Fili left the table and went out the back door of the pub. His brother followed. Betta stared after them for a moment in confusion and then remembered that the dwarf still held her box. She jumped up from the table and hurried after them.

"Wait!" she called.

They stopped and turned back. "Wait for what?" Kili asked.

Fili held the box loosely in his hand, and Betta snatched it back before he could stop her. He looked startled, and then angry that she had caught him by surprise for the second time. He did not understand how important the box had become to her. Precious would not be too strong a word for it, although it was not one that she used often.

"Changed your mind?" he asked.

"You said you'll take it. Take what? You'll open the box?"

"Better," Fili said, grinning. "We'll help you find your treasure, too."

"You will?"

"We will?" Kili stared at his brother. Fili gave him a hard look, and he shrugged and nodded in agreement. "We will."

"If you want your box opened properly, it will cost more than the coins you're offering. I, however, am offering two able dwarves to hunt your treasure with you, and I think you'll find you need the help."

"And if there is no treasure? If the box is empty?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Then you'll have your answer. You'll know what was inside."

Betta searched his face but saw nothing there to tell her what he was thinking. His brother was no help either, willing to follow Fili's lead to whatever end.

"If there's treasure," she said. "We'll split it three ways even." Fili's was surprised at the offer. A third cut for him and his brother each was more than he would have asked. "But if there is no treasure, or no map to any treasure in this box," Betta went on, "you'll take ten crowns and nothing more will be said of it. Ever."

Betta knew that her offer, both of her offers, were overly generous, and she could see that the brothers were suspicious, but she didn't care. Money could always be made, one way or another, but the answers to her questions would only be found by opening the box in her hand. She did not want to let this chance slip away.

"It's a deal, then," Fili said, holding out his hand. She took it, seeing her own small hand almost disappear as it was wrapped up in his large, leather glove. After they had shaken on it, he still held out his hand. "The box?" he said.

"I will be there when you open it," she said.

He took back his hand and frowned at her again. "No human is allowed in the dwarf halls of the mountains," he said.

It was Betta's turn to shrug. "However you manage it, I will be there when this box is first opened. I don't know what is in it."

"You think that we would steal?" Kili said angrily.

"I think that what might be inside will mean nothing to you," she said. "I was raise on tales of inheritance boxes. Some contain notes, some valuable objects. Some magical boxes contain nothing but a breath of air, a scent or even a sound. If you open it, and I'm not there, what it contains could be gone forever, and with it any hope of treasure."

Kili was scowling, but the lure of treasure was too much to refuse. Fili seemed to be convinced as well. He nodded. "Tomorrow at sunrise, come to the Gates. Bring your precious treasure chest."

He looked her up and down, shook his head, then both brothers turned and walked away. Betta still had her box and her coins so that even if they would change their minds tonight, she lost nothing for this encounter.

.

Once they were out of earshot, Kili turned to his brother. "Why did you agree to this?" he asked. "Opening a box is one thing, but a treasure hunt! And an undoubtedly fruitless one, too! What will Thorin say?"

"Thorin will be glad to be rid of us for a few days," Fili said.

"Days?"

He laughed. "You think it will take longer for her to realize that her treasure hunt is fruitless? Or, more likely, that she has no taste for the wilderness."

"She claims that she came all this way from Gondor," Kili reminded him.

"But you don't believe that she did," Fili reminded him. Neither one of them believed it. The brothers had hardly been out of sight of their mountain home since their mother had sent them to live with Thorin. "She probably hired a wagon or joined a merchant's caravan for most of it," Fili scoffed. "She's green, like any human, but if it means telling Thorin that we're going on an adventure for a few weeks…"

"You said days," Kili interrupted. Fili raised an eyebrow, and his brother laughed. "Leave it to you to turn some human fable into a free pass out from under the watchful eye of his lordship."

"Yes, a pass," Fili said. A dark look passed over his face.

Kili saw it and frowned. "What is it you're thinking?" he asked.

Fili looked around. There weren't many men or dwarves near them on the street, but he pulled his brother away to a quiet corner to be safe. "You haven't noticed that our dear uncle has kept very close company with himself these past few weeks?"

"He's quiet, certainly," Kili agreed, "but he's always been a sullen man." He made light of it, but what his brother had said was true. Thorin had been unusually quiet and more sullen than ever. He had been brooding on some dark thought and more than his nephews had noticed.

"I spoke with Balin before he left. He asked if Thorin has said anything to me about Erebor."

"Erebor? He talks of nothing else!" Kili exclaimed.

"Quiet!" Fili shook his brother by the arm. "He used to talk of nothing else. Think! When was the last time you heard that name pass his lips? Not since his return from the east."

Kili opened his mouth and then closed it again. His brother was right. Thorin hadn't mentioned the mountain since his return, not by name, anyway. And it was since his return from Bree that he had grown more thoughtful and quiet, too. Kili hadn't thought about it before because he was so used to his uncle's moods that he hadn't noticed it.

"What did you say to Balin?"

"The truth, that Thorin has not spoken of it in recent days." Fili tightened his hold on Kili's arm and pulled him close. In a whisper he said, "Balin told me that Thorin is considering taking on the dragon. He wants to return to The Mountain."

"Now, that would be an adventure!" Kili exclaimed.

"Yes, it would be… if we were allowed to go with him."

"You think he would refuse us?"

"I think that he would leave without telling us that this is where he means to go. Balin said that Ori has begun to read portents in the sky. I don't know what he meant by it, but something is coming, and soon. Either way, you know what Thorin thinks of us."

Kili nodded. Their uncle had never been subtle in telling the brothers that they were inexperienced and knew nothing of the world beyond Eriador, beyond the Misty Mountains where danger was more than wild wolves and bears. A loyal and willing heart were all he needed he so often said of other dwarves, but not his nephews. Fili and Kili had yet to live up to Thorin's high standards, no matter how often he said that he was proud of them.

"So, you think that Thorin would fall for this trick? That he will believe we are going on an adventure and that will convince him to bring us when he takes on Erebor?" Kili shook his head. "He'll never believe it. A few days in the woods and we return empty handed. That won't convince him of anything except that the mountains are quieter when we're out of them."

Fili laughed. "Then we must not return empty handed, brother!" he said, clapping Kili on the back. They stepped back into the street and walked on. "Wait 'til tomorrow. In this, we have something in common with the woman," he said. "We'll wait to see what's in this steel box before we make our plans."

"And before we say a word to our dear uncle," Kili said, throwing his arm around his brother's shoulders as they headed for home.

This was a shorter chapter than I had planned, but the next will be much longer, and we'll finally find out what is in Betta's box. This has turned out to be a more involved project than I expected. I hope that you're enjoying it as much as I am.

-Paint