Mice—and worse, rats-- happened when one stored food. There were solutions: cats, traps—though his Silvans were more likely to eat than release—or simply storing food correctly. Men, of course, heeded none of the above.

“They will bring a plague down on the whole castle.” Spoken in Sindarin, of course. Legolas wouldn’t sicken, but the thought of what might be in the cake had, wisely, encouraged him to throw away the sweet. Thranduil merely raised a hand to refuse, apparently unconcerned with what impression that would give.

A raised brow, and he turned to address Legolas properly rather than speak into the middle distance. “We ought to provide our own food, seeing—this.”