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THE COURTSHIP OF THE SPARROW-HAWK
Chapter 14 – Removing the Chill
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"Orange Ocean (Loscil Remix)" Kodomo
Kili's heart had been pounding in his chest when Lady Bran had entered the dining room in that dress. Even minutes into the dinner conversation, Kili was struggling to keep his eyes trained on his plate.
It wasn't possible. It couldn't be that same dress. The one she'd worn on the day Bran had tried to persuade him to court her. Usually, the lasses held the power in marriage proposals and contracts, but as a Prince… well, it was more complicated. Although the neckline of that particular dress made it difficult to think clearly and the complications had been at the back of his mind.
Bran must have known how strong his reactions to that dress were because her eyes kept flitting toward him and the conversation kept prompting him to speak. He didn't want to. He couldn't. So, instead, he alternated between staring at his plate and glancing at Fili. Mahal, don't let my eyes wander in her direction, Kili pleaded silently. His brother's expression told him to be patient and he knew that Fili was keeping track of all the things happening at the table. But, orc spit, why didn't Fili just tell the witch off?
"The Lonely Mountain is full of possibilities," Bran said in reference to Fili's question about her purposes there. "I'm sure I can reconcile myself to one or the other."
And even though Kili didn't dare look in her direction, he knew that the Lady had been referring to Fili with that last jab.
Across the table from from Eila, Nur's hand clenched around a carving knife and Kili nearly smiled at the thought of his sister-in-law dismembering Lady Bran. At least then he wouldn't have to look at that sinful dress anymore.
Squirming in her seat, Eila was obviously unsettled, and Kili wished to Mahal he could have grabbed her hand and fled from the room. He allowed his mind to wander for a moment, imagining how he would have done it: First he would have stood up so fast that it would have knocked his chair over, then he would have scooped up Eila into his arms and kissed her in front of Bran so hard that she would have forgotten her own name. Just the thought of it brought him some comfort and he reached for Eila's hand beneath the table, awkwardly bumping into her thigh, as he couldn't see.
The poor lass was caught off-guard, jerking at the touch and he immediately withdrew his hand, apologetic at having startled her, and resumed his daydream:
He would have kicked Bran's chair over and tossed Nur the axe mounted on the wall, expecting that his brother's wife would have finished off Bran while he carried Eila through the mountain, shouting and declaring his love for her at the top of his lungs so that none would doubt—
And then suddenly a series of things happened all at once, spanning only a few moments, though the moments were key:
"Prince Kili—" Bran said through seductive lips.
Upon hearing his name, he instinctually turned his head to look at her. And instantly he was filled with regret.
"—was instructing me in the way of silver-smithing—"
Oh, Mahal, that cursedly low neckline! It still stirred the same response now as it had long ago!
"—and although he never finished those lessons—"
Under the table, Kili felt Eila's hand reaching for his. She must have realized that he was trying to comfort her earlier and was now reacting, but her hand overshot the target and accidentally fell into his lap instead.
"—I wonder if he'll take them up again."
Eila's head snapped to look at Kili with wide eyes, and he could see that she hadn't meant to grope him, but that she was definitely unsettled by what she'd felt there, his very clear response to Bran's low-cut dress and exposed flesh. Eila's beautiful, brown eyes looked at him in despair and betrayal, and his heart stopped in his chest.
Bran was speaking again. "I'm sure he has an ample hammer—"
Doubling over in her chair, Eila began to cough violently and Kili was about to stand up when Nur practically leapt out of her seat and pulled Eila from the room, leaving him and his brother alone with Lady Bran.
As much as Kili wanted to be angry with Bran, he was being overwhelmed with guilt over the look his wife had given him before disappearing with Queen Nur. Resting his elbows on the table, he took his face in his hands and prayed that Fili would banish the dwarf-woman.
When Fili did speak, Kili's ears were pounding with the sound of his own heart, and the words sounded light as a whisper. "Lady Bran, based on the skills I know you possess, you'd be fit for only one position in the kingdom."
"And that would be?" Kili barely heard her reply.
"The waste-mucker on the fifth level of the dungeons."
Kili didn't dare look up, didn't dare to attempt another glance in her direction, but he could vaguely hear her cool reply through his throbbing ears.
"My lord, I don't believe Erebor has five levels of dungeons."
"We don't," Fili replied. Kili could hear a chair move and assumed that his brother had risen to his feet. "But this is the title I would gift you with after you dig the fifth level out with your bare hands."
"I'm sure there are a few dwarves who would ensure I wouldn't have to endure that." Kili heard Bran say, just before he realized that it was her who had moved out of the chair, not Fili.
Just as Nur and Eila entered the room again, Bran lowered herself into Eila's chair. It was quick enough that the brothers hadn't been able to respond, but had taken just enough time to look as though she'd been sitting there for longer. Oh, that vile snake Bran…
Nur, taking command of the situation in a moment, hoisted Bran out of the chair and pressed Eila into it.
"I'm sure you'll excuse us, but I need to have a word with Lady Bran in private." The Queen growled before disappearing with Bran.
Fili was spitting out curses in the direction of the door, having stood to his feet with his hands clenched over the table. "Eila," He said gently, but firmly. "I need you to escort my brother to his room." His tone left no room for objections, either from her or Kili.
Nodding meekly, the brown-haired lass kept her eyes downcast but walked to alternate door in the room and waited for Kili to follow. He found he couldn't move under the weight of it all—the guilt at causing Eila pain, the disappointment he was certain his brother felt in him, the frustration that it had been Nur coming to Eila's rescue and not him, and the anger that Bran was able to stir up so much trouble.
But slowly he came to her, terrified at meeting Eila's gaze, though she kept her eyes down. They moved like ghosts through the doorway and down the dim hall, floating over the floor in silence and in the inward roil of fierce emotion.
After some time, Kili couldn't stand it and peeked at her, shuddering when he saw that far-away look in her eyes, and he dared for the second time that night to reach for her hand. This time he caught it, but she recoiled and held her breath.
No, he told himself, he'd had enough. Kili refused to be timid anymore that night and grabbed for her hand again, trying to turn her around to face him. Eila gasped and turned her head away from him, even when he took her by the shoulders and looked down at her.
"Eila, I'm sorry." He ground out, hands shaking as he gave her shoulders a squeeze. "I'm so sorry."
"Am I plain?" Eila whimpered in a weak voice.
Kili's eyes became wide. "What? What did you say?"
"Am I plain to look at?" Eila finally turned her head up to face him. He could see the workings of tears in her eyes. "Do I please you?"
"Eila," Kili hated the way her name sounded like a reprimand, but he didn't know how to answer such a question. "Of course you please me! No, you're not plain—why would you ask me that?"
Biting her lower lip, Eila started to shake under his hold. "You didn't pick me—I would understand—the council required you to marry—and then you found out about the scars and my father—and I'm not as beautiful as Br—"
"Don't!" Kili nearly shouted in her face, and he lowered his voice immediately. "Don't you dare say it! I won't have you comparing yourself to that blight on Durin's ground. Do you hear me? Don't you ever say that again." Eila was looking up at him with something akin to fear and Kili groaned, pulling her to his chest and cradling her with his arms. "Please. I'm sorry—Please, don't think that. Please, promise me you won't compare yourself to her."
Eila was trembling in his arms. "I promise," came her wavering voice. "Nur said that she thought I was strong, but I'm not. I should be resisting Bran's words, but I'm cowering in your arms instead."
"You're not a coward." Kili growled into Eila's hair. "And you are strong."
"Kili?" She looked at him with such vulnerability that it pierced his heart painfully. "Please, tell me the truth. Do… do you love me?"
"Eila," He moaned, squeezing his eyes shut and denying the wetness packing into the corners of them.
"Don't tell me what I want to hear. You can tell me that you don't." She said in a tone that had suddenly become numb-sounding.
Kili was beginning to feel faint as his legs started to buckle. Falling onto his knees in front of Eila, Kili gripped at her skirts with white knuckles, overwhelmed with exhaustion. It was difficult to breathe and his legs had abandoned him, but Kili wound his arms around Eila's hips and pressed his forehead against her belly. "Mahal, help me, but I love you more than my own life. If you asked me to leave everything—Erebor, my brother, my title—I would gladly do it. I love you, Eila."
She grasped for his hands and pulled them away from her waist and he thought that she meant to run away from him, but then Eila knelt down and moved her arms underneath his, pulling herself into his hold and crying softly into his chest.
Kili couldn't help the sigh of relief that left his lips and he ran his fingers soothingly at the back of Eila's hair. She knew he wasn't lying—Eila believed him when he told her he loved her.
"She won't bother you anymore." Kili promised, his anger finally winning out over his guilt. "I'll make sure of it."
"I'm not worried about myself." Eila whispered. "Kili?"
"Hm?"
Eila pulled her head away from his chest and looked at him with drooping lids. "I'm cold."
Slipping one arm under her knee and another arm around her waist, Kili gathered his wife into his arms and pulled her close against him, heading for the royal quarters.
"I'm heavy." Eila murmured into his chest, half-heartedly. "You don't have to carry me."
"You're not heavy." Kili answered back with a kiss to her forehead. Truly, she wasn't. He could have flung her over his shoulder and carried her up and down the staircases for hours with ease, but Kili was sure she wouldn't appreciate that. "Almost there."
Once in their bedchamber, Kili had been helping her into bedclothes when she'd insisted that there was only one way for a husband to properly warm a cold wife—and he'd made no objection.
A sleepy and sated sigh escaped Eila's mouth as her head rested against Kili's bare shoulder and he turned his head for one final look at his wife before drifting into slumber himself.
The torches and candles sat lifeless and the fireplace was empty—the only light coming from the window. Moonlight poured out over the bed and illuminated the pale flesh of Eila's soft body alongside his, and he wondered if he had ever seen anything so lovely or so comforting in all of his life. If Bran was a worldly beauty then Eila was ethereal! The rolling of her brown, wavy hair billowed out behind her and the flush of her cheeks and lips lent color to her smooth face. It was a treasure to be witness to so picturesque a moment and it gave Kili resolve.
Come morning, either Bran was leaving the mountain or Kili and Eila were going for a holiday until the awful Lady left. And Kili was certain that his brother would ensure the first option before the second.
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Another great song for this chapter is "Give Me Love" by Ed Sheeran, but I don't like
recommending listening music for reading when it has lyrics.
I missed Saturday's upload (and technically Sunday's), but I hope this chapter makes up for it.
Probably won't have an upload for Monday, but if not, then definitely Tuesday!
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Want a Kili and OC humorous parody? Try HOW TO WRECK A MARY SUE
Kili and Danika are tired of being pushed around in fan fiction stories and make a pact to defy writer's prompts, but do they have any idea what will happen if they don't play by the rules? Guest appearances from Luna Lovegood, The Doctor, Sherlock, and others!
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Want someKili/Tauriel romance/adventure? Try STARS AND HAMMERS
Fluff, Drama, Romance, Hurt/Comfort - This is a compilation of one-shots following Kili and Tauriel's one-year adventure as they accompany Bilbo back to The Shire (after the Battle of Five Armies) and then return to Erebor.
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Want some Fili/OC romance/adventure? Try GOLD AND FIRE
Fili and Nur marry in secret just before he leaves for Erebor, but what is a lonely wife to do while her husband is braving life and death for their future? Covers the Battle of Five Armies and afterward.Explanations for some of the actions within the movies as well as some behind the scenes! A sequel to GEMS AND POISON
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Want some Thorin/OC romance/angst?Try JEWELS AND DAGGERS
Just as Thorin becomes engaged to be married, the dragon attacks Erebor and all is thrown into chaos! Men with wicked intent take captive some of the wandering dwarves- will Thorin, Frerin, and Dwalin be able to rescue the enslaved dwarves, including Runa, Thorin's beloved?
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