Since people keep pronouncing my character's names wrong:

Eithryn: Ey (as in "hey") th (as in "the") rin (as in "grin")

Coryn: As if it was spelled "Corin"

Kilvara: Kill (as in "kill the orcs") var (like "far" with a v) ah (as in "aha!")

Felrion: Fell (as in "Aragorn fell of the cliff") ree (as in "free") on (as in "Thranduil, why is that Silvan elf on my roof again?")

Actually, Eithryn's name is the only one I've heard pronounced wrong, but now you can have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that the characters won't get mad at you for saying their names incorrectly.

"I tell you, she's in denial," Storm said, leaning over a stack of drawings. "Why don't we put a window here, so the guards can see messengers coming from inside the forest?" Thranduil had—without consulting Oropher—asked Storm, Sky, and Kilvara to go over the blueprints for the new guard tower. "Look at her right wrist."

Sky pulled her sleeve down, but not quickly enough.

"Did I just see what I think I saw?" Kilvara asked.

"You did," Storm confirmed. "Show her, Sky." When his sister didn't respond—other than to glare at him—he went over and, with some difficulty, forced her sleeve back up her arm.

"Look at that," Kilvara breathed. "An emerald." She leaned over the table in front of Sky. "You know, I was sure Storm was making this up, but..." She was fighting to hold back her laughter. "You—you had it put into a bracelet! I can't believe..." She covered her mouth as she shook with silent laughter.

"They do make a strange pair, don't they?" Storm mused.

Sky spoke at last. "You know what I think? I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill."

"That's quite a molehill," Kilvara said, her voice strained from the effort of containing her mirth.

Sky groaned and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head.

"Aw, come on, Sky, it's nothing to be ashamed of," Storm teased. "So you're in love with a prince who we both agree shouldn't be one. It's no big deal."

Sky didn't think Thranduil didn't deserve to be the prince; she only thought that about his father. Or rather, as she'd already admitted to herself, she liked having Thranduil around, and that kind of meant letting him keep his kingdom. "Shut up, Storm."

"Oh, wait, but you love him, so maybe you don't think that way anymore." Curse him. He was too perceptive. "You probably think he's perfect."

"Shut up, Storm. And I do NOT."

"Riiiiight."

Kilvara joined in. "Why does it bother you so much, Sky? He's not all that bad... although I'm not sure what you see in him."

"Thanks, Kilvara. Thanks."

Her brother wasn't done. "Does Princey know how you feel about him? Ooh, has he seen your bracelet yet?"

She would not punch her brother, she would not punch her brother... "Please do not ever call him that again."

"Has he, though? Should I tell him?"

In the blink of an eye, she grabbed the front of his cloak and pulled him so that their eyes were inches apart. "If you say a word to him, I will destroy everything that you love. I will melt your swords. I will burn your bow and snap every one of your arrows. Do. You. Understand?" She let go.

The grin hadn't left his face during the whole conversation. She feared it never would.

"She's so cute, isn't she?" Storm asked Kilvara as Sky stomped outside.

. . . . . .

"Don't ask," Sky told Thranduil when she unexpectedly showed up where he was drilling some of the soldiers.

He nodded and smiled, and she smiled back, telling herself she was allowed to do that. Elves smiled at each other all the time; it didn't mean anything. No, she didn't believe that, but the alternative was admitting Storm was right.

She wandered around for a while, watching and giving tips and hiding her bracelet every time someone looked at her, especially Thranduil. He, in fact, seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

Eventually they finished, and Thranduil started to leave. She followed, and he looked back.

"Mind if I tag along?" she asked sheepishly.

He raised an eyebrow. "To my meeting?"

"...yes."

He was taken aback, but nodded. "As long as my father does not mind."

The meeting was on strategies for defense against the orc bands that were becoming more and more common in Greenwood—something that was actually within Sky's area of expertise. Oropher, who had only barely let her in at his son's request, was shocked when she started giving non-sarcastic suggestions and pointing at places on the map.

After that there was another meeting, which was quite boring, but since they weren't going to let her brother in if he came looking for her...

They were still asking for her opinion, oddly enough. She answered their questions obediently, trying to resist looking out the window to see if Storm was watching. She found herself keeping her eyes on Thranduil so that they wouldn't seek her brother; he, in turn, kept looking at her, which caused many awkward moments where they both looked at each other at the same time, then quickly redirected their eyes to whoever was speaking. Sky mentally kicked herself every time she promised herself she wouldn't do it again, then did anyway.

Finally it was over, and Sky tried to make for the other side of the river, but Thranduil caught her trying to get away. "And where do you think you are going?" he inquired as he cut off her escape route.

Her attempt had already been halfhearted; if Storm was looking for her, he was going to find her no matter where she was, so she might as well be in a predictable place. "To lunch," she said meekly. Well, meekly for her. "At the feast hall, because you won't let me go home."

"Exactly." He put a hand on her shoulder to make sure she went in the right direction, and apparently forgot to remove it; Sky wondered what Storm would say if he saw that. She really hoped he wasn't watching them... and if he was, she really, really hoped he couldn't see her face, because she kind of liked it. "Now, explain."

What did he think she'd done this time? For once, she wasn't guilty. "What?"

He frowned. "'What?' You have not been yourself today."

Oh. Wait. What? Hmm, he was right. "Are you objecting to the fact that I haven't made fun of you today?"

Apparently he hadn't thought of it that way. "I suppose I am."

"Well... you haven't given me many opportunities."

"That has hardly stopped you before."

He was right; she really had failed. "All right..." For some reason, she suddenly remembered that his hand was still on her shoulder, and it gave her a strange feeling. "You know, I think this is your fault."

"And why is that?"

"I've used all my insults on you already. I'm out. Maybe if you give me a while, I'll think of some new ones."

He smirked. "There is the Eithryn I know." He smiled at her, and she got that funny feeling again.

She needed to continue the conversation before one of them did something stupid. "Why don't you call me Sky?"

"Would you rather I did?"

"It's what everyone else calls me." Funny; she'd used to wish that he would call her by her nickname, but now... it just seemed more Thranduil-ish this way. She'd gotten used to it.

He thought about that. "No," he decided finally. "I think I prefer your full name. After all, why should I wish to be like everyone else?" He sounded like he was speaking more to himself than to her.

"I've never found blending in to be worth it," she agreed.

"No, I do not imagine you did." There was a smile in his eyes. "I like that about you."

"I knew there had to be something, what with the way you've been recently." She indicated the arm that was now more comfortably around her.

He started to remove it, but changed his mind. "Does that bother you?" he asked, half-teasingly.

"I haven't slapped you yet," she observed.

He found that quite funny. "No, you have not. Thank you."

"Even though you probably deserve it. Do you usually go around touching everyone like this?"

"Would you be jealous if I did?"

That sounded like something she didn't want her brother hearing the answer to. She eyed the trees warily. "Would you be jealous if I let everyone put their arm around my shoulders?"

"Perhaps. What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." Um. "So, what did you do while I was gone? Sat around missing me, I expect."

Thranduil smiled. She had no idea. "What else could I do, when I had no trouble to get us out of?"

She grinned, and he did not miss how she glanced at the trees again.

"I would go to the edge of the forest, under the pretense of a... greatly extended patrol, to look for you," he said. "I should have known you would return the week my father summoned me back."

Sky wasn't sure she wanted to know exactly how much time he'd spent out there. "Sorry. Didn't your father get suspicious?"

"I think," he said slowly, "my father was suspicious before you left. But it would seem I have learned a few things from you about avoiding his servants."

"Not enough, clearly, if they caught you."

"By the time my father became angry enough to come find me himself, I had thought of something I wanted to do, so I had to return anyway. I had realized that I had something to say to you, and so I decided to give you a gift."

The emerald. She unconsciously glanced down at her wrist.

Unfortunately, Thranduil was more observant than she often gave him credit for, or maybe he was paying more attention to her than he had back when she'd done things like hide his book in a tree (When had that been? Ah, yes—yesterday). "Is that a bracelet?" he asked curiously.

"Yes." That was the only safe thing she could think of to say.

Thranduil waited, but she didn't continue. "May I see it?"

"No."

She almost heard something go "click" in his brain—he knew something was up. What, the mere fact that she was wearing jewelry didn't tip him off? "And why not?"

"Because it's embarrassing." He lunged for her arm. "Hey!"

She should have been able to escape, but Thranduil was quite strong, and he already had his arm around her. Also, she could fight like a dragon when cornered, but only when she was willing to hurt her attacker.

His eyes widened when she finally gave up and he was able to get a closer look at her bracelet. Sky avoided his gaze when he looked at her. She had never been this embarrassed in her life.

The prince had probably never been this thrilled in his life. Even without looking at him, she could feel it. He practically glowed.

"I do not know what to say," he breathed. "Eithryn..."

She utterly failed to think of a way to salvage her dignity.

He touched her cheek then, and she didn't even flinch. Ugh. Storm didn't have to be watching; he'd know what had happened as soon as he saw them. Maybe she should follow through with her previous plan—hide somewhere on the other side of the forest for the next century.

Problem was, Oropher might kill her if Thranduil spent that long looking for her instead of fulfilling his princely duties.

. . . . . .

Sky peeked through the window, then jerked back. Her worst fears were confirmed.

Thranduil stood with one hand on the doorway, pondering her behavior.

"Don't let them see you!" she hissed, crouching.

He decided to humor her and crouched down on the other side of the doorway. "Whom are we hiding from?" he inquired in a whisper.

"My brother, mostly," she answered, trying to decide what she should try to convince Thranduil of—that they should go in separately, or that they should find somewhere else to eat.

"Why? Not that I mind..." It was strange, she thought, that he'd adjusted to her and not Storm. Perhaps it was because she was female?

"Same reason I've been avoiding him all day," she answered, tapping her bracelet. "He saw this."

"Now you know what I have been going through for so long," he said without a trace of sympathy—although he did smile when he looked at the bracelet.

"I can usually take a joke," she sighed—and it was true, because sometimes she and Storm had no one to play tricks on but each other—"but this is going too far. I don't even know why I'm wearing this thing. It's just a rock. A polished piece of mineral. A shiny roundish thingy." She had stood up by now and was pacing back and forth—carefully staying out of sight of everyone inside.

"A beautiful shiny roundish... thingy," Thranduil pointed out. She glared at him. "Did I interrupt your rant, Spitfire? My apologies."

"No sarcasm." She sat down. "My point is... how did you put up with us for all these years?"

He smirked. "Do you remember what I told you in the cave?"

"That I'm amusing?"

"And that I gave up trying to control you. I knew you meant nothing by your antics, after all."

That was the difference between him and his father; Oropher took everything too personally. The elves who thought she was risking her life by insulting Thranduil should have seen Oropher's face the times she'd told him to go kiss an orc. "Storm doesn't mean anything by it, either; we both know I'll find it funny someday. But that doesn't mean I don't want to grab him and..." She made a throttling gesture.

Thranduil nodded like strangling one's brother was a perfectly reasonable thing to do, which it probably was from his perspective, and with her brother.

What really didn't make sense was that Thranduil had chosen to get along with the more volatile sibling. Storm teased, but he didn't directly insult people or sabotage the king's plans, not when she wasn't around to start anything.

It was probably due to a combination of her gender and Thranduil's realization that she was entertaining, which was a direct result of her more extreme personality. Oh, well; at least it meant he was on her side for the moment.

Thranduil's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Are we going in, or did you plan to stay here all day?"

"You can go. I'll be fine; you know I skip half my meals anyway." So did Storm; it had been a fifty-fifty chance for him to even eat this meal, much less here. Had he known the prince would bring her here?

Thranduil shook his head. "That cannot be healthy. You will eat."

"No, I won't."

He came over and put his arm around her again. "Yes, you will."

She gave him a death glare.

"You will have to get used to this, my love."

His use of that word stunned her just long enough for him to yank her through the doorway, but she came back to her senses in time to pull away before anyone saw them.

Oh, no, now she'd hurt his feelings. She pointed to Storm, who hadn't seen them yet, to justify her actions.

He smirked knowingly and held out his hand. She looked at it, not understanding, and when he didn't move, she poked his palm, because the way she was raised, that was what one did with things of which one did not know the purpose.

He was laughing when she looked up, and he took her hand and placed it in his. It was very warm, and she looked at Storm again, unsure if she wanted to pull free or not.

"Ignore him," Thranduil whispered in her ear, and he led her forward.

They drew a lot of looks, some curious, some open stares. When Kilvara saw them, she choked on her wine and reached over without looking to get Storm's attention, accidentally slapping him in the face and making him jerk back in surprise. He started to ask why she was attacking him, but she just shook her head and pointed at the two newcomers.

Sky tried and failed to hide behind Thranduil.

Storm's eyes met hers, and she felt her blood rushing to her cheeks. Her brother was just as surprised as Kilvara, but the shock wore off quickly, and he started to laugh uncontrollably.

Thranduil looked at Sky as Storm laughed so hard he cried and finally fell out of his chair, and then the prince pulled, or rather dragged, her toward them again.

"It's not that funny," she snapped down at her brother. He'd been starting to recover by that point, but that made him hysterical again.

Kilvara was also failing to contain her amusement. "Do"—she snorted—"do join us."

Sky flopped down in a chair, pulled her hood up, and tried very hard to hide from the fifty-ish elves who were now staring at this new spectacle.

Thranduil sat beside her. "My apologies; I did not know it was this bad."

"I should have slapped you," she grumbled.

She could hear the smirk in his voice when he stood and asked, "Shall I go get our food?"

"Ack! Don't leave me!" She bounded out of her chair and grabbed his wrist. There was no way she was staying with them alone.

He chuckled and stroked her hair calmingly. "Oh, Eithryn."

Storm had finally made it back into his chair, but when Sky let Thranduil take her hand again, it was too much for him and he fell back to the floor.

Hand-holding! Gasp! What am I putting in my stories?!

Ok, so that was my last rough-drafted one, which was why I got it done so fast. Now I not only have to write chapters from scratch, I also have to decide what I want to write about in the first place. Therefore, I'd like to say that if anyone has anything they'd like to see in a chapter, I'm open to ideas. No promises that I'll use your suggestion, of course, and if I do I might change it, but, that being said, feel free to suggest anything you think of, especially if it's funny :)