As it happened, Aran Elu seemed disinclined to discuss that unfortunate collision any further. For Neldiel's part, she avoided the palace lest he changed his mind – Kings could do that whenever they wanted, she supposed – and butterflies danced deep in her stomach whenever her father got home; she was worried that he might tell her that Aran Elu had summoned her. But that did not come to pass, and slowly, she stopped fretting that she would be in any more trouble. It seemed that if anything more was to happen, it would have happened already.

There was one summons that she received, and it pleased her more than any from the King could have. She had been invited to breakfast with Princess Lúthien, with the promise of playing outside amongst the flowers now that the weather had turned fair. Neldiel was still a little doubtful about showing her face at the palace, especially in the royal quarters, but she could hardly say no to the daughter of Aran Elu and Bereth Melian, who was, more or less, a sort of aunt to her. Unlike most adults, Lúthien was never too stuffy about rules and decorum, tolerating elfling mischief with fond indulgence, and indeed, Neldiel rather liked her for a playmate even though she was ever so much older – older even than Neldiel's own parents. Besides, the Princess seemed to like many of the same things Neldiel liked for breakfast, which was another persuasive reason to accept the invite.

On a day that there were no lessons, Neldiel left the manor early with her father whilst her mother and elder sisters broke their fast together. They arrived at the palace in good time; such good time, that Lord Brandir had time enough to stop in his office and set out his work for the day, with the promise that he would take Neldiel to the royal quarters in fifteen minutes and she would still be perfectly on time. Neldiel begged and pleaded and made her eyes wide and her lashes flutter, and eventually her father conceded that yes, she may walk by herself, as long as she took no detours and went straight there, because he would know if she didn't.

Neldiel promised, and she set off feeling quite grown-up, walking straight-backed and sedately. That didn't last. When she was a safe distance away from her father's office, she broke into a run, excited by the prospect of breakfast with Brandir's sort-of-big-sister. As she ran, she collided with someone coming from the opposite direction and ran straight into their legs. She quickly apologised as she disentangled herself from their robes, though she was relieved it wasn't the King she had run into. She didn't think that even she could be that unlucky, to collide with him twice in the same week.

"Sorry," she gasped, as she stepped back and straightened her dress.

"Yes, I recall you were sorry last time," the King of Doriath said coldly, taking the elfling by the hand.

"Oh, Aran Elu!" Neldiel paused. "Oh." Her face fell. "Aran Elu."

If the King was even the slightest bit impressed by the little girl's audacious bravery, he did not show it, neither laughing nor allowing the barest hint of a smile to touch his lips. He merely looked down at her, stern and austere. "What," he said quietly, "have you been told about running inside?"

Privately, Neldiel rather thought that Aran Elu was the problem. If he wasn't in her way all the time, she wouldn't keep running into him. Instead, because she didn't think he'd like it much if she said that, she replied, "That I ought not to run, Your Majesty. But you see, I'm meant to be having breakfast with Princess Lúthien."

"Breakfast shall have to be delayed, and you will give her your apologies." Dismissing his guards with a wave of his hand, Elu led Neldiel through the royal quarters with their silk hangings and elaborate tapestries hanging on smooth walls, to Lúthien's suite of rooms. The Princess was there waiting, and she rose from her couch looking rather dismayed at the sight of her royal father's glacial expression.

"Adar," she greeted him, before turning to Neldiel. "What happened, little one?"

"Aran Elu walked into…" The elfling hesitated and refocused her thoughts. "I mean, I ran into him."

Lúthien regarded Neldiel in quiet sympathy, her grey eyes kind and soft. "Adar, I believe Dagnir is still tucked away in my chest," she said. "Would you like me to check?"

"As you will," Elu said neutrally, keeping Neldiel by the hand as he followed his daughter into her chamber.

Princess Lúthien knelt by the oak chest at the foot of her bed, the skirt of her silver-embroidered sapphire gown settling around her in folds. She opened the lid of the chest, and after a few moments of searching, plucked out a worn grey rabbit who, with a chipped eye and several patches where he had been sewn up through Lúthien's childhood, looked like he had quite earned his name. The Princess rose gracefully and turned, placing the rabbit in Neldiel's arms.

"I know you don't have Akachi or Gíleth with you," she said softly. "Dagnir will look after you."

Neldiel paused, not understanding, not taking Lúthien's meaning. But then she realised, and she bit her lip. She looked up, a flash of worry passing over her face, but the Princess only bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to her brow. Then she was left alone with the King, and as she clutched Dagnir close and swallowed hard, Aran Elu led her to the bed and commanded her to get into position.

"But…you're the King," she whispered.

"And?"

Neldiel chewed her lower lip, though she stopped a moment later lest it displease Elu. He was an elf, of course, an ellon like her father Brandir, like Daerada Ravondir and Daerada Aearondir, like Uncle Baralin and his brothers Arvellon and Ramirith, like her cousins Galuchil and Turion and Míradan, even like horrible Lord Celepharn. And yet. He was a king. He was the King. He was the most important ellon in the whole kingdom – even if he wasn't the most important ellon to her. He could put people in gaol and cut off their heads and do all sorts of other things that only Kings could do. And now he expected her to be quite comfortable with him smacking her bottom.

"I…don't know," she admitted quietly. "Just…you're the King."

"Suppose you were naughty for Lord Ravondir, then," Elu said, "or perhaps Lord Aearondir?"

"They would spank me," Neldiel replied promptly. "Well, maybe not Daerada Aearondir. But Daerada Ravondir would."

"Indeed," Elu agreed. "So your objection is…"

The little girl tilted her head, frowning slightly, and she wasn't sure how to ask the King what his point was without sounding rude and getting into even more trouble. "I don't understand why you said about Daerada Ravondir and Daerada Aearondir, Your Majesty," she said eventually. She didn't think Elu would mind her saying that, since her parents had always told her to ask for help if she didn't understand things.

"For a time, Lord Aearondir and Lady Beldes were absent when your father was a child," Elu replied quietly. "You know that he lived with us, and our daughter was as an elder sister to him. The Queen and I were as his parents, whilst his true parents were elsewhere."

"Yes," Neldiel agreed. "Ada told me that Princess Lúthien broke his best toy horse when he was little, and she used to make flowers for him."

"So, though I am indeed the King as you have said, I am also another daeradar to you, Neldiel," Elu continued. "Your father was my foster-son. His reunion with Lord Aearondir and Lady Beldes changes that not at all."

Neldiel thought carefully. She had known that her grandparents, for reasons kept secret from her, had not been there to raise their son. She had known that he had been raised instead by Elu and Melian. She had never considered this before. "You're not like my Daerada Ravondir and Daerada Aearondir, Your Majesty," she said slowly.

"Am I not?"

"I call them 'Daerada'," Neldiel replied. "And they love me."

"You think I do not love you?" Elu asked, his eyebrows rising sharply.

"I never thought you liked me," the elfling confessed.

Elu paused for a long moment. He wasn't a sentimental ellon. The King of Doriath was hard and proud and stubborn. Those he loved got hurt, he had learnt early on. It was Melian who had cleaved to him, thawed his heart and given him a daughter to love, his Lúthien, who had softened him just that little bit more. And as for Brandir…Brandir's father had been his friend, in Cuiviénen; they had played together beneath the bright stars as small children. Duty, more than anything, had made him take in his friend's child when Aearondir and Beldes had disappeared. Duty at first, yes, but he had grown to be fond of Brandir, to take pride in his accomplishments and, in time, to view him as a son. He had – and did – love Brandir, as much as he was able to, just as he loved Lúthien.

"Neldiel, you are my foster-son's daughter," Elu said finally. "I have always taken pride in Brandir's children."

"Is that the same as loving us?" Neldiel asked, sounding hopeful.

Another pause, and then Elu nodded briefly, not trusting himself to speak. After a lifetime of hurt and heartbreak, after loving and losing again and again, he wasn't sure he knew how to love properly, not anymore, but this was the nearest he could come to it. So for him, yes, it amounted to the same thing. Neldiel, oblivious and pleased, just replied, "Oh, well, that's all right". She paused, and then added graciously, "You may smack me now."

Elu's mouth twitched ever so slightly. "Thank you, little one," he said drily. "Into position, then."

Neldiel obeyed, keeping Princess Lúthien's old rabbit close as the King bared her bottom and began the punishment without any further discussion. The swats fell in rapid succession, and as Neldiel squeezed her eyes shut against the tears stinging them and pressed her lips tightly together, she made sure she kept both hands on Dagnir. Brandir tolerated it when she grabbed a fistful of his robes, but she didn't think Elu would be too pleased.

The smacks that covered her sensitive sit spots and undercurves made her toes curl, and she bit back a whimper and furiously blinked away tears; she wasn't sure if she was allowed to cry in front of the King. Certainly, she didn't want to give him a reason to be even more cross. She was spared from reaching that point though, for after a final few swats, Elu patted Neldiel's back gently and righted her. "There, little one," he said quietly. "Brave girl."

The elfling rubbed her eyes quickly, letting out a shuddering breath as she tried to compose herself. "I'm very sorry that I ran into you, Your Majesty," she sniffled. "Again."

"It is forgiven, but do not let it happen again," Elu replied.

"Have I got to tell Ada?" Neldiel whispered. "He'll be ever so cross to hear that I made the King spank me."

Elu shook his head briefly. "It is done. Go now, Lúthien is waiting."

After tucking the old rabbit under her arm and fixing her clothing properly, Neldiel curtseyed. She straightened and backed away a few steps as she knew protocol demanded, and when she left the room, she walked, nicely and slowly, to search out Lúthien. She found her in the private dining room that adjoined the lounge area, waiting at a table laden with a good selection of aromatic breakfast delicacies and cordials. As soon as Neldiel entered, Lúthien rose to meet her and take her into a gentle embrace.

"Are you feeling well, sweetness?" she asked kindly.

Neldiel was never sure how anyone could ask such a thing if they knew she had just been spanked. "My bottom stings," she told the older elleth.

"I know. Give it a minute," Lúthien murmured. As she held Neldiel, she lowered her hand to the seat of the little girl's dress, focusing on the warmth and pain hidden away beneath layers of silk. "There, now…is that better?"

"It went!" Neldiel gasped, her eyes widening as she realised that the sting had ebbed away until it was barely there.

Lúthien smiled very slightly, a serene little smile that said it would be their secret. She set the elfling down at the table and resumed her seat, uncovering the dishes of eggs whipped into a creamy fluff, toasted bread, smoked river salmon, berries, fruit and cheese, and pitchers of milk, cream and cordial. She served herself, and allowed Neldiel to do the same, smiling as the small girl looked delighted at the privilege.

"Did you ever do that for Ada?" Neldiel asked, when breakfast was underway. "Take his pain away?"

"Ah, well, your father found trouble rarely. He was a quiet, serious boy, ever eager to please Adar and Naneth, though that is not to say he never earned himself a smacking," Lúthien replied, sounding thoughtful as she remembered. She carefully laid down her fork and propped her chin on her hand, gazing into the past. "I did it for him once without asking if he wished me to, and he was most upset."

"Upset," Neldiel repeated, wrinkling her nose. "Why?"

"Brandir was as honourable an elfling as he is a grown ellon," Lúthien said gently. "He did not think it right."

Neldiel thought about that as she popped a bright strawberry dipped in cream into her mouth. When it was gone, she looked across the table at Lúthien. "Does that make me dishonourable, Princess?"

"It makes you different, sweet girl," Lúthien said fondly, reaching out to caress Neldiel's cheek with the back of her fingers. "And different is good."

Neldiel smiled, her blue-green eyes alight with pleasure at praise from the Princess. "Then that's not so bad."

"No," Lúthien agreed, returning the smile. "It's not so bad at all."