Disclaimer: I don't own The Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings, I only own Nàin and the characters that I have come up with and their stories.
Chapter 3
Secrets
1 year later
Fili groaned in protest as Nàin gently moved away from him, his arms falling down to the bed as she stood up. She chuckled at Fili's pouting face though tried her best to give him a stern look; "Thor will be up by now. I'll go get him and then I'll come back, alright?"
Fili sighed, nodding his head as he rubbed his hands over his face, trying his best to at least wake up a bit. Nàin simply smiled at her husband before rounding the bed, grabbing her robes from the closet and putting them on. With a last smile sent towards Fili, she exited their room. A guard was stationed outside at the end of the hallway who immediately straightened up his back as he saw his queen. She smiled a good morning his way before entering the room next to theirs; the small nursery.
The moment she had passed through the doors to the nursery, movement could be seen in the crib. She opened the curtains to let in some of the early sunshine and smiled at her son as he, although he almost lost his balance thrice, stood up in the crib and reached his hands out to her. Gently she placed both her hands on his cheeks, talking to him with a soft voice to which he smiled, immediately earning a smile back from Nàin.
He reached up to her again, this time his tiny little fingers curled around the fabric of her robes, pulling gently on them. Sounds came out of his tiny mouth which sounded something like 'ubba' and Nàin beamed at her son.
"Up? You want up?" she gently asked.
So far, he had not gotten far with speaking. Of course, he was only a year old and it was not very surprising. Walking was not something he had gotten far with either, though he was trying his best already and kept trying to stand up, though not getting farther than that. It was an adorable sight to both you and the others living in Erebor. So far, though, Thor had not gotten further than the hallways of the Royals, at the very top of the mountain. It was the safest place for him to be in as other hallways were still in pretty bad shape and could collapse, not to mention that guards were not situated everywhere and someone might take him. Also, it was the place where his family spent most of their time. Of course, both Fili and Kili would have to leave quite a lot, though the rest of their time, they spent up there with Nàin and Thor. Though that would soon also change as Thor was beginning to develop a true bond to all three of them, and whenever either of them would leave, he would start to cry profusely. Especially during the night.
Thorin, however, was always at hands along with Dis. When Nàin would have to return to her duties, they would take over Thor for a little while. Though she was not looking forwards to that at all. She wanted to spend the rest of her life taking care of Thor – the light of her life.
Lifting up Thor into her arms, she kissed his cheek to which he smiled brightly. "I'll always be here for you, darling. I promise."
He might not have understood her, but he still gently rested his head against her shoulder, his fingers curling tightly around her pyjamas as though responding with a loving hug of his own.
With a smile, she exited the nursery, once more greeting the guard who immediately straightened his back once more at the sight of her and Thor. Entering her and Fili's room again, Thor brightened up even more and started twisting and turning in her arms, reaching out towards Fili who smiled widely and sat up in bed. Gently, Nàin placed Thor in Fili's arms before laying back down on the bed, watching Fili interact with Thor.
He had him balanced on his lap, holding tightly onto his tiny hands to keep him balanced. In turns, the two made funny faces to each other and each time Thor imitated Fili, Nàin laughed along with Fili.
They lost count of time, the three simply enjoying their time together as a family. It was not until Thor had climbed down from Fili's lap to rest his head on Nàin's stomach while Fili gently rubbed circles on his back, that someone knocked on their door. They both assumed that it would be Nàin's maids who had come to wake their queen up – subsequently also waking up Fili who most of the time dressed on his own when there was not a feast. However, instead of Sillina or Jytina, Kili showed up in their doorway, already fully dressed and with a serious look on his face. Fili tensed up slightly while Nàin gently placed an arm around Thor, who noticed his father's behaviour and also tensed up.
"Brother, I need to speak to you," said Kili.
Fili glanced back at Nàin and Thor once before standing up – both Nàin and Thor following him with his eyes.
"Nàin," greeted Kili with a soft smile playing on his lips, one that Nàin could obviously see was only there to assure her that nothing serious was wrong. He averted his eyes to Thor then and gave a wide grin to the child; "Thor."
He waved at his uncle, who waved back before joining Fili outside of the room, closing the door behind them.
"What is it?"
"I'm sorry, Fee," said Kili, earning a shake of Fili's head.
"Don't be," said Fili, offering a soft smile from Kili. "Did the scouts come back?"
"Yes… We've found the reason behind the deaths… Fee, it's not good."
"When is it ever good?" asked Fili.
"There's an entire Orc pack in the forest North of Erebor. They're far away and the don't seem to be moving in on us, but they seem to have… settled down," said Kili sombrely. "What should we do about them?"
"How large is the pack?"
"In the twenties," said Kili. "We could muster what we have and end them."
"We could… But we might lose men. I think, as long as they are not moving in on us, we should focus on actually creating an army first. Either way, we could need it. Are you up for the task, Kee?"
"Me?"
"Can you become my lieutenant?" asked Fili with a soft smile playing on his lips, already knowing what Kili was going to answer.
"Of course," said Kili. "And the Orcs?"
"Let them be for now. But keep an eye on them," said Fili. "Oh, and Kee? Don't tell Nàin."
"I won't."
