Dis walked over to the men from Dunland and Brann joined the delegation of dwarves from the east, the Blacklocks. Their leader was as old as Thengel and Denethor were young and eyed Brann with the look of a grandfather looking at his granddaughter.

'Finally, I lay my old eyes on the queen of the Blue Mountains!' he remarked with a smirk. 'Ravin, at your service.'

'Brann, at yours.' Brann bowed in respect. She instantly like the old dwarf.

'Brann...it means "raven" in the language of north Dunland, is that correct?' lord Ravin asked.

'That is correct.' Brann was surprised that the dwarf knew the meaning of her name and that he knew where she was from. But of course, the lord probably had his ways of knowing.

'The dwarves of Erebor and the great ravens of the mountain have an alliance since King Thror. The ravens carried the messages from the mountain through all of Middle Earth in exchange for glittering jewels. Their alliance was a meaningful and important one, like yours and king Thorins.' the old dwarf stated as a matter of fact.

Brann had never seen it that way, she had never paid attention to the meaning of her name and the meaning it could have combined with the dwarves. But she liked the good omen her name meant together with the dwarves of Erebor and now the Blue Mountains. The old lord smiled as he saw Branns dreamy expression.

'I figured that you might like this special connection, my queen.' he stated amused and made Brann smile brightly.

Lord Mara and his wife were frowning deeply as they saw that Brann was talking to the dwarves from the east and seemed to be accepted without any further ado. The old lord of the eastern dwarves showed respect and sympathy towards the human queen and lady Asif snarled.

'This woman is a threat. A threat to us and the unity of the dwarven kingdoms.' she whispered into her husbands ear.

'The queen will not be here forever. Sooner or later, she will die. Of old age or by accident. We need to be patient.' lord Mara whispered back. ' I hear that she is taking weapons training now. Maybe one day we will meet her with a weapon in her hand and that will be her downfall. No human healer will be able to fight against a fully trained dwarf.'

While Mara and his wife plotted against Branns life Thorin was speaking to the mayor of Bree and the king of Rohan who were both threatened by the growing orc threat. Nobody understood why there were so many orcs and goblins in Middle Earth all of a sudden, but all agreed that there had to be something done about it. It was decided to form a council with all delegations the next day to discuss the necessary precautions. But for the evening, the dwarves and men were to enjoy a merry and delightful dinner.

The food was ready and the guests started to plunder the buffet. Brann and Dis walked to the tables full of food as lady Asif and her ladies cut into the line in front of them. Dis was about to go ballistic, but Brann silently asked her to remain calm. The lady from Ered Luin was not worth the trouble. Lady Asif was loudly talking in khuzdul about Durin and about the legend that every dwarf knew.

'The great lord Durin was the one forged without a partner. He chose his wives from the other dwarven houses and with every reincarnation he chose wiser. His last wife was from Ered Luin, a dwarf of noble blood and rich culture. Like my Dara.' Asif had no idea that Brann actually understood what she was saying and thanks to Dis she also knew about the legend of Durin, who was resurrected every few centuries and bonded with dwarf women from all the lines, while the forefather of the other dwarven houses mostly married in their own line. Brann knew that the kings of Durins Folk were often seen as the reincarnation of Durin I.

Brann decided that she needed to go to war, just not with a sword, but with her intelect. 'Durin married a dwarf out of every dwarven line already. It seems that he is free to chose to marry whoever he wishes now, since his duty is done.'

Lady Asif as well as every dwarf in the vicinity froze as they heard the queen of the Blue Mountains speak the secret language of the dwarves. While the dwarves of the Blue Mountains and the dwarves from the east acknowledged her skill and bowed their heads in respect, lady Asif cried out.

'A sacrilege! This woman from the race of men dares to speak our sacred language!' she shrieked, but was silenced as Dis rushed forward menacingly.

'Hold your tongue, Asif.' she forgot to use the ladys title on purpose.

'I am the queen of the Blue Mountains and I will do anything in my power to support the interests of my people. And exactly how am I supposed to do that without the knowledge of their language?' Brann asked lady Asif politely, only her eyes betraying her anger. 'But why am I telling you this? You are no queen, nor will you or your daughter ever be. There is no need for you to know how to behave royaly. Now, would you excuse us, you are holding up the line.'

Lady Asif was left at the side, stunned beyond repair. Dis could not hide a wide grin and the dwarves in the vicinity bowed their head to their queen as she passed them. Once again, the dwarves of Ered Luin had underestimated the human queens wit and had payed for it. Thorin was standing with the men of Bree and Rohan and had witnessed the glares between Asif and Brann from across the room. Worrying about his wife he wanted to walk over and talk to Brann, but he was held back by Denethor, who joined the group, laughing loudly.

'You have gotten yourself one wildact of a queen, king Thorin.' he exclaimed amused and told Thorin what had happened. Soon, the men as well as Thorin were smirking or laughing at Branns words towards the arrogant dwarf lady. Thorin was incredibly proud that Brann had stood her ground and would have loved to take her into his arms right away. He decided that he would strengthen his obvious love to Brann in public this evening. But at first he had to talk to his wife.

'I want to tell.' Brann jumped as Thorin sneaked up behind her and whispered into her ear.

'You want to tell what? To whom?' she asked and smiled lightly as his breath tickled her neck.

'I want to tell them that we are pregnant.' Thorin smirked against her skin.

'We? We are pregnant? I am pregnant, my love.' Brann chuckled. 'Are you sure that you want to announce it now? There is still so much that could happen in this early state of pregnancy.'

'I know.' Thorins heart wrenched only at the thought of any danger for Brann and their unborn child. 'But they are all here and we have this celebration. Might as well use the opportunity?'

Brann looked at her husband for a short while and then nodded. Thorin was right, they had to declare it anyway and Durins Day was a great opportunity. Dis clapped into her hands in excitement.

'That will kill that arrogant Asif and her dwarves!' she grinned and reminded Brann of her sons when they planned some mischief. 'Wait until she drinks, brother, I want to see her choke on her ale!'

Brann grinned at Thorins sisters mean streak and turned around to watch for Dwana. She sudenly realised that she had not seen her courtlady all evening since they had entered the dining hall. Young Thorin was also not there with his parents. Brann excused herself and strode through the hall in search of Dwana as she ran into Denethor.

'Are you looking for someone?' the young lord asked politely.

'I am looking for my courtlady.' Brann told him and looked up at the tall man.

'The one with the interesting haircut?' Denethor asked and made Brann nod with a smile. 'If I had a daughter with such an haircut I would lock her into her room until the hair grows back.'

'Then I wish you to only become sons, my lord.' Brann stated amused and continued to look for Dwana, since Denethor did not seem to know where she was either. Brann wondered where Dwana and Thorin might be until she knew. She walked down to the arena and heard weapons clash together as soon as she entered the huge training hall. As she walked around the corner, she saw Dwana and Thorin fight in the small arena, with axe and sword.

'Whoa there, woman!' Thorin exclaimed as Dwanas axe swung over his head missing only by a few inches. 'I do not want a new haircut.'

'You could use one though.' Dwana smirked and continued swinging at Thorin who had his difficulties defending himself from the blows. Both did not notice Brann who leaned against the pillar and watched in amusement. After a few moments Dwanas axe and Thorins sword collided and got stuck and the two young dwarves were getting close in the attempt of getting their weapons free. For a short moment Brann hoped that Thorin would lean forward and give Dwana a kiss, but he pulled back in the last second. Rolling her eyes Brann decided to barge in, since the moment was ruined anyway.

'What do you think you are doing?' Brann asked and tried to look stern. 'Why aren´t you two at the feast? And training in your gown, Dwana? You could have ruined your dress!' In reality Brann did not give a damn, but the two youngsters needed a bit of discipline, since they had sneaked away from the celebrations.

'Forgive me, my queen, I have invited Dwana to train a bit down here since her presence was not needed.' Thorin apologised and bowed deeply before Brann.

'Since when is it your decision wether she is needed or not?' Brann continued teasing the young dwarf, who blushed under Branns scolding. 'And speaking of training - I just watched by courtlady trimming your beard with her axe, maybe you should keep up your own training.'

With a grin Brann blinked at Thorin and gestured Dwana to follow her up to the dining hall. Thorin Stonehelm followed them after he frowned at Branns obvious teasing.

The rest of the evening passed without any further complications and Dwana nearly choked on her food as Dis told her about the incident with lady Asif at the buffet. As Dis told her that Thorin planned to tell everyone that he and Brann awaited a child Dwana started bouncing on her seat in excitement to see lord Maras and lady Asifs reaction. At midnight Thorin stood up to make his declaration.

'Dear invited guests, dear friends, I hope that all of you enjoy this evening and the merry gathering. My people and I are honored to celebrate Durins Day at the side fo so many friends and allies. This evening shall mark an important step concerning our future. Not only shall we incure new possible trading routes, but also join in arms against the foul creatures which swarm our roads and threaten our people. And speaking of a bright future, I am proud to announce that my queen and I just made an attribution to the future of our people. I am happy to announce that my dear queen is with child. Please raise your glasses and celebrate this joyous news with me and my wife!'

The dining hall errupted with cheers and applause and Thorin smiled at Brann who had blushed deeply red at his announcement. Congratulations were shouted through the room, Dain beeing the loudest. Dis glanced at the delegation from Ered Luin and grinned as she saw lord Mara and his wife pale. Lady Asif did indeed choke on her ale and Dis could not help but grin at her with open triumph. For the next long moments Brann almost went down dizzy from all the good wishes and huggs which went her way. Dain and Mya were the first to congratulate them personally and Mya could not help but sneer at the delegation from Ered Luin.

'A shame that their daughter was not here to hear it from Thorin personally.' she remarked dryly and Brann chuckled.

'That would have been worth an invitation.' Brann agreed and hugged Mya tightly. 'But I am sure she´ll know first thing tomorrow. Her father has his spies everywhere. They´re not as good as master Nori, but they´ll carry the news to Ered Luin.'

'Congratulations, king Thorin, queen Brann! I see you have wasted almost no time!' the old dwarf from the eastern clan rushed towards them and patted Thorins shoulder. Thorin and Brann exchanged uneasy glances, both thinking about how their relationship started, but smiled at the old dwarf. 'A dwarfling is our hope for the future! May yours be prosper!'

'Thank you, my lord.' Brann smiled at the old dwarf, as he took her hand and squeezed it.

'Do you have any names, yet?' king Thengel and lord Denethor approached and both patted Thorins shoulder. Brann wondered if men tended to congratulate themselves that way or to wish their pals good luck.

'We just learned it ourselves.' Thorin stated and looked at his wife lovingly.

Behind their backs lady Asif whispered into her husbands ear. 'Have you heard? The pregnancy has just happened. Things can still go wrong.' Suddenly, she shrieked and jumped up, one streak of her hair on fire. Nori appeared behind her as if out of nowhere and dumped a bucket of water over her head. Nobody knew where he got that water from that quickly.

'You should be careful, my lady.' he tilted his head at her. 'There are so many candles on the table and in your conversation with your husband you must have leaned into one.'

There was no candle even close to lady Asifs hair on that table, but barely anyone noticed. Most people did not pay any attention to the couple from Ered Luin who quickly retreated to their chambers for the rest of the evening without congratulating Thorin and Brann. But the happy royal couple could care less. They were happy.

In the next morning, Thorin rolled over in bed with a groan. He could not recall drinking so much ale the last night, but his head was killing him. It was not the first time that he thanked Mahal on his knees that there was no sunlight inside of the mountain to wake him up in an even more painful way. He groaned again as he heard Branns quiet chuckle as he rolled out of bed.

The council of men and dwarves held a meeting after lunch, giving most of them the chance to sober up. Trading routes between the lands were established and contracts signed. Towards the evening the topic of armed support came up.

'Why should we send our soldiers to the aid of Bree or Rohan?' lord Mara stated surprised. 'What do we owe the men? And what would we even get in return?'

'The orcs attack the lands of men because of the long and costly war with the dwarves. They do not dare attacking your mountains and fortresses and fear your wrath. So they turn to the lands less protected.' king Thengel remained calm. 'Our lands are wide and our people live spreaded out in small villages. Most of our people are farmers, they need their land and their crops. We do not have the means to defend all of our people.'

'That is not our problem.' lord Mara said coldhearted and crossed his arms over his chest.

'It should be our problem, lord Mara.' Thorin stated, barely containing his anger. 'The orcs attack our allies and trading partners, that means they will also attack our trading caravans. The roads are not safe and the orc filth gets more bold with every successful attack they run. Soon, they will turn against us again. We have to stand our ground against them. Together.'

'Wise words, king Thorin.' the old dwarf from the east nodded. 'I would send troops as reinforcements immediately, unfortunately my people have to fight the threat from the Easterlings at the borders of our lands. I cannot spare any soldiers of mine.'

Thorin nodded and looked at the giant map which had been placed on the table. 'Gondor is threatened by Mordor and Harad, and our eastern kin from the Easterlings. Rohan, Bree and Dunland are threatened by orcs from the Misty Mountains. That leaves the Blue Mountaing, the Iron Hills, Ered Luin and Tharbad.'

'We will support our allies against the Easterlings with our army.' Dain assured the council. 'Every other land is beyond our military reach.'

'Gondor can fight. We just can´t spare any troops.' Denethor remarked.

'Rohan, Dunland and Bree need to be secured.' Thorin mused. 'The Blue Mountains can only spare a few soldiers.'

'We only have ships and our townsguard.' the lord of Tharbad shook his head. 'And the attacks by pirates increase. We need every man.'

Lord Mara of Ered Luin remained silent, much to Thorins dismay. Ered Luin was unthreatened and could spare a few soldiers. But lord Mara would not lead his people into battle for others. He was about to openly challenge Mara as his father looked at the map.

'Dark powers grown in Middle Earth.' he stated sadly. 'The free lands are overrun by waves of dark creatures. First the dragon takes Erebor and we lose our kingdoms in Gundabad and Khazad Dûm. The orcs and goblins have recovered from their loses in the past and have awaken in newfound strength. Something is happening. Something that is beyond our understanding.'

'Fate changes, lord Thrain.' king Thengel remarked. 'We have lived in peace for hundreds of years and now we have to fight for our peace again.'

The lords nodded in agreement. 'We can establish a system of beacons and bonfires to warn each other from coming attacks.' Thengel suggested. 'That way we can sent our soldiers where they are needed when one of us is in danger.'

'That is an excellent idea.' Thorin and the other lords nodded.

'I will see to it that the bonfires are positioned.' Denethor stated. 'I suggest to line them along the White Mountains, from Amon Dîn, over Eilenach, Nardol, Erelas, Min-Rimmon, Calenhad, Halifirien and further into the East? We could build more along the mountains east of Dunland. Between Dunland and Bree we could build a handful of towers, since there is only plain land.'

'Every land can send people guarding the bonfires and announce the attack by lightning them.' Thengel stated and looked at the other lords. All of them nodded, with the exception of the lord from Ered Luin. With a grim expression Thengel sat down again and notice the death glare Thorin send towards the lord of Ered Luin. This was not good. But at the end of the day the council had worked out a strong defense plan, which would be established as soon as possible.