Thank you to everyone who voted and commented on the last chapter. I love you all, @slut_for_pizza, @Cairo1973, @Elf_of_hogwarts, @crystalily2003, @Avaloyuru, @Tiemna, and @KarolinaMarchenkov, for adding this story to her reading list!

Thranduil slid off his mount with a small sigh and handed the reins of his moose to the amused elf standing at his side to receive them. He scratched the animal behind the ears before leading him away. The horses of Elrond, Glorfindel, and the dozen guards trotted away under the guidance of their elven leaders.

Thranduil stretched his arms and yawned, feeling tired after the long ride. He looked up at the star-filled sky above him as he walked across the stone bridge toward the palace doors. They opened at his approach and Harune walked out.

"Ada," Thranduil greeted him, gesturing to Glorfindel. "I have brought home a guest. The situation at the borderline is well under control; the mists worked."

Harune scanned his tired face and reached to hug him. "Come, I will help you out of the armor. Glorfindel, welcome to Mirkwood. I understand you will want to rest; if you follow my son and I, I will take you to your room. But first, Thranduil, it is good you are back. The twins and Landion survived well enough but Legolas . . ."

Thranduil closed his eyes and tried not to think about what had transpired in his absence.

"He did not turn wild," Harune assured him. "But he refused to sleep without your feel around him."

"I do not mind if he is in my bed," Thranduil said, striding past his father and making his familiar way through the winding paths and branches toward his chambers. Harune stopped him.

"He is not in your bed, ion nin," Harune said. "I tried to convince him but he refused. He sleeps curled in your throne with a pillow and your silk mantle."

Thranduil tried to imagine the picture and a small smile came over his tired face. Shaking his head, he walked to retrieve his son who could not be comfortable curled in the great chair.

Glorfindel trailed after them, aware of Elrond's glowering aura. The elf lord simmered, in danger of boiling over. He kept an eye on him, hoping he could calm him down when he had regained his strength after resting. Thranduil stepped up onto the throne platform after the last stair and gazed at his son with an amused chuckle. Legolas' form was curled on the seat of his throne, tangled in layers of rippling silk mantle, with a pillow on the armrest under his head. As Thranduil leaned over him and touched his cheek, shaking him gently, he mumbled, "Leave me alone, Harune, I want to sleep, and I do not want to sleep in a bed."

"It is me, little leaf," Thranduil said softly.

Legolas jerked awake, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. His face lit up with a smile and he wrestled against the folds of the mantle to fling himself into Thranduil's arms. Tears dripped down his cheeks as he buried his face in the crook of Thranduil's neck and choked, "Ada. I missed you so much—I-I was scared you would not come home—"

Thranduil patted his back. "I will always come home to you, ion nin. Always. It is a promise I will keep to my dying breath. Now come; we are both equally tired."

Harune helped untangled Legolas from the folds of the mantle. He draped the rumpled silk over his arm, picked up the pillow, and led the way to Thranduil's chambers. Thranduil went ahead with Legolas in his arms while Harune stopped to point to the door opposite Elrond's room in the hall.

"Your room, Glorfindel," he said. "If you need anything, I will send Galion to help you."

Glorfindel shook his head and, as Harune slipped through the open door to Thranduil's chamber, he escaped hastily into his own room before Elrond could set upon him, locking the solid door.

"Glorfindel! Are you not even on the side of your lord?" Elrond cried, kicking the door in frustration.

Glorfindel contemplated answering but a voice stopped him, the low tone coming through the door to his ears.

"There are children sleeping, Elrond. Have some respect." The voice was cold and icy. It took Glorfindel some time to place it.

With a start he realized it was Harune.

OoOoOoO

Glorfindel stepped from his room, dressed in the fresh clothes delivered to his room, his blond hair still wet from his hot bath. He closed the door behind him and wandered down the hall in search of breakfast.

Harune bumped into him at a turn and smiled. "The dining room is this way; follow me."

Elrond sat at the table in comparative silence in the wide dining room while Elladan and Elrohir chattered, squirming in their chairs, and another elfling sat ramrod straight opposite them, trying to resist the temptations of a pile of honey cakes.

Harune slid into his seat, gesturing to the chair to Elrond's left. He said, "Elladan, Elrohir, a friend came to see you."

The twins looked at Glorfindel as he sat down beside Elladan and their eyes lit up at the familiar sight of the elf. "Glorfindel; we did not know you had come."

"You were sleeping when I arrived last night," Glorfindel said, smiling. He squeezed Elladan's hand under the table; relieved to see the eyes of the elflings were bright. "It is good to see you."

"This is my son, Landion," Harune said, introducing the third elfling as the elves indulged in the hot breakfast.

Landion's blue eyes ran over Glorfindel's face before he said, "Legolas told me about you when he returned from his visit to Mirkwood." As the name of his nephew rolled off his tongue, he turned to Harune and asked, "Ada, where are Thranduil and Legolas?"

"Sleeping. Thranduil is tired from his journey and Legolas slept badly in the throne over the past few days. I expect they will feel rested enough to greet the day on their feet in a few dawns more," Harune answered. He pushed back his chair. "Excuse me; I have work to do. Landion, lessons in five minutes; your teacher is expecting you in the library."

"Valar!" exclaimed the elfling, jumping from his seat and calling back his excuses. He raced from the room ahead of Harune.

The twins exchanged glances before they left their seats, repeating the proper excuse me, and departed the room, their dark hair glistening in loose waves over the backs of the their blue tunics.

Glorfindel looked at Elrond as the elf complained, "Look what this wild kingdom has done to my sons; ruined them."

"They look happy to me, Elrond. Happier then I saw them in Rivendell. Their eyes shine with light shadows stole from them."

Elrond pushed back his plate and leaned back in his chair. "And now even my own friends stand against me."

"I am not against you, Elrond," Glorfindel said. "I came all this way with an army of warriors at my side, knowing well your intentions. My loyalty is not displaced. But even though you are my friend and lord, there are some things in you I do not like."

"My ways are not wrong," Elrond said stiffly. "They are looked upon by the valar."

Glorfindel rose. "Excuse me, Elrond. I cannot discuss this with you until I see the whole picture. I would like to speak with Thranduil and the twins before I choose my ground."

And he left Elrond simmering in his chair.

Glorfindel made it his mission to track down the twins and found Elladan and Elrohir standing in the cold wind, wrapped in their cloaks, at the railing of the balcony overlooking the main gates. They turned at his entrance, their cheeks red. For several minutes the three elves stood in silence, leaning their arms on the railing and looking down at the rushing waters of the river snaking by below.

"Are you angry we ran away?" Elladan asked suddenly.

Glorfindel met his curious eyes. "Well, you kept me awake long nights looking for you but . . . I am not angry. I realize you both did what you had to do to find the help no one else could offer you in Rivendell. Or perhaps there was help you did not ask for."

Elladan looked down. "We . . . we could not ask you to protect us from Elrond, Glorfindel. You are his friend of many years and we were afraid you—you agreed with his methods of punishment. We could not ask Erestor or nana. We could not even ask the parents of our closest friends for fear Elrond would have them thrown into the dungeons for defying him. We needed someone with—with more power. Someone who could stand in Elrond's path and drive him back."

"Driving him back helps little," Elrohir said, his voice downcast. "He will not learn from Thranduil or accept his help. Driving back will keep the father we love from us and—and that hurts."

"Elrond is stubborn and set firmly in his beliefs," Glorfindel agreed.

Elrohir clenched his fists like he was holding a stick. "I wish I could uproot him. We have tried everything from begging to asking nicely but he does not want to even try. It is hard to live with him here but he will not even return home. I wish he could make up his mind and either stay and learn from Thranduil or go home to nana and leave us alone."

"Would you survive without him?" Glorfindel asked.

"We are prepared to live with a father who loves us and shows it without contradicting his word with spankings or not at all," Elladan said grimly, and he sounded as though he meant it.

Glorfindel nodded. "I see. It is Elrond's punishments that drove you from home."

"Yes," said Elrohir. "They were wrong and they hurt us. Even if he used his hand like he did when we were little it would still be wrong."

He and Elladan shivered and made for the door with Glorfindel behind them. As the trio walked for the warm living room, Elladan said, "We-we hoped you might talk to him. He will not listen us because he thinks our minds are too young to understand what we speak of. He will not listen to Thranduil because he hates him. He will not listen to Legolas or Landion either. And he will not speak to Harune unless he has to because Harune . . ." Elladan's voice trailed off and he cleared his throat.

"Harune . . . spanks him with a strap when Elrond does any of the things he punished us for."

Glorfindel's face registered shock.

"It is what Elrond did to us. We do not like it and Harune does not either. He only did it twice," Elladan said.

"His patience snapped with Elrond," Elrohir said. "But Elrond does not realize we feel the same angry emotions he does now and plows on ahead, hating Harune as much as he can. Anyway, we were hoping because you have known Elrond for hundreds of years, you could talk to him and . . . convince him to leave us behind forever or stay and learn to love us if he even can."

Glorfindel's heart broke as he looked into Elrohir's pleading eyes. He could almost see the poor elfling on his knees begging with hot tears on his cheeks, and the thought banished from his mind the matter of Harune spanking Elrond.

"I will speak to him," he promised. "I hope I can help you."

The twins hugged him around the waist. "Hannon le, Glorfindel, hannon le. It means more then you know to us."

Their broken voices and the desperation in their arms as they hugged him gave Glorfindel a fine idea of how much it meant to the twins as he knelt to embrace their trembling bodies and let his reassurance and calm flow to them. And for a moment he shared in the twins' desperation as he hoped he could sway the iron will of belief in his lord.

OoOoOoO

Erestor and Ariel leaned back against the smooth rock, finishing the wine in their cups. A bright quilt underneath them was lit up by the setting sun. Blowing grass danced in the wind. Ahead of them, the hills plunged down toward Rivendell. The pair watched the sun set in purple and gold streaks over the valley.

Erestor put down his cup and looked at the woman beside him. Ever since Celebrian had helped with the office work, he had had free hours every day to spend with her. He met her in the kitchens by the stove and nothing to him was more beautiful then watching her take crackling loaves from the oven and turn to face him, her face flushed and eyes bright.

Erestor took Ariel's hand in his and met her eyes as she looked at him.

"You will marry me," he asked, cramming the ring onto her finger in a sudden burst of nervousness. "No, I mean . . ."

He broke off as Ariel stared at him with surprised eyes and his stomach fluttered in sudden uncertainty. He suddenly knew why snails curled into their shells.

Thank you all for reading. I appreciate it so much. Your likes and dislikes are always inspiring to me in deciding where to go next!

Poor Erestor has made quite a blunder, has he not?

Happy 2019!