CHAPTER TEN

The small group didn't reach the talan. Instead they were intercepted by Aragorn and Faramir who were running towards them.

"Haldir, what's happened?" asked Aragorn as he came to a stop before Haldir. "Rúmil can be heard shouting in Daerada's lounge!" Grandfather's

"That would be Rúmil losing his temper," replied Haldir. "Tathar and six other Elflings decided that jumping into the inlet where we were teaching the boys how to swim would be fun."

"Are you two alright?" asked Faramir. Elboron nodded while Eldarion coughed harshly. Aragorn did not like the sound of the harsh barking emitting from his son and relieved Haldir of the boy.

'You alright?' asked Aragorn, switching to Sindarin, the language always seemed to have a calming effect on Eldarion. Eldarion nodded his head against Aragorn's shoulder.

'He's in shock,' said Haldir. 'When the Elflings jumped into the water, he lost whatever confidence he had and went under.'

Aragorn paled. 'Did you inhale any water?' he asked, turning Eldarion's head. Eldarion nodded before coughing again. Aragorn bundled him close and rubbing his back, made his way back to the talan he had been given for his visit, leaving the others to follow at their own pace.

'I threw it up,' whispered Eldarion. He sounded exhausted, his chest muscles beginning to tire at the repeated convulsing. 'Don't like swimming!'

Aragorn chuckled slightly. 'You'll be alright. You just need to relax. Did Rúmil teach you some meditation?'

'Yes.'

'Well think about that. You need to get into some dry clothes and warmed up and before we know it you'll be back causing trouble with Elboron.'

'I do not cause trouble!' protested Eldarion, before snuggling into his father's tunic, gathering part of the collar in his fist. The chest beneath was warm and the fabric soft.

Aragorn was convulsively rubbing Eldarion's back, both in an attempt to relax the child's chest and also to calm Aragorn himself down otherwise he may have been tempted to turn back and hurt Tathar. Somehow he didn't think Rúmil would be to impressed.

Before he realised it, Aragorn found himself outside his talan door. Glancing down at Eldarion, he found that his son had fallen asleep. Smiling slightly he pushed open the door.

'Estel, what's happened? Faramir said something about Eldarion being hurt,' said Arwen as she came hurrying up the stair and saw Eldarion in Aragorn's arms. Normally Eldarion would have protested at the idea of being carried, so to see him in such a position was something Arwen was not used to seeing.

'Little excitement at the Nimrodel,' replied Aragorn removing the comforter from the chaise.

"Tathar and some of his friends decided to join us in the water," said Haldir as he appeared with Elboron. In his arms Haldir held a dry change of clothes for Eldarion. "Eldarion ended up inhaling some water." Arwen's eyes widened and she gazed in some concern at her sleeping son.

Aragorn took the dry clothes from Haldir and as he moved off to the bathing chamber adjoined to the lounge. Eldarion stirred.

"Ada?" he whispered.

'Hey pen dithen,' smiled Aragorn. 'You alright now?' little one

'Tired. Throat, chest hurts,' mumbled Eldarion before coughing again.

'I'm not surprised with all that coughing,' said Aragorn as he helped his son change. 'Go and sit on the bed while I search for some herbs to help.'

Eldarion nodded and Aragorn wrapped the comforter tightly around the boy before sending him back into the lounge.

Back in the bedroom, Elboron was describing the day's lessons to Arwen, raving about Tathar in the process. Haldir was firmly holding his tongue. His eyes lit up when Eldarion came shuffling back in.

'You alright?' he asked. Eldarion nodded before clambering on to the bed. The silver-Elf wrapped an arm around the boy who snuggled into his side.

'Where's Ada?' asked Arwen.

'Looking for herbs. Throat and chest sore,' croaked Eldarion. Haldir's eyes darkened slightly, causing Elboron to gasp in surprise.

"Haldir?" he asked tentatively.

"I'm alright pen dithen, though I can't say the same about my nephew," replied Haldir, tightening his grip around Eldarion. little one

Eldarion shifted. 'Don't hurt him,' pleaded the boy. 'He didn't know I couldn't swim until Rúmil told him.'

'Don't make excuse for him Eldarion. What he did was irresponsible.'

'Please Haldir.'

'Don't worry. I won't hurt him, though he might find himself on guard duty for the foreseeable future.'

'Be careful with that one, you might end up hurting Rúmil as well,' said Aragorn as he re-entered the room holding some Marshmallow leaves in his hand. Fetching a cup of hot water, he seeped the leaves in it before leaving it to cool slightly and handing it to his son.

'Drink this. It should help,' he said, crouching in front of Eldarion. Eldarion took the cup and sipped. Almost immediately, he felt his throat begin to sooth and his lungs relax but halfway through the draft, he began to cough again. Haldir took the cup from him as Aragorn scooped him into his arms. He ran a hand up and down his son's back.

'Eldarion calm down,' whispered Aragorn. 'You're alright. Just relax.' After about a minute, Eldarion stopped coughing and panted into Aragorn's shoulder as though he had run a long distance. Aragorn continued to massage his back as he slowly regained his breath.

"Don't like swimming," muttered Eldarion. Aragorn chuckled and setting him back on the bed, handed the mug back.

"It could have been worse. Your Uncles just threw me into the Nimrodel one summer afternoon, rather unceremoniously I might add, and told me to get on with it," he replied. "Your grandfather nearly had a fit when he found out. They were more gentle with Kalya."

"You had been pestering them all morning. And how was Elrond supposed to react?" asked Haldir shifting to allow Elboron to sit beside Eldarion. "I've never seen Elladan so scared in his entire life." Aragorn laughed at the memory.

Eldarion handed the now empty mug to Aragorn and rested his head on Haldir's chest. He gripped a fistful of tunic and was soon sound asleep.

'Garo bost vaer, pen dithen," Haldir said, and kissed the top of Eldarion's curly head, before turning his attention to Aragorn. 'Estel, I am so sorry,' he whispered and Elboron curled up at Eldarion's side. sleep well, little one

'Nonsense,' replied Aragorn. 'These things happen. If anyone is to blame, then it is Tathar. Neither you nor Rúmil knew Eldarion would panic and try to act like a fish.'

'But…'

'Haldir, he's alright. His only problem was a mild irritation in his lungs which as you can see has been dealt with. He will be back to normal by morning. Now tell me, how did the lessons go?'

When Eldarion woke he found he was in his parent's bed. Arwen was sitting in a chair beside him carrying out some embroidery.

'Nana?' whispered Eldarion, his voice still sounding a little hoarse.

'Finally awake pen dithen?' she asked. Eldarion nodded. little one

'Is Rúmil alright?' he asked.

'He was feeling guilty about what happened…" said Arwen, moving over to sit on the side of the bed.

'Why?' asked Eldarion incredulously as he struggled to sit up. 'Why does Rúmil feel guilty?' he asked again.

'Because you were in his charge and you were injured,' replied Arwen. 'And his son was partially responsible.'

'I wasn't injured!' Eldarion argued. 'I'm fine!'

'I know that ion nîn, but that's who Rúmil is. He has a very protective nature." my son

'I want to see him," stated Eldarion.

'In the morning, ion nîn. Now you must sleep,' Eldarion began to protest. 'Eldarion, Haldir is with him and so is his wife. He might be a little reluctant to take you swimming again but other than that he will be fine,' soothed Arwen, brushing Eldarion's fringe from his eyes. Eldarion's brow furrowed slightly but he consented to lie back down and soon he was asleep once more. my son

True to Aragorn's prediction, Eldarion was his usual happy-go-lucky self the following morning and apart from his voice being a little hoarse, it was almost unbelievable that he had taken an adverse reaction to swimming the previous afternoon. Upon waking, he had almost demanded to see Rúmil and to tell the Elf that; 'he was perfectly fine and that he, Rúmil, was to stop being so silly and to hurry up because they were due to do some archery training.'

Haldir and Lothrín found it difficult not to laugh as the nine-year-old stood in front of Rúmil and made his statement. Rúmil was not convinced.

'Eldarion, I got you hurt. I am surprised that your parent's even allowed you to see me.'

Eldarion looked as though he could have throttled the Elf. 'I am not hurt!' the boy exclaimed. 'It was an accident and I have had worse from running around the City with Elboron. Just don't take me swimming any time soon, alright?'

Rúmil smiled and Eldarion grabbed the Elf by the wrist and practically dragged Rúmil out of the talan. Lothrín turned to Haldir and finally let the laugh she was holding in to escape.

'Where did you find him?' she asked. 'I would swear that it was Kalya speaking for a moment.'

'No that was all Estel,' smiled Haldir. 'I better go before Eldarion gets them lost.' With that, Haldir kissed his sister-in-law's cheek and disappeared from the talan.

Upon arrival at the archery field, Haldir found Eldarion and Elboron already kitted out with a correctly fitting bow and a range of arrows were laying at their feet. Rúmil was currently crouched beside Elboron, correcting his grip on the bow so that the string would not snap at his skin every time it was released. All three were wearing wrist guards but it could still sting as leave a bruise if their skin was nicked.

The undergrowth behind Haldir moved and swinging around, Haldir saw Aragorn and Faramir making their way towards them. Both were armed with bows of their own and had guards attached to their arms.

"Decided to join us, mellyn nîn?" asked Haldir. my friends

"How could we pass up the opportunity to take some target practice?" asked Aragorn with a smile. "And as I was gifted with a beautiful bow a fortnight ago, I thought that I might as well put it to the test."

"Well don't put the boys off," warned Haldir. "And no showing off, Estel!" he called as Aragorn and Faramir moved down to the field while he himself moved to the weapons hut.

'All right. Now you will be using practice arrows which have two colours of tails, two of one colour and an individual tail of another. Grip the bow in your hand so that the string is resting on the underside of your elbow. Take the arrow and set it on the string with the single coloured facing up towards you.'

Throughout the explanation, Rúmil was demonstrating what to do, partly because it was easier to understand than the description and partly to get over the language barrier.

'Now, to pull the arrow back, place your forefinger above the arrow and third and fourth finger below. Raise the bow as that it is in a vertical position and pull the string back as far as you can. Aim at the target and release.'

Three arrows flew towards the target and while Rúmil's hit more or less the dead-centre, Eldarion's landed in the second ring, Elboron's the third. Both arrows landed in the lower half of the target but despite this fact, Eldarion and Elboron were delighted. Aragorn and Faramir of course couldn't be out down so shot an arrow each into the target, both of which landed more or less near the centre.

'Estel what did I tell you about showing off!' yelled Haldir. The older Elf was striding back towards the small group but it was hard to believe his sincerity at been annoyed since he was wearing a wide grin as he beamed with pride.

'It's not my fault I used to fight with a bow,' replied Aragorn. 'Besides it gives them something to aim for.'

'Still showing off,' muttered Rúmil as he returned from retrieving the arrows. 'Alright, that was good for a first attempt but I think we'll move you closer to the target until you can hit the inner circles.' He nudged the boys forward until they were about ten foot closer to the target.

'Did you notice that your arrows hit the lower section of the target?' at this point it became necessary for Haldir to step in and translate. Once they understood Eldarion and Elboron nodded.

"That was because you were aiming directly for the middle, thinking that your arrow would fly in a straight line but in reality they fly in a slight arch meaning that they land lower that where you aimed," explained Haldir. "Try again but this time aim a little higher on the target. Estel don't you move!"

Response to reviewers;

IwishChan; Now that is cruel. Somehow I don't see Haldir approving the idea of throwing the boys into the water and telling them to sink or swim :) Yes, the greeting Faerveren gave Haldir was supposed to be cute (it's also called an 'Eskimo kiss' but considering Middle Earth doesn't have Inuit, the kitten comparison was the better one.) Innocent Aragorn? I don't think that guy could ever be innocent, even as a child – the Elven twins corrupted him at a young age! Still, around Haldir and Rúmil he is one of the younger ones and Aragorn being Aragorn, he will play up to it. Gives him a break from being the leader. Thank you for the good wishes.

Lady of Light; Thank you for the good luck, exams all finished now (hurrah) . I was taught the meditation in religious ed as well. Made me tired for my next class, which probably wasn't a good idea but never mind.

CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur; Here ya go. Sorry about the wait.

Haldir's Heart and Soul; Very close indeed. Something similar happened to my sister when she was younger. Not pleasant.

Kamui Gaia 07; Update as requested. Sorry for the delay.