King Thranduil looked up as there was a knock on his study door. "Come in," he called, putting down his quill pen.

Airëlus entered the room, and sat down in front of his father's desk. Upon leaving Calaen and Legolas, he had gone to his own room and gotten changed out of the clothes he had been wearing on his return from patrol. He began fiddling absentmindedly with his newly done braids, and stared out of the window in silence.

"Is everything alright?" Thranduil prompted.

The Crown Prince flicked his eyes across to meet his father's, and sighed deeply. "I am not sure. Legolas is hiding something. He never was any good at keeping things secret."

"That is true. But what could possibly be so bad that he does not want to tell us?" Thranduil asked.

"I will go up and see him later," Airëlus replied. "With all due respect, I do not think that you are his favourite Elf at the moment."

"I expected no less," Thranduil said. "Do not spend too long talking with him, though. If he does not finish that work, he is banned from the archery fields. I do not want it to come to that."

Airëlus shifted uncomfortably in his seat, wondering how best to voice his opinion. "That was the other thing I wanted to speak to you about. Ada, do you think it fair to punish Legolas and not Calaen?"

"You saw that Legolas was about to strike Calaen," Thranduil replied. "Would you have me do nothing about it? Airëlus, I am punishing him because of what I saw."

"But Calaen hurt Legolas also, and he is getting away with it," the Crown Prince replied. "I just do not think that is fair. Alright, he says he was only defending himself, but I think he went a little too far in his defence."

"Then, what are you saying?" Thranduil asked sharply.

Airëlus felt a little uneasy under his father's gaze, but he held his ground. "All I am saying is that Calaen is getting away with what he did, whilst all the blame is being put on Legolas."

"Then, I will punish Calaen so that Legolas feels better," Thranduil replied. "Is that fair?"

"Never mind," Airëlus sighed. "Just forget I ever said anything."

"Look, Calaen is so much older than Legolas. He is mature enough to correct his mistakes. And because he is older, if I were to punish him, he would just feel humiliated," Thranduil said. "What would you feel like if I punished you for something?"

"Yes alright, I see your point," Airëlus snapped. "But this is not about me."

Thranduil leant forwards, and fixed his son with a cold glare. "Calaen is not a child. Legolas is. Airëlus, you know that I love him with all of my heart, but that does not mean I will hesitate to discipline him if he needs it. This time he needed it. I'm sorry you feel this way, but that is all there is to say on the subject."

"Very well," Airëlus muttered.

"Do not think I enjoy doing this," Thranduil said. "Maybe you think me harsh. But one day, if you have children, you may well find yourself in the very same position. Then you will understand my reasons."

Airëlus inclined his head and got to his feet. "If you say so. I will go and see Legolas now. If he tells me anything, I will inform you."

"Thank you." Thranduil sighed deeply as his eldest son left the room – he despised having to deal with things like this.

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Legolas stared down at the book, and shook himself mentally. He was sure that he had never read anything quite so tedious in his whole life! He had been reading for just over an hour, and was only half way through. There was no way he would be able to get through the whole book, and write six pieces of parchment on what he had read.

Just as he was about to slam the book shut, the door to his room opened. He had expected it to be either Calaen come to gloat, or Thranduil come to check up on him. The Prince relaxed though, when he saw that it was neither.

"How are you?" Airëlus asked softly, sitting on the bed.

"Angry, irritated, exasperated, tired, and filled with a burning desire to wrap that snapped bowstring around Calaen's neck, and pull very hard," Legolas replied. "And yourself?"

Airëlus laughed softly, pale blue eyes twinkling. "Do not let Ada hear you say that. You are in enough trouble as it is. How much have you done?"

"Well, I have another two hundred pages or so to read, but I've already started writing," Legolas replied, passing his brother a piece of parchment from the desk.

The Crown Prince looked down, and the humour was suddenly gone from his face. "Legolas, you gave written the title."

"I got sidetracked," the younger Elf sighed. At the expression on Airëlus' face, he passed over another piece of parchment. "I didn't mean to, I just…you know."

"Trees," Airëlus said slowly. "You drew trees."

"Not just any trees," Legolas said "It is the forest at night. Can you not tell? Look, I even put us in there. You're there, in front of that tree. And I'm up in the branches, throwing things at Calaen."

Airëlus cleared his throat pointedly. "Admirable as this is, it is not what you should have been doing."

Legolas lowered his eyes and nodded. "I know. But I just cannot concentrate, no matter how hard I try. Ada wants this in his study by tomorrow morning otherwise he will keep me from the archery fields for a week. A whole week, Airëlus! What am I going to do?"

"You are not making it any easier for yourself by drawing trees," the Crown Prince said.

"I will not be able to do it. Calaen will love that," Legolas muttered, choosing to ignore his brother's last remark.

Airëlus sighed, and went to sit at the desk. "I did not come up here to do this, but I will help you. I can remember when I had lessons, and had to study Dwarves, so I sympathise with you. Alright, you read that book, and I will write some notes for you."

"Are you sure?" Legolas asked. "What if Ada finds out?"

"He won't. At least, not if we do not tell him," Airëlus replied, dipping a quill into the ink bottle.

Legolas smiled gratefully as he picked up the book again. He looked down at the page, but as soon as he did so, all the words and images began to swim in front of him. One word in particular leapt out to him: destroy. He remembered what Calaen had said to him, and he closed his eyes tightly, trying to block it out.

"I am doing you a favour. You could at least try and read the book," Airëlus said sharply.

The young Prince looked up in surprise. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he had forgotten his brother was there. "Sorry. I was thinking about something."

"Valar save us all," Airëlus muttered, laying his quill down. "Go on, then. What were you thinking?"

Legolas closed the book and laid it down on the bed beside him. Drawing his knees up to his chest, he bit down on his lip. "I…there was something that I did not tell Ada," he began hesitantly. "I fought Calaen because he…. No, it does not matter. Forget I ever said anything."

"What did he do?" Airëlus asked softly.

The golden haired Prince rose, and without another word to the other Elf pushed open the doors to the balcony, and went to stand outside. He stared at the trees, angry with himself for even thinking that telling his brother what Calaen had said would have been a good idea. Of course it was not. He did not want more trouble, but that was would be caused.

"Tell me," Airëlus said quietly, as he too came out onto the balcony.

"It was nothing," Legolas replied.

The Crown Prince sighed, and rested a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "Calaen did or said something to provoke you. I want to know what happened."

"Will you leave the matter alone? I have told you that it was nothing," Legolas snapped, spinning around and pushing past the older Elf.

Airëlus reached out, and grabbed the back of his brother's tunic. "What is holding you back?"

"You are, now let go of me!"

"You know what I mean. What is holding you back from telling me? What are you afraid of?" Airëlus asked. He paused, and turned Legolas' face towards him. "Please. I cannot help you if I do not know what is wrong."

"If I tell you what really happened, you must give me your word that this goes no further," the young Prince replied. "Ada especially cannot hear this."

"Alright."

"Swear it," Legolas said urgently. "Promise me that you will keep this to yourself."

"I promise," Airëlus said in surprise. "This information will go no further. You have my word."

Legolas looked up into his brother's eyes, seeking reassurance that everything would be alright. He found the honesty that he had wanted, and nodded slowly. Then, he began to speak…

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