Later the next morning, Haldir, Rumil, and Orophin were all very nervous as they were now at Galadriel's and Celeborn's talan. One of their lord's personal guards had arrived at the brothers' talan declaring they were being summoned and were to come immediately. They could only assume last night's prank had worked and they were going to be punished. Poor Haldir couldn't even look at his younger brothers' faces for fear of being tarred, feathered, and skewered right then and there.

"We told you this was a dangerous idea Haldir! Didn't we? Now, look at where your prank has landed us!" Rúmil viciously spat at his older brother.

"Yeah, whatever happened to "Oh I promise this time we won't be caught," Orophin mocked.

"Hey! No one forced you to do this, you could have both bailed out anytime, but you two chose to come along and partake of this prank. Besides we both know who ratted us out and if it's the last thing I do I will make Sogrion suffer worse than when he suffered from the itching powder!" Haldir said through gritted teeth, his fists balled up.

Suddenly the doors opened, and a tall silver-haired elleth Lenhel came out. "The Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn will both see you now."

The three wardens bowed and slowly entered the room with Lenhel watching with dreaded remorse on her face. Eru only knew what was to become of everyone beloved and most respected Marchwarden. Although she had to admit this was probably the best prank Haldir had pulled off, and she had seen quite a few of his pranks. Lenhel had to stifle a laugh at the memory of last night or risk being punished as well.

As the door closed behind them, they gulped at the sight before them: their sat before them with emotionless faces were the once beautiful and noble Galadriel and Celeborn. Instead of lush silver and gold hair and fair faces, were the lord and lady who were now dark purple and bright neon green from the tops of their heads to the bottom of their toes. Not to mention it looked as if Lord Celeborn was nursing a horrid hangover from the Dorwinion wine Haldir had swapped with Celeborn's original wine.

Maybe the wine wasn't such a good idea, after all, Haldir thought to himself.

"Come forward you three, now," Galadriel said with a low stern voice which only indicated she was beyond angry and had to use great restraint not to throttle her wardens.

As the three slowly came forward, Galadriel arose and came forward. "My lady," Haldir said while bowing. "Please…"

"SILENCE!" Galadriel boomed. Haldir fell silent at once and lowered his eyes. He hated being at the receiving end of his lady's wrath. He would much rather be facing a horde of Uruk-hai. "I want to know which one of you was responsible for this… this atrocious incident last night."

Haldir knew he had to take full responsibility for this. It was his idea, and as he was the eldest, he should have set an example for his younger brothers. He couldn't allow Orophin and Rúmil to be punished for his prank. So, with all the courage, he could muster Haldir came forward. "I am my lady. This was my idea, and I am the one who set it in motion. My brothers had nothing to do with this."

Celeborn now stood and came swiftly forward with as much grace and dignity as he could to stand by his wife. As Galadriel held his hand, she started again. "Be as that may be Haldir, they still followed you and partook in this prank even if it was you who was the mastermind behind it. Therefore, the three of you are to be punished like never before."

They all gulped and began to tremble. Orophin looked as if he was going to kill his brother. Rúmil just looked as if he was going to be sick. Being punished by Galadriel was bad enough, but if Celeborn were to be a part of this, it would be three times worse. He wished the ground would open up and swallow him.

After a minute Celeborn finally spoke. "Therefore, as a suitable punishment, the three of you will take over the duty of cleaning the bathrooms, doing the laundry and then making beds at which point in time you will then go to the armory and polish all the armor and swords. This will be your punishment for six months."

"Six months!" They all shouted in unison.

"Yes, six months," Galadriel repeated. "It will take six months for this dye to be completely gone, so your punishment will last until then. In the meantime, you three will be relieved of your duties of patrolling the borders until your punishment is up."

The three started to protest, but upon the threatening look of Celeborn and Galadriel they quickly shut up. "As you wish my lady, my lord," they said with a slight bow of the head.

"You may be excused. And let this be a lesson to you to stop and think before pulling such an act. Oh, and Haldir, please return the key to my study until I feel you are worthy enough to keep hold of it," Celeborn said sternly to his Marchwarden.

Haldir handed over the key feeling nine inches tall. "Forgive me, my lord. This will not happen again." They then turned and left.

Just then Lady Galadriel got a look on her face her husband knew only too well. "What are you thinking, my love?"

Galadriel chuckled. "We are going to make sure they never play another prank as long as they live," Galadriel responded.

Celeborn was confused. "Isn't punishing them like this enough to deter them?"

Galadriel looked at her husband with wide eyes. "Are you serious? You would have thought last time they would have learned their lesson and look at us," she said while gesturing to them.

"Please, don't remind me. If I ever see the color purple again, it will be too soon. So, what do you have in mind?" Knowing his wife and the way her mind worked he almost started to feel sorry for their wardens.

Lady Galadriel whispered in his ear the plan she had, and all he could do was laugh. "My dear, you are a genius!"

"I know," she responded. "They will never know what hit them."