It took almost four days for Thorin to regain a bit of his strength again. The first two days, he could not leave the bed without feeling dizzy and collapsing and after that he gave it up and grumbled into his beard in his bed. At night, he was alone, because Oin told Basil to stay away from their bed to not get sick as well. Thorin did not admit it, but he missed her presence in their bed. Most of the daytime he was complaining about the boring food and how he felt like a dwarfling again, because he was not able to leave bed. Once, he even snapped at Basil, who had tried to feed him Oin's chicken broth again. Basil, who was annoyed beyond measure, gave up and gave him some of her dinner, roasted meat with chips. She also arranged a bucket beside the bed. Of course, the king vomitted for the rest of the evening and the only complaints Basil heard after that were quiet growls and murmurs in Khuzdul.

Ironically, these days were the happiest Basil had had since their wedding. Thorin seemed back to his old self again, even if that meant that he was the insufferable and grumpy dwarf he was when they first met. There was no sign of the goldsickness, until Thorin began to regain his strength six days later. He used the short walks, ordered by Oin, to walk to the treasury.

Dwalin was the one to contact Basil and ask for her help, for Balin did not dare. He knew what Basil had endured through Thorin's madness and did not want to ask her for more. But Dwalin confronted Basil one day and only barely contained his anger.

‚My queen, the king is in the treasury.' Dwalin began after Basil had closed the door behind them. ‚You have to do something.'

‚And what, master Dwalin, shall I do?' Basil asked dryly. She was exhausted and annoyed. She had already tried everything, she had cared for him during his sickness, she had endured his grumpiness and she had supported him with all her might. ‚Shall I chain him to the bed?'

‚Maybe you should.' Dwalin grumbled, but instantly closed his eyes in defeat. ‚I apologise. You are the only one who could lure him away from the treasury during the past days. He has not been in there much since you returned. How did you do it?'

‚I have done nothing, master Dwalin.' Basil shook her head. ‚I solely tried to stay alive.'

‚He has changed since you are back with him.' Dwalin did not give up. ‚You did something. Please, for your sake, for Thorin's sake, continue with what you did. Nobody will ask you for help, but I will.'

With these last words, the captain of the guard turned around to leave the royal chambers. He knew that he had crossed a line, but he also knew that Basil was Thorin's only chance. Only the queen could save his soul and his life.

Basil sat in her armchair for a long time after Dwalin had left. She was shivering; partly of anger, partly of fear and also of worry. The queen was furious about Dwalin's words. Had she not done enough? Had she not suffered enough? She had tried everything, she did not understand why Thorin began to turn to his gold again. During his cold, Thorin had been himself. He had been weak and grumpy, but he had been himself. Only as his fever disappeared he turned into the goldgreedy and mad king again.

And she had really tried everything. When she had kissed him, he had run away from her. Basil knew that he would have to make the first step if they ever wanted to be intimate as husband and wife. Basil wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. Maybe Thorin simply did not find her attractive and did not want her in his bed. She had seen lust in his eyes when he had looked at her in their nights together, but she still felt insecure. Basil was unsure wether Thorin lusted for her or for her golden aura. She had stopped wearing gold as jewelry or as clothing. But this had not been reason for Thorin's distance.

Basil sat up straight as she realised what she had done wrong. She had stopped telling her stories! Thorin seemed captured by her stories and he had forgotten about the gold under the spell of the fantasy. Quickly, Basil made the bed and ordered the guards to call for Bombur. She needed red apples.

#

Thorin came back to his chambers after three days. Basil had been sick of worry, but Nori had informed her that the king had stayed in the treasury and had slept on his armchair, which Balin had brought there so that his king could at least rest a bit. Nori had only needed two days to get rid of his cold and was back to full strength again, much to the relief of his brothers.

Now, finally, Thorin returned to the royal wing. He did not look at Basil as he entered the rooms and headed directly to the bathroom. He smelled decent again as he emerged from the bath and walked towards the bed as he froze. Basil was lying on her side with her eyes closed and a red apple in her hand. Thorin gasped as he remembered when he had seen such an apple before. Two days after their wedding, he had closed his hands around Basil's neck and she had nearly choked on such an apple. Now, he was standing there, staring down at the red fruit in his wife's hand. She had taken a bite, but she seemed to have fallen asleep.

For a moment, Thorin thought about returning to the treasury, but the memory of their nights together and the stories Basil could tell made him freeze on the spot. He missed her stories, but he would not tell her that. His pride stood in his way once again.

With a deep sigh, Thorin sat down on the edge of the bed and the shifting of the mattress made Basil wake up. She stretched lazily and smiled at her husband, who swallowed and took the apple out of her hand.

‚This shining red fruit inspired me to another story.' Basil stated quietly and glances at Thorin. ‚Is my husband in the mood for another story?'

Thorin nodded slowly and Basil slid to the middle of the bed and leaned against the headboard, gesturing Thorin to sit down beside her. Reluctantly, Thorin moved to her side and tried to relax.

‚A long time ago in a far away land, a queen of men lived happily and peacefully at the side of her husband king. She was with child and often took a walk in her own garden at night, when she could not sleep, where roses bloomed all year long. She reached out for one of the roses and pricked her finger on the thorns. A drop of red blood became visible in the pale moonlight and the queen had a vision of her unborn daughter. A beautiful lass, with a complexion as white as moonstone, hair as black as ebony and and lips as red as blood.' Basil let her fingers move over her skin, her lips and then through Thorin's locks as she spoke and her gaze never left Thorin, who watched her with his mouth open.

Basil shifted and stretched her legs, grabbing Thorin's braid and pulling him down until his head rested in her lap. Warmth spread through Basil's body as Thorin's head heavily rested in her lap and continued her story, carefully stroking through Thorin's curls.

‚The princess was born in a stormy winter's night. The queen died giving birth to her and her father, the king, invested all his attention and love in his daughter, named Selene. The princess was kind, warm hearted and beautiful and everyone loved her. Everyone but the mysterious lady, who appeared out of nowhere one day. Her caravan was attacked by bandits and the remaining soldiers had brought her to the palace for safety. This lady was beautiful as well, with long silverblonde hair, pale skin, blue eyes and delicated features. Her aura was powerful and soon, she had caught the king's interest. The king was lonely after the death of his queen and the beauty of this mysterious lady ensnared him. He married her only weeks later and the kingdom relished in the sight of their happy king. Even the princess was happy to have a new mother. But this peace did not last. One night, the king died without any signs of sickness or force. The queen seemed devastated and the princess was heartbroken. But it had been the queen, who had killed him with a powerful poison. She was a dark witch and she seeked to take over the rule of this powerful kingdom.'

Basil did not know that she had hit a nerve with this story. Neither did she know that Thorin's queens had tried to kill him under the influence of the arkenstone, nor did she know that using poison was one of the highest crimes in dwarfen society. Thorin's face darkened and he stiffened in Basil's lap. This time, Basil saw it and began to move her fingers over his face, stroking the scowl away. She massaged the frown from between his brows and began to move through his facial hair. It took a while until Thorin closed his eyes and his expression grew more relaxed. Basil continued her story as Thorin opened his eyes and looked directly into hers.

‚Nobody knew what the dark queen was planning. As long as the princess was a child, she was in no danger, so she lived. Selene was a humble character, she worked in the kitchen of the palace, helped the healers and was loved by all the subjects of the kingdom. She had a heart of gold and soon, the queen began to envy her for the love of their subjects. But that was not the queens only worry. Selene grew up to be a beautiful young woman, while the queen grew older. The queen could not bare looking into Selene's beautiful face every day and decided to kill her stepdaughter. She knew though, that killing her on the palace would only cause her subjects to revolt against her. She sent Selene into the forest to gather some herbs and plants and sent one of her guards with her to kill her in the dark of the forest.'

Basil's voice became quiet and raspy as she told the tale of the princess and how the guard could not kill her because he could not kill a woman so fair and so good hearted.

‚He told the princess to run and to never come back to the kingdom. Selene ran into the deep forest and did not stop until she stood in front of a small cottage. She knocked, but nobody answered. The shadows and noises of the forest scared her, so she entered the cottage and closed the door behind her. What the princess saw, took her breath away. The cottage was simply one big room with a dirty kitchen and small beds. Selene found seven plates, seven forks, seven knifes, seven spoons, seven bowls, seven cups and seven beds. The beds were so small that Selene knew who lived in that cottage. Dwarves.'

‚Dwarves?' Thorins eyes widened. He had not seen that coming. ‚Why do these dwarves live in a cottage in the woods? Dwarves live under a mountain.'

‚These do not. It is my story.' Basil smirked teasingly. ‚Selene felt guilty for disturbing their home and began to clean up. It took her the whole day to clean the kitchen and she even made a nice stew for the owners of this cottage. By nightfall, Selene was so exhausted that she fell asleep in one of the small beds. She had to curl up to fit into the bed, but she did not care. It took only a moment for her to fall asleep. She dreamt of her father and the day he died. She dreamt of the horrible noises in the dark forest and the face of her stepmother. She was so afraid, more afraid than she had ever been in her life – until she heard voices in her sleep. Kind voices, but also voices full of surprise and mistrust. „Who ate from my plate?", „Who cooked?", „Who drank out of my cup?", „Who used my fork?"..."Who is this in my bed?". The last question made Selene open her eyes. She looked into a bearded face with stunning blue eyes and a deep frown. Selene sat up and crawled back from the dwarf in whose bed she had been sleeping. His frown scared her, but she took her time to look him over. He was tall for a dwarf and he had only a short beard, neatly groomed. Long black wavy hair framed his face, a handsome face, with a straight nose and high cheekbones. His eyes were the bluest she had ever seen. Although he frowned and glared at her, she could see that his heart was a kind one.'

‚How?' Thorin interrupted her. Basil needed a moment to catch his question, for she had been caught in her own story.

‚What do you mean?' Basil asked and looked down at her husband.

‚How could she tell that he had a kind heart?' Thorin asked and looked back into his wife's eyes. Of course, he had drawn parallels to their first meeting from Basil's story. He also knew that the dwarf she described was supposed to be himself, even if he sometimes forgot that females seemed to find him quite handsome. He had never cared for such things as his own looks, he had always looked for beauty elsewhere.

‚It is not what you see with your eyes, my king.' Basil softly told him. ‚Sometimes you have to see things with your heart. This dwarf was a kind soul and Selene relaxed against the headboard. Another dwarf stepped forward and warmly smiled at her. He was short and had a bushy white beard. He introduced himself as Wise and introduced the other dwarves as well. There was a friendly looking dwarf with a hat, called Happy. A round dwarf with a long red beard, called Hungry. A silver haired dwarf with a braided beard, called Amad. A bald and huge dwarf, called Brutal. And a young dwarf with mittens, called Shy. The dwarf with the black hair and blue eyes, who was still staring at Basil, was called Grumpy.'

Thorin snorted as Basil introduced him to the seven dwarves of the story. Balin, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Dwalin, Ori and himself.

‚Grumpy, huh?' Thorin smiled and sat up. He missed the warmth of Basil's lap, but he had to move. He was tired, but he wanted to hear the rest of the story. Little did he know that Basil had seen the exhaustion in his face when he had returned and had prepared a cup with wine and the sleeping potion. Now, she gave him the wine and watched as he drank it.

Basil felt bad about drugging Thorin, but the last days had shown her that the goldsickness was far from defeated. She had given him the sleeping potion that evening, knowing that her story had awaken his interest. With a little luck, he would not kill her when he found out, because he would want to hear the end of the story. Basil knew that this obsession with her stories was unnatural, but it was one of the positive side effects of the goldsickness, one that helped her. She watched as Thorin's eyes grew heavy and he sat back against the headboard. The cup fell out of Thorin's hands and the king finally fell into a deep slumber. Oin had promised her, that the potion would make the king sleep for at least half a day. Basil would use that period of time to get some sleep herself. She cuddled up at Thorin's side, wishing that she could do that when he was awake, before she fell into a dreamless sleep.