Sword and Arrow

Chapter 77

Rather pleasantly, it turned out that Beruthiel had no real need to be careful, for Berethor was who he said he was. He visited the King's House often, checking on both Beruthiel and Halbarad (who he had insisted that he take responsibility for, for he was Berethor's younger brother now) and sometimes bringing them flowers from the Gardens of Healing.

Beruthiel and Aragorn had settled into a comfortable rhythm of an everyday life that they had grown accustomed to. At least, until Aragorn summoned Beruthiel to his office one warm summer day.

The door closed quietly behind her and the room was filled with only the sound of Aragorn's quill scratching. Beruthiel stood still, her cloak falling around her shoulders so she was silhouetted as a vaguely humanoid figure. "You called me?" she eventually said after many minutes of silence and Aragorn's pen.

He turned in his chair. He looks awfully tired, Beruthiel noted. Aragorn had dark circles under his eyes and he somehow looked older than he usually did. "Oh, Ruth," he said. "There you are. There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Go ahead," she said uneasily. If he wasn't bringing up the subject outright, then it had to be something bad. What was it this time? Escaped orcs from Mordor? Another pretender lord that had to be taken care of? Bandits on the highway?"

He set his papers down and scratched his head. "Well, not really talk about," he admitted. "But I need you to do something for me. Could you ride out to the Anduin and see if you can find Terenissë? She should be arriving soon, but... I'm getting worried about her."

"You shouldn't," Beruthiel said. "You really shouldn't. She'll be fine. You know how she is, don't you?"

He smiled. "She's very much like you. But could you ride out and look for her? And take Halbarad with you?"

"Of course," Beruthiel said. "You don't need to ask, Aragorn, she's my sister. I'll saddle my horse."

"Wait," he said, getting up from his chair. Beruthiel noted that he placed a hand at the small of his back for a moment. "There's something else." Aragorn took her hand and folded his hands around it. When he let go again, she held her silver Ranger's oakleaf - and Aragorn's golden one.

"That one's yours," she said after a moment of stunned silence. "Why are you giving it to me?"

"You're the Ranger Commandant now," he said. "I can't really go around riding through forests and getting muddy now, can I? I'm stuck here in the city. But someone needs to be in charge, so I picked the best person I know."

Beruthiel blushed and turned aside. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Oh, and give the silver one to Halbarad, will you? He should be the Northern Commandant and your lieutenant."

"Of course."

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"Here," Beruthiel said, tossing the silver oakleaf to Halbarad. "And get your cloak. We're leaving." She brushed past him into the king's stables.

He fumbled to catch it. "Wha- why do I get this?" He examined the carefully crafted leaf-shaped pin, hurriedly following Beruthiel into the darker interior.

"It's yours now." In the back, Beruthiel was already saddling her horse - a gelding named Starfoot. "Aragorn says that you are to be the commandant in the North. It's fair."

"I see." Halbarad unpinned his bronze oakleaf and replaced it with the silver one around his neck. "And where are we going?"

"Terenissë should be arriving soon." Beruthiel took Starfoot by the reins and led her out of the stables. "Aragorn wants us to ride out and escort her for the last few miles."

"That's a good idea," Halbarad said as he saddled his own horse that he had brought down from the North. "I was getting a little antsy about it, you know. I wanted to go look for her too."

Beruthiel grinned at him. "And now you get to go with me!"

Halbarad shook his head, bringing his horse out in record time. The two mounted up and rode down the city to the lowest level at a slow, leisurely trot. "So," he said, "do you have any plans, as Ranger Commandant?"

Beruthiel laughed. "I've barely been in position for an hour, Halbarad, give me some time!" She shook her head. "But I'd like to authorize a cleaning of Ithilien's forests, as well as Angmar up there. Did you have any problems up North during the war?"

"Not really," Halbarad said with a shake of his head. "I mean, we had a little more trouble than we usually do, but other than that I think Sauron kept his attention focused south."

"Very good." Beruthiel was quite relieved - she hadn't known what she would go back home to. Not home, she realized with a pang. This is my home now. "I still think that we should go check out Angmar. If the Witch-King really had been back... well, we should just be safe."

"Smart idea."

The two eventually reached the gate, still in easy conversation. Beruthiel showed the guards her oakleaf - her own passport of sorts - and they let the pair proceed without any extensive checking of papers.

Aragorn was waiting in the area between the inner and outer gates. He had evidently just come from a meeting or official event - he still wore his robes and his crown perched at an angle - and looked rather exhausted.

"Be careful out there," he warned Beruthiel. "It's all over, but there's still bandits roaming the lands."

"I will," she said with a wink. "Besides, I have big bad Halbarad to protect me."

Aragorn glanced at his cousin. "Oh, you'd better." He grinned up at the two. "How long do you think you'll take?"

"That would depend on how far away Tere is," Beruthiel pointed out. "I think we'll ride out a little past Nindalf, maybe, and if we haven't found them by then we'll camp there for a while."

He nodded. "Stay safe."

"Always." Beruthiel flashed him a grin and leaned down to kiss him. "Come on now," she said when she sat back up. "We have a long ways to go yet."

As they rode out of the gate, Aragorn ran out of the gatehouse and took the stairs three at a time to climb up to the walls. By then Beruthiel and Halbarad were already growing small against the endless field of grass, and Aragorn watched them until they disappeared into the sunset.

THE END (OR IS IT?)

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(spoiler alert it's not)