4 years later Eight years old Year 51 f.a
Eldarion skimmed past the gate guards, like a feather in air. He ran to his tree and burst up the bark like a wood-elf. At the peek of his tree he sat. He observed the spring sun on its ascent to noon. His father had shown him how to use the sun as a clock and a compass. He had time before his lessons to go out on a quick expedition. Eldarion dropped down to the mid point of his tree and went across the branch bridge that only he knew was there. He walked slowly and carefully, the bridge had changed ever so slightly over the years. As he walked over his bridge the wind changed for the first time in months. The summer would be an early one. Eldarion neared a break in the bridge. It had always been, but now it was more significant. He readied himself to jump the gap. He bent his knees and lunged forward. The wind blew and the branch moved. His foot slipped on the bark and he dropped down. He had been on the tallest point of the bridge and fell to the floor colliding with every branch he past. One branch knocked the air out of him, the next knocked the sense out of him as he was rendered unconscious.
A ranger, guard with light brown hair and hazelnut eyes on his way to training saw the boy lying motionless in the dirt. He approached the figure, recognising him at once, and stooped down feeling for a pulse.
My goodness Prince don't be dead. The guard thought.
As the guards fingers rested against Eldarion's neck he felt a strong pulse, he put one hand under the child's shoulders and one under his knees and lifted him off the ground bridal style. When he was on his feet he walked his way to the training grounds. When he arrived he entered the tent twelve minutes late. He walked past everyone and lay the unmoving prince on a bench at the back. No one questioned him and let him continue, seeing the serious expression of their compatriot and the glares he sent at anyone trying to interfere. The guard put all of his ranger training into action and assessed the princes injuries. This situation wasn't to bad, a broken arm, in the likely hood some cracked ribs, bruises that were definite, and a concussion.
"Dad," the ranger called "I need help."
"Asher, doesn't your training qualify you as a healer." He replied.
"Well, yes it does, but I've never had to heal anyone of high status. This is the prince."
"Come now, treat him like a normal patient then. You were trained by the king, who was trained by Lord Elrond. I'll do what you want me to do. All you have to do is tell me what. Trust yourself."
"First get me a clean cloth, cold water, a long bandage and some herbs for the pain."
The older guard nodded and then he was off. In the meantime Asher studied the broken arm. The right arm. It was a clean break, quite easy to set if you got it right. He then moved onto the head wound. Eldarion hit his head just above the temple, the bruise was bad. In all of the time it took between actually happening and treating it, the bruise looked like a half apple stuck onto the princes forehead. It would be painful for some time there was no doubt, but it was only a big bruise. As Asher moved onto assessing the boys ribs, that were cracked save one that had fully snapped into the lung, the older guard returned with the wanted items.
"Dad, hold his shoulders steady, prevent him jerking, this will hurt him," Asher instructed pushing one shin gently into the princes hips to keep him still "On the count of three i'm going to move his ribs back into place. Ready?" The older guard nodded "One, two, three."
Asher worked over the torso with speed, realigning the cracked ribs. On the bench Eldarion's face contorted with pain. He tried to pull free from the grasp that had him lying vulnerable. Asher moved to the rib that had punctured the lung last. He lightly probed the area deciding witch setting method was best. Asher removed his leg and grabbed a flat herb from a drawer and squeezed the juice of one leaf into the princes mouth and washed it down with water.
"That should help him with the pain and temporarily knock him out," Asher said "Still hold him down when I'm working. I didn't give him a large dose," Asher then turned around again and removed a small, sharpened dagger from a drawer. He moved to the fire and sterilised the blade grabbing a threaded needle. He then washed his hands, returned to his previous position over the boys torso and cleaned the area. "On three, one, two, three."
Asher scored the skin over the rib with his small dagger and put a finger under the rib and lifted it into the correct position. He applied pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding, cleaned the surface again and stitched the wound closed. The older guard looked as if he was going to be sick. His face was slightly pale with a greenish tinge, his eyes slightly glassy.
"Dad?"
The older guard shook his head and returned to the present. "Yes."
"Are you ok, dad?"
"Yeah. Now what about his arm?" He said gesturing to the prince.
"Ah, the arm that was broken," Asher said walking to the princes side and picking it up gently, "Well, it's a clean break and will heal quickly if I set it correctly. Hold him still. He will jerk."
"Where would you like me to hold him?"
"Lie your one shin across his hips and one hand on each shoulder. Keep him as flat as you can, I only just set his ribs. Besides if he does jar them he will most likely be pulled out of the sleep because of pain."
The older guard did as was told and nodded his readiness. Asher then put one hand on either side of the break and pulled them apart, then he eased the bone back into the correct position. As predicted Eldarion jerked but could not go anywhere.
"You can get off of him now, thank you."
"Any time, son."
"Dad, can you hand me that bandage please?"
"Sure."
Asher wound the bandage around the arm firmly, so that it could not move and checked over the other injuries. He applied a cold cloth to the princes forehead in order for the swelling to go down. Then busied himself cleaning the various other cuts and scrapes that were left.
"Dad, please contact the king and let him know where his son is. He has missed two of his lessons by now. I took longer than I thought."
"Sure. But when the king storms in here be prepared to give him an explanation." The older guard said with a teasing note.
Arthur jogged his way to the palace. The guard at the door stopped him.
"What business does my captain hold in the palace? You do not have a summons."
"I have business with the king," Arthur said "please let me through. It's about his son."
The guard nodded and stepped aside letting his fellow guard enter. Arthur walked up the stairs to the high office and waited outside hearing the muffled voices of the king, queen and tutor through
The hard wood. He knocked on the door and waited for a reply.
"Enter." The king said
Arthur turned and faced the door, opened it and walked inside.
"Arthur, this is unexpected. Why does one of my captains seek for me?"
Three pairs of eyes were watching the guard expectantly. He shifted slightly thinking about how to break the news.
"Well... I'm guessing you all want to know where the prince is?" Arthur said looking at the floor
"What happened. Where is my Tithen Maethor?" The queen whispered. "Not in class or in his room."
"He got injured, my queen" he said making eye contact with the princes parents "Don't worry, he's in the training tent, with Asher."
"How injured? Asher healed him, right?" The king said making his way to the door.
"Yes, my lord Aragorn."
"Good."
The guard and king walked at a fast pace through the palace towards the training grounds, not responding to any questions being asked. They had a mission. When they arrived the tent was empty of all guards except for one, located at the back.
"Ah, you come at last my lord, father. He's on the bench." The young ranger said
"Thank you," The king said pushing past the young ranger "how bad were his injuries. Did you use everything I've shown you?"
"He has a large bruise on his forehead, that I have put a cold cloth on. His right arm was a clean break, that I set. But he also cracked a three ribs, snapped one and punctured his lung. The puncture is stable but I would have him under observation for the next day. I pulled the rib out manually as it was in deeply and caused further damage each time Eldarion inhaled." The guard said wincing slightly
The Kings face fell, he scanned over his son where the injuries were and assessed the skill that went into the healing.
"You do a fine job Asher. You a quite skilled," the king smiled "where did you find him. Eight year olds don't just get injured like this?" He continued on a more serious note.
Asher smiled almost sheepishly. He set one of the other guards to watch over the prince and gestured the king and his father to follow him. They were walking along the more forested path back to the palace when Asher came to a halt under the tallest tree.
"I found him here, my lord." He stated squatting down motioning to the imprint in the dirt.
The king and other guard squatted down next to the youngest of the group and then looked up to the tree.
"I think that your son was in the tree and fell I'm afraid." Arthur said
"That may be, but why was he this far from the palace in the first place? It just doesn't make sense." The king said looking to Asher that was yet to speak his thoughts.
Asher was staring blankly into the distance as if lost in a trance
'My parents think I'm playing in centre square with the other children. Besides I walked out the gates and climbed a tree, then I walked across a path of branches I found and got here. It was actually quite easy.'
"My lord, I think I can shed some light on the matter," Asher stated numbly, "Do you remember the incident four years ago when your son wondered onto the training grounds and bumped into me?" Both older men nodded urging Asher on with his story. "Well I asked him how he managed to arrive there and he said, and I quote, 'I walked out the gates and climbed a tree, then I walked across a path of branches I found and got here.' I did a little more research on the matter thinking he would disuse the path, but it turns out that it is one of the old paths the Gondorian guards built in order to stay hidden from ground troops."
Both the king and the older guard looked taken aback at the realisation. They thought that all of the bridges and tree lodgings had been destroyed when the line of kings was temporarily out of action.
"When he awakens I will have a serious chat to my son about this. Asher when you found out, why did you not tell me?" The king said fixing his gaze at the intwined branches stretching along the canopy.
"I did not want your son loosing his dignity to explore, or betray the trust that I had formed with him for keeping his secret. I should have mentioned the bridge. Sorry my lord." The younger man stated bowing low in response.
LATE IN THE EVENING SAME DAY
The king sat next to his sons bedside in the healing ward and watched each breath he took. He smiled sadly realising that his son would be in quite a lot of pain when he wakes. The king was musing over thoughts of himself falling out of trees as a child, trying to catch up to his Elven brothers.
"You and I are not very different Eldarion." The king whispered stroking the dark hair
"Ada?" Eldarion questioned blinking his eyes to get accustomed to the light "what happened?"
"You fell out of a tree and hit your head. You have also fractured a couple of ribs."
"It hurts ada. Why does it have to hurt?" The prince said bordering on tears wrapping his broken arm around his chest
The king so much wanted to hug his son and pull out all of the pain his son was feeling but couldn't for fear of hurting him more. He reached out and cupped his hand over the princes cheek and kissed his forehead
"I know it hurts ion, but things will happen that are out of our control. Can you drink this tea for me please?" The king said in his gentle fatherly voice
The prince nodded and allowed the king to pour the tea into his mouth slowly. As the mug was emptied the prince made a disgusted grimace
"Ada, the tea was yucky. Did I have to drink it? I feel no better." Eldarion whined
"I think you do feel better. You chest isn't hurting you much any more, is it?" Aragorn said with a halfhearted smile at his sons antics
The prince smiled and confirmed what the king had said. The king then stood up from the bedside reluctant to leave.
"You'll have to drink the tea every couple of hours so you heal properly. Listen to Asher and don't get out of bed."
"Why do you have to go? Please stay" Eldarion said grabbing a hold of his father's sleeve
The king gave his only son an apologetic smile and kissed him on the forehead once more
"I have work to get done, ion nin. I'll visit you when I can."
With that the king left the healing ward soundlessly leaving a confused Eldarion in the care of his apprentice ranger.
ELVISH USED
Tithen maethor - little warrior
ada - dad/daddy
Ion nin - my son
AN - I would greatly love reviews for my story as this is my first fanfic.