Sword and Arrow

Chapter 78

FIVE YEARS LATER

"Aragorn."

The door opened to Beruthiel's grim face. Aragorn stopped in his tracks.

"Aragorn, we need to talk."

He frowned. "What is it?" Aragorn set his messenger bag down and rushed over to Beruthiel. "Are you all right? What's wrong?"

She took a deep breath and shook her head, leading him to the sofa. "We need to talk." She sat him down, hands still on his shoulders, and leaned her head against him.

Something is wrong. Something is wrong. Aragorn was tense, ready to run at the first warning. Something is wrong. "What is it, love?" His words were very careful as he stroked her back with soft hands.

Beruthiel looked up at him with the rawest expression he had ever seen, one of horror and pain. "I'm pregnant," she whispered.

He winced. "Oh. Oh my. Ruth, you-"

"Wait," she said. "Wait." She took another deep breath and shifted closer to him. "I- I don't know about this," Beruthiel whispered. "I really don't. Last time was bad enough. I... I don't know if I can do it again."

"You don't have to," he promised. "You never have to. It's your choice, Ruth. We can go to the House of Healing right now if you want to."

Beruthiel shook her head. "It's strange, you know," she said softly. "All my life people were asking me when, or telling me that I'll get the mother instinct someday. But... But, well, it's not there, you know? I don't have a huge desire to be a mother. Terenissë did, and she has children, and I'm happy for her. I never wanted that, but then again... I never thought I'd get married."

"Ruth." Aragorn pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Ruth, you know I'm not going to force anything on you, right?"

"You need an heir," she whispered. "You've just brought back the line of kings, you can't let it die again."

"There's orphanages," he said with a shrug. "We can adopt a kid, Ruth. You don't have to go through pregnancy if you don't want to. I know it's... I know it's troubling for you."

"It's painful," Beruthiel said. "But... But I think I'm going to do it, Aragorn. I think I'm ready."

Aragorn's surprise showed in every line of his face. "Are you sure about this?"

Beruthiel took another deep breath. "Yes. Yes, I am." She shrugged. "I mean, we have to do it sometime, right? It's a part of life."

"Not if you don't want it to be," he said gently.

"I do," she said. "I think I do." Beruthiel looked up at him with a smile. "I know you've always wanted kids."

"I have," Aragorn admitted. "But not if you don't want them."

"I'm not particularly opposed to them, you know." She grinned, shifting her arms around his shoulders. "But, well, I'm a busy person. After the first few years, Aragorn, you're going to have to do a lot of work too. I'm not quitting being a Ranger for this."

"You absolutely shouldn't," Aragorn agreed. "I need a Ranger like you. Besides, being King isn't too much of a job."

Beruthiel raised an eyebrow. He said that as if he didn't get incredibly stressed by his job every few months. A desk job was always worse than one out in the field - another reason why she had wanted to be a Ranger and not a scribe or something of that nature.

"I'm glad that you're deciding to do this," he said after a while. "I really am."

"I know."

🏹👑🗡️

short one, but hey we're getting to the end so there's not a lot more.
one more chapter!