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Disclaimer: All worthy characters belong to the Master and His estate. I own only the assassins. They might not be very fun, but can come in handy if you want to get rid of someone ;-)

Note: This story was written for Teitho Challenge "Well-laid Plans". It won the first place.

"Ada, look!" Eldarion pointed excitedly at the arrow sticking out of the trunk of a tall birch. The young prince's eyes were twinkling with excitement, and the boy was fighting hard the urge to start jumping up and down. "I hit it!"

Aragorn could not stop the wide smile that spread across his face. He was determined not to show his son how proud he was, so that the boy would not become overconfident. But he was proud, and it was impossible to hide it. In the past few days Eldarion had shown admirable progress in his archery lessons, and it was obvious that his natural talent, together with his hard work and great desire to improve, were giving wonderful results.

"I can't wait to show Legolas how good I am!" The boy said enthusiastically.

"You will show him soon enough," the King said. "He is coming for my birthday celebration. Perhaps he will be here in a few days." Oh, he could not wait to see Eldarion showing Legolas what he had learned! The elf had claimed that Aragorn would be unable to make his son a good archer without his help. And it was time to prove him wrong. Of course, the King was happy to have his friend give Eldarion a few tips, as he wanted the boy to learn as much as possible, but still he was pleased to know that he had proven to be a good tutor.

"Ada, do you think I could challenge him to an archery contest?" The child asked.

Aragorn suppressed a chuckle. "This will be a bad idea, my son, unless you want to lose. But you may challenge him to a sword fight."

Eldarion's face brightened. "You think that I am better than him with the sword!"

The man was considered his answer for a second. "Probably not. But soon you might be. Go bring us two swords!"

The child was beaming with excitement as he ran to fetch the swords. Aragorn looked after him with a smile. It was so good to spend time with Eldarion, but he knew that this would not last long. His birthday preparations had made everyone been busy, and no one was giving him any peace. Why did people need to ask him everything? How many tables should there be, how many guests on each table, what kind of meals, what songs should the bards sing, and many other details he had never thought about before. In the meantime, he was given no break from his normal duties, and his life had just become busier than usual. Arwen had tried to help as much as possible with the preparations for the celebration, but still he was needed most of the time. And why did they need to celebrate anyway? What was there to celebrate in getting older?

He was brought out of his musings as Eldarion returned, carrying two blunted, training swords. One of them was smaller and lighter. "I like fencing with you, ada," he admitted. "You never let me win on purpose. When I play games with nana, any game, she always lets me win. She can't understand that I am no baby and I can handle defeat."

"Of course you can," Aragorn replied with a conspiratorial smile and raised his sword. "But now we need to make sure that soon we will see how Legolas handles defeat. Defeat by a twelve-year-old, too."

Eldarion laughed and raised his sword to block his father's blow. He took a step back and prepared to attack, when he heard someone call.

"My Lord! King Elessar!"

Aragorn looked at the man and suppressed a groan. He could not handle any more birthday questions. The messenger's next words, however, were a pleasant surprise.

"My King, Lord Faramir and Lady Éowyn have arrived!"

"They are here?" The King smiled, pleased by another welcome distraction. "Eldarion, we will continue your lessons as soon as we greet them," he said, and followed the messenger.

The child nodded happily. He wanted to meet the guests too. They walked towards the gates, where the Steward had arrived with a small escort. Faramir and his wife stepped forward and bowed to their king.

"We have come to celebrate your birthday, my Lord," Faramir said.

"I am glad to see you, my friend," Aragorn said. "I wish you could visit us more often, and not only on the sad occasions."

"Sad occasions?" Éowyn asked with a smile. "Is a birthday a sad occasion, my Lord?"

"Perhaps not at your age, my Lady," the kind replied.

"Do not forget that it is not how many years you have lived," she said, "but how you feel at heart that determines your true age."

"And how you look," Faramir added. "And you certainly do not look your age, my Lord."

Aragorn laughed. "I am most glad to hear that." His keen eyes moved through the escort, scanning every face, trying to spot someone else who certainly did not look his age. "Tell me," he said, "when is Legolas coming?"

Faramir briefly looked away before answering. "He will not be able to come for your birthday," he finally said. "Duty keeps him in Ithilien. He apologized and hopes that you have a good celebration."

"He is not coming?" The king asked, unable to hide the disappointment in his voice. "What happened? Are things going ill in Ithilien?"

"No, worry not, my Lord," Faramir assured him. "All is well, but still a lot of work is needed to restore the forest to its previous beauty. And Legolas has taken this duty to heart."

-:-

"I know that more work is needed to restore the forest," Aragorn said bitterly. "Faramir told me that already. But this is no urgent work. It can be done anytime. Why did he choose to stay now, on my birthday?"

"I thought you did not believe your birthday to be such an important occasion," Arwen reminded him softly. And it was true. Raised by Elves, Estel had grown accustomed to celebrating his begetting day, and the human tradition to celebrate the actual day of his birth still felt foreign to him no matter how many years he had done it already. His servants, of course, would have none of that and insisted that the King of Gondor's birthday should be celebrated properly.

He sighed. "That is not the point. He knows how much I want to see him. I thought he wanted to see me as well. And I haven't seen him in seven months. Seven months!"

"You have spent years without seeing him," Arwen pointed out. "Or me. Or any elf. What is different now?"

"It is different," Aragorn said. "In the past I have often been forced to wander and stay away from the ones close to me. But now we live both live in Gondor, and we live in peace. He is not so far away, and yet I have not seen him in seven months! It makes no sense. In his last letter he told me that he would be coming for my birthday."

"Perhaps things in Ithilien are busy right now," she suggested.

"But Faramir is able to come!" He countered immediately. "If Faramir can come, Legolas can come as well."

"Then maybe at least one of them needs to stay," Arwen said. "And if that is the case, Legolas would be the logical choice. The Steward is expected to be present at the King's birthday."

"You are right," he said with a sigh. "As usual. But I cannot stop feeling that Faramir was hiding something when I asked him about Legolas. Could it be… could it be that he does not want to come? Could he be angry with me?"

"Why would he be?" She asked.

"I do not know," he admitted. "But I see no reason for his refusal to come. It matters not. I will know soon enough," he said and stood up. "I am going to Ithilien. He should not mind the visit. And I will be back on time for my birthday."

Had he imagined it, or had Arwen suddenly paled at his words?

"You cannot go!" She sounded almost pleading. "You cannot leave me alone to handle all birthday preparations and meet all guests!" Her voice softened and she held his hand and kissed it. "I know that you miss him. But you can visit him soon enough. You could travel to Ithilien after your birthday. Faramir will be here, so he can take care of Minas Tirith in your absence. Be patient,meleth nîn."

He nodded. "And you are right once again. Once this bloody birthday is over, I will be free. I could visit him then."

Had he imagined it, or had Arwen breathed a sigh of relief?

-:-

"The king will stand over there." A long, skinny finger pointed forward. "And the prince will be over there."

"How do you know this?" A deep voice asked.

"I befriended some of the servants involved in the celebration," the first man said with a grin. "Naturally, none of them knew why I needed the information."

"Naturally," the second man nodded in approval. "Tell me, Pyasak, how many men do you have?"

"I have brought twenty men, my Lord," Pyasak replied, "but I will use only five to do the work. We need to remain invisible. Two of them will be standing at that window." He pointed up. "Another two will be standing over there, and another one there. On my signal, three of them will fire arrows at the King, and two at the Prince. At least one of each set of arrows should be deadly. But tell me, my Lord, are you sure you do not want us to do it before the birthday? We have had a few possible opportunities so far."

The Haradrim grunted impatiently. "I told you already! I want the King and the Prince dead at the same instant, and no mistakes! If we kill one of them first, the other one will be more closely guarded. But only during the birthday celebration will we have a sure and clear shot of both of them."

Pyasak nodded grimly. It would be done.

After the War of the Ring, King Elessar had signed a peace treaty with Harad. However, some tribal lords were not satisfied with it. And why would they be? Gondor had fields with rich soils, many stock and trees with juicy fruit, high mountains and fresh-water rivers. And what did they have? Sand. Every day in the desert was a fight for survival. There was no grass for their stock to graze, water was scarce, and the merciless sun would often kill the ones who did not know how to protect themselves.

Pyasak's heart ached as he thought about his starving children, hiding in the shade of the tents, hoping that they would make it alive until the next day. And he thought about all children of Gondor who always had a plate of food on the table before them, and a roof above their heads. Who were not forced to wander homeless in search for water. What had they done to deserve this?

There was only one solution to their problems. They had to conquer a large part of Gondor's land. Land that they could use for themselves.

But Gondor was strong. There was no way to defeat her. At least not by fair means.

And yet, if Gondor lost both her King and her Heir, the country would be send into chaos and panic. And then it could be easily attacked.

King Elessar and Prince Eldarion had to die.

There were no rules in times of war.

-:-

A soft knock made her raise herself on the bed and look around. The room was covered in darkness, save for the pale moonlight coming from the window. She looked at the man lying beside her and smiled when she saw that he was still sleeping. Arwen bent down and kissed his hair. "You will be surprised, meleth nîn," she whispered gently. "Just wait a few days. You will be surprised, I promise."

She stood up and silently walked out of the room. A quick glance back told her that her husband had not awakened, and she smiled. She closed the door soundlessly and turned down the corridor.

"Is he sleeping?" A soft voice whispered.

"Yes," she answered just as softly. "He did not wake at your knock."

"I am not surprised. Human hearing is horrible."

The two elves grinned at each other and quickly embraced.

"I am happy you came!" Arwen whispered. "When did you arrive?"

"A few minutes ago. I first went to the stables to leave Arod and her there and came to you."

The Queen's eyes glistened. "May I see her?" She asked hopefully.

"Of course," Legolas replied with a smile and the two elves walked towards the stables. Arwen was barefooted, but did not seem to be bothered by that.

"Who knows that you are here?" She asked.

"Only the guards who let me pass and the stables boy. And Faramir, of course. Have you told anyone?"

Arwen shook her head. "I planned to tell Eldarion, but then I thought that that would not be wise. He spends much time with Estel and might say something, even if he does not intend to."

"Good," Legolas said approvingly. "Then I will make sure no one sees me in the next few days."

She was thoughtful for a moment. Her friend would need a place to stay in Minas Tirith before the birthday and remain unnoticed at the same time. "I believe I can find a secluded room," she said.

He laughed. "Thank you, Arwen, but I would prefer your garden if you allow me. Some of the trees are big enough to provide a good bed."

She smiled. "That will be even easier. Just be careful. No one must see you. Besides," she added after a moment of thought, "Estel suspects something."

"Of course he does," Legolas replied affectionately. "He cannot be fooled so easily."

The two elves had reached the stables and walked inside. "This way," Legolas guided her inside and lit a torch. "I told the stables boy to keep Arod and her hidden."

They walked further and Arwen gasped in surprise. The mare was magnificent. She was tall and slender, but muscular at the same time, and her eyes spoke of pride and rebellious nature, but also wisdom. But what caught the Queen's attention was the horse's color. She was a perfect, glittering black, without a single spot of any other color. The mare was so dark a black that she appeared almost bluish, and the light of the torch was reflected off her glistening back. Arwen buried a slender hand in the shining mane. It rivaled her own hair.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" Legolas asked with a knowing smile. "She was one of the wild horses. I captured her and trained her. It took a while until she was ready to suffer a rider. Her name is Lach."

Arwen nodded. Leaping flame. It was a fitting name.

Aragorn's love for horses was well known, and the elf had thought that this would be a wonderful present for his friend's birthday. There was a slight problem, however. He could not hide the horse and he knew that when Aragorn came to meet him, he would see her. But he wanted the mare to be a surprise, and did not want the man to see her before the celebration. He had sent Arwen a letter to ask her for advice.

The Queen's suggestion has been to arrive at night, while Estel was sleeping, so that he would not see the horse. But then the King would have wondered why he had arrived at night and would have probably suspected something.

And then Legolas had had an idea. What if they made a double surprise? Yes, he would arrive at night, but he would not meet Aragorn on the next day. The King would not know that he was in Minas Tirith. And on his birthday he would be surprised to see him and the horse as well.

Arwen had immediately liked the plan. And now, looking at the beautiful mare, she knew that her husband would be indeed pleasantly surprised.

"We must decide on the best way for you to make an appearance," she said with a mischievous smile. "What way would shock him the most? You could ride in the hall in the middle of the celebration."

"Or I could just stand in the crowd," Legolas suggested. "I will not say a word and wait for him to notice me. Imagine what his surprise would be!"

"Or perhaps you could spring out of the cake," Arwen said with a grin.

The golden-haired elf laughed. "But that would destroy the cake, and Eldarion would be quite unhappy."

The two elves continued their merry debate, oblivious of the fact that if the Haradrim's plan worked, they would never get to the cake.

-:-

"This is not fair!" Eldarion stated and angrily fired an arrow. "I am so much better at this and he will not see it!"

Aragorn sighed. "I know, ion nîn, I am sorry. You will show him one day."

"When, ada?" The child asked in frustration. "In a week? In a month? When I am thirteen?"

The king had to suppress a chuckle. Eldarion had said 'When I am thirteen?' in such a voice as if this would be ages after today and he would be so old and experienced by then that no one would be impressed by his archery skills. "Soon enough," he replied.

But the boy was not pacified. He had gone to collect his arrows from the targets, and when he returned he gazed steadily at his father. "When?"

Aragorn studied his son for a second. His brow furrowed, but suddenly his face broke into a smile as if he had just made a decision. "Tonight if we ride hard," he replied.

Eldarion gasped and stared at his father in shock. "Ada, you mean –"

"I mean that we are going to Ithilien," the king announced. "I wish to talk to Legolas, and you will show him your skills. We will stay for not more than a day and come back. We will be back on time for my blasted birthday."

The child still did not look convinced although he wanted to believe his father. "Nana will not be happy," he said softly.

Aragorn smiled. "She does not need to know. I will leave her a note so that she will not worry, but by the time she had finds it, we will be far away."

"So we are going to sneak out!" Eldarion cried excitedly. He was beginning to like his father's plan. "But then we should go with no escort. Nana will kill us."

"We are in no danger," Aragorn said. "Not if we are disguised. It might be dangerous for the King and Prince of Gondor to travel alone, but we will look like mere wanderers. Come!" He led his excited child inside and down the stairs. Soon they were in front of a wooden door Eldarion had never seen before. Aragorn took out a key and quickly unlocked it.

The door opened with a soft crack and the boy peeked inside. He gasped. The room was filled with many old books, some paintings, yellowish scrolls, and various weapons, some of which looked rusty and unusable. One of them certainly was a child's training sword.

"Ada, what is this room?" He asked.

Aragorn was staring at a point to Eldarion's right. "Here I keep some things I do not wish to forget," he replied cryptically.

The boy followed his father's gaze until his eyes focused on something hanging by one of the bookshelves. "Ada, your ranger's cloak!" He cried excitedly.

Aragorn laughed and put it on. "It does not look very kingly, does it?" He asked. It certainly did not. It was completely covered by sewn cuts and patches, and old stains of dirt and blood that had not washed away were clearly visible.

"This is a great disguise!" Eldarion cried happily. "But there is a problem. We have only one cloak."

"No," Aragorn said with a mysterious smile. "We have one more."

He knelt before a large metal box and took a key out of his pocket. Then he unlocked it and slowly lifted the lid. Aragorn reached inside the box and took out another cloak which looked much like his own. He stood up and held it reverently.

"I didn't know you had a second cloak," the boy said.

"I don't," the man answered, and Eldarion was surprised to see the moisture in his father's eyes and the sad smile on his lips. "This cloak is not mine."

And Aragorn was right. The cloak was not his and never had been. It had been Halbarad's. He had never believed that he would ever give it to another human. And yet, Eldarion deserved it. And, most of all, Halbarad would have been happy to give his cloak to the boy. "It is yours now, my son."

Eldarion cried happily and put the overly large cloak on. "Ada, look at me!" He turned around, so that his father could look at him from all sides. "I am a real ranger now!"

Aragorn laughed. "Your mother will not be happy."

"Oh, she will surely kill us!" The child replied.

The king shook his head. "She will kill me, but not you. We could tell her that it was all your idea and you made me do it. She cannot be angry at you," he suggested.

The young prince grinned. "Very well, ada. I will be happy to cover up for you." Then he fingered his clean and neatly combed shoulder-length hair and frowned. "But I am afraid we do not look ranger-like enough."

"Yet," Aragorn said. "This can be easily corrected. Come!"

The King and Prince ran outside and continued until they reached a muddy puddle. Aragorn dipped his hands into the filthy water, wetted his hair and tousled it. Then he took a handful of dust and applied a small amount to his hair and face, which gave him quite a rugged appearance. Finally, he took out some mud from the pond and covered his travel boots. At last he sat on the ground, stretched his long legs before him, and took out a long pipe from a pocket in his cloak. He smiled casually at his son and lit the pipe.

"Now, Eldarion, it is your turn."

The boy was gazing at his father in admiration. The complete transformation from the almost elven-like King of Gondor and Arnor to the rugged human had occurred in mere seconds. "Ada, may I try pipe-weed?" He asked.

Aragorn shook his head. "Your mother will hang me, drown me, and behead me if I let you do that. Besides, you are too young and it is not healthy."

The boy snorted unhappily, but his eyes brightened when he realized that it was now his turn to cover himself in dirt and grime. He grabbed a handful of mud, but to Aragorn's shock, instead of using it to cover his boots as the man had done, he spread a generous layer over his face. Eldarion laughed and started jumping into the puddle. "Oh, ada, being a ranger is so fun!" When the child was positively wet, he lay down and started rolling into the mud, laughing happily.

The King's eyes widened in horror. "My son, you were supposed to disguise yourself as a traveler, not as a pig!"

"At least I certainly don't look like a prince now!" Eldarion replied triumphantly and finally rose from the mud. "Even nana wouldn't recognize me now!"

Aragorn eyed him critically. "You look perfect. Ready to go?"

The boy nodded and after the King had run swiftly to the royal chambers to leave a brief note, they both went to the stables. They mounted two horses, not their usual ones since they wanted to travel incognito, and rode out, never noticing Arod and a magnificent black mare hidden in the shadows.

Something else they failed to notice was the cloaked man following their every move.

-:-

"My Lord!"

"What is it, Pyasak?" The man turned around and his dark eyes glimmered with impatience.

"The King! The King and his son! They both left the City! They are riding south now."

The Haradrim frowned. "Where is he going? Is the birthday celebration cancelled then?"

"I do not know, my Lord."

The man nodded. "In this case we need to change the plan. Take all twenty men. We leave now."

"Where are we going?" Pyasak asked.

"We ride after them. And we will kill them."

-:-

"I will kill them!"

Legolas watched her with something akin to amusement. "Come now, Arwen, no harm is done. Certainly there is no need to kill them."

"You are right. I will not kill them. I will kill him."

The golden-haired elf sighed. As it was, it seemed that his friend would be in trouble when he returned home. "Are you sure? Perhaps it was Eldarion's idea."

"I do not care who suggested this madness," she said firmly. "Eldarion is but a child and cannot fully understand the risk he is taking. But Estel… ah! How could he ride out without his escort? How could he take my child out without protection?"

"He had survived long years without any escort," Legolas tried to reason, but Arwen would have none of it.

"But he is a king now! And kings have enemies. And even if he is willing to put his life in danger, how could he endanger my son? Eldarion is helpless out there!"

Legolas grasped her shoulders and forced their eyes to meet. "Arwen look at me. No one is helpless. Aragorn knows how to take care of himself and of your son. He loves Eldarion as much as he loves you. He will die before he lets anything happen to the boy."

Arwen closed her eyes and sat on the bed. "That is what I fear," she whispered softly.

Legolas gazed at her, slightly disturbed. He wondered briefly if it was foresight that made Arwen speak so, but then decided that it was only the worry of a mother and a wife. He knelt in front of her and touched her forearm.

"Arwen, nothing will happen. I am sure Aragorn knows what he is doing. They will arrive in Ithilien, my friends there will come up with some story to explain my absence, and they will ride back. The elves might even give them an escort on the way back here. They will return in no time and we will surprise him as we have planned. Agreed?"

Arwen forced a smile and nodded. "I will send his escort after him," she said.

He quickly shook his head. "That will not help. He is far away now and your men won't reach him. Besides, he is far safer as it is. Sending the escort will tell everyone that the King is outside the City by himself. If we do not speak a word everyone will think he is still in Minas Tirith and he will be back before anyone has noticed."

Arwen sighed. "You are right. I will follow your advice. Apparently you can think much more clearly then me right now."

But she didn't know that hours ago, someone had already discovered that the king has left.

-:-

TBC

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