Yay! The day has finally come! STUFF HAPPENS!

Thank you to the lovely Kili the guest for always brightening up my day with your reviews :D if I don't mention you every chapter after this, don't think it means I don't love you! But since I don't really exist on the internet apart from here, I'm not sure how I could reply to your reviews properly :( just know that you're invaluable to my writing and my happiness :)

I should probably mention that for this story, the Master survived the burning of Laketown (obviously) but Alfrid didn't (hence the - temporary - existence of Darlan) just in case anyone was wondering.

Enjoy the chapter!


Three and a half hours later, Ori's eyes fluttered sleepily open. His brows drew together for a moment as he tried to remember why he was sleeping in the library. Then with a jolt that brought his head snapping upwards and his eyes snapping wide open, he remembered. His eyes fixed on the paper in front of him. His ear had smudged some of the ink, and some of the letters were not filled in, but the message was now legible:

E_ren,

Now that you are committed to this, I may _isclose further _etails of the task, as _romise_. _ayment will be as _iscussed, with a small a_itional share in _rofits, if any. Information has reached me that the el_est _rince hol_s what I seek and so it is he that I wish to be brought to me. I leave the methods free to your _iscretion, but he must be ali_e and able to talk. Nothing on his _erson shoul_ be touched, save wea_ons if necessary. Wor_ is that he will be in _ale. This must be _one within the month or I will cancel our agreement and ensure that you are silence_.

At the bottom was an illegible signature, followed by a symbol of some sort that wasn't part of the code. Ori stared at the page for several long moments, his still half-asleep brain taking in the words that he had been too tired to comprehend last night. This news was completely and utterly...Ori himself couldn't put a word on it. It was either exceedingly lucky and just in the nick of time, or just too late. One thing was clear though: he needed to tell Fili first.

As he sprinted faster than he had since the company ran from wolves across the plains to Rivendell, he wondered how long he had overslept. The light streaming through shafts into the library had been bright. If only he hadn't worked so late! Then he might have woken up on time and seen the message sooner. Fili needed to know about this as soon as possible.

The main hub was emptier than usual, as most of the dwarves in the mountain were already busy at work, but Ori still had to dodge a few indignant inhabitants muttering profuse apologies all the while. Fili was not anywhere on the main levels, so on a whim Ori took the long winding stairs down to the forge, wondering if the prince might be occupying himself there.

As soon as the scribe and scholar stepped through the great double doors into the forge, a blast of heat hit him full in the face and he reeled, coughing. As he grew accustomed to the temperature enough to bear it, he straightened back up and took a look around. The noise bombarded his ears and his sight was hindered slightly by the steam, but he spotted Fili almost immediately. The prince was wearing an old pair of tough leather trousers and no top, and he was working at an anvil, hammering something with heavy but precise blows. Ori hurried over to him.

"Fili?" he said, but could not even hear his own voice over the din, so he tried again. "FILI!"

The prince turned and almost jumped in surprise to see Ori in such a place as the forge, but quickly put down the equipment and followed his friend out of the massive hall. The double doors clanged shut behind them and the noise was diminished to a background clanging rather than an assault on the senses.

Ori was about to tell Fili on the spot there and then but the prince suddenly looked around, then beckoned the scribe down a dark passage that he hadn't noticed before. The further they made their way, the more cobwebs and dust tickled their noses, but Fili kept going until they saw a dim light at the end of the tunnel. The light from a deep shaft glimmered faintly down, and it was this they stopped under.

"You cracked the code and read the letter?" Fili asked as soon as they came to a halt, his voice leaving no echo amid the thick grime all around and Ori suddenly understood that they had come here in order not to be overheard.

He nodded fervently. "It's worse than either of us thought. It's part of a plot to kidnap you!"

"Let me see," said Fili urgently, and Ori handed over the deciphered version of the letter immediately. Fili's eyes scanned over it and slowly widened in horror. When he finished he looked up at his friend. "You know what this means."

Ori nodded. "It means Kili is in danger. Either he will be mistaken for you and taken, or simply kidnapped in your stead when you don't turn up."

Fili clenched his teeth and started pacing, his hands curling automatically into fists. "I can't warn him before he gets to Dale, he's too far ahead. He's probably there by now. For all we know he could be kidnapped by now!" The usually calmer prince slammed his fist into the wall, sending down a shower of dust and spiders.

"Something else is also bothering you," observed Ori.

"I had an argument with Kili last night and I never got to apologise before he left," admitted Fili with a sigh, collecting himself again, "But never mind that. I suppose the only thing to do is to tell Thorin."

Ori nodded. "It's the only thing we can do. It would be stupid to sneak out and try to take on the criminals yourself."

Fili lifted his head a bit. "That's actually -"

"No," said Ori firmly. "Come on, there's no time to lose."

The two of them made their way stealthily out of the forgotten tunnel and broke into a run as soon as they were past the forge. Though Ori was panting by the time they reached the final flight of stairs to the throne room, they never slowed down. Fili burst through the door at a sprint and flew across the room to skid to a halt mere feet before his uncle, dozing lightly in his throne of gold. Ori came to a stop beside him.

"Uncle!" cried Fili, and the oldest dwarf jerked his head up with a start, his eyes blinking open and taking in Fili's appearance.

The King looked tired. There were deep bags under his eyes and though his hair was as immaculate as ever, Fili noticed that his lengthening beard was unbraided, an unusual sight in the past half-year. He straightened, however, when he saw his nephew standing so urgently in front of him dressed for work in a forge.

"This letter came from Prince Legolas of Mirkwood yesterday and Ori just finished decoding it. You must read it!" Fili blurted out, holding out the deciphered version of the message to Thorin, who took it.

The Dwarven King's brows grew more and more furrowed as he read, and when he finished he looked up at Ori.

"Let me see the original," he said sternly.

The scribe brought it out and, rather timidly, handed it over. The King glanced over it, comparing it to the transcribed version. Then he looked back up.

"Well, I think it is clear that whoever plans to kidnap you, Fili, will not succeed, since you are here. But still, I would keep you by my side for a day or two, just in case," said Thorin calmly.

The crown prince frowned. "But what about Kili?"

"What about him?" Thorin raised his eyebrows.

"Well, if I'm not in Dale then won't the kidnappers take him instead?"

"Amongst all those dwarves and men? I think not," replied Thorin, "And your brother can defend himself if he needs to. Do not worry yourself over him, Fili. He will be fine."

"But shouldn't he at least know about this?" pleaded Thorin's eldest nephew.

"Of course. I will send a raven immediately," replied the King, rising from his seat. "I shall not take long if you would wait here for me, Fili."

The tall dwarf strode quickly across the stone hall and was soon gone. Fili and Ori looked at each other.

"I should have gone myself," said Fili, shaking his head.

"No, the King is right," said Ori resignedly, "Kili can take out the criminals himself if he needs to. As long as he's on his guard he'll be fine."

Fili swallowed. "I suppose you're both right. Maybe I am overreacting."

Ori smiled. "It's only natural. Believe me, you're nowhere near as bad as Dori."


Legolas sat gloomily in a cell beneath the Master's house, wondering how he had walked so neatly into such a trap, intentionally lain or not.

It couldn't have been put in place intentionally, since he was certain Arradon hadn't known he was there.

That meant he just had the worst luck in all of Arda.

He could have escaped easily. He could have run out of the building as soon as the Master turned up, could have fought the five feeble men who came at the Master's call to arrest him (though how the message had reached them so fast in the middle of the night, Legolas had no idea), could have escaped at almost any time had he so wished, but no. The connections between the Wood and the Lake were on the line.

When he had been brought before the square at dawn to answer to the people of Laketown, Legolas had been humiliated. Even if he could be proved innocent, the locals would long remember the day when the crown prince of Mirkwood was accused of murdering their leader's right hand man. Brúthor, he knew, believed him to be innocent, though the two elves had not talked; the prince had caught his guard's eye in the crowd and that had been enough to convey their thoughts on the matter. Still, at that point Legolas had wished for some sort of sign language such as the dwarves had, so that he could explain things more clearly and give Brúthor instructions.

Now he was stuck in a cell with no contact with his comrade at all. Would Brúthor go back to the Greenwood and explain everything to the King? Legolas dreaded his father's reaction, but he knew there was little other option. There was no way, short of capturing Arradon, of proving his innocence and arguing was no good since all the signs spoke against him. A smashed window, an elvish arrow, and he himself on the very scene of the crime. The only way he would get out, Legolas feared, was by way of his father's money. That could take a long time to arrange.

He amused himself for a while by drawing leaves on the dirt floor with his fingernail, until he got bored and switched to drawing trees. He started making up rules for how the branches of each tree would split, and found himself with a rather interesting pattern of triangles. Then when there was no space left on the floor he began drumming his fingers on the hard stone wall in an irregular pattern and wished he was more talented at music.

After a while he stopped and listened. Now the general bustle of the day had begun and he found he could hear not just noise from the square, but clear conversations. They weren't very interesting, so he started to tune out, but just then the sound of a raven's caw met his ears. Something was off about it though, and it took him a moment before he realised that it wasn't a raven. Someone was imitating a raven's caw, and doing it rather well.

He listened hard now. Anyone using animal noises to communicate had to be doing something they didn't want other people to know about. It was not long before the caw came again, and this time Legolas realised that it sounded questioning. In fact, it sounded just like a raven did when asking for a message.

Pressing his ear to the wall to listen, Legolas heard the caw right outside his cell. Whoever it was was standing just the other side of the wall. Perhaps they were trying to communicate with one of the prisoners here? There were only a few; Legolas had seen a couple of men and that was all. What cause would any of them have to communicate?

Then came another call, which Legolas knew immediately. It was an imitation of the call of a nuthatch, a bird which had been quite common in the forest until the darkness from Dol Guldur had overrun the warmer parts of the wood in which it lived, and it was a call that the guard had brought into use as a communication of stealth because of the way it could be varied for different meanings while still blending in with the general background noise of the trees and the birds. Legolas hadn't dared hope before, but now he knew for certain that it was indeed Brúthor outside. His spirits soared higher than they had done for what felt like ages, and he pursed his lips to give a little whistle back. I'm here.

A hoarse call answered: waiting for orders.

Retreat, Legolas whistled, then after a pause, Report. Return. He hoped his message had been understood.

There was a slightly long pause, before the clear call came back, echoing exactly what the prince had just conveyed in the proper way of showing that one had understood. Then there were no more sounds.

Legolas slid down the wall to sit cross-legged on the patterned dirt floor, a great weight lifted from his mind. Now he no longer had to worry about what was going to happen to him; he knew Brúthor would sort it out. Of course, the matter of Arradon still went unresolved, but there was nothing he could do about that until he got out and perhaps his father would know more about the wayward elf which could help in his pursuit.

Nothing left for him to do, the Prince of Eryn Lasgalen began to drift off into a sleep trance, until a loud voice sounded from down the corridor.

"Hey! Elf!"

He moved to the bars of the cell and looked out. Across the dim passageway was another cell, and this one held a man. The one next to it, further away from Legolas, also was occupied. As far as he could tell, these were the only other people in the dungeons. Since it looked like he was stuck here until his father arrived, which could be several days time, Legolas decided it would be better to appease his inmates from the start.

"Yes? You called?" he replied.

One man jeered. "Look how it holds itself. Above us all are ya, Elf? Think yer royalty do ya, Elf?"

The other one laughed along. "Just wait until ye've spent a coupl'a weeks in 'ere, ye'll be grovelling just like us."

Legolas didn't reply, but fixed them men with the utmost look of disdain. They were taken aback for a moment, but then one spoke again.

"What I want to know is, why is it in 'ere for starters? Not like an elf to get caught. Must be a coward or a weakling."

"Go on then Elf? Why ya in here?"

Legolas was on the point of turning his nose up and walking away, when the memory of something he'd overheard while eavesdropping suddenly came to him: "Though what became of it when that idiot got himself caught I do not know."

He turned curiously to the two men and said, "I think some introductions are in order first. I still do not know your names."

"I'm Roren, and he's Edren," said one of them, "We're cousins."

"And you were caught for different crimes?" asked the elf.

"Nah, I dragged him into it an' we were both caught," said Edren, "But yer avoiding the question. Why ya in here?"

Legolas faked a mysterious smile and said, "I will tell you my story once you have told me yours."

Edren scowled. "Our business is none of your business."

"Well then my business is none of yours either," replied Legolas calmly. "An exchange of information to stave off the boredom is all I ask for."

Both men frowned, and Roren looked to Edren, before Edren said, "Fine. I will tell our story as long as you tell yours after."

"It's a deal," said Legolas, lowering himself to the floor as comfortably as possible, preparing to listen.

With that, Edren began to talk.

"Before the Dragon came, our families were rich. We were in the Master's favour and attended all the banquets. Our fathers were councillors, you see, and Alfrid was our second cousin once removed, but then the Dragon came and suddenly, like everyone else, we had nothing. Through loyalty the Master has been able to build back up his riches and power, though it's nothing like what it used to be, but we did not want to go back into service, since it's clear that the Master is growing old and unpopular and we don't like Darlan one bit. There was a man who said he could get us rich. He said...wait, should I be telling this bit?"

The two men lowered their voices to talk, clearly oblivious to the fact that Legolas, as an elf, could hear every word.

"He said it's top secret."

"Yeah but it'll be done by now, if the plan worked. What harm can it do?"

"But what if he tells and it all fails?"

"Look, where is he going? He's locked up like us. Plus, it's not as if we care about what happens any more, we're not getting any money out of it. And he's an Elf."

"So what?"

"So elves hate dwarves, right? He'll probably side with us."

"If you're sure..."

"I'm sure."

Edren raised his voice again to continue his story.

"We've decided we can tell you, as long as you swear to keep this top secret."

"I swear I won't tell anybody who doesn't know about it," said Legolas immediately.

"Good. Now there was this man who said he knew how to get gold from the Dwarves because they were rich and selfish, but he needed us for his plan. He wanted to keep a secret profile so instead of meeting with him he wrote me coded letters. I had the second of them on me when we were caught and Darlan took it, but he's too stupid to even figure out that it's a code. He'll just see a load of dwarf runes."

The two men burst out laughing, and Legolas suddenly knew the subject of the letter he had sent by raven to Fili. He now hoped more than ever that the dwarves had been able to figure out its content.

"Why dwarf runes?" asked the Elf, "Why not just any symbols?"

"The boss thought it'd be ironic," chuckled Roren, "Since our task was to kidnap the dwarf prince."

"Kidnap?" exclaimed Legolas, pretending to be surprised, though really he was just worried about what they had just said: "It'll be done by now, if the plan worked". "But dwarves are dangerous warriors! How are you supposed to kidnap one of them?"

Edren winked. "That's top secret. But that's only the first part of the plan. Apparently the dwarf prince has something which will help the Boss get more gold from the Mountain. Then, once that's done, he ransoms him back. Neat, right?"

"Yes, it sounds like he knows what he's doing," said Legolas with a pensive frown. "When was this supposed to happen?"

"We never got that far," said Edren gloomily, "Got shut up in here before the final plans were made. Could have been three days ago, could be happening right now."

"But where in Middle Earth is it safe enough to hold a prisoner when the King under the Mountain himself will be looking for him?"

"Aha, but that's easy!" exclaimed the man, "For one thing, the prince'll be in Dale so it'll be ages before the dwarves have any notion he's missing, and if you've ever been to Dale you'll know it's a confusing place to get lost in. Believe me, there are plenty of places you can hold a prisoner there and never be questioned."

"Indeed. But though you have told me your story in detail, you have missed the part in which you get captured," said Legolas.

Edren frowned. "So I have. Well, that's easy enough to tell. The Boss got word at the last minute that Darlan was going to Mirkwood to wrangle some more money, but he thought it would put his plan in danger to have elves - wait a minute," he stopped abruptly and stared at Legolas. "You're not working for the Elvenking are you?"

It was all Legolas could do not to burst out in uncontrollable laughter there and then. But he composed himself with an amused smile and said, "Well you might have considered that before you started telling your story. May I finish it for you?" The men gaped, so the elf continued, "You were sent to stop Darlan from potentially bringing elves to Laketown but failed and he locked you up and took the letter before going on his way. Is that how the story ends?"

Edren nodded slowly, still gaping.

Suddenly, Legolas had an idea. "As a matter of fact," he said, "Your secret is safe with me because I too am working for the Boss. My name is Arradon."

All at once Edren relaxed and sprang up in eagerness. Roren looked at him in confusion.

"You're the Elf?" exclaimed Edren.

"I am an elf," frowned Legolas.

"But you're the elf that is working for the Boss? The one loyal one?" Edren persisted.

"Well...yes, I am," said Legolas decidedly, "but I was caught just after I killed Darlan."

"You killed Darlan?" exclaimed Roren, "But that's brilliant news!"

"No it's not, not if I'm still in here when the dwarf is captured," said Legolas, "I'm needed for the next part of the plan. And if you help me get out of here, I will make sure you get some of the end reward."

Now the men looked greedily excited. "What do we have to do?" asked Edren.

Legolas went over his thoughts for a moment, considering whether this was the best thing to do. Escaping now would only lead to more trouble for himself, but Fili was in more danger than he had first realised and if the dwarves couldn't read the coded letter then who could help him?

"How often do they bring food?" he asked.

"Twice a day at most," replied Roren, "but we haven't been fed yet this morning so it could be at any time now."

"And does the person who brings it have the keys?" asked Legolas.

"Yeah, just to taunt us," grumbled Edren, "but they're on a belt, it's impossible to get them off without being caught."

"Leave that bit to me," said Legolas, "Just make sure that when he's right in front of my bars, he turns away for a moment."

"That'll be easy," said Roren.

"Good," said Legolas, "Now we wait."


It was almost midday before Kili had a moment to himself in which to eat breakfast. As soon as he had arrived in Dale he had been bombarded by Dale residents from all directions and it had taken Bard five minutes of shouting before they had all cleared off. Then there had been a long discussion with the King of Dale that had lasted close on an hour, before the stone masons were finally set to work.

Now Kili sat alone on a wooden fence on the Erebor side of the city, looking towards his home. The mountain looked small from here, and from this distance no one would ever guess what a hive of activity it was inside. He wondered what Fili was doing at this moment.

The scuffle of a stone behind him made him twist round to look - too fast. He slipped from the fence and fell to the floor, landing flat on his back. The air was knocked out of him, but it was better than what would have befallen him otherwise because at that moment the fist that had been aiming for the top of his head smacked down on the wooden railing he had been sitting on mere seconds before. Two men stood there, a burly one and a smaller but still quite large one, glaring at him with menace in their eyes. One of them drew a knife and began to step over the fence.

Kili backed away on his elbows, rolling over and scrambling to his feet while at the same time drawing out the one knife that he had brought, wishing that he had his bow or at least a sword.

For a few seconds he considered running. But where would he run? His route back to populated Dale was blocked, and behind him the road stretched out for miles before it reached the mountain. These longer-legged men would catch him in an instant. No, fighting was the only option.

As the men began to approach him, separating so as to trap him between them, Kili paced slowly to the side, keeping them from coming round behind him. He was trying to judge which one would attack first, and at that moment he would have put money on the taller one. He was right. The hefty man, who had also been the one to draw his knife first, charged at Kili with his head down and arm outstretched, but Kili easily ducked and stretched his leg out, tripping his attacker.

"You idiot Sodrunn! I told you to wait until I gave the command!" hissed the other man as he saw his comrade on the floor.

While both men were distracted, Kili surged forward at the smaller man and their knives clashed together. They glared at each other for a moment, but the dwarf was both stronger and more experienced and with a twist he sent the man's knife clattering to the ground. The man sprang back, but Kili whirled round not a moment too soon to deflect a heavy blow from Sodrunn which sent him staggering backwards.

That gave the other man time to pick up his knife, and a moment later Kili was using all his speed and skill to avoid the two knives at once while trying to land a blow of his own. He kept slipping out from between the men to get behind one or the other, but always they would turn in time to defend themselves. Kili was kicked hard in the stomach at one point but he clenched his teeth with a grimace of pain and kept fighting. Then again he recieved the butt end of a knife to his head which made stars appear before his eyes but as before he ignored the residual throb it left behind and thanked Mahal it had not been the sharp end.

All at once, two things happened. The man whose name Kili did not know tripped over the dwarf's outstretched foot, and Sodrunn's knife came down and knocked Kili's knife out of his hand. Frozen for a millisecond, Kili just had time to register a searing pain in his thigh before the big man's hands wrapped themselves around his throat and lifted him off the ground. He gulped for air as the world around him swayed, then he felt a brief falling sensation and the ground came up to meet him.

His head hit the ground hard, but a moment later Kili wished it had been harder because he hurt so much. He knew in that moment that he had lost. Unconsciousness seemed so welcoming, but try as he might he could not quite reach it and he supposed it was still probably better if he was awake for this. Squeezing his eyes shut he tried to curl himself up as small as possible, but as he moved his left leg his thigh screamed in agony. Gingerly he reached his fingers down to touch it, and they came away sticky with bright red blood. He could feel the men towering over him as he lay cowering on the ground, and he wondered what would become of him; he hated to admit it, but he was more frightened than he had been in half a year, and that in itself scared him.

"That's a lot of blood, Yarvin," grunted Sodrunn, "Shouldn't have pulled the knife out."

"Since when did you become an expert?" snapped the man, who was apparently named Yarvin.

Kili felt hands on his leg and he winced, jerking away and opening his eyes despite the pain.

"Don't touch me," he gasped, trying to drag himself away from the men but knowing all the while that it was futile.

"Now now, don't squirm little prince," Yarvin cooed patronisingly, "We don't want you dead so if you value your leg you'll let us patch it up for you. And if you make any noise louder than a whisper, you'll lose the other one as well before you can say 'Arkenstone'. That's right, don't try anything. You're a prisoner now."

Sodrunn moved behind him and before Kili knew what was happening his hands were bound behind his back. Yarvin tied a strip of cloth tightly around his bleeding leg which made the dwarf grit his teeth in pain, but he didn't dare cry out. He was at the mercy of these two men and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Can't have anyone seeing you like this," commented Yarvin casually, "I hope you don't mind going under cover for a while?"

With that the man brought out a large canvas potato sack and with a sickening jolt Kili realised they were about to put him in it. He had no idea how he was going to send for help, but being put in a sack and carried around like a potato wasn't part of his non-existent plan. He looked around desperately - or at least, as quickly as his aching head would allow - and suddenly saw in the sky a raven, flying towards them. If only he could get its attention...

Kili felt broad hands tighten around his aching shoulders and before he could protest or struggle he was lifted off the floor and deposited unceremoniously in the canvas bag. His view was cut off by the light brown material and the top was swiftly closing above him, making him feel cramped and stuffy as well as highly uncomfortable, however it was not to last long, for a moment later he felt a single blow to the back of his head and knew no more.