Author's Note: Well, I finally got the other chapter loaded, a few days later than I expected. I don't believe it! I got one chapter up without the gang noticing! *DUCKS* Not that I don't love you guys, but you write incredible long and mostly pointless reviews that more or less serve to tell the world you guys are incapable of surfing the web on personal computers by yourselves….

Um, yeah…

I'll just shut up before they sneak in and egg my room… again…

This took me a bit longer than planned because I was struck by creative lightning—I have another story I'm planning to start up today, but I swear I won't slow things down any (more than they already are because of the inexcusable course load I have) for this story. I just pray I don't cross upload any chapters.

Here you go, guys!

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The children sat down quickly, hardly pausing for a 'hello nana' before they were looking at me expectantly. I rolled my eyes towards the ceiling, though I had to smile at their interest. Even the eldest girl no longer tried to claim indifference or disinterest. She had taken over the bed today, though she let her sister sit off to one side as their brother took the abandoned window seat.

"Anyone remember where we were?"

"The fall festival," a voice from the window declared at once. "Salan was dancing with Martalon, worried about Legolas," he added, obviously tired of being reprimanded for imperfect answers.

"Ah, you are right," I agreed as the others stayed silent. "Well, the next morning…."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Salan hesitated outside the door to Legolas's room. She had awakened him for breakfast nearly every morning for near on a hundred years, but today she hesitated. The look in his eyes returned to the fore of her memory, and she knocked hesitantly, recalling almost painfully all the times she had simply walked in, jumping onto his bed to wake him. He would almost always growl and throw a pillow at her, which she would promptly use against him. If he still didn't get up, she knew of a few delightfully ticklish spots that usually got him going quickly enough….

A curse from within broke into her musings and her second round of knocking.

"What?" Legolas growled, making his disheveled appearance at the door. "Oh," he muttered, looking at her with a frown. Then he yawned and ran his left hand through his mussed hair, the movement making her try to see why he wasn't using his right hand like usual. It was holding up the piece of material wrapped about his waist.

She blushed and turned around, not even curious as to the owner of the feminine foot she had glimpsed on his bed before her senses had returned enough she moved away. "Breakfast is undoubtedly being served, Legolas," she murmured softly, only the insistence of a few weeks before keeping her from calling him either 'my lord' or 'prince'. She walked quickly away, not looking back.

Legolas looked after her, feeling regret again for the death of his childhood. Not that he would have definitely changed it if given the chance to. Still, seeing Salan feel uncomfortable facing him, which hadn't happened more than once or twice in the time since she was fifty years old, made him reconsider. With a sigh he closed his door, looking disinterestedly at the she-elf stretched out on his bed, her eyes slowly blinking as he moved around, getting dressed.

"Good morning, my prince," she murmured, her voice nearly a purr.

"Morning it is," he agreed, finding a pair of leggings that would work since he still had to look the part of a prince, since their guests were still around. He pulled them on and glanced back at the elf in his bed. "Breakfast is being served, if you're hungry," he informed her, not missing the distressed, hurt look she sent him.

"I'd rather stay here," she murmured softly, her eyes asking him not to do what he was doing—shutting her out.

"You can do whatever you wish," he muttered, not really caring if she was hurting right now. So was he. "I need to be with my family." And friend. He threw her clothing towards the bed, but she was clutching at the sheet that covered her. He looked at her for a moment from the door, then left. He closed his eyes as he heard a soft sob before he closed the door, but shook his head and ran down the halls, hoping to catch up with Salan before she entered the dining hall. He managed, but barely. He caught her arm and swung her away from the door before they could see she was about to enter. "Good morning," he murmured softly, letting go of her arm to sweep some of her hair back. He tilted his head at her, aware he was pleading with her but he wasn't sure for what.

When she smiled at him, he knew. He wanted her friendship, and had been afraid the not so welcome at his door had hurt it. He let out a breath of relief, seeing a comfortable grin slowly slide into place on her face. "So, Legolas," she murmured softly, walking ahead of him towards the door, "how was she?"

He choked, his face turning bright red as he froze in his tracks. "Salan!"

She grinned cheekily over her shoulder at him. "Well, you said I wasn't a child if you weren't, and you most certainly no longer count. Of course, at the same time you warned Martalon you would perform impromptu knife work if he got too close to me…" She chuckled at his expression and walked jauntily into the dining hall, leaving Legolas to control his blush.

After that, Salan would knock about ten times on Legolas's door in rapid succession, but wouldn't wait around for him to come to the door. He would have sworn she did it just for revenge, except she had never been the kind to get revenge, except maybe by making him feel guilty by not making sure he was punished when a few words from her would have sufficed.

One morning the knocking continued, making Legolas get up from the warm tangle of sheets and limbs he had been sleeping in. The knocking became almost frantic, before finally the handle turned and a blur of hair caught his vision before Salan was before him. "Legolas!" she hissed, her eyes wide. They darted to the bed, and she spun around the room in a flurry of long hair and full skirts, tossing clothing at the both of them, while they simply blinked at her in sleepy astonishment.

"Dress! Dress already milady!" she insisted, tugging on the lady's hands so she was in a sitting position. "Legolas!" she whined, seeing he hadn't moved since grabbing and stepping into his leggings.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes, her hands clenched and her voice angry while still going at three times her normal speed. "I've decided to pay you back for every rotten thing you've ever done to me by waking and dressing you before your fathers get down here!"

He sent a wide-eyed look at the she-elf in his bed, and then they both got dressed in a flurry of clothes. Salan took the she-elf by the hand and ducked down the small corridor hidden by a tapestry on one wall even as he heard footsteps approaching.

He swallowed and looked around, seeing Salan had done a good job getting all of his lover's clothing out of the way. He grabbed a comb and quickly smoothed his hair, braiding it as a knock came on the door. "Enter," he called through the wood, surprised his hands weren't shaking as he finished the small braid that went over one ear and began working on the next even as his father entered.

"Legolas, I need to speak—" Thranduil trailed off as he saw the room was utterly empty, save for the prince who was finishing the second of braids that went over his ear. "Uh… Do you happen to know where…" He frowned. "Never mind."

Legolas couldn't help a shaky grin as his father left, but he had it firmly in hand before entering the dinning hall, where Salan and her charge were already eating, looking innocently up at him as Thranduil seemed utterly confused.

The lady's father, however, was not, and before long Legolas was called before him and Thranduil, who was righteously indignant when he was informed Salan had warned them and aided their escape from being caught. Legolas didn't know for sure what was going on until both she-elves were brought in, his former lover standing beside and somewhat behind her father, her eyes refusing to meet his since she had obviously broke down at her father's questioning, while Salan stood where any good servant should, in a place that showed her subordination and lack of support against the accusations laid upon her.

He frowned when Thranduil berated her for merely trying to help them, for not allowing an embarrassing situation to occur when Thranduil burst into his room. "Father—"

"Be silent, Legolas!" Thranduil insisted. "I shall get around to you when I have finished with Salan."

Her cheeks had paled, her eyes growing darker with every word of condemnation, but her chin didn't sink below the mark her position required she hold it, not beaten though he saw her quake once.

"Father," he insisted, moving so he was nearly in front of her. "Salan did what she did to spare the lady a scene. For being kind to our guest you berate her so harshly?"

"Are you sure it was not out of misplaced loyalty to you?" Thranduil asked back, his eyes furious.

Legolas had not seen him so mad in many long years, nearly centuries in fact, but he had gained a bit of strength himself since then. "And if it was? Isn't it then my place to change her behavior, rather than yours to demean her when she did what she did for the best of reasons?" He drew himself up to his full height. "If any wrong doing has taken place, it was on my part, no one else's. Leave the ladies out of it."

Thranduil looked at his son for a long moment, took in the flashing determination in his bright silver-sharded blue eyes, and lifted a brow, the closest to a smile he could allow himself. "As you wish. Salan, you are dismissed. I would like a moment with my son, please," he asked of the others, who all quickly exited as discreetly as they could. Thranduil did not miss the worried look given the prince by his mother and Salan, though Legolas did.

Pride blossomed in his chest like never before as Legolas stood still and certain, not quelled by the impending doom he knew must be hanging over his head. "You should not toy with the ladies, my son," Thranduil began. Legolas blinked in surprise, for he had never considered what he did 'toying'. "They come here hoping to be made the princess," he continued. "What you do is far from princely."

The blue eyes lowered, a slight frown on the fair face, the hint of silver standing out in the bright blue as Legolas considered this accusation.

"However, you are young, as are they. All elves had a period of wildness in their early adult years. I suppose this is yours." Thranduil nearly smiled when Legolas's eyes shot to his. "But be careful, my son, for not all of the ladies have fathers who remember when they were young." He did smile as a thought occurred to him. "Think how you would feel to have a daughter associated with the likes of you the next time you ask a lady to dance. Or better yet, Salan. You have become rather protective of her, I've noticed. She has nearly reached her adult years now, yet you keep a watch on her dancing partners."

"She is not yet old enough."

"But old enough to know when her actions are wrong."

Legolas nodded slightly. "She would not have done it, if she thought it wrong."

"It was, whether she believed it or not at the time. It was deceitful, even if done for the best of reasons." At the look of anger Legolas tried to control, Thranduil smiled once more. "Which I believe it was. However, punishment cannot be avoided completely. You shall not attend dinner this evening or any other for the coming week, nor shall you be allowed any time alone with any one of the visiting elves. You will take your meals in the kitchen or your room until the week has ended. Understood?"

Legolas nodded. "And Salan?"

"Her punishment is for you to decide."

Legolas frowned, not sure of that idea. How could he punish her for helping him? "Father—"

"That is part of your punishment, though standing up for her when you believed her unjustly treated was a good mark in your favor."

Just as her remaining silent was in hers. Legolas felt no better about it, though, and merely bowed his head before going directly to her room, where he found her pacing nervously. She jumped when she saw someone in the door, worry in her eyes when she saw him. "Well?"

He smiled faintly and closed the door behind him. "I have been banned from the company of visiting she-elves for a week, including at meals."

She blinked in surprise as he stretched out on her bed. She sank down onto the chest which stood at the foot of it, curling her legs beneath her. "That's all?"

"No," he murmured, studying her for a long moment. "I must decide your punishment."

She lowered her eyes away from his, focusing on her hands which were tightly clenched in her lap. All the thoughts she had ever had considering what he could force her to do as the prince came to her mind, though she knew it was silly to worry so, for he was still her friend, and he had stood up for her. Thinking of which, she had to speak before she lost her will to do so. "You should not have stopped him, Legolas."

"Why not?" he frowned at her. "He was not being—"

"He had every right. What I did, while right from one view, was deceitful in his. As the king, he had no choice but to berate me in front of her father."

Legolas was silent for a long moment, for he had failed to remember that as the king, certain duties were above all friendships. His father had been in a tight place, and though Salan had seen that, he had not. "Odd," he mused, "but he almost seemed proud of me for interrupting."

"Of course he was, but you should not have done it. You put him in an even worse place that what I did already had."

He looked at her, her head bent as she studied her hands as if they were fascinating. He sighed softly and thought about it all for a while, how complicated the rules of ruling really were. "Well, my wise young friend, what punishment do you deserve?"

She lifted her eyes to his, her wide eyes sad as she studied him for a long moment. "My just punishment would never be enacted, for you have not the will to do it." She swallowed before continuing. "By the nature of my transgression I should either be banished from the kingdom or put in the dungeons."

He snapped upright. "For helping me?"

"For willingly and knowingly deceiving the king. What greater crime in the land is there that does not involve the shedding of blood?"

"But—"

She shook her head. "You are the prince, Legolas. If anyone else had deceived your father for any reason at all, you would not feel so."

"You did not do it with malicious intent. You did not think that you were deceiving the king, did you? You thought merely that you would help me, and the lady," he added her almost as an afterthought.

"But the law is clear—"

"You are yet a child," he insisted, a frown pulling his brows over coldly glittering eyes. "You did not think as much as you should have before acting. You will not be so harshly punished as that."

"Yet for what I did you cannot let me off with an easy punishment. What I did was worse than what you did, so I—"

He shook his head. "No, Salan. Never believe that. I was in the wrong."

"As was I."

He looked at her for an intent moment, frowning as he recalled his father's words about the ladies. "Excuse me, Salan," he murmured, walking quickly from his room and to the throne room, where the lady's father was discussing something quietly with Thranduil. "Father?" he asked softly.

Thranduil looked up. "Yes, Legolas? Has it been decided?"

"No, Father. For I believe I was the one to do wrong of the two of us." He watched his father, saw surprise enter the wise elf's eyes as he continued. "Declare the punishment you feel just for her actions, yet let me endure it. She knows what she has done and refuses to take any punishment beneath that which should be offered from me. So please, Father," his voice nearly gave out, for it had been a long time indeed since he had pleaded with his father. "Let me have her punishment as well as my own, for she would have done nothing wrong if I had not again led her too far down the path," he added, recalling the incident with the spiders.

Thranduil blinked at his son, surprised at the request and the way it had been worded. "Again?" he asked softly, lifting a brow.

Legolas wasn't sure if he wanted to come completely clean. He was nervous enough about whatever his father would do to him without adding the fact that she had lied to pile. Besides which, that could get her into more trouble. He sighed softly. "The day she saved my life from the spider I had been the one leading. If I had not so led us, we would have never been in danger. Again I have taken her too far." But this time the punishment would come.

Thranduil looked at his son in surprise once more, for he had never expected such things from his son already. Perhaps he was truly going to become a good ruler after all. Salan had done an excellent job, though neither one knew she had been doing it. "Very well, Legolas. You shall be confined to your room for the next moon, and then released only to join your family for meals after that for the following one. Have you anything to say?"

Legolas considered the punishment. "Two things, Father. Both in the form of a request."

"Name them," Thranduil murmured, feeling very well disposed to his son just then.

"First that Salan be kept from punishing herself since she has lacked in being formally punished. I have no doubt she will try to seclude herself in her room for a while. The second being that Harlyn is allowed to visit my room whenever he wishes. Though perhaps that is more for my sake than his, I do not wish him to believe I have neither the time nor the desire to see him, for neither shall ever be true."

Thranduil tilted his head as he regarded his eldest child. "The first shall be impossible to enforce, but I am sure your mothers shall do their best. The second is granted."

Legolas bowed his head. "Thank you, Father." Without another word he turned and walked quickly to Salan's room, where she was still sitting upon the chest at the foot of her bed, her fingers tightly interlaced. "It is done," he informed her, before walking back down a different hall to get to his own room. He heard her behind him before long.

"What is done?" she insisted, following him right into his room.

"You were less at fault than was I, and it was my decision, Salan."

"What was?" she asked in exasperation.

"I have taken your punishment."

Her eyes went wide and she looked him over as if expecting him to be shackled. "What?"

"I am confined entirely to my chambers for the next month, then released only for meals for the following one."

She paled, her eyes looking nearly black against the whiteness of her skin. "You cannot do that."

"I already have."

"You cannot!" she insisted, making a move to leave the room.

He caught her arm, shaking her slightly. "It was my fault, start to finish. You would have done nothing wrong if I had not."

"Exploring adulthood is not something to be considered wrong, Legolas. All elves do it at some time."

"Not all elves are also at the same time princes whose fathers are parading ladies in front of them in the hopes one or another will seem like princess material." She stared up at him, a thousand denials building in her eyes. He placed a finger over her lips. "Father accepted my wish to be granted your punishment, and that you not be allowed to take any upon yourself. He is set in this, you shall not sway him should you be so bold as to trouble him with this matter farther in front of the nobles."

Her eyes dropped from his, and he knew she would not argue with his father. He released her, only to watch her sink to the edge of his bed, the sheets still mussed from the morning fiasco. "Two months," she breathed softly, shaking before she put her face in her hands. "It is as a death sentence!" she declared, her eyes torn between anger and concern when she looked up at him.

Slowly he shook his head. "I am not a wood-elf, my friend. I shall not fade away for not seeing the trees and stars for myself."

"But you have not even the gardens of the palace to enjoy. How could any elf endure it?!?"

He smiled faintly, but shrugged. "I shall. If I begin to fade away, he shall lighten the punishment to include some time in the garden."

"Don't joke. This is a horrible thing to joke about."

"I was not joking, Salan. I shall be fine."

"Indeed?" she spat getting to her feet. "How could you do this? You cannot take my punishment upon yourself. It is not right!"

"Right or not it is what has happened, and neither you, I nor Thranduil can or will change it."

She frowned in distress, dropping down to the bed once more, drawing her knees to her chest as she used to when he left her behind, sitting on the steps looking so forlorn as she began to cry. Thankfully, the tears never came. He wasn't sure what he would have done if faced with those today. She did sniffle though, and then gave him a little watery smile. "If you ever gain the wisdom you deserve, Legolas, you shall make a very fine prince." She swiped at her eyes as if to keep from crying. "Though I ought to strangle you for this."

"Then I would have no chance to help you. That would be a crime greater than the one you claim to have committed, would it not?"

She smiled again, with a little more spirit at his teasing tone. "I wish you hadn't."

"I know. But there has often been a time when what you said or didn't say kept me from punishment. Consider this repayment."

"With interest."

He chuckled softly, drawing another hesitant smile. "I doubt it. I'm probably still in your debt."

She shivered and shook her head. "I don't think so."

He touched her hair softly and then kissed her forehead as the time came when she would be required. "You'd best lock the door on your way out," he murmured softly, pulling the key from his tunic.

"What about Harlyn?"

"That was another request of mine, which was also granted. He is allowed to see me whenever he wishes."

She nodded and slowly took the key, backing away with a look of guilt as she pulled the door shut, or started to.

"Salan?" She looked at him in question. "This was my decision. Don't torture yourself over it."

With a downcast look she pulled the door shut, and he felt her hesitate before the key was inserted, slowly turning before being pulled loose. He heard it hit the door when she hung it by its string around the door knob, then turned to look around the room with a sigh. It was going to be a long two months—

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What are you three still doing in here?"

"Mother!" two of the three elves listening protested.

"No, I don't want to hear it. It's off to bed for you. Really nana, you know it's too late for them to be up!" Despite her words her eyes were sparkling as she scolded me, knowing well I enjoyed making them wait for more of the story, and she didn't mind being the reason for the wait. She could remember others doing it to her. "Say goodnight to nana, children."

"Good night, nana," they each echoed before kissing my cheek on their way out the door.

"Good night, dear nana," she added, following the path of her children before closing the door behind them with a wink.