First of all, I must say I took some liberties with the year and the manner of Frerin's death. I don't like that I did this, but it served the story, so… forgive me for this.
And like I said before, I don't know if it's coherent with the first chapter. Especially because here there is more dialogue and not so much analysis. So I hope I got it right.
Thank you for all the great reviews! Special thanks to Ferowyn, Gamer-Alexis and caramelcandylover, because each of you guys have most likely reviewed all of my fics! I wish I could write something specially for each of you :D (Ferowyn's will be coming in November ;p)
xxxxxxxxxxx
Chapter 2 – A place to defend
For the next following weeks Thorin watched his nephews take the concept of 'inseparable' to a whole new level.
If before they did a few things alone, now one was literally not seen without the other during the day. The forges, the mines, the training grounds – they were together in all public places, never more than an arm's length apart. During the night he could only guess the same thing happened. Fili and Kili no longer slept on their family's quarters. Dis said they sometimes stopped by late in the night, rummaged through their room but were gone before the night was over.
This, Thorin recognized, was Fili's defensive strategy. They were stronger together, and they wanted to avoid at all costs to be caught alone. So that was the tactic he would have to take to attack. Fili was Kili's best defense, and Thorin guessed the brunette had probably grown weak being too safe inside his castle's walls.
He had to find the Archer alone. Out of the Fortress.
Had not Thorin been so anxious to get it over with, he might have suspected that something was off. That Fili would never let Kili go out hunting alone. But every good strategist was bound to make mistakes sometimes, so when he saw his younger nephew bringing a deer carcass up the mountain path with no company, he took his chance.
A bow was a long range weapon; therefore an archer could be very vulnerable with no line of defense in front of him. Thorin had not expected then for Kili to be so good with a sword.
"I'll help you with that." He said, lifting part of the carcass on his shoulders, so he was walking side by side with Kili.
"There is no need for that." His nephew said stiffly, but not recoiling either.
"There have been many needless acts these last few days." Thorin retorted "Where is your brother? You two made sure to walk side by side all the time lately."
Kili grimaced at that, seeming to frown at the idea. Could it be that he and Fili had had an argument? This would be the weak spot to attack, then. If he could break Kili free out of his brother's hold…
"Fili had… things... to attend to." Kili finally answered, a quick bitterness crossing his guarded eyes before he looked at Thorin with a small smirk "We were supposed to meet at the mountain gate, so you can go ahead and say whatever you think you can say that will convince me that we are wrong before we get there."
The nonchalant tone in his voice caught Thorin unprepared. Perhaps it was obvious that he was going to approach the subject, he had just thought that Kili would be less calm about it. Fili must have readied him for this.
"Fili said you might send Dwalin, because I have always trusted him to ask for advice. But we knew that you could take a chance on your own if you saw me alone." Kili rolled his eyes "You all seem to think that I am the weak link. Even more, you all seem to think that Fili is always in charge, dominating my life."
This was the first sword blow from Kili, but Thorin does not let himself be surprised by it. That was indeed what they thought, mostly, so he used that topic to go on.
"Well, does he ever let you be by yourself?" he raised an eyebrow at his sister-son. Planting doubt between them seemed like a good way to start, if he hoped to reach Kili's good sense.
"We are here having this conversation now, aren't we?" Kili shook his head, sighing "You think Fili underestimates my capacity to fend for myself, but in truth it is you who underestimates me. No, uncle, Fili counts on me as much as I count on him. Do you think it would work if things were any different? Do you think he would be mine if I was weak? Fili is not the most humble of dwarves, you know. It took some fighting from my part, believe it or not."
This second blow was more difficult to dodge. The mention of Kili's claim over his brother disconcerted Thorin. He was still not over the fact that his sister-sons shared that kind of intimacy, and to hear the younger speak so naturally of it as if there was nothing of shameful in it was so absurd that left him speechless for a moment.
Of course that Kili would find nothing wrong with it. He should have seen it years ago – as Dwalin had grumbling commented a few nights back – that Kili sometimes acted like a love-drunk fool when around Fili. He had this glow in his eyes when he talked about the blonde, and he never allowed any girl to stand really close to him.
As he remained in silence, musing over this, Kili spoke again with the most arrogant grin on his face.
"Give up already, uncle? Is it possible that Fili was wrong when he said that you would have at least ten reasons for us to end it, appealing to our wisdom before you took harsh measures?" Kili smirked "Please tell me this is the case, I love to rub it on his face when he is mistaken."
Kili's sarcasm brought him out of his musings. This was not a matter to be snickered on. They were close to see the mountain gate on the path and he still had not said the things he wanted.
"Do you think this is a joke? Do you think that sinning and interrupting our family line is a joke?" Thorin glared fully at him, putting the carcass down on the ground and forcing them to stop "I worry about you, Kili. You are too young to make such a grave mistake. One day Fili will have to-"
"Don't you dare say it!" Kili snapped, quickly getting angry "Fili is mine. I will NEVER allow for someone else to propose marriage to him."
The raw possessiveness in his voice made Thorin freeze for a moment, Kili looked almost feral, defending his territory like his life depended on it. Thorin doesn't know when his sister-sons became so codependent on one another, which is something he regrets. The bond between them had always been strong, and this wrong love only made it thicker. He was not sure if there was any hope of severing it, but Thorin lifted his metaphorical sword again.
"How can you speak like this without guilt?" he forces his voice to stay calm. If calmness worked for Fili, it might work for him as well when trying to reach Kili's good sense.
"Guilt is a heavy thing, uncle. Sooner or later one has to get rid of it if he expects to keep on walking, even if the burden is shared." The dark look and the somber tone in Kili's eyes were something he had not been expecting to see. Did that mean the two had felt guilty about it at some point then? How long ago that relationship had began?!
"Perhaps you should have held onto that guilt. It would have kept you saner than you are now."
To this, Kili laughs openly. Thorin was not sure whether it was true or fake, but this was his nephew's improvisation taking him unprepared again.
"Somehow, I doubt that's possible." Kili grinned – grinned – at him, as if he was talking about ale and food or whatever good thing there was in his life "You see, we had two choices. Either be sad and brooding or be happy and laughing. The love would have been the same, and the guilt would be there anyway, so we chose being happy. With time the guilt faded away… It had no room in our hearts after we understood that being bonded was not a choice."
"Again, Kili, you are too young to know about this. How can you know what being bonded is like?!" Thorin was losing his patience, because this whole thing was too absurd to be completely rational about it "How do you even know that what you feel for your brother is carnal love and not a misunderstanding of brotherly bond?"
"Did you ever want to join my mother in bed? Did you ever desire her?" Kili asks, with something dark in his eyes. It was different dark than before, it was something that hinted too much of the things he and Fili were not guilty of. It was nearly terrifying seeing it in Kili, who had no control of his emotions and looked like he would have his brother then and there just to prove his point.
Thorin punched him in the stomach because, again, this conversation was absurd and Kili had to learn how to speak to him properly. How could he even dare suggest such a thing between him and Dis?! In any other day he could have admired the brunette's guts to say that aloud, but this crossed the line of disrespect.
"Of course not! Never! We are not perverted and twisted like you and your brother." He growled, too stunned in his anger to care that he might have actually hurt his sister-son. Not that Thorin would ever let Kili know, but the question had hit a little too close to home. If only they knew...
"Well… there is your answer… then. This… is how I first came to know for sure." Kili said, breathless on the ground, but facing him in challenge nonetheless "I could have spent all my life thinking that Fili and I were just closer than others pairs of brothers, thinking that we were brothers and best friends, nothing more. I could have gone like that, if Fili was not the only dwarf that made my body shiver with desire. And believe me, we have both tried to have pleasure from others."
"This is sick." Thorin mutters, terrified of the bluntness with which those words were spoken "This is wrong! How could your brother let you become like this? What did he do to you?!"
"This is the truth that you all have chosen to ignore until it hit you on the face!" Kili shouted, standing up and looking right into his eyes, fearless "And STOP blaming it all on Fili! His whole life he has protected me, and he never did anything I didn't ask him to. Just so you know, I was the one who started it, I was the one who pressed him against the bed one night and told him of my lust-filled dreams about him."
Those words brought far too many disconcerting images to his mind. Kili had crossed the border of indecent with that. It's like he knows how this affects him – and he should know, of course, because he never missed a shot. Thorin moved to punch him again, but Kili was prepared this time and dodged this real blow as easily as he had been dealing with that conversation. They looked at each other for a few moments.
He could see in his nephew the usual fire that drove him through battle. He was not sure whether Kili was completely lost in his incestuous madness or the love they said they shared really ran that deep – either way, the brunette was ready to bleed for it. Thorin didn't think he would find in himself to wound him gravely, but some part of him craved to see just how far the boys were willing to go for that relationship.
"I should disown you. You and your brother." He growled.
"Yes, you should. It would spare us future problems." Kili growled back, unfazed.
"Oh, so you do acknowledge there will be problems in the future? Then, pray tell, how do you think you can solve them?" Thorin snorted in the middle of his glare.
Kili shrugged. "I leave the boring planning to Fili. I just make sure to keep him safe and make sure that things will work out."
"And they will."
When Fili's voice reaches them, Thorin once more angrily acknowledged his defeat. If it had been difficult before with Kili alone, now that the two brothers were together it would be nearly impossible to break them.
The effect of those mere three words was instantaneous. Kili stood straighter and his eyes blazed with renewed flame. He smirked victoriously to his older sibling, seeming to be proud to show that he had been having the upper hand in the discussion. Emboldened by the fact they had nothing to hide anymore, both brothers bumped their heads quickly, sharing a look that ran too deep and spoke of things that they would do later that Thorin really didn't want to know about. The intensity of the exchange was so strong it stole his breath away for a moment, like that moment in battle when you think there is no more hope.
Nonetheless, as he watched them, a new strategy formed in his mind.
Thorin observed closely the way Fili circled him and went to stand by Kili's side, briefly holding his wrist in support. He saw the way with which the blonde noticed how his brother had a hand over his stomach and he saw the fury rising in blue eyes.
Fili subtly moved so he was standing between Kili and Thorin, glaring at him.
"Attempting brute force now, uncle?"
Thorin did not answer, he focused on how Kili placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and whispered something in his ear. He could not understand the words, but they managed to calm Fili considerably. For a moment, it was as if they were not part of that world, they looked into each other's eyes again, silently telling of their feelings towards each other in a more subtle manner. Thorin doesn't know how he had never seen this before. Because, yes, he had seen their codependency before and this love had indeed always been there like Dwalin had said.
There is complete devotion in Fili's eyes and it's obvious how far he is willing to go to keep Kili safe. And this is the moment when Thorin knows he was using the wrong strategy.
Kili was not weak when he was alone, he was just better when he was with his brother. Archers were archers anywhere they stood. Fortresses, however, had to be manned, had to be kept. Fortresses, his grandfather had told him once, were only as strong as the men standing behind them. Thorin had always tried to ignore what that said about their family loosing Erebor, but it was a good concept to apply in that situation.
Fili, with all his logic and intelligence, lasted only as long as his brother. If there was no one to fuel him, Thorin might have a chance to win if he gets a moment when the blonde is away from Kili. Then it would be just mind on mind, and he would have a chance.
Xx
It's easier said than done, of course, to get Fili alone. Even a month later the brothers are still keeping up their always-together tactic, but Thorin does not despair. If he gave in to his rage, he would not be able to defeat Fili.
In a way, he was relieved that in the end the confrontation that would settle that matter had to be with Fili and not Kili. As their previous encountered had proved, their arguments were more growls than anything else. Kili was too much of a wild fire, someone to be afraid of - Thorin was not ready to accept the fact that his younger sister-son had strucked any kind of fear in him, but it was there, clear enough that he was conscious of it. Besides, Fili was the heir. Fili was the one who had to be shaped into a good king for his people.
Thorin had been tempted to simply send Kili away with Dwalin to a month long mission, but he knew that would not work. In the past, his younger nephew would jump at the opportunity, but now Kili knew of his reasons and he and Fili would find a way of staying together. No, it could not be something too big to create Thorin's opportunities.
The thing with fortresses was that their weak spots were so obvious that they were heavily guarded. Therefore, it was useless to attack there. What brought fortresses down, was finding the places where there were tiny fractures that no one remembered to defend. Kili had said it himself: he left the planning for Fili, sure that there was a way out of everything. These were the small fractures that were left unguarded and that Thorin had to explore. He would calmly talk to Fili about his plans for the future and exploit the parts that are difficult, make him see how hopeless that wrong love was.
It was difficult to bring them apart for a few moments, and Thorin guessed that if young Gimli – who nearly worshiped his older cousins – ever came to know he had been used in the scheme, he would have a small rebellion in his hands. Yet, everything went out as planned, and when Fili came into the room to find Thorin, Dis, Balin, Dwalin, Oin and Gloin seated at the table, it was possible to see in his eyes as he deduced what was happening.
There was a quick flash of anger in the blue eyes, but was gone literally with the blink of an eye, and suddenly they had the Fortress standing in front of them. There was only fast calculation in Fili's countenance. Thorin braced himself for what was about to come. He had the offensive move here, but he suspected that the recoil would feel just as hard as if they were receiving the attack.
"Come in." he ordered.
The prince closed the door behind him and assessed the situation. Thorin could almost see his mind working, devising plans to get through it. There was still the option of just leaving, of course, but it would take at least a day for Kili to return with Gimli, so… Thorin guessed Fili would rather be just over with it. His nephew was a practical dwarf – not to mention confident, if he thought the situation could be resolved even without his brother near.
"That was clever. Although I wager Gimli will be not happy to know that you've used him against us." Fili said, looking pointedly at Gloin, who coughed, clearly uncomfortable.
It caught Thorin somewhat by surprise that Fili would attack first, so to speak. Caution was a proved ally of his nephew. Nonetheless, this was a blow he had already been expecting and had his family prepared for, so he didn't think there would be much damage.
Thorin had not wanted to involve Oin and Gloin, but Dis had advised him to, arguing that Fili was closer to them than to Balin and Dwalin as was Kili's case. He was not sure if that had been the right decision, because Oin and Gloin liked Fili. They really cherished the blond dwarf and were not happy to be part of this task force to separate the couple. Thorin knew they were there with him out of duty, not of opinion. Most likely they already knew about the relationship before, if Fili's somewhat hurt look to Oin was any indication.
"Sit down, lad. Let's get this done." Gloin said in a gruff voice, looking away in irritation, clearly not happy to be there. Thorin worried for a moment that bringing his younger cousin in was a bad decision. Fili could end up swaying him in the end – authority challenging and ever the romantic, Gloin was a wild card on the table.
"Let's." Fili answered calmly, taking the sit that had been left for him "It would be a waste to throw your efforts away, after succeeding in bringing Kili and me apart for a day. Especially after trying for so long."
The sarcasm in his voice was irritating, as he mocked their family as if this was a prank from when he and Kili were children.
"Quit the attitude, laddie. We are here just to talk." Balin said and offered his usual inviting smile. That meant that Dis's strategy was currently in action.
First Balin would trick him into saying everything, with Oin and Gloin helping when needed. Then Dwalin would mock and tease and provoke until Fili was distressed enough that Thorin could speak.
They had all been fairly surprised that the plan had been Dis' idea, but then again, Fili had to have gotten his strategic mind from somewhere. And Thorin knew that none of them wanted that relationship over more than his sister.
"Talk, then." Fili said, motioning the older dwarf to continue. His face the perfect mask of tranquility and curiosity. He might have been the king himself, waiting for the words of his council. Thorin held back a frown at this display – this was Fili trying to affect him even without speaking directly to him, but dominance displays would have no place there today.
"Oh, no. You didn't understand. We are here so you can talk. Properly talk to us, explain everything to your family without Kili losing his temper and getting in your way." Balin said, still smiling.
"Kili is never in my way. Putting doubt between us won't work, you know." Fili raised an eyebrow at him. Well, Thorin had thought it was worth a try.
"Tell us about it, either way. We need to understand, laddie, if we are to accept you."
Those were the golden words. Thorin fought back a victorious smile when he saw the quick flash of hope that crossed blue eyes. They were on the right track. Understanding and accepting were not something Fili had been expecting at all. It was almost endearing to see his nephew softening for the briefest of seconds, as if a dream was coming true.
Years later, when he pondered over everything, Thorin would understand it was in that moment that he had lost the battle – the moment when he felt bad about bringing them apart. One must never feel sorry for the opponent, but Thorin could not find in his heart to really consider his nephew an opponent. Either way, in that instant, he was focused on the way the Fortress closed again, so he noticed nothing, believing that this was the first weakness in the barrier he had seen so forth.
"What is it that you need to understand? Kili and I love each other, more than anything in the world." And for once, despite all his calmness and clod blood, there is true feeling in Fili's voice "You all know that dwarves give their hearts only once in their lives… Kili has mine and I have his. That's all that there is to it."
"But how can you be so sure? You are both young, you have much to live… How do you know that you love in such manner, and not in a deep brotherly way?" Balin inquired further with his gentle voice.
This time Fili smirked. "Kili has been asked that, and I believe his answer is sufficient." But then his smirk became a small, genuine smile as he looked at the table, as if he was remembering something "I don't have pretensions to teach any of you about love. Although I do believe you should give us more credit in this matter. Gloin apart, none of you are married. You might have loved before, but I don't think this is the case."
Thorin did not like the way with Balin opened and closed his mouth twice, pondering over what he should say next. Fili was good with his words – his speech had lifted spirits many times in difficult situations. The lad might not be so good as to outsmart Balin in conversation, but the pause he caused was a dangerous breach to make them question what they were all doing.
"And why is that? Yer mother was married once." Dwalin asked, coming to the rescue. It was a bit early for him to participate, Thorin believed, but it might be a good chance to start mining Fili's confidence.
"Because you underestimate us." Fili answered, his smile increasing just a bit, but there was no mock there, just confidence "If you knew what is like, if you knew how difficult it is to resist… You look at me and my brother and judge for what you see today. You have not seen our struggle, our pain, our difficult path until we came to accept our feelings as they were. And after all that Kili and I have been through, our bond will not be so easily broken, no matter how hard you try."
"But ye have a duty. Ye both have." Dwalin insisted "Would ye turn yer back on our king and kin?"
"We know and we will fulfill this duty. We want to fulfill it. It's our blood right, it's an honor. But we don't see how being in love would stop us from doing so."
"Ye cannot expect to be king and not get married. Ye gonna need heirs, lad. If not from yer groin then from yer brother's."
Fili grimaced at that, but nodded. "We are aware of that. And we will find a surrogate mother when the time comes."
"What? Do ye think our people—"
"Our people don't have to know!" Fili snapped all of a sudden but kept his voice at the same volume, then he turned to Dis "Just like they don't know about my father. If they don't know who is he, then they don't need to know about who will be my son's mother. Or Kili's. Besides… uncle still has time to find himself a wife. He is hardly at the end of his life, and it might be that I will not be king in the end."
No one had response to that. Thorin felt the weight of those two truths upon his shoulders. Dis' beloved… well, that was a sad story that had been buried deep for multiple reasons, and he would not hurt his sister by bringing it up. His own lack of marriage… he had no justification for that. He could say he was busy in his duties. But wasn't giving their people an heir his duty?
Truth was that his heart had been consumed by grief and bitterness at the things he had seen. Smaug, Moria… It had robbed him of the warmth that love required. No one in their family had ever demanded that from him because they knew, they understood. Dwalin, Balin and Oin, who were older and had lived through it in the same way he had were not married either. Gloin and Dis were younger, their experiences had been different.
Looking into Fili's eyes filled with surety, he saw the accusation there. Just because his heart had lost the will to love, what right Thorin had to stop his nephews? This was a privilege that so few were blessed with, who was he to deny them of this blessing?
Slowly, very slowly, Thorin saw his council members looking down to the table, pondering over the things that were said and the things that were left unsaid by all of them. Glancing around, he counted his remaining allies.
Balin, in his age and wisdom, was clearly against it. But he was also a very moderated person, and Thorin knew Fili had made a good point, putting the old dwarf in a difficult position. It was hard to find arguments that did not work against Thorin as well.
Dwalin had never been really against it, Thorin knew. If he was, he would have brought to his attention long ago. The old warrior had a very simple way of seeing things, and as long as it did not harmed the two boys, most likely he would be neutral about it. Dwalin was there because, being the good soldier, he would obey his king.
Oin and Gloin were a different matter altogether. They had always been Fili's favorites, to begin with, as Fili had been theirs. Sure, Balin and Dwalin were important figures to his nephew, but when it came to trusting and asking for advice, it was to the sons of Groin that the blonde turned to.
Thorin had always made a point of treating both his nephews the same way, never favoring one in place of the other. The same did not happen with everyone else, though, as it happens naturally in every family. Some people were more attuned than others. So, Balin and Dwalin dealt easily with Kili's open mood, naturally filling the brunette's desire for grand tales and important adventures. Oin and Gloin, though, had this home feeling about them, and were always teaching the blonde forging and healing techniques.
The sons of Groin were definitely closer to helping Fili than helping him. The older and calmer of the two was looking very uncomfortable, casting apologetic looks at the prince. The younger was glaring at the table, angry to have to do that. Thorin did not think he would be challenged over that matter, but it was somewhat amusing that already Fili had allies in the council table – had they been discussing trading contracts Thorin might have been proud of his sister-son.
"Fili, stop." Dis' crystal clear voice brought everyone's eyes up again.
Of course, Thorin could not forget about his sister, who had had been through so much pain in her life and would hardly be fazed by the two children she had given birth to. Furthermore, Dis knows the kind of fear only a woman could know, and he was sure that all five of them would back up her decision no matter how convincing her elder son could be, even Oin and Gloin, who had been close when everything happened.
Thorin wondered if Fili and Kili knew the truth they would be so quick to yell loudly about love and bonding as if it was that simple. Perhaps indeed their souls had been forged together and, even though they were brothers, in a sense they were lucky that it was mutual. His sister-sons would never know what it was like to love one who loved another, like Dis knew. But more than that, if they were trusted with the one of the darkest secrets of the Durin line, Thorin wondered if the boys would be so confident about their relationship not being wrong.
"Quit using all your games and strategies, boy. Nothing changes the fact that it's wrong. Brothers don't lie with brothers." Dis spoke again, her voice as cold and sharp as a trusted sword. Her face was a mask of tranquility, although Thorin could see the dark emotions rolling behind his sister's eyes and could not even imagine how painful it must be for her that this is happening to her own sons.
"Not that most people know of." Fili scoffed and Dis' glare became much colder "What I do know, since there are many things that are left unsaid in this family, is that my brother and I look awfully different from one another."
And that was the final move of that round. They could still argue about the impracticalities of them being together, but it would be all just useless struggle. The matter of their appearances had been raised many times before by some of their people. Thorin knew that if Fili and Kili had not been so likable and so bright, many would have questioned his nephew's right to be his heir. Blond hair was rare in the descendents of Durin, coming down from the wife of Durin IV, according to history – and Fili currently being the only one alive, there were only four dwarves to have golden hair in the royal house…
All eyes were turned to Dis, whose face was a mixture of dread and fury. Thorin saw his sister closing off to the world, pale and angry. Did Fili know what he was doing? His mother was as dangerous as any of them.
"There two other things that I do know," Fili began, bringing all attention back to him although his eyes were fixed on Dis "One is that there is no real record of Frerin's death in the Azanulbizar, and that he appeared in some historical documents and family portraits until the year I was born. Interestingly enough, after the year of 2859, my… blonde uncle, was considered dead at the year of 2799."
So he knew.
Of course he would know. This was Fili, who had dutifully studied everything about the royal line as it was required of the crown prince. This was Fili, who could figure out strategies as if it was child's play.
Thorin was petrified at his nephew's boldness and nerves of steel. Most likely, they should have known better than to hide the identity of Fili's father from him, he would find out sooner or later. Perhaps – perhaps – things would have been different if the boys knew. It was useless to muse about that now, though. It would not change the fact that the blonde had so calmly thrown on their faces something that had been buried for decades.
Indeed, Fili must love his brother to great lengths if he was ready to use that painful fact to his advantage without even flinching. Whatever it was that place inside The Fortress where their love was right, it must be worth defending.
"You have no idea what you are talking about." Dis said, her voiced reduced to a low menacing tone.
"Maybe I don't. And honestly, I don't care." Fili said, rising from his seat and looking down on every one of them until his eyes rested on Dis "I don't care if you loved your brother in the way you keep saying is so despising or if it was him who loved you so much that he could not contain himself. I don't care about who my father was and if he was the same as Kili's, because here is the other thing that I know. I love Kili and there is nothing you can do to stop us. Disown us or kill us or accept us they way we are, it won't change the way we feel."
That was when Thorin recognized another mistake in his plan, because a bow was a long ranged weapon.
Beneath the coolness of Fili's voice, Thorin heard the passionate fury that was always so obvious in Kili's. He could try to get to the blond alone, but the younger would always be there, making himself present even if they were not in the same room. Just like Fili's controlled personality had helped Kili hold his ground during their confrontation. This was what being bonded meant, was it not? One was always within the other.
The Archer would always be inside the Fortress, this was how they fought and this was how they lived. They would always be defending each other.
There is a sudden crack of wood, and Thorin sees his sister rising to her feet. Dis is panting in fury and there is a piece missing from the table in front of her.
"This is not over." She growled, before leaving without any more words or looks to anyone in the room.
Fili sighed, closing his eyes for a moment as if he was tired, but was soon recovered. He looked into the eyes of everyone, and held Thorin's.
Thorin simply looked back, because he truly was tired even though he had said nothing in that meeting and because he wanted to go after his own sister to make sure she would not do something she would regret later.
"Then it isn't over." Fili said at last, speaking with utter surety "You can keep coming at us. It won't work."
Thorin almost believed it.
Xxxxxxxxxx
Well, that came out much longer than I intended, but there was no way I could break this into two even chapters. Kili and Thorin confrontation was too small and gave the opening for the meeting, so I thought it was better to keep it all together. I hope you don't mind :)
I am not completely happy with Dis' sad story, but… the plot needed strong motivations from both sides, so this is what my fingers came up with. Really, this chapter became a wild thing after the fifth paragraph o0 Her story will be explained in the following chapter.
I hope next chapter shall be the last, but I have to be honest with you. I have no control over this. Which is why I try not to write multichapter stuff, but it's too late now and you will have to bear with me for this story :)