A nice little chapter for everyone who likes having updates. More probably by Friday.

Iluvien: She went to the palace dressed entirely as she would have at the beginning of the story. So, she has her under-vest, leggings, tunic, her hair braided in a male fashion…

Farflung: Glad you agree with Alyeni's reaction to all of this.

Angeline: Thank you, and I fully agree. Lots of mistakes are really irritating. So if you find something that just rubs you wrong, let me know and (if I agree) I'll fix it as soon as I find out. The reason I chose to do it this way is that—while Tolkien's form of English was fine for the story—I find that most attempts by other writers to copy it end up sounding stiff and completely unnatural. They use it too much. And though I may throw in something a little bit old from time to time—and try to never use things that couldn't appear in that time frame—I would rather not try and reach the same balance Tolkien managed, because I don't think I could do it without annoying myself.

Kelsey: Leaf is getting a bit annoyed that he doesn't know where they stand now. Everytime he looks at her he sees their childhood together, when he found her working with Haradan, and his time with her as Alyeni. Since even she doesn't know, they're kind of at a standoff right now.

dd9736: Thank you. I know what you mean about the first chapter thing. If it's really dull/ badly written, I don't usually keep going unless it's one that a cousin/friend asked me to read.

And just so I don't get tons of confused responses, the day has passed, and it's now morning.

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I woke when the door closed. I shook my head to help clear it and slowly moved so my feet were on the floor, absently resting my hand on my stomach to soothe it as I stretched. I wandered out to the main room, and found Leaf and another elf there. Leaf was lounging against the door to his room, his arms crossed as he watched the she-elf lay a tray down on the table.

"Thank you," he murmured softly.

She bowed her head and curtsied. "Anything else, my lord?"

"Nothing."

She curtsied again and turned, looking for all the world like a quivering rabbit. The guards closed the door behind her.

"What on Middle-Earth was she afraid of?" I asked, coming into the room as the smell of food drew me unthinkingly forward.

Leaf sighed and handed me a fork and knife as he sat at the table. "Me."

"Why?" I frowned at the idea, even as I speared some of the meat on the tray.

Leaf had gone for the dessert first. He always did have something of a sweet tooth. "Because I have the power to throw her into the dungeons or exile her if she should misstep."

"You wouldn't," I protested around a mouthful of absolutely delicious food. I closed my eyes to better savor it.

"Good?" Leaf asked in some amusement, lifting a brow at me when I looked back at him.

"Even Tara can't cook like this," I answered, trying some of the soup. It had been put in a cup—to be drunk instead of spooned.

"I suppose not," he answered quietly. His own appetite seemed to have vanished as he laid his silverware down, reaching for a goblet of wine instead. In contemplative silence he sipped while I devoured my fill of the food.

"So," I murmured at last, feeling a bit better, "why am I here?"

He shook his head and rolled his eyes with a faintly amused smile. "Can't you figure it out on your own? After all, you at least understand how the male mind works."

"Hmm. I've found that many of the workings of the mind are more a matter of upbringing than gender—I can't figure out for the life of me what Tara's thinking half the time."

He smiled at that, almost sympathetically. "So? Why are you here?"

"It would be easier if you'd just tell me."

"For you, perhaps," he agreed. "But I have to wonder if you are capable of figuring out my motives."

"Your motives? You did not expect me to be in the hall when your father sent for you."

"True," he agreed, taking another swallow of wine. He got to his feet and moved to another table, lifting a decanter, bringing it back to the table with him, pouring himself more wine before topping my untouched goblet off. "But I had asked if I could bring you here."

"Why?"

"That is for you to discover."

"How can I, if you will say nothing?"

"Think aloud. I shall steer you right if you fall astray."

In annoyance I blew out a breath and took up my own goblet, nearly spitting it back out again.

Leaf laughed at my grimace and shook his head slightly, tossing a cloth at me. "I hadn't thought about that," he grinned.

"At least I amuse you," I snapped, setting the wine aside. "And here I thought that stuff was only ever brought out for feasts."

"For general consumption, yes," he agreed absently. "Father has one opened for us every now and again, and we finish off whatever was left over from the feasts—as this was."

I shook my head, feeling already the slight buzz that usually only accompanied drinking large quantities of wine—which I avoided at all costs. The idea of loosing control of myself was not one I relished, which was why I hardly ever had tasted the wine Leaf was drinking steadily with no apparent affect. "It's damned potent stuff," I grumbled, lifting a hand to my head, which was beginning to ache slightly.

Leaf set his goblet down and reached over the tray, lifting my chin. His eyes widened before he blinked, seeing the effect already in my eyes. "Wow. I never would have expected that," he frowned.

"I don't drink the stuff," I reminded him, struggling to keep him in focus. That was becoming harder and harder as the time passed, wine-induced weariness trying to lower my lids even as I struggled against it.

"But we have spent festival evenings drinking together," he protested, still frowning.

"Yes—normal wine. Even then I never drank as much as you." I shook my head, feeling a bit queasy. He never drank overmuch, of course. Some elves, like the two of us, simply couldn't afford to lose control of themselves.

"But even so, this shouldn't affect you so strongly or quickly, for as little as you had."

I sighed, shook my head. "I am a wood-elf, Leaf. A female one." I grabbed the table as the room began to sway from the movement of my head. I tried letting my eyes close, but that made the sensation worse.

When my eyes finally accepted the order my malfunction brain was trying to send, I found the room was moving… or rather, on closer inspection, that I was. Leaf was carrying me. He shouldered open the door to the room I had chosen and set me down on the bed, leaving without a word as I gave in to the numbing wine.

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