Fili is, understandably, furious when she goes to him and tells him what is happening in the common room. He reaches for his clothes and is halfway dressed before Billana can give him the message that Balin told her to pass on.

"He expects me to wait up here while those Men make Mahal only knows what kinds of false claims?" He snaps. "While those who would come for you in the middle of the night would threaten my brother?" He clenches his fists at his side and closes his eyes. "The thought of either one of you being in danger without me being there to protect you-" he mutters. "He could have at least sent you to Nori and Dwalin, I would trust them with your life if Kili and I couldn't be there to guard it." She is almost hesitant when she approaches him, reaching up to touch his cheek and he leans into the touch with a heavy sigh. "I am glad you chose us, Kitten," he whispers.

She is still learning the differences between them, she knows. Both of them are fiercely protective of one another and both are protective of her, but as always it seems to manifest differently. Kili is always willing, even when trying to keep her safe, to allow her to make the choice on how that is achieved. Fili, even with his promises to the contrary, will always try to keep both of them from danger and when that cannot be done he will stand in front of them until it has passed or taken him first. Fili's temper rarely flares, but when it does she has noticed that it is in situations where he feels completely helpless.

"Tell me about your father?" She asks into the silence, trying to take both of their thoughts away from whatever might be happening below, and he looks down at her with startled eyes. "You've told me about your mother, but never your father. Is he-?"

"Dead?" Fili finishes softly. "Yes, they both are." She gives him a confused frown and he leads her to the bed so that they can rest comfortably together, lying on his back and pulling her so that she is resting her head against his chest. "My fathers were brothers," he continues. "It isn't unusual among dwarves for siblings to fall in love with the same person. Sometimes that can make things difficult, but for our mother and fathers it was completely natural. Their names were Morvanli and Suli, which is why when we introduce ourselves it's as the sons of Dis. Both of them were our fathers, but only one sired us and there is no real way to know which." She hums.

"I know a little bit about what that's like," she mutters.

"Did your mother never give you any indication of who it might be?" He asks gently.

"None," she shakes her head against him, "she just used say that she would tell me when the right time came. I suppose it never did. It truly never mattered to your people?"

"Never," he shrugs. "It didn't matter to our fathers either. It just is. They would have adored you, Kitten," Fili continues. "Although if they had lived they would never have allowed us to come on this quest, and I think they would have insisted on you staying in Rivendell, or having you sent to our mother in Ered Luin. Uncle always says they were too protective of us but-" he shifts, shrugging as best he can while lying on his back.

"What did they look like?"

"I take after them the most in looks," Fili replies, "except for my eyes, Kili has their eyes. Morvanli was taller and broader that Dwalin, I wear my braids like he did in his memory. He was a leather worker, for all his great size he made the most delicate pieces. Suli was shorter, but similar in build to Kili, and a jeweller. Our mother hasn't been the same since they passed, but she didn't argue with uncle when he said that we should be a part of this quest."

"Do you ever wish you had stayed behind?" She whispers, not sure what answer she would prefer to receive.

"Sometimes," he admits, "but if I had stayed I would never have found you and since I can't imagine my world without you in it anymore-"

The door slams open, cutting off whatever Fili was about to say, and Kili storms in with her clothes tightly clutched in his hands.

"Get dressed and packed," he says, his entire being tight with anger. "Uncle wants us ready to cross the bridge as soon as the gate opens."

"What happened?" Fili demands, sitting up as Billana catches the clothes that Kili throws in her direction. Most of her belongings have made their way into this room since that first night and it is the work of a moment for her to begin to dress. Fili, however, remains resolutely still, glaring at his brother. "All Billana knew was that the Master's lackey came looking for her. Why?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Kili snaps. "It's not like he was going to tell us the truth, I didn't need Nori there to see that." He meets his brother's scowl with one of his own.

"Make an educated guess," Fili hisses, "I'm sure Balin had a few and I'm sure he shared them with you and Thorin both." Kili glances at her significantly and Fili shifts. "Billana deserves to know as well," he declares and she sees Kili's eyebrows shoot up.

Billana is no less surprised than the younger prince. Given their past she would have expected Fili to back away and allow her to remain ignorant of whatever dark purpose the Men might have wished her for. The world, she has learnt, is a bleak place and she would rather understand it than remain as ignorant as she always has been. She nods at Kili, hoping that he takes it as her agreement with his brother and is relieved when he sighs and looks at his hands.

"Balin says that the Master of Laketown has been trying to push certain terms within the contract they were creating," he mutters after a moment. "One of them was that a blood alliance should be formed between our Company and Laketown." Billana bites her lip to keep from interrupting. She already knows that as the only obviously female member of the Company the Master will have been thinking of her. "For obvious reasons Balin refused to even consider the idea," Fili nods, but Billana stares at them both, utterly perplexed. It doesn't happen often but on occasion in the Shire a father has been known to refuse permission for his daughter to marry a lad he feels is unsuitable.

"That won't happen," Fili assures her when she mentions it. "Aside from the fact that I'd like to think there isn't anyone more suitable for you than Kili and I," his brother smirks briefly, "this is your decision. Not ours, or Balin's, or the Master of the Men of Laketown. It is considered a serious crime among our people to try and take a 'dam's choice from her, no matter what that choice may be. Balin might have been able to approach you and ask you to consider it, but I doubt that even crossed his mind." She nods and Kili takes that as his cue to continue.

"Apparently, the Master didn't believe that Balin's reasons for refusal were valid," Kili hisses. "He sent his minion to escort Billana to him. From what he told us, we think that the Master intended to force a situation where, by the customs of Men, Billana would have been forced to marry him." Kili doesn't have to go into more detail than that, just the expression on Fili's face, which speaks very clearly of a desire to do extreme violence upon the person of the Master and his creature, tells her that her suspicions are likely correct.

"But I'm nothing important," she insists, "why would he be so insistent?"

"You're Balin's daughter," Fili reminds her. "He was likely hoping that once he had you tied to him, we would give in to all manner of demands to prevent him from mistreating you."

Billana can feel the bile rising in the back of her throat. This is something that she had never even thought to consider as a possible consequence of her joining the Company. Nor of her accepting Balin's offer to become her father. It hadn't occurred to her that by tying herself to the dwarf she would be raising her position in the world to the point where she might be in as much danger due to her importance as she had been in the Shire due to the fact that they found her very existence undesirable. It doesn't matter that their plan could never have succeeded, she would have changed form before allowing them to take her and the likelihood is that she would have been in this room with Fili and Kili anyway so they wouldn't have found her. Nor, however, would they have been aware of the plot to take her and she cannot help but wonder what that might have led to.

"We need to get packed," Kili reminds them, "we've got time but Uncle doesn't want us caught unprepared if someone comes looking for the ones sent to take you."

She nods, though guilt nags at her over the fact that they have to leave. She knows, deep down, that this is nothing to do with her and is simply the unreasonable demands of a cruel and greedy Man, but it doesn't make her feel any better about the fact that her presence is causing them these problems. Perhaps, she thinks bitterly, she should have stayed in Rivendell. Then she meets Kili's worried eyes and she knows that she couldn't give this up for anyone. She goes to him and he takes her into his arms, whispering his thanks to her for doing as he had asked without question.

"How did you know they would come for me?" She asks softly.

"I didn't," he replies, "but I didn't like the way either of them looked at you when we arrived so I warded your room while you were bathing."

"I'm glad you did," she breathes.

"So am I," Fili agrees, placing his now full pack next to the door. "Do you still have the knife we gave you?"

"It's in my room," Billana admits.

"We'll come with you to get the rest of your things," Fili declares. "After what just nearly happened I'm not sure that I want you out of my sight for a while. It might be best if you keep that knife with you all the time as well," he adds and she nods her agreement.

The three of them traipse down the corridor to her room, able to hear the shrill tone of Master Ambers demanding answers over the sudden activity of the Company. They don't stop to listen, though Billana suspects that Thorin is telling the Man about the attempted kidnapping. She also suspects that if Alfrid wanted to know where she was supposed to be sleeping, the owner of the boarding house will have been the one to tell him. She has no idea whether she has ever been seen leaving Fili and Kili's room by anyone other than the other members of the Company, but she suspects that this information would have made it to Alfrid if she had and things would have ended very differently.

In the end it doesn't take them long to gather the last of her belongings. Her dress is folded carefully and packed, though she doubts that she will need it any time soon it isn't something that she is willing to leave behind. Her coat is pulled on, as well as the soft leather boots that Nori had instructed Kili in making. Knowing that one of Kili's father's specialised in leather work goes a way to explaining how Kili knew what Nori wanted him to do. The boots aren't as comfortable as she had hoped that they would be, but that is down to the fact that she isn't accustomed to wearing them rather than a mistake on Kili's part. She slides the little dagger into her belt, next to her small elvish sword and they quickly join the others in the common room.

The three Men are all unconscious, which Billana is relieved about, and they remain that way. For all that it has taken a remarkably short amount of time to rouse the Company and pack, it takes longer to gather their supplies and get them settled on the two ponies that they had managed to purchase. Billana finds herself looking at the vast quantities of dried beans, cured meat and cram with distaste. It isn't the most exciting of future diets and though she knows that the chances are slim she hopes that they can find something to hunt before they reach the mountain. In the end it is nearly dawn before they are certain that they have managed to get everything they need together and they settle their bill quickly. For all the good memories that Billana has made here, she will not miss Laketown. They move through the streets at a good pace and reach the bridge just as the gate is being opened.

The Company leaves without challenge and they finally start to make their way around the great lake towards the mountain the looms over the landscape.


A.N: So, Morvanli and Suli (pronounce Soo-lee) will feature in Trickster's Sight, briefly but there you are, and I had a bugger of a time coming up with names. In the end I scoured the Celtic baby names book that I've been hoarding and adapted two names: Morvan meaning "great fair one" and Sulian (Soo-lee-an) meaning sun-born. Because obviously they perfectly fit my inner image of the pair of them.