Hey guys! I have a quick breather, so I thought I'd get this up. Don't know if I'll have time to put up the next chapter of Keeper of the Stone, though. Tomorrow, at the latest for it.

Well, I take that back. There were no questions in the reviews, so I'm off to update. Thanks for reviewing, everyone!

Chapter 44

I stopped working as soon as I sensed someone had actually dared step into my workspace.

I pulled the mask off and set the blade aside once I saw who it was. "She let you this far in?"

"I didn't give her an option," he murmured softly, looking around at what had changed since he was last here.

"She's gone for lunch, isn't she?"

He gave me a sheepish glance, before catching his gaze on one of the swords I hadn't had even to the recognizable stage his previous visit. He removed it from its hooks, handling it lightly as he studied the script and design. I had to smile, since he didn't bother to check the weight or balance. "Your travels show," he murmured, tracing a leaf with one long finger. It was somewhat more intricately done than usually bothered with in Mirkwood, but it was still a sign from this wood.

"I know. In Imladris I had to adapt to their style." I shrugged. "And just being a smith, I noticed designs and patterns in Gondor, Rohan and Lothlorien."

"And flaws," he mused.

I grimaced. "Yes."

"Perhaps you could create one for him as a wedding gift?"

I blinked. "Eomer is getting married?"

"I haven't heard so, but it is only a matter of time."

I tilted my head before nodding. "He could use a good one. I can style it enough like those of Rohan for him to feel normal using it."

"If you don't make it heavy, you or I shall have to teach him to wield it."

I nodded and passed him to lay a finished order on Sarith's desk. I picked up the new orders with a shake of my head.

"You don't notice them, do you?" he asked, amused as he looked over my shoulder.

"Not anymore," I murmured, a piece in mind already for each order as I slowly flipped through them… Until I reached the one on the bottom. The hand wasn't Sarith's. "A repair? Legolas, what is it? You don't need to place an order for such."

"There is no hurry," he murmured.

I lifted a brow. "Then why bring it up? You know I'll do it quickly."

He hesitated for a long moment, and then shook his head. "Forget it."

"Forget it? How am I supposed to do that?" Especially now that he'd made a big deal of it. It wasn't like him to waffle like this.

He smiled faintly, and looked very tired, suddenly. He crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned back against part of the wall that remained bare… mostly for that reason.

"What are you hiding from?" I asked.

He blinked and shrugged one shoulder. "The whole bloody court. They still won't let it be. They constantly try to drag every little detail out of me."

"They want to live vicariously, if they can," I murmured as I washed my arms and pushed my sleeves down into place.

"Well they can't," he insisted stubbornly, his jaw set. "It's too…" he failed for a word, but I knew what he meant. What had happened had changed him. Not so much he was unrecognizable, nor even so much most would notice, but he knew. Explaining that change would require giving them a large part of himself, a glimpse into his soul.

It was easy to see why he wasn't eager to do that. I reached up and brushed a piece of his hair back from his downcast eyes. "It will pass."

"In time," he sighed in agreement. He offered me a faint smile, before pushing a hand through my hair, taking the tie from those pieces that had decided to go against the majority and remain in place.

I smiled ruefully and finger-combed my hair while he tied his own back at his neck with the pilfered tie. "Lunch?"

"That was the plan," he agreed, even as he turned his cloak so the inside was out. A few moments later, his clothes were bereft of identifying marks, and with his hood up it was unlikely anyone would notice him.

"If the cloak the Lady gave you wasn't so recognizable…"

"I know," he groaned, pulling my cloak down for me. "Come on. Tara's waiting."

"Only because you couldn't decide if you wanted something fixed or not."

He smiled ruefully. "Yes, well…"

We made our way to Tara's silently, partly because there was nothing that needed saying, but mostly in a somewhat respectful way, as many of the trees in our path had burned.

Taradriel was waiting, as Legolas had said, at the base of her tree. The tree itself wasn't quite what it had been before. Many of the Eastern branches had been kissed by the flames, sinking deep into the core. A few had fallen, but some remained, clinging tenaciously to life.

"It looks finished," I observed, looking up at the new wood in place on the lower and Eastern parts of her flet.

"It is," Taradriel beamed, ushering us up into it. "The new supports were the most difficult, I'm told."

"I'd imagine so," Legolas agreed, studying the new planks. He gave a satisfied nod. "It will be fine, even when those branches give way."

"That was the idea," I remarked dryly.

He looked at me, then shook his head and smiled. "I know, Alyeni."

"And I thank you for it," Taradriel murmured earnestly. She smiled faintly when I lifted a brow in question, but didn't answer.

My glance at Legolas provided similar results… or rather, lack of results. He laughed softly when I sighed, reaching up to brush my hair behind my ear. "Come on. I think there was a request for food?"

Tara jumped up from her seat and was promptly moving us to the table. "Yes, indeed," she chirped, placing the food down before us. While we ate, she talked about all of the elves whose homes had not been—or could not be—repaired.

Legolas's interest was clear, his questions concerned. I had to wonder if this was how Thranduil always seemed to know just where his aid was needed most.

He stopped suddenly, and grimaced. "Sarith is going to be furious."

Glancing outside, I winced. "Yes, she certainly will be," I sighed.

"Shall we race back?"

I lifted a brow. "I'll run… but we know who wins the races."

He smiled crookedly. "So we do. We're off, then. Thank you, Tara," he inclined his head to her.

Tara shrugged it off, wishing us both a good day. "Mind you drop by once in a while, Alye!"

"You can come see me as well!" I retorted, already on the ground. I refused to feel guilty for not visiting every few days when she hadn't entered the halls once. I didn't wait for her reply, catching up with Legolas easily, which earned me a look of some amused aggravation.

When we entered the halls, Legolas pulled me down a passage I had never noticed was there, which cut several minutes off of our trip.

"I can find it from here," I murmured.

He hesitated a moment, and then shook his head. "I'll see you back."

I lifted a brow but didn't say anything else. When we entered my shop, Sarith was there, her arms sternly crossed, her lips compressed, the toes of one foot tapping the ground irritably. "Good afternoon, Sarith," I murmured, moving towards the working area of my workshop.

"Late afternoon," she insisted, glaring crossly at me.

"So it is," I agreed, before glancing up at Legolas.

His eyes strayed to the signs of his title he had left on my table. He cautiously moved forward a step, and was immediately pinned by Sarith's daggered gaze. "And who are you?" she snipped.

"One of Alye's—"

"Well, you mustn't keep her from work. Alyeni," she murmured, turning to fix me with a disappointed glare, "I've told you time and again you're just a curiosity to them."

"Them?" Legolas asked, lifting a brow.

The way his voice had changed told me two things. One, he didn't care at the moment if Sarith finally figured out who he was, and two—he was on edge. "The elves who come to see the female smith," I explained, hoping to defuse him before Sarith could open her big mouth.

"And then to ask her to join them for lunch or dinner," Sarith added. I could have kicked her.

Blue eyes narrowed and darkened. "Oh?"

Oh, great. I wracked my brain for something to calm him down before he was obviously jealous to someone other than me.

"Yes," Sarith answered him with a small sniff. "Though you are the only one I've seen her accept."

His eyes lightened fractionally, a good bit of the tension leaving him. "Alye?"

"Hmm?"

"Do they bother you?"

I shook my head. "They're easily gotten rid of."

"If they become a problem, tell me."

"And why should she? Who are you, anyway?"

He glanced at her over his shoulder. "No one of importance," he murmured, even as he retrieved that which declared who he was, fastening them quickly as he reversed his cloak. "I'll see you at dinner?" he prompted.

I considered for a moment, then nodded. "Swim first?"

He smiled crookedly. "Sounds good. Meet you there?"

I nodded my agreement, before reaching up to pull my tie from his hair. I rolled my eyes at his pout. "You have your own, Legolas. I only have that one."

"Lost the others?"

"Lost or broke," I agreed, tying my hair back. "You'd best be off. I'm sure Thranduil would like to know all you've learned."

He tilted his head slightly, then grinned and kissed my forehead. "Yes, he would." He inclined his head to Sarith politely on his way out.

I had to turn to keep from laughing at her expression. She was totally limp, but wearing a shocked smile.

"That… he… you…"

I bit my lip and replaced my mask. As amusing as her not knowing who he was had been, her knowing was funnier.