Days she stood by his tomb, not moving, never speaking, nor eating. She was aware however, of the dwarves surrounding her, and paying their individual respects. Although a fallen king's tomb is always in the center, it is Fili, the next in line, whose tomb resides in the middle, so that he might be closer with his brother. Tauriel gained what little comfort she could from the arrangement.
It is what he would have wanted, to be next to his brother. She knew they belonged together, Fili and Kili. Such close brothers.
Still, Tauriel mourned Kili; mourned his promises, his stories and his hopes. All of it was lost, everything that could have happened or come to be, simply gone, leaving nothing but pain and grief in its wake. She knew she couldn't stand by his tomb forever waiting to fade away and join him, but it was so difficult to move, let alone think of a reason to move.
Perhaps in my passing we might meet again. Not all races can be separated...Tauriel thought of the halfones, mentioned in years past. Not hobbits, but child to both elf and mortal. A boy could not be separated in his death from both parents, surely? Though the question bothered her somewhat, such thoughts passed from Tauriel's mind, and the memory of Kili filled its place.
Time passed, days, weeks, perhaps even months, but the dwarves never disturbed her, just as Tauriel never moved from Kili's tomb. She must have every single detail memorized by now; the dark stone which shone, even with the grayest sky, encrusted with diamond veins on the sides, reaching toward the middle. The middle itself was a sleeker stone, smooth and cool. Carved into it in Dwarvish, then filled with emerald, was Kili's name, and what looked to be a small inscription about his even smaller life. Fili's tomb was the same, with veins of diamond just climbing atop the black stone, and rich green filling his name.
Very fitting. Tauriel believed them to be appropriate, as both brothers had worn brown and green to camouflage them on their quest, and she knew it was not only the dwarves who had come to associate Kili and Fili with those colours, but Gandalf too. He had simply smiled sadly upon seeing the beautiful stone which encased their bodies, only speaking to say that both brothers would have liked the tombs, particularly because of what emerald represented to dwarves. Tauriel couldn't remember what it represented, but could see the contrast in Thorin's tomb, which had a soft gold for his name and inscription instead, showing his past kingly status.
As the weeks passed, different dwarves came to see their fallen brothers. Tauriel even began to recognize some of the sad clansmen, who again, never bothered her, and when they did glance upon her, looked accepting. They knew of Kili, and his incredible fondness for the fiery headed she-elf.
Heavy footsteps echoed around the cavernous hall, as they usually did when clansmen came to grieve. However, there was something off about these footsteps. Instead of walking towards the tombs, the footsteps stopped at the mouth of the door causing Tauriel to turn around in curiosity.
It was the older dwarf, Balin, standing watching her. He hadn't come to mourn, as she had first thought. A few seconds of silence went by in surprise.
"Tauriel" he said quietly, "Might I speak with you?"
She nodded, just enough for the dwarf to make out.
"Apologies for disturbing you, but we are in need of your help."
"Is it time to move the tombs to their burial placements? I'd be happy to assist" She replied, raising a delicate eyebrow.
"No my dear. It is time to move the tombs, yes - all clans have now visited. But we have enough strength to move them, what with Dwalin and Bofur. However, your king and his elven party left before we might come to terms with peace."
Interjecting, Tauriel's tone was nervous, "I don't see how I come into this, you may not know, but I cannot return to the king's residence."
"Yes," he said "We had heard about that. Yet we have also heard you are, or rather, were, the captain of the King's guard?"
"Yes," She replied in turn.
"Which means you worked closely with him, and know Mirkwood, itself, very well?"
"Well of course, but-"
"Forgive me" Balin smiled softly, "I do not mean to interrupt, but we need someone we can trust to deliver to the king. Seeing the way you and Kili bonded..."
He was quiet for a pause, reigning in his emotions. He had reason to believe emotion wasn't the way to go when trying to deal with an elf.
"Anyway, we trust you. We have two pieces of parchment, with peace treaties on them, both for Thranduil to sign. He can keep one of course, but the reason we need you is for something far more valuable."
Balin turned to leave, and Tauriel knew it was an inexplicit sign to follow. Striding behind the old, and surprisingly agile dwarf, Tauriel marveled at the large pathways and statues decorating Erebor. She had not looked around before, seeing no reason to, but clearly she had wasted an opportunity. Gold, silver, grey stone, ruby, it was everywhere. The sun filtered through the outer structure into the passage ways, lighting the gems up. Yet it wasn't too much. The riches, though many, were dispersed thinly. Erebor was certainly not gaudy, no, it was magnificent.
Tauriel followed Balin up and up into the northern most parts of the mountain, where the dwarves made home. The halls turned to rooms, and passages to hallways, all the more intimate.
Marching into a barely furnished room, the white haired dwarf looked north. Straight ahead, there was a large open archway cut into the mountain stone, acting as a window. Despite the view being stunning, it was not the most stunning thing in the room. On the desk, right in front of the archway, sat a deep mahogany box with its lid open.
At dawn the next morning, the she-elf was on her way. Balin had given her a cloth sack to carry the parchment and box in on her back, but instead, she carried the box in her hands. If anything was to happen to the necklace inside, Tauriel would never forgive herself. After all, it was key to peace.
Rippling slightly in the breeze, she looked out to the lake. It was a bare lake, the whole of Laketown was submerged because of Smaug's fire, but it was still beautiful to her as it reflected the colourless sky, making it seem mirror like.
Tauriel considered borrowing a boat from Bard, but really, she knew that wasn't the answer, nor was building a raft. She had to get across the river somehow though, didn't she? Having very little idea of how she was going to sneak by the guards unnoticed and deliver everything the dwarves had given her, to bring to her king, Tauriel stopped to think.
It would mean death to be seen by any elf, no matter how lowly. All it would take is a report to the new Captain, and they would hunt her down if she entered king Thranduil's halls after banishment, and was seen.
That left only one option. Turning gracefully, Tauriel began to run west.