Autumn was on its way. The leaves on the trees were golden and ready to fall. Legolas sat in his room bored. He knew what today was. It was the day his father King Thranduil would let him take part in negotiations and battle strategies. He wasn't looking forward to this one bit, but he knew he needed to go. He was the prince after all and would rule this land one day.

Legolas flopped back onto his bed, he wished it didn't have to be today. He wanted something to come up and keep his father occupied in business that didn't need to concern him. He imagined practicing his archery skills, then tagging along with his friends Luthran and Melwen. They were always up to mischief, whether it was switching the wines round before the royal dinner to get the King drunk, or messing up the King's study by flinging his papers everywhere, adding leaves for 'decoration' then locking the door from the inside, jumping out the window and escaping. They always messed around with the King's stuff, somehow they'd not been banned from entering the palace. Legolas was never sure why but he was happy they didn't. They were his best friends in Mirkwood, they never cared he was royalty, he was just plain Legolas to them. The other elves his age always kept their distance. He didn't know if they feared his father or if they thought him too different.

The servants in the hall were making more noise than usual. Legolas decided to take a look and see what was causing the commotion. He walked into the hall and saw them arguing. The organiser had been called away by a family issue in Lothlorien, he'd not left anyone in charge and now the servants were getting stressed. If his father saw this then everyone would face his wrath.

"Excuse me. Could you tell me what is going on? Or correctly what is not going on?" Legolas asked. He didn't want to sound intimidating but he knew he needed to sound stern and confident.

"Your Highness," a servant girl bowed, the rest saw who'd addressed them and followed her action."We're trying to get our duties done but have no idea who is doing which job. We normally have Luthiel tell us. She normally reads it off a piece of paper. We never have the same job twice in a week and now we're getting in each other's way."

Legolas thought about this, it could be sorted out simply. "Could you not for just this day do the same tasks you did yesterday? That way everything will get done and my father will not get enraged. I will see if Luthiel left notes on her desk. She may have just forgotten to give them out before she left."

The servants looked at each other. They didn't want to do the same jobs again but it would get things done faster. "Thank you Your Highness. We'll get right to it." The servant girl replied.

As the all got to work, King Thranduil came down the stairs opposite where Legolas was standing. He looked around, everyone was busy working. It was silent, only Thranduil's footsteps broke the silence.

"I came down here to see what a the commotion was about and now I hear nothing. The servants are going about their business as they should. Did you sort this out, my son?"

"I did father." Legolas said with confidence in his voice.

A small smile appeared on Thranduil's face. "I am impressed, it seems you're growing into your role of prince. There is much more for you to learn and that learning starts today."

Thranduil gestured for Legolas to follow him up the stairs to his study.

Legolas tried not to show how bored he was. His father would just lecture him on the importance of these lessons and what it meant to be a prince. As they approached the door, out the corner of his eye Legolas spotted Melwen and Luthran lurking nearby. Thranduil opened the door,

"By the Valar, what had happened in here?"

Legolas peered in, leaves were everywhere small patches of mud could be seen under them. They'd done it again. They must have got every leaf as not many had fallen yet. He began laughing uncontrollably, he didn't care that his father glared at him and his wrath could rival that of a Balrog. Nothing mattered right now but how much he loved his friends. They'd saved him from his lessons for at least one day.

"Get out of my sight and tell your friends that they haven't escaped me."

Legolas ran off and his friends followed, today would be a great day.