When he and Legolas finally got out of the meeting hall Aragorn realized that he hadn't been in such a good mood in awhile. It felt like a large boulder had been removed from his chest and he could breathe again. The message had not been news that his family was in further peril – in fact, the exact opposite; that they would have to face that particular threat again – and he managed to report to the Council that Lady Nienor was dead without letting his emotions spill all over. Now he didn't have anything to worry about, not even Eärnil's request. Aragorn knew that he wouldn't hesitate to grant it the next day at the Council meeting, especially since he himself was already considering doing what Eärnil wanted even before the trusted advisor had asked him.

That could wait, though. He didn't want to think about politics or anything else other than his children and the gorgeous elf at his side. "Let's do something tonight," suggested Aragorn, taking his husband's hand affectionately as they walked at a leisurely pace back to the royal quarters.

Legolas cocked an eyebrow and raised up their united hands as if to examine them more closely. "An intriguing proposition," he said ponderously, running the knuckles of his free hand over their interwoven fingers. "Do you have anything in particular in mind?"

Aragorn carefully twisted his wrist so that Legolas was facing him and flush against his body. Before the elf could tease or scold him he captured his lips in a deep, prolonged kiss. "Something fun," declared Aragorn, breaking their mouths apart just enough so that he could speak.

Tearing his hand out of the Man's grasp, Legolas grabbed either side of his face and drew Aragorn back into another passionate kiss. "I like the sound of it already," he breathed against his husband's lips. "Tell me more."

"Well, it's something that we haven't done in awhile," hinted Aragorn. He slipped his arms around Legolas and ran his hands up and down the prince's back. "Something that I know we would really enjoy ourselves doing."

"Elessar Telcontar," scolded Legolas teasingly. Aragorn buried his face into the crook of the elf's neck and grinned. Legolas didn't often use his husband's kingly name, claiming that he had already had to make himself adjust to one name change when the Man went from being Estel to being Aragorn and he couldn't possibly get used to another new moniker. As a result the word 'Elessar' fell from his lips only when he was in a formal setting, being playful, or when he was utterly disgusted with Aragorn.

Well, he'd called him 'Elessar' on one other occasion: it was in the throne room with no one else around and nine months later the Laurelin was born. Since they weren't in a formal setting and he was fairly certain that he wasn't in any trouble, anyone could have easily understood why Aragorn was so encouraged by this response. "Yes, my dearest love?" the Man asked.

"I hope you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting," purred Legolas. "Because, while that's an exceedingly tempting offer, I'm afraid I'll have to put my foot down and say no. The idea of becoming pregnant again after just giving birth isn't really appealing."

"Who said anything about getting pregnant?" Aragorn asked, pressing gentle kisses into a tender part of Legolas throat.

"Aragorn…"

"You do realize that you're actually agreeing with your father and Gimli right now," Aragorn reminded him. He ran his lips up Legolas' neck, up the side of his face, and started nibbling his ear. "You don't like doing that, do you?"

The elf leaned into the caresses and let his eyes roll shut. "Aragorn, love of my life," he gasped, struggling to keep control of his thoughts as the Man delicately took the tip of his ear into his mouth. "You should know that I only like disagreeing with them when they're around to react."

Aragorn couldn't help but smile again as he tenderly kissed the elf's ear and pulled back. "You're terrible," he noted in a melodramatically sad voice. "Not only are you so openly defiant to your own father and the dwarf who gladly calls you his son, you also set out to seduce your poor husband just so that you can later torment him with rejection."

"Excuse me?" asked Legolas with a laugh. "Who's trying to seduce who here?"

"And now accusations!" tsked Aragorn. "Oh merciless Sun Star! Say, that reminds me of something I heard long ago."

"Don't you dare, Aragorn."

Aragorn pretended not to hear him. "Yes, I'm afraid that I feel a song coming on."

"Aragorn," said Legolas warningly as he bit his lip to keep from chuckling. "If you ever want me to sleep with you again, you'll fight that feeling."

Leaning over to kiss the tip of the elf's nose, Aragorn looked chagrined – for all of two seconds. Then the wicked glint in his eyes returned full-force. "Now how did that go?" he pondered aloud. "I think it went something like this: 'Oh unreachable Sun, how cruel you are in your beauty/ In your eyes is the sea that drowns all except my desire for thee –"

Legolas shuddered as he flashed back to the many times that he'd been forced to listen to metaphor-laden declarations of love as a youth. He could never understand why otherwise rational beings would think that anyone would want to sit through all of that but apparently the troubadours believed that the Sun Star – the perfect being that they'd made up in their minds but still believed him to be – would appreciate it. "I was but an elfling when someone came up with that monstrosity," he mused fondly. While he hated the song as much as the rest, the best moment of all of those dull sessions had come directly after he'd heard it. "Ada took exception to anyone declaring to desire me and had that troubadour escorted rather roughly out of Mirkwood. All the songs and poems after that were extraordinarily chaste. Now my husband is using the words of someone who lusted after an elfling to punish me for not going to bed with him."

"I never said anything about going to bed," corrected Aragorn, never breaking eye contact with him. "I was thinking that we could go to the grove of trees on the first level of the city."

"Oh, Aragorn," responded Legolas in mock outrage. "To our talon? Yesterday – yesterday – I gave birth to two children and today you want to take me back to the very place that they were conceived? I feel the need to reiterate: I love our children and creating them with you was quite wonderful but I have no desire to be kept perennially pregnant."

"My love, all I just heard was an obvious, if implied, praise of my astounding virility," grinned Aragorn, his chest puffing a bit with pride. He quickly seized the elf's lips once more before Legolas could respond and eased them open so that he could massage his husband's tongue with his own.

It wasn't often that Legolas would allow himself to be cut off in such a manner, especially while they were verbally sparring, but he decided to make an exception this time. After the tension of waiting to hear the message, the frazzled night catering to their new daughters, and the emotional drain of learning about Lady Nienor's death, he found himself more than willing to submit. In Aragorn's kisses and touches was the power to make him forget everything except how attractive his husband was and how much he wanted him. While nothing, unfortunately, could come from it at that moment, he had to admit that Aragorn's way of silencing him was extremely pleasant.

The kiss ended slowly and afterwards they rested their foreheads together. "Seriously now – and don't try to distract me!" he added playfully as he felt the elf's hand slide down his chest to his stomach, about to creep down even further.

"I couldn't resist," smiled Legolas.

Aragorn took the errant hand between both of his and drew it to his mouth, kissing it. "You're in a teasing mood, I see," he commented. "It's nice to know that you still can't resist me after all of these years. Now listen: I was thinking that we could take the children down to the tree grove after supper this evening. We'd bring baskets for the twins to sleep in while Laurelin and Eldarion play. It's been awhile since we've climbed trees with them."

"And by 'we' you mean you," stated Legolas flatly, his mischievous humor fading fast. He hated the idea of being stuck on the ground while the Man tarried in the trees with their eldest children. Every part of his wood-elf body objected to it. "One of us will have to stay close to the babies, after all."

Aragorn looked him straight in the eye. "Actually, I'm planning on being the one to look after Meren and Gilraen while you three climbed," he corrected with no rebuke in his tone. He couldn't really blame Legolas for jumping to that conclusion after the years of overprotective behavior he'd been subjected to during and immediately after his pregnancies. "I won't get to spend nearly enough time with the babies soon enough so I'd like to get as much in as I can when the opportunities present themselves. Besides, we probably shouldn't be having me inflict my inferior knowledge in the art of scaling tress on the children without you by my side to fix the damage."

"Let me see if I'm hearing you correctly," said Legolas in genuine disbelief. "I just gave birth, my birth canal is not yet closed, we've had a rather stressful morning, and two of our children are vulnerable infants. Yet in spite of all of this, you almost seduce me out of my clothing right here in the corridor –"

"Really?" interrupted Aragorn excitedly as his chest swelled up again. "And just how close were you to shedding your garments?"

Legolas pushed down gently on the Man's chest as if to deflate it. "That's not important because it's not going to happen," he told him. "Anyway, you get – amorous – with me and now you're suggesting a family outing in a public place. Who are you and what have you done with my real husband?"

Unfortunately Aragorn couldn't seem to find the right words to explain this no matter how much he groped for them. "I'm still me," he finally assured the elf. "It's just – well, you're fine even after this morning so I'm sure that you won't collapse or anything like that if we do something that's even less stressful. Your birth canal might even be closed by tonight anyway…"

Watching him struggle with his words, Legolas could tell that the time to tease his husband had come and gone. Without another word he pulled Aragorn into a chaste and comforting embrace. "It feels safer, doesn't it?" he asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer. "A lot of the danger that you've perceived in the past doesn't seem as threatening now that Lady Nienor is dead."

"It's irrational, I know," confided Aragorn, unconsciously snuggling closer. "There was absolutely no way that she could have affected the way that your body healed; and there's really no difference in how safe you and the children are now that she's dead when compared to when she was exiled and imprisoned. Still, now that I know for certain that she will never be able to harm any of you ever again it feels like a terrible threat has been conquered. That makes no sense, does it?"

"I can understand you very well," Legolas promised him. "And no, it's not rational; but it is human and there's no shame in it. There have been times when I've felt the exact same way: never forget, melanin, that I once believed that I was protecting you by not telling you when I became mortal or when I was experiencing what turned out to be morning sickness. Reason was against those as well, as I knew that you wouldn't be happy when you found out that I was hiding such important things, but that didn't stop me. Most people instinctively protect first and debate the rationality of it all later."

"Amin mela lle, Legolas," Aragorn whispered in his ear, deeply moved. "Just when I think it would be impossible for me to love you more you make the impossible happen. Thank you for not being exasperated for believing on some level that she could cause you to bleed to death by somehow hindering the healing of your birth canal."

"She did make me bleed once," remembered Legolas darkly. He tightened his arms around his husband as if to ward off bad memories. "Oh, I don't want to think about this right now, Aragorn! I just want to spend the rest of the day with you and our children."

"So…does that mean that we'll be having some family fun in the tree grove?" Aragorn wanted to know.

Legolas started to nod enthusiastically but then hesitated. "Yes, but wait," he added firmly, holding up a hand to cut off Aragorn's giddy response. "We should keep this very low-key, Aragorn. Let us not forget who Lady Nienor was. Most of the nobility watched her grow up while many of the other people will be thrilled to hear of her death because they think she deserved it. It shouldn't seem as if we're celebrating her demise; there's no need to outrage the former group or to encourage any malevolence that the latter group holds."

"Respectful neutrality," agreed Aragorn. "Yes, I think that's our best option as well. All right then, no loud parties or rambunctious shouting or anything like that. We'll just be a family coming together to reflect upon the passing of a difficult time in our lives – by climbing trees. You must grant that it's a great idea."

The elf brushed his lips against Aragorn's cheekbone. "It is," he concurred. "One of your best ones to date."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

'It's a shame that I have to stand so far away from them,' thought the cloaked figure, observing the royal couple interact. 'I can't hear a word that they're saying – though I can guess, seeing how they paw at each other where anyone could see them. What lowbrow behavior, especially from the monarchy. I must make due with just watching, though; they cannot catch me until I've done what I've set out to do.'

Hopefully Prince Eldarion would keep quiet about what he saw outside of his parents' bedchamber. Judging by the way that the boy was carrying on, the individual felt reasonably sure that the young prince was too much in a snit to feel incredibly forthcoming. 'I shouldn't have gone to see him anyway,' the person lamented. 'I need to get everything ready before the rest can happen. Taking care of just Prince Eldarion now would ruin everything; he'd be dispatched but then security would tighten around the others and I'd never succeed at this. No, I must find a way to get all four children at once!'

Still, the individual couldn't help but go see the crown prince as the news of Dol Amroth spread. After all, Prince Eldarion had been the catalyst for this whole mess. The person knew that it was important to see him while constructing the plan to do what could be done to correct the situation. It was hard to get over how she'd lost everything when Eldarion was created, and for no other reason then loving the wrong Man. It was a harsh price to pay and the person knew that it needed to be set right.

The individual couldn't help but give a little eye roll as King Elessar and Prince Legolas kissed for the countless time. 'How are they not tired of each other yet?' A hand pushed the cloak away as far as the figured dared to. 'Well, they do look good together. I suppose that if I aged as well as an elf or a Numenorian I'd inspire lust for decades too. It is a pity that the king had to ruin himself in such a way and bring the situation down to this. King Elessar will probably survive losing the children – he is only their sire and all – but Prince Legolas will surely be driven mad. Not even the Valar will be able to save his sanity.'

Nor should they try; when it happened the Valar should be focused solely on saving Gondor. It would be a hard blow to all; for if the plan was a complete success the great realm would never have a descendent from the line of Elendil sitting on the throne again.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Gimli let out a silent sigh as he settled a sleeping and deceptively angelic looking Meren down into her cradle. "Such powerful lungs," he declared in amazement.

"Yes," agreed Thranduil, setting back in the rocking chair next to the sleeping Gilraen's crib. "They inherited them from my Little Greenleaf. The trees of Mirkwood used to quake whenever he cried."

The dwarf sat down in the chair next to his and let his head fall down onto the arm. "My ears are ringing," he lamented. Thranduil laid a comforting hand down on top of his hair.

It was at that moment when Legolas and Aragorn finally returned. "Will you look at that, Aragorn?" asked Legolas quietly so as not to wake his daughters. "Meren and Gilraen are just as we left them. Our precious daughters slept the entire time we were away, didn't they?"

Gimli gave him a pointed look. "Hardly," he gruffed. "And where have you two been? According to your own promises you should have been back an hour ago!"

"It took a few minutes to actually get in the same room as the messenger," replied Aragorn only a little defensively. "Remember the days when we couldn't seem to find a competent guard to keep people away? Well, now they're all over. And after that we had to explain everything to the Council. Then we listened to a request made by the Lord Eärnil after the meeting for about a half hour. After that – well…"

"Well what?" Gimli wanted to know.

"We kind of took our time making our way back here," confessed Aragorn. "There didn't seem to be any hurry."

"I take it then," Thranduil spoke up, "that the news from Dol Amroth was not ill." He looked into his son's eyes and frowned at the regret he saw there. "Or perhaps that would depend on who we asked."

Aragorn was trying to be sensitive to the fact that Legolas felt pity for Lady Nienor – he truly was – but he wasn't about to mourn for the person who'd tried to kill his husband and eldest child on two separate occasions and would have attempted it again if given half the chance. That's exactly what she would have wanted him to do and he'd be damned if he'd let her win in the end. "It's over," he reported, not bothering to filter out the relief in his voice. "It's finally really over. Lady Nienor is dead and she will never have the opportunity to harm this family again."

"Who's Lady Nienor?" asked an unexpected voice coming from the doorway between the antechamber and the bedchamber.

The Man cringed a little and looked at his son. "Eldarion," he said a little nervously. "We didn't know that you were here. You shouldn't…. Why didn't anyone tell us that you were here?" he added his voice getting more strained with each word. "There are some things – sometimes we say things – not suitable for such young ears…"

"What your papa is trying to say," Legolas broke him, crossing the room and kissing Eldarion on the top of the head, "is that you should let us know right away when you're in here. You're welcome, of course, but there are times when Papa and I are doing and discussing things that are inappropriate for you to witness, like now. We would have preferred it if you hadn't heard that."

"Why?" demanded Eldarion irritably. His mood was souring fast. It was one thing for his fathers to just not get around to telling him about himself; it was quite another to be deliberately trying to hide the truth. The implications were making his stomach sink. "I just asked a simple question: who is Lady Nienor? Actually, I guess now that I've overheard like you didn't want me to I have two questions: who is she and how did she try to hurt our family? Can you two tell me the truth for once?"

"Eldarion," warned Legolas, "I don't care for your tone. You'd do better to tell us about the occasion on which you feel that your father and I have lied to you instead of hurling vague accusations at us."

"So you're going to avoid my questions," commented Eldarion with sarcastic sadness. "Another secret, huh? How many does that make?"

"Don't speak to your ada in such a manner," Aragorn told him darkly. "I'm in a good mood right now but that can change very quickly if you continue to behave so rudely."

Eldarion looked back and forth between his parents as the frustration and hidden fear of having so many reasonable questions evaded for so long swelled inside of him. He'd hoped to be able to burst out with a really clever and pointed retort but, to his dismay, tears were stinging his eyes instead. "I'm not a little kid anymore," he said in a trembling voice.

"This has nothing to do with your age, Eldarion," said Legolas.

"No it doesn't!" the boy cried. "Laurelin's only five and you've told her everything!"

"But your sister knows nothing about Lady Nienor," protested Aragorn. She'd better not, at least; if someone had told her the whole story without his consent he'd kill them.

"I don't care about some lady!" exploded Eldarion. Gilraen and Meren's eyes flew open and they started wailing again. 'Join the club,' he thought bitterly. "Laurelin knows everything about her birth from the moment you found out that you were pregnant with her to the first time that she spit up on me. Why can't I know the same things about me? Why –"

His voice cut off as it broke. No, this couldn't happen; he wouldn't cry in front of them when they were the reasons for his tears in the first place. He wanted to run back to his own bedchamber and hide but his parents and grandparents were blocking the way. With no other alternative he ran back into the royal bedchamber and slammed the door.

Aragorn and Legolas stood dumbstruck in his wake. "Valar," said Aragorn at last. "Eldarion – the babies –"

"Gimli and I will take care of the girls," said Thranduil, already reaching into Gilraen's cradle. "Eldarion needs you two right now."

Nodding a silent thanks to his father, Legolas took Aragorn's hand and together they followed their son's path into their bedchamber. What they found in there broke the elf's heart: Eldarion sat on the foot of the bed, his face buried in his hands and his body shaking with sobs. "Ion nin?"

"You didn't want me, did you?" asked Eldarion miserably, turning his tearstained face up toward them. "That's why you never talk about being pregnant with me, and why you waited for so long to have Laurelin: you weren't happy that I was coming."

"No, no – oh, no my sweet Little Acorn," protested Legolas, upset enough to revert to using Eldarion's babyhood nickname. He rushed over to his son's side and threw his arms around him as if to shield him from the hideous notion. "Nothing could be further from the truth. It's just…"

"It's just that there were parts of the story that are difficult to explain to a child," supplied Aragorn, sitting on Eldarion's other side and drawing his husband and son closer to him. "But you're right: you're not a little kid anymore and keeping it from you appears to be doing more harm than good." He looked over at Legolas, who closed his eyes and nodded. "I do believe that the time has come for you to hear the whole tale, Eldarion."

To be continued…