King Thranduil held his quill pen over a piece of parchment, and sighed deeply as some black ink dripped onto the desk. He was supposed to be writing a letter to someone or other, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not concentrate. His mind kept returning to this latest dilemma – should he tell Calaen the truth, or should he not?

He knew that Airëlus had made some good points, and he knew that the longer he left it, the more damage would be caused when it finally came out. And he hated himself for that not being enough to convince him. Of course he wanted to protect his son, and if telling him now was the only way to do so, then…

'Findilan, I promised you,' the Elven-king thought sadly. 'It was the last thing that I ever…and now… how can I break that final promise? Maybe Airëlus is right – you would understand. But I wish you were here. I wish I did not have to do this on my own.'

Thranduil was pulled from his thoughts by a knocking on his study door. Grateful for the distraction, he called out for whoever it was to enter. He expected it to be one of his advisors come to bother him – as they loved to do every day – and was definitely not prepared for what he saw: Calaen and Airëlus being brought in, both looking as un-Prince-like as they could be, especially the younger of the two.

"What happened?" the King demanded, fearing the worst – Orcs near the palace, accidents with weapons…

"Your Highness, we…" one of the soldiers began uncomfortably.

Thranduil was at his sons' sides immediately. When he laid eyes on Calaen, his heart sped slightly – it was, after all, the first time he had seen him that day, and he could not help but remember the story he had told. But as he gently wiped away some blood with his sleeve, the memories were overpowered by the love he had for the dark haired Prince.

"Your Highness, there is no need for worry," the other soldier said. "This was no attack. Your sons were in a fight."

The King's eyes hardened as he motioned for Calaen and Airëlus to sit down. When he next spoke, his voice was cold. "What happened?"

"Prince Calaen got into a dispute with a younger soldier," one of the Elves replied. "We are not aware of how or why it started, Your Highness, but he lost his temper. Prince Airëlus, from what we saw, joined in when he realised what was happening. I do not-

"That is a lie!" Airëlus spat, jumping to his feet.

"Silence!" Thranduil snapped.

"Forgive me, my Prince, but I can only say what I saw," the Elf replied apologetically.

Thranduil nodded once, dismissing the soldiers curtly. They bowed, and then left the room quickly, thinking that, for the protection of their sensitive ears, it would be best to be nowhere in the vicinity when their King's tirade began. It was the two Princes that they felt immensely sorry for, though.

There was silence in the room, though the tension did not go un-noticed. Calaen kept his eyes lowered, concentrating on remaining calm, so he would not give away that he knew anything; Airëlus stared defiantly into his father's eyes. He was not at fault, and his natural brotherly feelings made him want to protect the younger Prince from anyone who tried to shift the blame onto him.

"What have you done?" Thranduil hissed eventually. "More to the point, why have you done it?"

"Do not make a fuss over this," Airëlus replied. "It is nothing, we just-

"Nothing? Nothing?" Thranduil exploded. "You two turn up looking like this, and you claim it to be 'nothing'? I was not born yesterday, Airëlus – I am not as stupid as maybe you like to think. I want the truth from you, and I want it now."

The Crown Prince pulled the back of his hand over his bottom lip, brushing away the blood. He was not badly injured, but the same thing could not be said about his brother. Calaen's left eyes was already beginning to swell, there was a dark bruise forming on his cheek, and a kick from Berian's booted foot had badly split his lip, sending blood dripping down his chin. His dark hair was untidy, the braids nearly undone.

"I am waiting for one of you to speak," Thranduil said in a low voice.

"What do you want us to say?" Airëlus challenged. "The truth?"

The King shot his eldest son a cold look, though he could understand the Prince's anger at his hypocrisy. For after all, that was what it was. "I expected better from both of you. I expect all of my children to act with at least some decorum. I have not brought any of you up to behave like this. As Princes of Mirkwood, you should both be setting examples, not picking fights and acting like a pair of spoilt children."

"Do you even know what you are talking about?" Airëlus exploded. "Maybe if you heard our sides of the story, you would understand a little more."

"Go on then," Thranduil replied. He leaned back against his desk, and nodded at the Crown Prince. "You speak first."

Airëlus glanced sideways at Calaen, wondering how to explain without getting his brother into further trouble. The dark haired Elf did not even look up. "Well, I-

The door of the study suddenly burst open, and Legolas ran into the room, out of breath. "Ada!"

"What do you want?" the King practically yelled.

The child stopped, a hurt expression on his face, and held out a cloth dripping with some unidentifiable substance. "I went to the healing rooms because Calaen and Airëlus are hurt, so the healers put a healing liquid on here."

"That was thoughtful, but now is not the time," Thranduil replied, working hard to keep his voice calm.

"Calaen's bleeding," Legolas said pointedly. "You have to make him better, Ada. You can't just leave him like that."

"I am talking to your brothers," Thranduil snapped. "You can leave that cloth on the desk if you want to, and then you can get out."

Legolas' eyes flashed. "You're horrible, Ada," he said venomously. "If you don't help him, then whenever you get hurt, I won't help you, and then you'll know what it feels like."

With that, the Elfling threw the cloth onto the desk, ignoring the fact that it was dripping all over Thranduil's papers. Shooting his father one last cold look, Legolas turned on his heel and stormed from the room. The other three Elves were silent. At any other time, the King being given an ultimatum like that by his little son would have been laughable. But it wasn't. Not this time.

Airëlus stood eventually, and picked up the cloth. Turning back to his brother, he said softly, "Calaen, you are still bleeding."

The dark haired Prince nodded so vaguely, that if a mortal had been present, the gesture would have gone un-noticed by him. Calaen didn't care that he was bleeding. He just wanted to get out of there. Not once had he looked at the King – he feared that, should he do so, the inner pain and turmoil that he already felt would be increased tenfold.

"This will help ease the pain," Airëlus continued. He gently turned his brother's face to him, but Calaen kept his eyes lowered. Sighing, the Crown Prince dabbed at the cuts with the cloth.

Thranduil stood at the side of the room, watching the scene in silence. The anger he had previously felt was slowly melting away. Legolas' words had shocked him, had made him realise that instead of shouting and going on at his sons, he should be helping them, and trying to find out what had happened to make them resort to violence. Suddenly, he stepped forwards, and caught Airëlus' arm. "Stop that."

The Crown Prince looked up in amazement. "You want me to stop helping my own brother?"

"No. I want to help my son," Thranduil replied. He looked at Airëlus, pleading with his eyes. Sighing, the fair haired Elf nodded, and handed the cloth over.

Calaen barely paid attention to the exchange, but he knew what was going on. He hated the fact that they were talking about him as though he wasn't there. He just wanted to scream at them that he knew; he knew, and there was no need for them to pretend any more.

"Why did you do this?" Thranduil asked softly, turning the Prince's face gently. "This is not like you."

"I…" Calaen raised his eyes, and as soon as they met the King's, he tried to tear them away. He couldn't. "I…I don't…"

"You can tell me," Thranduil said. His anger really had disappeared as swiftly as it had come. "I thought you trusted me."

"I do," the Prince whispered. "I cannot tell you."

"Calaen, you are my son," Thranduil said gently. "There is nothing you can say that will shock me, or make me love you any less. I can help you."

"No!"

Without warning, Calaen hit the King's hand away, and jumped to his feet. Tears stung his eyes, and the incessant lies and pretence made him feel sick. As he wrenched the door open and ran from the room, neither Thranduil nor Airëlus made any move to go after him. They both wanted to, but they also knew he should be allowed time to cool down.

Airëlus was the first to speak. "Something is wrong with him. You should have seen the way he fought that soldier. I hate to say it, but if I had not stopped him, Calaen would have done some serious damage. I never even knew he had such strength."

"Then, you did not fight him?" Thranduil asked.

"Of course not. You really thought I did?" Airëlus said scornfully. "I would never hurt him. I pulled him away from the soldier, but I did not hit him. But…you should know that he hit me. Do not be angry with him."

"I am not. I am surprised," Thranduil replied. "He has never done that before."

"I know," Airëlus sighed. He paused, and shook his head regretfully. "Legolas saw everything."

The Elven-king grimaced at that. "He was not involved, though?"

"Of course not. He was kept back by some soldiers," Airëlus replied. "But that did not prevent him from seeing the fighting. From what I saw of him, he was frightened by it all."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Thranduil sighed. "I will speak to him after I have seen Calaen."

Airëlus arched an eyebrow. "What are you going to say to Calaen?"

Thranduil was silent for a moment, and when he spoke, he did not give an answer to the question. "You were planning to leave again today. I am sorry, but I must take you off patrol for a while."

"You cannot do that," Airëlus said incredulously.

"I can arrange it with your captain," Thranduil replied. "Do not worry; I am not doing this to punish you. I am doing it because I need you here. And I think that Calaen will also need you."

"What do you mean?" Airëlus asked.

The Elven-king turned to face his son, and smiled sadly. "You were right. I should have listened to you in the first." He paused, as though taking a moment to convince himself he was doing the right thing. "I am going to tell Calaen."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Haldir's Heart and Soul: Cahoots is a beast of word, I love it! Yeah, that's how they got into cahoots, but there'll be a bit more on that in a few chapters time.

Legolas-gurl88: Yeah, I'm glad that Airëlus is staying too! I like him too much to send him away so soon! And yes, it was a bit mean of Calaen to hit his brother, but I don't suppose he can really be blamed at the moment. Poor Elf!

Jedi Gollum: Calaen said that Cield shouldn't be jealous. He thinks that jealousy is stupid and unnecessary. Oh hang on; he's saying something else now. Ah. He said scrap that idea. He thinks that if everyone was jealous of someone, the world would be a much better place. Right-o. Anyway, Calaen will have a new friend, but he still likes Cield!!!

Utsuri: That's cool that your calendar has Legolas on it this month. I have two calendars – one of ROTK, and one of Orlando. My ROTK one has Aragorn on it (Legolas was August – my Birthday!!!) and on the other one, guess who's this month?! Orlando! Well, it figures, I suppose.

Halimanya: Well, he didn't knock Berian's teeth out, but he sure did some damage!!!

Lombadia Greenleaf: Aw, your brother sounds so sweet! And he's at such a cute age! Lucky you!

Coolio02: Glad you enjoy!!!

Elven Kitten: Yeah, I agree with you! Although at this point, I'd rather huggle him! Huggle is a cool word!!!

Ooh, but Calaen already knows, so I wonder what will happen. Why do I always say that? I know what happens! I'm so stupid. Anyway, I'm under quite a lot of stress at the moment. I'm doing two drama performances this week (one tomorrow and one on Thursday) and they count for one third of my AS Level at college, so I'm nervous.

Right, I'm not sure, but I don't think there are many chapters left of this. I may only write three or four more, and that'll be it. But don't quote me on it. That might change. See, I think I've found a good place to stop, so I'm still considering it. But when I do finish this story, I have like, three other LOTR stories to write, and I'm really looking forward to writing them!!!

Anyway, next chapter is up soon!

Misto

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