten cooler and the children had taken to playing inside. Arwen sat at her table, in her chambers, and began fastening her hair back in to several braids.
"Your Ada tells me that you will be joining them on their hunting trip when we return." Her voice kept cool, as usual, despite her gentle teasing.
Galadwen blushed and nodded. "Yes I want to spend time with Ada."
Arwen turned around and smiled at her daughter, so young and yet so wise. "Would you still wish to go if Legolas were not?" She smiled at her child's infatuation with her old friend. She saw no reason for concern, it was something that she would grow out of in time. Galadwen smiled, knowing it was useless trying to hide anything from her mother.
"Perhaps."
"Eldarion says that I am stupid for feeling this way. Do you think so too Naneth?" Her blue eyes scanned her mother's face.
Arwen turned and took her daughter's hand in hers. "I do not think it is stupid, I think that you are becoming a young woman and it is natural to develop the odd crush. Although it would be easier on you if it were not someone three thousand years too old for you." She smiled as she teased her daughter.
Galadwen smiled too, despite the urge inside of her to shout 'it is not a crush, I love him!'
Arwen stood and walked over to check on Luthien, who was taking a nap in her parents bed. She ran her hand over the child's check and sung in a soft, enchanting voice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eldarion stared at his father's ring, the silver band upon Aragorn's middle finger was the ring of Barahir. It was given to him by Eldarion's grandfather, Lord Elrond of Rivendell, along with Anduril before it was reforged.
"One day this ring will be yours, Anduril too. You will take my place as King of Gondor. It is a long way off yet, but it is time you accepted your fate. I spent most of my life running from the throne, I would hate for you to ever feel the same as I." The father and son sat down on the grass. Aragorn placed an arm around his son's shoulders and hugged him to his side.
"What I finally realised was that I could run forever and yet never run far enough. Being King is not wearing a crown or giving orders, it is about giving your people hope. To be a King is to bear great responsibility, not in strength or knowledge, in the end those things are not important, what is important is that you rule with your heart. That is something you can not learn or be trained in, it is inside of you. Everyday, every choice we make will lead us to where we are supposed to be."
Eldarion looked up at his father with so much pride that Aragorn knew in his heart, Eldarion would make a fine King. When Eldarion's eyes fell to the floor Aragorn tousled the dark hair on his head. "What troubles you?"
"I want to become a good man, like you. But what if I do not always make the right decisions? What if I fail and let our people down?"
Aragorn rested his chin on his hand and looked sideways at his son. "As long as you make the choice with the best intentions. Right and wrong, good and evil. We are not rewarded for choosing good every time, to be a good man through and through is its own reward. Everything that will happen in your life, my son, will happen for a reason. Every time you are tested, every time you are pushed to your limits, you learn a new lesson about yourself. What doesn't kill us can only make us stronger."
Eldarion smiled and nodded. "And I have a great teacher to learn from."
Aragorn laughed as he stood, he hauled his son to his feet and looked at the trees growing around them. "But that is all very far off, in the distant future. Now you are but a boy, and I think that for the remainder of the afternoon, I shall be one also." He gently pushed his son and ran towards the tree, Eldarion hot on his trail. The two royals climbed the tree and began throwing acorns at one another.
Well, army of dead warriors indeed! Nice big battle coming up, Aragorn and Eomer getting sweaty with swords, fluff to make you feel sick and a prophecy including Galadwen. Stay tuned!
Please review, I love getting them, especially from those of you who give me good ideas. Gionareth, hint hint