Tauriel led Halien and Kili to join the others and when Legolas looked up at them, his eyes widened.
"Halien?" he said in disbelief.
"Hello, brother." She said, a sad smile upon her face. She was not sure how he was going to react to her being there, but she sighed in relief when he ran to her and pulled her into his arms.
"I have missed you so, little sister." He said.
"And I you, brother," Halien said, her smile growing bigger.
"You cut your hair?" he asked when he stepped back to take a look at her.
"Is that the first thing everyone notices?" Halien replied. "Aye, though it wasn't necessarily by my choice. An Orc had grabbed my hair and I had to cut myself free to escape. Otherwise, I'd be dead."
Legolas was glad to see her, despite what had happened within their family. "It is good to see you, but why are you here with these dwarves?"
"They are my travel companions, brother. And my friends." Halien replied.
Thorin smiled at the face Legolas gave her. Legolas did not think Halien would ever seem like a different person, but she seemed more dwarf than elf now.
"Father may not be as happy to see you as I am." He warned.
"I know," Halien replied.
"Search them," Legolas ordered the other elves as he gestured to the dwarves. Bilbo was nowhere to be seen.
Turning to Tauriel, Legolas said in Elvish, "Are the spiders dead?"
Replying in the same tongue, Tauriel said, "Yes, but more will come. They're growing bolder."
Halien joined them in the conversation, asking, "Have these spiders been here long? Are they what has corrupted Greenwood?"
"They come from Dol Guldur," Tauriel told her.
"If that is where they nest, why not go to the source? Hit them where it hurts and eradicate them?" Halien asked.
"Your father only wishes for our borders to remain safe, but I will ask him when I speak with him next." Her old mentor replied.
One of the elves handed Legolas Orcrist and he looked at it, recognizing the craftsmanship. "Where did you get this?" he asked Thorin.
"It was given to me."
"Not just a thief, but a liar as well."
"Legolas, Thorin is no thief, nor is he a liar. He found that sword in a troll horde off the Great East Road and Lord Elrond gave it to him with his blessing. That is Orcrist and with it was Glamdring, which Elrond bestowed upon Gandalf the Grey. Orcrist is rightfully Thorin's as much as Fenumë Dagnir is mine." Halien said, defending her husband.
"You defend him as if you loved him," Legolas observed, then ordered the other elves to follow him and escort the company- except for Bilbo- back to the halls of Thranduil.
As they were being pushed forward, Bofur asked Thorin where Bilbo was. Thorin looked around but did not see the hobbit anywhere. He looked at Halien.
'Have you seen the Halfling?'
'No, but he is safe. He is close and will follow us, I promise. Do not worry, my love.'
Thorin nodded and followed the others. They wound their way through the trees and went across the bridge that led into the halls Halien Greenleaf once called home. They entered through the doorway and Legolas stopped, sensing something. Halien could sense that it was Bilbo, but he was so well hidden that not even her brother's hawk-like eyes could find him. She sent the hobbit a thought to be careful and watched as the door was slammed shut.
While Legolas and Tauriel took the other dwarves to the cells built into the rock walls, a few of the other elves escorted Halien and Thorin to the throne room where they were to meet with Thranduil, the great Elven King of the Woodland Realm.
Halien felt a knot in her stomach as she prepared herself to face her father once again.
As they approached the throne room, Halien reached out to her husband. 'Thorin, please be careful of what you say to my father. Even when I spoke out against him, begging him to help your people- our people- he struck me. He will not hesitate to strike his own flesh and blood, so do not think he will hesitate with you. My father is cold and ruthless and neither he nor my brother knows we are married and that I am with child.'
'I will be careful, Halien. I promise.' Thorin replied.
When they stepped into the throne room, Thranduil turned and looked on at them. He seemed displeased at the sight of Thorin, but his gaze softened a bit when he saw Halien standing there. "Halien, welcome home."
"Father, I see you are well." She replied but did not bow to him.
Thranduil sensed her displeasure being back in the Woodland Realm and smirked. "I did not think you would dare return here after you betrayed me."
"Forgive me, Father, but I did not betray you. You once taught me to follow my heart and the instance that I do, you strike me and exile me from my home. You betrayed me as my father and as my king the moment you turned away from Erebor."
"Do not speak to me of that place. I left to protect our people. I would not risk the lives of our kin to save those dwarves, risk the wrath of a dragon again."
"You turned your back on an ally!" Halien retorted, stepping forward. "Father, you told us lies about the dwarves of Erebor, made our people hate them, and for what? Jewels? Precious gems and stones? Things that are meaningless unless you are greedy and your mind is clouded. Thror did not steal them from us. Those things you so very much desire were found in his kingdom, his realm, not yours. If you had any stake in that land, then perhaps your argument would stand, but those precious stones are of Erebor and belong to the house of Durin."
Thranduil advanced on his daughter, his face cold. "You understand nothing of the world. You are but a child. You've barely seen two hundred years, what would you know of it?"
"I have seen two hundred and sixteen years, which is enough to know the suffering of the people of Dale and the dwarves of Erebor. I know the pain they felt, the sorrow of losing their home and loved ones. You know of my gifts. You know that I would have felt every ounce of pain and suffering they did because of my gifts. Yet you turned me away when I came home, asking for your forgiveness. After I lost the Grotsnev clan, I felt that I did not belong anywhere and I hoped the one place that I still had family would accept me back, would forgive me. No, instead they take me captive and I am exiled."
"You say you know the suffering of those dwarves? Do you know the suffering that you have caused your brother? That you have caused me?" Thranduil demanded, snatching up her hand and putting it to his chest.
Halien was overwhelmed with the rage, sadness, guilt, worry, and fear that had been bottled up inside of her father for so long. Thranduil had lowered his barrier and let everything he felt flow from his mind and crash into his daughter. Just as Halien felt everything he had bottled inside, she had dropped her barrier and pushed her own thoughts into his mind, trying to make him understand what she had to go through since he exiled her. When they were overcome with it all and stumbled back, Thorin caught Halien.
'Are you alright?' he asked.
'Yes.' She replied.
Thranduil panted, then looked at the ring on his daughter's finger. "Who gave you that ring?"
"Reva was a gift, a promise," Halien said. "It matters not to you who gave it to me."
Thranduil sifted through the thoughts and emotions Halien threw right back at him. Finally, composing himself, Thranduil ordered that Halien be taken to a cell with the others.
Thorin was certain that Halien would be alright, but he was not certain how things would go between him and her father.
"There are some who would imagine a noble quest was at hand, a quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a dragon," Thranduil said to Thorin. "I myself, suspect a more prosaic motive. Attempted burglary, or something of that ilk."
Thranduil looked at Thorin. "You have found a way in," he said, then moved back towards his throne. "You seek that which would bestow upon the right to rule. The King's Jewel. The Arkenstone."
Thorin looked at the floor, unsure of what to say.
Thranduil continued. "It is precious to you beyond measure." The elven king smiled. "I understand that. There are gems in the mountain that I too desire. White gems, of pure starlight." Then, bowing his head, he closed his eyes for a moment and said, "I offer my help."
Thorin smirked. "I am listening."
"I will let you go if you but return what is mine," Thranduil explained.
Thorin turned and began to pace. "A favor for a favor?"
"You have my word," Thranduil said. "One king to another."
Scoffing, Thorin said, "I would not trust Thranduil, the great king, to honor his word, should the end of all days be upon us." He turned and pointed at Thranduil. "You lack all honor. I have seen how you treat your friends! We came to you once, starving, homeless, seeking your help, but you turned your back! You turned away from the suffering of my people, and the inferno that destroyed us!" He even threw in an insult in dwarvish just before Thranduil advanced on him as he had on Halien.
"Do not speak to me of dragon's fire!" he hissed. "I know its wrath and ruin!" He released the magik that held his appearance together to show Thorin the scars of when he was last burned. "I have face the great serpents of the north. My wife, the mother of my children, was nearly killed by a dragon. Only my daughter was able to defeat the dragon when no others could. I felt the burn of its fire whilst trying to save my wife and children. Why do you think Halien's sword is named Fenumë Dagnir? It is the Dragon's Bane that killed the dragon who took our friends and nearly took her mother from us. My children and I know all too well what dragon fire can do, the destruction it can cause. I was not about to let my people face the same fate as them!"
Thranduil stepped back and pulled his magik forward to conceal the scars and mutilation that ruined his beautiful elven appearance. "I warned your grandfather of what his greed would summon. But, he would not listen." Then, going up the stairs to his throne, Thranduil said, "You are just like him." And he waved his hand for the guards to take Thorin to the others. "Stay here, if you will until you rot. A hundred years is a mere blink in the life of an elf. I am patient. I can wait."
Before he could be dragged away, Thranduil turned to him. "I know that you wed my daughter and that she carries your child. I felt it when she touched my chest. She loves you very deeply. While I am utterly disgusted by it, I do still love her. You best take care of her and never stray from her side, lest I hunt you down and kill you myself."
Thorin's eyes widened and the guards took him away. The guards threw him into the cell Halien was being held in and slammed it shut.
"Did he offer you a deal?" Balin called to him.
"I told him he could go ish kakhfe ai-'d dur-rugnu! Him and all his kin!"
"Thorin, do you mean that? Even about me?" Halien asked.
"Not for you, my love," Thorin said. "Never for you."
"That's it, then," Balin said, defeated. "That deal was our only hope."
Thorin looked out of the cell door. "Not our only hope."
Halien knew that somewhere, Bilbo was trying to find a way to free them. She felt the babe kick her womb, hard, and winced.
Coming to her side, Thorin sat next to her. "Are you alright? Is the baby alright?"
Halien nodded. "Yes. Here," she said, placing his hand on her womb. She widened her magik and drew in the small thoughts of the babe. She sensed a few weeks earlier that it was to be a boy, but said nothing. Thorin could feel and hear the heartbeat of the growing child and somehow, sensed that it was indeed to be a baby boy. He was going to have a son.
Thorin looked at Halien and smiled. "We are having a son?" He murmured, happy at the news.
Halien nodded. "A few weeks ago, I sensed that we were going to have a son. He is strong, little king. Even Beorn sensed it. I'm sorry I did not tell you before."
Thorin kissed her and smiled. "It matters not for we will be a family now." He stood and went to the cell door. "I am having a son!" He called out to the others.
The dwarves smiled and cheered, happy for their king and queen. They were glad for such good news in such a dark moment when they knew they may never leave the Woodland Realm and may never reach Erebor.
Thorin sat back down next to Halien and kissed her. "When we take back Erebor and slay the dragon, we will hold a celebration to honor our son and our marriage."
"That would be wonderful, little king."
