"Your ada and I have something to tell you," Cinwe said, rising to her feet. The table held empty dishes with food scraps remaining. The quadruplets looked up at their mother, setting down their forks.

Thranduil set down his wine cup and stood up. "It concerns Realn."

Realn cringed low in his seat, his face burning as his brothers turned to look at him with curiosity. He felt lower then an animal. Once his brothers knew about his anger attacks, they would tease him and taunt him. He knew his brothers would find it funny.

"Your brother has a delicate disposition," Thranduil said carefully. "Teasing and taunting upset him more then normal people, like you, and he loses control of his temper. I am asking you not to tease your brother for it will make him angry."

Realn cringed even lower. If he was not normal, then what was he?

"I will not tease him," Brenen said. He looked around at his brothers. "And I will not let any of them tease him either!"

"Legolas?" said Cinwe, glancing anxiously at Realn.

"I will be nice to him," Legolas volunteered.

"Mykar?"

"I will do what ada asks," Mykar said with a smile.

Thranduil relaxed back into his chair. "Thank you."

Realn's face burned redder as he heard his brothers' words. He shoved his chair back and fled from the room with a small sob. He did not want to be pitied or treated like a delicate object that could be shattered. He wanted to be strong and controlled, like ada. Ada could have hit him in his anger but he had not because he could control himself. He, Realn, would never be like his father. Never. He would never be like his brothers or his mother. He would always be a coward and a weakling.

Blinded by tears, Realn crashed into a wall and collapsed on the floor, crying. He felt Cinwe's slender hand on his shoulder and looked up into his mother's eyes. After a moment, he crawled into her lap and buried his face in her shoulder. She sat on the floor with him in her arms, patting his back as Thranduil came up behind her, followed by his wide-eyed quadruplets.

"We are not ashamed of you, Realn," Thranduil said, his voice soft as he knelt down by his wife. "We love you, ion nin, as much as we love your brothers. Nothing you do will ever change that."

Realn felt a tear slid down his face. He clenched his hands into fists. "I-I know but—but I still f-feel terrible af-after what you said at d-dinner. It ma-made me feel l-like n-nothing."

"I am sorry," Thranduil apologized, running a hand over Realn's hair. "I did not realize it would hurt you so much. Will you forgive me?"

Realn nodded as he started to cry again. "I love you, ada."

"I love you to, Realn." As Realn reached for his embrace from Cinwe's lap, Thranduil gave it, murmuring in his son's ear, "Your mother and I have something for you."

Realn sniffed. He did not feel like he deserved any gift. He sat up straight as Mykar stepped up to him and held out a box made of carved wood. Thranduil moved back to give him room to open it. Casting a suspicious look at his parents, Realn eased the lid off the box, and almost dropped it. Sitting in the center of a red velvet cushion was a round ball of clear crystal, containing a live flame.

"Where—how—I," Realn stammered.

"Ellhamier and I made it a long time ago, before you were born," Thranduil explained with a smile. "He bent crystal rock around my flame to preserve it. Keep it with you, Realn, and when you feel angry, hold onto it and let it calm you."

"But I cannot take it if Ellhamier gave it to you," Realn said weakly, staring with longing at the beautiful jewel.

"I am giving it to you," Thranduil said. "It is yours now, and I know you will take good care of it."

Realn swallowed. "I promise, ada. Thank you both." He looked up at his mother. "So much."

Cinwe squeezed Realn in a tight hug. "You are welcome. Now what say you to returning to the table and eating dessert?"

Realn slid the lid back over the box and held the precious box in a tight grip as he rose to his feet. Holding onto Cinwe's hand, he followed her back to the table. Thranduil herded Brenen, Legolas, and Mykar in the direction of the door. "Come on or the ice cream will melt and Galion will never let us live up to it."

"Will Realn be all right?" Mykar asked anxiously, looking up at his father.

"Of course he will. In fact, he is better already and, if we do not hurry along, he will eat all the ice cream!" Thranduil teased, grinning as his identical sons charged ahead of him with worried expressions.