Daily routine came over Bree and also Thorins house. The men of Bree had gotten used to the dwarven family and had accepted them into their society without questioning. Thorin knew that he also had to thank Dorn and Elsa for this, they had only spread good things about the dwarves in the smithy. Three weeks had passed since Dis and Dwalins arrival and while Thorin and Dwalin had almost finished half the weapons for the towns guard, Brann, Dis and the three dwarflings spend alot of time with Elsa and her daughters. Elsas daughters adored Fili and Kili and mostly also dragged Dwana along with them to play or to visit the market. Dwana was still very silent and did not warm up to Brann. Brann had teased Thorin about the obvious crush Dwana seemed to have on him, but in reality she hoped that the young dwarf girl would not get an even worse crush or even more worse - fall in love. She had not talked to Dwalin about it, mostly because he as the girls father would just push her further towards Thorin if he said something against her crush.

During that last week the attacks on the villagers around Bree became more frequent. Orcs and Wargs had attacked merchants and travellers on the roads and the rangers had their hands full with fighting the filth back from the borders. Brann had more and more patients and one day the ranger who had laid an eye on Brann fell under her care. He was dragged in by one of his comrades, bleeding from a deep gash in his side. He was unconscious, but his comrade told Brann that the medical house in the city was full and that they had been told to come to her. Frowning at the ranger Brann only needed a second to recover from her shock and then her healer instincts kicked in and she tended to the rangers wounds. He had lost alot of blood, but the wound was not infected. Brann told Dwana to keep an eye on him while she went to the smithy to tell Thorin about their guest. Thorin was furious at first, but Brann reminded him of his promise. Thorin had promised her to control his temper and that he would not harm the ranger if he came near them. Grinding with his teeth Thorin accepted the presence of the wounded ranger, but he told Dwalin to have an eye on him every second of the day. And that he had. The ranger awoke in the evening, thrilled to be under Branns care, but then he paled as he saw the huge dwarf with the mohawk at his bed, staring at him with a vigilant glare.

'May I introduce you to Master Dwalin?' Brann introduced the dwarf. 'He will assist me while I take care of your wounds.'

The ranger only grumbled his reply and laid back down, not daring to even look at Brann. Although she was happy about the fact that Dwalins presence seemed to daunt the ranger, Brann shook her head at his behaviour. The ranger was a coward who rather spoke of action than taking some. As soon as he was confronted with someone of his strength he did not dare to oppose them. Brann took the chance to look at the ranger closely. He was tall and had dark hair reaching his shoulders and nearly black eyes. She could understand that he had no trouble in charming women, but Brann only had eyes for her husband. As Thorin came in from the forge Brann smiled at him warmly and kissed him so that the ranger could see. Dwalin smirked as the rangers expression grew dark at the obvious show of affection between Thorin and Brann. Thorin slowly parted from his wife and pointed at the rangers wound.

'How did that happen?' he asked, avoiding a death glare and diverting his thoughts from punching the ranger into mulch.

'My rangers and I rushed to the aid of the Shirefolk beyond the Brandywine river. It froze this winter and orc filth have attacked the peacefull halflings living there.' the ranger told them and took a glance at Brann to see if his brave behaviour might attract her attention. But he got Dwanas attention instead.

'Halflings?' she asked the man. 'Are they like...half a man?'

'They are probably as tall as the wee fellow over there.' the ranger told her and pointed at Fili. 'They are a gentle, kind and soft folk. Very peaceful and unarmed. The orcs killed quite a few of them before we could fight them back. A shame really. They fought bravely, but scythes, shovels and gardening tools are no serious weapons.'

'How could they survive until now without being able to defend themselves?' Dwana asked the ranger with growing interest.

'The river usually is a natural protection for the Shire. It is only possible to cross it over a ferry. Now that the river froze the orcs and wargs passed easily.' the ranger seemed content that at least Dwana and the dwarflings were listening to his information with big eyes. The adults did listen to him, but they were deaf for his own personal achievements.

'How many orc did you kill?' Fili asked him curiously.

'I do not know. Maybe twenty.' the ranger shot a death glare at Dwalin who had snorted at his answer.

'Unca Thorin twohundred!' Kili barged in and nodded at Thorin who frowned at this information.

'Really?' the ranger cocked his eyebrow at Thorin. 'The only dwarven warstory I heard of is the battle at Azanulbizar. A great battle, though with grievious loss on the side of the dwarves. You must be skilled warriors indeed if you even survived that battle. Or you were lucky. Do blacksmiths even fight at the first lines?'

Thorin and Dwalin exchanged a look and decided not to tell the ranger anything from their past.

'You must be hungry. Let me get you something to eat.' Brann had seen the uneasy expression on Thorins and Dwalins face. 'And you two rascals, stop wearing our guest.'

Brann shooed the two dwarflings to the kitchen and made them set the table. As she looked back she could see the dark glares between the ranger and the two male dwarves.

'You must get this man out of your house immediately.' Dis whispered into her sister in laws ear. 'He will cause trouble.'

The ranger was recently talking to Dwana, who seemed completely captured by their guest. Brann could see the same gleam in Dwanas eyes like when she had looked at Thorin weeks ago. It gave her a headache. That dwarf girl had a terrible taste in men...well as far as the ranger was concerned. It was obvious that the girl had grown up without a father. She was adoring men who were had a special aura about them, an aura of leadership and strength. Just that in the case of the ranger she was falling for his appearance. Dwana needed a father figure in her life - or even better - she needed her real father. Brann decided to speak with Dis about it. Maybe she would know how to talk to Dwalin without making him lock his daughter into their room forever.

'Dwana has a new crush as it seems.' she silently told her sister in law who nodded.

'And I thought the crush on Thorin was the worst that could happen.' Dis murmured.

'Dwalin needs to keep an eye on her. She seems to fall for every man she sees.' Brann muttered and frowned as the ranger made Dwana laugh.

'She is a teen, Brann. Teens have crushs. Its the hormones going crazy. Dwana is in the middle of that right now. And the dwarves stamina is remarkable with male and females...but I am sure that you know that already.' she blinked at Brann who blushed.

'Her hormones will get her into trouble.' Brann insisted. 'That man is dangerous and she knows it.'

'Maybe its exactly this which attracts her to him.' Dis whispered back. 'We should keep an eye on her. And I will try to talk to Dwalin.'

Brann nodded thankfully and turned around to bring the ranger his stew. 'Are you able to walk already?' she asked him and frowned as he shook his head. 'We do not have much space in our home and the medical house surely has a bed for you to recover.'

Before the ranger could answer Dwana stepped in. 'You cannot be serious! He is injured. You are a healer, how dare you throw him out of this house?'

Her words would have been easy for Brann to ignore if Dwana wouldn´t have hit a nerve. She was a healer and it was her duty to tend to the wounded. Brann looked at Thorin for help and the dwarf frowned at the situation. He did not like it, but it would be dishonorable to throw the man out in his current condition.

'You can sleep in the forge. It is warm in there and there is a wooden bench.' Thorin himself had slept there during their first nights in Bree.

The ranger nooded grimly. 'Thank you, master dwarf. And thank you for the support mylady.' he told Dwana and kissed her hand, making her blush. He immediately let go of the dwarf girls hand as Dwalin growled at him menacingly. Dinner passed silently.

Afterwards Brann and Dis cleaned up while Dwalin and Thorin were helping the ranger to lay down in the smithy. Dwana followed them unrequested, but returned shortly after her father ordered her to go back. As she snapped at Kili for no reason at all and made the small dwarfling cry Brann had enough.

'Do not take your bad mood out on Kili, do you hear me?' she snarled at Dwana, towering her. 'I have had enough of your behaviour, young lady.'

'Do not "young lady" me!' Dwana snarled back. 'You are not my mother!'

'Thank goodness!' Brann bit her tongue the moments the words were out, but it was too late. The young dwarfs eyes filled with tears, both of anger and sadness, and Dwana turned on her heels and slammed the door shut behind her.

Brann just sat down on the bench in the kitchen and covered her face in her hands. 'My goodness, what have I done? How could I have said such a horrid thing?'

'You snapped, sweetheart.' Dis shoved Kili into Filis arms and went over to Brann. 'Dwana needs a hard hand. She provoked you for weeks now. I was already wondering when you would burst.'

'But thats no excuse for snapping at her that way. I hurt her feelings and she did not deserve that.' Brann sighed. She walked to Dwanas room and wanted to knock, but she was held back by Dis.

'It won´t have any use.' Dis told Brann and lay her arm around her soothingly. 'Try to talk to her tomorrow when you both have calmed down. I will talk to Dwalin tonight.'

Brann only nodded and went to her room. She was beyond tired and needed some fresh air. She opened the window and stared into the clear sky. Feeling strong arms around her waist she first jumped, but then quickly relaxed against her husbands chest.

'We seem to become more and more alike.' Thorin whispered into her ear. As Brann turned to him with a questioning look he grinned. 'We both seem to speak to fast sometimes.'

Brann sighed and laid her forehead against his. 'She will never forgive me for these words.'

'She will.' Thorin assured his wife and kissed her forehead. 'Dwarves are hotheads. But they do not linger on words thrown at them in the past.'

'Lets hope so, by Durin.' Brann sighed again and tried to forget this awful day in the arms of her husband.

The next morning Dwana was already up, preparing breakfast. Brann cocked her eyebrows at that, but soon realised that the young dwarf girl wanted to show her good qualities to their guest. Even Thorin noticed her odd behaviour and frowned deeply as Dwana set the table, humming softly.

'She never did that for me.' he joked and tried to losen the strained atmosphere.

'Not funny, husband.' Brann glared at him, but gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek. 'You are all mine, don´t forget that. Yes, you´re not the only possessive one around here.'

Thorin grinned at Brann and squeezed her behind before he rushed over to Dwana who was about to carry the tray of food to their guest in the smithy.

'He will eat here with us, there is no need to bring this to him.' he reassured the young dwarf who only took back the tray grumbling. Dwalin got up to get the ranger and soon the group of dwarves and men sat around the kitchen table, eating silently. Dis was the first to speak.

'How are you feeling today?' she adressed the ranger and smiled politely.

The ranger only nodded and muttered his reply. 'My wounds are healing fast, thank you. Lady Brann has magic hands.'

He did dare to glance at Brann, but the death glares of Thorin and Dwalin made him look back onto his plate immediately. Dwana frowned at the scene. This was the second man who was after the human woman. First Thorin, then the ranger. She looked at Brann and wondered what was so attractive about her. Brann was slim, so slim that a strong dwarf like Thorin could actually break her in half if he wanted to. She had only soft curves and most of them were covered when she wore her hair open. The big brown eyes and the sensual lips made her face look somewhat beautiful, but the innocent aura of the healer made Dwana sick. She strongly disliked the woman who hid her strong character behind a weak fassade. After breakfast Dwana tried to avoid Brann, but the older woman looked forwrad to reconcile with Dwalins daughter.

'Dwana, may I have a word with you?' Brann asked her softly and pointed to the porch where they could talk in private.

'Fine.' Dwana sneered and stomped out, followed by Branns light footsteps.

Brann needed a second to think about her choice of words, but Dwana did not let her begin.

'If you want to apologise, do it quick. We both have work to do.' Dwana told her arrogantly and smirked as she saw the temper flash up in Branns eyes.

'I do wish to apologise. For my choice of words that is.' Brann clenched her jaw. 'But I will not apologise for my behaviour yesterday. You are feeling miserable and you lash out at the people who try to help you.'

'And these people are?' Dwana asked her ignorantly. 'My mother was the only person who ever loved me. And she is gone. Never to come back.'

'I am so sorry for your loss.' Brann assured her, but Dwana snorted. 'But you still have your father and our family. We are all here for you.'

But Dwana got more and more furious the longer Brann spoke. 'You are not my family. And my father was never interested in me - or my mother. I have no one!'

With a hateful glare towards Brann the young dwarf stormed of and ran down the streets towards the gate. Brann ran back to the house, grabbed her cloak and ran after her. Thorin and Dwalin were already in the smithy and Dis was busy with Fili and Kili. Nobody saw her leave.

'For the love of Durin, that brat!' Brann cursed and followed Dwanas heavy footsteps in the streets of Bree. She did not notice a dark figure following her. As she turned around the corner to the gate she saw Dwana exit it an run into the nearby forest. She wanted to follow, but one of the rangers guarding the gate held her up.

'You are the blacksmiths wife aren´t you? How is my comrade doing?' he asked her and hold her back. Brann struggled, but Dwana was already gone in the dark of the forest.

'Your comrade is doing fine.' she muttered hastily. 'Please let me go, the young dwarf who just past the gate is out there all alone, I have to get her back!'

'I would suggest you stay here, the forest is no place for a woman.' the ranger did not let go of her arm.

'The dwarf out there is merely a girl! She is upset and ran away, I need to get her back!' Brann struggled against the rangers grip. He released her, but only to let her stumble backwards into the arm of the ranger who had been Branns patient. His eyes gleamed dangerously as he wrapped his arms around Brann, who panicked.

'There, there, my beauty. I will go with you and we will find your little dwarf girl.' he told her gently, but the cold in his eyes betrayed him. Brann was trapped. She could not leave and the worry for Dwana was bigger than the fear for her own safety. Swallowing hard she nodded and walked out of Bree at the rangers side. The looks of the other rangers followed them and Brann knew that she could not await their help. They probably had bets running for when their comrade would make her his. Eyeying the ranger suspiciously she noticed that he was still limping, the wound at his side still hurting. Brann felt Thorins dagger inside of her coat. She was not defenseless.