Disclaimer: I don't own any familiar characters, and or anything pertaining to the world of the Hobbit. All, but my ocs, are owned by J.R.R Tolkien (who probably hates us for doing this to his work).

Chapter 32

Magdalen had come to love the city of Dale and the people that resided in it. They welcomed the dwarves, and her, with open arms. Bain and Tilda had acted as her guide throughout the city, showing off their beautiful architecture and water system that streamed from the nearby lake. Kili had also tagged along with them on their little adventure, adding to every other comment that he had overseen the building of this or that. Tilda would roll her eyes and knock him over before taking Magdalen by her arm and hauling her off, laughing the whole way. Throughout the day Magdalen's mind wandered back to the eldest dwarvish prince, more than she would like to admit. Fili had been unable to accompany them on the tour, as he was caught up in meetings between the council of Dale and Erebor. Discussing trade goods taxes and the next harvest, exciting stuff really.

It was only the second day of their trip, but Magdalen had already experienced so much. The foods in Dale were very different than those served in Erebor. While they offered fine meats and ale, they also had a variety of vegetables and fruits. Magdalen couldn't remember the last time she enjoyed a salad without any meat. She was glad she had never been a vegetarian, a year in Erebor would have changed her mind quickly.

The elves had arrived the day after them, in an extravagant parade of elegance and regalness. Magdalen dropped her jaw when she first caught sight of angelic figures. They were all quite beautiful and tall. Their long shiny hair reached their lower backs and had no sight of a tangle or kink in them. Of all the magic she had seen in Middle Earth, elvish hair probably fascinated her the most.

During the parade, Magdalen stood in the stone courtyard they had been received in the previous day. She stood at the bottom of the stairs among council member, Dwarven diplomats, and guards. Due to her short height, Magdalen could barely make out anyone passing by over the guards. She knew the elven king had come in when she saw the flash of annoyance on Thorin's face. She had caught glimpses of fine fabrics, blonde hair, and chestnut leather. Even as he ascended the steps to greet the other kings and their respective families she only saw his lean body. Even from the back, she could tell he was model handsome, it seemed all the elves were.

Magdalen had pestered Kili and Fili when she could, about everything elves and what they were like. While Fili's answers were short and Less descriptive. Kili made up for it with a dreamy look in his eye. Magdalen had nearly forgotten about his secret elvish lover. It was clear Kili had an admiration for the elves or at least one in particular.

"I saw a set of arrows just over there, I think they'll make up for the last set of mine you wasted perfectly." Teased Kili as he guided Magdalen through the crowded marketplace.

"Wasted? I think you mean beating you in a friendly competition." She affirmed.

Bain has been called on by his father to attend the first meetings of the Festival, and Tilda, who was only sixteen, still had her schooling. Which left Magdalen to her own devices. She had stumbled upon Kili as she wandered around the Masters' house aimlessly, taking a few hours to glance over the books in their private library, which Bard had opened up for her after hearing about her love for books. Kili was supposed to be in the meetings with Thorin, Fili, and the rest of the diplomats, but had managed to sneak away. She had always thought Kili would make a good king if he had to be. He was charismatic and loveable. It was clear that he had the same passion for his people as his family, whenever they were in the markets of Erebor. Though he was certainly no politician like Fili. Kili cared little about what others thought of him, lives his life like such.

They turned into a small alleyway where carts of good lines the open space. Magdalen stepped over to the nearest cart taking in the goods the merchant had to offer. Magdalen picked up a small hunting knife, well balanced she watched the blade title on her outstretched fingertip. She turned to show off her less than impressive trick to Kili, only to find him staring off. His normally pale cheeks were dusted with a blush, and his bright blue eye were wide. Magdalen knitted her eyebrows, watching as Kili swallowed thickly.

Magdalen turned to follow his gaze. Through the crowded market, she saw an elf woman making her way through the sea of people. Her hair made her stick out among the people. It was long and curling as it meets her backside, and was the color of fire. Her face was sharp and ageless, Magdalen could see why Kili was taken by her beauty. She smiled at a group of children and the world around her seemed to glow.

Magdalen looked between Kili and the women, who seemed to sense Kili's intense stare, as she meets his gaze and shared a secret look. The corner of Magdalen's lip twitched, she had a good guess who the elven woman might be.

"I will be fine on my own if there are other matters you need to attend to." Magdalen said jabbing her elbow into Kili's side. Kili broke his dreamy gaze floating back to reality.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He looked anywhere but Tauriel's direction.

"Fili told me all about your elf girlfriend." She elbowed him.

With worried eyes, Kili glances around making sure no one was listening. Kili pushes her forward into a small offshoot of the market way, making sure they were no wandering ears eavesdropping on their conversation.

"He shouldn't have said such things. She is not my 'girlfriend'."

Magdalen laughed as he put up air quotes around girlfriend. She could see the worry and panic in her friend's eyes. She reached forward grabbing onto both his shoulders.

"Kili it's okay, I'm not going to tell anyone. My lips are sealed." She zipped her lips throwing away the imagery key.

Kili scrunched his nose as he watched the odd gesture. He sighed rubbing the back of his neck looking back to where Taurial had been moments before.

"She has sacrificed so much for me. She saved my life and my brothers. And all I can give her in return is a few fleeting moments." His watched searched over the crowd longingly.

Magdalen smiled patting her friend's shoulder. She felt for the guy, she knew love when she saw it.

"Go and have your moment, Kee. I'll wait here."

"I really shouldn't leave you alone here Maggie," He denied looking slightly sad.

Magdalen laughed at the prince's puppy dog eyes. "I won't wander far, I promise. Go meet your lady love for a few minutes, I'll look around the market." She gestured to the various carts.

Kili's blush intensified when she said 'lady love', though he didn't deny anything. He looked longingly at Tauriel as she stood at the edge of another corridor. Magdalen sighed pushing him forward into the masses.

"I won't go far!" She shouted over the people, watching as her dwarf disappeared.

She shook her head as she began to walk.

"Young love." She said as if she were an old lady.

Magdalen wandered through the streets adjacent to the market, watching people on horses trotting through the cobstone paths. It was odd how much her life had changed, it was even crazier to think she lived every day in a word she thought was only fiction for so long. She tried to imagine what Felicity and Emma do if they had found themselves in her position. Felicity would have been fine, most likely. She probably would have had an easier start than herself. But Emma… Poor Emma would have tried to fight Dwalin and Thorin the first chance she got. The thought of Emma trying to fight the warrior and king made her laugh, that would have been a sight.

Caught up in her thoughts she didn't see the crowd part as someone made their way through. That was until her face collided with something hard.

"Ouch!" She yelled as she stumbled back to see the tall figure of a man before her.

The crowd gasped at the sight of the tiny woman looking up at the towering elven king. He stared down at her with cold eyes and an impressed face. His long platinum blonde hair came to his waist, and a crown of silver twigs and glimmering blue jewels sat upon his head. Pointed ears stuck out among the almost white hair. His sharp eyes were an unsettling blue, not the soft welcoming blue of the durian line, this was alarming and almost unnatural blue. His Azul robes reached the grown and spilt in the middle to reveal tall leather boots.

Magdalen mumbled an apology, but the man took no heed of it. He bent in half of his towering height his face hovering over hers.

"You are not of Middle Earth are you?" His voice was silky and smooth. He spoke like he had been around for thousands of years. And he probably had been.

"What makes you say that?" Magdalen questioned nervously under the judgmental gaze of the elf.

The elf raised a thick eyebrow, "I have been around for a long time, I know when I see something that doesn't belong." He stood at his full height looking down at her from the point of his elegant nose.

Magdalen scrunched her nose up at the statuesque man.

"Listen here pointy ears, I belong here just as much as you do."

The man blinked starting down at her as if she was a wild troll. Suddenly a smile grew across his face as he looked down at the grown chuckling to himself.

"You're the woman the dwarves took in aren't you." His head tilted looking down at her.

"Yes." She muttered.

He looked over his shoulder to his guards raising a hand to dismiss their defensive stance. He reached forward taking her tiny hand in his. His skin was surprisingly soft against her fingertip. He raised the hand to his lips, pressing a kiss into her skin.

"I do hope we meet again Lady Magdalen." With that, he was gone.

Magdalen blinked rapidly.

What just happened? She wandered to herself as she made her way back to the market, finding Kili looking around for her like a nervous wreck. Slowly Magdalen came up behind him, leaning over to whisper in his ear.

"Looking for something?" Kili jumped a foot in the air.

Magdalen held her stomach at the look on his face.

He scowled at her, "Where have you been?"

"Exploring, getting into trouble. The usual." She shrugged not mentioning the strange encounter directly.

"But what about you, tell me all about your self!" Magdalen sped past his question, excitingly wanted details about the elf woman.

Kili suddenly turned red spinning on his heels to walk away from her. Magdalen chased after him, asking questions rapidly. Pedestrians stared as the blonde haired woman called after the prince, who was almost running, asking questions: "Is she a better archer than you?","Do you have to stand on something to kiss her?","Does she smell nice?","Do you looove her?"

The poor prince becoming redder with every passing second

On the fourth day of their trip was the annual competition was held, and to say people were excited was an understatement. The previous night in the courtyard Bard held a fest, which seemed to be the theme of the week at this rate she wasn't going to be able to fit into any of her clothes, in honor of the coming tournament. Magdalen couldn't understand the impending events, or the enthusiasm surrounding it. Based on what Tilda had explained, the tournament had two major events: a weapons fight and an archery competition. When Tilda said the word archery Kili seemed to pop up from nowhere and exclaim that he couldn't wait to enter the tournament. He proudly recalled how he had won the archery competition before, and couldn't wait to be the three-time reigning champion. Tilda rolled her eyes at him. She sadly explained that she couldn't enter as she was not of age yet.

That didn't stop Kili from teasing her relentlessly for the rest of the night, about how she would never be able to suppress him. Magdalen spent the rest of the night eating the sweet treats and drinking bitter ale before retiring to her bed. Though dreams of blood and war filled her night.

She was awakened from her restless sleep by a loud knocking at her door. Magdalen peeled herself from the bed, curling a robe around her body as she slumped toward the door. Eyes still closed she huffed opening the door to greet her visitor. Magdalen blinked focusing her sight on the familiar face of Fili, looking dashing as ever, at her door.

She stood up straight pulling her robe closer to her body.

"Oh hello Fili." She cleared her voice, tucking away a strain hair from her face.

He smirked. "Hello."

An odd silence fell between the two friends. Magdalen pressed her lips together looking down the emptied hallway.

"What's up, Fili? Something wrong?" She asked.

Fili laughed nervously "Something has to be wrong for me to visit a friend."

Magdalen raised an eyebrow at that statement. Fili's hand fidgeted, his eyes darting to look anywhere but at her.

"Fili?" Magdalen leaned forward lowering her face to meet his gaze.

Fili grumbled something under his breath, dragging his hand over his face.

"What?"

"Please don't try to enter the tournaments today." Fili raised his volume.

Magdalen glared at him leaning against her doorway, arms crossed over her chest.

"Afraid I'll get hurt?" She raised an eyebrow.

Fili let out a low breath, rubbing his hand over his beard.

"I'm afraid you'll hurt someone else." He retorted.

Magdalen snorted, knowing he was joking. But it was nice to think he believed she could beat some of them up.

"Please don't try to enter the tournament." He asked again almost begged.

His voice was desperate this time. Magdalen looked away, she admitted she had thought about entering. But Dwalin had advised against it, she had trained and worked with dwarves never full-size men or elves.

She bit her lip "I won't if you don't."

"I don't have anything to fight for." There was a light in his eyes she could not place.

Knitting her eyebrows together she asked: "And what would be worth fighting for?"

Her skin prickled as his gaze did not look away from her. As if he was challenging her to find out herself. A sudden clatter of guards armor broke his intense gaze.

"Uncle will be waiting for me. I will see you later, Dushin-Mizim." He looked down rubbing his hands together.

She waited for him to leave, turn away and walk down the hall. Instead, Fili stepped into Magdalen's space tugging on one of her hands gently. Violently sparks shot through her body, as she felt the soft friction of his skin against hers. Fili pressed her hand into his forehead, before holding it over his heart. The faint flutters of his heart beat gently into her palm. The air around them was hot and heavy. Fili backed away bowing to her, glancing at her one last before leaving.

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she closed the door. She pressed her back into the door, holding her hand against her chest. Magdalen smiled to herself. A loud knock vibrating against her back.

She flung open the door.

"Fili I told you I won't-" She came face to face with the shiny metal of a chest plate.

Intricate leaves and braided vines were woven into the cool metal seamlessly. She craned her neck to meet the gaze of a Mirkwood Elf.

"The king requests your presences, m'lady." His voice was deep and robotic.

"That's okay Tilda should be on her way to collect me." She answered hope it would dismiss the elf.

The cold face of the elf did not move. ""The king requests your presences, m' lady" He repeated again.

It seemed like the elf was not leaving without her.

Magdalen brushed her hair out of her face, leaning against her door.

"Right, let me change real quick."

Recelegantly Magdalen followed the guard through the emptied guest quarters of the emptied grand home out into the busy streets of Dale.

Every day the streets seemed to buzz with excites energy, however today there was a different air about the people. While today a sense of nervousness was hinted, as contestants made their way to a small stadium that sat at the edge of the city's wall, half the stands built off the edge of the cliff that held up the city. The elf guard guided her to the top of the stands to a small box draped in red and gold wools, three wooden chairs stood beside one another on equal standings. Each had a smaller chair next to them on their right side. From the stands she could see everything in the stadium, Magdalen quickly got away from the guard and stood at the edge of the rails that overlooked everything.

"I'm glad you've decided to join me, Lady Magdalen." A cool voice said behind her.

She turned to meet the unwavering eyes of King Thranduil. He looked just as he had before. A crown of silver leaves and blue jewels sat atop his head. He waited for her to bow but it never came.

"How do you know my name?" She questioned her hands placed over her hips.

Thranduil hummed turning to move to one of the wooden thrones, sitting down with all of the grace and poise of a king. Magdalen trailed behind him, wanting answers.

"As I told you before I have lived for many years, and have seen many things. I, in turn, know many things." He answered vaguely.

"Why did you send your guard after me?"

Before she could get an answer, the faces of Dwalin and Thorin appeared from where she had entered. Both were in deep conversation, Fili and Balin following them. Dwalin paused caught sight of her.

"Magdalen, what are you doing here?"

Thorin snapped his head, his face morphing to almost snarl at Thranduil. Magdalen racked her brain for an answer.

"She is my guest, King Thorin," Thranduil said with a small grin pulling on the corner of his lip.

Thorin narrowed his eyes at the elf king.

"What!" He snapped.

She smiled sheepishly at the angry dwarves, even Fili didn't look too happy at the sudden development.

"We met in the market, she quite the particular creature so I invented her as my guest." Thranduil said nonchalantly.

Thorin looked ready to fight the elf. Mumbling some unsavory things to the other king. Before things got too heated Magdalen stepped into Thorin's line of sight.

"It's okay, Thorin. I don't mind sitting with Thranduil. It will be nice to put him in his place." She laughed as she spoke her broken khuduzl.

Thorin stared at the girl, seemingly satisfied by her answer. Turning his head and marching over to his throne on the opposite side of the box. Leaving Bard's seat between them.

"Perhaps King Thorin should send you to broker his deals." Thranduil complimented her as he reached for a goblet of wine one of the servants had behind them.

He offered her a goblet as well.

"You like provoking him, don't you?" Thranduil looks at her from the corner of his eye, a Cheshire smile tugging at his lips as he brought his wine to his lips.

Ignoring the childish elf king, her eyes caught Fili's from the other side of the tent, as he raised his goblet to her before taking a drink. He gave her a wink, quickly taking a sip of her wine she looked away.

Soon Bard arrived marking the start of the ceremonies. The people stood as the King of Dale, spoke to the people recalling the history of the festival and what they celebrate. As his speech came to an end the first warriors arrived in the sandy arena, weapons at their ready.

"What does the winner get?" She asked her eyes trained on the interlocked warriors below.

"Other than being honored by the people of the Festival, and regarded as a champion." Thranduil strung the sentence together before taking another sip of his wine.

"A token of our favor. A trunk of gold and a single gem that he or she may do with however they please." His eyes never left the action, though they didn't seem as enthralled or Enthusiastic as she was.

"I believe I shall give my future prize to you, m'lady." A voice said to her right.

She turned to find the face of Bain staring up at her from the deck below. He reached out his hand capturing hers, pressing a single kiss into it. She felt her face flush violently, Thranduil scoffed next to her and Thorin grumbled.

"Oh, umm Thank you." She mutters unsure how to respond to such a gesture.

Bain grinned at her, Bard laughing behind her. Bain shook his head, his warm oaky hair shining under the sunlight.

"No need for thanks, Magdalen. It will be to show my gratitude for all the kindness you've shown me this week." His smiles warmed her heart.

Magdalen was about to speak when Fili stomped passed her, dropping down to the stairs taking Bain by his arm and dragging him behind. Magdalen stood up.

"Fili what are you doing?" She exclaimed watching as he drug the young man toward the status that led down to the arena.

Fili halted "We have a tournament to get to, we don't have all day to dally about." He looked to Bain.

"You can't win if you are up here mooning over her." He mumbled.

A wave of anxiety hit her, she shifted in her chair at the thought the had just occurred to her. "I thought you said you weren't fighting?"

He had told her he wasn't going to fight, just as she had promised not too. Why had he taken back his word? Magdalen felt her chest tighten, as he had broken his promise.

She tried to mask the quiver in her voice. Fili looked from Magdalen to a surprisingly smug Bain.

"Plans change." He started turning to the stairs dragging Bain behind him. Bain waved to her as he disappeared from view.

Magdalen stared at the walkway in which they had disappeared, before turning around sitting in her seat staring out into the stands of people. What had that been about? Was he doing this to spite her? Her face was pinched as she watched the tournament being. The day rolled on, and the sun climbed higher in the sky. Her anger mounting as she watched each contestant try at their shot. Fili had fought a few times, each time winning with little competition. That didn't help the hurt feeling resting in her chest, it was like rubbing salt in the wound.

"You'll break the arm of the chair if you keep holding it like that." Thranduil acknowledged from the top of his nose.

Magdalen scowled at him but let her grip go, plumping back in her chair.

Thranduil pressed his lips into what she could guess was a semblance of a smile.

"Looks like your little dwarf is up." His chin pointed toward the pit.

The crowd erupted as Fili appeared from the row of contestants. Magdalen stared at Thorin, whose face was cool and neutral. From the other side of the arena, Bain appeared holding up his weapon of choice.

A sinking feeling rolled in her stomach.

"I can't watch this." She shot up gaining the attention of all three of the kings and their respective advisors.

Thranduil watched the girl storm off, no longer able to watch her prince fight. He smiled to himself taking a goblet of wine, walking over to the dwarven king. Thorin didn't even look at him as Thranduil offer him wine. Snatching it up as drinking it hastily, his eyes never leaving his heir.

"What do you want Thranduil?" He grunted

"Your little human guest holds herself with all the bearings of a queen."

Thorin stopped, stiffing his movements. With a gentleness, he did not know a dwarf could possess, he sat down his drink.

"That she does."

Magdalen raced down the steps away from the Kings box. She caught glimpses of Fili and Bain locked in an intense battle. She needed to be far away from the scene that was occurring. Her mind raced as she heard the crowd cheered at whatever happened, she couldn't bring herself to watch it any longer. If he was going to break his promise so was she.

She found herself at the ground level pushing her way through the people. The group of archers about to take the arena after Fili's fights. Magdalen eyed an abandoned cloak, before picking it up with the swiftness of Nori in his thieving days. Wrapping it around her neck she pulled up the hood, taking her place in line. In front she could make out Kili, his eyes trained and focused. The line began to move.

"This is a bad idea," She muttered as she looked beyond the brim of her hood.

Someone stopped in front of her, blocking her path.

"Where is your bow, boy?" A man asked as the archers made their way toward the arena.

"Huh." She began to panic.

She felt something heavy beginning shoved into her hand. "Here Tom brought your bow." A familiar voice said behind her. The man grunted but let her go. Magdalen turned to find the hooded face peering under she was surprised by who she found.

"Tilda, what are you doing here?" She hissed dragging the younger girl by the arm.

Tilda ignored her pulling at the string of her bow aiming with an invisible arrow.

"I'm here to show Kili, I'm the better archer." She answered simply.

"Tilda you're not old enough to compete, your father, your sister are going to kill you!" Tilda didn't seem scared by this fact as she shrugged.

"I'm not a child anymore. I wanted them to see that." Tilda rolled her shoulders hearing the announcer call for the archers, moving to take her place among the line of archers in the arena.

Magdalen groaned following her. She shook her head, focusing on the task at hand. Preparing her bow, she pulled back the string. It was time for the first shoot.

Breathe.

Closing her eyes she raised the arrow to her bow, tugging it back.

Breathe.

The first shot flew through the air digging into just right of the center. The crowd cheered as the judges knocked off those who were nowhere near the middle.

Soon the competition dwindled down leaving four contestants remaining. Each competitor had a chance to shoot individually, anyone hitting outside of the inner circle was out. It was Magdalen's turn to shoot, she picked up an arrow. Her eyes caught sight of Fili.

Her mind wandered back to Fili. Images flashed in her mind as he had defeated his last opponent. She would never admit it, but she had snuck a few lasting glances at his form whenever he was in the training arena. Magdalen loved how focused his eyes became when he watched his opponent, how he gave them a cheeky smile when they gave him an opportunity. Her body could almost explode whenever he took off his shirt. Her cheeks flushed at the turn her thoughts had taken. That couldn't detract from the anger she still felt simmer inside.

She glanced at the arrowing and then the target, letting the arrow find its own way. Landing on the edge of the target.

"Out." The judge tapped on her shoulder directing her to the pen where the others were being held.

The elf next to her also missed by a hair, leaving only Tilda and Kili remaining.

Whoever hit the center first would win. Kili shot first, of course hitting very close to the center.

"Maggie!" Tilda called from behind her.

Tilda glanced at her, winking as she shed her cloak. The crowd gasped, and poor Kili gaped.

"Tilda!" He shouted.

But she simply smiled pulling back her string letting her arrow fly to the center of the target. She turned to bow at the silent crowd. Someone began clapping leading to a wave of sound hit them. Tilda beamed.

She had won, she had done it.

People swarmed the arena throwing Tilda into the air in pride. Magdalen looked to the king's box, finding Bard not angry but glowing with pride. Her eyes trailed from the Bard to Fili who stood proudly next to Thorin. His eyes met hers in the crowd, and his beaming look disappeared as she cocked her eyebrow. Anger wasn't the word she would use to describe how she felt. But one thing was for sure tonight's festivities were going to be interesting.

I want to give a huge shout out to FandomsWriting. They've been helping edit my stories, and clean up my horrid grammar! I'm so grateful to have someone so willing to help read over my story. They're the best!