Upon Legolas's request, Gildran landed in the same spot in which Legolas had stopped earlier in the forest. Esendri spotted a few monkeys hidden in the trees above, each of them holding something. He clamoured into the branches, and managed to worm the three mithril crowns back from them.

"'Twas not Barin but little monkeys who stole them!" Legolas said.

Esendri understood then that Legolas had instructed the monkeys to retrieve the crowns while the Dwarves had been distracted by Legolas

"You knew all along that the Dwarves were not going to return the crowns!" Esendri said. "It is a pity though the vest remains missing!"

He gave a strangled yelp as Gildran picked him up from behind in his talons and set off in the direction of the palace.

"You could have made me drop the crowns!" he said, only to received a firm shake as an answer. Thereafter, he decided to hold his peace lest the eagle decide to drop him in an unfamiliar part of the forest on his own.

It was not long before Gildran reached the palace, and dove into the trees, screeching to a halt in front of a shocked Thranduil. Legolas and Esendri were laid in startled heaps upon the ground, and Gildran was off.

"Legolas!" Seeing Legolas's sorry state son, Thranduil ran over to him. What had he gotten himself into now?

"Father, look, I have redeemed myself, have I not?" Legolas beamed and held out the precious parchment, before giving in to his exhaustion, sinking into a healing sleep within the strong arms of his bemused, confused, and exasperated father.

*****
A/N: That's it. Sorry for taking so long, but I had to re-write bits of it to make it more realistic. I hope you enjoyed it anyway!