For this chapter I imply knowledge of the movie and I hope I managed to not dig into the movie too much, but on the other hand described everything in an understandable !
'He looks more like a grocer than a burglar.'
Kassandra disliked Thorins arrogant and disrespectful way of treating the hobbit, Bilbo. She instantly liked the small fellow. He was no warrior, that was obvious, but they needed a burglar, no additional sword. She looked around and watched the other dwarves. The one who took Thorins coat was younger than the others, he had only a small beard and a impudent glim in his eyes. Beside him a blonde dwarf with a nicely braided mustache glanced at Kassandra warily. A huge dwarf on the left of the door eyed Kassandra with open suspicion, he was bald and had tattoos all over his body. A small white haired dwarf shot a friendly glare towards Kassandra 'Who are you, lassie?' he asked blinking at her.
In this moment Thorin realised that he had not introduced his new queen to his company. Only few of them had known of his marriage plans and they surely did not expect the human princess to accompany them on their quest.
'This is princess Kassandra. My...future wife.' Thorin moved closer to Kassandra and softly put an arm around her. He felt her stiffen and hoped that it was because she felt awkward because of the situation, not his touch. 'She will accompany us and will help us reclaim our homeland.' Turning towards her he introduced the other dwarves. 'Fili, Kili, Balin, Dwalin, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur.'
'At your service.' Kassandra bowed and smiled at Fili, Kili and Balin, who seemed nice. The other dwarves only looked at her with big eyes, either making a curious or suspicious impression. She was afraid that she would never be able to distinguish who was who. She shot a daring glare towards the huge dwarf, Dwalin.
'So...you are our new aunt?' the darker one - Fili? - asked her, earning a nudge from his brother.
'Don't be so forward, Kili.' he scolded his little brother.
'Damn' that one is Fili, Kassandra cursed mentally. 'And you two must be my two nephews then.' she smiled warmly at both of them, Kili grinning back instantly. Kassandra already liked him.
'You must be hungry.' Bilbo cut in. 'I still have some soup in the kitchen. The rest of the food is...gone.' he said with an apologetic shrug of the shoulders.
'Yes, lets get back to the dinning room.' Gandalf cleared his throat. 'We have much to discuss.'
Sitting and the end of the table, Thorin and Kassandra ate their soup, but the dwarves already assaulted Thorin with questions.
'Did the meeting go well? Did they all come?'
'Aye, all dwarfs from the seven kingdoms.' Thorin noded, causing a cheer from the dwarves.
'Is Dain with us?' Dwalin asked, Kassandra could hear the hope in his voice too clearly.
'They will not come.' Thorin answered with regret. 'They say this quest is ours and ours alone.'
Kassandra saw the stunned look on Doris face and the desperate look on his younger brothers face, Ori. The other dwarves sighed in defeat. Dwalin closed his eyes in disappointment. They were on their own.
Gandalf showed them the map and handed over the key to the secret door to Thorin. As the topic came to the need of a burglar, Kassandra got the feeling that the blasted wizard had never told the hobbit why he should join the company.
'I have never stolen a thing in my life.' she heard Bilbo say.
'I have to agree with Master Baggins. He is hardly burglar material.' Balin said dryly.
'The wild is no place for gentle folk who can neither fight nor fight for themselves.' Dwalin snarled and shot a look at Kassandra who just glared back.
In the end, Bilbo was handed a contract which he started reading in horror. 'Incineration?'
Bofur, the dwarf with the funny hat, decided to explain to Bilbo what might happen to him on this quest in a very graphical manner.
Bilbo sighed, got pale and managed to squeeze out a quick "no" before fainting, causing Thorin to roll his eyes. Kassandra rushed to the fainted hobbit and shot Bofur a reproachful look. 'You.' she addressed Gandalf. 'You could have told him before dropping this news on him. Now help me get the poor fellow into his armchair.'
"You have the wrong hobbit.' with these words Bilbo turned away from Gandalf and Kassandra and walked down his hallway. Kassandra sighed and walked to the kitchen, catching a conversation between Thorin and Balin.
Balin sighed. 'It appears, we have lost our burglar. Probably for the best. All the odds are against us. After all...what are we? Merchants, miners, toymakers...hardly the stuff of legend.'
'There are a few warriors amongst us.' Thorin smirked.
'Old warriors.' Balin replied.
'I would take any of those over an army from the Iron Hills. When I called upon them, they answered. Loyalty, honor, a willing heart...I cannot ask for more than that.' Thorin said softly.
'You don't have to do that. Neither do you have to marry that human woman. We do not need that alliance. You have a choice. You've done honorably, you have build a new life for us in the Blue Mountains. A life of peace and plenty. A life which is worth much more than all the gold in Erebor.' Balin told Thorin.
Kassandra felt a sting as she heard how Balin spoke against her bond to Thorin.
'From my grandfather to my father THIS has come to me. ' Thorin answered and held up the key he had gotten from Gandalf. 'They dreamt of the day when the dwarves of Erebor would reclaim their homeland. There is no choice, Balin. Not for me. And about the human princess. She will be at my side when we reclaim our home. Loyalty, honor and a willing heart, Balin. All this I have found in my future queen.'
'Then we are with you, laddie. We will see it done.' Balin sighed.
Kassandra stood at the other side of the hallway with tears in her eyes. She wanted to run over to Thorin and rush into his arms for standing up for her. But she just smiled and returned to the other dwarves in the living room.
Soon, all the dwarves had come together in the living room and Thorin started singing - the same song Kassandra danced to in Ered Luin. Curling up on her chair, Kassandra listened to Thorins sad and deep baritone. Gods, she loved his voice. The other dwarves sang or hummed along quietly. It was beautiful. Staring at the fire, Kassandra felt her eyes get heavy. She stood up and went for fresh air, outside the hobbit hole. The stars shone bright that night, she looked up and got lost in their beauty.
'Here you are.' she jumped as she heard a dark voice behind her. He stood beside her and followed her gaze up to the sky. 'You still want to join this quest?' he asked quietly.
Kassandra looked at him 'Now that I know your kin, more than ever.' Despite the mistrust most of the dwarves showed towards her, she felt fine around them. She already adored Fili and Kili, those two had a special bond and especially Kili made her feel welcome. 'Do you think Bilbo will join us nevertheless?' she asked Thorin.
'I hope not, he will only be a burden.' Thorin snarled.
'How can you say that?' Kassandra asked. 'You don't know him.' Seeing his cocked eyebrow she added. 'And you were really impolite towards him today. This is his home and you treated him like a nothing.'
Thorin smiled at his future wife 'Have I been an insufferable dwarf again, mylady?'
Kassandra smiled remembering their little fight a few days ago. 'You were arrogant and disrespectful. Yes, all the insufferable dwarf again.' she grinned at him. 'Are you sure Fili and Kili are related to you?'
Thorin shot her a surprised look. 'Yes, of course! Why are you asking?'
'Well...they are so nice.' Kassandra tried to banter him. 'Kili is such a charming young guy.'
Suddenly she felt Thorin pull her into his arms. She had not seen that one coming and stiffened in shock. His face close to hers, he looked her deep in the eyes and snarled 'You are MY queen. Don't forget that.'
Looking back at him with big eyes, Kassandra decided to irritate him a bit. 'He is of Durins blood. I could marry him instead of you.' Cocking an eyebrow she looked at him demandingly. Her arms were caught between them and resting on his chest. 'A bit possessive, are we? My king...' she gasped in surprise as Thorin hardened his grip and took her chin in his hand, moving even closer to her.
'Dwarves honor and protect what is theirs.' he said quietly in his dark voice and made Kassandra shudder.
'I belong to nobody.' Kassandra said firmly. She had to admit it, despite of what she said she liked the possessive way Thorin reacted.
As an answer to her insubordination Thorin grabbed her back and pressed his body against hers. The way she had said "my king" and the way she playfully irritated him drove him crazy. The tension of the last days had to be released. Still having a grip of her chin her slowly moved closer to her and placed a gentle but passionate kiss on her lips. He felt her tense and pulled back only to look into her big brown eyes starring at him in disbelief. But there was no rejection in her eyes. On the contrary, he felt her grab his tunic and this time she kissed him. Timid at first, but then more demanding she pressed her lips against his. He felt one of her hands in his mane and the other one on his stroking his chest. Her touch encouraged him and he pushed his tongue against her lips, claiming her mouth. Their tongues tangled and Kassandra let out a little moan as she felt Thorin exploring her mouth. Her moan almost made Thorin lose control. He broke the kiss and watched her catch her breath. Her lips were swollen from the kiss and her cheeks had blushed a little. She was so beautiful.
Kassandra was glad that he still had a tight grip on her, her knees felt weak and she could hardly think. She blushed as his deep blue eyes met hers and stared deep into her soul. She could not believe that he had just kissed her.
As they heard someone clear his throat both of them jumped and parted. Gandalf stood at the door and smirked. He was very pleased with himself, although he had not expected his meddling would go that well. There was one power which was mightier than any other and which made his hope for a success of this quest grow. Love.