With dinner ready, the company all gathered in the usual dining area and began to eat the food prepared, joined by Elrond.
As dinner began to progress, the dwarves began to beat on the table like drums. Halien recognized the beat and smiled. Bofur looked up at her and called, "Lass, you know this one. Care to sing us the tune?"
Halien smiled and began to sing. "Far over the Misty Mountains rise. Leave us standing upon the heights. What was before, we see once more as our kingdom a distant light. Fiery mountain beneath the moon. The words unspoken, we'll be there soon. For home a song that echoes on. And all who find us will know the tune. Some folk we never forget. Some kind we never forgive. Haven't seen the back of us yet. We'll fight as long as we live. All eyes on the hidden door, To the Lonely Mountain, borne. We'll ride in the gathering storm. Until we get our long-forgotten gold."
Halien stood and started to move to the center of the dining area as Bofur beckoned her over to dance. She began to move to the beat of the music, stepping lightly as she sang and the dwarves began to clap to the beat.
"We lay under the Misty Mountains cold, In slumbers deep and dreams of gold. We must awake, our lives to make. And in the darkness a torch we hold. From long ago when lanterns burned, Till this day our hearts have yearned. Her fate was unknown, the Arkenstone. What was stolen must be returned." She spun lightly on her feet and began to sing a soft note before the words came again. "We must awake and make the day, To find a song for heart and soul. Some folk we never forget, Some kind we never forgive. Haven't seen the end of it yet. We'll fight as long as we live. All eyes on the hidden door, To the Lonely Mountain, borne. We'll ride in the gathering storm Until we get our long-forgotten gold. Far away from Misty Mountains cold."
She bowed when the song ended and the dwarves clapped their hands. Even the elves who watched her dance and sing were impressed. Halien smiled and saw Thorin standing by an archway, looking at her.
'I have something for you if you can slip away.' Thorin thought to her, knowing she would be able to hear him.
Halien lowered her mind shield long enough to hear him say that and then she nodded, noticing that Elrond had disappeared somewhere as she raised her shield once more. She excused herself and walked over to Thorin. She followed him in silence as he led her to the secluded spot they had first kissed.
"You look beautiful, Halien," he said, looking at her in the black and blue gown. "I made this for you, in the forge."
He took her left hand in his and slid a ring onto her finger. Halien looked at it and gasped. It was a silver ring made of a cross between elvish and dwarvish design and it had a large moonstone set in the center, bridled on either side by emeralds.
"Thorin, it is gorgeous!" she said, then looked at him.
"This is Reva. There is an old legend of a star that once fell to Middle Earth and crashed deep within the mountains. The dwarves of ancient times found it and thought it to be beautiful, shining bright like the moon. It is said that this star is the first of the moonstones to ever have existed. In the ancient dwarvish tongue, Reva means Moonstar."
"Thorin, I don't know what to say…"
"Halien, I have spent most of my life hating your people." he began. "But these past months you have shown me that there is hope for elves and dwarves to once more live without hatred or distrust. I have grown to admire you as a person, as well as your skills. You are a skilled warrior and healer, you care for this company more than I ever expected you to and we all have grown to view you as kin. I love you with all my heart. I never thought that I would find happiness for anyone but my people, yet you have stolen my heart. If you accept this ring, Lord Elrond has agreed to wed us tonight. I do not know where this quest will lead us, what paths we may have to take to reach Erebor, but I do not want to face it without you."
Halien felt a rushing warmth reach from her stomach to her cheeks as he bent down on one knee, her left hand in his.
He kissed her hand and looked up at her. "Halien, daughter of Thranduil, will you do me the greatest honor and be my wife and queen?"
Halien felt tears in her eyes as she nodded. "Yes, Thorin Oakenshield, a million times yes."
Thorin smiled and stood, kissing her. Lord Elrond came around the corner at that point and smiled.
"Shall we begin?"
Thorin nodded and with that, Lord Elrond began the wedding ceremony. It was a small, simple one, but Halien was still arguably the happiest one there. The elf lord spoke in the Common tongue so that Thorin could understand it and he went through each section slowly so that Thorin and Halien could understand what they were getting themselves into. When it came time for the vows, Elrond let the two say their own.
Thorin began with him, "Halien, you are everything I could hope for in a woman. You are intelligent and wise, strong, brave, a great warrior, and a skilled healer. You care for this company like no one else. You are beautiful, a great hunter, and you have an amazing voice. Your gifts make you special and set you apart from all others. You have given up everything to aid us in this quest. I thought not to find my happiness, not to ever marry in my lifetime, but the day I met you in Erebor was a special one. You showed excitement in the halls, you showed great interest in what my people were doing and you wanted to be a part of it. You showed a love that none outside of the citizens of Erebor ever showed for my home and when your father took you away from Erebor, I thought all would be lost. Then when I saw you again in Mr. Baggins' home, I began to hope again that perhaps together, we could rebuild the alliance your father had broken. You have done so much to prove to me and my people and kin that you are not your father and for that I am grateful. I want you to find a home in Erebor, someday, but more so home at my side as my wife and queen."
Halien smiled and began her vows, "Thorin Oakenshield, you put me through much grief when we met again in Bilbo's home. I had thought to never again see the kind dwarf prince you had been when you showed me the way around Erebor, but over these past months, I have come to see it more and more as your trust in me grew, always finding new ways to test me. You have accepted me like kin, never turned me aside, and you have shown me the strength and resilience of dwarves, time and again. You are a wonderful leader. You have earned the respect and loyalty the others in this company give you. You hold courage, honor, family, and loyalty above all else and would most definitely do anything to make sure that we all make it to Erebor alive and try to get us all home safely. You are a good man and a great king, though you may not yet realize how great. I do not see you ever falling to the sickness that overtook your father and grandfather before you; you are too strong-willed for that. I believe in you wholeheartedly and will always follow you, my king. I love you more than anything in this world, Thorin, son of Thrain. I would be the happiest woman alive to be your wife and queen."
Thorin smiled as Elrond looked between the two, never having thought to ever wed an elf and a dwarf in Rivendell, but he was happy for them nonetheless. "Halien, with the ring, Reva, he has made for you within the halls of our forge, do you accept Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain, as your husband, through sickness and health, for as long as you both shall live?"
Halien nodded and said, "I do."
Elrond turned to Thorin. "And Thorin, with the ring, Reva, you have given her, do you accept Halien, daughter of Thranduil, as your wife, through sickness and health, for as long as you both shall live?"
Thorin nodded and said, "I do."
"Then, by the power I hold as lord of Rivendell, I pronounce you as husband and wife. May your lives be happy and prosperous together and may you face down each challenge and each foe together as one."
Halien and Thorin kissed to end the ceremony. Elrond congratulated them, then suggested they return to dinner. They nodded and followed him back to where the others were still eating.
'Thorin,' Halien said, reaching out to him with a thought. 'Will we tell the others?'
'For now, it may be best not to. Balin knows, but as for the others, I do not know how they will take it. I am certain that they will accept it, however. They see you just as much kin to them as you have seen them be to you.'
'But until we are ready, we keep this a secret?'
'That may be best, for now at the least.'
'Very well, my little king.'
Thorin smirked at that, having grown fond of the pet name.
They rejoined the others and enjoyed the rest of their evening. When the feast was at an end and the night was growing older, the dwarves wandered off to their usual spot for the night. Bilbo went to join them but decided to go for a walk before he did. Thorin and Halien went off to Thorin's room.
