WARNING! This chapter contains graphic descriptions of violence. It's also a little shorter than usual, but it's what fit.


Whatever Otha and Kitra gave me to help me sleep worked on my body but not my mind. My limbs grew heavy, and my eyes closed against the most horrible day of my life, but in my despair I dreamed in that fragmented way that made sense as long as one was dreaming but was utter nonsense the moment one awoke. Distorted voices cried out, and I appeared in different places at different times but was always lost or seeking to catch up to someone who was beyond reach. My disorientation and panic grew until a hand took mine and led me out into a green garden and bright sky. He had returned. My gallant dwarf from my romantic fantasies had come. Before he had come only to take me away from Father, but now he came to keep me company. It had been some time since he had appeared in my dreams, and I was so happy to see him that I flew into his arms. He laughed and held me close, murmuring soothing sounds as I babbled out my pain and sorrow. He seemed more familiar than usual, but when I looked up I couldn't see his face. It was turned away or hidden by shadows, although that made no sense since we were standing in almost blinding sunshine, but such things happened in dreams.

He walked me over to a bush with glossy green leaves and spiky flowers. It was pretty, but that's not what he was telling me. He pulled a blossom, inhaled it, and pointed to the ground that was now wet with blood. He stepped toward me, holding out the flower. A breeze blew, but his steps, though light, made soft clacks on the grass, something that puzzled me. Those were sounds made by heavy boots on stone. He shouted at me to wake up, and my eyes flew open. I sat up, turning my head back and forth to catch the slightest sound.

"Who's there? Is someone there?" There was no reply and no sound. Thinking it was only the fading edges of my dream, I pulled the quilt over my shoulder and rolled over. No, wait. There, right there! I definitely heard a slide of cloth, and muffled movement. "I know someone's there. I'll scream! I will!"

"That's not necessary," came Lord Boron's voice much closer than from the door. "I mean you no harm. We need to talk without those Durins and Vinns hovering like crows, and I thought this the best venue. Forgive my presumption, but I couldn't see any other way to talk before morning."

Lord Boron was in my chambers. He didn't seem bothered that he was in my chambers uninvited, and his asking for forgiveness rang false. He didn't need it or want it particularly. He said it as a pleasantry, but I heard the entitlement under his words. I wanted to call for help, but something told me that if he got in, there was no one outside to help. Unlike other encounters where he skirted the edge of propriety, this time he stormed through, and I didn't know what to do. If I read him right, he had made sure that he was alone and undetected. I clutched my pillows to my chest for moral support.

"How did you get past the guards?"

"Oh, they wouldn't refuse to drink with an honored guest, and the spirits were more potent than usual."

"What do you want?"

"Never fear. I need to talk to you since we're in this together."

"In what together? You need to leave right now. We can talk in the morning."

"No, no, my lady. Lord Vinn will have his own plans by then. We need to talk now before things are set in motion. We need our own plan."

"I don't understand."

"We've won. We've won, and now everything will be as it should be."

I had no idea what he was talking about, but I didn't know how to get away without riling him. He was completely calm and self-assured despite committing a serious offense that deserved imprisonment or worse, and that scared me more than anything he'd said or done before.

"Won what?

"Freedom. Our freedom. Your father is out of the way now, and I just received word that your brother met his untimely end on schedule, so you'll never have to deal with them again."

"Oh, Mahal, you murdered them?"

"You know as well as me they had to go. What they put you through was a travesty. Surely, you must be pleased that they got what they deserved. It was all for you, my lady. I did it all for you."

Dear Mahal, he had no remorse at all. He was acting like my father and brother had no more value than old clothes or spoiled food, but as much as I had against my father, I didn't want him killed. Being with the Durins had relieved my bitterness, leaving only sorrow for father. My brother was a blank, but I never wished him ill. It made me sick to think that Boron expected my approval and full cooperation. How dare he put this on me, and what else might he expect? Refusing to think on it, my mind turned to an even ghastlier thought. Feron.

"Feron?" Oh, Mahal, I prayed he didn't. Please, dear Mahal, no. Feron dying of natural causes was bad enough but knowing that he would have recovered was unendurable.

"Such a shame." I couldn't breathe. My heart had filled my chest with its hammering and squeezed the air out of my lungs.

"He saved my life, you know, and I blessed him for the service he did you. Held him in the highest regard I did. Unfortunately though, he overstepped in his affection for you, and that wouldn't do. What a loss. He would have been such an asset. A fighter to the end though. Have to admire that. You're changing out the water cost me time, but you didn't know. Anyway, that was extra insurance. The spiced honey butter did the trick."

Now I remembered. Oleander. That was the flower my handsome, dream dwarf held out to me. It was mixed in the honey butter, its flavor and odor disguised.

"Oleander. You used oleander."

"Very good. You see? We have similar turns of mind. Both clever and both willing to go to any length to secure our people's future."

"What about my mother?"

"No, no. Queen Nyr is most worthy. No harm will come to her. I can promise you that once we're wed. Then together we will take our rightful places. Don't you see? We can stop the games, get rid of our enemies, and help our people to the prosperity they deserve. She can rule for a time, of course. It's only fitting, but it would make sense for her to step aside at some point soon. Of course, we'll need a transition our people will accept. Perhaps we can say her grief over the death of her husband and son was too much for her and that she needed to step down. I'll make sure it's done respectfully and with honor. Then again, the plague has reached our people."

"What?"

"Oh, aye. Mahal help them, but they've been taking the medicine for some time, so I'm confident it won't hit too hard. Unfortunately, several of our most worthy have succumbed, nonetheless, Lord Torfrin among them."

It was too much, altogether too much. I wanted to scream. I want to cry, but I needed to keep my wits about me.

"Did you kill him?"

"Didn't you hear me? What do you take me for? He was an honorable dwarf, and I had the greatest respect for him. No, the plague killed him." He sounded sincerely regretful. Mahal help me! A monster was in my bedchamber. "Such a shame. He would have been most helpful."

"He would have fought you!"

"Well, well, perhaps it was best he did die then, but you misunderstand me. Only the unworthy will die."

"And who's to decide that? You?"

"Of course. I've been watching, for years I've been watching. I know who's worthy, who deserves to live—and who doesn't. We will rule together, Areen, and our people will finally have peace."

"Lord Vinn?"

"If he doesn't interfere, I'm prepared to welcome him. We will need his good counsel."

"You're mad!"

"No, we've both been working for the good of our people, Areen. I in my way and you in yours, yet always in secret. No more. It was time. You father would have ruled for years and then your worthless brother right behind. Then what? It would have been too late, but together we can come out of the shadows."

So the actor had shed his mask at last. I had heard the gears turning before but never were they so wholly lacking in conscience. He was completely convinced beyond any doubt that he was right. He sounded so, so utterly reasonable as though we were discussing harvest yields. I immediately thought of Thorin, Fili, and Kili and felt nauseous. They wouldn't believe I invited him in. They would know I was innocent, but I couldn't order him to leave either. By now, I knew he wasn't going to leave until he got what he wanted, but what I didn't know was how far he'd go to get it. Perhaps I could appeal to baser instincts.

"But Lord Boron, you don't love me. At least you've never given me any indication." I refused to consider those slimy moments when his lips touched my ear and pressed on my hand. "There are other ways of achieving your goal …"

"Our goal," he said in a slightly admonishing, almost paternal tone.

"The goal without marrying me. We do seem to be working toward the same end, and if you're sincere as you say, we could talk this out in the morning and come up with a plan. " The plan being, of course, to get him behind bars as soon as possible.

He didn't answer, and then I felt his soft, cold fingers skim my right breast. I flinched, and he chuckled with satisfaction.

"Yes, I thought so. So sensitive. I've watched you ripen, full and sweet like a peach."

"You're mistaken. I'm as Father said. I'm fat and plain. You deserve better." Oh, no he didn't, but I coughed up the compliment, hoping to lull him into something I could get away from.

"Not at all, I assure you, and none offer so much in so many ways. Passion, Areen, that's what we share. Our passion for our people will bind us together." He chuckled. "It also has not escaped my notice that your blindness has heightened your senses, and I find that appealing. I watched you grow from a curious, courageous child to a woman of great appetites, and I will give you a craving for something new. You'll see, and you'll thank me. I've gone without for years while others took their pleasure, but now it's my turn to reap the benefits of my devotion. I will fulfill your cravings and you will fulfill mine. An eminently fair exchange, don't you think? You can't imagine how many ways I've thought of our first time together. We'll explore our pleasures and take our time savoring their delights. You want sensation. You need it. I understand. Why else wear something so immodest? You look quite fetching in your nightdress, I must say, with your lovely, full breasts pressing against the satin, waiting to be fondled."

Now I knew there was no hope of reasoning with him. He didn't come to my bed chamber only to talk, and I burned with shame at him seeing me as he did. Before he drew another breath, I pushed him away with both arms as hard as I could. He rocked back on the bed, and I scrambled to get closer to the door to scream for help, as useless as it probably was, but I wasn't fast enough. He caught me around the waist and dragged me toward the bed while I fought him with everything I had.

"Are you mad? You can't get away with this. I'll tell everyone, and you'll hang!"

"No, you won't," he said between panting breaths. He pinioned my arms behind my back and shoved me forward. "You won't say a word if you want your mother to live. Not one word. I won't wait for someone else to make a claim on you. I'm doing this for our people."

"Liar! You don't need this to rule."

"Maybe not, but my babe in your belly will … legitimize my claim," and he pinned me to the bed with one hand and reached under the hem of my nightdress with the other. His soft body pressed and rubbed up against me, and his wet lips left a smear on my temple and neck. The smell of strong spirits filled my nose. Oh, Mahal, I couldn't believe this was happening to me! "I've waited, oh, how I've waited. No longer! You modesty stops you, Areen, but in truth you want this. We both know you do." His mouth landed on my chest, but I twisted away, and his sticky fingers moved up to stroke my thighs.

"No!" I screamed. "No! Get off me! Get off me!" I screamed as loud as I could and tried to kick him away, but that only increased his determination.

"Don't fight me, Areen. Don't fight me. I've earned the right, and after this he won't want you. Oh, I've seen him looking at you. That high and mighty Heir of Durin. No, no, Feron lost, he will lose, and I will win!"

I cried out again and tried to wrench my hands away while clamping my thighs together, desperate to keep his probing fingers away.

He couldn't do both, and my hands slipped from his grasp. Reaching around, I grabbed the heaviest thing I could find, a metal water pitcher—how ironic—and hit him with it. He cried out and leaned close to my face.

"It's your resisting that's hurting you," he said through his teeth. "You're making me do it this way. I deserve my reward. A woman, a family. It's my turn now. No, stop … stop. He's … not coming … to save you."

I kneed him then as hard as I could and screamed for all I was worth. He grabbed my face and clamped his hands over my mouth. I felt his fingernails dig in before he climbed on top of me and tried again to pry my legs apart. I was desperate, but just when I thought I couldn't hold out any longer, I heard a loud crash of the door smashing against the wall followed by a roar of anger. Someone ripped him off me, and I heard the sound of flesh striking flesh. Someone hit him hard and threw him against a wall. I grabbed a sheet and pulled it up to my neck. A voice filled with fury shouted so loud it echoed off the stone walls.

"GET HIM OUT OF HERE! NOW!"


That was close, but a gallant dwarf has come to her rescue in time. I didn't intend to portray her as a helpless damsel in distress, so she fought him valiantly, but the reality is that she was no match for a determined assailant and needed help. I hope I didn't traumatize anyone. I worry that I might trigger someone's past experiences, sadly too common in the world today. I've had this and a few other chapters written for some time, but I cringed at posting this one, but it is so icky that I wanted to fling it out there and be done with it.

That said, what do you all think about posting chapters quickly? Does it ruin the suspense? Do you want a longer period in which to think on things, or as fast as possible? Did I ask this question already? Can't remember. Thanks everyone for their reviews so far. A reckoning is coming for more than one character. Stay tuned and please review! It would be great to hear from you wonderful readers who've stayed silent so far. I'd love to chat.