Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends..., er... well, to the third installment in the triology of the Chaos Series, The Return of Chaos at any rate. It is highly recommended that one read some of either Chaos Theory orShadows of Chaosto understand the general idea of the series. This story is set approximately 19 years after the birth of Eldarion.

Without further ado...

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"Elboron!"

The young man stopped when he heard that whispered call. It was a voice that he both loved and hated. No… hate was far from it. It was more akin to dread at this point. And yet he knew it was nothing about the other man that caused him to feel that way. It was he himself, he and he alone.

"Your return is late this night," said the other at the back of the stables, still keeping his voice low.

Elboron still had not turned to see him. He just stood there, staring at the straw-strewn floor.

"Is aught amiss?" he was asked.

Elboron only shook his head.

"Then come on!" There was that slight laugh that bemused Elboron.

He hated what he was about to say. "I cannot Harma."

"Are you certain all is well? If you just want to get some sleep, that's -"

Now Elboron did turn, though he did not meet Harma's eyes. "No, Harma, I mean I cannot, not anymore."

"What do you mean?" Harma asked in a quiet voice.

"I mean I… this has to stop." He chanced an upward glance and saw what he knew he'd see: the hurt in Harma's blue eyes.

"When did you decide this?" Harma demanded after a few long, tense moments, this time not sounding so quiet.

"I did not, this is just the way it has to be. If I could do anything about -"

"I don't want your excuses, Elboron. I've only ever wanted honesty from you; until now I've believed that I've always had it. But clearly that is not so."

"Of course I've been honest with you," Elboron said, trying a step closer. "I didn't say this was easy. I will be going soon, though, and I would rather end it this way."

Harma looked purely angry now. "You do not have to go! You know as well as I do that if you but told you father he could -"

"Tell my father! Are you mad? My father adores me, and I him, and if I told him it would destroy that. I cannot let that happen, Harma, I am sorry, not even for you. Likely I would be killing two birds with one stone anyhow."

Harma stood dangerously close to Elboron now, a fistful of his shirt in hand. "Love is not a stone!" he said tersely and landed a punch squarely on Elboron's jaw before pushing him away and leaving the Steward's son to stumble against a stall door, falling in with the horse that had been sleeping until he was intruded upon.

Elboron just lay there for a moment, trying to get his bearings. He knew he deserved that. No, love was not a stone, more like a mountain range. He also knew that it wasn't very prudent for him to mention how much his father loved him, not knowing how Harma's father treated him. But also it was knowing that that made Elboron so afraid that he could do something to lose his own father's love.

Picking himself up and dusting off, Elboron told himself that Harma would cool off and then he could give him a proper explanation. Hopefully it would be before he left for Eriador.

As he made his way through the house toward his chambers he heard his name called for a second time in a whisper. "Bori!" Eldarion called as Elboron passed by. "Getting excited yet?" he asked anxiously.

Elboron simply nodded.

"What's wrong, Bor'?" Eldarion asked. He certainly didn't seem very excited.

"Nothing, 'Dari. Just tired, that's all." Eldarion was only about a year younger than Elboron, but he still tended to treat him as a little brother, instead of an uncle, for better or worse. Sometimes he just felt that he couldn't quite confide some things in his "brother," but then again, what was bothering him now was something that he could not confide in anyone. Ever. Eldarion, after all, was normal. Or maybe not utterly normal, his mumma was an Elf, after all. If anything, Elboron sometimes felt that that made his little brother so much better than him, even if 'Dari never acted that way.

"'Night, Bori, sleep well," Eldarion said, understanding how tired his "big brother" was.

Elboron nodded and went off to his own chambers, but he doubted he'd get much sleep. He lay awake for a few moments before getting up again and gently pushing open the door that adjoined his chambers to his father's chambers. Elboron knew where his father kept medicinal supplies and lit a candle to look for some powdered clove to ease to ache where that punch had dug into his sore tooth a bit. Unfortunately, Elboron knew of no herb that eased an aching heart. Had he done, he would not have used it for himself, not this time.

"Elboron?" came his name in a low tone yet again that night.

"I'm here, ada," Elboron said quietly. "I'm sorry I woke you, I was just looking for some clove."

"You sound like you need it, try the tea and put a little mint in it," Faramir said. "You didn't really wake me, I have not slept well these last few nights."

"Is everything all right?" Elboron asked, glad to switch the subject from his own problems.

"Aye, it is just that I think it may be rather sad for me to go to Imladris again. The last time I was there Mithrandir and Erestor and my daerada were still on this shore." Elboron knew of them only in stories that he'd heard, for he was too young to remember having met any of them before they sailed. "Now we are stuck with the twins and Glorfindel."

Elboron smiled. He certainly did know those three rather well. "We will be visiting the Shire as well, will we not?"

"Aye. I have never been there, but I am eager to see it. Though there is a lot of ducking to be done, and one leaves with either a sore head or a sore back, according to ada."

Elboron chuckled, his ada always made him feel better, no matter what, and it had been that way for as long as he could recall. Elboron's smiled started to slip when he reminded himself that the price of his father's love was Harma's, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind. Not tonight.

Giving his father a goodnight hug and a kiss upon his brow he said, "I love you, ada."