A/N: Woohoo! Here we go again! This is book number two in this series, so for those of you seeing this for the first time, I would HIGHLY recommend you go and read the first part of this series. For those returning, welcome back, and thanks! It was amazing reading all of your wonderful comments about the last part, and I hope to see a few familiar names popping up here and there... ;) This particular story is set post-BotFA, and will probably span all the way up to the events of LotR, which (if I continue that long) will probably be another separate fic. We'll see how this goes first, though :) So, without further ado, let's get started!

'I think recovery from anything is honestly the most badass thing a person can do.' ~ Anonymous

A Secret Set In Stone

Chapter 1:

It had been two months, the winter chill just beginning to fade away as February progressed, and yet Alana couldn't get used to the feeling of a feathery mattress beneath her. She had spent so long sleeping on the hard ground that the bed made her feel like she would just sink right to the floor. At first it had been fine - she had been far too exhausted to stop and notice the surface she was lying on. Now, that exhaustion was sneaking up on her again, because she hadn't been able to sleep for more than a few hours each night for at least eight weeks. Though perhaps her poor sleep was also, in part, due to the horrible nightmares she'd been getting.

She wasn't the only one, by any means. Most nights, before she fell asleep, she would hear someone else crying out or sobbing, and she would routinely get up from her bed, leave her room, find the room of the aforementioned dwarf, and carefully ease him into the waking world. Usually it was Fili or Kili, as they slept closest to her and were easiest to hear (not to mention they were so unused to such bloody violence), but she had on one occasion each also had to go into the rooms of Dwalin and Balin, and half a dozen times even to Thorin. Thorin's room was right next to hers, and hearing his reaction to his nightmares was always the worst. He, of everyone, was the only one to ever use words. Usually he was crying out for Fili or Kili, and sometimes her, but one time he'd cried out for his brother; for Frerin.

Upon seeing how utterly wrecked he was when he woke from that particular nightmare, she had refused to leave him to sleep alone, and so had crawled under the covers to lie next to him, easing him back into sleep. She didn't allow herself to rest that night, remaining a vigilant presence by his side, stroking his hair for hours on end to keep him calm. When morning came, no one commented about her presence in his room during the night. They all understood.

The nightmares were starting to dwindle now, for everyone. The original shock had passed, and now the need to move on swept over them. They all knew they'd get nightmares about the battle for the rest of their lives, but at least it wouldn't happen quite so frequently.

Besides the rather irritating lack of sleep, one of the biggest changes in her life was her peculiar friendship with Dain. He'd never explicitly stated that he approved of her relationship with Thorin, and she knew that he had at one point pulled Thorin aside to talk about it - at length apparently, based on how long they were gone - but neither was he openly against it. At odd moments in the day Alana would find herself being approached by the dwarf Lord, and while at first she thought it merely a coincidence, it had begun to happen so often that she wondered if he was actively seeking her out. She didn't mind in the slightest - Dain was gruff and boisterous to the extreme, but she respected him, and he her, and they got on quite well. At this point, she figured whether or not he approved was irrelevant - he trusted Thorin to make the right decision, and one day she was sure he would prove to be a steadfast ally in this, regardless of his own, unspoken opinion.

More and more dwarves were trickling in to Erebor with each passing day, some coming in large groups, others wandering in pairs or even on their own. According to Thorin, a lot of dwarves had decided to make their homes in the wildlands both west and east of the Misty Mountains, living in secluded areas. Others had taken refuge in Dunland, which itself was almost a two month journey. They weren't expecting the caravans from the Blue Mountains for another several weeks, as it was a long journey even for those used to travelling such distances, and with numbers against them, the dwarves would be moving slowly.

Despite the slow start, life was beginning to return to Erebor. Thorin insisted on meeting with each of the residents personally within their first few days of arrival, asking questions about their families and their jobs, their interests and hobbies. Then he would make a note of each, and focus on making his people as happy as they could be. The things with the greatest number of workers or interest in them were the first to be rebuilt and repaired, allowing the dwarves to start working as soon as possible. The mines had been checked over to see how safe they were - to which the answer was very positive - and the forges had been running constantly since Smaug had lit them (the fact that they were burning from dragon fire was a source of delight for a lot of people). The markets were being repaired, and slowly but surely, other occupations were starting to appear. Blacksmiths and miners were amongst the most common, but now they also had tailors, carpenters, goldsmiths, jewellers, butchers, bakers, furriers, stablehands, and cartwrights. There were also a few farmers that had come from the wildlands, who had begun to cultivate the land around the mountain's base for the start of spring.

After she got out of bed, Alana went through her usual routine - change into her Ranger clothes, comb out her hair and then tie it back in a haphazard bun that sat at the nape of her neck, grab her bow and arrows and a few throwing knives, and then grab her other hunting tools. Then she would veritably march over to Kili's room, knock on the door hard enough to wake him up (because, despite his promises to the contrary, he never got out of bed before she arrived), and then spend fifteen minutes waiting for him to do whatever the hell it was he did in the morning, at which point he'd come out with his bow in hand and a goofy, sheepish grin on his face, and the two would leave the mountain.

Everyone knew they could afford to import food for years without fear of running out of gold, even without more being added each day from the mines, but Thorin and Alana had agreed that it would be better for everyone to be as self-sufficient as possible. Until more hunters established themselves in Dale and the local area, Kili and Alana were in charge of bringing in most of the fresh meat. They would take their time circling the mountain, sometimes having to stay out all day, and would bring back as much meat as they could carry. Most of the time, the duo came back with rabbits and pheasants, though they occasionally managed to spot a buck or a doe. They'd appear in Erebor tired yet satisfied - usually just after midday, thank Mahal - and would hand their meat over to a dwarf called Tirlum, who would in turn distribute it as necessary to the various butchers around the kingdom. Some days they didn't bring back anywhere near enough meat for all the eleven butchers to get some, but Tirlum was very good at keeping things fair. Not once had they yet been so low on food that they had needed to import some from elsewhere.

"You're very quiet today," Kili noted, breaking Alana from her thoughts.

They were trekking through one of the forests due west of the mountain, arrows notched against their bowstrings. Alana sent Kili an amused look. "I'm always quiet," she teased. "You just talk enough for the both of us, so you don't notice."

After childishly sticking his tongue out at her, Kili refocused his attention ahead of them. Today's hunt had been successful so far, even after just an hour - they'd already picked up four pheasants, two partridges, and seven rabbits. It was still early in the morning, so they decided to stay out longer to see if they could find anything else.

"Where do you think amad is at the moment?" Kili asked suddenly, and Alana cocked an eyebrow his way, though his eyes were trained on the ground so he didn't notice.

The Ranger hummed thoughtfully. "Well," she mused, "it's been two months since we were informed the dwarves were leaving the Blue Mountains, so I'd say... they're probably not too far from Rivendell."

Kili blew out a frustrated breath. "It's taking so long for them to get here!" he complained, scuffing the floor with his boot. "We don't have the numbers to do anything fun yet." He huffed. "Not to mention Thorin's got Balin teaching Fili and me how to be 'proper Princes'."

"Fili and I," Alana corrected with a grin, laughing when Kili grumbled under his breath in khuzdul. "Don't think you're the only one with new duties, Kee," she said with more seriousness. "We've all got things to learn. Even Thorin's having to get used to his new workload. I myself am being taught about a thousand things at once."

That seemed to catch his interest. "Really? How come I didn't know that?"

"Probably because it's when you're busy learning to be a Prince," noted Alana with a smile. "While you're doing that, I've got to learn how to properly dress, eat, stand, speak... You name it. The only enjoyable bit about it is my khuzdul lessons with Ori."

Kili grinned. "How's that going?"

"Quickly, I think." She smiled at him. "It helps I actually want to learn how to speak and write in your language. The rest I could live without, but it's nice to know I'll be able to understand you more often."

"Kud nurt gabil dumâ, (What a lovely day we're having,)" Kili said with a cheeky grin, probably trying to catch her out.

Alana glanced up at the canopy of bare tree limbs above their heads, the winter sun having grown noticeably warmer in the last week or so. Still, there was an ominous gathering of grey and black clouds sweeping in from the south west, so she replied, "Arniki zatarzaki hibduzul. (I think it's going to rain later.)"

Kili chuckled. "Yes, you might be right."

Alana smirked at him, then the two fell into silence again, turning their attention back to the task at hand. Alana paused when she noticed hoof marks in the soil, and with a wordless glance at Kili, the two began following the trail. It wasn't long before they came across a clearing, in the centre of which stood a herd of deer. Three bucks and six does made up the herd, and with a bright grin Kili began to pull back his arrow. Alana gently placed her hand on his arm, lowering his bow.

Kili shot her a questioning look, but her eyes were fixed on the herd. Following her gaze, Kili tried to work out what had made her stop him. It took him a moment, but then he noticed that the does - all of them - were carrying. They'd agreed when they first began these hunts together that they would never attack a pregnant animal, nor that animal's partner, nor any young children. That meant that this entire herd were safe from their arrows.

The two sat and watched the herd for a while, before sharing a look and backing away quietly.

"I'm going to miss this," Alana commented as they started heading back to the mountain. "Once trade starts again, and once our numbers have improved, there'll be no need for us to go out hunting."

Kili shrugged. "That doesn't mean we can't," he pointed out. "Maybe not every day, but enough to stop us from getting bored." He paused suddenly, then gave a rueful smile. "I'm being stupid again, aren't I?" he asked suddenly, catching Alana off guard. "It's all going to change from here; we won't have time for stuff like this."

Chuckling, Alana wrapped an arm around his shoulders and gave him a quick side-hug. "Don't let this upset you too much, Kee. Thorin's already picked a few old traditions to continue once things settle down - one of which is a warrior's tournament. One I'm sure we'll all be eager to take part in."

Kili chuffed. "Well, we all know how that'll turn out - everyone else will be knocked out of the competition until it's just you and uncle left, and then... well, it's anyone's guess after that, I suppose."

"From what I heard, it's not as simple as just fighting one another. There are other challenges - the competitors are tested with more than one weapon type, some on and off of horses - or ponies, or war rams, I suppose - and others you have no armour or weapons, and all that are available to you are your hands and your wits. It sounds like a lot of fun to me, especially since Thorin said he'd probably open the contest to both dwarves and men." Alana grinned down at him, catching the slight gleam in the corner of his eyes. "And hey," she murmured, nudging him, "since we're amongst the first to know it's going to be started again, we can get a little practice in early, hey?"

Kili snorted. "Isn't that technically cheating?"

"Not at all! Since the contest hasn't even started yet, we'll simply be... broadening our horizons, so to speak. Training ourselves to better protect ourselves should the need arise."

Laughing, Kili shook his head. "I had no idea you were so dishonest, auntie!"

Alana smirked. "If that's the case, Kili, then you have a lot to learn."

It wasn't all that long before they had to part ways, heading to complete their 'daily chores', as Kili had not-so-fondly called them. While Kili headed towards Balin's study, Alana headed for the royal family's private library, where Ori would be waiting for her. She hadn't been lying when she said she enjoyed his lessons, as he was a competent and patient teacher, not to mention a dear friend of hers. The days where one of his brothers decided to drop in often made it better, though she would every time tease that the library was 'private' for a reason, at which point Dori would look half-tempted to turn around, and Nori would lightly scoff. She wouldn't put it past him to physically break in to the room if she decided to chuck them out, but everyone knew she never would. They may not have been part of the royal family's direct line, but they were close friends, and they had been given permission to use said library whenever they wanted. There were actually only very few areas in the mountain that remained off-limits to Thorin's original company, and not even she knew about all of those yet.

Since she and Thorin hadn't been given the official nod of approval from his council - they were due to arrive with the rest of the dwarves from the Blue Mountains - they had decided to wait for their wedding. That said, Thorin had gone ahead and publicly declared that they were engaged, and that they would be married. The council's permission was mainly just following tradition - they didn't really have the power to stop Thorin marrying her if that was what he chose, but they both had agreed it would be better for everyone if they could convince the council to approve of it.

Ori was waiting for her when Alana finally arrived, leaving her bow and arrows at the door and tugging off a few of her knives as well. Despite everything they'd been through, Ori still tried to avoid weaponry as much as possible, and politely asked that others do the same in his presence, unless otherwise necessary. Alana was always happy to oblige, especially given all that he was giving to help her.

"Bakn galikh, (Good morning,)" Ori greeted her, doing his usual thing where he refused to speak the common tongue unless she truly couldn't work out what he was saying.

"Bakn galikh," she repeated with a smile. "Zûr zu? (How are you?)"

"Abnâmul, yof, (Fine, thanks.)" Ori smiled at her in that usual slightly shy manner, pushing some paper towards her. Alana silently grabbed a quill, and he began his lesson. The better she got at speaking and writing, the more he pushed for her to improve at a faster rate. She was definitely up for the challenge, but it sometimes left her feeling frustrated with herself when she struggled more than she felt she should have. Ori continually told her she was progressing faster than he'd thought she would, but Alana often found herself wishing she could do better.

As Ori said simple phrases to her, most of which she had absolutely no trouble mentally translating, she would write them down on the paper in front of her, her hand still getting used to the harshly-angled runes of the dwarves, though she had at least now learnt their peculiar alphabet by heart. Every now and then Ori would strike up a random, casual conversation, and Alana would do her best to keep it going as long as she could. She wasn't great at that yet, still knowing only about half of the rules of the language, but she was good enough that Ori would be able to understand most of what she was saying, and would gently correct whatever she slipped up on.

After two hours their lesson came to an end, and the two friends offered cheerful goodbyes before parting ways. Ori headed back down towards the market, where he and his brothers lived. Despite being offered one of the old noble houses - they were certainly now rich enough to afford it - the Ri brothers instead chose one of the more modest ones where the vast majority of the dwarven population would eventually come to reside. Having grown used to their more cosy surroundings, the large, open spaces found in the larger abodes made them uncomfortable. Thorin was surprisingly understanding, admitting that he too had found it difficult to adjust to a larger room upon returning, but offered up no objections and simply allowed them to chose any of the other houses that took their fancy. They had picked a mid-sized house that was almost exactly in the middle of the space between the royal halls and the market.

Alana's destination was her private room, where a kind young dwarrowdam would be teaching her all her etiquette. Lucia was a noblewoman by birth, though she, like many nobles from Erebor, had spent most of her life living as if she weren't. Still, she had been taught by her parents at a young age how to act and behave like a woman of high birth, and now it was her turn to share this knowledge. Lucia's parents were busy creating their new lives, meaning Lucia was the only one of the family with enough time to spare for their future Queen. Alana liked to think she and Lucia had become good friends, sharing laughter and smiles during their lessons, even if the lessons themselves were borderline torture.

She knocked on the door, even though technically this was one of her rooms and she didn't need to knock, but since she knew Lucia would be in there, apparently she had to. She didn't really understand the logic behind that, but nonetheless did as she was told. She then pushed the door open without waiting for an answer, smiling at the brunette dwarrowdam, who rose to her feet and politely curtseyed (something Alana still hadn't gotten used to, even after two months).

"Hello, Lucia," she greeted. "How was your morning?"

"Excellent, thank you," came Lucia's airy reply as she returned to her seat. Almost all of the dwarves Alana had met had strong, loud voices. Lucia didn't. It made a nice change every now and then, though she knew it wouldn't be a common thing for long. The source of Lucia's light voice was a mystery, and apparently had been something she had been picked on for when she was little. Alana would constantly tell the dam that she liked the sound of her voice, and that she shouldn't think less of herself for it. Lucia would simply smile politely and nod, but they both knew that years of insecurity would not disappear so easily. "How was your hunt with Prince Kili?"

Alana chuckled, seating herself down close to her friend. "Very successful, I'm pleased to say. And it seems that there is to be a healthy new supply of fauns soon. We came across a herd of deer with six pregnant does. Hopefully with the new wildlife, the hunts will be easier in future."

In response, Lucia pulled that cute little face she did when she was trying to smile, but the topic made her slightly uncomfortable. Alana was grateful for that - Lucia was unfamiliar with the sight of blood, and even the thought of it apparently made her a little queasy. It was nice to know there were at least some people in the world who had held on to their innocence, though she dreaded the day the kind dwarrowdam lost hers.

Lucia cleared her throat and smiled, straightening her back and placing her hands demurely in her lap. "Now then, my Lady, shall we get started?"

Alana groaned as she collapsed onto her bed, her back stiff from maintaining its rigid posture for so long. Normally she'd be able to go back to being a normal human being after her lessons with Lucia, but Thorin had told her that the two of them had to attend a fancy dinner over in Dale. That meant that not only had she been forced into a corseted death trap (though she'd thankfully been able to sneakily loosen some of the ties on the dress to allow her to breathe better), but she'd also had to put Lucia's training into practice by maintaining a polite, straight-backed seating position for the three hour dinner. By the time she and Thorin had said their polite goodbyes her back felt as stiff as a board.

Thorin too had apparently been rather uncomfortable, though he bore his pain much better than she did. On the journey back from Dale he had teased her mercilessly, at which pointed she'd started grumbling at him under her breath. Unfortunately this only proved to further amuse him.

The sun had been absent in the sky for a long time now, and Alana's body was begging for sleep. After quickly rinsing her face with cold water, Alana slipped on her white nightgown and slid under the covers, praying that both she and the others sleeping nearby would all be blessed with dreamless slumbers.

Thankfully, her prayers were answered.