A royal headache

They came to the boundary of Mirkwood in almost no time at all, and everyone looked over at Phoenix after Balin noticed that she seemed to shiver and she looked to be ill.

"Are you alright lass?" Balin asked as Phoenix slid down off her saddle and as soon as her feet touched the floor, she sank to her knees, a sudden weakness coming over her and Thorin ran over to her side.

"I bet it's this forest." Bilbo told them. "It feels sick."

Thorin and Balin both helped Phoenix back to her feet and Gandalf looked at her.

"My dear I think it best that you stay out here." Gandalf told her.

"I'm fine." She told him instantly.

"Phoenix, you're almost green in colour." Balin told her.

"Just sit here and rest." Thorin told her. "You can join us on the other side, no doubt you're the fastest rider, and you will beat us there anyway."

Phoenix obviously was not happy about the situation, but it was easy to see that she could say nothing against a bunch of dwarves, a hobbit and a wizard.

"Fine, but this is foolish and unnecessary." She told them.

"Maybe so, but we want to be sure that you're okay." Dwalin told her as they all sent their ponies back towards Beorn's home and they gathered their things.

"This is the realm of King Thranduil; most people now know it as Mirkwood." Gandalf told them. "This path will lead you through safely, but you must not leave it."

"What happens if we do?" Bilbo asked.

"You will never make it back out." Phoenix told them. "Mirkwood is a cursed place."

"Aye lass, it is cursed by the broken heart of a King." Gandalf told her.

"He has no heart." Phoenix told him and Thorin smirked slightly, before they all noticed that Gandalf was getting back on his horse.

"Are you not coming with us?" Bilbo asked him.

"Alas, no, I have business elsewhere." He looked at Phoenix as he spoke and she seemed to understand. "I will meet you all at Erebor." Gandalf told them as he rode off. "Follow the path!" He shouted back before he was gone.

When he was gone, Thorin looked back at the dwarves and Hobbit. "Come on, let's get going." He told them and all of the dwarves walked towards the forest, except for him and the hobbit that walked to Phoenix who was now sitting unhappily on the ground, waiting for the weakness to pass.

"Will you be alright on your own?" Thorin asked her.

"I'll be fine." She promised him. "I've survived for over two thousand years; a few more hours won't be any difference." She reminded him and as they shared a loving kiss, Bilbo moved his gaze away. As Thorin left to follow the dwarves, Bilbo looked at Phoenix.

"You need to be careful in that forest young hobbit, the dwarves can easily be lead astray, and you need to keep them on the path." Phoenix told him.

Bilbo nodded. "I will do my best."

Phoenix smiled. "You better run and catch up with them, and don't forget, I'll be keeping an eye on you all." She told him.

Bilbo nodded and he ran back to join the dwarves, leaving Phoenix on her own. When she was fully alone, Phoenix looked around at the landscape, this did not feel right. She knew that Thranduil was having trouble, but did he really intend to let his kingdom fall to ruin? Would her dwarves be safe in the forest? The thought of not knowing did not help her at all; she was worried for her lover and her friends. However, her train of thought was broken as she felt the thundering of footsteps and she quickly got to her feet and she soon saw a mass coming straight towards the forest, and straight towards her! It was a legion of orcs, so quickly she took her weapons from the horse's saddle and she looked at him.

"Díheno nin, mellon nín." She told the horse, before she hit it's behind and she watched the horse ride off, and whilst the orcs were distracted by the horse, Phoenix bolted, going through the forest as fast as her legs could carry her. When weakness suddenly washed over her like a tidal wave, she climbed up into a tree, remaining hidden as orcs charged under her, moving through the forest. She watched them from the tree and when they were gone, she slid down, and had to use the tree for support, before she looked down at her cloak and she noticed that her face covering was still attached to her cloak, so she pulled up her hood and moved the face covering over her mouth and nose and surely enough, the weakness faded by a large amount.

"Okay, cloak stays on." She told herself and she started tracking the orcs through the forest, hoping that her dwarves had not come by them.

Meanwhile, in the depths of Mirkwood, the dwarves and hobbit had done exactly what they said that they wouldn't do – they had strayed from the path! And now they were being picked off by spiders! Before they knew it, they were all wrapped in spider webbing and most of them could not believe it, they were about to die as spider food...what on earth was going on? However, they all suddenly felt themselves falling and suddenly their bonds were cut. Looking around, Dwalin noticed that someone was missing – Bilbo!

"Where's the hobbit?" Dwalin shouted.

"Bilbo?" The others called.

"I'm up here!" Bilbo shouted, and they all looked up just in time to see a spider jump on the hobbit and as he stabbed it with his sword, they both fell towards the ground. From there, everything came as a blur to the group of dwarves, on Thorin's command; they all readied their weapons ready to fight, however as they were about to fight, they were suddenly surrounded by dead spiders and elves, who were holding their bows to them. Suddenly there was a cry from nearby and Fili recognised it immediately – Kili! He shouted for his brother and they found his brother almost being eaten alive by a giant spider, yet suddenly there was a flash of red and the surrounding spiders were dead and a she-elf stood before them. She fought with fluidness and strength, killing the one that had hold of Kili instantly.

"Throw me a weapon!" Kili shouted to her. "Quick!" He ushered as there was a spider coming straight for him.

"If you think that I'm giving you a weapon dwarf, you are mistaken!" She hissed and she suddenly threw her dagger straight at the spider and it lay dead at Kili's feet. Looking back at the dwarf, Kili was amazed to find her beautiful, her voice as soft as a summer's breeze, and he was frozen to the spot. He wished to hear her speak more, but he was not given the chance as they were all rounded up and searched, the weapons taken away as the leading elf, a tall blonde male, examined Thorin's sword.

"This is Orcrist, where did you get this?" The blonde demanded.

"It was given to me." Thorin told him simply, he was not about to tell them where he had really found it.

"So, not just a thief, but a liar as well," The blonde told him, before he moved on to some of the other dwarves and he was handed what looked like a closed memory box, and he opened it, revealing two pictures.

"Give that back, it's private." Gloin demanded.

"Who is this, your brother?" The blonde asked in spite as he looked at this first picture.

"That is my wife." Gloin told him and right now he was seething.

"And what is this strange, goblin mutant?" The blonde sneered, looking at the other.

"That's my wee lad, Gimli." Gloin told him, and he watched as the pictures were put back where they were gotten from, and Gloin sighed in relief.

"Take them to the palace dungeons." The blonde told the group of elves and soon all of the dwarves were led away.

"Thorin, where's Bilbo?" Fili hissed and Thorin glanced around as he was lead away, he was relieved when he did not see the hobbit as part of the group, but he was still worried when the hobbit could not be seen at all.

They were led towards the Elf kingdom and Thorin watched as the company were put into cells, before he was led on a different path and this one brought him to someone who he did not want to see – Thranduil. No love had been lost between the pair and that was obvious by the reception that was given as soon as Thorin was stood in front of him. It was cold and unwelcoming, only just hiding the swell of hatred towards each other.

"Well, Thorin Oakenshield, I did not think you would dare to cross into my lands." Thranduil spoke.

"It was not by my choice." Thorin growled.

"Ah, yes, you travel with quite a bunch of dwarves." Thranduil mused, getting up from his throne and walking down the steps so that he was on the same level ground as Thorin, even though the elf king stood head, shoulders and more above the dwarf king. "Some may imagine that a noble quest is at hand." Thranduil spoke again. "A quest to reclaim ones homeland and slay a dragon, to retrieve a stone so precious to you that you would risk the lives of yourself, your kin and the one you love just to retrieve it."

Thorin looked up at him with surprise, how did he know about Fili and Kili? More importantly, how did he know about his love for Phoenix?

"You do not think that I do not know about what goes on within the boundaries past my realm?" Thranduil asked and he had a sly smile on his face. "But I am willing to offer you my help in order for you to retrieve the stone that you desire."

"I'm listening." Thorin told him.

"I will offer you my help in exchange for what is mine, for there are jewels within that mountain that I too desire." Thranduil told him.

Thorin let one corner of his mouth turn upwards in an almost smirk as he looked at the elf before him.

"A favour for a favour?" Thorin asked to clarify.

"You have my word." Thranduil nodded.

"I would not trust your word alone, not until the end of all days is on us!" Thorin suddenly shouted, and he saw that this took the elf king by surprise, so he decided to continue. "You lack all honour! I have seen how you treat your friends, we came to you once, starving and homeless but you're turned your back on us! You turned away from the suffering of my people and the inferno that destroyed everything we had!" Thorin suddenly shouted. "May you die in dragon fire?"

"Do not talk to me of dragon fire; I know its wrath and ruin!" Thranduil sneered, his face suddenly showing evidence of being burnt away before he suddenly moved away from Thorin as if he himself was a hot flame.

"I warned your grandfather about what his greed would summon, and now I will ensure that you never see that mountain again!" He looked to his guards. "Take him to the cells."

However, he was just about to be dragged away, an elf ran up the steps and he looked at Thranduil, speaking in Elvish, but Thorin heard the name of his beloved and he stopped his struggling to listen.

"Nín hír, inyë gar sarch siniath, Phoenix thia an gar dandol an tye arthor." The guard told Thranduil who held a small spiteful smile.

"Well, she has come to free her lover no doubt." He smirked as he looked over to Thorin. "Take him away; we shall see if she can break him out now." Thorin struggled against the guards as they dragged him to the cells and he was thrown into a cell with Balin.

"So, how did it go?" He asked; his tone of voice as it would be if the pair of them was talking about the weather.

"Not very well." Thorin admitted, his tone mimicking Balin's. "But Phoenix has come into the forest; they think that she is on her way here."

"Surely the lass will be alright." Balin told him. "She's more skilled than we give her credit for."

"Aye, she is." Thorin nodded in agreement and he sighed, "But what would bring her into the forest that weakens her?" He asked, not expecting Balin to answer, and Balin knew this so he kept quiet as Thorin stood at their cell door, looking at the many cells outside of his own, and he hoped that Phoenix could get them out of here.

Meanwhile, Tauriel was walking past the cells, checking on the prisoners that they had and it only consisted of the dwarves that they had brought in today. When they had been put into their cells, she had gone to inform that King about what had happened in the forest, and she had been warned away from the prince, but right now, she had never given him much thought in a romantic kind of way, which is what the king had feared. After she had been given her warning, she had returned to her room to wash up for the celebratory feast of starlight that night. Yet as she was about to join the feast, she found herself walking down towards the cells. She walked past each one, until she got to the one with the young dark haired dwarf and he was flicking a stone in his hands.

"That stone in your hand, what is it?" She asked, hiding her curiosity with authority.

"It's a very special stone." Kili told her. "If anyone other than a dwarf reads these ruins, they will be forever cursed!" His voice took on a malice that Tauriel had to take a step back, and she was about to move on, before his voice caught her attention once again. "Or not, it all depends on whether you believe in that kind of thing." Kili told her and she looked at him with a small smile. "It's really just a token; my mother gave it to me so that I would remember my promise."

"What promise?" She asked curiously.

"That I would come back to her," He told her and he looked at the stone in his hand with fondness and amusement. "She thinks that I'm reckless."

"And are you?" The elf asked him.

"Nah." He told her and as if to relay his point, his threw the stone up into the air, but this time he failed to catch it and he rolled out of his cell and almost past Tauriel, but she stopped it with her foot just before it was about to go over the ledge and she picked it up to admire it in her hands.

"What's your name?" He asked her as he walked to the bars of his cage.

"Tauriel." She answered immediately, looking back at him as she handed him his stone back.

"My name is Kili." He told her with a smile, before he looked up towards the walkways above them to where the sound of music was coming from. "It sounds like quite a party up there."

"It is the feast of starlight." Tauriel told him. "All light is precious to the Eldar."

"I always thought that it was a cold light." Kili told her.

"It is memory." She told him and Kili worried that he had offended her, but her astonishment towards him was soon replaced with admiration and it made his heart swell. "It is precious and pure." She told him, before she looked back at him. "Much like this promise that you made."

Kili could not keep the smile from his face as he looked at her and he watched her sit on the steps next to his cell.

"I often walked there." She told him. "Out of the forest and up into the night, trying to imagine what it would be like to be as free as the stars."

"I saw a fire moon once." Kili told her and it was obvious that he was trying to impress her and Tauriel did look impressed.

"Tell me about it." She asked him.

Kili spent most of his night, telling the she-elf the story of how he had seen the fire moon whilst he and Fili had been travelling with a group to Gondor in order to offer trade to the city from Ered Luin. Tauriel seemed pretty impressed with everything that he said, but eventually she had to get back to the party, so she bid her farewells to Kili and she left the group. Not long after she left, did Bilbo turn up, carrying the jailer's keys and he let everyone out, before he led them to an escape route, in barrels down a river. However, they were soon stopped by the gate of the river being closed and they all packed up together, before they were suddenly attacked by an array of orcs! The dwarves were sitting ducks as Elves and Orcs fought all around them, and looking around things seemed to be falling in favour of the orcs, until Thorin and Balin, who were blocked up against the gate, saw a flash of black and suddenly extra arrows were flying through the air, taking down orcs that got too close to the dwarves. All of the dwarves smiled in relief as they noticed the hooded figure that fought for them.

"Go Phoenix!" Nori shouted as he watched Phoenix cut down an orc with her swords, before she hit two more with an arrow. Thorin's heart was in his mouth as he watched her, she was so fluid, managing to avoid attacks whilst hitting all of her targets, and he then heard Fili's voice.

"Kili!" Fili shouted, his voice full of concern and Thorin turned just in time to see his youngest nephew get struck in the leg by an arrow and Kili hit the floor with a cry of pain.

"Kili!" Phoenix shouted, and this proved to be a bad thing as an orc suddenly came at her, but she managed to fight it off and she threw its body into the water.

Suddenly Phoenix was confronted by both the blonde and the red haired elf and they both aimed their bows and arrows at her instead of the onslaught of orcs.

"Dartha eno perhên." The blonde sneered.

"Tye gar na cared tyalië o nin." She told them, before she took a knife from her belt and threw it at an orc that was just about to cut off the blonde elf's head.

The two elves in front of her were almost stunned that she would even save them, and when they looked back at her, they found her gone, fighting orcs as the black haired dwarf threw himself down into the barrel the blonde held onto for him. Yet his cry of pain caused Tauriel to stop and her eyes searched for him and she saw him in pain, but she did not know why, all she knew was that she had to help him. So she watched as the dwarves were swept away by the water and Phoenix followed them, jumping straight back over the wall and she followed her, both of them landing in a forward roll on the floor, before they got up and started fighting. The dwarves watched in amazement when they could, Phoenix and this redhead moved almost as one, like they had fought in battles or trained together before! The dwarves were not exactly defenceless either, as they were able to grab any weapon that they could get hold of and they used it to their advantages, killing any orc that they came across who was about to attempt to kill them. Suddenly the elves could go no further and Thorin grabbed hold of a rock, stopping himself from moving.

"Phoenix, come on!" He shouted to her as he watched her stop and look over at him.

"I'll catch up!" She shouted to him, before she was grabbed around the neck by an orc and thrown into a rock, before the same orc pinned her there. Phoenix tried to break free with a knife from her waistband, slashing at the creature as hard as she could, before she used the rock that she was against to rip one of her gloves off and put her hands to its face. At her touch, the creature was screaming in agony, before Phoenix cut off its head and kicked its body into the water.

"I love you." She heard Thorin shout, before his strength gave in and he was washed away with the rest of the company, floating downstream.

"I love you too." She whispered as she watched them disappear down the stream, and she saw Tauriel and the blonde elf finishing off the last of the orcs, so taking her chance, she followed her dwarves, running alongside the river and soon she was gone.

Translation

Nín hír, inyë gar sarch siniath, Phoenix thia an gar dandol an tye arther : My lord, I have grave news, Phoenix seemed to have come back to your realm

Dartha eno perhên : Remain still halfbreed

Tye gar na cared tyalië o nin : You have to be making game of me