Chapter 34: Conspirators Unmasked

Looking past his attackers, Kíli could see the shadows of his own Erebor royal guard approaching in the dark.

The remaining four Iron Hills guards threw down their weapons, their stiff movements betraying their surprise.

"Restrain them," Fíli ordered, then moved to his brother. "You all right, Kíli?"

"Yeah, fine." Kíli wiped his sleeve over his sweaty face. "You sure took your time, though! Couldn't you have stopped these assassins for me?"

"We were close behind you! They had just passed when we got to the gate. I thought it would be better to follow carefully—no lights—and see what they were up to."

"Right; good thinking." Kíli caught his brother's arm, turning him towards their prisoners, now safely in the hold of their trusted guardsmen. "Fíli, it's her. I knew it!"

"Very good." Fíli's teeth flashed in a sharp, businesslike smile.

"How did you find us? I told no one!" Ragnar demanded. Even in the dark, the fury readily showed in his features.

Kíli laughed, more from his own relief than from true amusement. "It was pure luck I found you and Freya. But someone told your friends here. They were waiting for you."

Ragnar cursed. "That orc-faced bastard! He promised us!"

"Who?" Kíli said, excited. This was the information he had been seeking for months.

But Ragnar merely glowered, apparently torn between saying and not.

Fíli ordered his men back to the main entrance of the dûm. Inside the gate, Kíli saw that in addition to the usual guards, a dozen or so civilians had gathered to watch this unexpected midnight commotion.

As they stepped into the bright torchlight, Fíli stared at his brother. "You are hurt," he said.

"Huh?" Kíli touched his forehead, which stung slightly, and his hand came away bloody. "I guess Ragnar's head is even harder than mine."

"What's going on?" demanded a guard whom Kíli recognized as captain of the watch. He'd apparently been summoned after Fíli had gone by.

Fíli said, "Did you send a patrol outside along the wall?"

"No." The captain eyed the prisoners. "Bjorn," he addressed one of them; Kíli thought it was the dwarf who had been in charge of the ambush. "You were stationed on the north wall. What're you doing away from your post?"

"I saw movement, took my men—"

"Rubbish," Kíli cut in. "You were waiting when Freya came out the door. You told me yourself: had orders to stop Ragnar and his 'lady friend.'"

"You miserable orc spawn!" Ragnar shouted. "Did he hire you to kill us? Bastard! Thought he'd feed us to the wargs, after we'd done his dirty work!" He lunged at Bjorn, driving hard with his fists; the other dwarf blocked, then struck back. When Fili's guards dragged them apart Ragnar's lip was bleeding.

"You tell that arsehole that fair is fair," Ragnar said to Bjorn, glaring. "He tried to kill me and mine? Well, I can say things that'll get him killed right quick." He turned to Kíli, his eyes momentarily triumphant. "I know you've been looking for Freya since you got here. Spare us, and I'll tell you who you really want."

"Spare you?" Kíli grumbled. "Me and mine were the first you attacked. Have you forgotten?" He wiped his brow again, gasping half in exasperation and half in pain. The cut was still bleeding freely.

"You need a medic," Fíli said.

"I'm fine." Kíli looked to the royal guards. "Take this lot to the dungeon; I want to question them." He took his torn hood and pressed it to his head. "Go on; I'll follow." He gestured impatiently.

"Wait," Fíli commanded his men. "Kíli, at least get your head bandaged first." His expression softened a little. "What would Tauriel say if she knew you conducted interrogations with an untended wound? She'd never trust me to accompany you again."

Kíli still held himself tensed to follow the guard. A scratch to the head wasn't important when he finally had the traitors in his grasp.

Fíli put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Kí, you promised her you'd be careful."

The younger prince sighed, relenting. "All right. But bring them with us to my suite; I don't want them out of my sight."

Back in his rooms, Kíli tapped an impatient rhythm on the table while the medic bathed and bandaged his head. It was only a small cut below his hairline, but in the way of head wounds, it had bled freely and so seemed worse than it truly was. Once the bandage was tied off, Kíli stood and crossed to the far side of the room where Ragnar and Freya were held by the royal guards. Kíli had temporarily dismissed the dwarves from the ambush, and they were being held outside.

He eyed the young woman, then her companion. "Right," Kíli said. "You're both going to tell me all you know."

"I want your promise of clemency first," Ragnar said, eyes flashing.

Kíli laughed, more angry than amused. "She's guilty of poisoning and attempted murder. And you? Conspiracy to treason is still a capital offense."

Freya only stared at him, face blank with some mixture of determination and fear, though the tension about her eyes suggested she was holding back tears. Ragnar glanced at her, his look momentarily gentle; his eyes steeled as he turned back to Kíli. "I can tell you exactly who's behind all this," he said.

Kíli gripped Ragnar's shoulder and leaned into him, making the most of his slight advantage in height. "Yes, you'd better do so."

Ragnar glared back with equal intensity. "Promise you'll spare her at least."

"Why? You love her?" He believed it was true; the two of them had displayed more than common concern for one another tonight. "Why should I care? I love Tauriel, but that didn't stop you from trying to hurt her, from trying to kill our son!"

The young guard only clenched his jaw.

Freya whimpered. "I didn't know she was with child."

Kíli rounded on her. "Would it have stopped you? When your fellow traitors meant to kill me, too?"

Her eyes flicked over his face and away again.

"Look at me!" He lifted her chin, and she shrank back as if she wanted to escape his touch. "Do I disgust you?" he demanded. "You think I'm tainted, unworthy, just because I chose her."

She remained frozen, watching him as if he were as dangerous and unpredictable as a mad dog.

Kíli leaned closer, his face inches from her own. "Look me in the eye and tell me I don't deserve to live. Tell me my family doesn't!"

Tears welled and fell down Freya's cheeks. Kíli let go of her and stepped back.

"Putting rustleaf in Tauriel's tea," he said, his voice low. "It was an ugly, cruel thing to do. You're the monsters. Not me."

Ragnar strained once against his captor's hold. "Leave her be."

"Then talk," Kíli said.

Fíli stepped forward. "Tell us what you know. We'll take all the facts into consideration."

"Give me your word," Ragnar returned, his face stony, stubborn.

"I promise to be just and fair," Fíli said. "That's more than your co-conspirators offered you. Don't you see? They are dishonorable, but not my brother. They wouldn't hesitate to kill a prince; why hesitate to kill you?"

Inspired, Kíli said, "Were you ever more to them than just a pawn? Was Freya? She wasn't any more use to them alive, but dead she could play a last key part in taking the blame. I suppose that was their plan for her all along."

This had the effect Kíli expected.

"Blast! I brought Freya into this," Ragnar said, the distress plainly breaking through his resolve. "Hold me accountable for her part. We needed someone who could plant the tea. Her dad's a locksmith—picking locks was just a game for her, as a lass. And as Hilda's maid, she was staying near the royal quarters."

"Hilda? Thorin's wife?" Fíli demanded. He glanced to Kíli; suddenly matters had taken on a deeply unsettling aspect. If Daín's son was involved, this conspiracy could be much more dangerous than they had imagined.

"Hilda knows nothing," Freya said.

"Ironfoot and his son aren't involved," Ragnar confirmed.

Fíli said, "Then who is?"

"Some of us aren't—" Ragnar glanced to Kíli. "—happy about the chance of an elf coming to the throne."

"Oh, I've guessed that by now," Kíli snapped. "Tell me something I don't know."

Ragnar straightened. "This wasn't their first attempt. They tried to get rid of you on your honeymoon."

"What?"

"They thought that if Gundabad knew you were crossing the mountains, the orcs would be all too glad to finish you for us. But you can't rely on orcs."

"You! You told them!" Anger blazed through Kíli, and without thinking he struck Ragnar's face. Fíli leaped forward, but there was no need to restrain Kíli further. The younger prince stood still, panting, as he remembered the misery, the fear of those three awful days. It wasn't a random orc attack. This was planned by his own kin. This dwarf here in front of him had played some part.

Ragnar groaned."So orcs did find you." He sounded astonished.

"Yes, they bloody did," Kíli said, his voice hard. "And what they planned for me— Not even you deserve that wretched fate."

Freya gasped."Orcs?" So she had not known about this first attempt.

After a few moments, Ragnar said, "You escaped? How?"

"I have a fierce and loyal wife." Kíli smiled grimly, remembering the fire in her eyes as Tauriel had stood over the vanquished orc captain. "You're lucky she's not here. She doesn't generally let people live after they've tried to hurt me."

Ragnar swallowed, apparently uncomfortable at the thought of facing the angry elven princess. "The orc plot wasn't my idea."

"You went along with it," Kíli said. "What difference does it make?"

"Did you also know about the raiders that ambushed my envoy two months ago?" Fíli asked, his tone cool but angry nonetheless. "We know Kíli was the target."

Ragnar glanced from one prince to the other, obviously weighing the response his next words would earn. At last he said, "I knew. I was in the patrol that let them past."

This time Kíli's punch was entirely deliberate. "That is for my brother."

"Stop it!" Freya shouted.

Ragnar spat and raised his head again, meeting Kíli's eyes with a look that, if it was not quite contrite, was not defiant, either. "Fair enough," he said.

"More than fair," Fíli said, laying a hand on Kíli's arm. "But we'll leave it at that for now." His voice was strained, as if his tight grasp on his brother was more to control himself than Kíli. "Who planned the attacks?"

Ragnar met Kíli's eye. "You tell him I'm just paying my debts."

"Trust me, he will pay for all he's done," Kíli said.

The young conspirator nodded, apparently satisfied. "It's Reidhr. He's the one behind all of this."

"Maker's beard! I've been working with him all this time! How did I not see it?" Kíli tugged away from Fíli and slammed his hands flat on the table, accidentally upsetting a crystal water glass. "No wonder I found nothing. He must've been laughing at me all this time. Stars, I've been a fool." He threw the broken glass into the fireplace, then turned back to Ragnar. "Who else is working for that rat?"

Ragnar shrugged. "I can give you names, but most of them have already left the dûm. Reidhr's been planning to resist you ever since the last assassination plot went wrong."

The crown prince drew himself up to attention and turned to one of the watching royal guard. "Send a party to arrest Reidhr, now!"

Kíli felt suddenly sick. "I saw him in the crowd at the gate when we came inside. We'll be too late." He snatched his sword and ran out the door after the guard.

With his men, Kíli went first to the gate, but the captain of the watch told him no-one had passed through since Kili had been there last; the Erebor guardsmen Fíli had left behind at the gate confirmed this fact. Only slightly relieved, Kíli hurried to Reidhr's dwelling, but even as he arrived, Sigthorn met him at the door with a shake of his head. "He's not here."

Kíli drew breath to curse, but before the words were out, Daín's voice boomed behind him.

"What's this?"

The prince spun round. "I'm arresting Reidhr—or trying! Where is he?"

"You have evidence against him?"

"I caught two of the conspirators trying to escape. They named him leader of the plot."

"You're sure you can believe them?" Daín's face was stern.

"I think so." Kíli had sensed that Ragnar was in earnest; lying about who was behind the conspiracy wouldn't save Freya. "And if Reidhr is innocent, where is he now? He was at the gate; he saw me make the arrest."

Daín's face flared red. "The man's my in-law," he growled. "If he's a traitor, he has betrayed me as well as the crown."

"Where would he hide?" Kíli asked.

The Lord of the Iron Hills shook his head. "He'd be safest in his own halls. He owns a mine and a foundry two days' travel north of here. A small dûm, but independent and easily defensible."

"But he can't get there without going past our guards," Kíli said doubtfully. While there were no exits from Daín's dûm that weren't watched, Reidhr had proven to have many allies.

"No. All the guards at the secret gates are men I trust." Daín closed his eyes and pressed his fist to his brow, thinking. "Unless…" His eyes snapped open. "Troll shite! How in the Maker's name did I forget that? But it happened the same day as we heard the raiders had taken your brother! Drove it clean out of my mind."

"What?" Kíli demanded, shifting impatiently.

"We caught some smugglers. They'd tunneled into some of the older halls from a nearby mine—the iron was worked out, so it's empty now. As Chief Tariff Officer, Reidhr was part of the investigation. He was responsible for sealing up the tunnel, afterwards. Maybe he didn't."

Kíli gripped his sword hilt. "We'll look there."

They found the smugglers' tunnel blocked, but done hastily: the entrance had been caved in, and within the past hour, judging from air, still thick with dust and the smell of freshly cracked stone.

After bestowing a disappointed glare and a sneeze, Kíli turned away from the rubble and began to jog back the way he'd come. "Where is the mine entrance?" he shouted back at Daín, who was huffing behind him. "We should have thought to send guards there first!"

Arriving at the mine entrance nearly three quarters of an hour later, they found they were yet again too late. Not far inside the old mine were manure and traces of hay, but the pony was now gone, and Reidhr with it.

Kíli led a search of the surrounding hills, but already he knew it would be in vain. Not even elves, he thought, could have found a track over such stony ground in the dark. The hills soon rose to cliffs, craggy and broken, offering many a hiding place or sheltered track for the traitor's escape. Still, his men hunted till the sunlight gilded the mountains above. Then, wearied by nearly four hours of scrambling over cliff sides and chasing down dead-end valleys, Kíli grudgingly admitted defeat.

Fíli met them back at the city gate. "Ragnar gave a list of conspirators," he said. "I've arrested the few I could, but most are already gone."

Daín grunted, unsurprised. "Already holed up in Reidhr's delving."

"I'll march an army there, if that's what it takes to pry him out," Kíli growled. He felt vastly out of temper, thanks to frustration and lack of sleep.

"I'm afraid it may take just that," Daín agreed gravely.

Fíli drew a hand over his face. "Mahal, what a dragon's nest! This is serious."

"Thorin needs to know," Kíli said. "I'll write him, but I need a mug of tea first. Or an ale."

"I'll do it, Kíli. You get some rest."

Kíli nodded, too tired to protest.

"Oh, and Kí." Fíli caught his brother's shoulder as Kíli passed. "From Tauriel." He drew a small folded paper from his breast pocket. "A raven came from Erebor."

Back in his room, Kíli sat on the edge of his bed and opened the letter from his wife.

My dear Kíli,

Galadion and I are very well. He has learned a pattern of eating and sleeping, so now I wake before he cries. Neither of us has to fuss, and so we both fall asleep so much easier again. Dís, Morwen, and Sif give me help during the day. Even dear Tilda has come several times in this past sennight. She says Galadion is the prettiest babe she has ever seen and assures me that she does not offer such praise lightly!

Morwen recently sent home for her lute, and she plays it for us most evenings. Galadion loves it. Sometimes he listens quietly; sometimes he wiggles and calls, eager to join in, and then I dance him in my lap. When you come home, you can play your fiddle for him.

I have noticed that when Thorin is nearby, Galadion always pays particular attention; I see him listening to your uncle's voice or studying his face. I am sure Galadion knows the difference between you two, but it seems Thorin reminds him of you. I say this not that you should worry—I sense that our son feels safe and content—but to assure you that he has not forgotten you.

I know that you are leading the investigation well, and I trust that your efforts will soon earn the result they deserve. I am proud of you, hadhod nín, my champion.

Your loving

Tauriel

He lowered the letter and closed his eyes, trying to imagine his son's delight at Morwen's music. Was the little fellow smiling yet? He hadn't smiled for Kíli before, not a true smile of delight, but surely he would soon.

Kíli was deeply grateful for their friends, though the thought of them helping Tauriel naturally made him wish that he, too, could be at her side. In the brief time he had been at home following Galadion's birth, Kíli enjoyed finally taking part in his son's daily care. Despite Tauriel's assurances that his love had been an indispensable support throughout her pregnancy, he still felt that Tauriel had done the greater part of parenting, and he was glad for the turn to finally do his share.

Curse Ragnar, and Reidhr, and all of their traitorous friends! Yes, and curse himself for not having seen that Reidhr was hindering, not helping, the investigation. If Kíli had suspected something amiss in the wild goose chase Reidhr had sent him on to track down the source of the rustleaf, Kíli might have caught the old bastard already and be on his way home.

He yawned in spite of his frustration. Hammer and tongs, he was as tired as if he really had spent half the night up with the babe! But of course, hunting down these traitors was as much a part of caring for Galadion as soothing tears or changing diapers. If only he had Tauriel's elvish skill for dreaming even while awake; he would have marched on Reidhr's delving without delay. But he didn't, and besides, an army had to prepare before it could march. Tauriel would tell him to sleep while he could.

He refolded the note and tucked it against his heart, then crawled under the covers.

Today was too windy and wet to go outside, so Tauriel took her walk in Erebor's vast work halls. Kíli had grown up in a forge, and he would want his son to feel equally at home amidst the sights and sounds of dwarves at work. She stayed among the side halls, where the noise of the main forges was muted by distance, though she could still clearly distinguish the ring and clang of hammers, the rush of bellows, and the echoing songs of the craftsmen. As she walked, Galadion readily fell asleep, and Tauriel smiled to herself: truly he was fully dwarven if the sound of the workshop could send him to sleep as easily as his own mother's lullaby.

He woke hungry and impatient, so Tauriel ducked into Kíli's workshop to feed him. It felt good to be here; Kíli's tools, his sketches, and half-completed projects made him feel present. In this place, he had crafted her betrothal ring, her marriage jewels, her crown, and so his workshop was as central to their shared lives as any of the rooms in their royal suite.

"Someday, you will come here to learn from Ada," she said to Galadion as he nursed. "Won't that be fine?"

Even after Galadion had finished his meal, she lingered, reluctant to leave this private, comfortable place.

"Shall I tell you how your nana and ada met?"

From her shoulder, Galadion responded with a contented chirp.

"Once upon a time, there was a dwarf named Kíli. He was the finest dwarf you can imagine: tall and strong and handsome—with raven hair and hazel eyes just like yours, in fact. He was also a prince, but he didn't have a crown because his kingdom was halfway across Middle-earth. It had been stolen by a dragon. Well, one day Kíli and his brother Fíli and their uncle the king decided to win their kingdom back. They gathered a few loyal friends, and they traveled all the way over the Misty Mountains (and under them, too) and across the Great River until they came to the Mirkwood.

"Now, so long as a dwarf has good honest stone under his feet and open sky over his head, he can never lose his purpose. But put him in a forest, with nothing but trees above and beside and even below him, and even the sturdiest dwarf begins to lose his bearings. Of course, you will not have that trouble, my love. You are both dwarf and elf, and so you shall always be at home, under star and leaf and stone."

She tickled Galadion's head, and he turned to gaze at her with solemn eyes.

"The Mirkwood is a very old, very wild, very big forest indeed, and so it is not really a surprise that soon Kíli and his friends found they were very lost. They were so busy trying to find their way again that they wandered right into the middle of a spiders' nest before they knew it. Now most spiders—the sort you might find in Ered Luin or even here in Erebor—are nothing to be afraid of; you can swat them with a shoe. But the Mirkwood spiders are as big as ponies, and their webs are like tents. These particular spiders were hungry, and thirteen dwarves seemed like a delicious treat. But the dwarves, as you can imagine, didn't want to be eaten, and so they put up a terrible fight.

"Kíli did well at first. He killed a dozen spiders, but as he stabbed the thirteenth it tried to wrap him in its web. Kíli dodged, but the web caught his sword and pulled it out of his hand. And before he could get the sword back, the very biggest, blackest, hungriest spider of them all appeared. It loomed up over him and opened its jaws, and Kíli thought that this would be the last thing he ever saw.

"And indeed it might have been! But at the very last moment, an elf—Tauriel was her name—leaped down from the trees in front of him. Kíli had been about to close his eyes, but he was glad they were still open now because Tauriel was the prettiest maiden Kíli had ever seen: she had long, red hair, and she moved like fire in the wind. She flashed her bronze knives and snipped off the spider's head, and Kíli fell in love with her right on the spot."

Galadion gave a long squeak and batted Tauriel's neck.

"I know what you are thinking. It was reckless of him to fall in love with her when he didn't know yet if she could even love him back. But she could, even if she didn't quite know it at first. (If you will keep a secret, I will tell you that she did notice he was very handsome, even with his hair full of spiderwebs.) When she realized that she loved him—which was not much later—then she married him, of course. Soon they had a little babe: you, my love." She kissed him. "And they were all three very, very happy."

Someone knocked on the workshop door.

"Come in," Tauriel said.

Sif entered, her face lit with amusement. "Don't stop there; I want to know what moment Tauriel fell in love with Kíli."

"When did she know it, or when did it really happen?"

"When did it really happen, of course!"

Tauriel readjusted Galadion, so he could more easily watch his aunt. "I believe it happened when Kíli pressed his head between his prison bars so he could tell Tauriel about a fire moon. No-one had ever looked at her with such unconscious adoration before; it was most beguiling."

The young dwarf woman grinned. "I think falling in love was a perfectly reasonable response." She wiggled Galadion's foot. "Hello, darling. How are you today?"

"I had a lovely nap just now while Nana walked along the Hall of Forges," Tauriel answered for him.

"Oh, you did. How pleasant!" Sif looked up from the babe to his mother, her look turning more serious. "We've had news from Fíli and Kíli! The raven came half an hour ago. They're really on the traitors' trail at last!" She took a small paper from her purse. "Kíli sent this. I'll hold Galad so you can read it."

Tauriel readily complied. Was Kíli's mission really almost complete?

Amrâlimê,

Good news: we found our man. Bad news: he escaped ahead of us by a single hour. [This last word was underlined by several emphatic pen strokes.] You can read the whole story in Fili's letter to Thorin—I must be quick. Now Fíli and I go to drag them out of their den. Maker willing, this won't come to a siege, but we must be prepared for it nevertheless. I am sorry I cannot tell you I am coming straight home yet; I wish I were! I've been gone for ages. I miss you and Galadion. Give him a kiss from me! I love you both and think of you always.

Yours,

Kíli

By the time she reached the end of the note, Tauriel's heart was pounding. "A siege?" she murmured. "Heavens, will they go to war over this?" The thought made her sick. She had never wanted her marriage to bring such division to Kíli's people.

"I hope not! It's just one small dûm. But Tauriel—" Sif took the elleth's hand. "This isn't just about you. It's about the people's respect for Thorin. He's a good king, and most people see that, but remember: there have always been the doubters. None of the other kingdoms supported his Quest! And then there was his family's dragon-sickness— Anyway, people would find something to question, if it wasn't Kíli's marriage. Honestly, have you studied dwarven politics?"

Tauriel tried to smile. "Thank you, dear. I just can't help thinking I should have—"

"Nonsense! You haven't done anything wrong. This will all work out."

The elven princess took a deep breath; yes, she must believe so.

Galadion, evidently sensing the tension in this conversation, gave a fretful wail. Tauriel took him back into her arms. "Have you seen Fíli's message to Thorin yet?"

"No, but I want to. Fíli didn't have time to repeat the details to me, either, in his note. I imagine Thorin is shut up in council right now; I'll go wait outside and pounce as soon as he appears. Then I'll bring the letter straight to you and we can read it together, all right?" Her blue eyes were keen as the hunting gaze of her pet cat, Silverpaw.

"Perfect," Tauriel said. "I'll meet you in my rooms."

Already on her way out of the workshop, Sif turned back with a smile. "And we can have tea, and I'll snuggle Galadion."

Author's note:

I hope this chapter finds all of you well! The pandemic has been pretty darn frustrating for me, but thankfully I've stayed safe and well. I hope my story brings some happiness amidst a trying time.

I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter! Did you enjoy Tauriel's story for Galadion? I had fun writing it. If you have read my story "Spiders," you know that the story of how their parents' met becomes a favorite for Kíli and Tauriel's kids; this is the first time Galadion hears that story.

Many thanks to That Elf Girl and The Lone Knight for beta reading this chapter!

Kíli squashing his head between the bars to talk to Tauriel is the most precious thing in the entire Hobbit trilogy. Of course that's when Tauriel fell in love. :3 (Every time I watch that scene, it kills me!)

As always, if you leave me a review, I'll PM you a preview of the next chapter before it gets posted!

Also, wow there are a lot of ads on FF dot net these days! Remember, you can always read this story ad-free on Archive of Our Own dot org. My username, Moonraykir, is exactly the same there so you can easily find my fics. You can read and comment without an AO3 login.