Listen while you read: "My Body is a Cage" by Peter Gabriel or type youtube and add /watch?v=8ve4i4iy-ag

Chapter 10

"—you take care of it?" Fili heard Dul's voice from a short way off.

"I did not have the heart to strike him." Kili defended himself.

A low moan brought both of their eyes to a waking Fili, who lay upon the bed set up for him at the inn. He had a damp cloth across his eyes and a wadded clump of something behind his head.

"At least I wouldn't have drawn blood." Kili said with disgust.

"Then you would not have succeeded in stopping him." Dul countered with arms crossed, leaning back in the corner chair. "He looked ready to climb those walls with his bare hands."

"Aye." Kili nodded with a small grin, scooting himself to sit closer to Fili on the bed. "That he would have…"

"I wouldn't have made it very far, though." Fili breathed. "You two would have caught me at the ankles and heaved me back."

"You would have been strong enough to pull us up with you if we did." Kili patted his brother's hand.

He struggled to sit up, groaning and clutching at his head. "How long have they been gone?"

"Half an hour." Dul said.

Fili reached behind his head to find that the wadding was a big clump of blood-soaked hair.

"They'll be returning soon." Dul lowered the front legs of his chair back to the floor.

Fili scowled. "Will they?"

Dul's face was stony, stuck in the grimace he usually wore. "We must hold fast to hope that they will."

Thorin held out an arm to Nur, who took it gladly and clung to it in hope as they climbed the hill in short strides.

Ahead of them was the tree line and they could see torches further in—their enemy not daring enough to expose themselves from the tall trunks. Nur believed herself to be looking at the bodies of small bears standing on their hind-legs, but as the distance closed, she could see she was mistaken. These were dwarves. They were much shorter than Thorin, but the tallest of them was level with her, and the way they held themselves reminded her of crouching orcs.

Thorin came within twenty paces and stopped, addressing the figures that held torches. "We have come. Speak."

Two of the smaller dwarves walked forward.

One of them was red-haired; so curly and scraggly were the locks of his head and beard that they obscured his face except for the pair of eyes which seemed to be uncolored, but black throughout. The other had a deep black head of hair pulled into a ponytail and a straight beard reaching to his waist.

"Do I stand in the presence of Ibun and Khim?" Thorin asked, leaning his head to the side.

The dwarves bowed, not taking their eyes off of Thorin.

"I am Khim." Spoke the red-haired dwarf. "And we did not ask for you to accompany the lass."

"Perhaps Thorin is wise in learning who we are, but not so wise in taking directions." Ibun, the black-haired dwarf, said without introducing himself.

Thorin sighed. "We are here to parlay for the safety of the outpost."

"If you have spent a few days amongst them, you will understand our demands." Khim said.

Thorin nodded. "You want to know how to enter the mountain. I have come for the same purpose but found nothing to make me believe it exists anymore."

"An opening can be dug easily if there is a passage on the other side." Khim countered.

"And none of the traders know—"

"That's a lie." Spoke a voice from behind the petty-dwarf leaders. Out of the trees crept a familiar figure. "That is not what Dul has told you."

"Gren." Thorin sneered. "I did not know to count you among enemies, but I always distrusted your demeanor."

Gren bowed at this remark. "You see me now as I am. A 'petty-dwarf' I believe you call us."

Nur grunted. "You heard what we heard, Gren, Dul does not know where the tunnels are."

Gren raised a finger to object. "He said they possessed clues. We only want you to persuade Dul to give them to us. We will allow Thorin to return to the outpost, but the Princess Nur," he said with malice, "stays with us as incentive."

Khim glanced nervously at Thorin, obviously doubting his physical ability to take on the larger dwarf, and grumbled at Ibun in a strange tongue. Ibun approached to grab at Nur's elbow, but Nur swung out a fist, weakly clapping the smaller dwarf on the chin, while a growl rumbled from Thorin's throat.

Khim rolled his eyes. "They will both return." He turned to face Gren, "Don't push our luck with your demands." And then added in a lower voice, "We'll have her soon enough anyway."

"You have an hour to fetch Dul." Ibun said.

Reluctant to turn his back toward the enemy, Thorin slowly guided a trembling Nur back down the hill. She was not trembling with fear, but with anger, hating the dwarves who had almost had their way with her and relieved that she would be returning soon to the relative safety of the outpost.

It seemed to take ages, getting back to the gates, but the guards on post were waiting anxiously for their return and opened quickly for them.

Nur noted that the feast had ended and everyone had gone back to their homes, unable to keep up any merriment when they learned what it cost them.

The only light she could see was a small candle from the dining hall of the inn. Kili appeared in the lodge's doorway with a smile and bounded down the steps, trotting toward them and embracing them both. Fili, less enthused, stood on the porch with his arms crossed, watching them as they came closer.

Kili held an arm out for Nur and with the other hand clapped his uncle on the back, wordlessly following them as they walked, grinning from ear to ear.

While Thorin and Kili passed by them and into the lodge to find Dul and discuss their meeting, Fili and Nur stood outside on the porch, bathed in moonlight.

Nur looked up at him, wondering what to say. She wanted to hold him and wash away the distress she'd just felt, but she was afraid he was angry with her.

Fili stared at her, alternately glaring and looking as though he might be brought to tears.

But then his arms wrapped around her and he held her closely with as much strength as he dared, unable to keep his anger anymore. He breathed out his anguish with heavy breaths into her hair.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, not bothering to fight the tears. "I'm so sorry."

They stood in that embrace for minutes, neither speaking, but both contented to feel the others body close. She ran a hand over his bicep, enjoying the feel of the muscle under the thin layer of cloth from his tunic and letting his warmth envelope her and soothe her nerves. She wanted this moment to last forever, but her own muscles were giving way to exhaustion.

"Fili?" She finally muttered. "I haven't slept in two days. I'm… I'm dead on my feet."

He released her shoulders, but swung her whole body into his arms, cradling her against him and walking into the inn. He smirked when he realized this was the second time that day he carried her up those steps, though now she was not inclined to struggle.

Nur rested her head against his chest with her arms locked around his neck, as Fili walked down the hallway. Instead of walking into his room, he turned the other direction and brought her to the opposite one. He lowered her to the bed, bringing the blanket over her and returning the smile she gave him.

Fili surprised her by pulling the chair over to the side of the bed and sat hunched over, taking Nur's hand. He felt he couldn't leave her just yet. He had spent the better part of a half hour worrying over her and needed a little more time just seeing her safe…

He traced a finger along the veins in her wrist, smoothing over the skin. Shutting her eyes, but keeping a contented smile, Nur soon felt the edges of black pulling at her consciousness.

She fought it for a moment and said, "You'd be much more comfortable in a bed."

He paused his finger on her hand, his heartbeat speeding a little. She realized she implied that he should join her, but then added, "I'm not the only one who needs your comfort. You shouldn't be long from your brother."

"I'm having a hard time letting you out of my sight… You told me to trust you and then you lied to me." He blurted out the words before he could stop them. By Durin, he was tired… and his loose tongue was proof of it.

Nur turned her head on the pillow, looking away. "Everything turned out alright."

"You weren't certain of that, though, not with the way you kissed me—"

"They wouldn't have spoken with us if I hadn't been there. Thorin offered to come with me." She said. "It was breaking your heart to see him go, but I knew that once you found out about me that you would feel more at ease in knowing he was there to protect me."

Fili thought on this and realized it was true; those agonizing moments had been made easier in knowing that Thorin would not let anything happen to her. "Will you be going back?"

"No." She would have said more, but it was becoming harder and harder to stay awake.

Fili ran a few fingers through her hair and kissed her forehead, realizing how sleep-deprived she was.

"Promise me you won't leave again." He muttered in her ear.

She nodded, her eyes remaining closed, and Fili couldn't be sure that she'd heard him at all, but would have to be satisfied with that nod. After Nur began to snore quietly, he placed her arm back on the bed, tip toeing into his own room.

He had taken care not to wake his brother and after removing his boots he climbed beside in on the large mattress. Closing his eyes, he was descending into sleep when Kili's voice broke through the silence.

"I'm sorry."

Fili turned to his side to face Kili's back, fixing his eyes on the head that wouldn't turn to look at him. "What do you have to be sorry about?"

"I don't know. In the chaos of everything happening here, I just want to make sure I've apologized for anything stupid I might have done."

"Durin's beard, Kee. You've done nothing stupid and certainly nothing requiring an apology. Sleep well, nadadith."

Kili barely managed. "Sleep—" let alone "—well, nadad." Before exhaustion took him.

Fili patted Kili's shoulder and lay again on his back, wondering just how much more chaos he could take before he went completely mad.

Early morning came and the elders of the outpost were assembled. Dul spoke to them of his meeting the previous evening with the petty-dwarves, recounting their demand that the traders had one day to assemble clues before the petty-dwarves returned the following nightfall.

Thorin, being a brilliant strategist, had already given some thought as to how they could use the opportunity to help the outpost occupants escape, and Dul assisted in outlining the plot, ending the meeting by sending everyone to various tasks.

The afternoon had been full of movement throughout the square. Bodies passed each other quickly and not one occupied the benches or chairs in the small trading post. Eyes had become alive again, wisps of hope trailing through the air, and all were able-bodied and willing to work.

Thorin had removed his furs and cloak down to his tunic and lifted some of their heavier burdens, showing Fili that his heart was with this small settlement and that no job was too small for the man who would someday retake his throne and be King.

As the sun began to set and the hustle had died down, Kili and Fili sat beside each other on the edge of the lodge's porch, their legs dangling over the edge. Sweat soaked their shirts and the heat of the day was thick on their faces, but as the afternoon became later a breeze began to chill the air.

Dul stepped toward them to join their conversation, giving Kili a bit of advice for the oncoming task he would be performing. Fili was uncomfortable in the dwarf's presence. Dul had lied to him regarding one of the people he held most dear and he could not shake the sharp fury rising from his inward accusation that Dul could have done more to prevent what had happened.

The blonde dwarf headed into the lodge, shaking off the awkward feeling Dul gave him and ascending the stairs. He glanced backward at the porch, catching sight of Nur with a large and heavy water-skin approaching Dul and Kili. He almost tripped on one of the steps as he did so and made a point of turning to look at where his cumbersome feet landed.

Ruffling a hand through his tangled knots, he headed to his room and unpacked a clean shirt. Pulling off the soaked shirt, he let it land with a wet sound on the ground beside his feet when he realized someone was behind him.

He wheeled around to face Nur, who almost dropped a canteen on the floor.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked, though he was hardly self-conscious.

Her mouth opened and closed, trying to speak, but only saying, "just now… I…"

He blushed a little. "Have you never seen a half-naked lad before?"

She caught herself staring at his sculpted upper body and released a sharp breath stomping her foot. "Yes, but…" she looked away, peeked at him quickly, and then looked away again. "… fat ones."

Fili's roar of laughter had him doubling over with his hands on his knees.

Nur's cheeks blazed with red and she couldn't help but smile and shake her head. "Stop that."

"Stop what?" He grinned impishly.

"Stop… flexing, or whatever you're doing."

"I'm not doing anything." He cackled. Fili pulled the clean shirt over his head, much to Nur's relief—and disappointment. She would have died of embarrassment if he'd heard her thoughts. Do you know, handsome dwarf, what you do to me?

"Is there something you should be doing?" He asked, glancing down to lace the strings on his collar. "I'd like a quiet moment."

She nodded, thinking that he wanted her to leave and turning to go, but he grasped her hand and added, "With you, lovely lass. Sorry, I meant with you. Follow me."

After descending the stairs, Fili took her through the dining hall to an alternate door, avoiding the front porch, and leading to the back of the inn and outside to the pit he'd used the day before to hunt with his brother.

He landed on his feet in the first pit with a heavy impact, and holding his arms out to help Nur descend. They ducked under the fence-line and out the other side.

With either hand on her waist, he raised her to sit on the wall of the pit while he stood on the pit floor in front of her, between her knees.

They spoke of nothing important, just chatter about homes and families. Eventually, she turned him around so that his back was toward her and she ran her fingers like a brush through the clumps of matted hair that frustrated her. He hissed when she brushed against the scab on his scalp—a badge of determination which Dul had awarded him with when he'd learned of Nur's departure—but otherwise reveled in her touch on his wavy blonde strands.

Fili would have been content to stand like that for hours, but he knew their time was short. Turning his front to her, he put his hands on her waist and rested his elbows on her knees. Looking at her very seriously, he asked, "What do you want in days to come, dear heart?"

Nur huffed. "Well, I wouldn't mind being somewhere other than here."

Fili shook his head. "That's not what I mean—tell me… In a life with me."

Nur smiled a bit. "Nothing too complicated." But then she blushed.

"Tell me." He insisted.

She laughed a little. "I don't want to scare you. Most dwarf men aren't interested."

"And you know that I am not like most. I have suffered loss and understand the value of certain things… certain people."

"Well, then… I don't care if it is a shack in the wilderness or the fortress of a mountain… I'd like a large fireplace to warm the room during a winter's day and a cozy chair to read from. A thick rug just in front of that fireplace, where our children play with their father."

"How many children?"

"Just as many as we can make." She bit her lip and smiled. "I'd like a great wide bed we can all fit in together on the nights when those little ones are terrified of thunder, with as many pillows as can fit with us." She leaned forward a bit, her breath catching in her throat while her lips brushed his. "I'm going to need… a lot of pillows."

"Pillows." He nodded, kissing her tentatively.

"And on the nights… when there's no thunder and the little ones are asleep in their own beds… I want…" But Nur never finished her sentence because she preferred to show him with a forceful kiss. She pressed her hands to his shirt, outlining the muscles she'd seen in the room at the inn.

Fili pulled his hands away from her waist, but didn't stop kissing her, trying to give himself some room not to act on the impulse that shot up in his core.

He couldn't stop his fingers from tracing her collar bone, but he ended the action there. She seemed a little eager to encourage him with her kisses, one hand grasping strongly at the back of his head and the other trying to pull up his shirt—but he pulled himself away from her a moment, trying to clear his head.

"Nur, please—"

"Fili, are you there?" came the voice of Kili from the other side of the wall.

"Barely." Fili answered breathlessly, avoiding eye contact with Nur.

"We're assembling in the square in a few minutes."

Fili breathed through his nose, settling himself. "We'll be there shortly."

Kili laughed something in reply, but it couldn't be heard as he withdrew.

Fili turned to look at Nur with a determined face. "Princess Nur, you can bring me to the edge of my sanity and back, but I beg of you… do not drive me to the edge of those other limits I cannot cross…"

Nur's face filled with shame and she nodded dejectedly.

"That being said—" He knelt in the dirt below her, realizing how awkward the distance from his hand to hers suddenly was with her high seating above him. "I love you, Nur. And I want to call you mine. You ask for so little and I want to give you what you have described. Would you consent to marrying the wandering would-be prince of a land we may never reclaim but hope to—"

"Yes." She cut him short with a laugh. "Save your titles because I answer yes to Fili."

He rose and kissed her again, urgently, but not with the overwhelming longing as before. Among most dwarf kingdoms it was the lady who should initiate the marriage proposal, but he was appealing to the customs of the Iron Hills and merely letting her know his wishes.

It was also a hurtle for them both that in cases of royalty, the father had the most say when it came to Iron Hills lasses, and neither of them knew how King Dain would react.

"This is not how I wanted to ask you." Fili murmured. "But I'm a little pressed for time. I wish I had a ring, from my uncle's great hoard—"

"I don't need a ring." Nur insisted, kissing him again before sliding down into the pit.