A Bride's Night
A few weeks had passed since Phoenix's miscarriage and Dis had decided to lift her spirits by organising a Bride's Night to celebrate her engagement to Thorin. At that moment, it was getting late and Dis had assembled every female who loved Phoenix in the great hall. She had given her sons, her father and Thorin a warning of what she will do to them if any of them disturb this night, it was strictly women only in order to celebrate not only Phoenix's engagement to Thorin, but also her birthday. Dis had remembered the look on her brothers face when she told him that he would be absent from Phoenix's celebrations.
It was a few weeks passed; Thorin was sat back in his throne at Erebor after speaking with dwarves who had problems. When she found him, Dis recognised that he looked exhausted and weary, Phoenix had been gone for days with Tauriel, Kili, Thrain and Fili on an errand to Rivendell and the Valley of Peace and no doubt her brother was worried for her.
"You look like you could use some company." Dis told him.
"Aye, and if I hear one more question about when Phoenix will be back, I might slaughter someone. I don't like her being away like this at the best of times and would therefore not like to be reminded." Thorin groaned.
"I know you don't." Dis told him and she soon had an idea. "How about you walk with your sister?" She asked him.
Thorin nodded. "A walk sounds good." He pushed himself up out of his throne and both siblings walked side by side out of the throne room and they roamed the quiet halls of Erebor.
After a few minutes of silent walking, Dis decided to start a conversation.
"So, have you and Phoenix thought anymore about the wedding?" Dis asked.
"We have." Thorin nodded. "She wants it to be dwarvish."
"Really?" Dis asked and she sounded pretty surprised.
"Yes, don't worry I was also surprised."
"But she has spent most of her life with elves; surely her whole life would play around Elvish traditions." Dis told him and Thorin shook his head.
"She's actually spent most of her life as Phoenix; she's lived alone in the Valley longer than she lived with her family in Rivendell." Thorin told her.
"I wouldn't have thought that." Dis told her. "But it makes sense to live in solitude away from those who don't understand."
Thorin nodded. "Much like you Dis, Phoenix shares a lot of resemblance to yourself."
"How so?" Dis asked.
"Well she protects her family, she stands up for others, she can wield many weapons, and she loves me and our family." Thorin told her. "And that is only a few things."
Dis thought it through and she nodded. "I can see that." She told him. "She is an honourable warrior Thorin and I will continue to try and make it up to her for what I did."
"I thought she had given you forgiveness?" Thorin asked.
"She had, but I do not think that I have earned it yet, which is why i have something else that I want to talk to you about." Dis told him.
"What is it?" Thorin asked.
"I wish to throw a party for Phoenix, a bride's night, in order to welcome her to the house of Durin and to celebrate her birthday," Dis told him. "Which means that you cannot be present,"
"Why not?" He asked immediately.
"Because it's a bride's night." She told him. "You get forever with her, let me have one night."
Thorin had eventually relented and Dis had started planning straight away.
Now here she was; she had invited woman from the village, especially Hilda who was the one that Phoenix always referred to as mother. She had also invited Sigrid and Tilda, due to Phoenix being their god mother. She had then invited Arwen from Rivendell and the wives of her brothers, Erumara and Meladamiriel. She had also brought Tauriel and some of the dwarves from the mountain who Phoenix had found to have made good friendships with, the seamstress Doriz, the only female guard in Erebor Baztia and Phoenix's maid Fala. But right now they were still waiting for the bride to be herself.
"What's taking her so long?" Baztia asked.
"I'll go and get her." Dis told them. "She could have lost track of time."
Dis left the group opening bottles of wine as they waited and Dis climbed the many stairs to Phoenix's chamber. Waiting outside for a few minutes to listen, Dis could not hear any voices so she knew that it was not Thorin's fault that Phoenix had not come downstairs so she gently knocked on the door and she opened it to find Phoenix stood by the window watching the moon.
"Phoenix dear, what's keeping you?" Dis asked.
"Nothing Dis..."
Dis noticed the sadness in her voice and she watched as Phoenix's hand moved as if to caress her once pregnant stomach but she stopped herself, and with that she noticed what was wrong. Dis had been there when the other dwarves had been unkind to Phoenix after the miscarriage; she had heard the cruel whispers and taunts that occurred when the other dwarves and dwarrowdams thought that no one else was listening. Once Dis caught Baztia beating the life out of a male dwarf just because he dared to breathe a word wrong to Phoenix.
"Oh Phoenix do not think about what everyone said about the pregnancy." Dis told her. "Your child is now in a safe place."
"I have to worry about it." She whispered.
Dis walked over and she took Phoenix's hands in hers. "Look at me, now you listen to me." Dis told her and Phoenix looked at her. "I lost my first child, Fili and Kili don't know this but Thorin does, now I'm not saying that this will always happen to you, but if what the others said does happen, then no one will think bad of you." Dis told her. "What happened was not your fault; Mahal just knew that your child wasn't ready to join his parents in this world."
Phoenix nodded slightly. "You're right." She got to her feet gently touching her now flat stomach. "Let's go and join the party." Together the two walked hand in hand to join the other women and as soon as they saw Phoenix they were fussing over how beautiful she looked and how much of a beautiful bride she was going to make. Well at least the dwarves, Arwen and Tauriel did, her brothers wives kept their distance. Dis watched the two elves throughout the night and she noticed that they never took part in anything just chastised Phoenix whenever she did anything, so eventually Phoenix sat in a chair and that was it.
Dis hated the treatment of her soon-to-be sister-in-law and before it was late, Dis had to say something. So whilst Tauriel and Baztia were bringing cake to Phoenix, Dis cornered the two elf maidens.
"Can we help you?" Meladamiriel Asked.
"Yes actually you can." Dis told her. "You two can help by being a bit nicer to Phoenix." Dis told them.
"Rhavaniel should not be acting in such a way, it is not befitting of her station." Erumara Told her.
"She is acting like a woman who is about to get married, how both of you can lighten up and let her have her fun or I will personally see to it that you're both thrown out." Dis warned before she went back to her soon-to-be sister-in-law and found her sitting on the ground with Tilda's head on Phoenix's lap.
"Everything alright?" Dis asked.
"Yes I'm just tired Dis." Tilda spoke.
Everyone smiled at the young one before they went back to talking about their own experiences in the bedroom and soon Phoenix joined in the conversation as Tilda fell asleep with her head on her lap.
"So, do tell us Phoenix, what is our King like in the bedroom." Baztia asked her and everyone looked at her.
"He is...good..." Phoenix shrugged.
"Well obviously he's good." Falla Told her. "After all you were with child."
"But come on Phoenix what is he like?" Dis asked.
"Is he as prim and proper as he makes out that he is when he's being the King?" Arwen asked.
"Well...no not really." Phoenix told them.
"Elaborate, my lady." Fala told her.
"Okay..." Phoenix sighed. "Thorin is...well...he can be rough, like very rough, but then he could also be sweet and careful. One time, I asked him to show me what he wanted to do to me, and I found out that he really likes to bite." Phoenix told them. "It is safe to say that I am always satisfied by my King." She told them.
"Well that explains the marks you have." Fala told her and everyone laughed.
"Yes it does rather." She smiled.
"You still have marks?" Dis asked and Phoenix nodded, pulling down one side of her shirt to show teeth shaped bruises on her chest just under her collar bone. Everyone seemed surprised at seeing the mark, but to save Phoenix's embarrassment they decided to not ask about it and then they moved onto someone else.
"What about you Tauriel, what is our young prince like?" Phoenix asked and the elf looked up in alarm.
"Kili is...he is..." She seemed to be struggling how to say what she wanted as she glanced over at Dis.
"Lass you don't have to worry about me hearing it, I don't mind and in fact I take pride in my sons being able to please women." Dis told her.
Everyone looked between the two before Tauriel started talking again and Phoenix could see that the wheels in Tauriel's head were turning.
"Hîn ava ephola enar." Phoenix told her and Tauriel nodded.
"Kili is a passionate lover." Tauriel concluded. "He adores it when I speak Elvish to him and he takes his time with our love making."
"I think we could all lean a few things from the elves." Dis told them. "They seem to have a way of making men weak at the knees."
Everyone laughed in agreement whilst Tauriel and Phoenix shared knowing looks with each other as they sipped their drinks.
"Lady Sigrid." Erumara suddenly spoke and Sigrid seemed to freeze at being addressed by an elf as high as Erumara.
"Yes my lady?" Sigrid asked and Phoenix saw Dis sidle closer to her oldest son's lover as she waited for the elf to speak.
"Is it true that your father is not of royal blood?" Erumara asked.
"Well...Not entirely, but one of our ancestors was a Lord of Dale back in time." Sigrid told her.
"And yet you wear the title of princess?" Meladamiriel asked suddenly outraged.
"Well...Um...Yes because now that Dale has been rebuilt, my da' was made King." Sigrid explained.
The two whispered something to each other that Sigrid and Dis noticed was starting to enrage Phoenix but they still jumped when they heard Phoenix's quick tongue.
"Ui o tye hollen am, núf tya ento beth ië tya medui." Phoenix sneered and the sound of the venom in her voice was enough to make the women stop their conversation.
"That is enough from both of you, how dare you try and ruin this night." Arwen suddenly spoke up, aiming at the wives of her brothers. "If you have nothing nice to say then please do not speak at all."
Everyone went quiet as they looked over at Arwen before they looked at their drinks.
"So Dis, will Phoenix's wedding be as grand as Tauriel's will be?" Sigrid suddenly asked.
Dis looked over at her. "Not exactly Princess Sigrid, Phoenix's wedding will be a much grander affair, after all Thorin is a King." She told her with a smile. "And it is our task to make her into the most beautiful bride around."
"That's not going to be hard." Sigrid looked over at her godmother and they shared a soft smile.
"Aye lass, it won't." Dis looked at Phoenix and smiled softly.
Phoenix looked at both of them and she smiled softly.
They all sat around for a while longer, before Baztia had the idea of a game called the spinning of the bottle. The rules were simple enough for even the drunken dwarf lasses to follow; they spin the bottle and whoever the neck of the bottle points to has to answer a question about their lives - simple enough. Baztia was the first to spin the empty wine bottle that Dis offered up and they all watched it spin between them before it landed on Falla.
"Okay Falla, your turn." Dis looked at her and she saw the look of fear on the young Dwarrowdams face. "Calm yourself dear."
"Okay Falla, I've got a question." Baztia told her. "Why did you agree to be Phoenix's lady-in-waiting?"
"She's not really my lady-in-waiting, Baztia." Phoenix told her.
"It's what the King calls her." Baztia told her immediately. "So hush Phoenix."
Phoenix simply rolled her eyes as she and Baztia shared a playful smile.
"Anyway, Falla, you need to answer the question." Doriz reminded.
"Doriz, I thought you were not going to speak for the rest of the night." Tauriel told her playfully.
"Oh hush you." She told the redhead with a smile. "Even though you are taller, it doesn't mean that I can't tell you off Tauriel." Doriz told her with a laugh.
"Come now Falla, what made you say yes to be my sister's lady-in-waiting?" Arwen asked.
"Well, she was nice to me." Falla shrugged. "She told the King to let me live here after my father and I left the Iron Hills."
"Is it strange though, being the Lady-in-waiting to Phoenix?" Baztia asked.
"Not really...But there is one strange thing that she asks me to do, every morning," Falla started.
"Run a bath with flame retardant oil in it?" Arwen guessed.
"Yes...How did you know?" Falla asked.
"I used to do it for her when she lived in Rivendell." Arwen looked over st her sister and they both shared a smile.
Falla smiled at the pair before she spun the bottle and they watched it land on Sigrid.
"Ah, sweet Sigrid," Dis smiled. "I have a question, have you ever seen my son naked?" She asked.
Everyone looked between Sigrid and Dis; this has gone in a completely different direction very quickly! Sigrid herself looked flustered and almost beetroot in colour.
"I've seen him shirtless if that counts." She offered.
"No I mean no clothes at all, not so much as a scrap of cloth." Dis told her.
"Oh...well...no I haven't." Sigrid told her, her cheeks still alive with embarrassment.
This seemed to satisfy Dis and Sigrid spun the bottle watching as it landed on Baztia.
"What was your most romantic relationship?" Phoenix asked.
Baztia looked at her with surprised eyes. "It was whilst I was a younger dwarf; he was the tailor's son." Baztia told her, before she spun the bottle again and it landed on Phoenix.
"What was your first romantic experience?" Falla asked.
"Thorin." Phoenix shrugged.
"Hold up, Thorin was your first ever romantic experience?" Dis asked suddenly shocked.
"Yes." Phoenix shrugged.
"For the past two thousand years, you've been celibate?" Tauriel asked.
Phoenix nodded taking a sip of her drink. "And it was actually two thousand one hundred and seventy five." Phoenix told her and everyone just gaped at her, except for Arwen.
"I do not see why you are all shocked, Phoenix prided herself on her purity and chastity, any man who tried to take it without her permission was struck to his knees by her blades." Arwen told them.
They all looked back at the dwarvish elf and they felt an immense swell of respect.
"Well I couldn't last a minute without my husband, Mahal rest him." Dis told them. "I admire you Phoenix, but were you ever tempted?" Dis asked.
"Not really." Phoenix admitted with a shrugged. "The Elvish men all looked at me like I didn't deserve to exist and I've not met any other dwarvish men."
"What made you choose Thorin?" Baztia asked.
Phoenix looked at her. "I don't know really." She shrugged. "I guess it was his eyes."
Everyone looked at her, and that obviously was not what they had expected. Thorin was a strong muscular dwarf so the first thing you saw was his muscle and physique, to hear that someone saw his eyes first was a new one. Out of curiosity, Tauriel looked at Phoenix.
"What do Thorin's eyes look like to you?" She asked.
Phoenix smiled a dreamy smile. "They look like the sea after a storm, holding nothing but wisdom and knowledge of s long life." Phoenix spoke with such pride at what she could see if her soon-to-be husband. "But still holding love and loyalty to his family and to me."
"You are family lass." Dis told her. "And to prove it, I have a gift for you." Dis told her pulling a small box from her pocket. "It's tradition as a dwarf for the bride to receive something of her husband's mother at her bride's night from a female relative of her husband." Dis explained as she came to sit beside her and she handed the box to her. Phoenix opened the box carefully and inside she found a silver necklace with a gold design on it and Phoenix cognised the design to be the crest of the line of Durin - Thorin's bloodline.
"Dis it's beautiful." Phoenix told her looking at her and she hugged her. "Thank you."
Dis hugged her back smiling. "You're very welcome."
The rest of the bride's night dissolved into laughter and alcohol.
Time flew quickly afterwards and soon it was only a few days until the wedding. Dis had dragged Phoenix up early to play 'mother' and 'sister' to her helping her choose the dwarvish style for a dwarvish wedding. At that moment they were sitting in the courtyard with Elrond who had come up from Rivendell to give his daughter away and Dis was telling him how the ceremony went. She explained how he would be walking her down the aisle with Helga, the human that Phoenix had grown close to over the years in Laketown. And how the ceremony itself would plan out and then how the after party would plan out. Dis also asked Elrond to prepare the elves that would be in attendance as an Elvish party was nothing like a dwarvish party. And then the pair of them started on Phoenix who had happily sat there in silence sharpening her swords.
"Now, all you have to do is repeat your vows and say I do." Dis told her.
"Dis please be aware that I have been to a dwarvish wedding." Phoenix reminded her as she twirled her sword round in her hands. "I know what I'm doing."
"But this is the wedding of the King, Phoenix one wrong move and its curtains." Dis reminded her.
"Really Dis I didn't realise that I was marrying a King." Phoenix told her. "But let me point out that neither Thorin nor I want the big flashy wedding, we just want a small ceremony with a few witnesses. We are only doing it this way because he knows that the other dwarves would be after my head if we didn't."
Dis and Elrond looked at her and only Elrond spoke.
"It's not too late." He told her. "You can still call this off, and do it the way you two want."
"No Ada, we can't." Phoenix told him. "I just want to marry the dwarf I love; I don't need a ceremony for that." She told them before she got to her feet and left them.
"There's something bothering her." Elrond mentioned to Dis when Phoenix was gone. "How has she been since the miscarriage?"
Dis looked at him. "She's been...Well...Down almost depressed." Dis confessed. "Sometimes she doesn't eat or drink until late in the evening, Falla said that her dresses are too big, her skin is paler...Though being called names by some of the dwarves here isn't really going to help." She sighed before something came to mind. "Lord Elrond, do you think that is a chance that she is fading?" Dis asked him and Elrond saw the worry in her eyes.
"I do not think so, for fading doesn't take this long, I think that she has simply fallen into a depression." Elrond told her. "Dis maybe they should break tradition, a big wedding isn't what they need right now."
Dis nodded. "I agree...Let us both go and talk with Thorin."
Elrond nodded and together they both walked into the palace finding Thorin, Thrain, Fili, Kili and Dwalin all stood in the meeting hall around a table talking.
"Brother we need to talk." Dis told him.
"Sister we are a bit busy." Thorin told her looking at what looked like battle lines on a piece of parchment below him.
"The happiness of the woman you love is more important than whatever the fuck you're doing." Dis spoke and it snapped up Thorin's attention immediately.
"Is she alright?" He asked immediately. "Is she wounded?" He demanded.
"Not yet." Dis told him. "But she can still harm herself, Lord Elrond and I fear that Phoenix is not in her right mind."
"How so?" He demanded looking to Lord Elrond, his worry for his soon-to-be wife making him less respectful to the elf lord than usual.
"She is in a depression, due to the miscarriage," Elrond paused at seeing the look of loss on Thorin's face as he was reminded of his and Phoenix's dead son but he carried on. "I fear the consequences of her actions; she is no longer eating or drinking, she has lost weight and her attention is always on darker things. If this carries on I fear that you won't be marrying much of a person is regards to Phoenix's spirit."
Thorin looked distraught as he leant against the table. "Why did she not tell me?"
"How can she?" Dis asked. "You've thrown yourself into this battle you're planning; you hardly sleep in the same room."
"But I still should have known...I'm her husband-to-be." Thorin sighed. "I need to see her...do you know where she is?"
"No she left us in the courtyard, but she was heading north through the palace." Elrond told them.
"She's gone to the nursery." Kili told them. "Tauriel should be there with our sons."
"She's submerging herself with things she could have had." Elrond sighed. "That's not good."
At his words Thorin and Kili were gone, running towards the nursery and soon everyone else followed.
Meanwhile in the nursery Tauriel was sitting in a rocking chair, holding one of hers and Kili's sons and humming a lullaby as she did. She was so entranced in her child that she did not hear the sound of Phoenix's boots on the floor until she turned at feeling a presence behind her.
"Oh Phoenix, you gave me a fright." Tauriel told her as she smiled in welcome before she gestured to the chair beside her and she watched as Phoenix took a seat. "What's on your mind?"
Phoenix looked at her. "My son."
Tauriel nodded in understanding. "You wonder what could have been don't you?" She asked.
Phoenix nodded. "It was my fault."
"No, you cannot think that." She told her, just as there was a whimper from Tauriel and Kili's other son.
Before Tauriel could fathom what was happening, Phoenix had the baby in her arms and she was rocking him gently. The two were there in silence each holding a baby, and they jumped when the door suddenly swung open and one of the guards was brandishing a sword.
"Put the baby down lass." The guard spoke and Phoenix saw a nursemaid behind him looking fearfully at the child in her arms.
"I am not going to hurt him." Phoenix told him, looking down at the child in her arms.
"Last time lass." The guard snarled.
"How dare you." Tauriel told him. "She is to be your queen and you dare to speak to her like that!"
Suddenly another door was thrown open and they turned to see Thorin and Kili stood there and Kili saw the guard and the nursemaid and immediately thought the worst when he found Phoenix with his child.
"Phoenix, please hand him to me." Kili told her and Phoenix caught the worry on his voice.
"Why does everyone think I'm going to hurt him?" Phoenix asked and she looked at the young child in her arms who was happily sleeping. "I took him because Tauriel had her hands full...and he's asleep...why would I hurt him?" She whispered the last question before she gently kissed the child's head and put him in Kili's arms who then backed away from her immediately. When the child was not in her arms the guard ran forward and grabbed her and he dragged her from the room, she looked at Thorin for his help but it never came and she watched everyone worry for the two dwarf children as Phoenix was dragged out of the room.
Only when he had her out of the room did he let her go and he pushed her against the wall.
"You're a disgrace." The dwarf sneered. "No one wants you here and you can't give the king what he wants so you're no use here."
"You dare to speak to my daughter like that." Elrond's voice suddenly boomed, the high elf looked furious as he took Phoenix's arm as the door opened and Thorin and Tauriel stood there with Kili behind them.
"Phoenix, speak to me." Elrond told her as she pulled her arms from his grip.
"Why?" She asked. "It would change nothing, you all think I'm going to hurt the children when how could I?" Her eyes caught Thorin's when she said that and he saw the look of hurt in her eyes and he realised that he had not handle this situation in a way that would help her.
"Amrâlimê," Thorin started.
"Don't you dare Thorin." She seethed before she walked away, the dwarves around them staring at the group.
"Lord Elrond, why is it not a good idea for the children to be around Phoenix?" Tauriel asked.
"Because she can get attached." Elrond told them.
"So she wasn't going to hurt our children?" Kili asked.
"Of course not, she might have impressive power, but she isn't a violent soul that preys on helpless children." Tauriel told her husband who was now looking very sheepish.
"You need to find her and apologise, and so do you Thorin." Elrond told them.
Both of the dwarves hung their heads and Kili saw that his uncle hated being told off just as much as he did and it also made him smirk, but he decided that that would be better use for another day.
"Where would she have gone?" Kili asked.
"The stables to saddle up for a ride, maybe?" Thorin muttered, and he and Kili left the group.
True to his words, when they reached the stables, they found a hooded figure climbing onto Carnahan's saddle and Thorin knew it was Phoenix.
"Phoenix, wait." He called to her and Phoenix looked at him, most of her face covered by the hood of her cloak.
"What should I wait for?" She asked, venom layering her voice. "So you two can accuse me of wanting to harm the children?" She spat.
"No...We were wrong...I was wrong..." Kili told her. "I want to apologise."
"Then hurry up and apologise." She told him. "I'm about to go on a hunt."
"Phoenix, please, I will get on my knees if I have to, but please forgive me." Kili told her. "It was wrong of me to worry about the safety of my sons around you and I will take any opportunity that I can to make it up to you." True to his words, Kili was on his knees before the large horse, looking up at his soon-to-be aunt and Phoenix saw the sorrow in his eyes.
"You are forgiven." She told him. "For now."
When Kili was off his knees and bowing his head with endless thank you's, she looked at Thorin, waiting for his apology but it never came.
"Let me accompany you." Thorin told her.
"Why?" She asked. "What if I do not want your company?"
"Then I will give it to you none the less." He told her before he looked back at his youngest nephew. "If anyone asks for me, tell them that I have gone hunting with my soon-to-be wife."
Kili felt that he had no choice but to nod and he left them as Phoenix reluctantly waited for Thorin to pick up his weapons and saddle his pony. When he was ready, he rode out with her and into the forest. The whole journey out there, Thorin and Phoenix never spoke, just simply rode on looking for something to hunt and he found himself hating the silence more than usual. He wanted her to speak, to tell him anything, even if it was where they were going. Just as he was about to break the deafening silence, he noticed that she had stopped Carnahan and slid from the saddle onto her feet, before she turned back to the horse and pulled her arrows and bow from the saddle and put them onto her back. He watched her for a few minutes before he too done the same.
Phoenix left Carnahan where she had dismounted and the horse seemed happy to be there, grazing on the grass nearby, and Thorin watched his pony join him, before he jogged to keep up with Phoenix and that was where he snapped.
"Will you talk to me?" He suddenly asked.
"Why?" She asked him.
"Because I want to know what I have done to hurt you enough to receive the silent treatment." He told her.
She looked at him. "You didn't help me." She told him. "I was dragged from the room for no reason, thought of as a monster that would harm children for no reason and you did nothing!" She suddenly shouted.
Thorin looked at her, he had not realised that his lack of action had caused her such pain, but he knew a simply apology was not going to make this better, but it was to be a start.
"Forgive me." He told her. "I know that you're really upset right now, but I will make it up to you."
Phoenix ignored him just like he thought she would and they continued their walk through the forest. He kept a few feet behind her and he watched as she knelt down beside some bushes and he watched as she studied some prints in the mud. He had never really seen Phoenix track an animal before, but this was interesting to watch. He followed her when she started walking and soon they came to a cave where the tracks seemed to lead them and he readied an arrow in his quiver just as Phoenix did. They walked inside the cave together, and they soon came across a small group of animals. It was a deer and her young, Thorin went to strike the mother with the arrow, before Phoenix pushed his hands away.
"What?" He asked her.
"Don't hurt them." She told him. "We can't leave her babies to suffer without her."
"Phoenix, she's food for us." He told her.
"Not her, we'll find a stag, leave them be." She told he and she started to walk back towards the cave exit and Thorin sighed following her.
It was not much longer before they found another deer and this one was a large male stag, which proved a better target and that was what they took home to the happiness of the dwarves. Yet Phoenix did not join in the dinner, she ate in hers and Thorin's rooms with her father.
When Thorin returned to his rooms that night, he found Phoenix to be asleep in their bed and he sighed to himself, before he got ready for bed and slid under the covers, pulling her close to him with his arms around her.
"Am I forgiven?" He whispered to her.
"No." She told him, before she slid to the end of the bed and went back to sleep leaving Thorin in the coldness of her lack of embrace. This was his first night in months where he did not receive any affection from Phoenix, and it was the same for many nights afterwards.
One morning, Thorin awoke to find that there was no sign of Phoenix in their bed; he had come to bed early the night before to try and catch her so that they could talk, but he had fallen asleep without her coming to bed. He noticed that fresh pair of her clothes was gone along with her swords and Uldoniair was not asleep by the fireplace. This made him sigh, he was becoming a stranger to his own Fiancée, he missed the warmth of her body as they slept next to each other his arms around each other for comfort, he did not even miss the sex they had, though it was amazing, what he missed most was the feeling of having her there. Getting himself up and dressed, he wandered the halls of Erebor looking for any sign of her and then he walked into his nephews.
"Uncle..." Kili bowed his head.
"Have you seen her?" He asked.
"She and Tauriel took the children to Dale, where Phoenix was helping to clear some debris that's left over from the attack a few months ago." Fili told him. "We were just on our way there with mother."
"I will accompany you." He told them. "Did Uldoniair go with them?"
"Yeah, she went with them." Kili nodded as they walked down to the stables. "She wouldn't leave Phoenix no matter how much we asked."
Thorin nodded and they found Dis already in her pony's saddle and when the Princes and Thorin were ready, they all started riding off towards Dale. As they rode, Dis looked at her brother.
"How are you and Phoenix?" She asked.
"We haven't spoken in weeks." He told her. "But we'll be fine."
"Should we postpone the wedding?" She asked.
"Dis, there are more important things to worry about than my wedding." He told her. "So do not go on about it."
Dis sidled away from him and she looked at Dale as they approached. When they reached the town, they were greeted by Bard who showed them to where people were hard at work and they found Phoenix who was lugging around heavy looking blocks of stone on her own.
"She's a force to be reckoned with." Bard told him. "We couldn't stop her."
"It's alright, she wouldn't listen anyway." Thorin told them as he walked over as Phoenix dropped the stone onto a pile of others.
She did not seem to notice that he had walked to her, but Thorin knew better, he saw the miniature movements that nobody else could recognise, like the movement of her body tensing at his very presence.
"Elmë boe an carfa." He told her, preferring to speak in Elvish to make her listen to him.
"Ennas ië munta an carfa os." She told him.
"Athon ennas ië." He told her, grabbing her wrist to stop her moving, and he did not seem to notice which wrist he had grabbed because Phoenix jerked back and Thorin ended up pulling her bracelet off her wrist and he watched Phoenix wince as her form kept changing at intervals and she grabbed the bracelet from him putting it back on.
"Should I assume you done that on purpose?" She asked him when she felt better from continual changes.
"You know that I didn't." He told her. "I just need to talk to you."
"There is nothing to say though." She told him.
"Yes there is." He argued. "Phoenix, I love you, you are my life, my world, the Queen of my heart, the fire in my veins." He told her. "And so far I feel like I am losing you."
"You know why." She told him.
"I know, and I know that I cannot make it up to you, but I feel that you will not let me try and make it up to you."
"Did it ever occur to you that you can't make this better?" She asked him.
"If that was true, why are you still engaged to me?" He asked.
"Because I love you." She told him. "I'm hurt Thorin, and I need time to get over this." She told him.
"Do you love me?" He asked.
"Of course I do." She told him. "We've gone through too much to let this little mistakes break us, but I just need time."
"Then will you come back to share our bed with me?" He asked. "I miss you."
She nodded. "I will." She told him kissing his cheek. "Now can I get back to work?"
Thorin looked at her and without giving her an answer, he took off his kingly robes, leaving them somewhere safe, and he looked at her, rubbing his hands together.
"Let's get this work done." He told her and it caused Phoenix to smile at him before they both went back to clearing the rubble and as they worked together, it was the happiest that Thorin had ever been.
Things improved with the relationship between Thorin and Phoenix, and they had both been working together to fix it. Right now, it was an early morning and Phoenix woke up to a cold chill blasting through their room, causing her to shiver. Getting up, she made her way over to the fireplace, using her powers to set it on fire. The sudden blast of heat was enough to wake Thorin and he moved to sit up slightly, looking over and smiling as he found Phoenix sitting on the bear skin rug before the fireplace.
"What's the matter?" He asked her, walking over and sliding his arms around her from behind as he knelt behind her.
"Sorry, the cold woke me up." She told him, nuzzling into the coarse hair of his chest.
"Would you like to come back to bed?" He asked her.
"Actually, I want to try something?" She asked him.
"And that is?" He asked, nuzzling her neck.
"I want to show you something really." She told him, turning to face him and she moved to rest a hand on his chest over his heart and suddenly Thorin felt a flood of energy.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"It's a transfer point...It's the same energy that I used to bring you back, it's the same if you wanted to give energy back." She told him.
"So...Does it work with anyone?" Thorin asked.
"No...It's a personal thing because it has to be skin on skin contact." She told him.
Thorin nodded and he kissed her forehead. "And can it happen at any time?" With Phoenix's nod, he pressed a kiss to her lips and Phoenix kissed him back, though she was quite curious as to what was going on in his mind, but she soon realised where his mind was when he moved to lay her back on the rug.
"Thorin..." She told him softly, looking up at him when he rested his weight on his arms so that his body above hers.
"What's the matter?" He asked.
"Are you sure that you want to?" She asked him. "After what happened?"
"Of course I do." He told her, kissing her forehead. "I want to physically show you how much I love you, and if this results in you conceiving another child then we will deal with it." He told her.
Phoenix looked at him and she saw how serious he was and it made her smile softly, leaning up and kissing his lips gently, before they spent most of their early morning making love to each other.
Translations:
Hîn ava ephola enar : They will not remember tomorrow
Ui o tye hollen am, núf tya ento beth ië tya medui : Both of you shut up before your next word is your last
Elmë boe an carfa. : We need to talk.
Ennas ië munta an carfa os : There is nothing to talk about
Athon ennas ië : Yes there is