Chapter 12:

Fili had walked in first, leaving Nala to trail in behind. The dining chamber was already mostly full. The only relief she was able to grasp was because of the few familiar faces. Thorin, Fili, Bofur and Dis. All these years away from nobility and politics – Nala wasn't sure she recalled her proper manners.

Slowly the followed Fili to the long table. It had yet to have food placed on it but there were still a few seats empty. Fili did inform her that not all the Dwarves came every night. There were a few women, some younger Dwarves and others older.

Nala felt her chest cave in as she found Bola sitting near the head of the table with an empty seat beside him. Sending a smile to Fili in thanks, she trotted over to her brother, scooping up the material of her dress and slid into the chair.

"Are we late?" she whispered in his ear.

Bola shook his head, resting his elbow on the arm of his chair with a golden goblet in hand. "Nearly," he laughed. "I'm surprised that you weren't running. You hate being late."

Nala pursed her lips, sending Fili a teasing glare. "I would have," she murmured to her brother. "But Fili was insistent on taking me the 'scenic' way around." The 'scenic' way had been through a large hallway that had its walls filled with paintings of the previous Kings. It was a little odd to see such fine craftsmanship in the art since it wasn't typical for a decoration – usually cementing their image in statues instead-but Balin had found them stored in an old archives room that hadn't been destroyed by Smaug.

She had been itching to ask him to hurry but Fili was filled with so much pride as he pointed out each of his predecessors that Nala didn't have the heart to show disinterest so she gave him her full attention and let herself forget about dinner.

Nala thanked a serving boy who poured her a goblet of red wine – a peculiar choice but it must come from trade with the Elves of Mirkwood. The long, narrow entrance door opens once again, causing her eyes to peek over to it from the rim of her cup. Her eyes darted back down to the table immediately though as Kili entered.

"Sorry, Yorna had me cleaning up the armoury," he greeted. Nala could hear the pounding footsteps come closer until they were almost directly in front of her. Risking a glance up, she watched with dismay as Kili took the seat right in front of her, on the right of his brother.

"Was it your fault this time or was it those rascal children again?" his mother questioned. Kili grinned cheekily, not answering and Nala deduced that the 'children' was just a previous excuse Kili had conjured to try and dodge blame. Dis turned her attention to Nala who quickly ducked her head again. "Have you been down to the armoury yet dear? Rather boring if I say so myself but I wouldn't be surprised if my eldest hasn't already dragged you down."

Nala's lips pulled back with a smile that she couldn't hide as she looked back up to the female Dwarf. "Of course he has," she taunted, sending Fili a mirthful eye. "I think he spent twenty minutes just showing me where all the different types of short blades were kept."

"It was five minutes," Fili muttered causing Nala and the nearby listeners to chortle. "And don't pin this on me. You asked to see the armoury."

"I must admit he does speak the truth," Nala address Dis. Dis raised her brows in interest, leaning forward against the table slightly.

"Have you taken an interest in weapons?"

"She's been training with me," Bola answered before she could. "Mainly with a staff but we've done a fair amount of work with a sword as well. But I think you do better with two-handed weapons, don't you?" Nala nodded coyly, hiding her glowing face behind her goblet. She quickly scanned over the Dwarves nearby to gauge their reactions. Dis was filled with her motherly wonder and curiosity; Fili had his lips pursed in what she guessed as approval; Thorin had a solemn and pensive expression but did not seem to have anything negative. And lastly, she looked at Kili. At first, he was staring at the table with his head resting in his palm, but it lifted, and their eyes met. He looked at her with neither approval or disapproval and she wondered whether he was even listening to their conversation anymore.

"Not a bow and arrow?"

It took Nala a moment to register that Kili had asked her a question. Her mouth opened slowly, trying to decide on something – really anything – to respond with. "We, uh, didn't have one with us. I would love to learn though."

The answer seemed to satisfy him as he leant back against the spine of his chair. Nala's shoulders sagged as she looked to her brother for his reaction. Bola only raised his brows slightly, giving her a look she could not determine.

For a moment she began to feel a small sense of hope. Her lips even began to pull up into a tiny smile but it falls just as easily as she recalled the words spoken to her by that exact Dwarf not four hours ago. Her curious eyes turned into a blank glare that she directed just beside Kili's head. He was putting up a front for everybody. Suddenly she couldn't wait for food to come so she could distract herself.

And her wish was soon granted as the company and their family were served a good-sized meal. For the most part, Nala stayed quiet, content with listening to her brother's conversation with Thorin and Dwalin. They were talking about something to with the guards' locations and perimeter searches that was quite frankly boring but the chatter of everybody else was too crowded, to understand anything being said.

Nala was certainly the odd one out that night and she hoped that the feeling would fade over time once she started to know others more. She couldn't live in her brother's shadow every day.

Once dinner was finished and their plates were taken, a few Dwarves left but most stayed and started to mingle away from the table. Nala stayed with her brother once more, clinging to the back of his arm and smiling politely at a Dwarf. He had hair that she couldn't distinguish between red or brown and was accompanied by a younger Dwarf with similar hair.

Her shoulders kept moving though as though she was trying to shrug off something. There was a horrid feeling of eyes on her back – not an unfamiliar sensation since she had felt it for two months straight. But every time she looked behind her, there was no one focusing on her.

She could tell that Bola was eager to have her off his arm but her only other choice of companion was talking avidly with a young brown-haired Dwarf that she couldn't even place a name to. She felt like a Dwafling again. But thankfully, she did not have to brave enough to talk first herself.

As she shyly watched her surroundings, she caught the blond prince's eye and he motioned her over. Her hands dropped from her brother who momentarily dropped his gaze as she trotted away to her friend.

Nala smiled softly as Fili and his companion welcome her with their own bright smiles. "Nala, this is Ori. He was with the company along with his brother's Nori and Dori."

"It's a pleasure," Nala stated, feeling her confidence slowly coming back to her. "And I believe I owe you and your brothers a thanks for assisting in bringing Erebor back to its once-mighty standing."

Ori blushed, shrugging his shoulders slightly as Fili mumbled something about being 'overly formal sounding' which she ignored. "It's was nothing," he answered bashfully. "Just a dragon but it didn't stand a chance against us."

"Oh, I'm sure," Nala teased, giving Fili a mirthful look to the side. "I would love to hear some of our stories. Both my brother and Fili have yet to fill me in on the adventure." Ori almost immediately started chattering away about every tiny detail that he could think of. Only, to Nala's dismay, he focused so much on specific details that she quickly became lost as to when and where these events where happening and he seemed to enthralled in his own words for Nala to want to interrupt him.

Another Dwarf with hair spiked into three points joined their small group, quickly introducing himself as Nori. Nala immediately recognised the brotherhood between them, even if they had very different composures. But Nori wasn't as open as his brother.

"There was a Hobbit?" she wondered as Dori nonchalantly mentions the species. "A Hobbit came to Erebor with you?"

"Bilbo," Fili answered before Ori could. "Brave young laddie. Had his wits about him, even if he was a little lost at the beginning. Wouldn't be standing here without him."

"I'll drink to that," a new voice grumbled. Nala peeked over her shoulder to find Dwalin also coming to join their group. "Sneaky bastard that Bilbo was. But Fili's right; without him, we would have lost our way quite a few more times than I care to admit."

The Dwarves made a noise of approval and agreement before the conversation started flowing in a new direction. Nala tilted her head closer to Fili, gripping the material of his light coat behind his upper arm. "You must tell me more about the quest. Bola is a terrible story-teller."

A new glint shone in his eyes. "Well we must find ourselves a new oak tree then," he prompted suggestively. "There aren't many trees nearby but I'm sure we can find somewhere quiet."

"Will we sneak away during the night like children?"

"I think we'll have to. If my mother sees me wandering around in the middle of the night, she'll have my hind thrown since she knows I'll fall asleep in the council meetings," he grunted through a smirk filled with mirth. Nala let her own similar expression dance on her cheeks, nudging his shoulder with her own as she turned her attention back to the conversation happening around them. Fili leant back down to her ear. "I fall asleep in them anyways. Boring as the Elves those lot."

Nala brought a hand up to her mouth to cover the snort, subtly looking around to make sure neither Dis nor Thorin was in hearing range.

"Would you rather them or the maps?" she questioned. Fili squinted, tipping his head as he began to internally debate it. It seemed to be a very hard choice.

"I think I'd rather the maps," he declared after a while, acting surprised at his own choice. "At least Balin tries to make things interesting. He fails, but he tries." Nala chuckled, hiding her face into the side of his shoulder.

It felt oddly comfortable around him. When her father first told her they would be travelling to Erebor she knew there was an almost inevitable chance of meeting with people of her past. She was terrified of the idea. There were some she knew, like Dwalin and his brother, that would be easy. But the idea of seeing Fili again struck a chord of fear that continued to play until she watched him race towards her with that smile when she first arrived. Now then, less than a week later were they acting like there wasn't a fifty-something year gap in their friendship.

Nothing had changed. She could confide in him, tease him, talk aimlessly. Now she just had to deal with all the new information that has been thrown her way in a tornado of events.

Her fingers slipped down from his jacket to his own fingers, squeezing them lightly. "Do you want another drink?"

"Please."

She departed with a soft smile that stayed on her lips as she sauntered back over to the dining table large silver jugs were filled with the sweet red wine. Nala poured both herself and Fili another drink before beginning to walk back to the now larger group. Out of the corner of her eye, she recognised the dark hair marching in her direction. With a strong desire to get back to Fili, Nala kept her head down.

She prayed that he was walking straight past her but the arm that came from the side, traversing over the length of her shoulders proved her prayers pointless. Keeping her head low, her eyes trailed up the arm keeping her in place to its owner.

Kili sighed heavily, looking just as discontent with their position as she was. "I just want to say that I'm sorry," he murmured. "About earlier today. I spoke without thinking and I didn't mean to hurt you like that."

'Like that'. The two words rang through her head. "So you meant to hurt me another way," she scowled. "Just not so much as to use my father. Thank you, apology accepted." Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she tried to press on but Kili's arm stayed readily in place.

"No, I-." He scrunched his eyes, quite clearly trying to think of something to say. Nala was honestly more so intrigued than anything by his attempts. It wasn't like he used to apologise. "I had a bad day, and I went to the library to clear my head. I snapped at you because it felt normal."

Nala squinted slightly. "I'm guessing you didn't have a normal day then?"

Kili blinked for a moment before nodding. "You could say that," he choked out through a pathetic and momentary chuckle. "Look, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for coming at you. You didn't do anything."

Nala observed him for a few moments, reading his eyes and language. Though the arm around the front of her shoulders was stiff, it wasn't tight or threatening. And he was actually looking at her as though he wanted a response; and not a counter-attack. A proper response. She opened her mouth to respond but another's voice beat her to it.

"Nala? Balin wanted to ask you some questions." Bola strode over to the pair and Kili dropped his arm. Her brother looked between them before finally settling his gaze on her.

"Oh, well I have Fili's drink so I better get that to him first," she chirped, motioning with the two goblets in her hand. Bola nodded and began to walk backwards but waited for her to follow before turning around. Nala took a step forward, turning her head back to Kili as she does. "And it's fine. Just use that brain I know you have before speaking next time."

She didn't wait for his reaction, joining at her brother's side who wrapped an arm around the back of her shoulders. A much more comforting feeling than Kili's. "Do I want to know what that was about?"

"He was apologising actually for something he said earlier. Not sure if I believe it, but it's a start."