Sam unconsciously clenched his fists as he glanced anxiously at the antechamber door once again. "How long has it been?" he muttered, mostly to himself.

"About a minute longer since the last time that you asked that question," replied Merry. He might have sounded annoyed were it not for the worry in his voice. He knew as well as Sam or any other adult hobbit in there that Eldarion's bedchamber was not that far away; the boy should have been back by now. Still, his absence hadn't been for so long that it couldn't be explained with the everyday distractions that would slow down a twelve-year-old boy. "He probably just found some toys or something that he thought he'd lost and got caught up in playing…"

"Well, I don't like it," declared Sam. "Maybe it's that; but Eldarion's a good boy. He knows better than to keep us waiting at a time like this."

"He might know better but that doesn't always stop people from doing stuff," argued Merry. "After all, we knew better than to go off with Frodo two decades ago but that's exactly what we ended up doing."

Sam gave him a pointed look. "That was different and you know it," he said, jumping to his feet. "I'm going to go looking for him."

Merry couldn't help but feel a pang of pity for Eldarion, what with all he'd been going through lately and how that wasn't likely to change soon. "We're his uncles, not his jailors," he stressed. "Let the poor boy alone for a minute! How long has it been since he didn't have a bunch of people hanging over his shoulder?"

"No, Merry; Sam's right," spoke up Pippin. The hobbit gripped the arms of the rocking chair and stared wide-eyed at his cousin. "I know that it isn't fair to Eldarion to keep him all cooped up but right now I care more about him coming back safe than I do about being fair. Even if he did get distracted I doubt that guard that went with him would let him dawdle around for too long. Either something's happened or else the guard's left him for some reason – these days I wouldn't be too shocked if it was either one. Go, Sam."

"All right, Sam, go," conceded Merry thoughtfully. It wasn't really all that hard for him to give in; it was more because of sympathy to a fellow troublemaker and the lack of insight that being a father gave to Sam and Pippin than actually believing that nothing was wrong that made him debate the point in the first place. "But be careful and don't be going alone if you think that there's going to be trouble at the end of it."

"Right," agreed Sam. He plastered on his brightest fake smile and waved to the children. "I'm going off for a few minutes. Be good until I get back."

His stomach sank a little when Frodo called after him, "If you see Eldarion along the way tell him to hurry!" But Sam, determined not to frighten anyone until there was cause for it, managed to maintain his brave face all the way out the door until he was facing the crowd of guards on the other side of it.

The Men looked surprised to see him standing before them. "Yes, Master Gamgee?" the guard Beren asked. He looked deathly tired and felt that way twice as much but still he stayed on, reluctant to trust the well being of the royal family entirely to those who were less experienced than he. "How may we help you?"

"Eldarion left with a guard to get some toy out of his bedchamber," replied Sam, looking meaningfully down the corridor that led to the bedchamber in question. "That was a little while ago and he isn't back yet. It's probably nothing, but I for one would feel better knowing what's keeping him. Well, I'd feel better knowing that and then dragging him back here where it's safe."

"I told that guard to bring him to his bedchamber and then straight back," groused Beren unhappily as he reflexively cracked his knuckles. "I don't like…when my orders aren't obeyed, especially when they're so important. If you don't mind, Master Gamgee, I'd like to come with you."

"I wasn't too keen on going alone anyway," agreed Sam instantly. He nodded at Beren, whom he already respected.

"We will be back in a few moments," Beren told his second-in-command evenly. The look in his eyes told the other Man that what he was saying was extremely important. "Not even three minutes, for I don't think that anyone cares if the prince has found his toy or not. If we aren't here by then, well…make sure that more than two go off to find us."

"Yes sir," said the other guard tightly.

It wasn't a long walk to Eldarion's bedchamber but to Sam and Beren it seemed to cover the distance from Minas Tirith to the Shire. "I'm probably overreacting," said Sam conversationally as his pace quickened and his strides grew longer in his marching. "I do that sometimes."

"As do I," said Beren, loosely placing his hand on the hilt of his sword. "And I'm terribly stringent when it comes to the rules. That being said, any guard who stands watch over the royal – oh!"

Both hobbit and Man stopped short, halted by surprise and frozen by fear, at the sight that greeted them outside of Eldarion's bedchamber. The door was wide open and broken a bit on the edges, as if someone had pushed it open with so much force that it had slammed against the corridor wall. There was a bit of blood on one of its outside edges that made their hearts turn and skip a beat. Then instinct set in; Sam was the first to move, with Beren following closely at his heels. "Eldarion!" cried Sam, racing to the open door. "Answer me, my lad! Eldarion –"

His voice broke off when he looked inside of the bedchamber. There the boy lay on the floor by his bed, unmoving. "Oh, dear Shire!" the hobbit practically screamed. It didn't do much for his nerves when Eldarion didn't even stir at that noise. He lunged forward blindly, almost stumbling over his own feet in the process of getting to his nephew's side. "Come on, my lad! Open your eyes for me, please!"

"My prince!" shouted Beren, his longer legs allowing him to race up from behind the hobbit to reach Eldarion's side first. His face blanched when he got his first good look at his injuries. "By the Valar, how did this happen?"

"What? What is it?" Sam didn't wait for a response; he just threw himself down to the floor on the boy's other side and put his hand on the side of Eldarion's face, intent on turning it toward him gently. Immediately he felt a sticky kind of moisture and he was horrified but not surprised when his hand was red when he drew it back. "No, no, no, no, no. Eldarion? Please open your eyes for me. It's your Uncle Sam, my boy; please let me see those elf eyes of yours."

Beren's hands slipped to Eldarion's neck and he almost wept with relief when he felt the faint beat of a pulse. "He's alive," he reported in a thankful whisper. "He's alive. It looks as if he was just knocked out."

"Just knocked out?" repeated Sam angrily. His respect for the guard didn't go so far that he would excuse him for being blasé about all of this! "Little boys who go to their bedchambers with an armed guard don't just get knocked out! Don't you dare start acting like any of this is normal or so help me I'll have you. Where is that guard anyway? Why wasn't he doing his job like he was supposed to?"

The Man had been so focused on determining Eldarion's condition that he'd failed to note at first that the guard wasn't present. "I don't know –"

"Who goes there? Get away from him now!"

The almost bloodthirsty yell that came from the doorway made both Sam and Beren jump. They turned to see Eldarion's assigned guard, red-faced, panting for breath, hair damp with sweat, and a line of blood on his right temple. "It's you," the newcomer noted with obvious relief. "Thank the Valar."

"I wouldn't be doing that just yet," Beren told him with understated fury. "Where in Middle-earth were you when this happened and why did you, in your right mind, leave our prince alone and defenseless in a chamber with the door standing wide open?"

"It was open?" inquired the guard, looking shocked. "Damn! I must have slammed it so hard that it bounced back. I would have never left Prince Eldarion had I realized that the door was open –"

"And what did you think that you were doing, leaving him at all in the first place?" demanded an enraged Sam. He was really starting to agree with Pippin that the guards of the citadel were incompetent to a dangerous degree. "You know very well that there's some kind of madman running around here –"

"I do!" the guard broke in. "Better than anyone right now, I would imagine; since I was just pursuing him."

Beren's ears perked up. "You saw him?" he asked eagerly. Surely even King Elessar and Prince Legolas would forgive his colleague for leaving their son unattended if it had led to the capture of the stalker! "Where is he now?"

"I don't know," answered the guard forlornly. "It was – I don't know if I could properly explain it. You see, I barely had the chance to recover from him hitting me in the head with the door –"

"You let him get close enough to the door that he was able to open it?" interrupted Sam.

"No!" said the guard. "Perhaps I should start at the beginning. Prince Eldarion asked to be left alone while he looked for his toy and since I'd checked out the bedchamber and found nothing I agreed. Well, I wasn't out there for more than a minute before I heard a big thud. I turned to grab the doorknob just as the door came flying open. It caught me in the head; that's why I wasn't able to catch him when he ran by me –"

"He was in the bedchamber?" Sam was so outraged that he couldn't see straight. "I thought that you checked everything out! Are you that stupid?"

"I hope for your sake," said Beren in a calmer voice that was even more frightening because of the threatening undertones, "that you at least saw which way he went out and informed the proper guards, who are in pursuit of him right now."

The guard paled visibly. "That's just it," he said quietly. "I should have caught him. I chased him all the way to the servants' corridor that leads down to the kitchens. You know how that's a straight shot once you get around the corner! I wasn't that far behind him! But once I got around the corner he'd vanished into thin air; the guards on the other side didn't even know that there were people in the corridor until I opened the door looking for him. He's like a ghost, sir, Master Gamgee; he was just – gone."

Sam's hands were shaking with anger and fright. "Now's not the time for any ridiculous ghost stories," he snapped in a disgusted voice. "Don't think that you can get away with letting Eldarion get hurt because you weren't thorough enough. The king and prince will hear about this, mark my words, and they won't be happy."

Beren waved his hand to cut off any retort that the guard might have had in him. "Silence," he ordered curtly. "You have failed Prince Eldarion and the rest of the royal family. Now redeem yourself as much as you might be able to: fetch the lords Elladan and Elrohir and then run to the royal bedchamber to inform the other guards and those who are minding the princesses about what has happened here. I'd sent you to King Elessar and Prince Legolas too but I don't want to make them face the person who couldn't take care of their son. Now get out of my sight."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Aragorn couldn't help noticing what Legolas was doing with his hands as the couple walked back to the royal quarters after finally leaving the meeting hall. The elf was rubbing his thumbs against the tips of his fingers; a nervous habit that he'd picked up during the War. He'd started doing that after he'd forfeited his immortality after Helm's Deep, feeling the new coolness in his fingers and wondering what Aragorn would do when he found out. Since then he seemed to repeat the gesture during times when he could feel that something wasn't right. Unfortunately, the Man had been seeing it a lot lately. "What is it?" Aragorn wondered.

"Hmmmm?" asked Legolas distractedly.

Aragorn tenderly took his hand and raised it to his lips. "You're doing it again," he said warmly, kissing the hand softly. "I was just wondering what you feel is wrong."

"I don't know," answered Legolas hesitantly. "I've had this sense of unease for a couple of weeks, but now it's…." He closed his eyes and started rubbing his thumb against his fingers with his free hand. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"No, it isn't," Aragorn told him firmly. "Do you know what Mithrandir used to tell me? He always used to tell me that you had a foresight that even you didn't understand. Your instincts have served us well before in the past and I trust them fully. If there is something that you don't feel is right then I would have you tell me about it."

Legolas exhaled loudly. "I want to see Eldarion," he said, resolute and anxious. "I want my son and I want him now. I can – usually I can feel the children enough to know if they're all right or not but right now it feels like he is just beyond my sight. I think…I think that I would feel a lot better if I could see him."

"Eldarion?" asked Aragorn. "Can you feel if anything's wrong with the girls too?"

"They seem to be all right," replied Legolas slowly. He concentrated on reaching his mind out to all of his children, feeling a bit like a mother cat who touched her nose to those of her kittens' to make sure that they were all accounted for. "Yes, the girls are fine; I can feel them. But I cannot feel Eldarion – not that I feel he's in danger; I can't feel him at all. It's as if a darkness is hiding him from my sight."

"Well, we're almost back to our chambers now," Aragorn tried to assure him, though he was disquieted by the thought of some type of shadow concealing their son from them. He looked at the guards who were standing watch at the doors that led to the private royal quarters as the approached. "Have you heard of anything out of the ordinary going on in here this morning?"

"No, King Elessar," one of them told him dutifully as he opened the door for them to pass through. "Word has not reached us about anything of the sort. Good day, Prince Legolas."

The elf smiled with his mouth but not with his eyes. "And to you as well," he said, quietly polite. He almost winced when the doors slammed shut behind him. Why was he letting this feeling get to him anyway? Even if there was something to what he was feeling about Eldarion turned out to be true – and he didn't even want to entertain the notion that it was – he still didn't need to let every little noise make him flinch. "I want my son," he whispered to himself.

Aragorn heard his voice even though he didn't hear what he'd said. Comfortingly he put his arm around his husband and sighed as they almost simultaneously leaned into each other. "We –"

Before he could complete his sentence, however, something flew down the corridor at such speed that it almost knocked them over when it collided with them. "Out of the way!" shrieked the thing, almost hysterical.

Legolas recognized the voice and grabbed its owner's shoulders. "Merry?" he asked with growing dread. "What are you doing out here?"

It took a moment for the frantic hobbit to realize that he'd just run into the two people that he was trying to find. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you," he babbled, not really knowing who he was thanking but feeling grateful enough to vocalize the sentiments nonetheless. "I had to find you! I was so wrong, so wrong – thank the Shire that Sam wouldn't listen to me or else poor Eldarion –"

"Eldarion?" repeated Aragorn sharply. "What about Eldarion? Did something happen to him?"

"He wanted to show Frodo some toy of his that was in his bedchamber," said Merry, almost choking on his guilt. "No one was too inclined to let him go, but he and Frodo looked so happy at the idea of playing that we let him go – as long as he took a guard with him. You need new guards, Aragorn; you need competent ones."

"What happened?" demanded Legolas.

"Sam got worried when he didn't come back right away," said Merry. "I thought that it was nothing but it was – it was! He went with Beren to Eldarion's bedchamber and found him unconscious and – and bleeding, with the guard gone supposedly chasing after the stalker who's really a ghost or some other nonsense –"

Legolas' stomach twisted. "Where's Eldarion?" he cried a little louder than he would have liked to. It wasn't Merry's fault, after all, and the hobbit looked upset enough without having one of his friends yelling at him too. But all Legolas could care about at the moment was getting to his son as soon as possible. "Is he all right? What happened?"

"I don't know," replied Merry miserably. "That idiot of a guard of his came running to your bedchamber with the news of what happened. He'd already gone to see Elladan and Elrohir so I assume that they're with Eldarion now; Pippin went to Eldarion's bedchamber right away while our wives stayed with the children but I was sent to find you. Please," his voice cracked, "let's get there as soon as may be."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Pain was the first thing that Eldarion registered when he started to come out of the blackness that had been surrounding him. Sharp pain, like nothing he'd ever felt before, not even when he'd fallen down that short flight of stairs in a clumsy moment a few years back or when he spied Findowyn smiling at some idiot young soldier last summer. He moaned quietly (though it rang excruciatingly through his skull) and wondered why he'd bothered coming out of that black cocoon where he couldn't feel anything.

"Eldarion?" a voice broke though the darkness. It was a bit louder than his moan but it didn't hurt to hear it. "My Little Acorn; please come back to me."

It was his ada. Eldarion wanted to answer him but still almost didn't, as he figured that his ada of all people would understand why he wasn't. Surely Legolas wouldn't want him to be in pain? 'He was in pain for you,' a voice in his head reminded him. 'Remember what he told you about when you were born? He wasn't in pain where he was but he decided to follow you even though it hurt him. Aren't you going to the same for him?'

"We're in it together," the boy mumbled.

"Eldarion?" Legolas' heart leapt when he heard his son mumble something. What he was saying didn't quite make sense but that didn't matter to him at the moment – just hearing the sweet sound of his son's voice was enough. "Look at me, ion nin. Your papa and I are here now and we're not going to let anything happen to you."

The boy opened his eyes – Elbereth, did the sun need to shine that brightly right now? – and found himself looking into his ada's eyes. He was frightened by all the emotions that he saw in there. "Don't be sad, Ada," he whispered, trying not to give his head any more reasons to pound. "I came back, just like you did. You're looking out for me."

"As you looked out for me," said Legolas, understanding. "That's because we're in this together. I'm so sorry, my Little Acorn."

"For what?" asked Eldarion, confused. He tried to lift his head and immediately regretted it. "Owwww…."

"Lie still, my son," urged another soothing, familiar voice – his papa. His papa was there; Eldarion could see the Man's worried face hovering over him, close to Legolas'. "Your uncles are going to check you over right now to make sure that you're going to be all right."

Two more faces, identical this time, appeared over him. "Uncle Elladan? Uncle Elrohir?" wondered Eldarion aloud. "What happened? Why do I need you to look me over?"

"You were hurt, Eldarion," said Elrohir in an impossibly calm voice. Eldarion didn't know that his uncle was sounding like his grandfather Elrond right then; but Aragorn did and the Man was comforted by that. "Now, Elladan and I are going to look at your head; while we do that we want you to tell us the last thing that you remember."

Eldarion shuddered happily as the comforting hands soothed his aching head. "I remember…." His voice trailed off as he struggled to think. "I told Frodo about my knife and he wanted to see it. We…we had to beg Uncle Sam to let me go get it but he finally agreed. A guard came – came with him but I didn't want him to know where I hid it so I asked him to leave after he checked the bedchamber over. I was reaching under my bed to get it when, when –"

His voice broke when he remembered. "When I heard someone coming from behind me."

Legolas felt his heart break at the sight of his son's frightened tears. He leaned over at once to kiss them away but they continued to fall. "Someone was in here with you?" he wondered as horrible images danced around in his mind. "How –"

"I don't know," sobbed Eldarion. "But he had my knife and he said something about it being dangerous in the right and wrong hands. He – he was threatening me and I got so mad about it that I turned around to yell at him. Then there was pain, red, and then dark. That's when I stop remembering."

"Did you see him?" asked Aragorn. He felt a tightness in his chest when the boy nodded ever so slightly. "Tell us what he looked like and we'll make sure that he never hurts anyone again."

"I don't know what he looks like," replied Eldarion, clearly upset to the brink of hysteria. Aragorn immediately regretted his question as he watched his husband lay down next to their son in an attempt to comfort him. "He was wearing a cloak – a cloak. Oh, I remember, I remember. This is all my fault, Papa! What happened to Laurelin, everything is all my fault!"

"Shhh, my son," begged Aragorn. "Nothing is your fault."

"Yes it is," insisted Eldarion with surprising fierceness. "I saw him before all of these horrible things started happening, on the day that I made you two tell me about when I was born. I was so upset about that stuff that I didn't tell you about him and then I forgot altogether. Stupid, stupid Eldarion!"

Legolas started in alarm and grasped Eldarion's wrists and the boy began trying to hit himself in the head. An equally distressed Aragorn firmly grabbed his shoulders to pin him to the ground to stop him from hurting himself while Elladan broke records in getting the proper herbs out from his pack. A few seconds after he stuck a few under his nephew's tongue Eldarion started to relax. "I think that concludes the questioning for now," said Elrohir sternly. "Elladan and I need to be with our patient now. Don't take this the wrong way – but get out."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A little less than an hour later a sleeping Eldarion was settled into his cot in his parents' bedchamber while they and his uncles were in the doorway, whispering. "We haven't found any signs of permanent damage," reported Elladan. "He should pull through just fine."

"But the way he reacted when he realized when he remembered seeing a cloaked person before…" Aragorn's voice faded as he swallowed to get rid of the hard lump that formed in his throat.

"The blow to the head has unbalanced him a bit," Elrohir informed them. "He's going to have trouble controlling his emotions for awhile – several days, a few weeks, however long. It would probably be best if you make sure that he gets a lot of bed rest until he's himself again. But there's nothing more that we can do here right now; it's best just to let him get some rest."

Aragorn nodded and showed his brothers to the door while Legolas stayed behind, resolved not to leave his son's side unless the most absolute need required him too. The Man almost didn't look out as the twins left, not wanting to look at the guards who continued to fail his family so completely, but did just that when a familiar voice called out to him.

"Your majesty!" It was the advisor Eärnil, with Tanondor at his side. They hurried up to him as soon as they that he'd heard them. "Word has reached us about what happened to Prince Eldarion."

"I will brief the Council later," said Aragorn distractedly. "My son needs me now."

"Wait!" begged Tanondor. "I realize that this is a terrible time for this but we must speak to you – privately. It concerns the matter of the stalker."

Hesitating momentarily, Aragorn reluctantly allowed them to enter the antechamber. "Make this quick," he ordered.

"I think I might know who's behind all of these attacks," said Tanondor.

That got Aragorn's attention. "You know something?" he demanded furiously. "And you didn't say anything? That monster attacked my son with a knife today!"

"I know, and I will never stop regretting my silence," said Tanondor, hanging his head. "But I had no proof; and I did not know how to present the theory that" – he lowered his voice to a whisper –"that your own guards might be behind all of this mess. In light of what's happened, however, I cannot wait for evidence to fall into my lap anymore. I just thank the Valar that I spoke to Eärnil about this, for he has helped me come up with a plan that will help us find out for certain if all of them can be trusted."

Aragorn almost didn't believe it; he almost told them to stop wasting his time and go away, but something made him hesitate. It was the guards who continued not to catch this stalker no matter how many times he got close to the royal family. And today, it was a guard that left his son unconscious after failing to find an adult hiding in the boy's bedchamber, and then failed to catch the perpetrator, excusing himself by saying that he just vanished. 'No stone unturned,' he reminded himself.

"All right," the king said aloud. "Tell me more."

To be continued…