Thorin woke early, feeling surprisingly refreshed. They hadn't moved from where they had fallen asleep, and he remembered his promise to her that he would be there when she woke. But Gandalf would leave very early this morning, and he wanted to meet him before he left. Also given the amount of strong pipe weed she had smoked last evening, it was unlikely she would wake anytime soon. He gently shifted Shobha over to release his arm, and carefully wrapped her in a blanket. Seeing her laying there fully nude, made him aroused again, and want to wake her up by exploring her body. But he resisted and quickly got dressed setting off to meet Gandalf before he left.

Shobha squinted in the bright light flooding into her room.

Ugh! What time is it?

Her mouth was bone dry, she was still sticky from last nights activities, and felt rather peckish. She rolled over and found the bed was empty. She expected he wouldn't stay in bed with her while she came down from her high, he was King and had a Kingdom to run. She still felt aroused though, and it didn't help that she was very naked.

"My lady, I wondered when you would wake up." He put down his mug and poured out a goblet of water, and walked over to her. "So I see you are quite susceptible to the effects of Old Toby."

She took the goblet and drank, grateful that he was ready for this. He was shirtless, but wore his trousers from last night.

"Thank you," she held the blanket up to her chest. "I didn't realise how strong…"

He poured her another goblet and handed it back. Her eyes were red, and her hair was coming undone.

"How much exactly did you smoke?" He smiled at her.

"Um," she finished the second goblet. "I think the whole of Bilbo's pipe… Is that why you have never offered me your pipe before?"

"No this batch was particularly strong… but Bilbo looked like he was peeping in to a brothel last night." Thorin chuckled.

"Oh don't!" She flopped back onto the bed and found the pins pricking her scalp. "Ow!" Then sat back up still clutching the blanket to cover her breasts and began to take the pins off one handed.

"I only tease my Lady. Would you like some help, Amralime?" He knelt down on the bed behind her. "Do you remember much..?"

"Mmmm…" She reached and started to pull the pins out releasing her hair, which now fell in waves after being slept in overnight. "I was um… rather… turned on.."

Thorin sat behind her, leaning his chest on her back, helping her remove the pins gently, letting her hair tumble down. And then when he was done wrapped his arms around her again keeping his hands over the blanket.

"I don't mind if you want to talk to me like that again in the future…" He whispered in her ear, brushing the skin, causing her to lean into his chest.

"I thought you would have left by now…"

"I will confess that I did leave early to see off Gandalf. But that was a long time ago. And then I picked up some fresh clothes. But I returned and lit the fire and got some tea and biscuits for you." He smiled. "I made you a promise that I would be here when you woke, my beautiful one. Besides we both need a wash… after all I am the one that caused the mess – but only because of you."

He brushed her hair aside and kissed her neck once more, making her sigh again.

"But if you need time to sleep and recover a bit more.."

"Um… actually, I'm still quite turned on.. and since we're already messy…" she leant back completely letting the blanket fall away to reveal her breasts. Thorin began to kiss a path down her neck. Suddenly she snapped back up looking concerned. "Oh gosh! I braided Gandalf's hair! Will everyone else remember?"

"I think it will only be Bilbo and Gandalf. And given I caught Bilbo openly ogling you…" he reassured her with further kisses, lay her back down again and moved himself to hover over her. Then he spoke softly into her skin, in between kissing his way down to her breasts, paying special attention to her nipples and making her arch her back. "While you wrapped those delicious lips around his pipe.. I think he is more worried about what I think than anything else…"

The next few days were spent further preparing for the arrival of noble guests. Gandalf had travelled to Rivendell on an important matter, and was not expected until close to the day of their wedding itself. Shobha recalled how he had asked her about her meeting with Galadriel, and the visions she had seen. She wondered whether his travels were related to this. She hadn't really given it much thought. It didn't seem like it was something to consider. Even back home with modern medicine and interventions there were still those who died of childbirth.

Shobha had been released from her clearing duties, as Mara had plenty of required help from the new arrivals and Dale. In stead she had been given some lessons in hope to 'cope' with dwarven nobility, and an information on some of the more 'tricky' nobles to manage.

It turned out that they were very good at backhanded insults and some families were merely sour as they had previously proposed their daughters to Thorin. And at the time, he had been adamant that there would be no Queen for him, given his age and that he already had heirs in Fili and Kili.

Dis and Balin had been very helpful as teachers. But Shobha had insisted that she should always have a chaperone for her interactions at least for the first few months.

It had also transpired that some of these families would take up a permanent residence back in Erebor. Therefore Shobha would have more interaction with them in the long term as Queen; to which she had looked forward to going on 'maternity leave' sooner than expected, and that suddenly being Thorin's baby-making machine looked like a positive prospect for a former NHS middle grade surgeon. She had never been very good with managing political types. And she was fully aware that the wives and daughters could be the most vicious of all.

They sat in Dis' room having tea and chuckling about some of the more tricky encounters Dis had dealt with.

"I wish Amad had been here. She would have loved you – thought you were perfect for Thorin!" Dis laughed. "The nobles were scared of her! Of course Thror loved all the women in the family almost as much as his treasure! Our grandmother died shortly before the dragon. That changed him…"

"I would loved to have met them…" Shobha smiled. It was clear that despite the time since their deaths, the tragic way in which they met them had left it a rather difficult subject for any of them to speak of. It seemed that Thorin had really taken their deaths very hard, given that he had witnessed Thror beheaded horrifically, found his own younger brother's body in the battlefield, and his father abducted, she never pushed him to talk about them. Instead she listened when he chose to share details.

Even Balin and Dwalin had only rarely spoken of their father and mother.

"I have a few portraits that were preserved well.. come on let me show you…" Dis stood up and beckoned to Shobha. She stood and linked her arm with Dis as she walked through another corridor from her rooms. Dis had occupied the formal Queen's residences. They were grand! More elaborately decorated with carvings and tapestries than even the Royal Dining Hall. It suited her. The corridor had many smaller painted portraits, some which Shobha recognised were from the Royal Line of Durin, that she had read about in Thorin's library.

Dis stopped at one of the portraits.

"This is Náin the second," Dis pointed to the chestnut haired dwarf, who had a similar nose to Balin and Dwalin. "He is our Great–Great Grandfather; his younger Son Borin, would be your Great-grandfather.." And she took her over to the next portrait pointing out Borin, who had auburn hair, tied back and large matching beard, with startling green eyes.

"And he married a Blacklock Princess from Orocarni…" Dis pointed at an olive skinned, raven haired dwarrowdam, with many piercings and lots of gold necklaces.

"Orocarni – that's the Mountain Kingdom of the East? And the Blacklocks are the fearsome warrior clan, legend says they were the best miners and jewellers..." Shobha recalled from her reading.

"Aye, but they were enslaved by the Pale Sorceress, Kasha."Dis shook her head sadly. "It is thought that they perished within their Kingdom, under her hands. And they were forced to worship her as a goddess."

"I read about Kasha, the sorceress, but I didn't realise she was bad.." the picture of a platinum blonde, pale blue eyed woman came to her mind from one the books.

"Sadly she was corrupted by Sauron, and the Blacklocks fell to her since Erebor was taken by Smaug. Thorin's library were not great."

"This is Fundin – " Dis pointed to a completely white haired dwarf very similar to Balin in bearing, but he was covered in blue tattoos like Dwalin, and an elaborate ear cuff. "And his wife Merin."

Merin was a very pretty honey blonde dam with warm hazel eyes, and braided side burns.

"So none of my brothers get their looks from their pretty mother then!" Shobha giggled with Dis.

"I suspect that is why she always wanted a daughter." Dis chuckled back.

"Speaking of my brother… what happened there? I heard you kissed him…" Shobha said nonchalantly, keeping her eyes on Merin's portrait.

"He told you!" Dis grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I thought I could distract him for a second, and it would scare him off… But he kissed me back!"

Shobha looked at her smiling.

"I cant believe you don't know, he has been rather smitten with you for a long time…" she watched as Dis blushed.

"But he is such a gentle-dwarrow… he has never made an advance to show me…"

"Well he thinks you wouldn't want him, because of your late husband. And Thorin is his best friend… so he is adamant it is up to you!" Shobha smiled squeezing her hand back. "And he thinks you feel your kiss was a mistake, because you haven't mentioned it since."

"Ugh!" Dis covered her face. "How am I so bad at this, when I even managed to help Thorin!"

"Well you two seemed close at dinner the other night."

"Yes.. he is so lovely. He looked after me so well… it felt like we were in the early stages of courting that night." Dis then looked sad. "It reminded me of my Vili."

That was the first time in all these months that Shobha had heard Dis mention her husbands name.

"Well, Dwalin has waited for you to work out your feelings… and if you ask me, I think he would wait till the end of his days for you." Shobha placed her hands on Dis' shoulders and then gave her a big hug. "I don't like to interfere in these matters… because it is better to let you two figure it out. But I can tell you how he feels about you for certain."

Dis looked at her, smiled and nodded. Then she pulled Shobha over to another two portraits.

The first was that of a fully silver haired dwarf wearing the Raven crown with elaborate braids and a very full beard with ornaments holding it in place. He had deep sapphire blue eyes, exactly like Thorin.

"So that's were Thorin gets his eyes from." Shobha smiled fondly looking at the portrait.

"Aye, Thorin was probably the only one that Thror trusted in the end when his sickness got worse after our grandmother died." Dis said looking up at the portrait sadly. "He was always kind to me and my mother though. I loved him so much. He was a lot more like Thorin than you think."

Then she pointed out another portrait. This time the dam didn't look like a dwarf at all. She looked more like a human: With big, dark brown eyes, skin almost as brown as Shobha, and midnight-black hair! She could have been Indian in origin. She wore the smaller Raven Crown, that Shobha imagined was worn by the Queen of Erebor.

"So this is Queen Raena…?" Shobha smiled. She was beautiful. Her features were slighter than that of a dwarf, and now Shobha could see where both Dis and Thorin got their finer features from.

"She was tall and lean. Even taller than Thrór." Dis said. "My mother always said that Thorin and I got our height and features from her."

"I can see that…" Shobha smiled.

"She was half Blacklock, half Easterling. So we thought that would shorten our lifespans, but it does not appear so," Dis looked up in admiration at her and wrapped her arm around Shobha. "The fully black hair is also a rarity amongst our race. Some can have very dark brown, almost black, but not exactly… that comes from the Blacklock clan and Easterling blood. Thrór loved her so much, these apartments were specially crafted for her, and he often stayed with her. That's why they are so elaborated decorated. And I want you to have them –"

"No Dis." Shobha smiled leaning her head on Dis' shoulder. "I want you to stay here.. if I have any say as Thorin's bride to be, then I really want you to stay. I meant what I said, if we are going to have a child, then I could use your help."

"Well, I don't know why but Thorin is suddenly afraid of you giving birth… So you may have to convince him now!"

"Why, what has he said?" Shobha was surprised. Perhaps that was what had been troubling him all these days.

"He doesn't talk to any of us about it. But I think he spoke at length to Gandalf."

"Ok, its time we talked about it then…" she nodded.

Shobha hugged Dis, and turned to set off.

She had found Thorin in his study, and knocking gently, she then entered. He was seated at his desk, puzzling over several parchments and maps, brushing his beard with his hand.

"Thorin," she spoke softly, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Amralime," He looked up at her and stood from his desk as she walked over to stand by him.

He took her hand in his and kissed it gently.

"You look like you are planning another War." Shobha looked at him, as he scanned the maps again, remaining silent.

"My beautiful one…"

"Thorin..?" she let his hand go and stepped away, scrutinising his face. "Are you planning on going away somewhere?"

He looked at her, his brow slightly furrowed.

"Oh my goodness!" She threw her hands up, as he tried to step towards her.

"Please Amralime, its these Orc attacks…" he stepped towards her, pleading again.

"No its not!" She felt angry now. "You are not being honest with me! And do you know what…? You are the first man I trusted in a long time – that wasn't my father… and now you are pulling this.. this.. this… fucking bullshit!"

He stood there looking worried about her.

"I have put up with a lot… but this is it! Let's be honest.. you are hiding your real concerns here.." she carried on. The way he treated her with the dragon sickness was nothing. Hiding things from her – that she would not tolerate. That was Mike all over. "I will not enter into a marriage with mistrust and hidden agendas. So unless you want to be open and honest with me…"

"Please Amralime – " he stepped towards her again, but she took a step back once more. "Its for the safety of everyone."

"Ok lets say you do go off fighting… well when were you planning to leave me…?"

"No my beautiful one, I would marry you first.. and leave in a few days." Thorin looked at her.

"But let me guess… you would get so drunk on your wedding night, that you wouldn't be able to fuck me right…?" She was sharp. "And then you would be too busy preparing for war that you wouldn't have time to fuck me on the next few days either…"

"Please my love, I know you are angry. But it is not a decision I have taken lightly." He stood his ground, and was slightly firmer this time. Although it was clear that she had exposed his plan to avoid her getting pregnant.

"My former fiancé, slept with many other women while we were waiting to be married." She felt tears prickle her eyes, her anger turning into betrayal. "That was indignity enough. But the worst part was he hid it from me, and didn't even have the courage to tell me. And I had to find out from others. Even from some of the women he bedded! I swore to myself then that I would rather be alone than with someone who kept secrets from me… and then you waltz in to my life. I didn't ask for this.. to come here; to meet you; to give up my old life… but I always felt I could trust you. That no matter what, we would share our problems. You promised me my burdens would not be mine alone to share."

He walked over to her more forcefully and ignoring her withdrawal, pulled her tight into his strong arms. She at first tried to push away, but as he stroked her back and kissed her, she gave in and wrapped her arms around him.

"Ok, my Lord, as you think I am so easily pacified. I will spend the night in Dale then, until you think it over."

"Nothing is set yet." He hushed her. "I am yet to wait for Gandalf's return and I don't want you staying in Dale, it's dangerous."

"Well I won't be marrying you unless you are going to have sex with me…"

"My love…"

She peered deep into his dark blue eyes.

"Please talk to me Thorin. You can't make decisions on my behalf without talking to me first."

He loved her, and wanted to protect her from this. Sending himself away had been his solution, but he knew how quietly stubborn she was also. So he gave in.

"Alright my beautiful one. But you must promise to tell me what the elves told you." He knew he had her there. She had been hiding that from him since she returned from Mirkwood. And judging from the way in which Gandalf had suddenly been more hasty about his departure to Rivendell after that evening where they had let her smoke pipe weed until intoxication, Thorin could only imagine it was based on something that she had revealed. "You accuse me of hiding the truth my Queen, and yet you have not shared with me what has been plaguing your thoughts recently either.. nor the visions revealed by the elves."

He didn't sound angry or irritated despite this, and held her close. Shobha looked up at him again from the safety of his embrace, and was met by his intense blue eyes observing her, filled with concern.

"Ok, but you can't go off to war. Not without having all the information you need, or without Dain; And I have to be part of the decision about whether we have children or not; and you have to tell me what bothers you..."

"My beautiful one, why does it feel like you always get the better of me?" Thorin smiled at her as he held her tight.