The high collar of Thranduil's tunic did not itch for he had lined it with silk and a heavy travelling robe had protected his clothes from dust. Candlesticks lit the dinner table and attracted the gaze of the patrons gathered at the round tables dotting the floor behind Thranduil.

Thranduil wondered it if was his unmistakable blond hair attracting their stares, but today he was not the Prince; he was a youth. Enjoying dinner with his family.

Sapphire, Jade, Onyx, Harune, and Urduil sat at the table beside him, clustered over the good smells rising from their plates.

"I can tell you," Urduil said from his seat beside Sapphire, "Having Onyx as my apprentice has been a wild ride."

Dressed in black leather with hints of tattooed feathers peeking up around his collarbones, Urduil wore his black hair streaked with green in a braid.

"No need to share embarrassing stories!" Onyx protested.

Urduil's green eyes sparkled. "Now is the proper time to share every stumble you ever made."

"I suppose I ought to thank you for not sharing them on the stage tomorrow," Onyx said. He tilted back his cup and swallowed his wine. "At last count, half the province is attending my graduation."

"Why?" Thranduil asked.

"Only the whole kingdom will attend your coronation!" Onyx retorted. He leaned back in his chair. "I have done great things for this province. Great things."

Urduil pointed his fork at Onyx. "He hunted down and slew an orc party raiding in the night."

Onyx refilled his cup with wine and poured more lemonade into Thranduil's glass with a wink. "It was but a mere wee task. I also erected a stable for an unfortunate woodcutter. Heroic."

"After you burned the original stable down!" Urduil exclaimed.

Onyx frowned. "Why bring that up and spoil a good story?"

Thranduil chuckled. "It seems, Onyx, you and honesty have a poor relationship."

"I have done great things!" Onyx cried. "Great things."

"Great things indeed, if only you were not fixing disasters caused by yourself," Urduil replied.

Onyx spread out his hands. "I may have burned down some stables and led orcs into the town square—once—and broken down the door to the governor's house at a protest, but the end result is I bettered the province! The stables and houses I built will last for centuries."

"Let us not mention how I saved you from the governor's wrath," Jade remarked.

Onyx picked up his goblet. "What can I say? His door practically begged 'kick me'."

"Not all suggestions are meant to be followed," Harune said.

Urduil snorted. "So it you who put that rubbish into Onyx's head! Too many times on a hunt I have looked over my shoulder and Onyx is not there."

"But you have to admit my instincts always saved your traditional mistakes," Onyx said.

"Needless to say, after tomorrow, I will have a burden off my back," Urduil replied. "I think I shall retire."

Thranduil yawned by the time dessert came around. He forked through the frothy custard spread across a light cake until he scraped the last yellow dribbles from his plate.

Onyx helped himself to a second slice of cake and upended the wine decanter over his goblet. Urduil stood and said, "Thank you for a lovely dinner. Onyx, my lad, you will lack the heart to give a speech tomorrow if you drink much more. Thranduil, family." He bowed.

When the door to the inn shut behind Urduil, Harune said, "Thranduil, it seems to be bedtime for you."

Thranduil stretched. "Goodnight." He looked back when he reached the stairs; Jade was slicing more cake and Onyx was staring sadly into his empty cup while Harune and Sapphire exchanged smiles and kisses.

Thranduil awoke to the sun blazing on his face. He flung off the blankets and rolled out of his narrow bed. The floorboards were warm with sunshine. Thranduil dressed and changed, snapped his hair into a ponytail, and ran down the stairs into the inn.

People gathered for breakfast at the smattering of round tables in the dining room. Thranduil smelled fried eggs and pancakes and bacon and the pungent smell of coffee as he sat down with his family and narrowed his eyes at Onyx pouring coffee into his mug. "What do you run on; wine and coffee?"

Onyx splashed cream into his cup. "There are worse tonics."

"Are you nervous about tonight?" Thranduil asked.

Onyx tasted his mix critically. "Not in the least! Now then, after breakfast you and I are going out back to see what you know about sword fighting."

Thranduil stuck his tongue out. "You just want an excuse to say Yuai is a poor teacher."

"Yah!" Onyx said.

Thranduil turned to Harune sitting at the head of the table with Jade on his right and Sapphire opposite him, at the foot. "Do you need help with anything, ada?"

Harune smiled. "No, ion nin, you go enjoy yourself."

"I shall fancy strolling with the prince," Onyx remarked. He finished his food and pushed his chair back. "Come on, Thranduil."

Thranduil folded his napkin and pushed his chair back. He ran to his room to grab his sheathed sword before he met Onyx behind the stables. The ground was hard mud packed with tangled grass roots. Wooden fencing flanked either side of the strip of ground leading from the stable entrance, but the stable doors were shut.

"Hmm," Onyx said. He appraised the sword in Thranduil's hands. "The sword of Mirkwood."

"A family heirloom," Thranduil replied. He held the sword at an angle in front of him. "Come on, show me what you have got."

"A single move to disarm you!" Onyx cried. His sword flashed into his hands and he lunged at Thranduil.

Thranduil danced aside. The trees here were different from the ones back at the palace yet he still heard their whispers through the roots in the ground. He knew Onyx could defeat him in a second if he wished yet the brothers dueled until sweat popped on Thranduil's brow and he leaned against the fence to rest.

Onyx sheathed his weapon and bowed. "You are better than I expected."

Thranduil wiped an arm across his forehead. "I see nothing special in the way you duel."

Onyx shook a finger. "Special! Special. We all hear the forest differently and I assure you no one fights like me."

"Show me."

"And give away the highlight of the coming night?" Onyx exclaimed. "Never!"

Night swooped in with purple twilight and fireflies. In a grove past the inn stables, trestle tables were lit by candles and orange lanterns hanging from the lowest branches of the trees. Thranduil's eyes grew wide at the sight of a whole boar spitting over a pit of screaming coals, charred and sizzling when the flames licked the fat. Stacks of plates and rows of goblets covered the tables and Thranduil could only assume it was wine in the barrels at one end of the grove.

The tables faced a raised platform near the tree line at the southern end of the wide space. Elflings shrieked and wrestled at the skirt of the forest while elves circulated on the grass.

Thranduil found Harune and Sapphire sitting on a bench close to the platform. Sapphire wore pale green silk while Jade, standing behind her mother, wore red and her hair pulled up in a mass of curls.

Thranduil sat down beside Harune. "I am glad I do not have to wear a circlet."

Harune kept one arm around Sapphire but used his free hand to smooth a wisp of Thranduil's blond hair. "They itch," he agreed. He wore blue and Thranduil grey.

"Where is Onyx?" Thranduil asked.

Urduil stepped onto the platform, handsome in golden brown leathers, and the grove shushed.

"I have had many apprentices," Urduil said. He held out his arms. "But none will I remember with more clarity then Onyx. Having him as an apprentice has been both nerve-wracking and heartwarming and dangerous! Yet I am sad to see him go. I know Mirkwood has gained a valuable new captain and only hope he will bring more peace than havoc. With all enthusiasm, I now give you Onyx! In an untraditional display of his talents."

Urduil stepped down onto the grass and accepted a glass of wine from a girl with a twinkle in her eye. He found a seat and sat down as Onyx waltzed onto the stage, bowing.

"I know traditionally I am meant to duel and epically defeat my mentor," Onyx said. "But I cannot possibly move forward without not only acknowledging Urduil but also the students I have learned with."

A dozen elves filed onto the stage, dressed in purple and gold. Onyx said, "I know, technically, these fine young men and women have pursued a simple career as warriors and, as such, do not get as grand a ceremony as I, but I share my ceremony with them because we have learned together and will continue to learn together as I begin my command with my closest friends as my warriors. Also, I need people to demonstrate on."

Thranduil grinned. "At least he is honest."

Music streamed from the left end of the platform and Thranduil became aware of the musicians cloaked in the twilight. Only their guitar strings and lyres glinted in the lantern light.

Onyx linked arms with his fellows and began to clog. He delved into a fierce dance with the trees around him and, as Thranduil listened, he realized the musicians took their song from their forest and amplified it through their music.

Onyx's arms and legs and torso and even his hair moved in harmony as he turned with the wind, sometimes moving in opposite directions with his arms and legs only to unify in a straight line again. He moved with the wind—no, he created the wind, as he bent sharply to form a tree, then gentled to curl into a bush. Suppler then any elf Thranduil had seen, Onyx arched his body over his shoulders and sprang onto his feet with his back to the audience.

When Onyx turned around, he held his sword and the dozen dancers behind him no longer mimicked his movements but held weapons of their own. The musicians continued to stream music into the grove as the stage turned into a battlefield between Onyx and his fellows. Where at first they had given each other space, they now surrounded Onyx and the ring of their swords echoed with the music.

It crossed Thranduil's mind the fight might be staged as Onyx's controlled movements turned with the music; even when he rolled using his back to spin so he might use his legs, his body was not panicked. But, no, such things could not be staged and Thranduil's eyes widened as he watched the same dance Onyx had begun with transformed as the same steps turned into battle moves with the use of swords.

The first silver sword to leave its owner's hand arched up from the platform before it planted itself in the ground before the stage and its upright hilt quivered. Onyx's shoulders moved with his hips and Thranduil's eyes darted as he tried to follow his brother's sword as it fended off eleven more blades. Onyx broke free of the circle, turning to break the elves behind him into halves.

There was concentration in his eyes as, one by one, the eleven attacking elves lost their swords. The last one fell into place with its fellows in the ground to form a perfect line.

Onyx bowed. "What is battle but a dance? Thank you!"

The grove clapped until Thranduil's hands grew hot from the motion. He noticed Urduil was gone until the Captain leapt onto the stage. With no words, he and Onyx matched swords.

There was no play in their blades as Urduil swiped low and Onyx jumped over it, swinging for Urduil's neck as he came abreast of him. Urduil turned on his heel to parry, cutting down towards Onyx's stomach only to be foiled as Onyx turned aside. Thranduil tried not to hold his breath, but it kept catching in his throat.

Urduil's sword moved like a snake tongue flickering; so fast Thranduil had to blink to see it, yet Onyx matched the speed with the grace of an arrow with its tip on the target. The sound of their breathing grew louder as Onyx and Urduil struggled with their swords crossed overhead until their arms were taunt.

Onyx broke first, ducking into a roll as Urduil's sword came straight for his back. He came to his feet whilst Urduil's sword was down, but the Captain's sword whistled up to block his when he tried for Urduil's chest.

The elves came breast to breast and stopped. Urduil's sword cut against Onyx's neck but, as the elves turned, it was seen that Onyx's blade lay against Urduil's belly.

"Well done!" Urduil said. He stepped back and he and Onyx bowed to each other.

Urduil have the elves but a moment to cheer before he said, "As you may know, I tried to retire, and I failed. As you may also know, the King has declared the uncleared wilderness of southern Mirkwood to be cleared and made livable. It brings me much pride to tell you that the job of clearing the southern territories has been awarded to our very own Captain Onyx and his team, whom you witnessed today."

Onyx took the scroll Urduil handed to him before he turned to the dozen elves gathered behind him and raised his arms to the sky. "Ready to imprint your names onto Mirkwood?"

As the crowd cheered once more and Onyx joined in a hug with his fellows, Thranduil turned to Harune and asked, "But, ada, the southern territories are crawling with orcs, are they not?"

"Oropher wants that to change," Harune replied. He raised his eyebrows. "Do you not think Onyx can do it?"

"After what I saw," Thranduil said. "Onyx can definitely do it."

Onyx burst out of the crowd and grabbed Harune and Sapphire in a hug. Jade came next and Thranduil last. "Have you anything to say, little brother?"

Thranduil smiled. "I thought you were amazing! I made you something."

As Onyx held up the black tunic Thranduil pressed into his hands, Thranduil said, "Ailunai did the embroidery."

Onyx touched the gold symbol on the shirt; a bear head; the mark of a Captain. "Thank you, Thranduil. You know I will be proud to wear it."

This is one of my favorite chapters so far, as you might be able to tell by its length. I love that Onyx lends some laughter and happiness to not only Thranduil but also to the story.

Thank you so much for reading; your comments and suggestions mean worlds to me.

Next Chapter: First kiss.