Chapter 4: Lies

Legolas dodged in and out amongst the trees, jogging to the small meadow where he had practiced sword work with Anastor and Noruil the day before. He had already checked the hiding place that they used to spy on the training fields not far from the clearing. It was abandoned, but so were the training fields. The swords lesson was apparently over for the day, so Legolas imagined Anastor, Noruil, Brethil and Berior had gone to practice in the clearing. As he approached, he heard a sharp smack of wood against wood and a mock battle cry and knew he was right. Those noises were followed by voices--someone pleading with someone else. Berior's voice, he thought.

"Well, if all Anastor has done is refuse to let them use the practice swords, I suppose I should be grateful," Legolas said to himself as he doubled his pace towards the clearing.

A good distance to one side of the path he was following, Legolas glimpsed movement amongst the trees. He squinted in that direction and saw two figures. They seemed to be strolling slowly through the forest. Legolas tensed. No one took a stroll near the practice fields. Except officers of the training program and occasionally warriors. In either case, if Legolas was caught here, he would be in trouble. Legolas made sure he was obscured by a tree as he watched the figures to determine who they were and where they were going, One of them turned a bit, the better to step over a large branch that laid across his path. Legolas groaned out loud. It was Tulus. Just as he recognized him, another loud thwack and the distinct sound of high-pitched laughter sounded from the clearing where Anastor, Noruil and his cousins were practicing. Legolas willed Tulus to ignore the sound.

"There it is again," the other figure said. "I want to see who that is. They have no business taking practice swords all the way into the forest like that."

Legolas recognized the voice. It was Glílavan's. "Oh no," Legolas said softly and he quickly assessed the route he would have to take on the ground or through the trees to get to the clearing before Glílavan. Then he wondered if he could sneak past a warrior--an officer, no less--by either route. "No choice but to try and the trees will be faster," he said to himself, leaping onto a low branch and hoping the beeches here would not betray naughty children. He made as direct a path towards the clearing as he could, keeping one eye on Glílavan and the other in the general direction of his goal.

Glílavan did not take more than a few steps before Tulus grabbed his arm. "We are not done with this conversation," he said. "You started it. Now you will listen to what I have to say about it."

As Legolas silently closed the distance between them, he saw Glílavan turn an exasperated gaze skyward. He froze, fearing Glílavan might spot him. But Glílavan only shook his head and looked silently at his adar with an expression on his face that Legolas was certain would have earned him nothing less than a good smack from his own adar. Tulus gave Glílavan a shake by his arm and fixed him with a glare that should have turned him to stone. Legolas resumed his progress forward through the trees, now almost directly over them, creeping slowing and making sure to keep as many branches between himself and the ground as possible.

"I was a warrior in this forest two ages before you were born, Glílavan," Tulus was saying. "I fought for seven years in Mordor, in battles the scale of which you cannot even imagine. I assure you, I know how to defend myself."

"I never said you could not defend yourself, adar..." Glílavan tried to argue, but Tulus cut him off.

"So make no mistake. This," he said pointing to the wound at his hip, "did not happen because I was careless, slow, unpracticed, or daunted by the battle in some way..."

"I never said it did..."

"I stepped in front of that arrow and knew precisely where it would strike me--I knew it could be a fatal hit--when I made the choice to do it."

Glílavan said nothing to that.

Legolas had gone a few feet past them, but he could not help but pause and look back. What Tulus had just said was painful for him to hear. He could not imagine how difficult it must be for Tulus's son to hear it. Why in all of Arda would Tulus be saying such things to Glílavan?

"Do not think that I would do such a thing once and would not do it again," Tulus continued. "I will. Every time it is necessary. So unless you want to see me killed..."

Glílavan pulled his arm free of his father's grasp and stalked off in the direction of the clearing again.  "I understand, adar. Please drop it."

Tulus grabbed his arm again and pulled him up short sharply enough to force Glílavan to spin around to face him. "I will drop it when you do," he replied.

Glílavan made an obvious effort to maintain a respectful expression. "We were having a nice walk, adar. An enjoyable conversation, discussing my promotion and yours. Might we just forget about this and go to see who is practicing out here and why?"

Tulus released Glílavan's arm with a shove and Legolas hurried on through the trees, easily staying ahead of Glílavan's slow paced walk--slow enough to accommodate Tulus's still painful injury. "Forgetting about it is precisely what I expect you to do," Legolas heard Tulus growl behind him.

Moments later, all Legolas's friends in the clearing yelped in surprise when he leapt out of the trees and ran straight to them.

"You cannot scare us so easily! "Anastor exclaimed, pointing the practice sword in his hand at Legolas.  Breathlessness made his defiant tone somewhat less convincing.

"Why would you come sneaking up on us through the trees like that, Legolas?" Brethil complained. He had his hand over his heart and was making no show of being brave.

Legolas knew his warning would not make them feel better. "Glílavan and Tulus are right behind me," he said, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb.

Anastor and Noruil immediately began looking around for someplace to hide the practice swords in their hands.

Legolas shook his head. "Hiding the swords is no good. They heard someone practicing over here and detoured in this direction to see who it is. We have to get out of here. Now."

Eyes wide, Brethil and Berior nodded and started to follow Legolas, cutting across the forest at an angle to avoid being intercepted by Glílavan and Tulus.

Anastor jogged after Legolas and grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop. "Do not run," he warned. He looked serious.

Next to him, Noruil was nodding. "That is what we did with Galithil that time that we got caught practicing archery here when we were little. It will only make Glílavan more determined to track us down if he finds no one here after he heard someone practicing. Even if he does not find us, he will tell Dolgailon was us and Galithil, because this is where he caught us before. I am sure he already suspects he will find us here."

Legolas pulled his arm from Anastor's grasp and turned to face him and Noruil fully. "Brilliant idea," he whispered. "Going back to the same place you have been caught once. Maybe next time you might try someplace new?"

Noruil made a face at him in response.

"We cannot stay or we will certainly be caught," Berior whispered. He pointed into the forest. "Footsteps!"

"I have an idea." Anastor said quietly. "Just stay where you are and act as if nothing is wrong."

Legolas scowled at him. He certainly did not trust any of Anastor's ideas.  He glanced in the direction of the approaching footsteps and then at his cousins, who definitely did not look as if nothing were wrong. He was gazing at the clear escape path that they might have taken if they had not delayed when Glílavan and Tulus burst into the clearing.

"I knew I would find you here," Glílavan said, pointing at Anastor and Noruil.

Legolas looked over his shoulder at him.

Glílavan was looking at the practice swords in Anastor and Noruil's hands with raised eyebrows. His eyebrows went up more and he leaned forward slightly when he recognized it was Legolas rather than Galithil with them. "What is going on here?" he asked, his tone less certain than it had been a moment before. As he spoke, he spared a glance at Berior and Brethil and his expression became even more confused.

Anastor adopted the satisfied gleam that normally signified that he had successfully tricked someone. He took a step forward. "We are only helping Legolas practice his sword lesson since Galithil is not here yet."

Legolas spun back around to face Anastor, his jaw frankly hanging open.

"Legolas's lesson?" Glílavan and Tulus both repeated.

"The King did not mention to me that Legolas would be having sword lessons," Tulus added.

Glílavan shook his head. "Just because you are now Legolas's guard, I doubt that the King will be reporting Legolas's full schedule to you," he said.

"Have you gone mad?" Legolas whispered as Tulus and Glílavan argued.

"Play along," Anastor hissed back. "You and Berior will be in far more trouble for this than Noruil and I."

"Especially if we compound the situation with a lie," Legolas drew a breath to respond. But Glílavan addressed Anastor again before Legolas could speak.

"Even if you have the King's permission to have those swords, I am certain you do not have his permission to be fooling around with them," he argued.

"We were not fooling around. We were practicing," Anastor shot back.

"You were fighting with them. I heard you knocking them together. Legolas could not have had sword lessons for very long, so he could not be ready to spar," Glílavan countered.
 
"We were practicing attacks and guards," Anastor argued.

Glílavan laughed. "Langon does not teach attack and guard drills to a student until after they have worn through at least two pairs of sturdy boots doing footwork drills." He glanced pointedly at Legolas's boots. "Legolas's boots still look to be in very good shape to me. I think you were fooling around."

"Legolas does not have to waste his time with footwork drills," Anastor replied.

Legolas cringed. No one would believe that. It would surely be the lie that betrayed them.

But Glílavan only moaned. "Oh! Only the King's son could escape Langon's footwork drills! Only the King could force Langon to forego them!"

Legolas turned to face Glílavan fully, looking at him through narrowed eyes in response to that.

Glílavan did not notice. He was mumbling 'fine, then' as he grabbed the sword Noruil was holding.

"First of all," Legolas began. He was forced backward a step when Glílavan thrust Noruil's sword into his hands. Legolas took it automatically, but otherwise ignored it, letting its tip rest on the ground as he continued speaking without pause. "I would never be able to escape anything just because I am the King's son," he said.

Glílavan was not listening. "Well, by all means, let us see then," he said, speaking over Legolas as if he had not heard him. "I would be very interested to see one of these attack and guard drills that you were practicing."

Legolas was vaguely aware of Tulus stepping into his peripheral vision and saying something, but he ignored him. "Second of all," he continued. "I was not practicing anything at all. I just got here a few moments before you."

Glílavan smirked at that and looked over Legolas's head at Anastor with one eyebrow raised knowingly.

"Third of all," Legolas said, raising his voice slightly with the intention of drawing Glílavan's attention back to him. He was not finished yet. There was no way he was going to lie to an officer of the training program about having sword lessons. Neither was he going to lie to Tulus, who was both his friend and his new guard. Glílavan did turn back to Legolas and lifted his chin slightly to look down at him. Legolas straightened automatically in response and drew a breath to continue speaking.

As he did, he glimpsed a blurred movement to his left. He glanced at it and then, registering what it was, he jumped back, stumbling in the process.

"Enough," Tulus said in the authoritative voice that Legolas and his cousins rarely heard him use.

Legolas was not surprised to hear him use it now. Anastor was glaring at Tulus and trying to pull his practice sword out of Tulus's grip. Tulus had the blade of the wooden sword in his hands. He twisted it sharply tp pull it away from Anastor. The blur Legolas had seen was the sword. Anastor had apparently decided to distract them by obeying Glílavan's request to demonstrate the supposed lesson. He had aimed a hewing attack at Legolas. Tulus had stepped forward and caught the blade before the stroke fell across Legolas's shoulder. Anastor glared at Tulus a moment and then turned on Legolas with a look that plainly demanded that he shut up.

"If there was any doubt about whether you are mature enough to share these lessons with Legolas, it no longer remains," Tulus said. "You most certainly are not."

"Not bad," Glílavan was saying at the same time, looking at Legolas with a marginal amount of respect. "Good instinct," he continued, gesturing to how Legolas had stepped to the side. "But this alone should show you the importance of footwork. Your right leg is positioned perfectly well, but look at your left leg, Legolas. If you needed to return that blow that you just dodged, you would not have the strength or balance to close the distance to your enemy and deliver a solid blow given the way your foot and knee are turned. Let me show you." He reached to take the sword Tulus had confiscated from Anastor while moving in front of Legolas.

"Glílavan," Tulus said, warningly.

Legolas frowned, but found himself raising the sword he was holding into a clumsy guard of no proper type when Glílavan raised his practice sword over his head. "I do not think..." Legolas began, taking another stumbling step backward.

Glílavan ignored him. "See how awkward that stance is?" he asked. He turned around, so his back was to Legolas. "Stand thusly," he ordered, positioning his feet squarely.

Legolas let the tip of the sword fall to the ground again. "Glílavan, I only came here to get Berior and Brethil. Berior and I have to go plant seeds with daernana and I thought Brethil might want to go with us." He paused and glanced at Anastor and Noruil. "You are welcome to come with us, of course, but I doubted you would want to."

Anastor shook his head with a sour smile.
 
Glílavan looked over his shoulder at Legolas for a moment and then abandoned the stance he had struck to face to him fully. "Very well, but I think you should encourage Langon to spend more time on footwork drills with you. You do not want to learn bad habits that the training program will have to undo," he said, hands on his hips. He let the tip of the practice sword he was holding drop to the ground and then he gave the hilt a shove so it tilted over towards Legolas. Legolas caught it. "I could tell Langon to work on that more with you, if you would like."

Legolas's eyes flew open at that and he shook his head. There was no doubt he looked guilty.

Glílavan smiled. "And now we come to the truth of it."

Legolas swallowed. "I did not intend to lie to you, Glílavan," he began.

"You did not," Glílavan interrupted. "Anastor did. They," he waggled a finger between Anastor and Noruil, "were playing around with your practice swords. I never doubted that. Now when you are finished with your gardening and have time to practice your sword lessons properly, you make sure to practice your footwork drills and do not let these two be a bad influence on you or encourage you to fool around like that. Langon will knock you in the head with that practice sword, king's son or not, if he catches you doing something like that. Footwork drills. That is the key, as Langon says." He nodded and winked at Legolas. "And do not practice here. You are too close to the practice fields here and that can be dangerous." He patted Legolas on the shoulder, gave Anastor and Noruil a glare and started to walk away. "Off to your gardening then," he said over his shoulder.

Legolas looked from Glílavan's back to Tulus, who was still studying him, his mouth open and trying to decide what to say.

"You heard him," Anastor said, stepping forward and taking Legolas by the arm. "Off to your gardening." He took the swords from Legolas with one hand and started pulling him from the clearing with the other.

"Glílavan," Legolas called after him. But he did not sound very determined to stop him, even to himself. And he did not resist terribly much when Anastor and Noruil pushed him along.

"We should just get out of here," Brethil whispered.

Legolas looked at him and then at Berior. Berior was nodding nervously.

Legolas sighed and, with a last glance at Tulus, turned to jog off towards the stronghold with everyone else.

*~*~*

"Can you paint them both together?" Galithil asked.

Legolas nodded as he placed his box of drawing supplies on the table. Galithil pulled a chair up right next to Legolas and settled into it, leaning in close to peer at the drawings already in the box. Legolas took them out and shuffled through them. A charcoal drawing of Barad, the Man from Arthedain that they had recently met  was on the top. Legolas let that picture fall to the table, along with a half finished one of Hallion, several, in charcoal and paints, of Thranduil and Lindomiel, and a few sketches of his cousins. He stopped when he reached a finished color painting. He held it close and looked at it a long moment, startled by how much grief washed over him just from looking at it. He finally tore his eyes away from it and looked back at Galithil.

"Are you sure you want to see this?" he asked, holding the painting against his chest.

"Yes," Galithil said, reaching for it.

Legolas let him have it. When tears filled Galithil's eyes, Legolas turned his focus back to searching through the drawings in the box. He did not think that looking at his poorly done paintings of Aradunnon and Amoneth was really something Galithil needed to be doing, but he could not seem to make himself argue against it either. "I am afraid I really only have sketches of your naneth. Nothing painted," he said, putting a few smaller papers in front of Galithil on the table. Galithil studied each one of them. "I can definitely paint them both together in a new one, though. That is easy," he said as Galithil lightly traced the lines of one of the sketches with a finger.

"You know how Nana used to sit on that rock by the river under the Oak, and Ada would sit on the ground in front of her, and she would lean over and put her chin on his shoulder and her arms around him?"

Legolas nodded. He did not go often to the Oak with Galithil and his parents, so he did not really remember ever seeing them in that particular pose, but he could imagine it well enough.

"Can you paint them like that?"

Legolas nodded again, pulled out a piece of paper and some charcoal and began to sketch. Galithil watched silently as the outline of a masculine figure appeared in the foreground of the picture and then a feminine figure took shape behind it. Her face was next to the masculine form. Her left hand rested on the male's shoulder, while her right arm held him across his chest.

"Yes, just like that!" Galithil said, nodding with a clearly pleased expression.

It was the most pleased Legolas had seen his cousin in days. He smiled. "Do you want them wearing anything in particular?" he asked as he idly began adding facial features to the male in the picture.

"Nana should be wearing that blue dress that she wore to the Spring Festival. It was pretty. She looked nice in it," Galithil said.

Legolas paused in the creation of Aradunnon's nose to add a note about the blue dress to the corner of the sketch. "What if I paint your adar wearing that dark brown tunic with the gold embroidery, then? It will contrast nicely with the blue dress and the dress has similar embroidery, so they will look good together."

"Sounds good to me," Galithil replied.

A glance over his shoulder showed Legolas that his cousin was transfixed by the emergence of Aradunnon's face from the rough sketch. Legolas had all the information he needed to make the painting that Galithil had asked him for. He did not really need to do anything more to this sketch, but he continued drawing since Galithil seemed to want him to.

"I wonder if Daernana would like a sketch," Galithil said quietly, propping his chin in his hands. "She seemed pretty distant when we were planting the seeds with her."

Legolas laughed lightly, in an effort not to allow the worry he felt over his grandmother to show on his face. "If Daernana wants a painting, she will either do it herself or have the good sense to ask someone who can paint, like Celonhael or Gelireth, to paint it for her. Not me," he said.

Galithil frowned at the sketch Legolas was doing appraisingly. "You are pretty good, Legolas," he said. "And this painting is great," he added, fingering the corner of the painting of Aradunnon that Legolas had extracted from the box. "Maybe you should give the one you are going to do to Daernaneth. If you will let me keep this one of Ada and one of the sketches of Nana."

Legolas shook his head. "You can keep any of these you want, but remember you promised not to show them to anyone. They are not good, Galithil. You only think they are because you are still grieving too much to know any better. I am not showing any of them to Daernana. Remember she is a real painter, amongst all the other arts she does. No way am I letting her see any of this mess," he said, waving his hand over the scattered papers.

Galithil looked up from the sketch. "There are good and you are a fool for not seeing it, Legolas. You do know that, right?" he said with a grin.

Legolas laughed and his hand darted up to draw a long, jagged black mark down Galithil's cheek with the charcoal pencil. When Galithil picked up a paint brush and wielded it like a sword to ward off Legolas's attack on his other cheek, Legolas's laughter faded a bit. Swords were not something he wanted to be reminded of at the moment.

Galithil sobered as well. "You have to tell Glílavan," he said seriously.

Legolas grimaced and leaned over the sketch, beginning on Amoneth's face. "Brethil wants to continue spying on the swords lessons, remember? And you said to Berior in the garden when we were planting seeds that Glílavan would not tell on us, even if he found out from Langon that I do not have sword lessons."

"And he will not, Legolas," Galithil answered firmly. "Glílavan is not such a bad person as you seem to think. He would probably even give you the lessons himself. But you still have to tell him because he is going to be our captain in just a few years. You cannot have an officer thinking you are not trustworthy."

Legolas stopped drawing and closed his eyes. "Do you think I do not know that? Nor can we keep this lie up to Tulus. He will certainly notice whether or not we have sword lessons when he begins to guard me." He let his head fall on his arm on the table. "And while Glílavan might not make us tell Adar, I am not so certain Tulus will not. I do not know why I did not just tell them it was a lie the moment Anastor said it! This is so much harder now!" he whined.

"Anastor has a real gift for dragging others down with him," Galithil observed dryly. "I am looking forward to serving in a patrol with him," he added with clear sarcasm.

Legolas snorted and shook his head. Sitting back up, he started drawing again, this time to distract himself as much as Galithil.

"You can tell Glílavan easily. All he will do is frown at you," Galithil said. "It is true," he insisted when Legolas looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "That is all he ever does to me. And he will probably volunteer to help you tell his adar. Tulus is too kind to give you much of a hard time. So it will turn out easier than you think. I will go with you to tell them if you want."

Legolas fiddled with the charcoal between his fingers. "Glílavan may like you, but he does not think so highly of me. If I hear him say 'king's son' to me one more time, I am going to say something really harsh to him. I do not get any sort of privilege because I am the king's son..."

"I know. And he does too, I think. He is only joking maybe," Galithil said.

"He is not joking. He means it." Legolas put down the charcoal and looked at Galithil. "I need to tell you something. And you are not going to like it, since you and Glílavan are friends. But I need you to listen to me."

Galithil leaned against the back of his chair and folded his arms. "What?" he asked, shortly.

Legolas adopted an equally stubborn posture. "I knew about the crime Dolwon and Dannenion committed before you. Do you know why I was told before you?"

"I suppose it would only make you want to say something harsh to me if I said you found out first because you are the king's son?" Galithil replied. Legolas narrowed his eyes at his cousin's not entirely joking tone. "So," Galithil continued without acknowledging Legolas's glare, "I think I remember that you were told right after you punched Noruil for calling your adar a tyrant. I imagine you were told then because your adar wanted to explain why Noruil said that."

"Half right," Legolas responded. "That is when adar told me and that is part of the reason he did. The other part of the reason has to do with Glílavan."

Galithil's gaze darted back to Legolas. "Your adar did not say anything to us about Glílavan being involved in what Dannenion, Dolwon and Tulus did."

"No, not today. But when adar told me about it the first time, part of what we talked about was how Glílavan had offered to show us both how to shoot Maidhien's bow and keep it secret from our parents. That is what I told Uncle Hallion when I told on you. Uncle Hallion told adar and adar made me tell your adar and brother about it. When your adar heard it, he exploded. He said he would not have Glílavan manipulate you and he told Dolgailon to dismiss him and after they argued over it for a while your adar finally came out and said he believed Glílavan had been part of Dannenion and Dolwon's plot."

Galithil was shaking his head. "Dolgailon and Glílavan are good friends. They have been forever. Dolgailon just promoted Glílavan. Dolgailon would not do any of those things if Glílavan had ever plotted to kill naneth!"

"When your adar told Dolgailon to dismiss Glílavan and Dolgailon said no, my adar told Dolgailon to consider better whether Glílavan was really trustworthy..."

"They are still friends to this day. He just promoted him," Galithil interrupted, repeating his earlier argument. "He obviously still trusts him."

"And there is more," Legolas continued, undaunted. "Today, when I was going to get Berior and Brethil, I heard Glílavan and Tulus talking before they got to the clearing. I did not hear what Glílavan said to prompt Tulus to say this, but Tulus said to Glílavan something about how he did not get wounded defending me out of carelessness but rather by choice, he would do it again, and unless Glílavan wanted to see his adar get killed, he had better not do something. I did not hear what."

Galithil rolled his eyes. "That could mean anything."

"I think Glílavan asked Tulus to betray me to him. Just like Tulus said might happen when we were talking today."

"I think your imagination is a little over active," Galithil said. "Tulus is not going to be a member of the King's Guard while knowing his son is plotting to overthrow the King."

"You know I did something really stupid by going to spy on the training fields. Did you tell on me?" Legolas asked.

"Of course not."

"Well, maybe Tulus is not anxious to tell on his own son, since he has thus far avoided being caught. Maybe he wants to protect him too. He wants to try to keep him out of trouble. I could certainly understand if Tulus wanted to protect him," Legolas said and he nodded when Galithil had no argument to contradict him.

"Legolas," Galithil finally said, "I do not believe for a minute that is true. Glílavan is my friend. Not because he is trying to manipulate me, but just because he is nice. He is not plotting to overthrow your adar. But," he paused for emphasis, "if there is even the slightest chance that is true, you are in a lot of trouble. Your guard is in a position to bring very serious harm to you, and therefore the king and this realm. That cannot be. You have to tell someone what you heard them saying."

Legolas loosed a long sigh. "I know. Along with the stupid lie, I have been thinking about this all day long. Who can I tell though? If I tell adar, he will confront Tulus with it directly. And if they were discussing something different, Tulus will think I did not trust him, and he will be so hurt. You saw how much he hated telling us about his involvement with Dannenion today! If I ask Tulus about it directly myself, without telling anyone else, he is going to deny everything if he means to protect Glílavan, so I have accomplished nothing..."

"Except putting Tulus on notice that you know something is up," Galithil interrupted.

"True, but still that does little good, because what threat am I against Tulus or Glílavan? And again, if Tulus meant something else entirely with what he was saying, he will think I do not trust him and he will be hurt. If I confront Glílavan directly, the same thing will happen--he will deny everything, tell his adar and Tulus will be hurt. There is no way for me to handle this without hurting Tulus."

"Talk to Uncle Hallion about it. He will know what to do," Galithil said certainly.

"If Uncle Hallion thinks for a moment that my safety is at risk, or adar's through me, he will go straight to adar," Legolas answered.

"Maybe, then, that is what you should do, regardless of who might get their feelings hurt," Galithil said quietly. "Hurt feelings can heal. You will not if Tulus does mean to betray you to Dannenion. And neither will your adar heal if that happens. There is too much at stake."

Legolas flopped back in his chair. "I know. I am in so much trouble," he said miserably.

"Why are you in trouble?" an adult voice said from the doorway.

Legolas and Galithil both jumped and spun around in their chairs. Dolgailon was standing in the entrance of the room.

"It is rude to come into someone's room without knocking, Dolgailon," Legolas snapped.

 "It is late. I was looking for Galithil and you did not answer my knock. Why are you in trouble?" Dolgailon repeated. His voice was sympathetic as he approached the table.

"Dolgailon could help," Galithil suggested in a whisper. "At least give you better advice than me on what to do, maybe."

Legolas looked at Dolgailon, considering that.

'I will always try to help you, Legolas, if I can. I am your cousin, not your adar," Dolgailon said. "May I sit?"

Legolas nodded. "But this is really bad," he warned.

"Then you need all the help you can get," Dolgailon replied, settling himself across from Galithil.

"I heard Tulus telling Glílavan that he did not get shot by that arrow in Selwon's village by accident. He did it on purpose to protect me. And now it is his duty to protect me. " Legolas paused and looked questioningly at Dolgailon. "Did Conuion tell you that Tulus is my guard now?" Dolgailon nodded. "So Tulus told Glílavan that he would defend me with his life as many times as necessary to protect me. And then Tulus asked Glílavan if he wanted to see him get killed. He was talking as if he was warning Glílavan not to do something."

Dolgailon looked confused.

"Legolas thinks Glílavan asked Tulus to betray Legolas to him. Because he is also plotting with Dannenion and Dolwon," Galithil explained.

Confusion was quickly replaced by annoyance.

"You are worse than Adar!" Dolgailon exclaimed. "There was never any evidence Glílavan was involved in that conspiracy...." He stumbled to a stop and glanced at Galithil. "Wait, do you have the King's permission to be discussing this with Galithil?" he asked.

Legolas and Galithil both nodded. "Uncle Thranduil told me about what they did himself," Galithil answered.

"And Tulus told us of his involvement as a condition of accepting the appoint to the King's Guard," Leoglas added.

Dolgailon nodded and wiped his hand across his face. "Fine," he said, his hand still over his eyes. "Look, here is what I will do," he continued, allowing his hand to fall to the table so he could look directly at Legolas. "I am leaving for the camp of the southern patrol in the morning. But before I leave, I will ask Glílavan what that conversation was supposed to be about. I am certain there is a simple explanation. If I am not satisfied with what he says, I will delay leaving for the south so you and I can go speak to you your adar about it. Fair?"

"Can you make him promise not to tell his adar that we were suspicious?" Legolas pleaded. "We do not want to hurt Tulus's feelings if there is nothing to this."

"I will not let Glílavan know who repeated this conversation to me," Dolgailon promised.

The smile returned to Legolas's face. "Thank you, Dolgailon!"

Dolgailon nodded, tiredly. "You are welcome." He looked at Galithil. "TIme for you to be in your own room. It is very late," he said, standing. His gaze fell on the drawings on the table, including the one in front of Legolas. "What are these?" he asked, reaching for one of the sketches of his mother.

"They are not good! Please leave them alone, Dolgailon," Legolas begged, trying to gather them and cover them with his hands without smudging them, especially the fresh sketch that he would base Galithil's painting on.

"Tell him they are good, Dolgailon," Galithil insisted. "He is going to make me a painting of Adar and Naneth by the river from that one," he said pointing to the top sketch.

Legolas scowled at his cousins.

"I will try to respect your privacy, Legolas," Dolgailon said, still peering at the image of his parents partially hidden under Legolas's hands. "But I wish I did not have to. Those are very good. And very precious. It is a wonderful gift for you to give to Galithil if you are painting Adar and Nana for him."

Legolas closed his eyes. Dolgailon really did not do anything artistic. He would not be a harsh critic. Legolas pulled the painting of Aradunnon from the stack and put it on the table in the open. "You can have that one if you think it is any good," he said. "But please keep it in your room if you take it."

Dolgailon looked for a long moment at the painting on the table, his expression unreadable. Then he picked it up. "I will treasure this, Legolas. Thank you."

Legolas only nodded.

"What about the other thing?" Galithil whispered into Legolas's ear as Dolgailon turned to lead him back to their own rooms.

"I will tell Nana first and ask her to help me tell Adar," Legolas whispered back.

"That will work," Galithil agreed.

*~*~*

Dolgailon watched the light from the single lit lamp in his office flicker. The flame's glow danced across the maps on the wall, but left much of the room in shadow. The darkness suited Dolgailon perfectly well as he waited, seated behind his father's desk.

"Glílavan and Tulus, my lord," a young warrior, one of the warriors on night duty guarding the capital, announced from the doorway of the office. Dolgailon had caught him as he patrolled along the river and sent him to fetch the two elves standing expectantly in the doorway now.

"Thank you. Return to your patrol," Dolgailon said, gesturing for Glílavan and Tulus to sit in the two chairs he had placed in front of the desk.

The young warrior saluted and left the office. Dolgailon listened to his soft footsteps echo in the silence as he studied two of his oldest friends. Glílavan had been his mentor when he was a freshly sworn warrior. Younger even than the warrior that had just left the office. And Tulus had hosted him in his home hundreds of times when Dolgailon and Glílavan both served in the south, where Tulus once lived. Until he had been convicted of treason.

"I heard a very interesting story today," Dolgailon began in a soft voice. It was a sharp enough interruption of the silence to make Tulus jump slightly. "I heard a conversation the two of you were having. Regarding how Tulus was not injured in Selwon's village by accident, but rather by choice," he said, watching Tulus very carefully. If there was anything to be seen here, Tulus, and not Glílavan, would be the one to reveal it. "A choice everyone in my family feels we can never repay, of course," he continued.

"I have been handsomely repaid by the honor the King has given me," Tulus replied. His voice was strong and steady.

Dolgailon nodded. "And that trust is not misplaced, for I heard you saying that you would defend Legolas just as you did in Selwon's village whenever it became necessary. That is, of course, what is expected of the King's Guard."

Tulus nodded also. "I am familiar with the duties of the King's Guard, my lord," Tulus answered. He was definitely looking more closely at Dolgailon. "I served in both lord Thranduil and lord Oropher's guard before I was justly dismissed. I will not repeat my mistakes."

"We have been friends my entire life, Tulus. I trust that," Dolgailon replied. "As we have been friends my entire life, Glílavan. And I trust you. I just promoted you to a rank that I have long felt you deserved. Since I trust you both, I am certain you can explain to me what was meant when, in that conversation, Tulus asked you if you wanted to see him killed? Why would a father say such a thing to his son? It makes no sense to me at all. But I am very curious about it."

Tulus looked calmly at his son. Not a blink.

Glílavan slumped a bit in his chair. "I am sure the King intends the position he gave to my adar to be an honor," he began after the briefest of pauses. "And as Adar already said, he certainly sees it as an honor. But what if it were your adar, Dolgailon, who was expected to step between someone and an arrow? Would that feel like an honor to you? Honestly? In part, maybe. But at least in part, no it would not. Adar is my only remaining family. I am terrified of the position he has been given and we were discussing that. We were saying that in only a few short years, Legolas would be a warrior and Adar would be with him in the patrols. Adar said he would only be in the capital's guard and the Path Guard, because Legolas will be needed to do duties for the King as well. I said he will be assigned to the Southern Patrol eventually, just as you were," he said nodding to Dolgailon. "And Adar was asking me if I really wanted to spend the next fifteen years until Legolas comes of age worrying about that or if it would not make more sense to just not think about it. Adar was being a bit too descriptive in his argument. Of course, I do not want to picture him being killed. Surely you can understand that."

"Not a full week has passed since I watched as my adar was killed in battle, Glílavan," Dolgailon responded coolly. "Yes, I can understand that. And that explanation for your discussion does make sense." Again, Tulus did not move a muscle. Glílavan nodded. "And that relieves me, because I must confess, when I first heard it, I thought it sounded as if you had implied that Legolas might be in some sort of danger and Tulus was reminding you that if Legolas was in danger, so was he." Both Tulus and Glílavan were stock still. "It sounded to me as if Legolas was being threatened, so I am very relieved I was wrong." He paused for their attention. "If my little cousin, or my younger brother, were ever threatened, I would hunt down the creature that threatened them and I would not only kill that creature, I would flay it alive. Understood?"

"That is precisely what I would do as well, my lord," Tulus replied promptly.

Glílavan nodded. "They are children. If anyone attacked them, they would deserve anything they got for it, assuredly," he hastened to agree.

"I am glad we are all in agreement on that issue," Dolgailon said, standing. Tulus stood immediately as well and Glílavan jumped up after his father. Tulus had always treated Dolgailon with court manners. And he had never lied to him. Dolgailon did not believe Tulus had lied tonight either. But he did not miss the fact that Tulus had said next to nothing.

*~*~*

Adar/ada -- Father/dad
Naneth/nana -- Mother/mum
Daernaneth/daernana -- Grandmother