"Mallas?"

Mallas turned her golden head to look at her brother. He carried, as always now, his bow and quiver. "What?"

Legolas fidgeted. "Umm….will you talk to Nelloth for me, please?"

Mallas blinked, unsure of how to proceed. "What about then?"

Legolas took a deep breath. "Just tell her…just give her these." He thrust a dainty arrangement of flowers into Mallas's hands.

"These are beautiful." She narrowed her eyes at her brother. "You didn't do these, I know that."

Legolas did not even have the grace to look offended. "Nana helped me."

Mallas rolled her eyes. "Ai Legolas! You like Nelloth, not I! Give them to her."

"I tried!" wailed Legolas. "And I just can't!"

Mallas gave him the flowers carefully and then grabbed his other hand and pulled him along. The object of this woe was outside the Halls, sitting on a low branch. Mallas pushed him into Nelloth's view and then scurried inside.

Legolas stood, panicking. Nelloth was watching him curiously, her dark curls tumbling over her face. "Legolas, what ails you?"

He promptly hid the flowers behind his back, and walked up to the tree. "Nothing."

Nelloth hopped down. "Legolas, you're terribly at lying."

Legolas was unaware whether to handle this with a frown or a smile, so he merely kept his face expressionless. "Nelloth…..I….flowers?" She accepted them with a smile, and for the first time something like a blush crossed her face. "Thank you. They are very lovely."

Legolas nodded and fled inside, unaware that his parents had been observing him, unseen. Nelloth skipped off before Thranduil broke down into gales of laughter.

Laurëlasse grinned after her fleeing son. "He takes after you, melin."

Thranduil was unable to deny this, so he kissed his wife's golden ringlets. "Not even a decade old, and already entangled."

"It will be fine." insisted Laurëlasse. "They have a bond. Maybe one day, Nelloth will be the Princess."

Thranduil groaned. "She'll need to grow up, and learn to act like royalty."

"And I suppose getting in a leaf fight with your son was acting like royalty?" asked Laurëlasse, an unbidden smile dancing her green eyes.

"Absolutely." insisted Thranduil and kissed her again.