"It is fine…it is fine…it will not happen…I will not see it done."
"Kili."
"What does she know? Nothing! Perhaps that is why-"
"Kili!"
"Or maybe it is all for the better-"
"By my beard, Kili, what are you doing wandering the halls at this late hour?!"
Kili stopped dead in his tracks and peered at her through the darkness. The firelight from her small torch cast dancing shadows upon the walls and illuminated the pearlescent strings of dew upon the spider webs. She held the torch up to his face and he shielded his face with a grin.
"By my beard,'' he repeated incredulously. "But you don't have one. You've shaved it off…again."
"Why should I wear it as if I'm some proud member of our race?"
"But you are! Unless you're planning something devious, starlight."
"Do not call me that!"
"Why? Are you no longer charmed by my terms of endearment?"
"No, it's just…" she paused, thinking back to his conversation with Tauriel in which he had called the light of the stars cold and distant. "I have an important matter to discuss. Where is your brother?"
Kili shrugged. "I am not my brother's keeper, nor is he mine. Perhaps you should find my mother and ask her of his whereabouts."
She moved her torch away and stood closer to him, inspecting him through narrowed eyes. "Why have you been so foul towards him lately?
"Me-?"
She shook her head. "Never you mind, doesn't matter. I'm in no mood for cheekery. Where did you last see him?"
"On the higher level," Kili said, tossing his chin at the platform above him. "Still searching for the Arkenstone, I reckon." He sighed. "I fear that his desperation to find it will soon outrival Thorin's. Must be exhausting, always trying to prove your worth."
Though he had been referencing his brother, Nadi couldn't help but feel that the odd statement had been aimed at her. She had to bite her tongue to keep from saying something curt in response. Tensions had been high within the Company, and she was definitely no exception. Yet she knew that she had no right to let her frustrations out on Kili, not now that she was planning to ask him to do the unthinkable.
"Come on," she said quietly, and together they trudged up the stairs until they found themselves within a smaller alcove. Though it was high above the ground, a carpet of gold coins had made its way onto its surface. Nadi reasoned that they must have been scattered there during the few times that Smaug had awakened and upset the piles of gold. Fili was bent over an old wooden crate, fast asleep with his arms tucked protectively around his chest. Nadi knelt in front of him and brushed his hair away from his spit-slickened cheek.
"Fili," she whispered. Her breath fluttered the braids along the corners of his lips and he winced. "Poor thing, he must be having a bad dream," she said as Fili moaned and turned away.
"Try slapping him," Kili said cheerfully. Then, seeing her disbelieving glare, he put his hands out defensively. "What?! It's how our mother used to wake us up!"
"Sometimes I wonder if she slapped you harder than me," came Fili's sleep-clogged voice. He smiled gently as he lifted himself and rubbed the dirt away from his lashes. "Or why else would your head be scrambled like a pan of frying eggs?"
"See!" Kili squealed and pointed an accusatory finger at his brother. "You see what I mean, Nadi? He's the one who's been foul to me, not the other way around!"
"Not my fault you mistake my honesty for brutality-" Fili said.
"...what?! Just what is that supposed to mean-!"
Fili shushed his brother and turned to look at Nadi. The sight of her still grinning at their brotherly antics seemed to bring him an odd sort of comfort. His expression softened as he braced his shoulder against the crate and folded his hands in his lap. "What is it, Nadi? Have you found the Arkenstone?"
"Would you be disappointed if I told you I've only come to bid you 'good morning?'"
"Mahal, no." He put his hand to his head and gave a loud yawn. "I'd appreciate it, actually. Is it morning already?"
"It will be soon. Come with us. We have much to discuss."
She held her hand out to him and he leveraged himself up against it. Fili glanced at Kili and the latter gave a full-bodied shrug. She turned around, but not before catching Kili mouth do you think she's crazy? to Fili. What'll they think of me, she thought as she led them along a winding staircase, when I offer them my proposition? They'll think I'm really crazy then-
No.
The sound of another person's voice in her head was so abrupt that she stopped quite suddenly. Fili immediately ran into her back, Kili ran into his, and they were quick to clutch each other before the three of them fell into the abyss stretching out beneath the staircase.
"Hello?" She said curiously, tilting her head to the side and listening for the voice within her head.
"Hello," Fili responded.
"Hello," Kili echoed. She shook her head and then shushed them.
"Wasn't talking to you," she said. She stood silent and still as she simply listened. All that she could hear was the constant drip-drip of some leak within the mountain and the occasional rustling of some nocturnal creature below. It had been so long - so, very long since she had heard the voice of the other woman. But there was nothing in Nadi's head, then, but a pressing and uninterrupted silence.
"Eh, Nadi," Fili said after a moment. She had a feeling that the brothers had shared a nervous glance behind her back. "Where are we headed?"
"To the Weeper's Cradle," she responded without hesitation. Kili gave a gasp behind her.
"Oh no, no, no. Not there. Anywhere but there-"
"Oh, pull up your britches and come on, you quivery little thing," she demanded and he immediately fell quiet. They continued on in silence, the sound of their slow footsteps echoing behind them.
The Weeper's Cradle was a small room built to honor the fallen Dwarven queen Anthuin. During her lifetime, Anthuin had received a deity-like status due to her patronage of the old, infirm, and poverty-stricken. Neither Nadi nor the sons of Dis had been alive during her reign, but they were familiar with her legacy. When Anthuin had died, her corpse had been entombed within a small room high within the mountain. It was common for the Dwarves of Erebor to visit her tomb and lay offerings upon her alter until some reported having heard a high, feminine wail within the room in the late hours of the night. Word quickly spread that Anthuin's spirit had become stuck within the room and that her cries were a sign of her dissatisfaction with the state of the world. Eventually, visitors to the tomb dwindled until not even the most stoic of Dwarves could bear the thought of approaching the cursed place. Hence, the room that had become known as the Weeper's Cradle fell to disuse. It was possible that Thorin and the rest had completely forgotten about it, or they were too disturbed by the cursed tales to bother approaching the room. This would work in Nadi's favor, as the topic of her conversation required immense privacy.
One more tiring loop around the staircase finally brought them to the entryway of the room. Breathless, they approached and simply stood panting as they gazed within. Curved walls black as obsidian curled around a circular slab of white marble that made up the floor. Engraved within the marble was the serene countenance of the queen Anthuin. It seemed as if her painted eyes were staring thoughtfully up at the night sky visible through a large crack in the ceiling. Several rays of moonlight streamed into the room, lending a pale and ghostly light to the twisted tree trunks and dark shrubbery that had taken up residence in the room. It was the most beautiful and haunting thing that Nadi had ever seen.
"I see there's been some renovation in our absence," Fili muttered behind her. Silvery-white flowers were blooming along the entryway. Nadi reached down and picked one from its stem.
"I'd probably be annoyed too if my chambers looked the same way for several thousand years," Kili said. "Nadi. I dare you to go in first."
Nadi puffed up. "You don't have to dare me," she hissed back but hesitated nonetheless. She had never been one to believe in vengeful spirits rising from the dead. But something about the hollow emptiness of the room pricked her conscience. She set one foot within the room then, realizing that she had been holding her breath, gave a shivering exhale. "Okay," she said, "let's go."
One by one, they filtered into the barely lit chamber. Nadi kept her eyes upon the hole in the ceiling as she walked and found peace in the sight of the familiar constellations passing by. There was a large, stone tomb laying in full view beneath an alcove. She walked up to it and placed the flower upon the cracked lit. It was odd to think that the skeletal remains of a once so lively woman lay only a few inches beneath her gloved fingers.
"We've not come to disturb you," she said in a soft voice as the brothers waited anxiously behind her. "You may continue your rest. Perhaps, one day, we will meet."
"Nadi…"
"Right."
She dug around in the rubble until she found a small stone pot which she dragged to the center of the room. She ordered the brothers to gather dry bits of brush and wood as she set her torch within the pot and stoked the flames. After a while, they were able to build a medium-sized fire that showed no signs of dwindling. They sat around it with their hands held out, simply listening to the whistling of the wind and the crackling of the fire.
"Well," Fili finally said as he rubbed his hands together. "You've brought us here to talk. And so here we are."
"Can we hurry it up?" Kili said between chattering teeth. "I'm cold."
"Here, come closer to me."
Nadi could sense Fili watching as Kili crawled over to her and set himself down in front of her. He squirmed around and settled himself down between her splayed legs. She rubbed her hands together, blew on them, and, when they felt warm enough, slid them beneath his collar. She could feel his heart pulsing gently beneath her palm. It was a familiar feeling, one that she was so in tune with that she could feel her heart rate slowing to match his.
"Comfortable?" She asked.
"Well-cushioned," Kili said as he let his head rest against her breasts.
"Good. Fili?"
"Don't mind me. I'm fine right here."
"You're missing out," Kili said, rather salaciously. Fili did not return his smile.
"Anyway," she had to start quickly before their short attention spans made conversation impossible. She fixed her eyes on Fili, her hand never leaving the warmth of Kili's chest. "Fili. Do you consider yourself a competent ruler?"
He looked up at her in surprise. "Can neither confirm nor deny, seeing as how I've never been given a chance to test out that title."
"Might I suggest using denial as a placeholder?" Kili asked. His head gave a little bounce with each word and she quickly pinched his nipple. "Mahal!"
"Fili," she tried again. "You are a close relative to the King under the Mountain, are you not?"
"Aye, I am."
"And so you have a right to rule. Is this a task that you are willing to accept, despite your insecurities about your capabilities?"
"When and if the time comes then, aye, I will do what's expected of me. Why-"
"And so!" Nadi continued. "If that time were to come- right now - then we have your word that you will fulfill your obligations as a king?"
"Of course!"
"Good, good." Nadi removed her hand from Kili's shirt and placed it on the ground behind her. "Fili. That time has come. I need you to hold true to your word."
"Oh, no," Fili said with a chuckle. "Only by the passing of my dear uncle would I ever rise to be king. Perhaps you haven't noticed, but Thorin is alive and well below us."
"Alive," Kili said pensively. "But not well."
"Fili-" Nadi started but was stopped by his closed-off expression. He linked his hands in his lap and leaned in closer to the fire.
"I don't know what you're planning, Nadi. But Erebor already has a fitting king."
"Aye, but Lake-Town does not."
Her words rang out in an echo around them. The two brothers glanced at each other, glanced back up at her…
….and then burst out laughing.
"By my…Nadi, have you gone mad?" Kili said in a strained voice as he wiped his eyes. "Fili? Master of Lake-Town?! Lake-Town already has a master!"
"-a bumbling, fat buffoon of a master!" Nadi said loudly. Now was no time for their humor, she was quickly growing tired of it. She tried to shush them but they were still laughing loud enough to potentially wake the deceased queen lying a few feet away from them. "Alright, alright!" She hissed. "Do you two hatchlings want to alert Thorin to our presence?! He'll find it mighty suspicious that we've all gathered here without his permission. Close your mouths, lest you catch all the flies in the room with your gaping maws."
That quieted them immediately. Nadi glared at Fili over the top of Kili's head. Realizing that she was, indeed, serious he clamped his lips shut and waited for her to speak.
"The people of Lake-Town are unhappy with their master. Bard said so himself: while they escaped, the master of the town stayed behind to hoard what was left of their gold. If they return to the lake - and I have reason to believe that they will, by my plan - they will find him as unfit and incompetent as they did before."
"That has nothing to do with me," Fili said quietly.
"Ah, but it does! Now that their homes have been partially destroyed and their livelihoods lay in ruin, they need a strong master now more than ever! Your time to rule Erebor may not have yet come, but that doesn't mean that you can't fulfill a role as a king elsewhere. Look in your heart, Fili! You, yourself, said that you'd be willing to fill such a void if it were ever to present itself. The desolation of the dragon paired with the idiocy of their master has created that void. You can fill it - it is in your blood to assume such a role! Don't you want a chance to prove your worth?"
Finally, Fili looked away. He was thinking hard about what she had said, she could tell by the furrowing of his brow. Kili lay quietly upon her chest, simply listening in to everything that she said.
"I have no responsibility to the people of Lake-Town," Fili finally said. She shook her head.
"Aye, that is true. You have a responsibility here, to Thorin. Your responsibility is to crawl around on the floor, sifting for an artifact that, in his hands, will only spell our doom! You know it, Fili! Thorin has changed! He is suffering from a terrible, terrible gold-sickness. Your blood-loyalty is only to the man that he once was, not to the man that he has become."
"Nadi..." Kili said in a warning voice but she ignored him.
"That man down there," she said pointing at the entranceway to the room. "Is no longer your dear, cherished uncle. He is a ghost, do you understand? And you were born to do more than serve a sickly ghost, Fili. Do not besmirch yourself by carrying on this fruitless loyalty to a man who could not spare a single coin to the starving people that came to our doorway begging for their lives!"
She realized that she had been yelling, and at some point whilst talking she had stood up and pushed Kili away. She sat down with flushed cheeks and simply stared at the brothers.
"You blaspheme…" Kili said.
"No, your brother blasphemes himself by declining my offer."
"What, exactly, are you offering?" Fili asked.
"An opportunity!"
Fili said nothing to this. Instead, he reached in his pocket and withdrew a small silver flask. There was nothing but the sound of his long, wet gulps as he tossed his head back and downed whatever was in the flask. Then, he reached around the fire and handed it to Kili.
"'Member the brandy that we bottled back at the Shire?" He asked.
"Aye," Kili said as he accepted the flask. "Still have to get around to telling Mister Boggins, I suppose." He took a sip and immediately gagged. "That is strong-"
"I'd reckon. It's been fermenting in my pack for over three hundred days-"
"WILL YOU TWO PAY ATTENTION-" she thundered.
"Don't mind us. We just needed something to make your proposition more-"
"-palatable." Kili finished for him before taking another swig.
"My proposition is palatable enough, thank you. And, Kili, take it easy, will you? You'll make yourself sick."
"I'm not the one to be worried about-"
"I…listen-" she said, quickly changing lanes. "We can spearhead the dawning of a new civilization! Balin said that all we need are three things: the land, the people, and the influence. Okay, for the land: we can rebuild Lake-Town and restore it to its former glory. We are the sons and daughters of smiths and tinkerers. It is possible-"
"We'd have to port in raw materials. It'd be an expensive endeavor," Fili said. Nadi smirked.
"Are we not sitting upon a mountain of gold? Listen! We have the people: the citizens of Lake-Town. Bard told me that a few hundred remain upon the docks. We could corral them, persuade them to start a new life. And the final point: influence. You, my sweet, beautiful Fili are of royal blood. You can use that to your benefit, convince them that you are worthy of leading them all to greatness!"
"Nadi…"
"Come on! What have you got to lose!? We could leave tonight! Or would you rather stay here, slithering around on your belly amongst piles of gold-?"
Fili reared up and began to pace back and forth along the fire's edge. "Even if I agreed to your proposition, there is no guarantee that those leftovers from Lake-Town would accept me in their master's stead," he said in a heated voice. Kili hiccoughed as his eyes followed him. "I'll admit, you are innovative, my dear lady," Fili chucked as he wagged his finger at her. "But you are not rational. You speak in terms of promises and wild speculations…you are flaunting empty bets, and asking me to steal and cheat my own uncle in the bargain!"
"Fili-"
"No. Nadi, I will not entertain your foolishness!"
"Fili-"
"What! What is it, woman?!"
"I have the Arkenstone."
Fili paused mid-step and stared at her with a slack-jaw. Having succumbed to the after-effects of the liquid in the flask, Kili had ended up on his belly on the ground. Now, he squirmed around to glare at her.
"You what…" he said incredulously. She took a deep breath in.
"I mean, I know where the Arkenstone is."
"Why haven't you told Thorin?"
"Because I have no intention of giving it to him. I plan to use it as a last resort." She stood up and brushed the wrinkles from her trousers. She was trying to sound self-assured, but her hands were shaking terribly. "Consider it a bargaining chip. If the 'left-overs from Lake-Town,' as you called them, can not be convinced by mere words of persuasion, then I plan on using the Arkenstone to convince them. 'He who wields the stone, wields the right to rule,' nay?"
"Oh, Nadi…" Fili said, letting his face fall into his hands. "Nadi, Nadi, Nadi…"
"And if I put it in your hands…" She rushed up to him and pulled his hands away from his face. "You understand, do you not?"
"Where is it?" Kili asked.
"No place that you can find if your brother does not agree to my terms," she said smartly.
"All this time," Fili was saying. "We've been searching and searching for the stone, and it's been here, with you."
"I need to know if you are with me or not," she said hotly.
"And if I decline?"
"Fili," she said. "This mountain is not large enough to contain my wrath. You cannot hide from me. I will get you alone and convince you by any means necessary. Or have you forgotten that you are dealing with Naughty Nadi?"
"Whoa-" Fili said.
"Whoa-" Kili repeated and then gargled something in drunkenly unintelligible Khuzdul. Fili and Nadi ignored him.
"Nadi," Kili said after dry heaving for a moment. "Why have you brought me here if your business is with my brother and my brother alone?"
"Like a pot of brandy sitting next to a plate of roasted meat, I cannot have one without the other," she said. "I need you both by my side."
Kili gave a loud hack that sounded suspiciously affronted. "Wouldn't be much fun, I imagine, just leading along one bear by the nose," he spat and then quickly rubbed away the spittle with his boot. "Agh, I think I'm going to be sick…"
"Not in here! Go out into the hallway."
Kili nodded with his hand over his mouth. His cheeks were ballooned out and tinged slightly green as he stumbled over to the entranceway. Fili and Nadi listened as he immediately unleashed the entirety of his scant dinner onto the floor.
"So?" Nadi said anxiously to Fili.
"And so?" Fili countered. He leaned away from the fire with his arms crossed. His face was as stony and cold as the outer walls of the Mountains. "I will consider your proposal, but not because you have swayed me with your subtle threats and insinuations. I will consider only because I am your friend - I always have been and I always will be, no matter how far into madness you may sink."
"Thank you, Fili."
"Agh, no. Do not thank me. You may not appreciate the decision that I come to." He leaned forward and retrieved the flask that Kili had dropped. It still had a few dredges of alcohol, she could tell by the way that he was peering into it. He took a long, slow sip and then held the flask out to her. She shook her head.
"Not good for the baby," she said automatically.
And then froze.
She hadn't meant to say that, not at all. The matter of her pregnancy was supposed to stay private. So far, only she and Thorin knew, and she had wanted to keep it that way until she built up the courage to tell Kili. But now Fili was staring at her curiously, the flask held aloft before his chest. There was no turning back, not now.
"What baby?" He asked stupidly. Kili was still retching out in the hallway.
"The one right here!" She lifted her shirt and pat her stomach proudly. He was still looking at her as if in a daze. A small line etched itself between his eyebrow. "Fili," she tried again with an exasperated smile on her face. "I'm with child."
"What?"
"I said-"
"No. I heard you." He stood up and paced away from the fire with his hair scrunched beneath his fingers. Then he flung himself around. There was a look in his eye that hinted at a deep, pressing anger. She put her shirt back down and stood up quickly, her hand never leaving her belly. "Whose is it?" He asked with some difficulty.
"It's Kili's. Obviously."
"Obviously," he repeated in disbelief. His hands found their way to his hair again and he squeezed tight. Something was wrong. She could see the tension gathering in his body, could feel the unnerving twang of his rage in the air between them.
"Obviously. Obviously. Obviously," he repeated in a monotonic whisper. She began to back away as he circled the fire and stormed towards her. This was not the Fili that she knew. She turned and made for the entranceway but he suddenly lunged forward and grabbed her wrist. She squealed in alarm as he pressed her up against the trunk of a tree and held on tight.
"You're so foolish," he hissed, his breath hot and uncomfortably moist on the back of her neck. There was a quiver in his grip as his nails dug into her skin. "What have you done?"
"Fili!" She cried.
"A child...by my brother, of all people? Make no mistake, I love the Dwarve dearly but he is careless and disloyal when it comes to romances! He would have dropped you out of his heart and mind had not Tauriel denied him!"
"Not true!" She said, even though every movement of her lips caused splinters from the bark to scratch her cheek. "He loves me!"
"So what did he say to make you think that? 'Oh, how the sun lights a glow upon your brow?' I taught him that line. Me, Nadi! Back when we were young I dared him to use it on the women in the taverns, and now he's used it on every woman that he's fallen for since then! You are blinded by his ways!"
"If what you say is true, then him becoming a father might set him straight in his ways," she said quickly. "Let me go, Fili! You're hurting me!"
"A father?" Fili repeatedly incredulously. He paused and listened to the sound of his brother vomiting in the hallway, his grip upon Nadi's wrist never loosening. "Do you not understand? Kili is a magpie, dear girl, and that child will be nothing more than a shiny thing for him to toy with until he gets bored. Mahal, Nadi, listen to me!"
She had to do something, and fast. It was obvious that Fili had become blinded by rage, so much so that he was at risk of causing some unintended harm. She could feel her belly pressing against the tree trunk and knew, then, that if she didn't act the life inside of her would be squished. Grimacing, her cheek pressed against the cold wood, she slunk her hand down and unclasped her leather belt. Then, quicker than he could have anticipated, she jolted her head back and shoved it violently into his nose. He stumbled back with his hand upon his bloody nose and stood there reeling as she turned upon him, brandishing her belt in her hand.
"See what you've made me do?" She hissed, looping her belt in her hand. She raised it high and then brought it down - thwack - upon his head. "You dare to lay your hands upon me?! After I just told you that I am with child?!"
He barely had time to look up as she tightened the looped belt and smacked him across the cheek. He fell to his knees with a shocked look on his face but still, she did not hesitate. Thwack went the belt across his broad shoulders, thwack against his lower back, and another thwack across his pale ankles. She paused with the belt held taut between her fists and simply observed him as he rolled over, moaning, onto his back. The side of his face was red and puffy beneath his hand as he looked up at her in horror.
"Get up," she hissed. "Come on, get up! I will see you repent-"
He sputtered something unintelligible and held his bloodied fingers up to her. A sudden movement from her made him flinch and cower in fear, but she had only dropped the belt onto the ground before his face.
"Idiot boy," she growled, wiping the spittle from her chin. It was at that moment that Kili decided to walk back in. He stopped mid-step and gazed with some amusement at his brother writhing on the floor and Nadi standing above him, her hair hanging in a wild fray before her face.
"What have I missed?" Kili asked, somewhat sarcastically. Fili moaned.
"I was just serving your brother a friendly reminder," she said as she picked up her belt and looped it around her waist.
"If that's a 'friendly' reminder then feel free to consider me your greatest enemy," Kili muttered.
"To hear your brother tell it, you already are. Come, Kili," she said, tossing her head at him. "Let us leave Fili in peace. He has much to think about."