XI.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Dwalin holding Dís' hand and stroking her cheek with a tenderness that seemed impossible coming from those rough and scarred fingers.

Kíli closed his eyes again. He was obviously still asleep and had weird dreams.

„He is coming around."

He blinked.

„Son? Do you hear me?"

He sat up and looked at his mother, her face worried. Even Dwalin looked worried.

Why was he feeling as if being used as a punching bag by Trolls?

„What happened?"

„You were unconscious for hours. The wizard found you at the rear parapet."

The sound of arrows whirring, of swords and axes clanking. Screams, the pounding of feet. The stench of death. He remembered now. Orcs had attacked Erebor, a battle had been raging. He remembered their soldiers fighting the enemy off, his brother leading the troops.

He drew a sharp breath, his chest tight with worry. „Fíli?"

„He is well. He took an arrow, nothing to worry about." Dwalin smiled reassuringly.

„It was a dwarven arrow," Dís said sharply.

„Not uncommon in battle. Arrows were raining down from the sky, one could have gone astray easily."

Dís frowned at the old warrior, clearly not satisfied. But she let the matter rest. Dwalin was right. It was thoroughly possible an arrow had simply missed its target. The sky had been black with arrows. But somehow Kíli couldn't imagine one of his soldiers being so careless as to shoot when the king was in the line of fire. He would examine the arrow later, he decided. The archers marked their arrows in order to collect them after shooting. He would find out to whom it belonged and kick the wretched bowman in the balls who had injured his brother.

„The fighting was over before sunrise. The surviving orcs fled into the mountains," Dwalin continued.

„Casualties?"

„Too many."

„We will sing for thirty-four good soldiers who passed into the Halls of the Waiting." His mothers' sad eyes locked into his. „How are you feeling? You gave me quite a fright."

„Dizzy. Why?" He frowned. „Why are you sitting at my bedside? The two of you?"

„I… err…" Dwalin coughed. „Wanted to see how yer was doin'. I'm off, then."

Dís took the old warrior's hand. „Thank you."

Dwalin's cheeks coloured. „Yer welcome. Anytime."

Kíli looked from the Weapons Master, who was casting the Lady Dís one last affectionate look, to his blushing mother. He grinned.

Dís smacked him. „Stop smirking."

„You throw a hard punch for someone who claims to be worried about me." He massaged his arm. „Where is Fíli?"

„In the Throne Hall together with Balin, Dwoss and the wizard. Katla came back when battle was raging. She and her men joined the soldiers. She is reporting on her trip now."

„Katla is back?" He got up. „I must see her."

„You should stay in bed. You have been very sick."

Ignoring his mother, he dressed clumsily and fought off her hands when she tried to arrange the buckles of his tunic. Before she could attack him with a brush, he fled from his chambers.

„Kíli. Wait for me! Gandalf said we were not to leave you alone."

He rolled his eyes. „Gandalf is a nosy know-it-all. I am fine. Don't worry, mum."

„But I am worried. I nearly lost you once already."

He drew her into a quick embrace and kissed her forehead. „Don't fret. It takes more to finish me off than… whatever it was."

„Poison, Kíli. It was poison."

He stared at her, disbelieving. Somewhere at the back of his head a memory tried to fight its way through the dizziness. Yes, Gandalf had spoken of poison before the attack. He had been in pain then, but he recalled the wizard's worried words and Fíli taking the pain from him. But there was something else that was important. Hadn't he overheard something? Someone saying something? Why couldn't he remember? Why was everything so damn foggy?

„Someone at Erebor is out to kill you," his mother said gravely.

„But who? Why?"

„We don't know yet. But I have the feeling Gandalf knows more than he discloses."

He nodded slowly. „No surprise there. I need to see Fíli. And the wizard."

With his mother in tow, he entered he Throne Hall.

Fíli, still in his armour that was stained with blood both black and red, was sitting on the throne and listening to Katla. Balin, Dwalin and Dwoss stood at his side, Gandalf was smoking his pipe and frowning. Fíli was holding his left arm awkwardly, Kíli noticed, a bandage round his bicep was covered with blood. He had dark circles under his eyes; and his mouth, usually so quick to curl into a playful smile, was a thin line.

Katla turned and flashed Kíli a quick smile. She looked exhausted but otherwise unharmed and he was grateful. He had been worried when she didn't return in time.

„So you think it can be done?" Balin's voice wobbled slightly.

„Yes, my Lord. As I said, the orcs that are left in Khazad-dûm are no match for your soldiers."

„No Black spell on the gates?" Dwoss cast Kíli a look.

„No, my Lord. The elven king must have been lying. Khazad-dûm is as easily opened as a bachelor's pants, if you don't mind my saying."

Balin coughed as his brother let out a roaring laugh.

„Are you quite sure?" Gandalf looked at Katla through the smoke of his pipe.

She straightened her shoulders. „Of course I am, wizard."

A boastful grin appeared on Dwoss' face. „See? I told you so. My scouts told you so. Had you listened to me, Lord Balin and his men could have left for Khazad-dûm weeks ago."

„We were lucky they didn't," Fíli said coolly. „Erebor would not have withstood an attack like this without Balin's soldiers."

„Of course, my Lord King. Lucky, indeed."

The door to the Throne Hall opened again, and the dwarrows bowed when the Queen entered, followed by Eyra.

Kíli frowned when he saw the two guards at her side.

„What is the meaning of this?"

„I asked the guards to accompany the young lady. I very much like to speak with her." Gandalf pointed his pipe at the librarian. „You were with the Prince when he got sick, weren't you? Yes, I remember you."

„It was terrible." Eyra sniffed.

„It was indeed." Gandalf watched her with curiosity. „Tell me what happened."

„I… I don't know. He was not feeling well. I wanted to get him to the healers."

„Were you?" Gandalf was puffing on his pipe again. „Why didn't you call for help?"

„Help?"

„You passed Erebor's guards without asking for help. They could have taken the Prince to the infirmary a lot quicker than you."

„Oh. I didn't think of that. I am sorry!"

„Come on, Gandalf. No need to bother her. I am fine."

„And for how long will you be? You have suffered more than one of those attacks and you will be victim to more if we don't end this here and now."

Gandalf's big hand suddenly closed around the librarian's small wrist.

Eyra gave a startled yelp and tried to pull free.

„Let go of her," Kíli growled.

The wizard ignored him. „That is an extraordinary ring you are wearing. May I have a look?"

He pulled the ring from Eyra's finger.

„No," she protested. „The ring is mine, I forbid you to take it!"

She slapped the wizard's big hand.

Gandalf's eyebrows shot up. „It takes a lot more to stop a wizard, young lady." He studied the big, shiny ring and looked at the librarian again who was shaking her head in desperation and whispering.

„No. It mustn't end like this. Oh, my love. I failed you. I am sorry. So very, very sorry."

„What exactly is it that grieves you so?" Gandalf looked down at her, his expression dark. „His suffering? Your failure?"

„I wish I could have done something to prevent it!" Her amber eyes were full of tears.

„I believe you have done more than enough already." Gandalf turned the ring, and it snapped open. He sniffed at the empty bowl. „Yes," he said gravely. „That's where the Morgul poison was hidden."

All colour drained from Eyra's face. „It was Morgul poison? I didn't know that!"

„Do not lie to me," the wizard thundered. „You poisoned him!"

Gandalf's voice roared load in Kíli's ears, but his brain had trouble to understand the words. She had poisoned him? The ring. He remembered the ring on her finger, her hand over his goblet of wine, the strange, dusty taste. She had poisoned him. He took a step back.

Eyra began to cry. „I had no choice! Kíli, please, believe me. I had no idea it was Morgul poison!"

She tried to fling her arms around him, but an arm in blood-stained armour intercepted her movement, a hand in an iron gauntlet closed around her wrist and hurled her towards the guards.

„Take her to the dungeons." Fíli's voice was like ice. „Get her out of here before I kill her." The muscle in his jaw was twitching as he looked at Eyra who was trembling in the guards' grip. „Lock her away."

Katla stepped forward. „I will see to it personally, my King." Mercilessly she shoved the weeping librarian out of the Throne Hall.

„We need to interrogate her," Gandalf tried to intervene.

„I need to rip her bloody head off!" Dís was struggling against Dwalin's arms that held her like a vice. „She tried to murder my boy! Where is my axe?"

„We should postpone beheadings of any sort. We must know who is behind all this."

„Yes, we do," Fíli agreed. „But first, I want to know what exactly happened. You suspected Morgul poison right from the start. Why?"

Gandalf sighed. „I will tell you. Or rather, I will show you. But it is for your eyes only. The family may stay, the others must leave."

The grey wizard took something from his bag. It was a ragged piece of leather with unreadable writings on it.

„What is that?"

„A warrant in Black Speech. It is promising a fine sum for those who capture you. Alive."

„So they want us alive this time." Kíli looked blankly at the wizard. „It is not the first price on our heads."

„It is the first that is solely on yours. They want you. To what end I am not sure." Gandalf sighed deeply. „Forgive me for not coming to you sooner. I have known of this for some time, but I didn't want to startle you until I know the meaning of it. I thought you were safe here. That's why I advised your brother not to allow any mission that would lead you away from the Lonely Mountain. But now they have attacked you inside Erebor. I am sorry for what you had to endure, my dear boy."

„I don't understand. What would anybody want with me?"

„To make a tool out of you. A creature of darkness that will carry out His will."

„Impossible," Dís sneered.

Kíli felt a shiver. He thought of the black voice in his head, trying to command him. He remembered the red eye watching him.

Gandalf looked at him closely. „When you were hit by the Morgul arrow all those years ago, you were marked by the Dark One."

„But he was healed," Fíli protested. „Tauriel healed him."

„You obviously overestimated her powers. The elven witch failed to protect him. She probably lied to you, as all those cursed elves lie, to gain your trust. To win his love."

„Shut up, mother," Fíli snapped.

„On the contrary, my dear Lady Dís." Gandalf let out a ring of smoke. „Hadn't it been for Tauriel, you would have sung Kíli into the Halls of the Waiting a long time ago." He turned to Kíli who was still trying to understand. He felt sick. „She saved your live. But you nevertheless bear the Dark Mark. Your body will forever remember the Dark Lord's grip. Whenever it comes into contact with Morgul poison, there will be a connection to darkness." He puffed on his pipe again. „Usually, those who suffer from Morgul poisoning turn into wraiths and carry out the Dark One's orders. But as far as I can see, you are still your stubborn, reckless self. I don't know how, but you resisted."

„Of course he did. He is my son. He is a descendant of Durin!"

„As much as I admire the line of Durin, I believe there is more to it." Gandalf looked at Kíli from under furrowed brows. „I have yet to find out what. And more importantly, I must find out why you were attacked. Why now, so many years after the Deceiver was expelled. I need to interrogate the young lady. There must be a connection between the price on your head and her actions. I need know who gave the orders to poison you and why. And where did she get the poison from? Morgul poison is very difficult to make, a simple orc surely is not up to a task like this. Ah. So many questions…" He put the ring into his pocket and turned to leave.

„Wait!" Kíli's voice was hoarse and trembled slightly.

„What is it?"

„Let me talk to her first."

„Kee. You look miserable. Get some fresh air. Let Gandalf and me question her."

„No. I need to talk to her. Now. You can interrogate her after."

Fíli looked at him silently for a while. Finally, he nodded his agreement, ignoring the indignant huff from Gandalf's direction.

––––

Kíli's limp was bad, when he descended the stairs into Erebor's dungeon. His leg felt oddly unfamiliar, his whole body strangely numb. He was sure his heart had stopped beating. Why on Arda would she poison him? She had read beautiful poetry to him, had held him, kissed him. She had been so lively, funny, sweet. Had all this just been part of a plan to kill him? Or worse, to turn him? Who was behind all that? He needed to find out. But when he approached her cell, he was at a loss for words.

Eyra was standing behind the bars, her fingers curled around the iron. Her amber eyes, so beautiful and so lost, searched for his.

„Kíli," she breathed. „You came." A tear rolled down her pale cheek. „I will not ask for your forgiveness because I deserve none. But I want you to know that am sorry. Oh, so very sorry! You didn't deserve this, any of this. I want you to know I had no choice."

She reached out through the bars and tried to take his hand, but he drew back.

„Why?" The question was all he could manage.

„For my husband. The elders told me if I did what they ordered me to, he would live."

„Husband?" He felt as though his own tongue was choking him.

Tears stuck in her lashes. „Yes," she whispered. „I am married. I had to try and save him. I love him more than anything! Thak, my husband, he is a free spirit. Much like you. That got him into trouble. He spoke against the Elders, against the Grey Lords. He questioned them. He didn't believe in the order of things, he said we didn't have to live like this. Others were starting to follow him. I told him to stop. I told him it was dangerous, his way of thinking, that he shouldn't say anything of this aloud. But Thak can be so stubborn. And then the Elders put him on the list."

„What kind of list? What are you talking about?"

„The list of martyrs. Whoever is on the list is handed over to the Grey Lords. They took him away from me. They tortured him. But they said he didn't have to die. If I carried out their orders, they would pardon him."

„Who said?"

„The Grey Lords." She was crying now. „I am from Ered Mithrin. There is a colony of dwarves still living in the Grey Mountains. For hundreds of years we have been completely dominated by orcs." She looked at him again, and his heart clenched at the desperation in her eyes. „The orcs ask for entertainment. We have to give them five of our people each year. Some volunteer, others are put on a list. Troublemakers. Like Thak."

„You hand over five of your own kin for orcs to torture and kill?"

„It is a small price we have to pay for the good of the colony. Give them five so that hundreds can live. The elders made that agreement with the Lords of the Grey Mountains decades ago. If we do as they wish, they leave us be. The colony has been safe since then."

„You made such a sick treaty and call it a small price? You refer to orcs as lords?" He stared at her.

Eyra stared stubbornly back. „You have a peace treaty with the elves of Mirkwood. That is just the same."

„No, it is not. Elves are the Children of the Iluvatar. They are light, not darkness."

„You say that because you…" She choked on the word „married".

He shook his head. „We have been allies with men and elves from the beginnings of time. We made a stand against the orcs. And you let yourself be willingly enslaved."

„You don't know what our life is like."

„No, I don't. But you could have told me. I would have tried to help you."

„I couldn't risk it. I didn't know you. I had to try and save my husband. It was the only way. He is everything to me."

„So you poisoned me."

„I am so sorry." She coughed, tears were running down her cheeks. „All I wanted was to save my One. And they said the sons of Durin now ruling Erebor were not worthy. They told me I had to do this. They told me Erebor was a perverted place. I believed them. Of course I believed them. I have known nothing but the Grey Mountains and the rule of orcs. But the longer I lived here, the more I got to know you, all of you, the more I doubted. Erebor is magnificent! I wish the Grey Mountains would be ruled by King Fíli! I didn't want to carry out my task, I refused to hurt the little ones. I tried to, but I couldn't. It was bad enough when Fynn fell off your pony the first time and broke his wrist. When I refused…" She sobbed. „I was given a parcel. They chopped off three of Thak's fingers! They said they would send a hand next, then a foot. But they would give me another chance. They allowed me to leave the children be, they didn't matter anyway. They told me to focus on you instead. They ordered me to make you infatuated with me. They said I had to be close to you so that you wouldn't get suspicious. They told me I should put the powder in your drink and make you take the potion. I didn't know what it was. I just knew I had to obey to save Thak. I had no idea it was Morgul poison, please believe me. I didn't know you would suffer like that. But he made me do it. He forced me. "

„Who?"

She shook her head.

„Please, tell me. We can catch him and save your husband. Free your colony from the orc's reign."

She looked at him, and her eyes glittered with tears.

„It is too late," she whispered. „He knows I have failed." Her icy fingers closed around his. „But you are still in danger. It is not over. They will try to get to you. He wants you."

„Who wants me? Why?"

She opened her mouth to speak but only a gurgling sound came. Blood was running down her chin.

„Kíli." Her whisper was hoarse and accompanied by even more blood.

„Eyra!" His voice was shrill with fear. Where were the damned keys? Where was the guard?

Calling for help, he caught her collapsing body and tried to keep her up, stroking her sweaty face between the bars.

„Help is on the way. Hold on."

Her lids fluttered, and her eyes were dark.

„Too late."

„No! Don't do this to me. Hold on. Please."

Her pale lips opened.

Kíli crouched closer to the bars.

A gush of blood drowned the word she was saying.

She tried again, and he brought his ear as close to her face behind the door as he could.

„… oss…an… la…"

She coughed up more blood, and her body tensed.

„No. Eyra. Please. Eyra?"

The guard came running.

„Did you call for help, my Prince? What happened?" The young dwarf's face went pale when he saw Eyra's body in a pool of blood. „Is she dead?"

„Open up! Quick!"

The young guard fumbled with the keys, dropped them and tried again. Kíli felt like smashing him against the bars until they broke. When the barred door finally sprang open, he pushed aside the guard who was colliding with the stone wall, and knelt beside Eyra's slumped body to feel for signs of life. But there were none.

He scooped her lifeless body up in his arms and carried her out of the dungeons to the Throne Hall as fast as he could. Surely Gandalf must be able to help?