Authors Note: The next two chapters are bit of fluff before Galadriel arrives. I have taken liberties with adding Estel (aka. Aragorn) to the cast. At the time Thorin and company were in Rivendell he was around 8yrs old and living there as well, you would think they would have interacted… well now they do! I split ch12 so there will be 3 chapters this week back on schedule Mon/Wed/Fri. Thanks for the great reviews! And thank you all for reading! I hit a new record with the last chapter for views for that day… yay!
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Chapter 12 – A new nickname
Fili
Fili sat on a stone bench near the marketplace inside Rivendell, he took another puff from his pipe as he watched the elves carry on with their daily activities. He could not remember a time in his life when he was as happy as he was right now. Never had his heart felt this light before, it was an unfamiliar feeling but an addicting one… he will always strive to feel like this from now on. Fili's thoughts strayed to last night and this morning and found his lips curling into a wistful smile. They had finally kissed and it was as amazing as he thought it would be. Her lips were so sweet… like fresh summer honey and they were as soft as silk… if he thought about it he could still feel her lips as she slowly kissed him, it filled him with longing for the next time he could taste her sweet lips.
Waking up with her curled around his side, her face nuzzled in his neck and her arm draped across his chest while her leg lay on his…it was nearly more than he could take. The memories of their passionate kisses after she awoke this morning as they lie together in each other's arm made his flush with desire. She never looked as beautiful as she did when her cheeks were flushed and her lips were swollen from his kisses. It made him want her even more, he did not know how that was possible. Even now he longed for to feel her lips against his, to feel her loving caresses, it was all that he desired… all he could think about was when he would see her again. Fili knew when he did that he would pull her close and kiss her, he didn't care who saw or what they thought… Eli was with him now, its best they got used to it. Fili also didn't care what the others thought about him staying with her at night. If she wanted him there then he was going to be there… he would never push her or expect anything she did not want or wasn't ready for, he respected her too much. Eli was a grown woman… capable of deciding what she wanted and he hoped that she would ask him to stay tonight and every night that followed… he never wanted to sleep without her in his arms again.
"There he is!" he heard his brother's voice. Fili couldn't help but groan… he knew his brother would have a million questions for him, they had not spoken since before the incident with Elladan. He turned to see his brother approach, he was wearing a rather large grin, he looked far too happy for this early in the day. "You have earned yourself a new nickname brother," Kili said as he sat on the bench next to him.
"Really? And is it a good one?" he asked as he looked at his brother with an eyebrow raised.
"It is the best! You my dear brother are now known as Fili son of Brandr the Elf-Beater!" he declared. Fili choke on his pipe smoke and started coughing.
"I'm what?" he rasped in between coughs.
"After what you did to the elf lord's son it seemed appropriate. Dwalin came up with it… Bofur is writing a song about it," Kili laughed heartily. "It be a song our grandchildren will be still singing long after we're dead!" his brother said dramatically. Fili rubbed his brow and groaned as Kili clasped his shoulder and chuckled. "It is a title well earned, you did beat him quite good brother… I've never seen you that angry, I honestly didn't know you had it in you." Neither did Fili…
"He deserved it! " Fili growled, suddenly angry again over the whole incident. Just remembering the cruelty of the words Elladan had spoken to Eli made his blood boil. He let out a heavy sigh as he worked to calm himself.
"Oh no doubt that he did…" Kili said pensively. "I'm just surprised is all… normally you avoid conflict. Last night you charged into battle with your fists… quite impressively mind you." Fili looked down at his bandaged hand, Eli had changed the dressing this morning.
"I don't even remember most of the fight… I remember seeing Eli leave in tears after smacking him, then I made him tell me what he said and then I remember you, Dwalin and Uncle pulling me off of him," he said, his voice full of embarrassment.
"You missed a lot of hitting in your story brother… First you charged up and hit him then demanded to know what he said to Eliana, then you hit him again. After he told everyone what he said you pummeled him some more… then we pulled you off." Fili shook his head then rubbed his face with his hands. He wondered how he could have lost control liked that, it's never happened before and it worried him. "All and all it was quite an exciting evening," Kili said cheerfully. Fili couldn't help but feel a little ashamed for his actions… he wasn't some dwarf brute, he didn't go around hitting people. But Elladan had upset and insulted Eli, he just couldn't let that go… no one was hurting his Eli, if he needed to defend her he would. "So where is the lovely Eliana this morning?" Kili asked.
"She is updating one of her books at the House of Healing… she said she would find me when she was done," Fili said as he tapped out the spent pipe weed from his pipe. He wished he had gone with her, not just to be around her and steal kisses when he could… he was honestly interested to see her work. He knew she was a great healer but thankfully on their journey so far she has not needed to use any of her healing skills… well except to bandage his hand last night. There were so many facets of her life that he didn't know about and he wanted to know everything there was to know about his elven maiden.
"So… I couldn't help but notice that you never came back to your room last night…" Kili asked nonchalantly. Fili sighed… he knew this was coming. He was surprised Kili didn't ask about it when he first sat down.
"No… I did not," he said, not elaborating. Kili smirked at his brother's vagueness.
"Come brother don't be coy, where were you last night?" Kili pressed. Fili sighed, he knew his brother would not stop with his onslaught of questions until he told him what happened. He packed and lit his pipe making his brother wait for his response.
"I was with Eli…" he said reluctantly. "I stayed the night with her…" Kili seemed surprised that he admitted it… did his brother think that he would lie about it?
"Did you… you know…?" Kili gave him a suggestive look. Fili glared at his brother, insulted that he could even ask that.
"Of course not! We kissed nothing more!" Fili said angrily as he shoved his pipe back in his mouth. Kili's eyebrows were raised.
"And?" Kili asked with a toothy grin. Fili turned gave his brother a deadpan stare.
"Are you really asking me this?" Fili asked evenly, trying to keep himself from either yelling at or hitting his brother.
"I'm your brother… of course I am," Kili said dismissively. "You have wanted to kiss her for as long as I can remember… I just want to know if it was worth the wait." Fili looked away as he remembered how timid that first kiss was compared to the fiery kisses this morning, Eli had shocked him with her intensity, it was apparent that she had wanted this as much as he did. It seemed as though that first kiss had been a barrier, now that they were passed that it was hard to not kiss her and even harder to stop kissing her once he started. He couldn't help but smile as he thought what future kisses would hold especially after this morning.
"It was better than anything I could have dreamed of," he said quietly. It was true, nothing he ever thought of compared to the reality of holding her in his arms and kissing her perfect lips. Just remembering the feeling of her eager kisses made him suddenly feel very warm. He looked away so Kili didn't see the flush on his cheeks.
"I am truly envious brother… Maybe I can find an elven maiden while we are here," Kili said as he looked at the elves wandering in the marketplace.
"I thought nothing compared to a dwarf woman?" Fili said sarcastically. Over the years he had been teased relentlessly at times by Kili over his lack of interest in dwarven women. It's not that Fili didn't try to like them…as his uncle's heir he had been expected to marry fairly young so he could produce heirs of his own. He had tried to court a few of the highborn dwarf women but had failed miserably at it… it never progressed past the first kiss. It never felt right… it actually felt horribly wrong, he just couldn't do it. It wasn't until last night when Eli kissed him so tenderly that a kiss had ever felt right.
"Let's say I have a better appreciation for beardless women now," Kili said with a laugh. "Besides, after dancing with a few of them last night it's not a bad thing to have a tall woman, then you are at eye level with some of the most important parts!" Fili snorted and rolled his eyes at his brother.
"Well we can't both have elven wives… Uncle can't disown both of his heirs," Fili said with a note of bitterness in his voice. He had not spoken to his uncle since the trolls and he really did not want to talk to him now after the incident with Elrond's son… he was sure his uncle was angry at him for it.
"Uncle won't disown you… and the people will accept Eliana, many remember what she has done for our people," Kili said assuredly. Fili debated with himself on whether to tell Kili about what Balin had told him about their uncle but decided against it. He could only imagine what Kili would say about him being with a woman who their uncle had affections for in the past. Fili was confident that Eli knew nothing about his uncle's desires, she seemed genuinely perplexed why his uncle hated her.
"You are very optimistic brother…" Fili noted.
"I have to be… if he disowns you that means I will be king and I would make a terrible king. He won't do it… I think even Uncle knows I will be awful," Kili said confidently.
"Perhaps you're right..." Fili said doubtfully. He really didn't have any hope that his uncle would accept him and Eli, Fili knew his uncle could disown him tomorrow out of jealousy. A part of him didn't care about being king, he knew it was something he was expected to do… his duty. Things were different now, he had Eli and he would be king with her by his side or he would be no king at all. He would never give her up not for all the gold in Erebor.
"Are you dwarves?" a small voice asked. Fili startled and turned to look where the voice came from, to his right was a small human boy with dark brown hair and blue eyes standing there staring up at him. He turned and gave Kili a questioning look, his brother just shrugged in response.
"Yes we're dwarves," Fili responded simply. The little boy stared at them for a moment then shook his head.
"If you are dwarves, why don't you have really long beards?" the boy gave them a suspicious look. Fili chuckled.
"Well I don't like a long beard… it gets into everything especially your food. Do you really want to be picking Sunday's breakfast out of your beard on Wednesday?" he asked the boy. The little boy wrinkled his nose up in disgust.
"No! That would be gross!" the child giggled. The boy looked at Kili. "Is that why he doesn't have a long beard too?" Kili was about to speak when Fili cut him off.
"Oh he can't grow a beard..." he leaned over and spoke in a hushed voice. "He has an affliction…" The little boy's eyes widened. Kili gave him an indignant look.
"I have what?" Kili exclaimed.
"What kind of affliction?" the boy whispered back at Fili.
"He can't grow a beard on his face… only on his back," Fili told the boy. The little boy looked at Kili in amazement and disgust.
"Brother! Stop filing the boy's head with nonsense!" Kili said as he glared at Fili. He turned to the little boy. "I do not grow a beard on my back! My beard is just late, it happens to men on my father side," Kili said in a huff. Fili laughed and winked at the boy who giggled in return.
"Oh calm down brother, it was just in jest," Fili chided. "What is your name lad?" he asked the boy. The child looked to be well cared for, Fili couldn't help but wonder why there was a human child in Rivendell and where his mother might be.
"My name is Estel… what is yours?" Estel asked.
"I am Fili and this is my brother Kili," he said with a small bow of his head. He noticed the boy had a wooden practice sword in his belt. "May I?" he asked as he gestured towards the practice weapon. The little boy proudly took out his practice sword and handed it to Fili.
"Lord Elrond said that I can start training next week!" Estel said excitedly. Fili gave the wooden blade a few good swings then handed it back to the boy.
"How would you like to start today?" he asked. "I could show you the basics." Young Estel's eyes grew wide and he smiled from ear to ear. Fili didn't want to sit here in the market all day, instructing the lad would be a good distraction… it would keep his mind off Eli. It seemed like the longer they were apart the more he needed to be with her.
"I would like that very much!" he said as he started to swing his sword around enthusiastically. Fili couldn't help but chuckle at the lad's eagerness. He remembered his own excitement when he was a child and his father first started teaching him the basics.
"Run along and tell your mother… we'll wait for you here," Fili said but as soon as the words left his lips he realized that he shouldn't have assumed the boy had a mother. Estel's face grew sad and he looked down at his feet.
"She got sick… I'm Lord Elrond's ward now," Estel said solemnly, his head hung as he kicked the dirt with his foot. Poor lad, Fili thought… Estel wasn't too much younger than he was when his father died. If Elrond was this boy's caregiver then that meant his father was dead as well.
"Well we won't bother Lord Elrond… and I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you started learning early," Fili said, he saw the boy's spirits raise. "Well brother… feel like helping me make a dwarven warrior out of the little lad?" Fili asked his brother. Kili chuckled and stood up.
"Sure, it will help pass the time. I could show him how to shoot too," Kili said.
"You know how to shoot a bow?" Estel asked, his voice full of awe. "My dad was a ranger, my mother said he was a really good shot!" Fili exchanged a look with his brother, they both knew what probably happened to the boy's father with all of the orcs roaming the lands now.
"Well Kili is a very good shot too… he can help you get started. Do you know where the training grounds are?" asked Fili. Estel nodded and pointed towards a rustic looking building down the southern walkway. "Alright, lead the way Estel."
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