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THE COURSTHIP OF THE SPARROW-HAWK

Chapter 1 – First Meetings

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Author's note: This story is written for megan98, based on a prompt she sent me in a message, requesting a story for a romantic pairing between Kili and someone other than Tauriel. I absolutely adore story prompts, so if you enjoy this and you have an idea for another story, please don't hesitate to send me a message and we'll see what we can cook up together. It can be as simple a prompt as: "A romantic story about Kili and someone other than Tauriel, with dark brown hair, and an outgoing personality" or as detailed as you'd like. With that said, thank you megan98- this is for you!

"Under Giant Trees" Agnes Obel

Eila paced the floor of the bedchamber—she knew it wouldn't calm her nerves, but at least it gave her something to do. Only a few moments ago she had been given away in marriage to a dwarf Prince she'd never met until that day. And while he wasn't hard on the eyes, she had no idea what his temperament might be. The new Princess only knew what her childhood friend, Queen Nur, had told her—and even that wasn't much.

She resumed pacing the floor and ran a hand over her dark-brown braided hair, nervously waiting for what came next, but remembered that she was expected to do it none-the-less.

The click of a closing door startled her, having opened so softly and quietly that she hadn't noticed, and she whirled to come face to face with the dark-haired dwarf she'd become married to only hours ago.

"Hello," Prince Kili said with a kindly smile, nodding at her as he stood with his back against the door.

"My lord," she curtseyed low.

"You don't need to do that," he chuckled. "Before we retook the mountain, I was no one's 'lord'. I don't think I'll ever be used to it." Kili took a step forward. "I'd much prefer we used each other's names."

"As you wish, Prince Kili." She nodded in slight confusion.

He rolled his eyes at the title and shook his head. "So… that was quite a party."

"That's an understatement." Eila laughed, but then caught hold of herself and cleared her throat, remembering her manners.

Kili looked her up and down and seemed to understand that she was tense. "Eila, I hope you don't think I expect us to do what everyone else thinks we'll be doing tonight."

That brought her up short. "You don't… why not?"

He looked at her as though she'd grown a second head. "Because we barely know each other. I'm not going to treat you like some tavern wench at my beck and call."

She frowned. "If that's what you desire, I can accommodate—"

"What?" He shook his head at her. "No—just, no. That's not what I'm looking for in a partner."

"I thought that was the point of taking a wife." She cocked her head sideways at him, sitting down on the edge of the enormous bed. This had to be the most absurd conversation a newly wedded couple had ever had.

Kili narrowed his eyes at her. "I'm sure you're joking. There's more to it than just… that." When she looked at him with a puzzled expression, his jaw dropped. "You came into this with the expectation that—whether I was a tyrant or not—you were going to submit to it anyway?"

Eila couldn't determine whether he was disgusted or offended. "Well… yes."

Shaking his head, he took in and blew out a slow breath, staring at the wall until he seemed to regain his senses. And in something akin to a growl, he said, "You couldn't be more wrong."

Eila gasped when Kili suddenly took her hand in a forceful action, raising her to her feet.

"That's the furthest thing from my mind right now." He said as he tugged her toward the wardrobe, flinging its doors open and searching for something. But before she could ask what he was looking for, he pulled out a thick shawl and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, seeing the anger in his face and hoping he didn't have a temper. "I didn't know what to expect…"

"For starters," He reached out gently to both of her shoulders with cautious hands. "If you're friends with Nur, as she claims you are, you can't believe she'd push to marry you off to someone who only wanted to have his way with you."

"It wouldn't be 'having your way with me', though," Eila said, startling herself with how much it sounded as though she were arguing for it—but she genuinely didn't want the prince to feel guilty about his own wedding night!

"Fine," Kili threw his hands up in frustration. "I have the right to be impatient and take you here and now…" He put his hands on his hips with a sigh and lowered his voice. "But I don't have the inclination."

For a scant moment, Eila took the comment personally and wrapped the shawl tighter around her shoulders , taking a step away from him and ducking her head. He didn't want her?

"No," His hand flew to his forehead, realizing what he'd implied. "No, that's not what I meant—it's not that you're not desirable. You are! But…" He waved his hand as though he could make the misconstrued words fly away. "What I mean is that this—us— is for the rest of our lives and if we want to make it work right, I can't start it by imposing what I want on you." Kili looked at her earnestly. "The council might have chosen my bride for me, but that's where it stops—you and I have control over everything else."

She nodded, a flicker of hope burning to life inside of her. If he was telling the truth then they were already starting down the right road…

"I understand. And, thank you, but…did you…" She glanced down at the shawl. "Did you mean to send me away?"

Kili's eyes widened in horror, understanding how she might have seen the action. "No, no, no…" He crossed his arms and shifted his weight to one leg. "Er, so let's get one thing straight—if I say something and there's a good way to take it and a bad way to take it," He eyed her sympathetically, "I probably mean the good way…"

She couldn't help but roll her eyes and smile. Nur had been right in saying that Kili would keep her on her toes, but Eila hadn't thought it would be so evident right away…

"Right," He snapped his fingers, as if remembering his intentions. "To the roof."

"The roof?" Her eyes became wide. "What are we doing on the roof?" It also struck her as odd that there would be something on this mountain they considered a roof!

"Getting to know each other." He smiled at her, taking her hand and leading her through a door she hadn't seen. "Conducting our own interviews." She knew the comment was in jest, but the amount of interviews—or interrogations, as she'd considered them—Eila had endured before having signed the marriage petition had been harrowing.

"I won't say no to that." She grinned, secretly relishing the warmth of his hand around hers. She might have asked if he knew how to get there and if it would be too cold, but she told herself that if this was where Kili intended to take them, then obviously he knew how to get there. And the fact that he'd already grabbed a wool wrap for her shoulders made her heart warm to him—they might be strangers to each other, but he was already proving he was willing to take care of her…