Prince Eldarion, aged fifteen years of age, stood at the edge of one of the many training yards the Second Circle had to offer, with a firm look on his face and a thick stick of ash in his hand.

At the other end, Elboron and some of his peers from Gondorian nobility stood armed with a large sack of apples left over from the harvest, along with similar sticks.

"Are you ready?" Elboron called. The heir to the throne of Gondor opened his mouth to reply, but before he had the chance, one of the other young lords had lobbed an apple high into the air.

Eldarion fixed his eyes on the target, adjusted his grip on the stick and swung it at the approaching missile with all his strength. The apple received a mighty dent, yet remained whole, and was already sailing through the air towards the cluster of boys. Elboron stood firm, readying his stick, and the group scattered for fear he would hit them in his efforts.

The apple made an ominous cracking noise as Elboron's weapon made contact with it, but miraculously it held together and flew almost to the other end of the training yard. The young lord it was aimed at took his swing, but the strength of the apple gave way this time and it exploded all over the young lad. His companions laughed and cheered, and began the process all over again.

Some apples held a good four times before breaking, whereas others exploded upon the first hit. One was rotten at the core, and the unfortunate boy hitting it got a mouthful of rotten apple, much to the glee of the others.

Apple toss, a game invented by Elboron and Elfwine some years ago at a Rohirric harvest festival. Prince Elfwine was the reigning champion at the sport, being able to calculate the exact angle to hit an apple so that the next person to take a swing would get sprayed with splinters of broken apple. However, as Elfwine was currently not available, being home in Rohan, the Gondorian lads had to make do with their own princes.  

Half an hour later, Eldarion, wiping sweat off his forehead, reached into the sack and came up with a beauty- the apple was of the hard, green, sour variety, nearly as big as his hand. He tossed a little way up and took his swing.

Unfortunately, in his eagerness, he overshot the swing by quite a lot. The apple flew high into the air, and Elboron, racing backwards, hit it at such an angle that it zoomed horizontally across the training square.

•●•●•●•

Several minutes before, the Queen of Gondor herself was going to call her son to come for his midday meal, but had been waylaid by a distressed Gondorian noblewoman wanting advice about something or other. At that moment Arwen heard the tapping of little toddler feet on the marble floor of the corridor, and called her daughter.

"Almárëa, be a good girl and fetch Eldarion for luncheon, will you?"

"Yeth, nana," Almárëa lisped, hitched her little skirts up and dashed off. Arwen smiled to see the tiny figure with wisps of brown hair streaming behind her as she ran, in the rather comical fashion three-year olds tend to do.

And it was precisely the second that the youngest princess of Gondor came rushing through the gate at the end of the training yard that Elboron let fly the apple. Everything happened so suddenly it was impossible for anyone to react.

The heavy green apple struck Almárëa with such force on the back of her head that she fell and whacked her forehead on the iron gate. She crumpled to the ground, and lay there, still. For a few moments, the assembled boys stood paralysed with fear.

Eldarion swore loudly and ran to his sister's side. The others disappeared rather rapidly, sticks clattering to the ground, and Elboron stood rooted to the ground, hand over his mouth. "Is she....."

"Don't be ridiculous, she's breathing. You idiot, Elboron! For pity's sake, look before you hit!"

Almárëa was completely out cold, with a nasty gash on her forehead and her dress ripped and dirtied from the fall. Eldarion looked around in despair, and concluded it would be best to fetch their father. He tried in vain to rouse Almárëa.

"Elboron, get Adar!" Elboron was so frightened, he obeyed without question. He found King Elessar deep in conversation in his private quarters with his steward, who just happened to be Elboron's father. He considered running away and hiding, but the men had already noticed him. Faramir noticed his son's anxious face, and asked in consternation what the matter was.

All Elboron could see was the horrible gash on the princess's forehead.

"I'm sorry!" He gasped, twisting his fingers in anxiety. He looked at Aragorn's concerned face, and thought how he really hated to get on the bad side of the king. He hurt his daughter! His parents would be so disappointed, and who knew if Almárëa would ever be all right. He thought of the beautiful queen, and how devoted she was to her daughter. This was the last straw- Elboron's eyes filled with tears.

"I didn't mean to hurt her! I- I didn't see her come in- it was such a hard apple-"

Faramir went to put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Elboron, look at me. Calm yourself, and then you can explain yourself properly."

Elboron rubbed ferociously at his eyes, and gritted his teeth. Might as well have it over with, and Almárëa needed help. "Eldarion and I and some of the other boys were playing apple toss in the Second Circle. One of the apples a beauty- it was huge. I... I hit it, and it hit...." he took a steadying breath.

"It hit Almárëa. She tripped and fell, and now she won't wake up." Aragorn stood up so quickly his chair toppled over, but nobody paid it any mind. "You say they are in the Second Circle?"

Elboron nodded.

Aragorn rushed from the room, and Elboron flung his arms around his father's waist. He sobbed out that it was an accident, he honestly hadn't seen the princess, now Eldarion is angry with him and Almárëa is hurt, and it was all his fault, and-

Faramir returned his son's hug with a comforting squeeze. "I'm sure the princess isn't as badly injured as you are making out, Elboron. She is in good hands, so try not to worry."

•●•●•●•

Ironically, Queen Arwen was feeling slightly guilty herself. If, as originally intended, she had gone to fetch Eldarion herself instead of sending her little daughter, all she would have suffered was a bruise at most.

Almárëa had been whisked to her bedroom, surrounded by healers and an anxious father and siblings. When Arwen heard the news, she rushed to the room herself, only to find Almárëa already awake and chatting to Túrien, who was carefully applying a soothing ointment to her forehead. When she spotted her mother, the young princess smiled widely. "Nana, nana!" She called, with such a heartrending cry it made Arwen's chest hurt.

"Henig, what a fright you have given us! Do you feel quite well?"

Almárëa considered the question.

"Not ath well ath before, nana. My head hurth, and I want to go thleep." Aragorn nodded. "Go to sleep, my dear, it will do you good. Meanwhile, I have to have a little talk with Eldarion here." He glanced at his son, who was standing near the door, hanging his head. Aragorn marched out of the room in the direction of his study, and beckoned the two boys inside.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Eldarion?"

Aragorn's voice was sterner than the two boys had heard it before. Eldarion's voice shook as he answered. "Adar, believe me when I say it was a complete accident. We would never intentionally harm Almárëa, surely you realise this."

Aragorn nodded. "Count yourselves lucky Almárëa is not seriously hurt. Of course I know you would not intentionally harm your sister, and yet your supposedly harmless game has had some serious reproductions. I will not punish you, although I must ask you never to play it again."

When the tense interview with the king was over, Elboron asked Eldarion rather tremulously if Almárëa was recovering.

"Oh, she is well enough, and will have made a complete recovery in a few day's time. But I must apologise for snapping at you earlier- I was worried about my sister, and it really wasn't your fault. If anything it was mine, for not warning you on time."

"At least we understand now the strength of apples."

Eldarion giggled.

•●•●•●•