Prologue

"A gold-sickened beast shall ravage Erebor, destroying families and burning all that's good in its path," Groin warned, "The portents foretell doom!"

"The prophecy speaks of a dragon!" Thrain exclaimed.

Thror King-Under-the-Mountain nodded his assent. "Construct a black lance for each parapet. Construct seven black arrows for each lance. Keep a watchful eye."

The first thing they heard was the sound of a hurricane coming down from the north…

Smaug laid waste to Dale, burning all in his path. But the dwarves were ready. Twenty-one arrows were let lose on the dragon. Smaug the Terrible lay dead.

"A gold-sickened beast shall ravage Erebor, destroying families and burning all that's good in its path," Groin warned. No one listened. The dragon, after all, had been destroyed.

Chapter 1

Many years later...

"…and what if the Dwarves of Erebor cheat us like they did the elves of Mirkwood?" the human huffed crossing his arms.

"That accusation is unfounded. However, it is in both Erebor's and Dale's best interest to increase trade," Dis responded evenly. Her dark hair and beard were intricately braided, however, a few unruly strands always found their way out to hang in her face. She tried to ignore them, but four days of endless quarrelling and wrangling was wearing her thin. "If you do not want to trade with us, please just say so and we can end these talks. This deal is fair for all parties involved. We can do no better. Sign it or leave it." Unknowingly, the formidable princess began twirling one of her beard braids.

The human considered it for several moments, then looking over at his colleagues he picked up the quill and signed. "I warn you, do not cross us." With that the Dale delegation rose and exited.

Dis sighed and began gathering her parchments, as the scribes recorded the treaty.

"Nicely done."

Dis smiled up at her brother Thorin. "That took far too long," She complained loading up her documents. "There is too little trust among the races. "

"They fear our power and envy our wealth," Thorin replied taking his sister's load.

Dis glanced around, then lowering her voice, "You know that's not all…"

"Not here," Thorin hushed.

Dis nodded. "Let us go. I am eager to see my boys. How I have missed them."

"Not really boys any longer," Thorin argued.

"They'll always be my boys," Dis argued, "Whether they're eighty or a hundred an eighty. Oh, Mahal!"

Thorin turned to see the cause of Dis's curse. Thrain, King under the Mountain, strode down the hall, with his royal guard in tow. "There she is!" Thrain boomed. "A job well done, Princess. Those men of Dale are no match for your wit and intellect, I imagine you had them eating out of the palm of your hand."

"It wasn't that easy," Dis sighed, forcing a smile.

Thrain placed his arms around his children, "Ah, but tonight we celebrate—a royal dinner with the three of us, Frerin, and a few close friends and advisers."

Dis bit her lip, "I have other plans tonight, Father. I haven't seen my sons in four days."

Thrain dropped his hand from Dis' shoulders, turning on his son, "What about you, Thorin? Do you have plans with the brats, as well, or will you join your father and king at his table?" Thorin glanced from his father to his sister. "I see." Thrain dropped his other arm. "I see, indeed. You would rather spend time with bastards than with your king." Thrain turned to leave.

"They're legitimate!" Dis yelled at the back of his head.

Thrain turned, "You never had my permission to marry that toymaker from the Blue Mountains. You did what you wanted. Now he's dead and you're stuck with a blond and a half-elf." Thrain stormed away.

Thorin held his sister. "It's all right."

"No, it's not," she sobbed. "He's never going to accept them is he? Fili should have been declared an heir on his fiftieth…" Dis took a deep breath, blowing it out, she smiled. "I'm fine. Let us go and find my bedlamites."

At the desk in their living chambers, Fili poured over a book, letting his hair and braids fall forward over his face. He was angry. Kili was in their bedroom, probably examining his face in the mirror.

"It still doesn't look too bad," Kili shouted.

Fili snorted. "It probably makes your beard look thicker," he hollered back.

"You think?!" Kili exclaimed, popping his head out of the room, letting Fili examine his face.

Fili sighed, looking up. "No." Kili had almost cheered him up, but seeing Kili's bruise renewed Fili's anger. Kili's face fell. "You do know what you did was dumb, right?" Fili asked.

"I didn't do anything wrong," Kili defended. "I am sorry you got smacked, as well."

Fili covered his bruised cheek that matched his brother's. "Doesn't matter," Fili mumbled, turning back to his book.

"You do know what holiday means, don't you, Nadad?" Kili complained.

Fili rolled his eyes. "Yes, Nadith, I do." Their tutors hadn't shown up now for four days. Kili figured it was because they were on some kind of holiday. Fili knew better, but hadn't wanted to spoil Kili's fun. That was until Kili's fun went too far.

That morning Kili had become completely bored of their small quarters, which consisted of a small bedroom, a living chamber, and a very small dining hall. The quarters were a part of the Royal Palace located at the pinnacle of Erebor; chambers that had originally been for visiting minor dignitaries. Fili had done his best to entertain his brother, having made two excursions out of the Royal Palace and into the heart of Erebor itself. Kili thrived on such excursions. Fili hated them; dwarrows and dwarrowdams stared and pointed at them wherever the brothers went. Kili was either oblivious or immune.

On their last excursion Fili had taken to wearing a hood, covering his blond hair. He had been pleased with the results. No one had seemed to take much notice of the two young dwarves. That was until a guard had yanked his hood off and spun him around.

"What ill business does a Straw Head have sneaking around?" The guard had demanded.

Kili had run up beside his brother, "Let go of him! He's Fili son of…Oi!"

Fili had kicked his brother hard in his shin. (He had apologized later). "Nothing," Fili had replied, "I just don't like people staring."

"They're not staring. They're keeping their eye on you and for good reason, boy," with that the guard had flung Fili down. "Keep that hood off."

After that, Fili had tried his best to keep Kili entertained in their quarters. Kili, however, could not be contained. Not long after breakfast, Kili had run out their door and down the hall, grabbing an old golden chalice from a dusty alcove.

"Kili!" Fili had yelled sprinting after his brother, "Wait!" Turn after turn, they raced down the Royal Hallways. The further they had run, the more frantic Fili had become. Kili couldn't be completely clueless, could he? Unable to keep up with his tall, lanky brother, Fili had finally stopped running, hoping Kili wouldn't be content racing himself. "Kili!" he yelled.

Kili had spun around and stopped. Smiling his cheekiest smile—which was saying a lot—Kili had begun juggling the chalice.

"Come here, Nadith," Fili had coaxed, raising his hand towards Kili, as a calming jester. "Just give me the chalice."

"What! This old thing," Kili had laughed, "No one is going to miss it! It's been collecting dust since before we were born."

"Kili…" Fili had pleaded, his eyes widening with horror as their grandfather Thrain appeared around the corner.

Kili had laughed again, spinning on his heels and toppling right over the King under the Mountain. As soon as Thrain gained his feet he had backhanded Fili, who had helped his brother to his feet. Then he backhanded Kili, as well. Without saying another word, the King had stormed off.

Fili was pulled from his reminiscence, as Kili tilted Fili's face up. "Wow! Mine doesn't look that bad does it?"

Fili pulled way and smacked Kili's hand playfully, "No, your face has always looked worse."

"Aw, they don't call me half-elf for nothing, you know," Kili sighed. Fili stared at his brother, horrified. "I'm only joking!" Kili protested.

"Don't. Not about that," Fili pleaded.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Kili raised an eyebrow at Fili before going over to the door. He unfastened it to reveal his Mum and Uncle Thorin.