Chapter 35: Besieged

"Thorin."

Starting, the dwarf king looked up to see Tauriel standing at the other side of the half-cleared dining table. Even with a babe in her arms, the elf could move silently.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to surprise you," she said.

"It's nothing," he said and gestured for her to sit.

Once she complied, Thorin could see that Galadion slept, his little face snuggled at his mother's breast. The king smiled. "He looks comfortable."

Tauriel nodded, a tender, proprietorial look in her eye for a moment. Then she drew a leather packet from her belt and laid it on the table. "Would you give this to Kíli when you see him?"

"Of course." Sif had entrusted him with a similar package for Fíli earlier that day.

"Take care it doesn't get wet," Tauriel said. "It's tobacco and a drawing of Galadion that Ori made yesterday."

"I'll get it to him safely."

"Thank you, Thorin. And tell him I love him."

"I will." He noted that she held herself straight, alert, like a deer poised to spring at any moment. "Is something troubling you, love? Don't hold yourself and Kíli to blame for this conspiracy. I do not regret giving you my blessing."

She met his eyes, her look sincere. "Thank you."

Thorin reached for the decanter left over from dinner, and at Tauriel's nod, poured her a glass of wine before refilling his own goblet. After a slow sip, he said, "If I regret anything, it is not asserting my authority more strongly at the Council. Perhaps if I had defended Kíli and you then, it would not have come to this." At the time, there had seemed no other choice but to accede to the Council's demands. Thank Mahal that later, when he discovered how much Tauriel's loss affected not only Kíli, but all those who relied on the young prince, Thorin had been in a position to make things right.

"And maybe it still would have. Perhaps we would have truly lost all chance to be together if we had openly defied the Council." Tauriel shook her head. "I do not blame you. We all did what we believed was right. Kíli and I are both stronger for that brief parting. I learned that I need not fear losing him. And I think he learned to trust that I need him. Yes, it was a painful time, but I do not regret it."

"You make a good point." Thorin smiled wryly, her wisdom reminding him of the peculiar fact that his nephew's wife was far older even than he, Thorin, himself.

"Please bring Kíli home soon." The soft yearning in her voice transformed Tauriel from a centuries-old immortal to a vulnerable young woman again. "I don't wish to call him away from this task before it is finished, but I miss him. I want him to have time with Galadion." She sipped quickly at her wine, and Thorin thought he caught the glimmer of a tear at her eye.

"I know." Her longing tugged at his heart, reminding him of leaving behind a lonely little sister for long campaigns in the wars against the orcs. Dís had always been the hardest goodbye. "I hope that my presence, plus the added troops, will convince these rebels that their best course is surrender. They gain nothing by riding out a long siege. And we'll be too many for them to take on, even if they are foolish enough to call in allies—allies who would be fools, alike, to join them."

He reached over the table for her hand. "We'll end this as quickly as we can," he said.

Tauriel's cheeks colored slightly and she glanced down at the table. "I confess there is a part of me that wishes I were coming with you. I am not accustomed to doing nothing when there is trouble."

"Mm-hm," Thorin said. "That sounds like someone else I know."

Tauriel's lip quirked up as she caressed Galadion's head. "Of course, I could never be sorry that this little one needs me. But I am used to doing as I wish, even—at times—in defiance of my king." Tauriel looked up again, her eyes sparkling with conspiratorial mirth.

Thorin chuckled. "I would be worried, if I didn't know I have something Thranduil does not: Kíli is my nephew."

She smiled in return. "Very wise, my king."

Galadion gave a few soft, waking cries and thumped a little fist against his mother. As Tauriel cooed over him, Thorin thought of the fierce, independent warrior maiden who had waylaid the exiled king and his company in Mirkwood four years ago. Then, he could never have imagined her fondling a babe, and certainly not a babe who was Thorin's own grand-nephew! But this tender, maternal side suited her perhaps even more than the warrior did, for it brought out a beauty that no warrior could ever claim.

Tauriel shifted Galadion so that he was facing Thorin. "Look here," she said in the pet voice that she used only with her son. "It's your Uncle Thorin. Say 'Hello, Uncle.'"

Galadion squealed and reached out towards Thorin, seemingly recognizing him, if that were possible in a babe so young.

Apparently Tauriel believed so, for she said, "Have you noticed he always seems so interested in you? I believe it is because you remind him of Kíli."

Thorin laughed. "I think that's one of the nicest compliments I've ever had." He tickled Galadion's cheek, earning a happy burble from the little dwelf. "Your ada will be home soon; I'll make sure of it." Delighted by the babe's obvious pleasure at this interaction, the thought struck Thorin: did he wish for a son of his own? But no—he could not ask for better heirs than he already had, and soon he would have not one, but two grand-nephews to love. His life was in no way incomplete.

A few hours before sundown, the two princes of Erebor and Daín Ironfoot led an army up to Reidhr's dûm. The delving itself opened at the end of a valley and was accessed by a road of solid dwarven stonework. Yet the road afforded no easy passage now; the way was barred by a series of stone embankments with wooden stakes outthrust from the bottom.

"He's been plannin' for this," Daín grumbled.

Kíli scowled at the barricades. "Does he think this will stop us?"

Despite Kíli's determination, the walls did effectively halt the passage of their army for the moment. He and Fíli and Daín approached the gate to the dûm with a reduced personal guard, and even so, it took them long enough to clamber over the barricades that the sun was setting behind them when they stood before the doors.

Kíli thought at first no-one would deign to meet them. As the notes of their horns died away, the heralds called out, "Fíli, Crown Prince of Erebor and Kíli, Prince of Erebor." Yet the rampart above remained empty.

Finally after several minutes, a wait no doubt intended to make the princes feel the suppliants here, a lone guard appeared atop the wall above the doors.

"What do you want?" he called.

"We come to serve justice on Reidhr and his confederates, for treason against the crown," Fíli returned. "Yield them up, in the name of Thorin Oakenshield, King Under the Mountain."

The guard atop the wall laughed. "You want them that bad, you'll have to get them yourself. Though it'll take more than your little honor guard to breach these gates."

Kíli gritted his teeth. He hadn't expected any compliance, but still he was galled by such open defiance of the king's, and indeed of Durin's, authority.

"You know very well we don't have to breach them," Fíli said, and Kíli was impressed by the calmness of his voice. "My army can camp in the valley. We'll wait comfortably while you eat up your supplies."

"Like I said, you'll have to come in and fetch 'em if you want 'em," the guard repeated.

"I could take that as a declaration of rebellion," Fíli said. "And I will. But not from you. If Reidhr means to defy me, let him do it himself. Or is he afraid to face me, and sends a lackey in his place?"

The guard watched them, motionless.

"Reidhr, you scumbag," Kíli shouted, certain the villain watched this exchange somewhere out of sight. "You're brave enough sending others to attack me: your poisoner and your mercenaries. But you're no true dwarf. Only an orc is afraid to look his opponent in the face."

"Don't you tell me what it means to be a true dwarf, you filthy elf-lover," someone shouted. Then Reidhr himself stepped up to the parapet. "You're not fit to carry Durin's blood."

"And you're fit to decide if I'm worthy? You, who have murdered innocent dwarves. You betrayed your king, your princes, even your own followers. You sent orcs against me. Orcs! the oldest enemy of the Khazad." Kíli spat on the stones at his feet. "You have no honor."

Fíli said, "Your crimes make you a traitor to the crown, Reidhr."

"I have done what you say. But I count it no treason to protect the crown from those who would defile it." Reidhr lifted his chin, defiant.

Kíli growled in rage. How he would like to scale the wall and strangle the monster with his own hands! For a moment, he thought of his bow at his back. But no, this parley must be conducted fairly. Only once Reidhr had refused to comply peaceably would Kíli be justified to attack.

Lord Daín stepped forward. "Don't forget you're both my subject and my kinsman. Oakenshield is my liege and so he is yours, too. In defying him and his heirs, you likewise defy me. As your lord, I yield you up to Prince Fíli and Prince Kíli, that they may punish your treachery."

Reidhr returned a short, hard laugh. "So be it. Then I renounce allegiance to you and your king."

"Reidhr," Fíli shouted. "Think of your men. If you give yourself up now, I am ready to pardon those who were not directly involved in your crimes. But if they support you in your rebellion, then they, too, face the penalty: death, or at the least shame and exile. Don't ruin more lives over your own private hatred."

"My men stand with me," Reidhr said.

Fíli shook his head in evident disbelief at such bitterness and pride. "Nonetheless, I will return tomorrow. If any wish to give themselves up, I will receive them with clemency."

Reidhr laughed again. "Suit yourself. Though my advice would be to save yourself the journey. It's a hard climb, and you may need your strength later." With that, he turned and disappeared behind the rampart, and the guard with him.

Kíli realized he was holding his jaw clenched tight. He relaxed. "Well, that went about as well as we expected," he said.

"What does he think he gains by defying us?" Fíli asked. "He has perhaps four hundred men, against the armies of Erebor. And he has no legitimate grievance against Thorin, or even Kíli, so no-one will support him."

"Let's hope not," said Daín.

Kíli groaned. "No, indeed." He pulled off his helmet so the evening breeze could cool him. "If only we had some ale. I need a drink."

Fíli gave a strained laugh. "I think we all do."

True to his word, the next day Fíli returned to the gate to receive any who wished to give themselves up, yet none did.

"Our friends didn't show so much as a whisker atop the wall," Fíli grumbled as he threw off armor and sword back at the camp. "What do they think they're going to gain? They'll lose their beards for this, if not their heads."

Kíli gave a few sharp puffs at his pipe, then exhaled smoke, the white clouds giving visible form to his exhausted sigh. "I dunno, Fí." He shook a lock of hair out of his eyes. "We got a raven from Thorin. He left Erebor yesterday with another six hundred soldiers, plus food and supplies."

"Will that include beer?" Fíli asked.

An unexpected smile flashed over Kíli's face. "Maker's beard, let's hope so. Or we'll have to storm the dûm after all."

Kíli woke to a tugging at his blankets.

"Tauri," he mumbled and tried to draw her closer.

"For Mahal's sake, Kíli." Someone pushed his arm away. "It's me. Let me up."

Kíli grunted and opened his eyes to Fíli's sleepy face. "Oh. Sorry." He rolled aside, freeing the blankets that had held his brother pinned.

"You'd better apologize, after last night."

"What?" Kíli said. Fíli wasn't afraid to offer a firm shove if you rolled too far into his space or stole a blanket, but Kíli didn't remember anything like that happening.

Fíli eyed him critically. "You tried to kiss me. Twice."

Kíli supposed his expression must have reflected his utter embarrassment because Fíli threw his head back and let out a bellow of laughter.

"Your face—" Fíli gasped eventually.

"I didn't, did I. Kiss you." Kíli threw a wadded blanket in Fíli's face. "You're an ass."

"D'you really think I'd let you sleep through it if you did?"

Kíli snorted in playful derision. "Don't know why I believed you. Tauriel doesn't stink like you do. I'd know the difference even in my sleep, soon as I got close enough."

"Oh, sure you would. 'Tauriel.'" Fíli put on a mournful tone. "'Tauriel! I need a snuggle.'"

"I do not sound like that." Kíli shoved his brother, then sat up and yawned.

Someone slapped the tent wall; then Sigthorn stuck his head inside. "Your highness."

Kíli's face sobered, all traces of his playful mood vanished. "What is it?"

"There's a raven just arrived," Sigthorn said. "Seems important. You had better come."

Kíli shoved his boots on, then scrambled up and out of the tent; Fíli was close behind. Outside, they found Sigthorn and a few of the night watch clustered around a raven that was scolding them from atop the royal standard at the center of the camp.

…don't just stand there, you ninnies! Kíli could hear it croaking. Big flock coming, with many claws and sharp beaks!

The guards parted for the princes, and the raven, apparently recognizing Kíli from some previous errand, swooped down to his shoulder. Stupid dwarves, it squawked in his ear. Been trying to tell them about the flock, but they don't listen.

Flock? Kíli asked. Is there something wrong among the ravens?

No, stupid. The bird pecked at Kíli's earring, giving an impatient tug. Kíli winced. Flock of dwarves. Dwarves with lots of claws and beaks, sharp and ready to fight.

"Damn, he means an army," Kíli said, massaging his ear.

"An army?" Sigthorn blurted. Several other guards also cursed.

"So this is what the bastard meant about saving our strength," Fíli grumbled. He looked to the raven. Where is this flock?

Coming from sunrise. Close, be here soon.

How close? Fíli asked again.

One day's flight. I saw them yesterday, before noon.

Kíli sighed, relaxing slightly. "One day's flight for a raven is still two days' march for a dwarf. They'll be here tonight; maybe tomorrow." He looked to the raven. How many in their flock? More than ours?

The bird whistled thoughtfully. Four dwarves to your three, it answered slowly.

"That's about eight hundred," Fíli said. "Enough to cut us off in this valley."

"Then we don't let them," Kíli returned sharply. Did you see the color of their plumage? he asked the raven.

Sky blue, it said. And orange like sunset. Or your she-elf's hair.

Kíli smiled slightly in spite of himself; so this raven had indeed carried a message for him before.

"Those aren't clan colors" Fíli said. "That's good news, at least. It's just a personal alliance; we're not fighting a whole kingdom."

Kíli nodded. "Yet." He held his arm out and the raven walked down to his wrist. Thank you for your warning. Will you watch for the flock and let me know when they reach that peak? He pointed to the mountain separating this valley from the next. And can you find me another raven to carry a message to Thorin?

The raven squawked its assent and then winged off.

"Valar damn it!" Kíli heaved an exasperated sigh and dragged both hands back through his hair. "This just gets worse and worse. How does he have allies? Does everyone in the Seven Kingdoms hate me?"

Fíli puffed out an anxious breath. "Starting a war with Erebor is beyond foolish—they'd never win."

"Seems to me they already started this fight, sending orcs and mercenaries after me. Now we're just being forced to finish it." Kíli felt suddenly queasy. "I killed a fellow dwarf, last sennight. I know I didn't have a choice but still—" He gripped his brother's arm. "Fí, we were trained to fight orcs, a dragon. Not our own kin!" It was one thing to besiege a small faction of traitors, but the arrival of another dwarven army was placing this fight on an entirely new and disturbing scale.

"It's bad," Fíli agreed. "We need Thorin and his army. These eastern allies would be less willing to engage us if we had them outnumbered. As it is, they outnumber us two to one, if we count everyone inside Reidhr's den." He jerked his head up the well fortified valley.

"We can't get caught between them," said Kíli.

Fíli shook his head, eyes distant as if preoccupied with some other thought. Eventually he said, "Thorin might be able to reach us the day after tomorrow, if they march through the night."

Kíli groaned. "That won't do us any good if our new friends attack us on sight."

"No. Let's hope we can stall them."

"Right." Kíli scuffed his boot against the stones. "In the meanwhile, we have to move out from between the hammer and the anvil."

Once the army had risen, Fíli ordered them back down the valley, away from the entrance to the dûm. They couldn't let themselves be trapped between Reidhr's delving and the approaching army, but neither could they let the army reach their allies. With ravens scouting ahead, Fíli maneuvered his army to the place where this valley met the next to the east; there in the pass they assumed battle lines in preparation for meeting these latest foes.

The afternoon drew out in restless waiting, and it was nearly evening when the first troops crossed into the shallow valley below.

Fíli squinted at the distant banners. "I can't make out their crest yet," he muttered. "They'd better not prove Erebor's own allies, turned against us."

For what felt like the hundredth time, Kíli drew an arrow from his quiver, smoothed the fletching, put it back. He didn't want this battle, but his disgust that his fellow Longbeard dwarves would bring in allies to fight against their king like this had put him in what could only be called a fighting mood. Judging from Daín's sharp snort beside him, his cousin was also fuming over this betrayal.

It was quickly evident that the easterners did not immediately intend to fight, since they soon halted, sending only a small envoy ahead of them.

"I told you fighting wouldn't be their first choice," Fíli said, though he sounded relieved. "I still don't recognize their standard. Never could remember all the major Orocarni houses."

Yet when the envoy was near enough for its leader's face to be visible, Kíli cursed. "I should have guessed. Has that half-orc son of a cave troll had it in for me since the bloody Council?"

Fíli groaned. "Jari? Mahal only knows. I hoped we'd seen the last of his meddling."

It was Jari who had first questioned whether Thror's line was fit to rule, and Kíli's love for an elf had been one of the Stiffbeard councilman's prime arguments that a strain of madness still ran in Thorin's family. When Kíli publicly renounced Tauriel, most of the clans had let go of their concerns, and even the other Stiffbeard councilmen had overpowered Jari's objections and voted to uphold Fíli and Kíli's claim to succession. Since then, of course, Kíli had returned to Tauriel with his uncle's and his brother's blessings. Did Jari take Kíli's actions as a personal injury?

"He's a flawed gem, that's for certain," Fíli said. "Let me do the talking."

"If you'll let me do the fighting," Kíli muttered under his breath. "I've got an arrow with this arsehole's name on it."

"You're a wonderful diplomatist, Kí," his brother returned drily.

Fíli did not wait for the envoy to hail him; as soon as the party had halted before his army, Fíli demanded, "Why do you lead an army onto Longbeard lands?"

Jari raised his chin. "I came to ask you a similar question. Why do you march against my allies?"

Fíli smiled, the motion more a baring of teeth than an expression of mirth. "I'm here to dispense the king's justice. I don't need your permission."

"Justice it may be, but my oath is to take Reidhr's side against those who would attack him."

"The man is a traitor to the crown!" Daín exclaimed. "If you stand by him, you are a traitor, alike."

"My loyalty is to Durin Deathless. Better to defy one king than to betray Durin's sacred line." Jari looked pointedly at Kíli.

"You son of an orc!" Kíli cried, anger burning through the last fragile threads of his control. "Have you been in league with Reidhr all this time, plotting to kill me?"

Jari shook his head, almost patronizing. "No, if Your Highness will believe it. I am here to honor a prior promise of alliance to Reidhr. I cannot allow my ally to be crushed for objecting to the truly objectionable." He raised a hand to forestall protest. "I concede, his methods were not good, but still he did show true dwarven sentiment."

"True dwarven—" Kíli scoffed, outrage and disgust blazing inside him. "I'll show you true dwarven sentiment. You want to hurt my family, you face me." He gripped his sword and stepped forward.

Fíli stopped him with a sharp look and a firm hand to the shoulder. To Jari, the crown prince said, "Don't you hear yourself? You're asking for war."

"On the contrary. I do hope war can be avoided."

Fíli's face was hard. "Then march back to the Orocarni Mountains."

"No; I will not betray my allies."

"Then you are right; war is what you'll get, want it or not."

Jari nodded, conceding the prince's logic. "You and I both know that a battle here would be a serious matter. It would draw in my clan and their allies against Erebor and its allies. The Seven Kingdoms, shattered. You will do anything to avoid that."

"Are you ordering me to back down?" Fíli asked, his tone and his stare completely incredulous. "Do you forget who I am?"

"No, Your Highness. Though perhaps you have forgotten your brother, who betrayed his promise to the Seven Kingdoms, that he would not marry an elf."

"I didn't— Audha released me," Kíli growled. Fíli's grip on his shoulder tightened.

"So, in light of your own broken pledges, I suggest you release Reidhr from service to Erebor," Jari said, his tone gracious as if he were offering a favor, not asking one. "We'll call matters even. I will march my army back to Orocarni, and there will be no war."

Fíli clenched his jaw. "You know I can't do that."

"It is your choice." Jari bowed his head deferentially. "A war or a compromise."

The silence stretched tight between them.

Kíli spoke at last, though he knew his words would do no good: they simply broke out of him like water from behind a poorly-constructed dam. "Don't talk to me of broken pledges," he said, his voice quiet but intense. "I, too, had a prior promise. What I said at the Council about letting Tauriel go, I meant it. But the truth is, I offered things I had already given away. I didn't see it then, but they did: Uncle and Fíli and Audha. I kept my promise, and my people—those of true dwarven honor—see that."

Jari looked to Fíli, clearly wondering what the crown prince would make of this declaration.

To Kíli's immense relief, his brother did not waver. "Kíli is right. But this now—" Fíli gestured over the two dwarven armies. "—is not about my brother's choices. It is about justice; it is about the Longbeards' loyalty to their king. You have no right to interfere. Stand down now or face the wrath of Erebor."

Jari dipped his chin, his expression almost regretful. "I cannot walk away and leave my allies to face an army. You have until morning to march. If you are not out of this valley at noon tomorrow, I attack."

Kíli gaped. Beside him, Daín rumbled, "Now hear this, you disloyal—"

Fíli cut him off with a raised hand. "Right. I accept your terms," the crown prince said, and Kíli could tell from the tightness in his brother's voice that Fíli resented being forced into compliance by an enemy. "No weapon is to be drawn between us before noon tomorrow. But at that time, if you are still in this valley, I will send you beardless back to your clan."

Jari bowed curtly. "You may try." He looked hard at Fíli for a few moments more, then turned his back and marched away. His guard followed him.

When the Stiffbeard envoy was out of earshot, Kíli released an inarticulate growl. "That goblin-faced, dung-eating tunnel rat! Who does he think he is, making his demands of Durin's king as if he were a Patriarch himself, not some pissant rebel!" He kicked a stone across the field, and it thumped down in the grass several yards behind the last of the envoy.

"Right." Fíli let out a long sigh. "I hope I bought enough time for Thorin to reach us. If he doesn't show up, I don't see how we can avoid a battle."

"Even if we avoid it tomorrow, do ye not think we'll start a war by sending them all home bare-faced and shamed?" Daín asked.

"I don't know," Fíli said. "But I think Jari is hoping we're too afraid to risk it. He wants to strong-arm us with the threat of war, but that's just it: he knows the threat of repercussions is more of a danger than his own little army. We have to call his bluff. I suspect he won't want to trade his life just to make a point."

"I wouldn't count on it," Kíli said, pulling a disgusted frown. "He's been pretty fanatical about upholding the purity of Durin's bloodline."

"True." Fíli scratched his beard, frowning. "But I think he knows he's in a dangerous spot himself. Realistically, if he's going to survive this play, he has to succeed before Erebor musters its full strength against him. He wants us to have enough time to consider the consequences of engaging him, but not enough to find a way to stop him. Like I said, he's bluffing."

"I hope you're right." Kíli sighed, feeling suddenly defeated. "Maker! Is this what I've done to the kingdom by marrying Tauriel? Maybe I really should have run away with her." He groaned.

Sigthorn, who had thus far stood silently behind Kíli, now cleared his throat. "Prince Kíli, not everyone thinks like these traitors do. You're honorable, and you didn't start this."

Fíli put an arm about Kíli's shoulders. "He's right, and I should know, having finished my share of fights that you started."

Kíli laughed slightly in spite of himself. "I'll try to believe you."

Author's note:

I'm still plugging along with this fic, even when the going is slow sometimes! Seriously, why did I decide this story should be full of all the things I find most difficult to write: politics, intrigue, and action? As always, That Elf Girl and The Lone Knight have been a great help as I plotted out this chapter.

So what do you all think of these latest developments? Has Kíli finally gotten into more trouble than he'll be able to get out of? Did you enjoy the brotherly teasing? Please leave me a review; it means the world to hear from you. And I will try to remember to sent chapter previews to reviewers next time! It has been so long since I last updated that I forgot to do that. D: But I promise I've been using my time well; I finished my dissertation and completed my literature PhD this summer! So you may now call me Dr. Moonraykir. (Haha, that sounds like a Bond villain! Now were is my undersea lab and my space laser?)

If you are missing the Kiliel fluff (I know I am! Gotta get those two back together!) you can check out my companion story, Beneath the Moon, Beneath the Sun. I added a chapter to that a few weeks ago.