Brenen Thranduilion skipped happily through the woods, his blonde hair blowing out in the cool spring breeze. His bright blue eyes regarded the path before him with eagerness as he jogged along. He loved being in the company of his brothers but he liked to be alone, in the company of the trees from time to time, especially after a good wrestle.
Brenen stopped, his ears pricking up. His brow dipped into a frown as he listened, scanning the trees around him. He heard whimpering. After a moment, he picked a direction and followed it. He walked off the path, carefully avoiding thorny underbrush, and making his way around fallen tree trunks. He stopped and knelt down, parting the bushes to reveal a wolf pup with a thorn in its paw. The grey furred creature turned unhappy yellow eyes to his face.
Brenen looked at the wolf pup without any fear before he reached out and picked the thorn from the pup's paw. He sat back on his heels, the thorn still in hand and admired the effect. The wolf pup scampered to his feet and ran around him, yipping excitedly. Brenen reached out and rubbed his head.
"Do you mind if I call you Blaze?" Brenen asked, tickling the pup's underbelly. The animal cocked his head with a questioning grunt. His ears pricked up as he heard a soft howl. He rolled to his feet and ran off into the woods.
Brenen rose to his feet and walked homewards with a thoughtful expression on his face.
Realn Thranduilion rolled the crystal ball between his hands, watching the light catch in the depths of the stone. He looked up as Brenen's fingers closed over it and jerked it out of his hands. Brenen rolled onto his back and held up the ball to the candlelight flickering above them.
"Give it back!" Realn demanded, clenching his fists.
"Ada said we have to share it," Brenen said sweetly.
"You snatched it from me! Give it back!" Realn made a grab at the ball.
Brenen held the back out of reach. "Come and get it!"
Realn threw himself on his brother, shoving Brenen to the floor with one hand and reaching for the ball with the other. It fell from Brenen's grasp and rolled across the carpet, coming to rest at the edge of the blazing hearth. Realn hurled himself upon it but Brenen reached it first and danced out of the way, teasing his brother.
"You will never have it! You spend all your time inside while I play in the woods. I am faster then you! Catch me if you can!"
Realn's eyes blazed. "Give it back to me!" He hurled himself on Brenen, landing at his feet. He grabbed his brother's ankle and jerked him to the floor. Overwhelming rage overtook him. His fingers tore at Brenen's hair and clawed at his face. Brenen's screams and sobs of pain were drowned out by his own furious screeching.
"I hate you! I will hate you for the rest of my life!"
The door to the room flew open and running feet dashed across the floor. Realn heard an exclamation of horror before a hand closed over his upper arm and hauled him away from his bleeding brother. Hissing and spitting, he fought against the grip, trying to reach for Brenen but the hand held him fast.
As the red began to fade from his vision, he saw his mother kneeling on the floor by Brenen, holding him in her arms and gently calming him. Blood trickled from his brother's face and clumps of his hair lay on the floor. Brenen sobbed into his Cinwe's arms. "Shh, shh, it is all right. Lie still and let me wipe the blood away."
Realn looked up into the angry eyes of his father, cringing at the fury he saw there. Thranduil held him tightly by his upper arm. Realn looked away. He saw Legolas and Mykar standing in the doorway, staring at him from identical faces, eyes wide. His eyes trailed across the floor and fell on the shattered crystal ball, broken in the fight. Hot tears filled his eyes.
"I hate him," he said again, glaring at his fallen brother. "I wish he was dead!"
Thranduil dragged him out of the room after a brief consultation with his wife. Realn went without resistance, not caring how his father punished him. Thranduil opened the door to his bedchamber and gave Realn a hard push into the room. Entering behind his son, he slammed the door and leaned against it with a heavy sigh.
"I will not hear you speak like that about your brother," Thranduil said, facing his defiant son. "What is more, I will not see you fighting like that ever again! You could have killed or blinded him!"
"I wish I had!" Realn spat.
Thranduil's hand went back in an instinctive reaction. Realn closed his eyes, in anticipation of the slap but it never came. He cracked his eyes open and saw Thranduil draw in a deep breath as he let his hand fall. Thranduil knelt by his son and looked into Realn's smoldering eyes.
"Would you like to tell me what happened?"
Realn bit his lip, unprepared for the gentleness in his father's voice and the concern in his eyes. "I-I—he took the crystal ball from me and he would not give it back. I tried to take it back from him but he would not let me have it. My anger overwhelmed me and I attacked him. I could not stop myself . . . I hate him! He—he broke it!" Tears welled up in Realn's eyes.
Thranduil grasped Realn by the shoulders and pulled the elfling into a tight embrace. Realn sobbed into his chest, his hands curled into fists.
"I was unaware it meant so much to you," Thranduil said, patting Realn's back.
"It meant more to me then any of my brothers," Realn sobbed. "They liked it because it was a pretty toy. I loved it because it—it kept me calm."
"Kept you calm? In what way?"
Realn's sobs turned into small cries. His cheek still pressed to Thranduil's chest, he answered, "I have felt this way before; when I am teased or I want something no one will give me, I begin to feel the same overwhelming anger. But if I hold onto the crystal and look at it, my anger fades. If I do not hold it, then—you saw what happened." A tear trickled down his wet cheek.
Thranduil contemplated the meaning of his son's words. It sounded like Realn suffered from sever anger attacks. "Why have you never told me?"
Realn sniffed and shook his head. "I-it never occurred to me—I thought you might stop loving me if you knew I could not control myself," he blurted.
Those words alone stabbed Thranduil's heart. He held Realn a little tighter. "Realn, I will never stop loving you; never! You could have killed Brenen and I will still love you."
At the sound of his brother's name, Realn burst into tears again. "I am sorry I hurt him. I did not mean to—it just happened. I am truly sorry. He will never forgive me. He will hate me forever!"
Thranduil looked over his shoulder as the door creaked open. Brenen, Legolas, and Mykar were the first to enter. Cinwe stood behind them, her arms folded. The blood had been wiped from Brenen's face, where Realn's fingernails had raked long marks. He grinned crookedly at Realn as he crossed the room.
"It is all right, Realn. I should not have snatched the ball. I am sorry."
"I-I am sorry I hurt you," Realn stammered, tears welling up in his eyes. "I-I could not stop myself." He turned away to hide the desperate tears streaming down his cheeks but Brenen, Legolas, and Mykar buried him in a deep hug.
Thranduil rose to his feet and retreated to the side of his wife. Cinwe turned to look at him. "I hope you have given him a suitable punishment."
"In this situation, that would be cruel," Thranduil replied.
"He attacked his brother and wounded him," Cinwe insisted.
"He had no control over his actions," Thranduil said. He paused, "Not when they have anger attacks."
Cinwe's widened eyes swung to her four hugging sons. "Anger attacks?"
"Yes. The only thing to do is give him another crystal ball."
"And tell his brothers not to tease him," Cinwe added.
Thranduil saw Realn's wet eyes turn to him from above his brother's blonde heads. He gave a weak smile and a grateful nod of his head before he buried his face in Brenen's shoulder again.
"We will tell them at dinner," Thranduil said.