A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for your positive reviews! I'm so glad I made some of you laugh. I hope you enjoy this chapter too! As always, if you have a moment, leave me a review.

Chapter 10

Fili and Sigrid spent the afternoon talking, starting with what behaviors would be expected of them by their respective peoples and trying to decide on compromises for those that opposed each other, such as public displays of affection. From there, the conversation shifted easily, spanning across the political state of the respective cities to their childhoods and everything in between. Before long, the conversation circled back to their courtship.

"If you'll be here almost daily, we're going to need to find something to do besides wandering the city," Sigrid said.

"I had a thought about that. How would you feel about going to the Guard Post? I can help expand your swordsmanship lessons into a more dwarvish style? I can also teach you how to use other weapons as well if you'd like."

Sigrid's face lit up. "Can you teach me to throw knives?" she asked eagerly, leaning toward him with her hands gripping her skirts tightly.

He laughed. "Of course. I'd be happy to."

She reached out and took his hand, her smile stretching wider if possible. "Thank you Fili!" she cried delightedly and then froze. She slapped a hand across her mouth. "Your Highness, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to presume to-"

He laughed again at her fumbling and distress. "It's all right, Considering the circumstances, it's probably best if you use my name."

She relaxed, letting her hand drop back to her lap. "Then you should use mine as well," she said and there was a note of relief in her voice. "Truth be told; I hate my title."

Fili's smile was bittersweet. "It'll change soon," he reminded her. She made a face. "I'll still call you Sigrid, even then," he promised.

It took a full week before Sigrid was able to leave the crutches behind and walk short distances. In that time, Fili's daily visits consisted of conversation or both of them working on projects and occasionally braiding her hair as he taught her the patterns until she knew them by heart and could do the braid herself. He often brought a sketchbook that contained designs for different projects and he would add more designs or calculate the quantities of materials needed. While he did that, Sigrid would embroider various projects, read, or attend to some of her father's paperwork. The silences during their work were easy, companionable, and often broken by a stray thought voiced by either.

Once she was able to walk again, they took to exploring Dale. Sigrid showed Fili the repairs still being made around the city. There was still a lot to do, even two years after they'd taken up residence in the ruined city, but all families had homes that were secure against the elements and most buildings for daily use were secure as well. Mostly all that was left was spare homes and locations that saw little to no use. Finer materials were finally making their way into the markets for those that wanted to update their homes or shops and could afford it. They explored the markets and visited the Guard Post to talk to Captain Smytheson about furthering Sigrid's training.

As they walked, citizens would bring minor concerns to Sigrid. Fili waited patiently off to the side, interested in her methods. He found himself impressed at her skill in solving disputes and finding solutions to the problems brought to her attention. For someone who had been given a title so recently, she'd sure taken to her role quickly and with ease. Would she be so effective with his people?

If other dwarrow were near and the moment seemed to call for it, he would press a kiss to her cheek or she would to his. She often had her arm looped through his and they walked close together, appeasing the dwarf mentality that public physical affection was perfectly acceptable within certain parameters but still being fairly conservative to satisfy her people. They never found the need to show further affection and the rumors of their secret courtship continued to circulate, now accompanied by the joy that their relationship was being publicly acknowledged at last.

On her third day off the crutches, when her balance was better and she could stand without keeping all her weight on one foot, they walked to the Guard Post, Sigrid's arm wrapped around Fili's as usual, though now she placed her other hand there as well and Fili often let his fingers trail across hers. The stance had felt awkward at first for both of them. Sigrid shied away from open displays of affection and Fili held back on the dwarfish inclination to keep an arm wrapped around her waist at all times, settling for the smaller touches to hands and arms that were a sort of middle ground for a newly courting couple.

Now inside the Post's walls and standing near the archery targets, Fili pulled two knives from his sleeves and handed one of them hilt first to Sigrid. "You wanted to learn to throw knives," he reminded her.

Her smile stretched across her face widely. "Yes! Please!"

He flipped the knife he still had into the air and caught it by the end of the hilt before turning his body and flinging the knife. It hit the target in the center. Sigrid cheered and he laughed. "The targets not even moving," he told her.

"I know but that's still very impressive."

"Thank you. It's your turn now." He turned to her. "You're right-handed, yes? Good. Hold it like this, bring your arm up to throw, and release at this point," he ordered, walking her through the steps, his grip gentle on her arm and hand. He reached out and placed a hand against her hip and she froze, her eyes tracking to his fingers now pressing into the cloth of her shirt. "It's all right," he murmured. "I won't do anything else but some of the dwarrow guardsmen are watching."

Sigrid nodded her understanding and focused on the target as he pressed against her hip, telling her how to shift her body to put more power behind the throw. "Give it a try," he said, stepping back once he walked her through the basics. Sigrid mimed a few practice swings, not releasing the slim knife in her hand, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated.

She threw the knife. Fili gaped and went to check on what he thought he was seeing. She'd hit the target, just to the left of his knife but still in the center circle. "Well done!" he cheered. "I'm impressed!"

"Beginner's luck," Sigrid said, folding her hands demurely in front of her as he pulled the two blades from the target and returned to her.

"We'll see about that. Maybe you just have good aim." He handed her a knife and watched as she threw it again. She still hit in the center circle. He nudged her back a bit with an arm around her waist and handed her the other knife. She hit the ring closest to the center circle. "Natural talent," Fili claimed, looking up at her elated expression, pride in his eyes.

"Thank you for teaching me this Fili," she said, taking his hand.

"Anything for you Sigrid," he said and gave her hand a tug. Getting the hint, she bent so he could press a quick kiss to her cheek. "Now, would you like to learn to throw it without the knife tumbling end over end?"

They practiced until Sigrid's arm was sore. She was much better at the spin method of throwing than the no spin but was learning quickly. She handed the knives back to him and he slipped them back into the sheathes at his forearms, out of sight but for those that knew what signs to look for.

They walked their way back to Sigrid's home, chatting about her lesson and his memories of his first lessons in knife throwing as well ("Dwalin learned quickly to stand well away after I almost cut off his beard the first time."). When they reached her door, Fili glanced toward the mountain. "I'm afraid I need to get back," he said, turning back to her, his mustache twitching from the smile lingering on his lips.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Sigrid asked.

"Yes Sigrid," he said. "If you have it, put some ice on your arm. It'll hurt less tomorrow."

"Thank you, Fili."

He gave her hands a quick squeeze and darted a quick glance up the street. No dwarrow were visible and he sighed in relief. "Tomorrow," he said and released her hands before turning to walk down the path and to the street. He glanced back at the gate and waved when he saw her leaning against the door jamb. She returned the gesture before retreating into the house. Fili headed home, thinking of the first courting gift he would make her and wondering if he could ask for Thorin's help with the design and calculations.

The week Sigrid's leg healed entirely, she and her father returned to the mountain for the first round of negotiations. True to her word, Sigrid kept her sword at her side and Bard carried his bow. As they arrived in the mountain, Fili raced to greet them, calling her name loudly.

Grinning, Sigrid started to climb from the cart as soon as they came to a stop. She reached out a hand when he was close, expecting him to help her down as was proper. She startled when his hands gripped her hips and lifted her off the step, swinging her around as if she weighed no more than Magnus had when Fili gave him to Sigrid. He set her down and she tilted her face to present her cheek to him, falling back onto the cheek kisses they'd shared in Dale to appease the masses there. His hand caught the back of her head, turning her subtly and kissing her firmly on the lips. Her stomach swooped as it had during their first kiss. Before she could react more than to press back into the contact, he pulled away.

"You're in the mountain now," he reminded her softly, for her ears only. "Dwarrow courting rules apply, remember?"

"Sorry," she whispered back, nodding her head. Behind her, Bard grumbled. "Seven months," she called to him and he stopped.

"What does that mean?" Fili asked.

"Just a reminder," Sigrid said. "I'll tell you later."

Fili nodded, pressed another quick kiss to her mouth, and stepped back. "I'll show you to your rooms," he said and turned. Instead of presenting his arm for Sigrid to take, he caught her hand with his, lacing their fingers together. Bard and Magnus followed.

Once they reached the same suite of rooms Sigrid and her family had stayed in a few weeks before, Fili pulled her aside while Bard took his pack into his room.

"I have something for you," Fili said and Sigrid wondered at the color that flooded his cheeks as he retrieved a box that had been sitting on a table in the sitting room. He handed it to her. "My first courting gift to you," he explained and then he straightened his stance and looked her in the eyes, his voice taking on the same tone he'd used when he'd explained the braid he'd put into her hair. "I made it willingly by my own hand and give it freely in hopes that you may find joy in it. May it serve you well and perhaps remind you of me and my devotion to you."

Sigrid opened the box and grinned, pulling out four knives as well as leather sheathes she could wear strapped to her forearms and in her boots. "Throwing knives," she said with a grin, feeling the weight of them. They were simple, black bladed with flat hilts that would conceal easily under her clothing and in her boots. They didn't have any jewels but runes were etched into the dark handles. "I love them. Thank you." She went to set the box aside.

Fili cleared his throat before she could and she halted. "Am I missing some dwarf culture difference?" she asked quietly.

"Do you accept the gift?" Fili asked formally.

Sigrid blinked. "I gladly accept it," she said.

"Then may I help you put them on?"

"Oh!" Sigrid smiled. "Yes, please." She sat down in a chair. Fili took the first set of sheaths out of the box and knelt next to her as she tugged her skirts up a little. She blushed furiously as she did, warring with the modesty she'd been raised to always portray as her leg was exposed to just below her knee. He lifted one of her feet, pulled her boot off, and started strapping the first sheath to her calf. He repeated the gesture on her other leg and put her boots back on. He slipped two of the new knives into place.

"How do they feel?" he asked quietly, his thumbs absently stroking at her skin next to the hilts.

"Fine," Sigrid said, wondering at the small smile on his lips and the sudden high pitch to her own voice.

"Good," he said. He dropped her feet to the floor and pressed a quick kiss to each leg, just below her knee before tugging her skirts back down. Sigrid's breath hitched and she swallowed convulsively from his actions, something strange blocking her mental abilities to keep breathing for a second as her heart rate seemed to stop for a moment before picking up with a particularly hard beat.

"Arm please," Fili said, still kneeling next to her. She held one out and he rolled up her sleeve in order to place the next sheath. He did so with her other arm as well and, once the knives were put away, he kissed her palms, close to her wrists. Gratitude swelled within Sigrid as he turned his attention to returning her sleeves to their proper position, covering her new weapons. "I'll show you how to draw them quickly after negotiations are over."

Sigrid mentally shook herself. "You just don't want me to be able to beat you in arming myself if things become violent," she accused. Relief coursed through her when Fili grinned his usual grin.

"You caught me," he said.

Sigrid was about to retort when she caught sight of her father returning to the room. She stood again as Fili climbed back to his feet.

"We should be going," Bard said, "at least, I think we should. How do you tell time in this place without the sun?"

"We have an instinct for time," Fili admitted as he led them back out of the guest quarters down a few halls to where some conference rooms stood in the royal wing. He opened the door and showed them in. Dis, Thorin, Balin, and Ori already waited inside.

"They couldn't decide who should be in charge of my side of the negotiations," Fili stage-whispered.

"All right, quit your flirting and come over here," Dis ordered. She looked at Sigrid's wrists for a moment before a small smile tugged at her lips. "We have work to do."

Fili heaved an exaggerated sigh. "Goodbye my love," he intoned dramatically, "I shall endeavor to stay strong during this battle of wills." He kissed the back of her hand.

"Not too strong I hope. I would like to have a few things in my favor," Sigrid laughed, squeezing his fingers before letting go. They took their places, ignoring the irritated looks from Bard and Thorin.

"Shall we begin?" Dis asked once they were all seated. At Bard's nod, they started discussing the wedding contract. Problems arose quickly.

"What do you mean they'll marry in the mountain?" Bard demanded. "The ceremony should be in Dale."

"Outsiders cannot see the ceremony," Thorin growled, lunging to his feet and staring Bard down.

"I'll not miss my own daughter's wedding due to the stubbornness of dwarves!" Bard snarled, standing as well.

"Sit down Thorin," Dis ordered, hefting her ax menacingly at her brother.

"Perhaps we can reach some sort of compromise," Balin said while linking his hands over his belly and leaning back in his chair. Ori continued to write, apparently recording everything said in the meeting.

Still glaring at each other, Thorin and Bard sank back into their seats, unwilling to break eye contact.

"I want my family there," Sigrid said and all eyes turned to her. She'd been silent up to this point, not voicing any sort of opinion on the wedding date (Durin's Day), coronation date and location (Durin's Day after the wedding in Erebor), or her need to start learning khuzdul (she was actually looking forward to that one).

"Of course you do," Dis said and cast a disparaging look at Thorin, "which is only proper. We know what is important in our ceremony. What is the main importance in your culture?".

And so it went. They ran into troubles, arguments broke out. Thorin wielded Orcrist. Bard reached for his bow. Sigrid and Fili each reached for knives or swords. Dis hefted her ax. But no blood was spilled as Balin interjected in his calm, soothing brogue, encouraging compromise between the two cultures.

Only once were weapons actually used. Thorin and Bard stood on opposite sides of the table, shouting at each other over whether or not Magnus would be present during the ceremony (Bard was adamantly against and Thorin strangely for his participation, not just his presence). The King Under the Mountain had slipped into khuzdul at some point in his fury while Bard gripped a fistful of fur and cloth under the dwarf's chin while shouting his own anger. Sigrid caught Fili's eye. They nodded at each other and a second later two throwing daggers thumped into the tabletop between the men, close to their hands.

"Enough!" Sigrid snapped glaring at Thorin. "This is our wedding we're talking about," she growled motioning between herself and Fili. "I am respecting dwarrow traditions by being here at all. Normally, I would plan this with the help of a few chosen friends or female relatives and Fili and his family would be expected to pay for most if not all of it. Since, for the most part, I don't really care about the details, I'm not putting up a fuss. However, there are things I will insist upon." Bard settled back into his seat, looking smug until his daughter rounded on him. "Don't even think you're not in trouble Da. You've not asked my opinion once in any matter."

The man had the grace to look ashamed.

"Now, as for the current issue, Magnus will be part of the ceremony," Fili continued and ignored his uncle's bark of delighted laughter. "We will decide his particular role later once we finish figuring out just how the ceremony will progress. For now, I think we need to take a break before Sigrid or I start putting our knives in the thoughtless uncle in the room."

"And father," Sigrid added, directing a displeased scowl at Bard.

"Wonderful idea," Dis said giving Fili and Sigrid a pleased glance each. "Now, why don't the two of you-" she pointed at Bard and Thorin "-head down to the kitchens and bring us some lunch. We'll wait here."

Grumbling the two climbed from their seats and walked out of the room. A few moments after the door was shut, Dis leaned forward in her chair. "Good. Now that they're gone, let's get some real work done. Sigrid, what exactly do you want? We'll do what we can to make sure it happens."

Smiling tentatively at the dwarrowdam, Sigrid's shoulders relaxed. "Not much," she admitted. "Fili as the groom, me as the bride-" here Dis smiled and Balin chuckled from his seat where he was taking notes. Ori had never stopped. "-I want Tilda as my bridesmaid, Tauriel as my maid of honor. I've never thought of having an extravagant wedding. I come from simple means, Your Highness, and I have difficulty in forgetting my simple ways."

"Simple, hmm? We dwarrow aren't used to simple," Dis said, "but perhaps we can find a compromise."

"A suggestion," Balin said. "We keep it simple but elegant and in the time leading up to it, we make a lot of noise about how it will be the wedding of the age. If enough believe it, you'll set a new trend for weddings and fewer will criticize your choices. There will have to be some extravagance in materials to appease some, but I think we can manage a simpler level of decor."

"I don't want to be loaded down with precious metals and jewels," Sigrid said, warily leaning back in her chair. "I want to be able to walk easily."

"Of course, but we can have certain things shipped here. Fine fabrics for your dress, exotic foods and drink, and flowers. I understand flowers are important in your weddings?"

"Mostly just the bride's bouquet, but yes."

"We'll get Bilbo on that," Balin said. "No better gardener in the mountain."

"Or in Dale," Sigrid added. "I don't want to impose on his time though."

"He's bored Sigrid," Fili told her. "Chances are he'll be thrilled at having a task to complete."

"If you say so."

"Anything else?" Dis asked.

"The only indulgence I ask is that it be colorful," Sigrid said. "Too many weddings I witnessed in Laketown were muted and dreary. I would love for there to be lots of colors."

"Any colors in particular lass?" Balin asked.

"Considering the time of year, perhaps reds, warm browns, gold, bronze?" Balin and Dis nodded, the latter looking at her golden son contemplatively, already thinking of what colors she would suggest for him.

"We'll see what we can find to match Durin blue."

They worked as quickly as they could without Bard and Thorin in the room and accomplished quite a bit before they returned. Even with their arrival, Sigrid, Dis, and Fili managed to take care of the last of the details with Bard and Thorin looking on, a bit perturbed that they'd been usurped in their roles of planning the wedding.

"I'll draw up the contract tonight," Balin said, rolling up the parchment that held his lines upon lines of notes. "You'll have to decide on providers and vendors over the next few days while you're here. Shall we plan to sign the final draft in three days?"

Sigrid blanched. With every item on the list that required choices to still be made, she wasn't sure they could accomplish it all in such a short time. She looked to Fili.

"We can do it in three days," he said giving her a confident smile.

She swallowed hard but nodded. If he thought they could accomplish it in so little time, she'd trust his word.

"Wonderful. I suggest you get to work," Dis said, giving her son a warm smile, leaning over to crack heads with him quickly. "Your time starts now."

"Right. Come on Sigrid." He reached for her with one hand and accepted a rolled scroll from Balin containing the list of all the choices they needed to make.

Sigrid grabbed the throwing knife she'd left embedded in the table as a reminder to her father and Thorin and then let Fili pull her out of the room.

"Are we really expected to do all this in three days?" Sigrid asked as she jogged along behind him. She vaguely noted they were headed back toward the royal quarters and suspected they were headed to see Bilbo about the flowers first. "And why isn't someone chaperoning us?"

"It's another sort of challenge," Fili admitted. "Most are given five days or a week to put everything together. The shorter amount of time we're allowed to plan, the more the test is. It's to see if we can work well together under stress. If we can't accomplish it or if we argue too much, the match will be considered ill-suited and the wedding will be called off.

"As for the chaperone, we can't have someone accompany us. Some might think they influenced our decisions and we have to make all choices on our own. Of course, that's the excuse couples have used for centuries to be able to slip away for some alone time. It's expected, just as long as we don't disappear for more than a few hours."

"Why are we being shorted on time?" Sigrid asked.

"I'd imagine it has to do with a lot of my people still questioning whether or not our match is one based on love. We've got to be able to work together on this, prove to them that we can, otherwise all will be lost and you'll be banned from the mountain for trying to seduce the Crown Prince."

"So I'm not allowed to do any seducing. I think I can handle that."

Fili laughed and stopped abruptly in front of a door. He knocked and when granted entrance, he pulled Sigrid inside. She found herself being greeted by the resident hobbit.

"Fili, Lady Sigrid! Come in, join me for tea? Just let me wash up," Bilbo called.

Sigrid looked at the table set for three people already. "How did he know to expect us?" she asked Fili.

"Amad probably warned him at some point. I'm not questioning it. This is probably the most help we're liable to get."

Sigrid nodded. When Bilbo returned, she and Fili took a seat.

"Now," Bilbo said while pouring the tea and nodding toward the scones and cakes and things, indicating they should take what they wanted, "as I understand it, you have a wedding to plan and need a little help. Eat up. You'll need your strength."

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