Thranduil rounded the bend to Hyrondal's hill and stopped in surprise. "You!"

Hyrondal stood quickly from where he sat beside the skinny orphan boy. "What do you mean you? This young wretch is Jailil and he is a friend who has been staying with me, if only he would stop wandering into the palace!" He glared at the orphan.

Jailil gazed at Thranduil with wary yellow eyes. Where Hyrondal's eyes were yellow, his were almost gold and his dirty brown hair showed traces of red. Thranduil smiled and handed Hyrondal Nimrethil's basket.

Hyrondal dug into the basket and handed Jailil and apple.

"It is dangerous to haunt the palace," Thranduil told Jailil. "Why do you do it?"

Jailil hissed at him. "Hyrondal said you would understand. Surely you do not believe I am sick!"

"You seem to be in fine spirits!" Thranduil answered. "What do I need to try to understand?"

"I was not always an orphan," Jailil answered. "But my family died one by one from disease and orcs attacks until no one was left but me and the catchers came. No one would help us, and I resolved—after my sister died—to be a healer people could trust to help, even if they had no gold."

"We all have dreams," Thranduil said.

"The Head Healer would not give me mine," Jailil answered. "I went to the palace to beg him for an apprenticeship, but he turned me away."

"I can relate!" Hyrondal cried. He caught up his sword. "Come now, Thranduil, just because Jailil is here today does not mean we skip practice."

Instead of the peace he felt after a good duel with Hyrondal, Thranduil walked home troubled. Glad the King and Queen were engaged at a party, he joined Harune for dinner.

"Nimrethil sent up a batch of her latest creation," Harune said, gesturing to golden hollows of crispy bread filled with cream and strawberries.

"Thank the Valar one person has her dream!" Thranduil answered.

Harune tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

Thranduil answered with the stories of Hyrondal and Jailil. Harune said, "I hope you realize they cannot live in the forest forever."

"Yes," Thranduil said. "But I do not know what else to do. I thought—maybe you could help. I know I cannot go to anyone else because—no one else would understand that Hyrondal and Jailil are not doing anything wrong; they are just alone. But I know you will not hurt them, ada."

Harune smiled. "I do not hurt people."

"I do not want to scare them," Thranduil said.

Harune pushed a cold glass of milk across the table to Thranduil. "Why, ion nin, am I scary?"

Thranduil grinned. "No. But what can you do to help?"

Harune bit into his dessert. "I have several ideas. I must tell Nimrethil she is progressing; these popovers are delicious." So Thranduil fell silent and focused on his dessert.

The next day after weeding and watering with Ivy until his shoulder blades ached, Thranduil found his father and walked with Harune to meet Hyrondal. He ran ahead to prepare the ground for his father's introduction.

"You know I love dreams as much as you both," he said. "And I really want to help you and Jailil achieve your goals. But there is only so much I can do."

Hyrondal squinted at him. "What is the matter, Thranduil? You are acting strange."

"I brought my father," Thranduil said.

Immediately Hyrondal gripped his sword and Jailil ducked behind a tree. "I will not speak to the king!" Hyrondal snarled.

"Not Oropher!" Thranduil said. "Ada. Harune."

Hyrondal glared at him when Harune stepped up beside Thranduil. Harune held up his hands. "I am not here to bring ruin into your lives. I am here to help you."

"People like you never help!"

"There are few people like me," Harune countered. "So how would you know?"

Hyrondal hesitated. "What do you want?"

"The two of you cannot continue living here. For one thing, it is not safe nor healthy and, if Thranduil and Nimrethil were not heartily feeing you, I dread to think of what you would do. I propose you come away from here."

"And go where? There is no room for orphans and runaways in Mirkwood."

"Perhaps not, if you do not look," Harune answered. "But I know the stablemaster and—"

Hyrondal snorted. "I will not spend the rest of my life shoveling horse shit!"

Thranduil muffled a laugh with his hand. Harune frowned. "I do not care to be interrupted. I would never ask you to abandon your dreams. My proposition is you work at the stables for room and board. You cannot survive here come winter."

Hyrondal continued to frown. Harune said, "You will not be expected to spend all day with the horses. You will have ample time to hone your craft."

"Half a day of practice cannot match up to the full day I have open to me now."

Harune looked kindly at Hyrondal. "My dear child, constant work is as bad as no work at all. Often you need a break to refocus."

"I do not want to refocus! I am doing fine on my own."

"Well, I am sorry if the help I can offer you is not enough," Harune answered.

"Hyrondal!" Thranduil yelled, as his friend turned on his heel and strode into the woods.

Harune flung up his hands. He turned to Jailil. "And what about you?"

Jailil gazed warily at him. "Every time anyone has offered to help me, I have been hurt. I do not want your help either."

"How can you think ada is cruel?" Thranduil snapped. "Would you not be able to see it in me if he was?"

"I do not know you," Jailil answered.

Harune put a hand on Thranduil's shoulder to hold him back as Jailil fled in Hyrondal's footsteps. "Give it time, ion nin."

"But how much time, ada?" Thranduil asked. His lip trembled. "What if they do not come back?"

Harune slid down against a tree. Thranduil needed no invitation to sit beside him and accept a warm embrace. Harune said, "If they do not come back, we will do what I always did when I could not find you; we will look for them."

"I was always hiding under my bed," Thranduil said. "This is different. The forest is endless."

Harune ran a hand through Thranduil's blond hair. "Mirkwood has ways of bringing people back to you."

Thranduil shook his hair out of his face. He sat in front of Harune and let his father braid his hair into two dozen small braids before he dropped his head into Harune's lap and watched the bird's flit in the broad branches above him until he dozed in the sunshine on his face.

Thranduil opened his eyes; the sunshine was gone and Harune's cloak lay over him. He sat up but Hyrondal and Jailil were still gone. Harune sat beside him and he reached over to squeeze Thranduil's hand.

"It is almost evening," Harune said.

Thranduil sighed. "We cannot spend the night here, can we?"

"It is warm enough," Harune answered. "But for tonight, I think it best we go home."

Thranduil glanced behind him as Harune picked up his cloak. "I hope we see them again tomorrow." He whispered, "Goodnight."

The next day Thranduil approached the grassy knoll cautiously, slipping from tree to tree in case Hyrondal spotted him and ran.

"You are not fooling anyone, you know!" Hyrondal yelled. "No offense, but your hair is a beacon in all this green."

Thranduil peeked out from behind his tree. "Are you still mad?"

Jailil pounced past Hyrondal. "No, and I thought about your father's offer."

"I did not mean to ruin what you have here," Thranduil said.

"I know," Jailil answered. "It is just—I trusted the catchers when they came for me the first time—and even the second time but I learned that adults lie. A lot."

"Ada never lies," Thranduil said. "And he would never ask you to live with a bad person."

"How do you know?"

"Because I have known him all my life," Thranduil answered. "When Oropher has hurt me or tried to hurt me, ada has always been there for me. When Oropher locked me in the dungeons, ada came to be with me too."

Jailil nudged a rock with his foot. "I think . . . I would like to try Harune's offer."

Thranduil smiled. "I will bring you books from the library. There is a whole section on healing and herbalism."

Jailil glanced up. "Really?"

"I know that nitty Head Healer refused to teach you, but you can still learn," Thranduil said. "If you want to."

"I do," Jailil said quickly. "When you see Harune, will you tell him—?"

"You can tell him yourself," Thranduil interrupted, and pointed to Harune behind him. He left Jailil to face his father and turned to Hyrondal.

"I am not mad at you," Hyrondal said. "Truth be told, I-I was jealous."

"Jealous?" Thranduil echoed.

"Because you have a father you can tell anything to knowing he will understand. I never had that, Thranduil. I never even had trust."

"Oh," Thranduil said. "I am so sorry, Hyrondal."

"Do not be sorry," Hyrondal answered. "I am okay now. And I think . . . I would like to sleep in a real bed again."

Thranduil grinned. "We will still practice together?"

Hyrondal poked him in the arm. "Of course. I said it myself; I will not spend the rest of my life shoveling dung."

Thranduil chuckled. he turned to where Jailil and Harune stood together and Harune inquired, "Are we ready to go?"

"Not quite," Hyrondal replied. "I have to fetch a few things."

"Jailil and I will go ahead," Harune said. "Thranduil will wait for you here, Hyrondal."

Thranduil went to retrieve his wooden sword as Hyrondal ran off. By the time he came back with his weapon, Hyrondal was waiting for him with the leather A Warrior's Way volumes in his hands and a knapsack on his back. Thranduil shouldered his sword and led the way toward the royal stables.

At the back of the palace, facing west, the great wooden buildings opened onto wide fields where horses grazed. The buildings were golden in the sunlight and ringed with great stacks of rounded hay.

"I have heard tales of Mirkwood elks," Hyrondal said. "Some of the greatest warriors used to ride them."

"I have ridden horses," Thranduil replied. "But the elks are nearly impossible to catch and difficult to tame."

Hyrondal shrugged. "It takes the right person. Maybe the stablemaster will let me borrow a horse for practice. We must learn mounted combat too, you know."

"I will just command he gives us horses," Thranduil said and grinned as Hyrondal shoved him.

Harune waved him and Hyrondal over and introduced the stablemaster, Geoda. The elf bowed to Thranduil before appraising Hyrondal with black eyes.

"You are a sight better than this skinny stick, Jailil. Yes, you will do nicely. But if you two run off like those two young scamps I had before, I swear you will regret it."

"Hopefully," Hyrondal said, "Our running days are behind us."

The stablemaster glared at him. "I see you have a tongue inside those cheeks of yours! Come along now, I will put you straight to work."

Hyrondal looked over his shoulder at Thranduil as he followed the stablemaster and Thranduil waved to him. As the three elves walked into the stables, Harune headed back to the palace.

"Geoda is a bit gruff," Harune said. "But he is quite nice."

"How did you know he needed stable boys?" Thranduil asked.

"I listen," Harune replied. "Besides, it was a choice between the stables or the kitchens and I rather fancy Hyrondal and Jailil would prefer horses to taking stock of the pantries on a daily basis."

Thranduil gasped. "Is that really a job?"

Silence passed between them before Thranduil asked, "Ada, is it wrong to borrow books from the library and lend them to Hyrondal and Jailil?"

"Not wrong," Harune answered. "But also, not right. Technically, the library code does not specifically state you cannot lend a borrowed book to another."

"Do you think it would be alright if I lent library books to my friends?''

"That is for you decide," Harune replied. "Are you willing to take responsibility for their potential carelessness?" He clasped his hands behind his back. "Mirkwood is full of grey loopholes, as you will soon discover."

Shout-out to YugiYasha96 for guessing the identity of this young orphan! If you are not familiar with her stories, I encourage you to check them out. You will find heartbreak and tears, but also happiness and laughter that makes your heart soar.

Thank you all so much for reading! I was pleased to present you with an extra-long chapter today; I know a book often takes my mind off things when I want some peace, so I am honored you have come to My Prince today and, hopefully, found some peace.

Next Chapter: Thranduil and Ailunai become better acquainted . . .