Again, I must apologize. I know I promised different reviewers this update at different times and then I didn't deliver on any of those. I found it really difficult to find the inspiration to write this chapter and I'm not sure how much I like it, but here it is nonetheless. The Sunday Scaries finally helped. Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Nine (Aragorn)

"Mareke," I said urgently, but her eyes were not open. She was burning up, but shivering at the same time. Her dark skin was drained of its color and sallow.

Once more I turned to her Healer. "Herion!" I exclaimed. "What is wrong with her? What happened during the delivery?"

"Your Majesty, the Queen is fine," he said calmly. "Please take a look at your son and heir," he said as though my wife was not lying, unconscious right in front of me.

"My son? How can I focus on my son when my wife is ill?"

"She has done her duty," he said calmly. "Sometimes there are prices to pay."

I whirled around and was on my feet before I knew it. The breath was forced from the other man as I crushed him against the wall, my forearm across his throat, stopping his airflow.

"You harmed her on purpose!" I yelled in his face.

The anger that coursed through me was like nothing I had ever experienced. I had never been so furious in all of my life, but the sight of Mareke in such a state had pushed me over the edge.

I could hear his assistants scrambling behind me, unable to help Herion.

Before I could stop myself, I had drawn my fist back and landed it on his face so hard, I heard his nose crack and blood poured down his chin.

I called for my guards and had them restrain Herion, though he was subdued, clutching at his face, moaning.

"Lock him in the dungeons until I can decide what to do with him."

When he was gone I took a deep breath to calm the shaking in my hands. I then went back to Mareke after sending a servant for another Healer from the Houses.

I had no supplies with me to wake her up, but I pressed my hands to her scorching face. I had not once even glanced in the direction of the cradle near the window of Mareke's bedroom.

The Healer arrived and I took the supplies from her. We immediately went to work, not saying a word to one another.

"The repression of one's milk can cause such a fever," she said finally and she unlaced the top of the nightgown and I could see the tight bandaging around her chest.

I looked at her questioningly. "The Prince would have been fed by a wet nurse."

My heart sank as I stared at the Healer and then down at my wife. I had not even thought of the possibility that she would not feed our child and she had never said anything about it. I knew it would have crushed her to have to watch a wet nurse feed her son. She had never subscribed to any of those notions when raising Adnan. I immediately went to unwrapping the bandages and found them soaked with her milk.

The Healer moved to the foot of the bed and freed Mareke's legs from under the blanket. She gasped when she pushed her nightgown to her waist. I immediately went to join her, but she held her hand up. "No Your Majesty," she said gently. "I will tend to this."

I had never delivered a child and so I was a little unsure of how to proceed so I acted as I had when encountering any other fever.

The salve I made was rubbed on Mareke's chest. It was pungent and I hoped that the mere smell might wake her as it was supposed to. I brought over a basin of cold water and began mopping the sweat from her face and neck.

After the Healer was through with her task she stepped away. "There is nothing else I can do right now."

I nodded without looking at her.

The door closed behind her and I sat motionless, willing my wife to open her eyes.

It was nearly a half an hour later when her dark eyes blinked open. It seemed to take a moment to figure out where she was and what had happened. When she did, fear entered her eyes and she looked around frantically.

"He is no longer here," I said, calming her movements by laying a hand on her forearm. "You are safe."

"Have you seen our son?" she asked, quietly. "I have not."

"You have not?" I asked, alarmed.

"I was not allowed to until you did," she said and tears formed in the corner of her eyes.

I stood immediately and walked over to the cradle. I had assumed the babe was sleeping because I had not heard a sound from him since I had walked in, but when I stood over the cradle, he was awake, blinking placidly.

As I looked down at my son, I was frozen in place, flooded with emotion. The small, wrinkled, slightly purple infant that I looked down at was mine. I had had half a hand in conceiving him.

Gently reaching into the cradle, I scooped the bundle into my arms and held him carefully against my chest. I could not remember the last time I had held a baby. His warm presence against my body was comforting. I felt a lump forming in my throat and tears pricking my eyes as I turned and walked back to the bed. I sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, trying not to jostle Mareke as I knew she was in pain.

"He is absolutely perfect," I said softly, finally tearing my gaze away from my son to see the desperation in Mareke's eyes to hold him.

I carefully handed him over and she was lost to me. She stared lovingly at our son, stroking his soft cheek with the back of her fingers

"Hello," she murmured to him. "Happy birthday. I have been waiting so long to meet you."

I reached over and plucked one of his tiny hands from the blankets to feel the soft, warm skin. The tiny hand gripped my finger and I smiled.

"What will you call him?" Mareke asked when she finally pulled herself away from our son.

"I had not thought of it," I said honestly. "Have you?"

She shook her head. "It is not up to me," she said quietly.

"Mareke, of course it is. He is your son too," I said, reaching for her hand, which she immediately drew away.

She shook her head. "The King must name his heir."

"And his wife must help him," I countered.

Mareke sighed. "Perhaps a name from your family?"

I pondered the notion. "I want you to agree though."

She did not respond and instead continued to stare into the bundle, cooing at our son.

"What about Arathorn?" I asked quietly.

"Your father's name?"

I nodded. "He would be Arathorn the First of the Reunited Realms, but Arathorn the Third of my people, the Dunedain." I looked at her, but again she was not looking at me. "He was brave and noble and a great ruler. I would like our son to carry those traits. What do you think?"

Again, she took a long time to reply. I studied her. The color had somewhat returned to her face and she did not seem to be shivering.

"It is quite a fitting name then," she said, catching my eyes and then looking away quickly.

"But do you like it? He will carry it forever."

"I do like it," she said. "Arathorn," she tried it out looking down at him.

Underneath her exhaustion I could see her happiness as she stared at our son. To me, she looked more beautiful than I had ever seen her.

Arathorn began to fuss in his blanket and I looked up at Mareke, but her eyes had clouded over. "He is hungry." Before she could say anything else a woman walked in and Mareke's eyes filled with tears. She adjusted the blankets around Arathorn and went to hand him to the woman.

I understood quickly and put a firm hand on Mareke's arm so she would hold onto Arathorn.

"Leave," I told the woman. "We will require your services no longer." She stood there looking at me. "Are you deaf? I told you to leave," I said sharply.

"Feed our son," I told Mareke when the woman had finally left. She shrugged out of the shoulder of the shift, freeing a breast.

She guided Arathorn gently until he found what his already suckling mouth sought. Again, she winced in pain. I knew next to nothing about such things, my healing abilities had never been tested by childbirth and what happened afterwards, but it had probably been at least uncomfortable to be bound in such a manner for those few hours.

Milk ran out of my son's mouth and down his cheek. I took his blanket and dabbed it away before looking back up at Mareke.

"I am so sorry," I said. "How they treated you, that is completely my fault."

She did not say a word and I knew she would not dispute me.

"I do not expect you to ever forgive me," I continued. "My carelessness has gone too far this time in that I risked your life rather than act against these traditions."

Mareke shifted Arathorn to her other breast, still not looking at me. "I could not have lived with myself if the delivery had gone even worse."
She looked up quickly. "But you can live with yourself now? With this outcome?"

I closed my eyes briefly. "No, Mareke, no I cannot live with myself now."

Arathorn seemed to be through for the time being and Mareke covered herself once more. Seeing her like that was not erotic, but natural, comfortable.

"When I walked in here, I thought you were dead. I thought I had made the gravest mistake of my life." I took a deep breath. "I did not even glance at our son, Mareke. In that moment nothing mattered but making sure you woke up."

I felt tears prick my eyes and I looked away. "I hate myself knowing that it took such a terrible event to realize what you mean to me." Arathorn had dozed off and I lifted him out of my wife's arms and took him back to his cradle.

"You do not owe it to me, Mareke, but please look at me."

Finally, her dark eyes met mine. "I am so sorry for everything that you have been put through here. Most of it could have been alleviated or eliminated altogether if I had been braver and stronger for you. I have never felt like such a failure, such a coward. There is no excuse for what you have experienced here and you have deserved none of it. You have been nothing but gracious and kind in the face of the hostility you have been shown. I wish I had been better for you. I wish I was deserving the title of king or being a father or of being your husband, but I am not. I hate myself for what I have turned our relationship into. You brought joy with you when you walked through these city gates. Adnan pulled me from a deep depression and when I was over that, there you were trying to be my friend. And look at the gift you have given me this day," I said gesturing at the cradle. "He is incredible and beautiful and perfect in every way and he would not be here if it were not for you." I brought her hands to my lips and kissed the palms. She did not draw them away, but she did not seem particularly enthused either. "But even he would not have been worth losing you," I said, my voice catching in my throat.

Mareke showed no sign of speaking and so I took a deep breath. "You will never again be subjected to another senseless tradition of these people. If you ever deigned to lie with me again after all of this, I would deliver our child myself."

I released her hands as I stood. "I will let you rest. If you need anything, please send for me."

Still she did not speak.

As I left the room, my melancholy was replaced by pure rage as the image of Mareke lying prone in her childbed flashed through my mind once more. What made me truly angry was the sight of Herion standing by doing nothing, as though he hoped Mareke would die after producing the heir.

I marched down to the dungeons. "Where is the Healer?" I demanded of the first guard I came across.

"This way, Your Majesty," the man said, leaping to attention and leading me through the cells, most of which were empty.

The guard stopped and I was standing outside of a cell in which I could barely see Herion through the dim lighting.

"Your Majesty!" he exclaimed, rushing to the bars of the cell. "I knew you would come for me. I did what was best and delivered your son safely into this world."

"Open the cell," I said to the guard.

"I knew you would understand, Sire," he said stumbling out. I saw the blood on his face from the blow I had landed on him earlier.

"Knew that I would understand what exactly, Herion?" I asked, grabbing him by his blood crusted tunic and slamming him against the stone wall once more. He gave a groan of pain. "That you nearly killed my wife? Yes, I do understand that now. That you nearly traded her life for my son's? That is very clear to me." I had my hand around his throat and I watched his face turn quickly purple. "What I do not understand is why. What had she ever done to you to deserve such poor treatment?"

He tried to splutter a response, but my grip tightened around his neck.

"Surely a worldly healer of bodies such as yourself could not harbor such a prejudice against someone just because of their coloring," I spat at him.

My hands moved back to his tunic. "I would suggest you provide me with a satisfactory answer," I said in a low voice.

"Your Majesty," he stuttered. "I did the best I could for the Queen."

"Liar," I said shortly before my fist collided with his jaw once more.

I shoved him back into the cell. "Lock him back up," I said to the guard. "Rest easy knowing that I am debating on letting you rot down here for the rest of your life or hanging you in the Citadel to make an example to the rest of my people who have similar mentalities about my wife as you do."

I walked away, ignoring his pathetic pleadings.

ooooOoooo

It was a full day later when I took Adnan to see his new brother. Lady Ioreth had told me that I should be the one to do it and Mareke, though still exhausted and in some pain, she was ready to see her eldest.

I could tell that Adnan was nervous as he walked next to me. Though he was young, I think he understood that delivering a baby was a momentous undertaking. He was not used to seeing his mother laid up in bed, but I had explained that it was hard to work to bring a new brother into the world and she was tired. Only after I said it, did I realize how the conversation could have gone, but thankfully he did not ask why it was so tiring.

He clung to my hand as I pushed the door open to Mareke's bedroom.

"Adnan," she said quietly, offering him a gentle smile and beckoning him to join her. I hoisted him up onto the bed and he wrapped his arms tightly around his mother's neck.

I could see that it pained her as he jostled her, but she held him tightly nonetheless and kissed the crown of his head.

Arathorn was in his cradle, but she only had eyes for her eldest which I was glad to see. She asked him questions about his lessons and what he had been doing since she had last spoken to him.

Only when he seemed to run out of things to say did she ask him if he would like to meet his new brother.

I was surprised when he nodded eagerly. After the way he had reacted to the news that we would be having a child, I was afraid that he would never accept the babe.

Without being asked, I went to retrieve the bundle. Again, Arathorn was looking around him, not making a peep. Scooping him into my arms gently, I walked over and handed him to Mareke without a word. She had not acknowledged my presence once since I had walked through the door and so I took a seat in a chair a little bit away from the bed and watched the three of them.

"His name is Arathorn and he has been anxiously waiting to meet his big brother," she said gently, adjusting the blankets around the infant so Adnan could peer in at him.

"He looks like an old man," Adnan said, looking up at his mother confused.

Mareke laughed and I chuckled from my chair.

"All babies look like that at first," she said. "Even you did when you were born."

Adnan looked at her alarmed then.

"But you grew out of it," she said. "And so will Arathorn," she promised.

"Would you like to hold him?" she asked. "I am sure he would like that very much."

Adnan hesitated before he turned around and sat next to his mother. He jostled her once more and I went to stand and assist, but she stayed me with a sharp look and I realized my place.

Mareke propped pillows under his arms and instructed him on how to position himself as she deposited the bundle into his arms. Arathorn was a very good natured infant as he did not make a noise as he was juggled into his brother's arms and half held up by Mareke.

"He is not much fun now," Mareke said just as Adnan clearly became bored. "But it will not be very long until he will be looking to you to teach him all he needs to know."

Adnan looked up at his mother in awe and then back in the bundle. "Then I need to get to my lessons!" he exclaimed. "I need to learn more so I can teach him!"

He tried to hand Arathorn back and Mareke had to move quickly so that the babe was not crushed in his haste to leap from the bed.

"Fetch Legolas and Gimli!" Adnan ordered me as he came to stand before me urgently.

"Yes, Your Grace," I said quickly. "Let us go and find them."

I turned back to Mareke as he pulled me out the door, but she did not look up from Arathorn who needed to nurse once more. I sighed inwardly and followed Adnan out the door.

ooooOoooo

"Your Majesty, when can we began planning for the public presentation ceremony?" One of my councilors asked me during a meeting with my entire council.

"The what?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

"The public presentation ceremony," he said again slowly. "To present the Crown Prince to your people."

"That will not be necessary," I responded. "What is the next matter of business?"

"I was not presenting it as an option," the man said. "It must be done."

"Nothing must be done unless I say it must. Last I checked, I was the King of this Realm, not you," I said, preparing myself for a battle unlike the ones I was accustomed to.

"Your Majesty, you cannot keep the Crown Prince hidden. The people will think that there is something wrong with him, that he is ill or deformed."

I shrugged. "I do not care what the people think. I do not intend to keep him hidden but there will be no ornate ceremony to display him as though he is a wild animal or rare piece of art."

"It takes mere moments to walk him onto the Citadel.."

I cut the man off before he could finish. I slammed a fist down on the table so hard that ink pots trembled. Standing, I could feel the rage coming to the surface once more, though this time it was rage at myself. I had to use it to put an end to the nonsense that had nearly cost me my wife.

"The old traditions are done," I said, my voice rising to match my anger. "They have brought nothing but discord to my family and in the most recent instance it nearly cost the Queen her life. I should have spoken up long ago and put an end to this. I will lie down for these ridiculous and completely unnecessary customs no longer!"

I looked around the men surrounding me with what I knew was a menacing glare.

"If anyone has an issue with that," I said my voice lowering dangerously once more. "They may leave these chambers and never come back. Trust me it will be no skin off my back."

I stood staring, arms crossed over my chest.

When no one went to move for the door I sat back down. "Now what is the next order of business?"

ooooOoooo

A week later, I went to Mareke's chambers. I had been visiting regularly though she continued to not speak to me unless it was in reference to one of the children and if she did speak it was in monosyllables.

She was moving about by then, though not much. She still moved as though she was in pain and the kind healer who had helped me with her care after the birth informed me that it would take several weeks for her to be back to herself.

When I entered that evening, Mareke was not alone with the children. She had a whole gathering about her. Legolas and Gimli were present as were Vanya and Marilla.

Gimli was actually holding Arathorn in a chair near the fire and cooing to him.

"My how you have softened these past couple of years, my friend," I said sitting across from him.

"Trust me I am only cooing at this bairn because he has the looks of your wife and not of you, lucky for him."

Everyone laughed and I joined in good naturedly.

"Lucky for him indeed," I agreed, looking to Mareke where she sat conversing with Vanya on the sofa.

She must have heard my comment as she was actually looking at me and it was not with so much hatred as before, though I was expecting for it to never fully disappear.

"Mellon, I do not think I have seen you since your council meeting, but Vanya was earlier relaying what Beinion had told her of your outburst," Legolas said, from his spot on the floor where he was putting together a wooden puzzle with Adnan. It seemed everyone had banded together in support of my wife as she had refused help from nurses.

I waved his comment away. "It should have been done long ago. From the second I went through my coronation I knew I would not agree with the customs, but I was too lazy to do anything about them."

"Well I am glad to hear we are through with them," Gimli said as though he himself had been subjected to them, but I was sure he had been told of the terrible delivery. I had confided in Legolas hoping that he might have some remedies native to his people that I could pass along to the healer caring for Mareke.

We chatted for a while longer amongst the group until Adnan began yawning.

"The little prince has been trying to learn too much too quickly," Legolas said with an indulgent smile. "He says he must teach his brother everything there is to know."

"That will make your jobs easier for Arathorn then," Mareke said and it was the first time she had said something to everyone in general.

"What will I do with all of my time then?" Gimli asked, standing from his chair and taking Arathorn to Mareke. "This one does not make a peep. It seems that he is just observing everything going on around him."

"That reminds me of someone else I know," Legolas said as he stood from the floor. He grasped my shoulder as he and Gimli made their way out of the sitting room.

"We should be heading out too, though I hate to face that dreadful cold," Vanya sighed.

Mareke held Marilla on her lap, juggling her with Arathorn, as Vanya bundled herself up and then both women made sure that Marilla was wrapped tightly in her own tiny cloak before they left.

"Adnan it is time for you to go to bed as well," Mareke said, standing slowly and going toward her son.

"I will take him," I offered quickly. "Ready yourself and Arathorn for bed. I can handle Adnan."

I reached out a hand and Adnan grudgingly took it. Once in his room, I stripped him down and pulled his night shirt over his head, ruffling his curls as he got into bed. I sat on the edge of his bed and let him chatter to me for a long while as I did not want him to feel neglected because of the new baby.

"You need to get a good's night sleep tonight," I said. "As I thought our time together tomorrow could be spent on a ride."

Adnan nodded eagerly and quickly pulled the covers to his chin, shooing me away so he could get that sleep.

Chuckling, I left the nursery, pulling the door closed softly behind me.

When I came back into the sitting room, Marake was back on the sofa though she must have put Arathorn in his cradle.

"I thought you had gone to bed," I said gently, a note of hesitation in my voice.

"I wanted to speak with you," she said, gesturing for me to join her on the sofa.

"Gladly," I replied and I meant it. I had hated being shut out from her, especially at such an important time for our family. I honestly did not care if she was about to yell at me. In my mind, it was better than the silence.

"I appreciate what you did in your council meeting," she said quietly.

"You should not. It should have been done long before you ever arrived here," I said, staring at my hands.

Mareke remained silent for a moment and I snuck a glance at her. She continued to look healthier every time I saw her and I had not yet had the chance to tell her that my heart melted every time I saw her with our newborn.

"Nonetheless, you are sticking to your word now and sparing myself and Arathorn from the presentation ceremony and for that I am grateful."

"Perhaps you will be even more grateful that I have decided to dispose of Herion," I said in a low voice.

"Dispose of him?" She asked quickly.

"Hang him in the Citadel. Set an example, if you will."

"Aragorn, you must not do that," she said. "That is too heavy a punishment."

"How can you sit there and say that after what he did, Mareke?" I felt my voice catching once more. "I saw what he did to you. You are still recovering. You will have to recover for much longer than most mothers."

She did not dispute what I said. "Surely there is some other way you can make an example of him?"

I thought for a moment. "I could, but I thought you would be in accordance with what I have decided."

"Perhaps I should be, but I do not want to look back at this time, this very special time, the birth of our son, and think of death for the rest of my life."

I sighed, but nodded. "I can understand that I suppose. I can try to at least." I paused. "He will be banished from both Realms and stripped of all his titles. He will never again be in charge of someone's health."

Mareke nodded and it was settled.

"May I say something to you now?" I asked after a moment.

"You may," she replied.

"I do not know if I will ever be able to show you how sorry I am for what I have put you through. Not only you, but Adnan as well. I will live with that regret until I die. But I am begging you to let me back into your life, Mareke." I took her hands and once more she did not jerk them away, but she was not enthusiastic either. "This past week I have watched you with our boys and you are so capable with them. I know you do not need me, but I need you all. I need the peace you bring into my life and the joy as well. I have never been so proud in my life than when I get to call the three of you mine. If you do not want to think of death when you remember this time, then I do not want to remember strife between you and I. I want to go back to where we were before your confinement. I know we are here because of my lack of action and I will spend every day making it up to all three of you in any way you see fit, but please do not keep me away from you." I squeezed her hands tightly in mine and she finally met my gaze.

"I do not know what to say Aragorn," she said quietly. "I wish we could go back as well, but.." she trailed off.

I nodded in recognition of what I had done. "I know. I ask too much of you."

Just then the baby started to whimper. I had not heard him cry once in his week of being alive. Mareke went to stand, but I stayed her with a hand on her knee. "Allow me."

I went into her bedroom and once more scooped Arathorn in my arms. I could not help but smile into the bundle.

As I deposited him into his mother's arms, she spoke again, "Gimli was lying when he said he looks like me. I can already see you in him." Mareke unlaced her loose dress and freed her chest.

I sat next to her and watched as she fed our soon and I could tell that it was becoming a habit to her once more, though it had been years since she had fed Adnan in such a way.

"Perhaps I can be of some help to you," I offered. Even though she handled it well, I knew she was still tired.

Mareke raised a dark eyebrow in my direction.

"Perhaps I can sleep in your chambers and help you at night. I cannot do much, but if he needs changing I can do that and I can bring him to you so you do not have to get up. You need to rest and heal."

She pondered it for a moment.

"I can get a cot. I do not have to sleep in your bed," I said quickly.

"I think the bed is big enough for two. You know I do not want anyone but those closest to him tending to Arathorn so I would appreciate your help at night," she said.

"I would be more than happy to do anything you need."

When Mareke was done nursing she readjusted herself and handed me our son. "You can start by putting him back in his cradle while I prepare for bed."

I held Arathorn in one arm and helped her to her feet with my free hand,escorting her into her bedroom. She went into the bathroom and I laid Arathorn back down, making sure he was adequately covered. I then stripped down to just my breeches and undershirt, lying down on the edge of the bed, much like I had when we were in Harad. Since then we had still not spent a whole night together. It would be the first one ever in Minas Tirith.

There you have it! Let me know what you think. Like I said, I'm feeling lukewarm about it which is why I left it open ended. Let me know what you think should happen. Also, Aragorn and Arathorn is going to get very confusing (though I love the meaning behind the baby's name) so give me some nickname suggestions when you review. I can't wait to hear what you think! Thank you for your dedicated reviewing. It really makes my day!

Happy reading,

Avonmora