Thranduil walked behind his wife, realizing this was not the time to talk to her. Brenen, Realn, and Mykar ran ahead but Legolas sidled along beside him, his hands behind his back.

"Do you want to talk about something?" Thranduil asked.

Legolas shook his head. "No . . . how is Eigil?"

"He fades rapidly, oblivious to the world. The healers expect him to be gone soon."

"I killed him," Legolas said. "I feel as though his death is my fault. I am the one who burned him."

"Eigil tried to kill you," Thranduil said. "Your actions were in self-defense. Eigil brought his misfortune upon himself."

Legolas sighed. "I know, but I have still helped end an elf. How can I life knowing I killed an elf? I do not want the blood of my own kin on my hands! I do not want to be a kinslayer!" His voice was rising to a hysterical pitch.

"Legolas, no one blames you for the consequences of Eigil's actions."

"I blame myself. You cannot pretend I have not done something I have!" Legolas cried.

Thranduil switched tactics. "I love you, Legolas. You could murder someone and we will all still love you. The same goes for our people. Everyone knows how it happened."

Legolas stopped. "Please go on without me. I-I want to be alone for a while."

Thranduil understood Legolas wished to be on his own so he ran to catch up with his wife, giving a backward glance to his son's forlorn form on the path.

Cinwe looked at him.

"I am glad you, at least, have calmed down," Thranduil said. The palace came into view as he slid an arm around his wife.

Cinwe sighed and ran a hand across her forehead. "I-I am sorry. I do not know what happened . . ."

Thranduil smiled. "It is all right. We all have unexplainable outbursts from time to time."

"I suppose tonight I will be apologizing to you!" Cinwe teased. She reached up to kiss him but the cry of a healer waving from the palace doors startled her.

"Come quickly! You are in time; Eigil is dying and he will be gone in minutes!"

Thranduil's eyes widened and he broke into a run. Cinwe and the quadruplets followed behind him. No one noticed Legolas's terrified expression in the moment.

At Eigil's healing chamber, the elves slowed to a walk and quietly entered the chamber.

Eigil lay on the bed, his eyes half closed. He turned his head, cheeks sunken and hollow, and grinned at Legolas.

"You miserable little beast," he slurred. "May your life be riddled with unhappiness!"

Legolas winced and clung to Thranduil's hand.

"You will never escape me!" Eigil wheezed. "I will die and you will live, knowing you killed an elf! Yes, princeling, you are a kinslayer!"

"No!" Legolas shrank back.

"Yes! A monster, Legolas, an elf-killer!" Eigil coughed. "A crime most horrible! A kinslayer! You will never escape it, murderer!"

Eigil flopped back, blood gurgling up from his mouth as the life faded from his eyes.

Legolas turned and buried his face in Thranduil's chest. He sobbed. "It is true, ada. I am a kinslayer and a murderer! I k-k-k-killed him!"

Thranduil rubbed circles on Legolas's back, offering no comfort but the sanctuary of his embrace. Healer Helix slipped quietly into the room and pulled the sheet over Eigil's head, pausing to send a prayer to the valar. He looked at Thranduil as he left, giving a smile to the faces of the three quadruplets, their eyes enlightened by the death they had witnessed.

"I killed him," Legolas repeated. "I-I cannot fire-bend ever again! Not after what I have done. Never again!"

Legolas hugged himself tight to Thranduil, weeping into his chest. The elven king cast a stricken look at Cinwe as he took Legolas in his arms and guided him up to his bedchamber. Legolas flopped down numbly on his bed and cried into his hands, tears dripping from between his fingers. Thranduil's heart tore at the sight of the silver drops. He sat down beside his son and took Legolas by the shoulders. Legolas leaned against him and cried. His breath came in broken gasps, his eyes streamed, and his face was a picture of misery.

"I do not want to live," Legolas murmured, his fea flickering as Thranduil rocked him. "Humans kill humans; that is the way of man. But elves should not kill their own kind . . . I wish I was dead . . ."

"No! Legolas, you must not wish for such horrible things. I need you, little leaf. Naneth and your brothers need you."

Legolas said nothing but he turned and hid his face in Thranduil's shirt. Thranduil sighed and hugged him, looking up as the door opened. Cinwe came into the room with Healer Helix behind her. Legolas's brothers peeked around the doorframe with anxious faces.

Helix bowed. "My lord, the healers and I found this on Eigil's body as we prepared it for its burial." He held up a small, clear glass vial. "From our analyzes, it held a deadly poison known to destroy the lungs, producing symptoms akin to Eigil's."

Legolas's head jerked up, knocking into the chin of his father's shocked face. "You-you mean Eigil poisoned himself? But why?"

"He poisoned himself so he would die, Legolas, and you would fade with the knowledge you had killed an elf. Your pure heart would not have been able to live with the taint," the healer answered.

Thranduil hissed.

"I-I did not kill him?" Legolas asked in a raw voice.

"No, Legolas," Helix replied kindly. "You did not kill Eigil. He ended himself."

Legolas drew in a deep breath of relief and his eyes brightened with his energy again. He looked up at his father and gave a small smile to apologize for the strife he had caused.

Thranduil patted his head and held out both arms to his wife and sons.

Later, when peace was restored, Mykar came upon his mother putting on her cloak and preparing to go out. She patted down her hair, looking at herself in the mirror, and turned, bumping into him.

"Oh!" she said. "Mykar, do try and make some noise when you come in so I may hear you!"

"Where are you going?" Mykar asked.

Cinwe sighed and dropped her arms. "I am going out to call on Anialia and make amends for my appalling behavior earlier. It was not noble of me to behave the way I did."

"I will come with you to make it easier," Mykar offered.

"Thank you. The company would be nice." Cinwe took his hand.

"I wonder how Web is," Mykar said as they walked, leaving the palace behind.

"Happy, I am sure," Cinwe said.

"Where is ada?"

"He went out to the courtyard with your brothers," Cinwe replied. She looked down at the blond head beside her. "He looked for you but you were not to be found. You should join them for practice next time. Your father and brothers like your company."

Mykar kicked a rock off the path. "Ah, naneth, I am not so eager to fire bend. I prefer papers and ink."

"Well, you should still practice," Cinwe said. "Your fire bending is a part of you as much as papers and ink."

Mykar said nothing.

"Promise me you will join your brothers for the next session," Cinwe continued.

"I promise," Mykar said meekly.

"Thank you. And here we are."

Cinwe walked up the path to Galleon's house and knocked on the door. Mykar left her to peer around the corner of the house to the woodpile. Zionel was cutting wood, the blows of his axe ringing out but he did not seem to notice the intruder.

Galleon answered the door. An expression of concern came over his face at the sight of Cinwe.

"There is not anything wrong with the papers, is there?" he asked.

"I am not here on business," Cinwe answered. "I have come to see your wife. Is she here?" She craned her head to see the room beyond Galleon's shoulder.

Galleon's eyebrows drooped low. "I see . . . she is in the kitchen, cleaning up a doughy mess. Um, come in?"

Cinwe stepped past him, noticing Mykar had chosen to stay outside. She saw Web sitting by the fireplace, looking over his shoulder at Galleon. Galleon waved to the kitchen door and went to rejoin his son.

Anialia was on her hands and knees, sleeves rolled up, using a bucket of soapy water and rags to clean the lumps of dough and flour off the floor, created by Ilune's explosion of fun with the bread sponge. She looked up, wiping her hair off her brow and frowned.

"I have come to apologize for causing a fight between us," Cinwe said. "We are both married and we ought to have more sense. Old jealousies are behind us."

"How right you are," Anialia said. "And I accept your apology. There is not anything to fight about, after all. I was wrong to help initiate the battle to begin with."

"We have been friends since elflinghood," Cinwe continued. "Marriage should not change that."

"And we are friends again," Anialia said. "Apology accepted."

Cinwe rolled up her sleeves and tossed the folds of her cloak onto the clean counter. She got down on her knees and reached for a wet rag. "I will help you clean up. What happened?"

"Ilune," said Anialia with a drooping expression.

"Elflings," said Cinwe with a grin.

"You have not had a daughter yet!" Anialia said. "They are trouble, especially at the courting age!"

"There are years until Ilune is old enough," Cinwe said, brushing that aside. "She is still napping at this time."

"I have arranged for a picnic," Cinwe announced at dinner.

Ellhamier coughed on his food. "Eh, what?"

"A picnic," Cinwe repeated, staring down the table at her husband. "With Galleon and his family."

Legolas upset his drink in excitement. "What? When?"

Ciran held out an absent hand and swept the spilled drink off the cloth and back into its glass.

"I arranged for it when I was down at Galleon's house an hour ago," Cinwe said.

"She was apologizing," Mykar put in.

"It is tomorrow," Cinwe said, ignoring her son.

Brenen punched his fist into his palm with a wicked grin. "And that will be the day when I beat Zionel at arm wrestling!"

"I look forward to tomorrow," Thranduil said. "And I am happy you and Anialia settled your differences after all these years."

"They settled it over the dirty kitchen floor," Mykar said.

Ellhamier shrugged. "Makes good ground for a reunion," he said. And ducked as Cinwe threw a piece of bread at him.

Yes, this is The End. Or is it?

Keep your eyes peeled for Nin Chronicles: My Word: Elladan and Elrohir live lives normal by their father's standards, but both twins struggle to accept the way Elrond has chosen to raise them, their hearts hurt and cut by the Great Lie. When a demon possesses Elrohir, according to Elrond, their lives may change forever. Will their injured hearts ever know true love, or will they fade from the cruelty Elrond views as fair?