I dreamt my lady came and found me dead,–

Strange dream, that gives a dead man leave to think !–

And breathed such life with kisses in my lips,

That I revived, and was an emperor

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)


* * * * The battle, the Queen's tent * * * *

He heard voices. The words they spoke were in Elvish, but the tone sounded urgent. Kili tried to open his eyes to see the faces, but the heaviness of pain kept them shut. It was too much effort.

They sounded familiar, the voices. Male and female. If he could just focus on them, he might be able to figure out who they were. But then the pain in his leg flared sharply, filling his mind and body with agony. He cried out, trying to jerk away from hands that were examining him, probing his wound.

Strong hands held him down on a hard, flat surface. He felt his pant leg being ripped open. Cool wetness touched the wound, soothing and irritating at the same time. Slight fingers pressed something tightly to the to the wound, and held it there.

Never had he known such pain in his life! Kili screamed and thrashed, but could not get away. He felt like his skin was being scorched. His veins were on fire, the burning ripping through his whole being. No part of him was spared from burning.

"Please! Please kill me! Mahal, the pain! Make it stop!" he shrieked. "Let me die!"

Underneath the pain, he could hear voices saying his name. "Kili." Over and over, like a chant. A soft voice, calling to him. He knew he knew the voice. If only burning pain hadn't blocked it, he might be able remember her name.

Unable to take any more, he sobbed brokenly. He was so far past caring who might see him, a mighty dwarf warrior crying in pain. And then he could take no more. Everything turned black.


Warm. He felt cozy, like he did as a small child wrapping in blankets on his mother's lap, being cuddled on a cold night. A feeling of fur on his skin. It was soft and comforting. Kili felt very relaxed. He did not want to open his eyes, wanting to stay in his furry cocoon.

He could smell things. The hot spice of a fire. A sharp medicinal herb smell. An odor of dirt and gore. The iron scent of spilled blood. Someone had been hurt, and been treated. He wondered who it was, and if they would heal.

The scent of woods, of trees and winter flowers suddenly filled his sense. Something was moving on his face, soft and silky on his cheek and neck. He breathed in the smell, familiar and new at the same time. Then the silkiness was gone, replaced by a touch of skin on his. Kili felt a finger, somewhat rough, gently trace a pattern on his cheek. He could feel the heat of someone's body moving next to him, something soft pressing into his shoulder.

Warm, soft lips touched his. He felt them press lightly at the corners of his mouth. A thumb gently caressed his lower lip. Then a hot mouth was on his, coaxing his to open. Kili couldn't help but respond. He kissed back, nipping, tongues meeting and swirling. He let out a faint moan at the pleasure the kisses created.

The lips pulled away suddenly, the kissing ended. Kili opened his eyes, slightly frustrated, wondering what was going on.

Glowing green eyes met his. Tauriel. She was looking down at him, her face unguarded . Then Kili knew. It wasn't real.

"You're awake," she said, watching him closely.

"No," he said weakly. His brain felt foggy and confused. "I'm dreaming. This isn't real, but I wish it was. You kissing me like that."

Tauriel gave him a sharp frown. "I assure, you, Prince Kili, this is not a dream, and you are awake." She pulled back the furs covering her, and got up from the pallet.

Kili watched her as she walked to a table. She was wearing brown leggings and a green tunic that skimmed her hips. Her long red hair was braided, tendrils sneaking out and floating around her head. As she moved around, looking for something, he felt she was more revealed to him now than in any low-cut dress he'd seen her in before. It wasn't just seeing the long, slim length of her legs. It was the role, he decided. She wasn't a Queen right now, or a warrior. She was just Tauriel, just herself.

"Why were you kissing me like that?" The words were out before he could stop them.

For a long moment, Tauriel said nothing. He heard the clink of glass, the sound of liquid being poured. "I need to check your bandage. And there is medicine for you to take," she said finally.

Kili allowed himself to be distracted by her non-answer, for the moment anyway. "Medicine? Was I injured?" He did not remember it.

"Yes. You were shot in the leg by an Orc arrow. Your right thigh."

Frowning, he slid a hand down his leg, feeling a large bandage wrapped firmly around his leg. And noticed for the first time that all of his lower body, all of both legs, were in contact with the fur of the covers. "Where are my trousers?" he spluttered in confusion.

"They were so filthy with dirt and blood, and we had to tear them to get to the wound anyway. So we removed them completely, in case you had other injuries." The sound of liquid being mixed came from where she was standing.

"I see," he replied, blushing. Half-naked in front of her, out of his mind in pain. At least they'd left his undertunic and underclothes on. He still had some dignity left.

"Wait," Kili said, hot panic flashed through him as a memory surfaced. She'd given him a rune stone. He'd kept it in his trousers. "I had your father's stone in a pocket."

Tauriel walked over to him and set a cup and some bandages on the ground. "We found the stone. It's all right. Can you sit up, Kili?" She looked at him calmly, holding out a hand to assist him. He made a face and turned on his good side, stubbornly ignoring her hand. Groaning a little, he pushed himself up to sitting. He felt a little light headed.

"Take this," she said, holding out the cup. "It is a little bitter, but it will help with healing." Kili took the cup from her and peered at the drink. It was green, the dirty green-brown of a troll. Sniffing, he could smell something spicy and earthy. An odd combination that did not smell appealing. Closing his eyes, he lifted the cup to his mouth and sipped.

It was truly foul. He would need a thousand leaves of mint to drive the reek from his mouth! "Now I know I'm not dreaming! How can I drink this? I've never tasted anything so terrible in my life!"

Kili winced slightly as Tauriel gripped his arm tightly. Her eyes bored into his. "You must drink all of it. Every single drop. Orc arrows are normally poisoned, but your injury . . . the poison . . . it was stronger than usual." She looked away, but not before Kili saw a sheen of wetness in her eyes.

He drank more of the brew, little by little. He did not know how he would choke it all down. "I should look at that wound. May I?" Tauriel asked, gesturing to the furs covering his legs. Kili nodded. Anything she would do to his leg could not be worse than the healing drink.

He jerked a little as she pulled back the fur covers to reveal his right leg, the upper thigh swathed in yellowing bandages. Tauriel touched his leg and started untying the bandage. "Will this hurt?" he asked tentatively.

"Hopefully not much. I will do my best to be gentle."

Slowly, she unwound the fabric from his leg. Kili watched her as she worked. She was completely focused on what she was doing, her eyes on his injured leg. She didn't appear to notice him studying her face closely.

No longer groggy, he could now see small cuts on her cheek and neck. There were smudges of dirt on her forehead and nose. He didn't realize he'd lifted a hand to her face until it was gently swatted away. "You should be drinking that medicine," she said, not looking at him.

"Why were you kissing me?" he asked as he drank more of the hideous brew. But she ignored him again, pulling off the last pieces of the bandage to reveal the injury.

The arrow wound was a sickly yellow-green in color, with pus gathered around it. He could see the veins and blood vessels of his leg colored a faint black color. "It is healing well," Tauriel said. "Is it? It looks very foul to me," Kili replied in surprise, watching her slender white fingers examine it. He'd not seen any wound quite so grotesque before. Suddenly he was ashamed of having such a ghastly wound in front of her.

"We found you before the poison had time to really get into the blood," she said softly, all her attention on his leg.

Kili drank more from the cup, shuddering again at the foulness. "Did you think I would die?"

Tauriel said nothing, and did not look up. He jerked a little as she cleaned the wound with water. "Tauriel," he repeated softly. "Did you think I would die?"

She sighed, and Kili felt her hands shake a little as she touched his leg, wrapping a clean bandage around it. "You haven't asked about your uncle and brother yet," she said finally, changing the subject. "They know you are here, and that you are wounded but healing. Your brother has a broken arm, and some deep cuts, but is on the mend. As is your uncle. He took an Orc sword to the leg. You need to rest more, but later today we can take you to them."

Kili looked at her, his mouth gaping open. He had not thought of Thorin and Fili until Tauriel said anything. He sighed in relief and felt guilty at the same time. They were not dead, not missing. "I was fighting around them, and then I wasn't. I was in here, being tortured with whatever you put on that wound. I can't remember what happened in between."

"You may not remember that. Sometimes we don't remember everything that happened. Or you may dream about it later."

He nodded slowly, sipping more of the drink. What about Balin? Ori? Bofur, Dwalin, and the rest? "Do you know anything about the rest of the company?"

Tauriel sat beside him, face turned to the fire, her healing work done for the moment. "No, I'm afraid I don't know. Once we had you bandaged and the poison stopped, I sent out messengers to find out what was going on, and let your family know about you. That was several hours ago when I heard about Thorin and Fili. I haven't heard more." She looked over at his cup and smirked a little. "You're just going to make it take forever, you know, sipping here and there like a dainty little maid."

"Oh?" Kili replied archly. Dainty, was he? Injured and weak he was, but no dwarf would stand for such a comparison. Not dwarf women, either. He put the cup to his lips to chug the swill like ale, and suddenly stopped.

"I'll drink this down proper, if you'll answer my questions," he said quietly. He saw her close her eyes and sigh. He drank as the fire crackled around the silence in the tent.

"Did I think you would die, Kili? I didn't know. You were the first dwarf we found that had been hit with the arrows and was still alive. All the elves we treated for arrow wounds were saved and healing. But when we used the athelas on you, it wasn't enough." Kili watched as Tauriel pulled her knees up to her chest and slung her arms around her legs. She did not look at him. "You were screaming, asking us to kill you. Then you passed out. Sivanna . . ." she trailed off, voice cracking a little. "Sivanna, my lady-in-waiting and an accomplished healer, said you were still breathing, you still had a pulse. You were still alive."

Kili almost choked on his drink as he saw wetness on her cheek. Did she know she was crying? He wanted to hold her as she spoke, but didn't have the energy. And he suspected she would not allow it anyway.

"We didn't have anything stronger than the athelas out here, and no time to go back to the palace to get anything. So Sivanna and Ellihir, my groom, and I called on our grace and shared it with you to stop the poison spreading."

"Your grace? What is that?" Kili was confused. He'd never heard of that before.

"Our immortality. It doesn't make you immortal, though. It heals when nothing else can."

"You saved me," Kili said reverently, awed by what Tauriel and her people had done. "I owe you and your people my life."

Tauriel wiped her face and stood, going to the table. Kili heard more mixing as he drank the last of the medicine, watching her. "More foul medicine?" he asked lightly.

"No, this is a sleeping draught," she said. He heard liquid being shook vigorously back and forth, and the sound of pouring. "I kissed you because I wanted to," Tauriel said suddenly, as she walked back over with the sleeping potion. "Out of curiousity."

Kili looked at her in surprise, and hurt. He was an experiment to her? To satisfy a whim only? He looked up at her as she towered over him, holding the glass for him to take. Kili grasped it absently as his mind churned with her words.

Actions and words. Thorin and his mother always said to look at the actions of a person, they were the true indicator of wants and feelings. The words meant nothing, unless the two were aligned. These pieces in this tent just didn't fit together, not at all. "You gave me your father's rune stone," he said slowly, thinking out loud. "You cried when you told me what happened when you healed me." Kili stared at her. Tauriel was looking at him, shock on her face. "And you never looked at me when you said you kissed me because you were curious." He took a long drink of the sleeping potion, keeping his eyes on hers. "What does Elven culture say about lying?"

"How dare you!" she hissed in anger, stepping back from the pallet. Tauriel wound her arms around her stomach and glowered at him.

Already Kili could feel the effect of the sleeping potion seeping through him. He felt a relaxing heaviness growing in his feet, then his calves. "Should have waited to take that drink," he said, setting the cup down on the ground. "I don't have the strength to argue anyway." He laid down on the pallet, pulling the covers up to his neck. "You and I both know what the truth is, Tauriel. You care about me. Why can't you just admit that?"

The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was Tauriel standing there, frozen like a statue, red hair glowing, tears glistening in her eyes.