Thank you to  joellamariah,  _-Yuki_Gyeoul-_,  nathalieAlice,  crystalily2003,  Tiemna,  Elf_of_hogwarts,  Tiemna, siso_sissan,  fateclaws and RandomElleth for voting and commenting on the previous chapter! 

A special thank you Agnesobadaki and  jaydynn8 for adding this story to their reading lists. 

OoOoO

"Will you come on a picnic with us in the forest?" Elrohir asked Elrond. "We have Thranduil's permission to be excused from lunch, and we have finished all our lessons."

Elrond looked out the window of the living room. The sun shone clear and the branches of the trees swayed. He rose to his feet and nodded. "Of course I will join you. Do you have a glade in mind for the picnic?"

Elrohir nodded. "Yes. Elladan went ahead with the basket to the glade by the river where the pool is. We thought we might swim if it does not rain later."

Elrond held out his hand to Elrohir but the elfling shook his head. "I will catch up with you. Elladan sent me back for the lemonade he forget to take with him."

"Do not take long or the sandwiches we will eat without you," Elrond called back with a grin. Elrohir actually smiled and waved before he darted off on his mission.

Elrond plunged into Mirkwood alone, his hands clasped behind his back. He whistled as he walked in the direction of the river, along the now-familiar paths. He arrived at the glade but found it empty. There was no sign of Elladan anywhere.

Thinking perhaps Elladan had forgotten something else and gone to fetch it, Elrond sat down on a warm rock in the sunlight to wait. He waited fifteen idle minutes but neither of his sons appeared. Frowning, Elrond stood, wondering briefly if this was the wrong glade. But it could not be; the pool rippled behind him. Elrohir had specifically pointed him to this glade.

The sun had dimmed. A crash of thunder startled Elrond from his thoughts. A warm shower of rain hammered down on the ground, sending the elf lord rushing for the trees. The thick branches full of leaves offered some protection from the drops at first but the water soon seeped through the curtain and splashed over Elrond as he hurried back to the palace. The paths turned muddy under his boots.

When Elrond arrived dripping at the palace, he inquired in irritation of the whereabouts of the twins. He changed into dry clothing in his room and wandered into the bedroom of his sons to stand by the window, watching the rain falling outside. The rain gave the air a cool, fresh scent, and it wafted into the humid room as he clasped his hands behind his back. He turned as Elladan and Elrohir stepped into the room.

"Elladan," Elrond said, turning with a stern note in his voice, "Elrohir. You both lied to me. There was no picnic. You wished only to let me be caught in the rain."

The twins exchanged glances and fidgeted where they stood. Elrohir bit his lip as Elrond came toward them.

"You know well I do not tolerate lying," Elrond said, his hands still clasped behind his back. "I do not tolerate lying."

"I-I did not lie exactly," Elrohir stammered. "Elladan was waiting in the forest with the basket. There was a picnic between the two of us."

Elrond nodded. "Indeed. But you dragged me out under false pretenses, did you not? I am sure you thought it would be an amusing joke. But such untruths are not funny."

Elladan looked at Elrohir with worried eyes but his twin put a hand on his arm and shook his head slightly.

"I suppose we thought it would make a good prank," Elrohir said, clearing his throat. "We-we—um—never laughed."

"Well, I am about to see to it you do not make a bad habit of repeating such jokes," Elrond said. "There is nothing wrong with a prank, as I am sure you know well, but there are some jokes that go too far. Jokes involving lies and false truths are not alright."

Elrond felt the twins' eyes on him as he closed the door to the living room and caught their flinches in the corner of his eyes. He saw Elladan's hand close over Elrohir's in a protective gesture, and heard the elfling whisper low, "Thranduil is down in the kitchens right now."

Elrond came around to face the twins. "Have you anything to say for yourselves? Have you any explanation you would like to offer? Or perhaps an apology for me?"

"No," Elladan said, thrusting his chin forward. "We have nothing to say. It-it was merely fun."

"Not for me," Elrond said with a sudden note of coldness in his voice. "There are some jokes that are funny, yes. But when a prank destroys someone's property, involves deliberate lies and falsehoods, and puts another person in danger, it is no longer a prank. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Elrohir said quietly. "We understand. May we be excused?"

"No. You have yet to be punished."

Elrond thought he saw a suppressed shiver run through Elrohir as he crossed to the window and snapped a switch off from the branch outside. He shook the water off it as he stripped the leaves off the limber tool and held it up for the twins to see. Their dark eyes pooled in sudden fear and Elrohir took an actual step back.

"Do you see this?" Elrond demanded, brandishing the switch. "This . . . I do not intend to use." He tossed it onto the bed.

Elrohir moved another step back, taking Elladan with him as Elrond picked up his hairbrush. "This also I will not use." It joined the switch on the bed.

A shoe, a belt, a bamboo cane, a wooden spoon, a paddle, a ruler, a strap, and a whip completed the collection on the bed. Elrond finalized it by saying, "If I could throw my hand to join them, I would. But as I cannot, you will have to take my word for it I am not going to use it to punish you. Now come here."

Elrohir looked at the bed and swallowed. It occurred to him the world was a horrible place if so many "tools" had been used for spanking children. Elladan tugged at his hand and drew him over to stand beside Elrond.

Elrond saw his face and nodded. "I agree; there are quite a few instruments people have used to aid them in the "punishing" of children." He saw Elrohir shudder.

Elrohir bit down on his lip. "Do not punish Elladan. He-he was not the one who lied to you."

Elrond raised his eyebrow. "I will punish you both because you both played equal parts in this, did you not?"

Elrohir hung his head. His legs gave out under him and he sank to his knees, burying his face in Elrond's lap. His shoulders shook though his sobs were muffled, and he held tight to the elf lord's robes. Elladan looked distressed.

Elrond lifted Elrohir into his lap and rested his son's head on his shoulder. "What is the matter, little one? Are you scared of being punished?"

"N-n-no-no, it is not that," Elrohir said, shaking his head. He sniffed and wiped his eyes. "I-I am sorry we dragged you out into the woods under false pretenses. And I am sorry we emptied out the drawers in your room. It-it was not really a joke."

"No?" Elrond asked.

Elrohir shook his head and confirmed Harune's theory. He glanced at his twin before he spoke. "It-it was more of-of a test to see if you were sincere about your oath. We knew—we knew we could be punished for it. We knew we would be. We-we-um-we—"

Words appeared to fail Elrohir and he broke off. Elladan resumed. "We figured if you meant your oath you would not spank us and if you were not sincere, you would."

"And you were willing to risk the possibility of being spanked to test me?" Elrond asked, meeting Elladan's dark eyes. He saw the elfling swallow.

"Yes," Elladan said composedly. "We—we elected to take it in turns, in case—in case you were lying . . ."

"I see you made sure Thranduil was not around."

Elladan let out a breath. "True. He will not be there in Rivendell, after all."

"So, to recapitulate: You and Elrohir were both willing to put my oath to the test and possibly risk being spanked?"

"Yes," Elrohir answered.

"Why?" Elrond questioned. "I know you hate it so why would you risk being subjected to it? Why would my oath mean so much to you?"

"It only means something to us if it is true," Elrohir said. "And we had to know if it is true. You have lied too us so many times we could not be if you were lying again. We-we agreed it would not matter so much if you spanked us once or twice." Hot tears filled his eyes as he muttered, "We could have gone to Thranduil."

Elrond hugged the elfling to his chest. He reached down to pull Elladan onto his lap as well. "I am sorry I frightened you. And I am sorry I treated you so badly you were forced to go to such drastic measures. I do mean my oath. I already told you none of the things on my bed would be used to punish you."

Elrohir sniffled. "I-I know. We want to go home. We want to see nana. But we do not want to be hurt anymore. We want you to love us. We do. But we want real love. Not the false stuff you twisted under our noses and used as an excuse to hit us. We love you."

Elrond's eyesight became blurry. "I love you both, ion nins; both of you with all my heart. I never stopped loving you. Never. But I understand in the darkest of days there was a time when you could not feel it."

Elrohir wiped his nose and leaned against him. "That is true. Do you love us now?"

"Yes," Elrond answered without hesitation. "And I will not use my love as an excuse to spank you. I give you My Word."

Elrohir nodded and sat up straight. "Elrond, we—we cannot return home . . . yet. But we might be able to in the future." He looked hopeful.

Elrond ran a hand over his hair. "I understand. When you are ready, you will tell me. Now, I know Thranduil, Legolas, Harune, and Landion are going out in a picnic tomorrow. You two will not be joining them. I understand the kitchen floors are in need of a serious cleaning and, in light of your actions, you will be the ones cleaning them."

Disappointment flickered across the faces of his sons but neither one protested. Elladan and Elrohir merely nodded.

Elrond drew in a deep breath and rose to his feet. "Good. And another such prank will not come to pass, will it?"

"No," Elrohir assured him. Despite the circumstances of his punishment, his eyes were still bright. Elrond nodded his approval, offered a hand to both twins, and walked with them down to dinner.

Elrond was surprised punishing the twins had been so easy. He liked having to punish his sons as much as any parent but Elladan and Elrohir had not screamed and shrieked and begged and pleaded. They had not quailed under the blows of the strap nor cowered in fear of the pain. Both elflings had accepted their punishment without disagreement; without protest, and . . . they had not screamed their usual outrage at him afterwards either.

Did that mean the punishment was not hard enough; that it was not effective enough?

OoOoO

Celebrian felt her heart rise in her throat as she heard a noise she never wished to hear again. She rushed into the leaving room and felt her heart clench as she heard Arwen wailing, pinned across Galadriel's knees.

"Nana!" her daughter sobbed, reaching for her mother and kicking in protest to Galadriel's spanks.

Celebrian made a lunge for Arwen, securing her in her arms. She kissed Arwen's tear-streaked face, hugged her tight, and gave her to Erestor's arms and shut the door behind him before she turned to explode.

"How dare you? How dare you? How dare you?"

Galadriel looked affronted. "Really, Celebrian, a little spanking is good for any child. Arwen did not heed my command to stay away from the fire so I have shown her that behavior is not acceptable."

"I do not care what she did, you will not lay a hand on my daughter again. If you cannot learn to discipline without your usual arsenal of wickedness, you will not be around Arwen ever again!"

"Would you prefer Arwen burned herself?"

"If you had bothered you get yourself out of your chair and pick her up instead of talking to her like she is a dog from across the room, Arwen would be in your arms and not near the fire! I have heard how you spoke to Elladan and Elrohir when they were two and three and five and I know how you spoke to me when I was little. And I will not have that tone of voice uttered in my household."

"You are most unreasonable," Galadriel said, her voice rising a notch.

"No, nana, for the first time in my life, I am reasonable. And I am sorry you cannot see it."

Celebrian whirled and left the room. She found Arwen sitting on Erestor's knee while he held her hands and bounced her.

"Horsey!" she cried.

Celebrian felt the smile coming back to her face. She blinked back tears and asked Erestor low, "Is she okay?"

Erestor nodded to a tin of salve on the low table. "I rubbed some salve into her skin to dull the ache of . . . Galadriel's actions. She is fine now. But I do not think she will want to be with Galadriel again."

Celebrian picked Arwen up and put her on her shoulders. "Thank you, Erestor. You will make a fine father. I apologize for thinking you would spank your child. Now, I have a very big favor to ask you. With Ariel so near the birth of the baby, I hope it is not too much to ask."

Celebrian has vanquished her demon. Or at least put her foot down and stood up for her daughter. What do you think of her actions? And how has Elrond done in keeping to his oath? I think he showed some real love in this chapter.

I love hearing from you all. Your thoughts and comments always inspire a new scene in the chapters ahead.

Next Chapter: The twins neglect their punishment . . .