Standard Disclaimers Apply.

Enjoy!

/Burn The Corks/

It was a few days after the "incident" at the banquet, where Sam had put Lord Iago in his place, thereby gaining herself some respect from the visiting dignitaries for her tact and courage (they had all introduced themselves to her with bows and polite words, rather than simply dismissing her as Thorin and Balin had feared they would), when she found herself in the unfortunate position of having to mediate negotiations between Bard, Thranduil, and Thorin.

Sam had shown restraint when dealing with Iago, settling for staring him down until he looked away, wary of causing a scene (and knowing Sam had far too many allies in the room to risk a more prominent confrontation), rather than giving him the verbal tongue lashing he deserved for speaking so blatantly and publicly against she and Burb.

Sam had seen a reason to maintain her decorum, especially because she was so nervous and had no idea how she would have handled an outright confrontation (something her family was glad did not happen for both her and Burb's sake), but she knew she would have another opportunity to really let the bugger have it, in a more private situation.

Which was why she saw no reason to restrain herself now, as she, Thorin, Balin, Thranduil, and Bard were in a private negotiation room.

Thranduil, still being in a slightly miffed mood from the "indignity" his son had suffered at the hands of Estel, but blamed on Gimli, (both Gimli and Legolas had squawked and fallen over when they had tried to leave the banquet table, soon yelling at each other for their predicament while Lord Elrond glared at Estel, everyone else trying to contain their laughter) was being entirely unreasonable.

The Elven King of Mirkwood kept slighting Thorin and only offering trade arrangements that would leave Dale and Mirkwood the far better off than Erebor, causing the two to bicker back and forth like children.

Not unusual for them, but still ridiculous.

Bard and Balin had given up trying to get the two to be reasonable, leaning back in their seats and sharing bemused and annoyed looks with each other as they watched the show, occasionally wincing at how loud Thorin and Thranduil were getting, and ignoring Sam's glare for having abandoned her to shut the two idiots up herself, something she was trying to figure out how to do as she leaned on the table with her head propped up on one hand, here eyes going back and forth with the bickering kings' words.

"You deserve no more-"

"My people deserve far more-"

"You greedy little-"

"Grrrr-you pompous, pointy eared, melodramatic-"

"Alright, shut the bloody hell up! Both of you!"

Both kings stopped talking simultaneously (Bard and Balin sighing in relief) before looking at Sam, Thorin looking far more contrite for their behavior than Thraduil, even as Sam glared at them both, saying," Alright you two, that is more than enough bickering, we need to actually get somewhere today with these negotiations lest we have wasted an entire day," she smirked and quirked an eyebrow at Bard and Balin before glancing back to the two kings that were always at odds," and embarrassed yourselves with so many important people around, who knows what they would think of you if they could hear you now, arguing like little children."

Bard and Balin snickered as Thranduil and Thorin glared at each other in contempt.

Thranduil continued to look pissed as Thorin sighed and eyed Sam with a considering expression, Sam having a good idea of what was going through his head, worrying about whether his people would get their due from someone Thorin, and Balin actually, felt had shorted them too many times to be trusted.

Thorin looked over at Bard and Balin, who both nodded at Sam, indicating she was in charge at the moment, then back at the woman in charge, and finally said," I know our bickering," Thranduil hmphed and Thorin rolled his eyes, apparently the only one of the two realizing he was fighting a losing battle," is ridiculous, but I am only trying to make sure that the Elven King here does not do wrong by my people, again."

Thranduil's eyes narrowed as he growled in a most unelvish way, saying," I am trying to protect the wellbeing of my people from your greed-"

"King Thranduil," said king looked at Sam, her face entirely unamused," you have said more than enough to get your point across, and while I can understand, given past events," Thorin and Balin both just barely twitched at the reference to the Battle of the Five Armies, showing they had come to terms with it as much as Sam had," why you feel as if you must protect your people's interests by being unwilling to be generous to Erebor," he didn't like being referred to as being ungenerous, he knew that was exactly what he was doing, so Thanduil nodded at Sam," but, I must agree with Thorin," that had everyone more than a little stunned, eyebrows rising while Thranduil sputtered and grins started to grow on Balin and Thorin's faces while Bard shook his head, mentally preparing himself for what he thought would surely turn into an even worse shouting match," he is right that you are trying to slight his people," she considered her words for a moment, winked at Thorin and Balin, adding," our people."

Thranduil finally got some words out through his shock at Sam's agreement with Thorin," But, my Lady Lethril, I am only trying to-"

Sam sighed and held up a hand," No, you are not just trying to protect your people, and you know it," Thranduil shut his mouth and withered a little bit under the force of Sam's scrutiny, her green eyes serious, " you are trying to slight Thorin and punish him, both for his slights and misdeeds against you, but also for the sins of his grandfather Thror," Thranduil now looked away, chastised and feeling just a little guilty, but still justified for his actions, even as Sam went on," you are dead set on punishing the grandson for the sins of the grandfather, and are punishing the people of Erebor, unjustly, in the process."

Thranduil looked challengingly at Sam, more than a little irritated now at Sam's words (the other three now sat back and watched the show, ready to step in if necessary, but Balin and Thorin looked proud of Sam for standing up for Erebor, while Bard was curious about Sam's reasons for backing Thorin instead of her usual forcing them to cooperate), saying," Lady Lethril, I may have had my fair share of issues with King Thorin and King Thror, but our negotiations are not affected by those happenings."

Sam sat back in her seat, at the end of the table and between Thorin and Thranduil, and crossed her arms as she stared down Thranduil (despite being far shorter than him), not really in the mood for this, but knowing that these things needed to be said if Thorin and Thranduil were ever going to get over their past grievances, and realize that neither of them were all that bad of people, just stubborn and proud to a fault," Oh really? Then why is it that after Smaug attacked Erebor, you denied her people aide? But when Laketown was attacked, you helped them? Hm? How do you justify that? You left one group of people to suffer for the decisions of their king, despite the entreaties of their prince, who had done nothing to you, only to help a people who lost their homes to the same beast because of our actions, which they were warned of and eventually got compensation for, and you did that freely," Bard nodded his head, seeing the truth in Sam's words, as the two dwarves watched the Elven King carefully, said elf looking at a loss for words," you have done wrong by Erebor and her people, while you and Thorin have both been done wrong by each other," Thorin nodded as Thranduil came to the conclusion he was not going to win in the face of Sam's points and her indomitable nature when she felt she was doing the right thing, the Elven King also nodding, though begrudgingly, the two kings sizing each other up, again," creating an endless loop of revenge, but this, on all sides, will stop now," she look directly at Thorin and Thranduil, not looking away until they nodded at her and each other, continuing," everything, between the three kingdoms," she nodded at Bard, who nodded back," will now be equal, because all of your people deserve it and because we need to be unified to keep our region strong and protected."

Now that little tidbit set off alarm bells in everyone's heads, wondering what threat it was that Sam was aware that they didn't know about yet, but Bard, ever more level headed than the elf and dwarf, decided to focus on the negotiations that they still needed to finish, saying," Now that that is settled, why don't we actually get some work done, hmm?"

Thranduil and Thorin nodded as Sam sat back in her seat, a pleased smile on her face as Balin said," Finally," rubbing a hand down his face before shuffling his papers and beginning to speak," Now, about the trade of textiles, metals, and food-" only to be interrupted by a guard from the Gates.

The guard stood where they could all see him and addressed them all," My King, my lords, my lady," he bowed to them all in turn," a man by the name of Nimrohir has arrived at the Gates and requests to speak to the Lady Sam."

Sam was out of her seat and through the door before the guard finished speaking, everyone else not far behind, leaving the poor guard alone in the negotiation room, wondering what to do.

/Chip the Glasses/

Hope y'all enjoyed that!

I'm sorry that this chapter is, once again, not as long as I would like, but things are getting more exciting!

Reviews are always appreciated!