Chapter 13

The next morning seemed no different than any other morning. The sun rose, the birds sang, the towns people went about their daily chores as they prepared for another day. However, in the home of the royal family the mood was quite different. The halls were silent and empty as the guards went down to prepare the arena for the duel that was about to take place. The king sat in his room staring out the window as the hour grew near. The prince had mysteriously disappeared before the sun had been seen above the trees. And two warriors were in their room, preparing for a battle that could change everything.

Thorin stared into a large mirror that stood at the far end of his room. His sleep had been plagued with nightmares; images of the forest on fire and the sounds of women and children screaming in pain as a dark shadow covered The Cross Roads. A sword the guards had given him was sitting on the bed, along with some armor they had loaned him.

"May I come in?" Thorin turned to see Annodred in the door way. He stepped into the room with a big grin on his face; his arms were bent behind his back as though he was holding something large.

"I see the guards brought you equipment for today," the dwarf nodded as he went and picked the sword up to look at it. It was not the greatest sword; it was a little dull on the edges and shorter than Thorin preferred, "Well, maybe you would prefer these instead."

Thorin stared in shock as the prince dropped on to the bed Thorin's sword, armor and furs. They had been taken from him when the elves had taken him prisoner; he never thought he would see them again.

"How?"

"Legolas owed me a favor and I figured you would rather use a sword you were familiar with than one you have never seen before," the prince smiled before bowing and exiting the room.

Annodred left the dwarf to his thoughts as he slipped down the hall and into his sister's room. He found her standing at the foot of her bed staring out the large window. Her dress fluttered around her as the morning wind blew in.

"Shouldn't you be about ready?" Annodred asked as he shut the door behind him and walked over to his sister, "Time is growing close."

Lothriel turned from the window, "Father says the elves are coming to watch?"

Annodred nodded his head. Both of them knew the elves had a lot invested in this fight. If the dwarf won everything the pair had been working toward went out the window. Their father had extra guards posted around the town in case the elf king got some violent thoughts against the fighters.

"You seem nervous, sis." Annodred sat down on the bed and picked up one of his sisters bracers. The dragon scales felt rough against his skin and seemed to glitter in the sun, "I don't think I have ever seen you nervous over a fight before."

Lothriel sighed. Truth was, she was nervous. There were stories that followed this dwarf as amazing as the ones that followed her. He had been the crowned prince of Erebor. He had fought of Azog the Defiler after his grandfather fell during the fight for Moria with nothing more than a sword and a tree branch.

"~For the first time, I am afraid to lose~," the elven words rolled off her tongue as the tears fell down before she could catch them. Annodred stood from the bed and embraced his sister as she cried.

"You both have much to fight for," he said against his sister's hair, "you both fight for freedom; which is more important that anything the elves fight for when they come to the arena. He fights for the freedom to be with his kinsmen and you fight for the freedom to make the choices you wish to make. There is no better thing to fight for."

Lothriel looked up at her brother, "I thought Father said that love was the greatest thing to fight for."

Annodred laughed, "Aye, love would be a pretty grand thing to fight for. But when love is not there, your freedom is what will keep you happy and safe."

"*Melin Muindor," Lothriel said as her brother left the room.

She donned her armor and looked in the mirror. The armor was loose on her. Each piece was designed to hide her curves and to make her look bigger than she actually was. She sighed as she put on her helmet, completing the look. In that moment The Princess of The Cross Roads, Lothriel disappeared and The Dragon Warrior, Fang Dragonshield took her place. She took one last deep breath and walked out of the room; ready for the challenge that awaited her.

*I love you, Brother