Thranduil bound his hair into a braid and turned away from the mirror toward his bed. Harune had pulled back the covers and sat waiting on the edge of the bed.

"I do not want to attend council meetings," Thranduil said.

Harune raised his eyebrows. "I doubt many elves do. But Oropher has a point, Thranduil. You forget to think sometimes when it matters most and how can I trust you enough to let you out of my sight if I cannot trust you to think?"

Thranduil paused with his hands on the blankets. "What do you mean?"

Harune pushed him back against the blankets. "Relax, ion nin, I am not Oropher, but I think these council meetings can serve a double purpose. I want you to keep a journal during the meetings about how you feel. I want you to write about all you thought and did not say and reflect later on whether or not your feelings were justified."

Thranduil rolled onto his side. "I can do that, ada."

"I know," Harune answered. He leaned down and kissed Thranduil's forehead. "Goodnight, ion nin."

"Goodnight," Thranduil murmured. He heard Harune leave and shut the door.

The next morning a scroll tied with a silver ribbon lay on the table beside his bed. Thranduil yawned as he swung his legs out from under the blankets and untied the parchment. He brushed loose hair off his cheeks as he stared at the neat columns of meeting times and locations. He quickly totaled the time; three hours! Three hours of meetings.

Do not think about it, Thranduil told himself. He threw aside the scroll and jumped onto the floor. Dressed and his room tidy, he hurried down to breakfast.

The balcony doors in the family room were open and a small, round table was set with breakfast. Thranduil slid into his seat opposite Harune and breathed in the fresh air, smelling the river though he could only glimpse it through the trees.

Harune slid a glass of milk across the table to him alongside a leather-bound book. Thranduil put down his silverware to touch it.

"Nimrethil sends her best effort by way of berry scones," Harune said, gesturing to a tray.

"Nice of her," Thranduil remarked. "What is this book for?"

Harune raised his eyebrows. "For recording your thoughts at council meetings, of course. I often find a pretty book helps the ink flow."

Thranduil smiled. "Pass me a scone, please, ada."

Harune slid the tray to him. Birds chirped as they ate, singing through they hid behind leaves and branches in the forest. The birds were still chirping as Thranduil walked toward the sword's fields, dragging his feet in the damp grass alongside the path. As he neared the silver birches alongside the outer ring of the field, he bumped into Hyrondal.

One look at Hyrondal's white face and Thranduil demanded, "What are you doing?"

Hyrondal's hands clenched on a slender stick like vines around a branch, but his arms trembled. "I go to challenge Yuai to ka-lei-na-say."

"You are not ready yet, Hyrondal!"

Hyrondal smacked away Thranduil's arm as Thranduil tried to grab him. "You do not understand, Thranduil, I have to be ready. If it is true my father is coming for me, or that I will be taken back to him, I am no better off then a bird without wings, and my dream will be trapped in an inkstand."

As Thranduil stared at him, Hyrondal smiled crookedly. "If it is any consolation, I finished the first book in A Warrior's Way."

Thranduil blinked furiously as his throat turned hot and sticky. "I do not want to see you die."

"I would rather die bravely then be thrashed to death by my father in the dust of a crumbling woodshed," Hyrondal said quietly. He strode past Thranduil, but Thranduil followed on a clear path across the field to Yuai, where he waited in an empty section of the field.

Hyrondal flung the stick in his hands at Yuai. A carved wand with a narrow point that widened into a hilt laced with symbols, it sank into the ground between Yuai's boots and quivered.

"I claim the right to ka-lei-na-say!" Hyrondal said and thrust back his shoulders.

"Do not be foolish," Yuai breathed.

"I have cast the wand! If you deny me my right, you give up your title."

Yuai reached down and picked up the wand. "Do not do this."

"All I ever asked for is an apprenticeship. Will you not reconsider your decision?"

Yuai clenched the wand as he shook his head. "I cannot."

"Then watch me die," Hyrondal said, and Thranduil wondered at the steady level of his voice.

"Hyrondal," Thranduil whispered as his friend walked away his hands clenched at his sides. He spun on Yuai and his blond hair whipped his cheek. "Why did you deny him?"

"Unlike you, I know the rules!" Yuai snapped.

Thranduil gritted his teeth. "I would rather break the rules then watch an innocent life be lost." He flung his anger at Yuai into his sword, but his chest still flamed by the time the lesson ended. His shots in the archery field hit home arrow after arrow as he imagined Yuai's face at the center of the target, but he slashed out his written lessons with such fury, his teachers complained he bent the nibs of his pens.

Thranduil rushed to the kitchens for lunch and upset Harune and Nimrethil by the stoves by declaring, "Hyrondal is killing himself!"

Harune glanced at Thranduil. "Explain yourself."

"I agree it is foolish to invoke ka-lei-na-say," Harune said when Thranduil finished talking. "But we cannot reverse ancient customs so the best thing we can do now is support Hyrondal."

"It starts soon," Thranduil said miserably.

"Then we must go stand with him," Harune said.

"I will pack lunch," Nimrethil said.

Harune put a hand on Thranduil's shoulder as Nimrethil dashed off. "Thranduil, it is not good to carry anger."

Thranduil's tense back slumped. "I am sorry, ada. I know—it is not good, but I-I kept hating Yuai."

Harune wrapped him in a hug. "I admit Yuai's motivations exasperate me too, but hate is the easiest thing to feel, and no good comes of it."

"I know," Thranduil whispered. He pressed his cheek to Harune's chest before he pulled back. "I have to tell Ailunai and Jailil." He dashed out the kitchen door.

Thranduil met Harune and Nimrethil with a lighter heart on the path to the sword fields. Jailil and Ailunai chased his heels and Ailunai wore a cloth wrapped around her head. Harune pressed Thranduil's hand into his and party walked past the silver birches until they came to the mouth of the ravine. Thranduil thought of how long it was and dragged his sleeve across his eyes.

A great metal gate closed in the ravine, built between two trees. Yuai and a small selection of students from the training fields were gathered before the gate behind Hyrondal.

"You should not have come," Hyrondal said.

"If this is the last time I see you, I will not waste it," Thranduil said.

"We will be waiting for you at the other end of the ravine a week from now," Ailunai said. "The moon is full, Hyrondal. Stay safe."

"I know you are not allowed to take any food into the ravine," Nimrethil said. "But you have a few minutes to eat this puff."

"I would probably choke," Hyrondal said, and pushed her hand away. "I hope Geoda does not get angry with you for me leaving, Jailil."

Jailil shook his dark head. "Do not worry about me. And remember what I told you about plants. There must be something growing in the ravine."

Hyrondal buried his face in Harune's hug before he approached the ravine door and thrust the carved wooden challenge wand into the lock in the center of the door. The lock connected with the carvings in the wood and groaned open spreading old dust to the wind and scraping away the moss before it.

Without even a sword, Hyrondal stepped onto the grey land beyond the door and faced the half dead trees of silver wood. Thranduil whimpered as the doors slammed shut and echoed.

If I were Hyrondal, I would begin to wonder if I even wanted Yuai as a teacher . . .

Thank you all kindly for reading! I love hearing from you, especially suggestions on character developments and story changes.

Next Chapter: Hyrondal's journey begins.