"Ada!" Legolas called. "Ada! There is a man under my window and he will not stop talking!" Silael sighed, knowing that her husband would need his sleep, and wrapped a thick cloak around her shoulders. She strode through the maple hallways until she got to Legolas's room. Opening the door, she saw a ball of Legolas, curled up under his blankets. "Ion-nin, whatever is the matter?" "There is a man under my window, and he keeps talking about silver and gold! I have yelled many rude things at him but he will not go AWAY!" Silael strode to the window, and as a matter of fact there was a man outside. She loudly exclaimed "I'm sure there's not. Go to sleep, my little Greenleaf." And pretended to walk away. The man started yelling up at Legolas again. "Little Greenleaf, just come down. I have many treasures, of silver and gold. Just come down and you can have them all!" Legolas groaned. "Naneth, please make him go away!"
Silael's eyes widened at the man's next sentence. "Silllvver! Gooollld! Beautiful treasures!" She took one of Legolas's books and walked over to the window, throwing it onto the man's head. He fell, and the guards heard him shriek before he fell unconscious. They came and took the strange man to the dungeons upon Silael's request.
Legolas was trembling. "Oh, ion-nin, I'm sorry if I scared you." The small Elf's eyes looked up at his mother's face. "No, Naneth, you did not scare me. It was the man." "He's gone now." Silael said, coming to sit next to the little ball. "No, not the man himself, but the words. He spoke as if.. As if.." Little Legolas could not say anymore and he curled up even tighter.
"Legolas, please, what did he say?" Silael was scared now, scared that he had said something insulting enough to mentally damage the poor elf. "He said.. He said that he had treasure. But he only had gems!" "That's what treasure is, Greenleaf." Silael explained. "No, Naneth, treasure is Hope and Joy and Peace and Love." Legolas uncurled himself, resting against his mother's side. Silael smiled and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.
"Yes, you are right. Not all treasure-" She was interrupted by Thranduil, walking in through the door. "Why are you two discussing treasure?" He asked kindly. "It is nearly midnight, and I know a Legolas that should be sleeping." Legolas's puppy-dog eyes looked at Thranduil, and he smiled, coming to rest on the other side of Legolas. "We were talking about Love, Ada." Legolas explained.
"There was a man outside, and now he is in the dungeons, but he was telling our little Leaf to come down so that he could get treasure. Silver and gold treasure." "But, Ada, But he was wrong!" A small voice said. "Yes, that was when you came in, Meleth. I was explaining to him." Silael smiled at Legolas before shifting her gaze to her husband. "You were right, Greenleaf. Not all treasure is silver and gold."
In the morning, the whole royal family was missing. All the guards and servants searched everywhere, and just as they were about to go into Thranduil and Silael's room, they heard laughter coming from Legolas's. One of the guards flung open the door, and there was the family, all cuddled together, in their nightclothes. Legolas looked at the group of people standing in his room, and said simply, "Not all treasure is silver and gold."