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The atmosphere of the meeting room was cold. Though the sun blazed outside, and the coming air of fall blew, the silence around the table was frigid.

"As I have said," Thranduil said, "There is nothing to discuss."

"There is more than you might think to discuss," Galadriel said. "You have kept the twins here almost three years. And you do not think perhaps you have done something wrong?"

Thranduil leaned back in his seat and burst into peals of laughter. "My dear lady, I know I have done nothing wrong. I assure you, I have done no bullying or mistreating and neither have I held either elfling here against their will. You may ask Elladan and Elrohir."

"I have called this meeting to discuss the events of the past three years," Galadirle said. "And discuss them we will. Now, Thranduil, I am sure you realize how precarious the situation is."

Thranduil raised his eyebrows. "I am afraid, Lady Galadriel, I do not. I admire your loyalty to your daughter and your grim determination to wrench, wrestle, and pry Elladan and Elrohir away from me and return them to their parents in a manner you believe is right, but I am an oak of an old, old line. And I will not break."

"Standing firm to the end is not wise," Celeborn urged. "You know well the inevitable."

Thranduil nodded. "I am not unwise. And I know full well the abilities of your persuasion. After all, I lost my king due to your pushing Mirkwood to enter the last war. But I am not my king. And I will not break to you."

"Oropher was your father," Celeborn said.

Thranduil nodded. "Yes. He was my father. There was little love lost between us. Oropher was a magnificent king but a father of the poorest kind. Without Harune, I would have endured a terrible childhood."

"You cannot blame us for his death," Galadriel said.

"I blame no one," Thranduil answered. "Death comes in the end. It is a matter of how long it takes to reach that end that determines your life."

"Do not preach to us. We have not come here to listen to your family history. We are here to see our grandchildren where they belong."

Thranduil clasped his hands in his lap and grinned, the possible effects of wine showing. "Across you knees and under your hand, no doubt. I think not."

"You are drunk," Galadriel accused, her lips pressed thin.

"I had a few cups after dinner. I cannot think why you insisted we sit down at this ridiculous hour to begin with. I should have been kissing Legolas goodnight and telling him a bedtime story an hour ago."

"We will continue this when you are in a better state of mind. Perhaps you will show more reason."

Thranduil yawned as he rose to his feet. "It is possible. But you might as well know, wine does little to me. Goodnight."

Leaving the dissatisfied lord and lady of Lothlorien behind, Thranduil breezed out of the room.

OoOoO

"You have no right to hit me," Elrohir said, pressing his back against the wall."

Galadriel faced him with a stern expression. "You disobeyed me and your disobedience resulted in the breaking of a precious piece of art."

"I am sorry; I never meant for the ball to hit the picture, and I will not do it again."

Galadriel seated herself. "I know you will not. You will apologize to Thranduil when he returns. Now come to me for your punishment. You know the consequences of your actions."

Celeborn's arm on his propelled Elrohir forward. The elfling resisted.

"You cannot do this!" Elrohir cried.

"It gives me no joy to do so but I must enforce the consequences and teach you to obey. Do not make this worst, Elrohir. If you make this difficult, I will be forced to punish you further."

Elrohir's voice rose to a high pitch as he howled for help.

"Oh, for the sake of the valar!" Galadriel exclaimed. "Give him to be, Celeborn. Elrohir, stop. You are not a baby."

Celeborn looked at the child struggling against his grip and felt a brief flash of guilt . . . of wrong.

"Perhaps we can resolve this another way," Celeborn suggested, seeing a tear slip down Elrohir's face. Galadriel shook her head and reached for Elrohir, latching onto him as he fought. She pulled the boy toward her and dragged him over her knees.

"This is not right," Celeborn protested, reaching for his wife's hand. Elrohir grabbed two handfuls of Galadriel's golden hair and jerked it. As she cried out, he scrambled off her knees to the floor, stumbled to his feet, and fled for the door.

The door banged open and Elrond charged in to catch Elrohir in his arms, searching him for injuries before he pressed his sobbing son to his chest and glared at Galadriel.

"How dare you?" he said. He knelt in front of Elrohir and took him by the shoulders. "Elrohir, look at me. Go find your mother."

Elrohir shook his head and held onto him, his eyes wide and scared.

"I will take him," Celeborn said.

Elrond pinched his lips, thinking Celeborn would not help his son feel safe but Elrohir dragged his sleeve across his eyes and let Celeborn hold his hand to guide him out of the room.

Elrond rounded on Galadriel as the door closed. "You are forbidden to touch my children, to even be with them, if you cannot resolve your problems—if you cannot discipline with peace and gentleness! If I find you have spanked or tried to spank my children again, and I do not care if they have thrown the crown jewels into the river, I swear I will throttle you!"

Galadriel sat back as if she had been slapped. "A little spanking never hurt a child, Elrond, but guided them in the right direction. Elrohir—"

"I have sworn not to hit my children in the name of love, Galadriel. I do not want to guide them in the 'right direction' using fear and pain when I can use love and gentleness and kindness to show them the right way without having to make them cry. If you cannot understand that, I cannot allow you to be with my children."

Elrond found his son sitting hunched on the bench outside the door, his hands clasped in his lap with Celeborn beside him. He stood up at the sight of his father and dried the tears on his cheeks. Elrond went to him and held him in a warm hug.

"Thank you for protecting me," Elrohir whispered. "Celeborn did not want to—to let her spank me either."

Elrond kissed the top of his son's small head and nodded in gratitude to Celeborn. "I am here to protect you, Elrohir. I know you are not used to it since I have spent years hurting you myself, but I will be here to protect you from now on. I give my word."

OoOoO

Harune looked at Landion. "It has been five years since we became father and son. I have not seen my daughter or her family in five years since I have put off my regular journey to the Iron Hills to be with you. If I should go to see her this year, would you mind?"

Landion cocked his head. "I . . . do not want to travel so far. I like my home. And I will miss you if you go but I will not mind. You have given me a lot since my mother died; you had no reason to stay here with me."

"I had reason, ion nin," Harune said, gathering Landion in a hug to him. "You were my reason. I could not leave you for a full six months if it meant holes were still bleeding inside you from Lord Katar."

Landion smiled. "No, my holes are sealed up now, ada. You healed them."

"I helped you heal them," Harune corrected, leaning down to kiss Landion's rosy cheek. "I received a letter from my daughter a day ago, asking if I was ready to come see her again. With your permission, I will go. Are you sure you will be alright without me until spring?"

Landion turned in his father's lap and put his arms around Harune's neck. He looked into his eyes and said, "I have a brother, do I not? And does my brother not have experience with children? Does my brother not love me? I know even if you are not here, ada, Thranduil will look after me as well as you do. He cannot give me everything you do but I will be fine with muindor nin. I trust him. Like I trust you."

I have raised beautiful children, Harune thought, smiling into Landion's sparkling green eyes.

The trees above them swayed in the wind, their leaves speckled with yellow; the approaching colors of fall. The air blew crisper though not yet cold and spoke of winter not far away. The wind sang in the quiet glade, filling the ears of the two elves as they sat on moss under an oak tree, comfortable among its roots.

"I suppose you will leave before winter's snows come," Landion said.

Harune nodded. "Yes. I will leave day after tomorrow and be back after winter's snows melt in the coming of spring."

Landion's eyes were wistful as he thought of the long six months soon to stretch between him and his father. He leaned forward and pressed his head to Harune's chest, sitting still in the secure embrace of Harune's arms.

"I will miss you," he murmured. "But I want you to go, ada. Not because I do not want to be with you but because I want you to be with the rest of your family. I know you love them like you love me, and I know you want to see them like you want to see me."

"I will miss you to, penneth nin," Harune said. "But I will love you all the same."

"I know."

Father and son returned to the palace for dinner as the sun began to set, holding their cloaks shut around them as the wind swirled beneath the folds and tried to run away with the cloth.

Around the table with the wind blowing against the closed windows and steam rising from the bowls of hot soup and fresh slices of bread, Harune told Thranduil of his decision.

Thranduil nodded. "You told me you wanted to go last night; I see Landion is comfortable with letting you leave for half the year. We all know you will come back."

"Six months in the Iron Hills is about all I can take in one sitting," Harune agreed with a laugh. "I know you will take good care of my son for me."

"I will. Galion is taking care of your packing."

"You are sure you can handle everything without me? Even with the difficulties of meetings and the presence of our guests?"

Thranduil assumed an indignant stance. "What do you take me for, ada? You have not raised me for nothing. I assure you I will handle the meetings and our guests with the utmost grace and dignity while you are gone."

"You always worried ada would not be able to manage without you when you went before," Legolas put in. "I remember you made sure he would be able to."

"I cannot believe after all these years there is still doubt!" Thranduil exclaimed. "After all, am I not the last and greatest of all the Elvenkings?"

Harune waved a hand with an amused smile. "I dare say you are. And the valar are mole-rats."

Thranduil frowned and returned to his soup.

Two days later Harune departed with an escort of Mirkwood elite guards to ensure he arrived alive at the Iron Hills. Landion stood on the bridge with the twins, Legolas, and Thranduil and waved goodbye until the trees swallowed Harune.

A few tears came into Landion's eyes and glistened like dew on early spring leaves. He swallowed and swiftly wiped them away, slipping his hand into Thranduil's.

Thranduil looked down at his little brother and placed a hand on his head. "Do not worry, muindor nin, I am here for you. And ada will come back."

"I-I know. He—he is not leaving us like my old father did."

"We will miss him," Thranduil agreed. "And look forward to his return. While he is gone, I promise we will have lots of fun."

Landion looked into his brother's eyes and smiled. "Hannon le; I know we will. But for now . . . I would like to be alone. Just for a little bit . . ."

Thranduil understood as Landion turned his eyes back to the ground. The elf king removed his cloak and draped it around Landion's shoulders. "Return before dinner, muindor nin, and stay warm."

Landion nodded, holding the cloak to him and drifted into the woods.

Harune is off again. And the last time he left, Lord Katar wreaked havoc!

I think Elrond has shown a great portrayal of love for his children by protecting Elrohir. Do you?

Thank you for reading! I love hearing from you.

And Next Chapter: Elladan makes a hard choice.