Situated atop a slight hill not far from Stonestreet, the thick wooden walls of the Thristy Serpent provided a warm, dry shelter on a day where rain seemed to be coming down in buckets. The racous laughter and shouting which filled the dim tavern was nearly as overwhelming as the stench of wine and spirits that lingered like a shroud over its patrons.
The interior of the large inn was painted rather obscurely for a place where men came to debase themselves on a daily basis; a pale, feminine coat of lavender engulfed the entire lower level and a few doilies hung, forgotten and misused by the large stone fireplace. The owner - a fat, baldng man in his late forties - had let his wife and daughter pick the decor, not having the heart to tell them how out of place it seemed.
Despite its peculiar femininity, the tavern was still wildly popular with the residents of New Dale and all who came to visit the bustling city. The food was delicious, the rooms were always clean, cozy and affordable and the staff were all known for their beauty and wonderful singing voices. However, it was for the tavern's popularity that Fili had chosen the site to meet with his visitors in privacy.
The thought may have seemed paradoxical to some, but the louder and drunker the patrons, the less likely they were to be overheard or even remembered the next morning. Besides, the Thirsty Serpent was a frequent haunt for most of the guards whom had (on more than one occasion) towed Fili and Kili here along with them.
Therefore when both princes shrugged out of their sopping wet cloaks at the doorway, their appearance hardly came as a surprise. A few glossy eyed patrons peered over, and spotting nothing of interest, returned to their drinking. The only set of eyes which lingered were those of a comely maid with golden hair.
Her pale tresses caught Fili off guard, and for a split second, his heart ached for Sigrid who shared this woman's blonde curls. She smiled to acknowledge their presence and made her way through the burping and belching men, a few leering at her well covered bosom as she came over to greet them cheerfully.
"What can I do fer ye lads?" She offered gently. Her cheeks were flushed and a light sheen of sweat glistened on her forehead from the hustle and bustle of the morning rush. The mere fact that people were already in here getting piss drunk before noon almost made Fili shake his head.
"A large table, please," The prince said instead, forcing a smile to his lips as the maid bowed her head in comprehension and beckoned for them to follow. The straw haired dwarf looked over at his brother, sighing annoyedly once he did, as the look of irritation and impatience had yet to clear from Kili's features.
Actually shaking his head this time, Fili followed after the maid, wondering if he was making a mistake involving his brother in his plans after all.
"Here ye are," the woman brandished her plump hand towards a large elm table tucked into the far corner of the room.
Fili couldnt have asked for a better spot.
"Thank you," he replied, offering a genuine smile this time. The maid seemed to notice as her ears went red for a moment before she asked if they needed anything else.
"No," Kili said bluntly. He had wiped the soaking hair from his eyes and glared at the table miserably, his cheeks pink with cold and nose running like a toddler's. Fili couldn't decide whether he wanted to smack him or laugh. The golden haired maid seemed decidedly less amused at the Prince's lack of manners.
"Please, ignore him - We'll have two pints of mulled mead and a plate of roast mutton," Fili ordered politely, glaring at his brother the entire time as though trying to remind him what civility looked like.
"Verra well."
The two dwarves plopped into their seats opposite one another, Fili with a mmph as he rubbed his sore back and Kili with a humph as he crossed his arms in impatience.
A few moments of silence passed between them.
"Why are we here again?" The dark haired dwarf asked irately, his olive eyes scanning the sea of drunk men with blatant distaste.
Fili nearly had to bite his own tongue to keep from snapping at his brother. The younger of the two had been in a foul mood ever since the sticky, half flooded road to Dale had put them an hour behind schedule. Kili wanted to leave for Erebor at once, his brain obviously gnawing a single name into the side of his skull - Briseis.
Kili had altogether opposed the idea of leaving for Dale once morning had come, claiming that he was too tired to go. Although he had stayed up all night to finish the letters to the famlies of the newly selected girls, and he had given Fili a chance to sleep for the first time in nearly 4 days, the blonde dwarf was having none of it.
There was only one reason why Kili wished to stay at the palace, and that was so he could keep the owner of a pair of big, grey eyes and an ample chest company. Even if Fili had been blind and unable to see the way Kili had watched her last night, he knew his sibling well enough to recognize what was happening.
Unfortunately, he wasn't the only one to have noticed. As he had gone to fetch breakfast this morning, Fili had overheard some of the kitchen staff gossiping excitedly in hushed tones.
'Yes, but did you see the way he was holding her waist?'
'Why else would he risk the King's anger?'
'Can you imagine! A member of the Privileged betrothed to one of the Longbeards?'
After telling his brother what he had overheard in the kitchens along with explaining that staying behind would only rouse more suspicion in regards to his attachment to Briseis, the dark haired dwarf had finally agreed to come along. However true the previous remark had been, there was also an ulterior motive which compelled the older prince to ensure his younger brother's attendance.
And so Fili, Kili and a group of 10 people had left Erebor this morning, tasked with buying clothes, extra food and jewellery for the Ceremony.
Once they had passed the immense statue of Girion who stood forever watching outside the city gates, It had taken a little over two hours for everyone to return with all of the necessary items and safely pack them onto the caravan for the journey home. Kili was already mounting his pony when Fili had tossed each person a small satchel of gold coins, telling the group to spend it on whatever they wished and to meet back at the caravan at noon.
Kili had consequently thrown a fit at this, kicking his steed into a gallop towards home 'lest we wasted anymore of his time.' Fili literally had to chase after him, nearly dragging him off the pony before he would even slow down.
After giving him a good clout for being such a fool, the blonde sent one of his men back to the palace to keep an eye on the object of his brothers paranoia - even that apparently was still not enough to put the young prince's mind at ease.
Kili cocked an eyebrow at him now in impatience, clearly waiting for an answer.
"I told you, there are a few people I've arranged for us to meet here," Fili offered vaguely, checking around to see if those he spoke of were present. When he recognized no familiar faces concealed or otherwise, he turned back to his skulking brother. His frowning face struck a chord with Fili who tried offering a few words of comfort. "I'm sure she's fine."
The dark haired dwarf glared pointedly at his sibling, olive eyes burning with anger. "You dont know that. We left her alone with that monster…you didn't see what I saw…" his jaw clenched tightly at the last part of his sentence and he averted his gaze, clearly trying to block out an unwanted memory of Thorin and the girl.
Fili bit his lip; he truly felt bad for her, he really did. She was nice enough and had the massaging hands of a god, yet there was no way he was going to let her interrupt his plans or ensnare his sibling so easily. Especially not when there was that uneasy sense of impending tragedy which hung thick around Briseis - something he wanted desparately to protect his baby brother from.
"Doesn't she remind you of Senga?" Kili asked suddenly, all traces of anger and frustration finally wiped clean from his face.
But the straw haired dwarf felt his stomach drop at the mention of their long dead cousin. He couldn't tell which expression he wore, only that his brother began defending his statement as though he had said something wrong.
"You know- that stubborn attitude, saying whatever came to mind even if she got the strap for it. Oh, and that weird feeling that she was somehow fifty years older than everyone else her age," Kili laughed at this, but his brother had to swallow a thick knot that had formed at the back of his throat at the memory of his cousin.
Senga had been the only daughter of Frerin, younger brother to Thorin and older brother to Dís.
Senga was funny, smart, hot headed and fiercely protective of those she loved. Most notably, the dwarrowdam had been like Fili's sister since childhood. She had taught him everything about the world that his mother hadn't - like how to talk to girls, how to hunt, how to fish, and how to confide in someone other than himself. Senga had meant the world to him, and he had been forced to watch as a group of men slit her throat before his eyes, leaving her to die in the arms of a ten year old Fili.
The memory of her murder was something that had haunted him for decades, the sight of her blood soaked body only coming to him in the darkness of his nightmares where it was safe to curl into a ball and cry. But sitting here, surrounded by people in the middle of the day with images of Senga's lifeless green eyes swimming before him, Fili felt nauseous.
"Fi, are you alright?" Kili's voice was low and anxious as the eldest son of Dìs tried his best to recollect himself.
"I-im fine," he lied, suddenly desparate for a glass of water and fresh air. "You know, I never thought of how similar they might be," Fili offered politely in an attempt to immediately end the subject. The thought of his cousin was starting to make him feel short of breath, and the thick, suffocating air of the tavern was definitely not helping.
Kili frowned deeply, his slight beard still periodically dripping water on the wood table as he slowly sat back in his seat. "I just want you to know that I'm not falling for Briseis. Not in that way. I just feel an uncontrollable need to protect her…and I can't explain why." Fili nodded, unsure of the degree of honesty with which his brother spoke, but was too queasy to refute the matter. "If something happens while we're gone, I don't think I could forgive myself for it."
"She'll be fine, Kili. Ceylon's probably keeping an eye on her as we speak." The blonde dwarf was barely aware of what he was saying and squeezed his eyes shut for a second, forcing himself to picture the behemoth of a messenger, Briseis, Sigrid, or even Bard - anyone but Senga.
The prince nearly smiled with relief when the image of Ceylon swam before him - the 7 foot tall man with shiny black skin, a pair of glowing amber eyes and arms as thick as tree trunks was terrifying, but a welcome distraction from his previous thoughts. He doubted that anyone would be foolish enough to give Briseis a hard time with him standing guard.
"That guy scares the piss outta me," Kili said approvingly, as though he had come to the same conclusion as his brother. Apparently he had decided to drop the impatient pouting for the time being. "But, did he know who you were talking about? I dont think he knows her name, what if-"
"Trust me, he knew who she was," Fili reassured with a smirk as his nausea began to disappear along with the memories of his cousin. The tavern seemed less stuffy and his heart had ceased hammering against his ribcage.
"What does that mean?"
"It means I told him to keep an eye on Briseis, and he asked 'The Spitter?'"
Both brothers burst into laughter at Ceylon's apt moniker for the girl.
"Yer drinks."
The blonde maid interjected their chuckling with two huge pints of mulled mead in one hand and a platter of cheese and bread balanced precariously in the other. She carefully set the pewter goblets down in front of each prince without so much as disturbing the gentle waft of steam emanating from each beverage.
"Oh and this is from me master," she added, brandishing the platter of brie and bread before setting it down in the middle of the table.
Both brothers nodded in genuine thanks as she courtsied politely before leaving.
"She has Sigrid's hair," Fili stated absentmindedly, watching after the bobbing halo of golden curls.
"When do you see her again?" Kili asked, unsure of whether this would be another touchy subject for his brother - at least he had dropped the topic of leaving.
The blonde shrugged his shoulders, heart squeezing painfully at the gnawing absence of his beloved. "I would leave to see her now and never return, but…" Fili's voice trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. He was tired. So tired of all the plots and ploys, duties and responsibilities - of the entire palace. He just wanted to live somewhere peaceful and quiet with Sigrid; somewhere they could start a big family.
"I hope you don't actually mean that," Kili said quietly, shattering the happy daydream and earning a sharp look from the other dwarf. "For my sake." The dark haired prince scratched the back of his head awkwardly, as though the movement would somehow make it easier to express himself. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Fi. You're all I have left."
The eldest son of Dís felt a pang of sorrow so potent shoot through him at the look of dejected sadness on his baby brother's face that he had to choke back tears.
How utterly selfish he had been all this time - and without even realizing it! He had not for one second, stopped to think about how deserting Erebor would mean deserting his brother. The word's 'you're all I have left' rang loud and crass between his ears as though Kili had screamed them. And despite his deepest desire to start a fresh life, Fili knew now that was something he simply couldn't do.
"Ah, don't be stupid Kitty. You know I'd never leave you behind. It was just a silly dream I had. Nothing more." The prince tried to control his wavering voice and went to give Kili a playful clout to hide the tears that stung his eyes. The thought of his mother's dying words echoing in his mind as he looked at his brother now. Take care of him.
The blonde quickly took a long draught of his fruity mead, thankful that he could blame his sniffling on the spices and warmth of the beverage.
Kili's face had broken into a wide grin as he joined in taking a sip from his pewter goblet. "Good, you had me worried there for a moment. I thought you were seriously considering leaving me here with Thorin!"
"He's gotten that bad, eh?" A deep, gravelly voice spoke from behind Fili, who smiled into his mug of mead, knowing full well who the voice belonged to.
"You're late," The straw haired dwarf replied casually after taking another sip of his drink, never turning to address the visitor. Instead, he watched his brother, observing his reaction with amusement.
The blood had drained from Kili's face and a look of utter surprise rendered his jaw agape before he jumped up from his seat and lunged at the third dwarf, trapping him in a bone crushing embrace.
"Mr. Dwalin!"
My lovelies! God, it's been a while! It's next to impossible to find enough time to write with a three month baby crying and pooping all over the place! I am NOT abandoning any of my stories and have been working on the next chapter of Sweet and Salty for about 2 months now. I just need to find the time to go through and edit now :-( As always, your reviews keep me going so please remember to leave your lovely comments!