Chapter 15
Tauriel had no desire to open her eyes. She was warm, content, and felt whole. Her mind tried to focus on what time it could be, but she mentally swatted that focus away. Much too early to rise, she internally groused, yet something stirred her from her peaceful rest. She stretched her hand out across the bed behind her, searching, but her hand only met air. Opening her eyes for the first time, she lifted her head to peer over her shoulder to the place Kili typically lay. To her consternation, and early morning frustration, the bed was empty.
It had been just over a week since the wedding, and both were enjoying each other with the added newness of their physical relationship. This was the first morning Tauriel woke without her heating stone tucked up behind her and she was decidedly not happy.
They had already made their way out of their little safe haven, though it took a few days. Thorin left, as he said he would, bright and early the next morning leaving Fili to run the forge. This worked out for a several days until he was needed in guard duty at which point, Tauriel went to manage the forge and Kili returned to work with Gillhor, who was once again called to care for his ailing mother. Neither of them really expected to take too much time off anyway.
Tauriel stood from the bed and grabbed Kili's dressing robe from the chair near the fireplace. Initially, she hadn't even noticed the small fireplace, she was much too distracted by other things. She did enjoy her little room though.
Stepping towards the door, she could hear raised voices, muffled by the walls between them. Deciding it best to get dressed, walking out even in Kili's oversized robe was not going to fly, Tauriel quickly gathered her clothes and made for the bathroom.
It only took her a small amount of time to ready and make her way out her room, where unsurprisingly she heard the shouts coming from the chambers directly across from her own. Shouts coming from an extremely irate Dis.
"Brother, I absolutely do not care about your solemn oath. You can take it and shove it up the nearest ram. I will not repeat myself!" Dis all but screamed. So Thorin made it home, she thought.
"Mam, we have to go. We told you. This feels right."
"Feels right? And do you think it didn't feel right when your father left for war, only to not come back?! Nearly causing your brother's death when he came to this world before his time? Do you think it probably didn't feel right when you left to get yourselves KILLED once before?! Does it feel right you are throwing away your second chance at life because your deranged uncle seems to feel it is his…what Thorin, duty? Responsibility? Proof of honor? To drag you to Mahal knows where?" Hearing they were discussing something involving her at least in small part, and Fili was in there. She opened the door carefully, stepping into the room of four, very volatile, Durin's folk. Ah, so her husband was here. She noted with a sigh.
"Then fine. Leave brother. There is the door you old fool. But do not think" She dangerously walked up to Thorin, "I will let any of my children follow your suicide mission." Without even glancing around the room Dis stormed off, slamming the door to her bedroom leaving the three sons of Durin and a very stunned Tauriel.
"Amralime!" Cried Kili, the first to notice the elf at the door. He walked up and took her hand, pulling her further into the room. He sat her down on one of the large seats just across Fili and near where Thorin was standing, refusing to make eye contact. Kili sat beside Tauriel, taking her hand in his, and the room fell quiet once more.
Tauriel looked around at the three Dwarrows in the room. Fili looked up at her from his chair, where he sat hunched forward, bowed over the floor. He tried to give her a smile, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"How much did you hear?" Thorin's gravely voice rumbled out still not looking at her. "Enough to piece together that our time is nearly up." Tauriel whispered. Kili's eyes looked sadly into her own. Choosing to ignore the argument, she turned to Thorin. "Was it important, in Bree than?" He looked thoughtful for a moment, then just nodded his head. She looked down. So, this was it than. She wasn't sure how to feel, she knew it was coming, they all did, but they didn't realize how hard it would be to find themselves facing the prospect of failure, which for them would mean death.
"Maybe Dis is right. Just, maybe it would be better you three remain here."
"Absolutely not!"
"Uncle, we are coming!"
"Not even a possibility."
Were the three protests which echoed back all at the same time. Thorin just looked more frustrated. "Fili, you are next in line. If something were to happen to me, I need you safe. Kili, you too are in line for the throne, plus you aren't just you anymore. You have a family" He then indicated to Tauriel "Have you not thought about that Kili? A family who needs you alive. Tauriel, you have already sacrificed enough for this family, I will not be asking more of you."
"I will not do it uncle. I will not be tucked away in this mountain while you leave on something of obvious importance if Manwe himself sent us back to make things right. You cannot ask this of me." Fili stood. "I am of age and I will be by your side."
"Fili is right, we are Durin's folk uncle. We will not go down without trying, it is not in our blood."
"It has been my greatest honor getting to know you and joining this family. I too, will fight for it. My place is beside my husband and my brother. I do not need to be asked or given permission. I will stand with you, all of you." Tauriel proclaimed.
Kili went to stand before his uncle, looking directly into his eyes. "Tell us uncle. Tell us what it is."
Thorin looked at his nephew before him. He was so young. So young and already has lost so much. They are right. This is all of their fights and he knew they stood beside him until the end once and will do so again without question. Moving his eyes around the room, Thorin came to a decision "I have had word, these last few months, my father, your grandfather," he looked to Fili and Kili, "is alive".
A collective gasp came from the two younger Dwarrow in the room. "It can't be." Fili muttered. "Uncle, he died in the battle of Moria, didn't he?" Thorin nodded.
"So they believe Fili. But I have always felt differently. I never did find his remains among the slain in that battle. Though neither did he return to us. I dare not hope, but I couldn't lose it either."
Tauriel's eyes traveled from one dwarf to the next, trying to make sense of what was going on, but remained silent.
"I was called to Bree to meet with someone who I was told may know some information on Thrain's whereabouts. However, when I reached the town, none came." He said after a moment.
"So it was in vain then?" Tauriel asked, still looking around the room. Thorin shook his head. "I chanced upon another meeting. Though in hindsight, I do not think it was chance at all." He turned, pacing before the fire for several minutes. "A wizard. Gandalf the Grey."
"Mithrandir?" Tauriel's voice questioned. Kili and Thorin turned to her. "Do you know him?" Thorin asked, but Tauriel only shook her head as a negative. She knew of him, for sure. He would wonder and meet with elves throughout all the lands. Once or twice even making his way to the halls of Thranduil. That hadn't happened in an age, however, and she had only heard stories of the wizard from those around her.
"Does he have information on the whereabouts of Thrain?" Kili turned back to his uncle, but Thorin just stopped his pacing and turned to him. He didn't need to respond, the sad look in his blue eyes gave the answer. He did not.
"What did he want then?" Kili asked. Thorin turned from them, placing his hand on wood and stone hearth. "He said we should reclaim our homeland." He supplied quietly.
The two young princes just stood quietly, taking in what their uncle had just said. The fire crackling steadily in the fireplace as each person in the room considered what was being said. "At first, I wasn't interested. We have lost enough already." He continued. "However, he had something which quickly changed my mind."
Thorin hesitated for a moment, a shift in his bearings made his nephews eye him warily. "What is it uncle?" Fili asked. "What is it you aren't telling us."
Thorin looked at the three in the room before pulling out small rolled up object and passed it to his eldest nephew, who untied and opened it for all to see, eyeing the black marks on what seemed like tanned hide. Something in him knew he did not want to know what poor soul this had come from.
Tauriel and Kili moved to look down on what was in the blond princes' hands, Tauriel's eyes shooting up to Thorin. "I know these markings. These are markings from the lands or Mordor. Black speech." She hissed. She had seen them in her time when orcs raided her forest, though she didn't know what they say, her heart hammered at the implications. Thorin nodded slowly.
"Can you read it?" He asked, signaling to the marks but Tauriel just shook her head. "No matter, Gandalf told me what it reads." He paused, what he said next had Fili dropping the hide from his hands, Tauriel hissing angerly, and Kili's usually bright eyes, darkening dangerously. "It is a price on my head, and I fear, in connection, yours as well." He said, signaling to the younger nephews.
"What is to be done then?" Dis's voice startled the other's in the room as they all turned to stare at the Dwarrowdam who was eyeing the hide on the ground at Fili's feet as if she was hoping it was a dark vision instead of an even darker reality. At some point she had rejoined the group in the sitting room, unknown and quietly.
"Gandalf suggested I meet with the Lords of the seven kingdoms. Calling them to take up arms to reclaim…" He stopped. Even to him it sounded fool hardy to do this, but it also felt so right.
"Reclaim what, brother." Dis asked quietly. Something in her stance made it known she knew exactly what he was going to say.
"Erabor." He finished. A silence filled the room once again. "We come together, we fight, and we reclaim our home. I will not sit around and wait for someone to collect a price on my head. I will take a stand."
"I will be by your side." Kili broke the silence first.
"As will I." Tauriel joined, standing tall beside her husband. Taking his hand firmly in her own. "Manwe himself declared we fix what was done, I feel this is part of that." Fili did not even hesitate. "Don't even think you are leaving me behind. Keeping those two in line requires all the help you can get uncle. What comes first then?"
Kili and Tauriel leveled the golden-haired dwarven prince with a glare. However, neither had a chance to retort before Thorin started checking off the things which needed to be done if this was ever to come to fruition.
"We will need to gather a company. I think it would be wise to not make this common knowledge. Hold what you have learned tonight to your breasts and utter not a word until we know who we can trust. Who will join us." Thorin finally answered. "I do not even know of the possibility, but I was told it was time to take back our home, and that time is now."
"Will the Lords listen? Will they join?" Kili asked. Thorin only sighed. "Normally, yes. We are the rightful heirs to that mountain, and they swore their allegiance to our family."
"Then why do you seem as if you doubt their oaths?" Tauriel questioned. She may not have known Thorin as long as the others in the family, but working so close to him, living with him, and spending all that time in Khuzdul lessons with the dwarven king made her almost as attuned him as she was to Fili, Kili, and Dis by now. Kili most so though, as he was the very heat in her veins.
"They swore their oaths to the one who bares the king's gem." Thorin answered.
"The Arkenstone." Dis hissed, eyeing her brother warily, her tone causing the two young princes and one elf to look at her. "That stone is a curse to this family Thorin."
"Dis, it is only a stone, a gem. Nothing more."
"Nothing? If you believe that, you really are a fool, Thorin Oakenshield." Marching straight up to her brother, temper rising, Dis leveled the taller dwarf with dark narrowed eyes.
"Did you not see what it did to our grandfather? The mighty Thror, turned cold and selfish within days of finding that, that thing." She bit out. "I remember him, as young as I was, I remember watching the grandfather who used to read to us, tell us tales of our ancestors, and rule with honor and respect turn his eyes from his people to only covet that which shined. Pacing that treasure hall with love only for what was inside." She was speaking of the family's curse, a curse which seemed to start when a certain gem was pulled from the heart of the mountain.
"Dis I have been around the Arkenstone, the illness Thror has, the one he had, will not have an effect on me. I do want our people to reclaim the gold stolen from us, yes, but not because of its quantity or value, but because it is ours Dis."
Dis eyed her brother, not convinced, but knew he had been close to Thror, and never seemed to develop the signs himself so she allowed her temper to dwindle and stepped back. "What of the dragon then?" She quietly asked. "He is the one to hold the stone now is he not?"
"Gandalf had an idea for that. He said to leave it to him. He will be sending word when the time is come. In the meantime, I will need to speak to Balin. I will be leaving tomorrow to make my way to the kingdoms of the seven dwarven lords. If all turns well, we should be marching to Erabor by mid spring with a small company to get the stone. Then, with the stone in our grasp, we can rally the lords and take down the wyrm who has stolen our lands and our gold." He finished, Kili and Fili yelling out, their excitement to join a quest apparent in their voices.
Tauriel was apprehensive, and stood quietly near Dis. Erabor, she thought. Her mind can picture the mountain, sitting tall beyond her trees. Uninvited images flooded her mind of white snow dotted with blood, a distant hill, and the echo of what sounded like metal armor being pierced. She felt a warm hand enter hers and the images were gone before she could dwell on them more. She turned to Dis, who looked as fearful as she herself felt. However, she had adopted her elven mask and stood tall beside Dis and turned her eyes to the male Dwarrow in the room, watching carefully as they made plans. Though she did tighten her grip on Dis's hand.
Mid spring was nearly a month away, if that. The weather was already beginning to warm, the thick snow turning to trenching, cold rain as of late. Officially, winter ended just days ago, though the snows still linger in the taller portions of the mountain and the air still bites harshly. The worst is behind them though, weather wise.
True to his word, Thorin left the next morning. The small family coming together for an early meal. Though nobody said it, a feeling of solemnity took over the table. Instead of the normal laughter, easy teasing, and happy memories readily shared, the meal was a quiet affair. Something in each of them knew it would be the last time they would come together in this home. Whether it be because they claimed their homeland, or, a more likely reason, one or more of them would not be returning.
On his way out the courtyard, Thorin bid his nephews and Tauriel goodbye. "I will be sending word when or if everything works to our plans." He declared, adjusting the straps on his brown, shaggy, horse. He fondly patted each one, including Tauriel, on the shoulder once everything was packed.
Dis pulled her brother into a firm embrace. "Please. Please be careful. Come back. There is more value here, then there could ever be in that mountain." She whispered quietly. Thorin tightened his hold on his beloved sister before pulling away. He nodded his head once, kissed her brow, and stepped up to pull himself onto his horse.
"Safe travels uncle." Kili and Fili called as he turned from them and left the gate. Turning themselves to head back inside for the day, closely followed by Tauriel.
Dis stood alone, eyes still watching the space where Thorin had just left. From the moment he mentioned leaving on what she dubbed a fools errand, she felt uneasy. Everything was too familiar, echoing up to the day when Thorin left astride that very horse, side by side with her precious Vili. Her own One. Two horses left mounted with a pair of dwarves excited and ready for war. Only one came back. Eyeing the now empty path just beyond the gate, Dis couldn't help but wonder if that was to be the last time she ever saw her brother alive again.
Authors Note: Well, I did say paradise would end right? They have a fate to follow, after all. Still more to come, I have NO idea how long I am making this thing LOL! I so far have 18 chapters and I am nowhere near where I want them to be. What have I gotten myself into! No matter. This is for the sons of Durin and Tauriel so it is worth it. They deserve a chance. Hope you're enjoying this as much as I am enjoying sharing it. :)