Aragorn reached Katie first, and saw for the first time that Elboron's leg had been put in a make-shift splint. He lifted the tired child from Katie's back and smoothed dark hair off the small forehead and out of the wide grey eyes.

"My lord!" Elboron said as his father had taught him, but in his own childish accent.

"What has happened to you, Elboron?" Aragorn asked gently.

"There were orcs," the little boy answered, his voice wobbly with fear. "And I broke my leg. Katie came and told me she would take care of me."

There was no change in Katie's expression, and she had spoken no word since her first relieved exclamation. But when Elrohir silently wrapped her in a gentle hug, she leaned in to him gratefully and wearily, and shut her eyes with relief.

"Your escort?" Aragorn asked Elboron, who just looked at him with wide eyes. When the he turned to Katie, she shook her head. They were dead, then.

But this was not the time or place to discuss this. He did not know how far Katie had walked carrying the child, but she was obviously bone-weary and grieved. As they turned to walk back to the house, Aragorn saw Elrohir slip his arm around Katie's waist, supporting her.

000

Elladan walked on ahead with Aragorn and Elboron, while Elrohir and Legolas fell farther behind, matching their pace to Katie's slow one. Although Elrohir helped Katie along, he made no move to pick her up and carry her as he might once have done.

They didn't ask Katie any questions, but in the end, it was not necessary. As soon as she estimated that Elboron was out of earshot, Katie informed them, "His escort must have been attacked by orcs sometime last evening. They missed him. I would have too, if I hadn't heard him crying. The guards, as far as I could tell, were all dead."

She stopped, her expression dark. Legolas and Elrohir exchanged a worried look.

"How did you know which direction to take him in?" Legolas asked her.

"Elboron told me where they had come from and where they had been headed, and I started walking northward," Katie answered. "I had no idea if I was going in the right direction, but it seems someone was guiding my footsteps."

When she fell silent again, neither of them asked her anymore questions. Legolas observed her surreptitiously.

He would estimate that very little time had passed for her since he had last seen her in Minas Tirith at Aragorn and Arwen's wedding, more than fifteen years ago. Her hair was perhaps a trifle shorter, and her face was grey with weariness and sorrow. But her eyes were still the same bright green, and there was still a light dusting of freckles across her nose.

She began to stumble as they drew near to the palace. "It is not far, now," Elrohir murmured encouragingly. And then they were crossing stone floors and passing through cool rooms, with a few curious servants hurrying past to prepare a room for the strangely-dressed human girl who had appeared in their midst.

Legolas and Elrohir escorted Katie up to one of the guest chambers and saw to it that she was given a good meal.

"We will leave you in peace; I am sure you will want to rest," Elrohir said as they bowed themselves out of her room.

"Thank you," she said quietly as Legolas shut the door.

000

Meanwhile, Aragorn had taken Elboron up to his own and Arwen's room. While Elboron ate, Aragorn and Elladan took a look at his leg.

It was indeed broken, and Katie had splinted it rather well, which surprised him. He hadn't known she had had the training.

"Elboron," Aragorn asked gently as he put a more permanent splint on the little leg, "can you tell me what happened to the guards that were with you?"

Elboron shook his head emphatically. "They yelled a lot, when the orcs came," he divulged, swallowing a piece of bread, "but then Bargon covered me up with a blanket and told me not to move, and then I guess the guards went away."

Aragorn set his mouth in a thin line. He had known Bargon—a good man.

Having arranged everything with the servants for Katie's unexpected visit, Arwen moved silently into the room. She crossed in her stately way to kneel beside her husband before Elboron, who sat on their bed. Aragorn had just finished off Elborn's splint.

"Are you sleepy?" Arwen asked the child. Elboron nodded, and she smiled. "Then go to sleep," she said, rising and helping him get into the bed. Tucking him in, she laid a long-fingered hand on his forehead. "Sleep," she repeated in a low tone, and Elboron's eyes shut. In moments, he was fast asleep.

The three adults met in the corridor outside with Elrohir and Legolas, who had just come from Katie's room. They shared what knowledge they had gathered from their new guests of the day's tragic proceedings.

"We must send out soldiers immediately to hunt down these orcs," Aragorn said finally. "And someone must bury the escort there, or bring them here for burial—before those evil creatures get their hands on the bodies."

"It will soon be evening," Legolas reminded him. "If they planned on despoiling the bodies, they will have done so already. Perhaps we should wait for morning to send out anyone."

"He is right," Elladan agreed. "We would do best to wait for day to fight the orcs, when they will be weakened by the sunlight."

Aragorn nodded. His brothers-in-law had had plenty of experience fighting orcs, and he bowed to their superior knowledge. They would of course lead the soldiers out to do battle with these goblins.

"Mistress Rose will be wondering what has happened," Arwen said, breaking the silence. "We should go and inform our guests of these latest proceedings."

"I will send out messengers to the people to stay on the lookout, and not to venture far from their dwellings after dark," Aragorn added. "We will set guards around Annúminas. Legolas, will you help me arrange these things?"

His friend agreed, and the group dispersed.

000

"Katie Elvellon?" Rosie exclaimed. "I have heard my Sam speak of her in passing. She has come north, then? And carried the boy all day!"

"It appears so," Arwen answered gravely. She had brought the news of the new arrivals to her guests. Elanor and little Rose listened intently by their mother's side, while Goldilocks clung to her skirts. Elanor was holding Ham, and Daisie was asleep in the next room, in her cradle. Sam had taken the older boys, Frodo and Merry and Pippin, out into Annúminas to watch the construction going on there.

"But Papa said that Katie was just twenty when he saw in Rivendell, and that was before I was born," Elanor pointed out. "I saw her going up to her room, and she hardly looks older than twenty now. Is she part elven, my Lady?"

"No, she is human," Arwen answered, wracking her brains for a way to answer the girl's question without having to go into a lengthy and complicated explanation. "Some strange things have happened to Katie Elvellon over the years. It is hard to explain, but time has passed differently for her."

Rosie, who had some vague idea of the situation from her husband, turned to her children. "Well, I am sure we won't bother her with questions when she is well, now will we?" she said warningly.

"No, Mother," Elanor, little Rosie and Goldilocks answered dutifully, and Ham, one chubby finger in his mouth, shook his head obediently. Arwen couldn't help but smile.

000

Elboron slept in the King and Queen's room that night, in a small cot the servants had set up for him. He was so deeply asleep that he hadn't woken when Aragorn lifted him gently in his arms and carried him over to it, tucking him in again as Arwen had done earlier. Then they, too, went to bed.

But the household was woken just after midnight by a scream, which raised chills on the backs of all who heard it.

It had come from Katie's room.

Aragorn was on his feet in a flash and pulling on a robe. Arwen sat up in bed, and Elboron whimpered.

"I will see what it is," Aragorn said hurriedly, and as he left the room he heard Arwen go over to comfort the child.

Aragorn met Legolas at the door to Katie's room, and they found that the twins had beaten them there. Elrohir sat on the edge of Katie's bed with his arms around her, and Katie had hidden her face in his chest and was sobbing as if her heart would break.

Elrohir turned and nodded Elladan, who nodded back and ushered Legolas and Aragorn out of the room.

Sam and a few servants met them in the corridor as he was shutting the door softly behind them. "She just had a bad dream," Aragorn told the newcomers.

"Poor child," Sam murmured as the servants departed once more. "Someone is with her?"

Elladan nodded. "Elrohir will sit with her until she falls asleep."

Sam nodded approval, and they each headed back to their own quarters once more.

TBC

AN: How was that for a fast update? Hope you're happy; I wrote this all afternoon instead of doing my homework, like I was supposed to. :)

Anything fuzzy in this chapter will most likely be cleared up in the next, when you will get the full story of Katie's arrival in Middle-earth and her encounter with Elboron.

Interesting fact: "Though it's established beyond doubt that Faramir and Éowyn had a grandson named Barahir who wrote the tale of Aragorn and Arwen in the Appendices of RotK, their son - and Faramir's heir as Prince of Ithilien - is never conclusively identified. In the drafts of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings, given in volume 12 of The History of Middle-earth, he is shown as 'Elboron'. However, no name is given anywhere in the canonical works, and it is difficult to be sure whether Tolkien meant the name 'Elboron' to stand or not."—The Encyclopedia of Arda

I meant to add, about the title, that Prospice means "Looking Forward".

Laer4572: lol I'm flattered. But you gotta end sometime!

Contia Mirian: Did I have to have an inspiration while I'm supposed to be reading all 900 pages of The Mists of Avalon for my Arthur class? My muse has the most disgraceful sense of timing…

Skye: —picks a suspicious bit of dust off her chocolate before biting in— Of course, the very first story began with everybody else's POV, too. Originally, that was the plan—don't write anything from the girl's POV, to avoid Mary-sueness.

IwishChan: She keeps the dresses in her closet at home and has worn them for Halloween parties. She tells everybody she bought them cheap at a rummage sale. Some of them don't believe her. :)

Lady Jammchra: Thank you! Updated, as per your request!

RenegadeKitsune: You're lucky. I originally meant to end the last chapter right when Legolas identifies the figure as Katie, with Elboron on her back, and wanted to end this one where Katie screams. But there wasn't enough writing there for a chapter. —shrugs—

Thanks also to Hiro No Tsuki, miget girl, kalen61589, and Mira-hime.

Please review!