I reached the halls but was unsure of where to turn. On one hand, I was quite sure I did not want to walk in on anything inappropriate, but I was also convinced by that time that I was right and Legolas was a moron. He had to know.

I paused for a moment, wondering where exactly Kaethe's room was located. I raised my eyebrows at the thought that suddenly occurred to me; Kaethe probably shared a room with Legolas, if I was not mistaken. I decided that the best plan of action was to go to Legolas' room, so I hurried off in that direction.

My feet carried me a bit too rapidly to Legolas' door, and I felt foolish knocking (when usually I would barge in, being as close to Legolas as I had once been), but I did so anyway out of courtesy. The door opened almost immediately to reveal Legolas alone in his room and looking slightly paler than usual.

"Come in, Laina," he said, and if my ears weren't fooling me, he sounded a bit disheveled. I obliged, looking at him awkwardly and watching as he closed the door slowly behind me.

"Leaf, are you alright?" I asked, but as soon as I had said it, he returned to normal—his skin darkened and his eyes cleared.

"Of course, what do you need?" Well, he was still being a bit too formal.

"I just—well, I wanted to say that I thought—Leaf, where is Kaethe?" I stuttered. "And why are you being so strange?"

"I'm not being strange," Legolas replied, smiling slightly and rolling his eyes at me before flopping on his bed. I noticed the way his thigh muscles gave an appreciative ripple as they hit the bed and I caught myself staring before replying.

"Don't you think Mal and Kaethe were being a little—I don't know—odd?" I wondered aloud, sitting down on the bed on the spot Legolas was enthusiastically patting.

"No, what makes you say that?" he asked, raising one perfect eyebrow at me. I stared into his honey brown eyes, looking for any indication that he actually did think something was strange, but instead I saw nothing. He really was that thick.

"Well, why was Kaethe with Mal at the archery range in the first place? Doesn't Kaethe hate watching you train?" I suggested, my voice raising a bit as I thought of the unusual coincidences. "And why were they both staring at their feet when we confronted them?"

"They were just being shy," Legolas answered unconvincingly. I wanted to clout him.

"Shy? Malian being shy? Leaf, don't be ridiculous," I said. "You sounded suspicious when we walked up. Why are you all of a sudden so sure that nothing was going on?"

"Going on? What would be going on?" he asked angrily, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Oh, Leaf, don't give me that look," I replied irately. "You know as well as I do that the whole situation was peculiar. Since when do Kaethe and Malian even get along? I thought he thought her completely idiotic."

"He was only making conversation," Legolas answered. I could tell he was a bit annoyed with my suggestions, but I was unwilling to give up completely.

"Leaf, I know you trust Malian and I know you trust Kaethe, but don't you trust me too?" At this, Legolas looked at me sharply, a hint of worry in his eyes. For a fleeting moment I thought he was going to pull me into his arms and nurse my feelings back to health, but the moment passed and he cocked his head at me. "I mean, don't you trust my instincts?"

"Of course I trust you, Laina," Legolas began slowly. "Your instincts, however, have not always been up to par…"

"Damned Prince!" I replied, picking up the nearest object I could to throw at him. It just so happened to be a book, and he ducked in time to save his princely head from serious injury; I threw the book pretty hard.

"Seriously, Laina," Legolas said after grinning at me cheekily. "Nothing outside of the ordinary is happening, especially not with Malian and Kaethe," he assured me. I raised one cynical eyebrow at him and he returned it, his face a mirror-image of mine. I rolled my eyes at him and looked away, only to feel one of his hands slide down my arm and pull at it childishly. I looked back at him warily before letting his strong arms pull me closer to wrap themselves around me tightly.

"Not with Malian and Kaethe, I suppose, but what would Kaethe think if she walked in right now?" I asked dryly. Legolas did not reply; instead he put his chin on my shoulder (as my back was to him) and rubbed his cheek on my hair. I must have imagined a slight tingle run down my body (this was Legolas, for Varda's sake), and I must have also imagined Legolas taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly, as if taking in the moment. A few seconds later and the moment had passed and Legolas loosened his hold on me to finally let me go. I turned to look at him and saw his eyes faintly clouding; I cocked my head at him as he had done at me a moment ago, trying to read his thoughts. When we had been such good friends five-hundred years ago, I found myself able to hear what he was thinking, able to sense his emotions. Now, I picked up changes in his mood, but was unable to tell exactly what was running through his head. We both stayed silent for quite some time, studying each other, but I finally broke the silence. "Leaf?"

"Yes?" he answered, deadpan, still staring at me.

"Nevermind," I replied, standing and brushing myself off, trying to erase all baffling thoughts from my mind.

"Are you leaving?" Legolas asked, blinking and looking apathetic, though his question betrayed his tone of voice.

"Just going back to my room, I suppose," I responded. "See you later?" I meant it to be a statement, but it came out as an almost pleading question.

"Right," Legolas agreed, nodding. I hurried out of the room, desperate to escape the awkwardness that still hung in the air, thick enough to send an arrow through.

----------------------------------

Shortly after I left Legolas' room, I caught myself pacing the corridors. The more I paced, the more I thought about Malian and Kaethe and the more convinced I became. I rarely saw Legolas and Kaethe together, and perhaps the disgusted glares Malian threw at Legolas when he was so much as holding Kaethe's hand had not been because he disapproved of Kaethe—perhaps it had been that he disapproved of Legolas. Before, I had always shrugged it off as Malian's way of making me laugh, because I had thought the two of us shared a love of disliking Kaethe for her lack of intelligence and altogether ditziness; but what if I had been wrong? What if the revolted glares had been because Malian was—dare I think it?—in love with Kaethe?
With every step I took, I believed it more. Of course! Kaethe's rather sheepish looks as she allowed Legolas to take her hand. Malian's insecurity. As I tried to piece the puzzle together, the most important bit slowly fell into place. When I remembered, I suddenly stopped pacing and allowed my mouth to fall open unattractively. How had I missed it before?

"'You do not know how noble blood works…I am just trying to keep you from getting hurt.'" I said the words aloud as if I had heard them just yesterday. I shook my head in disbelief before deciding on instinct to head directly to Malian's room, pronto. My feet hurried me there and I stood outside what I recognized as his door, hesitantly waiting to knock. I bit my lip and raised my hand a few times in preparation until suddenly deciding that knocking was not the best option. If I wanted to know the truth, I would have to catch them. I highly doubted that Malian would answer his door with Kaethe attached to him, so instead I took a deep breath and pushed the door open hastily.
I cannot say I was fully prepared for what I saw, because despite the fact that I had figured it out, I still half expected to be wrong. I definitely wanted to be wrong, for Legolas' sake. Yet, however unreasonable some of my suspicious had proven to be, this particular one had led me in the right direction. I do not know how long I stood in the doorway after Malian and Kaethe had pulled apart, clearly astonished that I had barged in the room. I could see the thoughts brewing in Malian's head, excuses for exactly why his lips had been attached to Kaethe's a moment previously. Kaethe looked dumbfounded, which had become a usual look for her so I could not tell whether or not she was actually dumbfounded. All I could do was stand there, looking at the two of them sitting on Malian's bed, fingers entwined. They had not bothered to pull apart completely; they knew I had seen.
"Laina…" Malian started, but I raised my hand in protest. I did not want to hear it. What could possibly excuse Malian for betraying Legolas like this? Malian did not seem to comprehend the fact that I wanted nothing to do with him at the moment and much less wanted to hear his voice, so he continued. "Listen…"

"Mal," I interrupted. "Please." I turned to walk out of the room, but Malian had sprung from his bed and caught my arm.
"Let me defend myself, Laina," Malian growled. I could not understand why he was angry. When Legolas found out, he would surely cut off Malian's head, which is exactly what I was thinking of doing at that point; however, I had no choice other than to let Malian talk because his grip was so tight around my wrist that I was unable to free myself. Besides, if he had something to alleviate the accusations that would be thrown his way, he might as well have said it. I narrowed my eyes at him disgustedly but said nothing, allowing him to continue. "I have always loved Kaethe. I have loved her from the moment I met her, after you left Mirkwood."

"So why didn't you just tell Legolas from the start? I doubt he would have minded much then!" I spat.

"Let me finish!" Malian yelled, pulling me back into the room and shutting the door behind me. I was furious at this point and could not help but throw a disapproving glare at Kaethe, who still sat in the same place looking stupefied. I turned my gaze carefully back to Malian, whose blue eyes were wide and red, his eyebrows knit into a serious expression. "I did tell Legolas. I told him that I loved her, but he and I both shrugged it off as innocent young love. I convinced myself that I could not love at that age, and that I would let it slide. Years later, my feelings had not been suppressed. Admittedly, Legolas did not know this. One day, Legolas approached me after a talk with his father and was quite upset: it turns out that Kaethe's father had a sort of plan for Legolas' marriage. You see, Kaethe would make a wonderful queen one day, or so Kaethe's parents believed. Of course, King Thranduil would never suggest Legolas betray his own emotions, but if Legolas were to be unable to find anyone worthy of his love, he was to try to get to know Kaethe and ask for her hand in marriage, for it is a smart match." Malian took a deep breath, glancing at Kaethe with rather loving eyes. I wanted to punch him in the face.

"Legolas had completely forgotten about my silly crush on Kaethe years ago, and admitted Kaethe's beauty. He finally decided to get to know her, and began to spend more and more time with her. I was jealous. Kaethe and I had always been the closer friends, and I decided to let my love be known. I took her aside and confessed that I loved her, and she told me she felt the same way but did not dare disloyalty to her father, for he wanted the best for her, and the best is to be queen. I let her go, but nothing has ever been able to stop me from loving her, Laina. I know you understand." Malian finished, releasing my wrist with a sigh. I shook my head at him.

"Why would I understand?" I whispered. Malian gave me a sort of knowing glance which I could not decipher, but I decided to ignore it. "Legolas is your best friend, Malian. If you had only told him before it was too late! If you had told him before he decided to get to know her, he would have found some other way!" My voice was rising but I could not stop myself.

"There is no other way! Kaethe could not marry me, Laina, not with the expectations of her father! He would never allow it!"

"So you would rather keep your feelings a secret? You would rather betray your friend and go behind his back with the Elf to whom he is to be bound?" I was yelling now.

"What else was I to do, Laina?" Malian yelled back.

"ANYTHING EXCEPT BETRAY YOUR FRIEND!"

"What? Was I to forget my love for her?" Malian's eyes were clouding and I stood up, flushed.

"If that's what it takes, yes!"

"Have you ever been in love, Laina? Have you?" I shook my head furiously. "Then you cannot understand." I glared at Malian once more before turning on my heel and stalking out of the room. I was going to find Legolas.