Back in Bilbos house, Balin walked up to Thorin handing him a contract.

'Here ya go, laddie.' Balin had noticed the growing relationship between his king and the human princess. He was old, not blind.

'Is that a contract?' Kassandra asked. 'For us?' she added quietly.

Thorin felt awkward. He did not want to hurt her feelings, but such contracts were tradition and had to be done. Taking a deep breath he turned to her and was surprised to see no blame in her eyes. Instead, she looked at him curiously.

'What?' she smiled. 'Did you think I would be angry because you secure our marriage with a contract? You are a dwarf, we'll do it your way.'

Thorin let out a relieved sigh and gave her the contract. Kassandra looked down onto the huge pile of paper in her hand.

Gandalf stepped in and interfered. 'We will have time to go through that during the next weeks. We all need our sleep. Rest now, Tomorrow we leave at first light.'

'Thank you for the work, Balin.' Kassandras warmly smiled at the old dwarf. 'I appreciate the sentiment.'

'At your service...my queen.' Balin smiled back at her. His smile grew wide as he saw Thorin lay his arm around her and they left for one of the guestrooms. He had known Thorin for a long time and he had not seen his king so much at peace with himself like when he was with her. Balin wondered what this woman did to win Thorins affection that quickly. Actually, she was not his type. Too independent, too headstrong and physical very opposite of the women Thorin favored so far. 'Well, maybe thats it.' Balin thought and returned to the living room.

Bilbos home had three guest rooms, which had to be splitted between the 13 dwarves, Gandalf and Kassandra.

Thorin, Kassandra, Gandalf and Fili and Kili shared one room, the other dwarves shared out for the other rooms. Gandalf sat down in a huge armchair, while Thorin and Kassandra took one bed and Thorins nephews shared the last bed. Missing the privacy of the last days, Kassandra lay down fully dressed. Thorin took of his fur coat and his armor and joined his future wife with a warning glance towards his nephews.

'What? We are not saying anything!' Kili burst out and earned a nudge from his brother.

Kassandra let out a little laugh and grinned back at Kili. Thorin rolled his eyes and climbed into bed beside Kassandra.

Gandalf had fallen asleep in his armchair, with a pleased smile on his face.

The next morning, the company packed and left at first daylight.

Balin wanted to pocket Bilbos contract, but Kassandra stopped him. 'No. Maybe better leave this laying around here.' she said laying the contract on Bilbos armchair, open for him to find. Balin nodded as he realised her intentions. At the door, he joined his brother Dwalin.

'She is a clever one, that human. Nice lassie.' he smirked as he heard Dwalin grunt in protest.

'A petite woman like that will never survive in the wild. She will hinder us and be a burden to our quest.' Dwalin grumbled.

Balin did not think so. 'Give her a chance, brother.' he said quietly. 'She is more than meets the eye.' He knew that only a special woman could have captured Thorins heart that quickly. Blinking once again at his brothers resentment he walked towards the ponies.

The company had just left the Shire as they heard someone call out after them. Turning around they saw Bilbo rush towards them, the contract flutter in his hand. 'I signed it.' he announced proudly and gave the contract to Balin.

After short examination Balin packed the contract and welcomed Bilbo to the company. 'Welcome Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield.'

There it was again. Kassandra had planned to ask Thorin about his name "Oakenshield" after she first heard it from Gandalf. She had seen the oaken branch Thorin carried around his shoulder, but never closely payed attention to it. Well, she still had alot of time to ask.

Later that evening, they made up camp. Bombur made dinner, Fili and Kili gathered wood for the fire and the rest unpacked the ponies. After dinner Fili and Kili took the first watch, the other dwarves laying down to rest. Bilbo tried to sleep, but Bomburs snoring was unbearable. He walked over to his pony and offered her an apple. As he came back he heard inhuman shrieks out in the forest below them. 'What was that?' he asked, terrified.

'Orcs.' Kili answered. 'Throatcutters, they'll be dozens of them out there. They attack when everyones asleep. quick and quiet, no screams, just lots of blood.' Kili managed to finish the sentence to scare Bilbo before he grinned at his brother.

Thorin had overheard it and scolded Kili. 'You think thats funny, you think a night raid by orcs s a joke?' Thorin asked his younger nephew.

'I didn't mean anything by it.' Kili answered quietly and lowered his head in shame of his uncles scolding.

'No you didn't, you know nothing of the world.' Thorin muttered and walked away from camp, leaving behind an aggrieved young dwarf. Kassandra felt sorry for Kili and sat beside him for comfort.

'Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs.' Balin told the remaining group at the fire. 'After the dragon took Erebor, king Thror tried to reclaim the ancient city of Moria.' In a throaty voice Balin told the story of how the dwarves had fought bravely at the gates of Moria, but had to endure so much death and pain. Thorins grandfather was killed by Azog, a white Gundabad orc and his father had gone mad and was never seen again. Thorin had fought Azog and had wounded him badly by cutting of his left arm. In that battle he had fought bravely with an oaken branch as a shield which had given him the name "Oakenshield". 'I thought to myself then, there is one I could follow. There is one, I could call king.' Balin ended his story.

The dwarves looked at Thorin in awe as he returned to the fire.

'What happened to the pale orc?' Kassandra heard Bilbo ask.

'That scum died of his wounds long ago.' Thorin stated firmly. Kassandra only frowned as she saw Balin and Gandalf exchange worried glances. She was about to stand up and find out the truth as Fili addressed her.

'Aunt Kassandra? By the way, is there a short version of "Kassandra"?

Kassandra smiled 'You may call me Andra if you wish.'

'Alright. Andra.' Fili smiled. 'Do you know any stories?'

Kassandra had not seen that coming. Surprised she answered 'I only know some fairy tales.'

'Which is your favorite?' Kili stepped in. "Tell us that one.'

'Well, my favorite tale is a tale about mermaids.' Kassandra started.

'What are mermaids?' Ori asked, sitting down at the fire.

'They are woman living under the sea. Upper part female, lower part fish.' Kassandra explained and laughed as she saw the dwarves' irritated faces.

'Alright, tell us.' Kili looked at her expectantly.

Kassandra sighed. 'Alright, but I'll tell you my favorite version for grown ups, not the child version.' seeing the nods she started.

'Once upon a time in a far away land- sea - there lived a little mermaid. She was king Tritons youngest daughter, her father loved her dearly. She was of a curious nature and loved watching the huge ships passing the sea and heading for the beautiful city on land. One day, her eye fell on a beautiful prince, who returned to his city by ship. But before it could reach safe harbour the ship scratched a rock under water and sank. The mermaid rescued the prince and fell in love with him. She carried him through the waves to the beach and sang to him. She had a beautiful voice, a voice that penetrated the princes deep unconsciousness. As a delegation from the neighbouring kingdom passed the beach, the mermaid jumped back into the sea, knowing that they would take good care of her love. Back in the deep of the sea, she longed for her prince and decided to go to a sea witch for help. Her father would not help her for he despised the land people strongly. The witch promised to transform the mermaid into a human woman, but at a costly prize. The mermaid would have to pay with her beautiful voice and every step on land would feel like a knife tearing into her feet. If the prince would not fall in love with her after three days, the little mermaid would be transformed to foam. Out of love, the mermaid accepted. The witch called for a storm which washed the mermaid onto the shore. Her prince found her and rescued her. He cared deeply for her and the little mermaid hoped for a happy ending with the man she loved. Unfortunately, the prince had fallen in love with the princess of the neighbouring kingdom, thinking that it was her who had rescued him and had sung to him. they were to marry at sea at the third day of the little mermaids deadline. The witch had pity with the little mermaid and gave her a choice. She could kill the prince and save her own life and return home to her family under the sea. But the little mermaid could not kill her love. The minute her love married the other princess the mermaid vanished to foam. As the ship floated towards some dangerous rocks, that foam kept the ship from sinking and drove it away into safety.' Kassandra sighed sadly. 'Sorry, that was not a happy ending.'

The dwarves had remained silent through the whole story, listening to the sad fate of the little mermaid.

'Great.' Kili exclaimed. 'Now I'm depressed.'

'I liked it.' Kassandra turned her head in surprise to look at Dwalin. 'For once a realistic tale and no "and they lived happily ever after" nonsense.' he grumbled.

Smiling at him thankfully, Kassandra turned to Kili and gave him a friendly hug. 'I'll tell you a funny tale tomorrow.' she grinned as she saw his face lighten.

'We should all get some sleep.' Gandalf reminded everyone. 'I'll take the next watch.'

Fili and Kili stayed by the fire as Kassandra stood up looking for Thorin. She found him standing against a tree a few yards away. 'You should rest, too.' she said softly and layed her hand on his arm.

Thorin looked at her, his piercing blue eyes sending shivers down her spine. 'It was a beautiful story. Very sad though.' he added. Kassandra moved closer to Thorin, it was a cold night and she longed for his embrace. 'I know. Maybe thats why I like it.' she said. 'Like Dwalin said. Its realistic.'

'I'll do my best to make you believe in happy fairy tales again, my queen.' Thorin quietly whispered in Kassandras ear. She looked into his eyes and murmured "I'd like that.'