When I say I wanna sleep for a week, I mean it. That does NOT mean 'wake me up before dawn.' No, it means LEAVE ME ALONE!

Iariel will just NOT take the hint. She's bustling around my room, selecting a dress, chattering away about the schedule for the day. Fittings for the dress I'm wearing to Arwen and Aragorn's wedding, which is tomorrow. How time flies when you're having fun.

Yes, that was sarcasm. Although their was one horrible moment when Elladan suggested Frodo be the ring bearer and Frodo kicked him in the shin. Oh, did I say horrible? I meant hilarious.

I shove the pillow off my head and sit up. If she's so insistent, I'll get up. But I'm not gonna be nice about it.

Iariel finishes laying out my dress and perches on the side of my bed as I pick at my breakfast. I can almost see her going into 'Concerned Mode.' I am going to get another lecture on how I should sit down and talk to the Elf, and it'll all work out for the best. I spent FOUR HOURS listening to the same thing last night. One more bit of advice, and I'm going to scream.

I understand Arwen's point of view, and Eowyn's. They're both so blissfully bloody happy with the Men in their lives that they think everyone needs a husband. Well, I don't. And if the Elf doesn't want me, then I don't want him, dammit. I don't care if it's immature.

Iariel sighs and rubs my back. "Milady, I hate to burden you, but..." She sighs hugely.

I flop back on my bed. "If you offer me advice, I'm going to scream."

She quickly shakes her head. "Oh, no, milady. I was going to..." She blushes. "I'm in love," she blurts.

I sit up quickly. "With who?" I demand, grinning immediately. It's not me, for once. Huzzah.

Iariel mumbles something toward her skirt. "Didn't catch that, hon," I say, as kindly as I can.

She sighs again. "Lord Brioc," she whispers.

I pause and think about that. All in all, not a bad choice. He's good-looking, that's for sure. Also very kind, and generous. He has a title and money, but that doesn't really mean squat to me, and probably not Iariel either. She's been poor since birth, but content. Those are things vipers like Althea contemtplate.

I nod and hug my legs to my chest. "And?"

Iariel gapes at me. "And?"

I shrug. "I'm not up on Gondorrian customs on this, Iariel. What do you need?"

"Well, a dowry is proper."

I wave that off. "I'll talk to Boromir. What else?"

She gapes at me. "I can't let you do that!"

"Why not?" I ask. I'm genuinely curious. Iariel's my friend, and I have access to what she might need. "It won't have to be much, Brioc has everything he needs and then some."

Iariel sighs. "His sister doesn't like me."

I shrug. Hell, I didn't even know he had a sister. "Yeah, so? Can't please everybody."

She makes a rude noise as I reach for my juice. "Have you ever MET Lady Althea?"

I choke. "ALTHEA? Althea is Brioc's sister?"

"Yes," she says, and sighs. "It's hard to believe they have the same parents. Lady Edana is wonderful, and Lord Brioc is sweet, and kind, and generous, and --"

I hold up a hand to end the list of Brioc's virtues. "Yeah, Brioc's great. I pity him living with Althea, though."

Iariel sighs. "You misunderstood me, milady. I'm not asking you to help me marry him. How do you stop these feelings?"

I laugh. I can't help it. "Oh, honey, you can't."

"You have," she says accusingly. "Your feelings for the Elf Prince."

That stops the laughter like a kick in the head. "No, I haven't. I'm just not acting on them."

Iariel straightens. "Then I won't either. And they'll go away."

"No," I say softly. "They won't, no matter what you do." I take her hand. "Iariel, if you think you have a chance, go for it. Station doesn't matter, and anything else you need, I'll take care of. Don't pass up a chance to be happy."

"Good advice," a twin suggests from the doorway.

Iariel immediately blushes and hops to her feet. Elrohir lightly touches her shoulder before she can flee the room. "Kayli's right," he says gently. "Do not follow her example and harden your heart." He glances at me. "As loathe as I am to call her a fool, in this matter, she is."

I stick my tongue out at him and try to get my breakfast back from his twin.

"No!" Elladan yells, wrapping most of his body around the breakfast tray. "No, Kayli, you must share. The Hobbits ate EVERYTHING at breakfast! Everything! What they didn't eat, the Dwarf and your brothers had gone!"

"Tough." I squirm until I've got a firm hand on the tray and pull. Elladan grabs the juice before it can spill, but I get the tray. I'm happy. I start to eat and Elladan stares forlornly into the juice glass.

"Do you have any wine?" he asks.

I stare at him. "It's breakfast, 'Dan. I don't know about you, but I don't drink wine with my breakfast."

He sighs and drains my juice. "I was afraid you would say that."

"I can fetch some," Iariel offers.

"No," Elrohir says firmly. "He does not need any wine, Iariel. You can get some juice, if you'r so inclined, and perhaps if you could find some more breakfast?"

Iariel smiles at him. "I'll see what I can do, my Lords."

She hurries out. Elladan starts picking at my tray. After a moment I just hand it to him. I'm not hungry.

"You're going to simply fade away if you don't eat," he says. But notice out it doesn't stop him from eating MY breakfast?

I shrug and yawn. "Oh, well. What are you two doing here, anyway?"

"Avoiding Father. And Grandfather. And King Thranduil, just for good measure. Father's almost as nervous as Arwen, and the others are trying to calm him down. Well, Grandfather is, I think King Thranduil is there for the entertainment value."

"Oh, he is not," Elrohir snaps, and steals some fruit. "He and Ada are friends of old. But he does derive some sort of strange amusement from watching Ada wring his hands and pace."

Elladan shrugs. "At least it's not over us, for once."

I stand up and wander over to the clothes Iariel has picked out for me. "I'm going to change. Stay here, 'Dan."

He laughs. "No fear."

111

When I come out of the bathroom, the twins have been joined by my brothers, Eowyn, and Arwen. Arwen looks nervous, and Faramir and Eowyn are cuddling. There's a surprise.

"Do you feel better?" Eowyn asks.

I shrug. "I'm fine. You need to stop worrying."

Boromir frowns. "Is something wrong?"

I plunk back down next to Elladan. "Not in the classical sense."

He frowns harder, and glares. "Did the Elf do something?"

"Which Elf?" I ask, although I'm pretty sure who he's talking about. "We're up to out neck in Elves."

Elladan leans over. "I think he means Legolas," he says in a loud whisper.

"Oh, THAT Elf. Nothing in particular, why?"

Arwen opens her mouth to contradict me, but Eowyn kicks her ankle. The two of them exchange glances, then look at Boromir.

He glances at them. "Why do I get the feeling there's something you're not telling me, little sister?"

"Because you're not blind?" I suggest.

Iariel comes in with a food tray. She hands it to me. "Eat," she says firmly. "We can't have you wasting away."

I make face and start to pick at the fruit. "What did he do, Kayli?" Boromir demands.

"Wow, look at the time," Faramir says, and jumps to his feet, dragging Eowyn with him. "We really must go take care of that...thing. My Ladies?"

Arwen smiles serenely and follows them out the door. "Come along, brothers."

'Dan gives me a peck on the cheek, and 'Ro gives me a sympathetic look, and then they follow their sister. Iariel curtsies and follows them, closing the doors behind her.

"He didn't do anything, Boromir. You worry too much."

"Has he hurt you?"

"What? NO!" I shake my head. "Legolas would never hurt me, and you know it."

"I don't speak of physical hurts, Kayli." He moves to sit next to me. "But I know you love him, and that means he can hurt you."

I smile wryly. "He doesn't do it on purpose," I say softly. I push the eggs around with my spoon. They're cold, and I'm not hungry. "He loves me."

Boromir gapes at me, his jaw open, then grins. "Finally," he says. "Are you going to eat those eggs? The Hobbits didn't leave much for every one else."

I punch his shoulder. "What do you mean, finally? Did everybody know before me?"

"No," he says, and grabs my plate. "The Elf didn't know, either."

I roll my eyes and flop back on the bed. "Oh, that's great. Once more, the people closest to the problem are completely clueless."

111

Arwen is having an absolute panic attack. She's waited over sixty years for this. You'd think she'd be calmer. Eowyn, Edana, Galadriel and I are trying to keep her calm, but she's freaking out. Galadriel's using her best soothing voice, Eowyn's stroking her hair. And I'm about to pull mine out by the roots.

"Let's get some wine," Edana suggests. "Won't that calm her nerves?"

Galadriel smiles slightly. "If you ladies get into the wine, I believe I shall have to bid you good night."

I laugh. "For the nerves of the bride only, my Lady. We're not going to get drunk."

Arwen nods. "A little wine would be nice."

Eowyn and I look at each other and smirk. "We'll go," I offer. "We know where Boromir stashes his wne, don't we, Eowyn?"

Eowyn smirks for a second, then widens her eyes. "Why would I know that?"

Galadriel rests her head on Arwen's hair. "Minds on the path of purity, please."

Eowyn and I look at each other. For a second, she looks panicked. I can tell just what she's thinking, and then my mind hits the gutter.

We yell "Wine!" at the same moment and bolt for the door. Galadriel's laughter follows us down the hall.

111

Eowyn and I slam the doors closed behind us and lean against them, laughing breathlessly. Eowyn claps her hands over her face. "Oh, that was horrible."

I laugh and lean against the door. "Eowyn, shame on you! Don't think about it! Not around Galadriel!"

Faramir pokes his head out of his room. He looks sleep-tousled and really very attractive. I glance at Eowyn out of the corner of my eye and break into more laughter. "Think about what?" he asks.

I laugh harder. The only thing keeping me upright is the door.

Eowyn looks at him, then shoots me helpless glance. "Wine," she mutters. "Must have wine."

Faramir stares after her. He looks confused. "Do I want to know?"

I shake my head and wipe the tears from my eyes. "Oh, no. Definitely not."

He shakes his head and vanishes back into his room. Eowyn comes out of Boromir's room, holding three -- count them, THREE -- bottles of wine. I burst out laughing again. Eowyn grins. "I didn't want us to run out."

111

Three hours later, Galadriel has quietly removed herself from our little party, and we are all, completely and unashamedly, shitfaced. Edana is sprawled on the sofa, staring into her wine glass. Arwen is refilling her glass, and Eowyn and I are singing. Yes, singing. Shut up. It's an incredibly bawdy song more commonly heard in taverns (seedy ones) or among the extremely pissed Riders of Rohan, and not in the quarters of well-bred young ladies.

Eowyn and I stumble over the words and break down laughing as Arwen comes over to refill our glasses. "This is good wine," Eowyn says, and downs half her glass. You know, for a well-bred lady of Rohan, Eowyn can sure toss back her liquor. She holds it almost as well as I do.

But I've had alot more practice.

Arwen collapses down next to us. "That was the last of the wine."

"Awww," Eowyn says.

Arwen follows backwards, laughing. I toss back my glass and rise to my feet, a little unsteadily. "On that note, ladies," I make an expansive gesture that almost has me on my ass, "I think it's time for bed."

I reach down and hook a hand under Arwens elbow, pulling her up. She leans against me, still laughing, and Eowyn takes her other hand. "Off to bed, my Queen. We don't want you still hungover tomorrow afternoon."

"Hopefully you'll spend the morning throwing up and won't remember to be nervous," I say, trying for cheerful, but mostly just slurring.

Arwen let's out a high, drunken laugh. "Oh, happy thoughts!"

Eowyn and I guide her into her room. There's a blazing fire. "Oh, it's HOT in here," she mutters, and starts shedding her clothes. "Hmm," she sighs. "I wonder where Aragorn is."

"Oh, no no no," I say, and shake a finger in her face. "None of that, now."

She laughs and drops down onto her bed. "Good night, ladies," and she's out, just like that.

Eowyn and I look at each other and giggle, trying to shush each other at the same time, which just makes us laugh harder. We close the doors behind us, laughing as quietly as we can. "Oh, perfect," Eowyn giggles.

We stagger out into the hall, giggling all the way. "You can just drop me off in Faramir's room," Eowyn says. "You're going that way."

"Oh, no," I mutter. "You two are NOT keeping me up half the night. I don't wanna still be drunk in the morning."

Eowyn laughs. "Oh, no," she moans. "We forgot Edana."

We go back in, wake Edana up, mop up the wine she spilt, and drag her into the hall. She leans heavily on my shoulder. "Oh, I don't feel so well," she moans.

Eowyn clumsily pats her back. Our coordinations skills are shot. "There, there, love. Just let us pour you into bed."

We stumble down the hall. Brioc slams open the door and glares at us. "Edana! What did they do to you?"

Eowyn and I collapse into laughter. In doing say, we drop Edana. Brioc catches her and glares at us. "What did you do?"

"Nothing! God, Brioc, we didn't hold her down and pour the wine down her throat!" Eowyn finds this image hilarious, and laughs so hard she falls down. I toss my hair back, then wince as the gesture makes the whole bloody room spin. "Look, she'll be fine. She's just drunk. And before you get all high and mighty on me, boy-o," more laughter from Eowyn. I think the boy-o did it. "I happen to know you've spent the night that way yourself, and in far less prestigious company."

Brioc opens and shuts his mouth for a couple seconds. He looks like a fish. I start to giggle. When you're as smashed as I am, everything's funny. "I am going to kill Boromir," he mutters, and slams the door in our faces.

Eowyn and I look at each other and laugh before we start to stagger our way down the hall. I dump her off on a disapproving Eomer and try to remember my way back to my own rooms. Of course, my memory of how I got to Eowyn's rooms are sketchy at best. I turn around in a quick circle, but all that does is make me dizzy and I have to sit down until the room stops spinning.

"Kayli?" The voice seems to be coming from everywhere, and the room is all dizzy.

The voice sighs. "What are you doing sitting in the hallway, love?"

I look up and squint until Legolas's face comes into focus. HIs hair is loose around his face, and he looks gently concerned. He strokes my hair back from my face. It's feels very good. I smile up at him. At least, I think it's a smile. I can't really feel my face. "Hi."

"You're drunk," he informs me. Pfft. Like I didn't already know.

I wave a dismissive hand in his face and almost clip his nose off. Fast reflexes, that one. "I know that, genuis. I can't find my room."

He smiles slightly. "That's not surprising, melisse. Can you stand?"

I think about that for a moment, then I smile up at him. He looks very, very good right now. "I think so." I wrap my arms around his neck and run my fingers through his hair. "Have I ever told you I like your hair like this? All loose..."

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Very drunk." He puts his hands on my waist and gently helps me to my feet. I use the opportunity to lean against him. For support of course. Yep. Uh-huh.

He wraps one arm loosely around my waist and uses the other to pull my hair out of my face. "Why are you drunk?"

"Hmm. Arwen was nervous."

"So you drank?"

"Hm-mmm. Wine. Lots and lots of wine."

He sighs and kisses my forhead. "Come, let us get you to bed."

I look up at him and giggle. He frowns at me, apparently seeing the path my mind has taken. "Alone," he clarifies.

"Aww."

Legolas laughs lightly. "Boromir would kill me."

I narrow my eyes and roll my shoulders. "Not if I got to him first," I mutter.

He laughs again and starts us down the hall. I lean my face into his hair. Hmm, smells nice. He turns his face toward me, and I kiss him.

Legolas goes very still for a long moment. Then he gently frames my face with his hands and pulls away. "Nay, Kayli."

I sigh and lean my head against his shoulder. "I love you, you know."

His arm tightens around me for a moment. "No. I did not know."

I snort. It's a very unladylike noise. "Everybody else did."

He sighs. "That, I do not doubt."

I tilt my head back and look at him. He smiles and runs his fingers through my hair. "Why?"

He shrugs. It moves my head. At least I'm not dizzy anymore. "Everyone seems to know before I do."

I step up on my tip-toes and kiss him again. "It's okay," I say. I'm very easily distracted at that point.

TBC...