Not much to say on this one. And to my particular obsessed fan, yes there will be a violin scene coming soon.

Chapter 14 A Day of Rest

Thorin's body had been place on an altar of sorts in a large chamber that reminded Helena of the court room in the Harry Potter movie where he was on trial. The dais was in the middle of the room with a single staircase and all around the great room were bench seats carved from the stone of the mountain. Judging by the size of the room, they were pretty far underground. The only light came from some torches that hung on the columns around the chamber. Helena was currently standing at the base of the stairwell with Balin at her side. Fili had already come and gone, searching for a bed for some much needed sleep after her demanding him to do so.

"What is the place for?"

"It is the council room where we would meet to discuss various subjects."

Helena set a blank stare on Balin who was beside her. "Could you be anymore vague?"

The old dwarf merely smiled at her. "The matters that are discussed here are only to be heard by those of high rank, such as the King of Erebor and his heir, Lords and their confidants, and so on. As of right now, you have no position within the dwarf world other than Fili's fiancée."

She rolled her eyes. There were way too many rules about in this world about social standing. Although there was probably something similar in hers, it wasn't active in her society. Soft shuffling could be heard above them where Thorin was lain. "Is there someone else here?"

"Yes. Some of Dain's men, they are preparing his body for burial."

Humming in the back of her throat in acknowledgement, Helena proceeded up the stairs with Balin right behind her. It was a bit of a climb, exhausting her body even further as she hadn't rested since the end of the battle. When they reached the top, she took a deep breath to try and steady herself as her head spun. Quickly, Balin had a hand on her mid-back hold her place.

"You will be resting immediately after this. Fili barely approved of you staying here without him."

"You make it sound as though I need his permission for everything." She focused her gaze on the ground as she regained her balance, missing the look on Balin's face entirely. After another minute, Helena raised her eyes and saw two dwarf soldiers had been cleaning a partially undressed Thorin. They were standing almost as statues looking between her and Balin. "Did I break another rule?"

"Yes and no. Our women don't normally see any male other than her husband without clothes unless she is a healer."

"Well he's family and this isn't the first time." Helena waved her hand to the two still watching them. "Carry on." After a moment's hesitation, they obeyed and basically ignored the two visitors as they approached Thorin's side. Helena ran a finger over Thorin's hand and let out a shuddering breath. Tears formed at the corner of her eyes as she looked at his now peaceful face. "I should have been able to save him." The tears were now falling without check and splashing on the stone below.

"There was nothing that could be done, lass. You did what you could to ensure he would live. Besides, he would've been happier and proud that you saved his two nephews. Thorin lived long enough, there was happiness in his life, and unlike Fili, he never found his One. Had Thorin lived and Fili died, it would've torn him apart. It isn't like we will ever see him again."

Her chin was quivering in effort not to start wailing loudly. In that endeavor, she was unable to answer him. The soldiers worked around them as they stood there in silence, just looking at Thorin. "Come lass, you need your rest." With a hand still on her back, Balin steered her back to the stairs and kept it there as they descended. The walk back to the room was in silence as well until the older dwarf broke the quiet again. "May I ask for a favor?"

Still unable to bring herself to talk, Helena nodded.

"In one of our many discussions with Gavin, he mentioned once that at certain funerals someone would sing for the deceased. Would you consider doing so for Thorin, he always found peace in your voice." The last bit was added when Helena looked at him incredulously. "It isn't the norm for our people, but I think, just this once, it will be fine."

They arrived at the hallway leading to the room everyone was bunking in and paused their walk. "Will it be accepted since I am not one of you?"

"As far as I am concerned my dear, you are more dwarf than one could possibly be. Fili will be crowned and if they feel the need to argue, they will do so against the King of Erebor."

A faint smile graced Helena's lips and Balin steered her the rest of the way to the old dining hall. He led her to where Fili was sprawled out next to Kili's cot and Helena nearly fell in her weariness onto her One. As she all but collapsed next to Fili, his arms circled her immediately and pulled her onto his chest. She was asleep within seconds.

Gavin stretched out from the table he was laying on and turned his head to the left. From his spot, he could clearly see his sister and the brothers still passed out with the red head elf sitting cross legged near them sharpening her blades, her eyes flickering to the three sleeping as she continued with her task. Exhaling sharply, Gavin swung himself up and groaned. He was bruised, this he knew for certain now. How black and blue he was would have to wait until he could get to a shower. Bath. Whatever they had here. Rubbing the heels of his palms against his eyes, he unsteadily walked over to where had spotted a group of the dwarves eating in a corner.

"Glad to see you up and about, Master Gavin."

He stared at the dwarf and waited for his brain to catch up being awake. "Balin. Hello. What day is it? And is there food for me?"

"It is the next day, afternoon, and there is a little bit. Provisions are on their way from the Iron Hills."

A hunk of dried meat was offered up with a piece of tough bread. Whatever, he's had worse. Gavin took the offering and sat down with his back against the wall facing the others. "Has everyone else woken up except for those three?"

"Yes, the others are helping clean up the front entrance and settling in Dain's army that is staying for the winter. Should we wake them up?"

"Hm." Gavin looked back over at the three sleeping, and the Elf who was covertly watching them. "No. I can't even imagine the amount of energy that was spent to keep themselves up as long as they did." Before Helena had gone to see Thorin's body, he had pulled her aside to get a quick version of what had happened at Ravenhill. "She saved their lives with those flowers."

The others in the room looked to the ones still asleep in awe and placed their hands on their own respective flowers tuck away in their clothes. Helena had never explained what they were for, just insisted that they wear them; even sending her bird to make a last request before the battle started.

Speaking of, where was that bird? Gavin looked around the room wondering where the little robin had disappeared. He hadn't seen it since before the battle and Helena was rarely seen without the bird near her. His eyes flickered back to the elf when he caught her arm twitch and blinked at seeing Helena's bird perched on her knee with a knife raised slightly at its feathered chest. She seemed just as surprised as him to see the robin.

"I don't think she would appreciate you decapitating her friend."

Tauriel let the surprise she felt slide from her face and into a neutral expression. "Where did it come from?"

Gavin lifted a brow and her words garnered the attention of the others. "I'm assuming he flew."

A frown came across her features. "He didn't fly though, he appeared."

Blink. "What?"

"He just…showed up on my leg."

With a groan, Gavin set his food down, pushed himself to his feet, and walked over to them. "Birds just don't appear." The dwarves stayed seated at the table and watched while eating.

"Obviously."

Ignoring the dry tone, he extended his hand to the robin and the bird hopped/flew to his fingers and chirped at him. "Huh." Gavin looked at Helena who was still out like a light. Or was.

Helena woke with a sharp gasp and tried to sit up but Fili's arm kept her pressed against him. In her struggles, she ended up kicking him more than once. She pushed him away after he released her and sat up. Fili continued to sleep on, oblivious to the abuse that was just dealt to him. "Where's Daemyn?"

"You wake up after sleeping for hours and the first thing you think of is your bird." The half statement half question came from Gavin who was amused by her behavior.

She lurched forward at seeing her bird sitting on his hand. Cupping Daemyn between her hands, Helena cooed at him with apologies. The others watched somewhat bewildered. Her words could only be heard by Tauriel and Gavin who came to more of an understanding of her actions. The robin had been injured in his flight to find Helena and ended up injured, back in the land of the Valar with Vana to be healed. The bird escaped her hands and hopped up her arm to nestle at her neck next to her hair.

"Aren't you at all concerned for your fiancé or his brother?" Tauriel was the one to ask the question this time.

"I spoke to them already."

Her abrupt words had no effect on the two standing in front of her and Gavin only smiled as she laid back down, curling up on her side next to Fili's chest, and fell back asleep. Silence owned the room once more as the two stared down at Helena and the dwarves in the room looked at them in interest.

"Does this mean she won't be eating yet?" Ori asked to no one in particular.

"I 'spose not." Gavin shrugged, nodded to Tauriel and walked back over to his previous spot to pick up his food. "Is there a place I can clean up? Can't remember the last time I was clean."

Balin stood and waved a hand at him. "Come, there is a community bath on the lower levels."

"I don't suppose there are clothes here that would fit me? I only have the clothes I've traveled in."

"Don't think so lad. But if you want to wash them we can lay them out before the fire."

Gavin nodded. That could work, it wasn't like there were many women here at the moment. He followed the dwarf throughout Erebor, stopping by the room him and Helena had previously occupied before being led down into the lower caverns. There were no doors or actual rooms, just a large...cave basically Gavin thought to himself as he looked around, with an underground stream running through the room. The water itself looked to be crystal clear. Curious, he walked over and stooped down, running his fingers through the water. It was surprisingly warm. Not hot, but above regular body temperature.

"I will send someone to help you back in an hour." With those words, the elder dwarf left Gavin to his own devices.

Watching as Balin departed, he looked back at the water when he could no longer beseen and Gavin sighed. All he wanted was to dive in and swim around. But first things first, he rooted through the bag he had grabbed and found the clothes he could wash off to be dried and a pair of mostly clean trousers he could wear back. Gavin scrubbed and washed out the clothes the best he could with only the water from the river and wrung them out, setting them aside before stripping and wading into the water. The heated liquid felt like heaven on his sore body and he stayed in the river until Bofur and Bifur appeared to escort him back. Not minding the dwarves at all, Gavin left the water and dried himself off the best he could and donned his trousers. Placing the damp clothes over one arm and holding his bag in the other, Gavin looked at the two expectedly who were looking at him in interest.

"You don't have any other clothes Master Gavin?"

"Not at the moment. It isn't like there are any women or children here to see me and we are going back to the same room so I can hang my clothes up to dry."

Bifur turned to Bofur who cracked a smile at what his cousin said in Khuzdul. "How ever you wish to dress, my friend."

Gavin sent them a suspicious look but said nothing. "Let's go then, I prefer to have them dried sooner rather than later."

Still smiling, Bofur turned and the two led Gavin out of the maze of hallways and up to the main hall where the entrance was, leading the way to the room they had all claimed as theirs. Along the way, more than one dwarf stopped to stare and say something to the dwarf next to them as Gavin came near. He merely ignored them as he didn't know what they were saying and he had plans to find out. It was when they were in the middle of the hall did he stop upon hearing a voice he recognized and walked over to the destroyed entrance, the cold air biting at his bare skin.

"Bard." Gavin stopped his foot form taking another step. "And Sigrid. What are you two doing here?" While the question was directed at Bard, Gavin only had eyes for the young woman standing next to her father slightly slack-jawed and staring at him.

The bowman had to visibly shake himself from his astonishment at Gavin's appearance, the combination of being half naked and heavily tattooed made him pause in surprise. "We were hoping to take up the invitation we were given to be provided shelter here for the winter. The dwarves here have no knowledge of what I speak."

"Because we didn't tell them." Gavin murmured. His attention still on Sigrid who was now bright red and staring at her feet. He tore his eyes away from her to address Bard more specifically. They are asleep right now, but you and your daughter are welcomed to come speak to the others. Come, we were just headed that way." He gestured for them to proceed before him and Bard had to usher his suddenly shy daughter along and past the half-naked male near them. Bofur gave an evil smile at Gavin and him and Bifur once again took up the role as guides and led the way to their destination. Bard slowed his walk so he was next to Gavin.

"Are you in need of some clothes?"

"I have some, but they were just washed" Gavin said this as he raised the arm holding said clothes. "But that is about all I have. Ergo, my state of dress."

If the latin word went over Bard's head, he didn't mention anything. "Would you like my coat for now?"

Gavin waved an arm at him and shook his head. "I'm fine. Unless you would prefer me to have something to cover me up?"

"Yes."

A deep chuckle from him had Sigrid looking back at Gavin and quickly looking away, but not before both males had noticed her eyes making a quick perusal of his torso.

Yes it is about to become very obvious that they like each other. One of these times I will go into detail about his tattoos.