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The girl, exhausted, bruised and beaten had cried herself to sleep after what felt like hours of being left in the King's chambers.
Briseis was having a wonderful dream; she was back in her tiny home, lying comfortably on the floor as she watched her brother play with his wooden toy horse. The smell of dinner was wafting through the air as her mother cooked and hummed a tune; her father standing over the bookshelf wondering which to story to read next.
Everything was at peace.
Knock knock knock!
"I'll get it!" Jax shouted happily before he dropped his wooden horse, big blue eyes gleaming with excitement as he ran to the door.
Briseis sighed happily as she rested her chin in her hand, staring off into the fireplace at the far corner of the living room, a content smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
It was probably her aunt with her hundreds of sacs and pouches filled with herbs and ointments. Today was a lesson day.
BAM!
The girl whipped her head around and at the same time heard her mother scream as she saw her brother laying in a motionless heap on the floor, already a large pool of blood seeping into the wooden floor around his body.
Briseis tried to pull herself off the ground to head for the large axe that was hanging somewhere in the kitchen, when she found that she was unable to move.
A shadowy figure stood in the doorway above Jax, the only thing visible was a gleaming sword covered in blood.
She turned to her father and tried to shout for help, but to her terror all that came out was a hoarse croak.
The girl was panicking, sweating and shaking. What was happening? Why couldn't she move or speak? Her family needed her help.
Again Briseis tried to lift herself off the ground, but it was as though the floor had melded into her body.
She saw as her father made his way over to protect her mother, a terrified look in his grey eyes as he held the fireplace poker in between his wife and the shadowy figure in the doorway.
As the figure stepped over Jax's body and into the small home, the girl's stomach gave way.
It was King Thorin.
The dwarf made his way over to Mr. Ocherfell and as he tried to defend his wife, the King simply raised a muscular arm and slit her father's throat in one fluid movement.
Her mother screamed again as blood splattered across the room. Her dad fell to his knees with a gurgled choke, thick reddish black liquid spilling from his mouth and wound.
Briseis' eyes were watering now as she frantically tried to move and scream at her mother to run. But of course she could only lie there as the Dwarf King grabbed her mother by the hair and dragged her in front of him.
Please, look at me! Take me instead! The girl tried desperately to scream at the King, to distract him from her mother but it was as though she wasn't even there.
Mrs. Ocherfell tried to fight the dwarf's grip but Thorin was simply too strong, and he lifted his sword to her mother's neck.
Then suddenly, Thorin's icy blue eyes locked directly onto Briseis.
The girl's heart was hammering violently against her ribcage as she froze under his gaze.
A smile curled up on the dwarf's lips as he pressed the gleaming metal blade into the wailing and sobbing woman's neck.
"What's the matter?" Thorin asked calmly, his deep voice ringing in the air as he continued to stare at the girl.
Briseis felt paralyzed, she couldn't even think straight as his blue eyes penetrated through her flesh, blood and bone.
"Get up." The dwarf demanded, his sword still pressed up against her mother's throat.
The girl felt a cold bead of sweat trickle down her back.
"Get up!" Thorin yelled, his voice suddenly changing.
Briseis looked at him in confusion and terror, unable to move an inch.
"Get up!"
The girl gasped loudly as her grey eyes flew open to greet the face of a strange man.
Briseis began to scream, and despite her situation she nearly peed with joy at the sound of her own voice, but the man covered her mouth with his hand and looked around frantically as he tried to shush her.
"Shh! No! I'm here to help you!
The man had chestnut brown hair which fell just below his shoulders and a big pair of olive brown eyes that were wide with worry as he took another look behind himself.
Briseis stopped screaming at once and he let go of her mouth. She was panting slightly, still shaken by the memory of her nightmare and took a deep shuddering breath to calm herself.
She felt the cool sensation of cloth being thrown over her naked, chained figure and at once she felt an overwhelming wave of gratitude towards the stranger.
But Briseis was not naive enough to trust anyone here without getting to know their intentions first.
"Why are you helping me?" The girl asked eyeing him suspiciously; he was too short for a man, yet he did not have the long hair or beard of a dwarf.
He was fiddling around with a set of keys on a rusted chain when he looked up at her from beneath his bangs in surprise.
"Well, aren't you charming?" He scoffed as he selected a single key from amidst the others and moved towards the girl's ankles.
"Who are you?" Briseis asked, her tone cold and blunt.
She heard the stranger sigh as he unlocked her right ankle from the thick iron shackles before answering, "You know a simple thank you would suffice."
There was a short pause before the girl muttered her thanks and the man laughed.
"You know I could just leave you here and let Thorin come back to finish what he was doing when I walked in," he said matter-of-factly as his hands paused on her left ankle.
Briseis' heart nearly dropped out from her stomach.
"NO!...Please." The young girl was surprised at how desperately afraid she had become at the mention of the King's name.
The man stopped and silence filled the room.
"I'm sorry that you were selected..." The stranger said, barely above a whisper, as he continued to free her from the shackles.
Briseis' eyes began to sting with tears as she remembered her family again, but fought back the moisture in her eyes.
She was going to see them again one day. No matter what the consequence or circumstance, she was going to see them again.
The girl shut her steel grey eyes and took a deep, steadying breath; her new purpose giving her renewed strength and courage as she braced herself for the remainder of her time as one of the Privileged. For the time being, this was her new home.
"What's your name?" Asked the man as he unravelled the chains from around the bed post.
Not having ten pounds of iron strapped to her feet was an enormous relief, and the wonderful sensation momentarily distracted her from his question.
"If you don't wish to tell me tha-"
"Briseis."
The man paused for a second before he came to stand beside the girl, carefully adjusting the sheet covering her so that he could turn her over on her back without exposing her flesh.
She stared up at him for a few seconds, watching him as he unlocked the cuffs on her wrists.
Something about him was comforting to the girl, but perhaps that was simply because he hadn't tried to rape her.
Briseis studied his slight stubble and handsome features for a few more seconds before his face contorted with horror.
The girl immediately sat up, regretting it immensely as her head spun violently, but she managed to concentrate on the man's face until the spinning slowed down and then ceased all together.
She followed his gaze to her wrists and saw that the iron shackles had burnt parts of her skin and cut into others areas.
It looked terrible, but the girl didn't feel the pain. She simply stared at her deformed flesh and smiled ruefully at the scars she knew her wounds were going to leave; like permanent shackles.
"Are you alright?" The stranger asked, staring intently at the girl's face, trying to gauge her reaction as he gently sat beside her on the bed.
Briseis simply looked at him and nodded once, not able to think of what to say. His feathery brows were furrowed and he looked at her uncertainly.
She gave him a pointed, weary look and cast her grey eyes down to her lap before she felt them begin to brim with tears.
The man reached over slowly and cupped her chin in his hand, bringing her to look up at him.
"Hey, come on now," he said gently, giving her a small, sad smile as he pushed a few loose strands of hair from her face and examined the bruise on her forehead. "I can tell you're a fighter. Besides, it's not so bad here once you get used to the reek of Thorin."
Briseis let out a choked laugh, trying to fight back her tears. She really did feel pathetic for crying but it was as though she had no control over her emotions at this point.
"Here, put these on and let's leave these chambers," the man reached into his tunic and pulled out a neatly folded white dress of some sort and handed it to the girl.
She took the garment at once, grateful to finally be able to wear clothes again, as the stranger stood and turned his back to her.
But as eager as she was to pull the dress over her head, she waited.
"What is your name, if I may ask?"
The man peeked over his shoulder at her and smiled slightly before answering.
"Kili."
Briseis returned his smile and he turned away once more, bobbing up and down on the balls of his feet as he waited her to get dressed.
She slipped the white silk over herself, its smooth material felt amazing on her chaffed skin and she grabbed the bed post to steady herself as she stood up.
Kili was a couple heads shorter than she was, but still placed a hand behind her in support as she began to wobble slightly after walking a few feet, her knees threatening to give way beneath her at any moment.
Briseis frowned and looked to the dwarf – it was apparent from his height that he was a dwarf, even though he did not resemble one.
"Do you have any Helfalas leaves?" She asked, remembering that the bright red plant was good for reducing the effects of shock.
Kili pursed his lips as he pondered for a few seconds before nodding. "I think there might be some in one of the east halls." He said, putting the girl's arm around his shoulder as they hobbled out of the King's chambers together.
The iron door slammed shut loudly and Briseis cringed as the two made their way slowly out of the eerie, flame lit corridor.
Just as the two came to the main doors, the girl stopped and looked down at the dwarf.
Kili stopped and flicked his olive brown eyes upwards, a look of confusion painting over his dark features. "Are you feeling faint?"
Briseis shook her head.
"Thank you," the girl said with as much gratitude as she could possibly convey in two words, for this complete stranger had saved her twice now from a fate that she could not bring herself to think of.
The handsome young dwarf smiled, his eyes lighting up, and nodding once before he reached up and pulled the doors open.
The fresh air that hit Briseis' was wonderful, as was the light of the setting sun that came in from the openings in the sides of the stone walls; what was not so great however was the figure that stood in the doorway directly in front of her and Kili.
"And where do you think you're going?" The King asked in his deep, booming voice, not seeming surprised in the slightest.
Instead, a smug smile came to play upon his lips as he stared fixedly at the girl with the steel grey eyes whose heart had just stopped beating.