The Master of Lake-town did not believe in miracles. Surviving the dragon's attack was to be expected, even though he had incurred a few scratches and bruises along the way. He sat upon an overturned chest in the treasury room, guzzling the last bit of brandy that he could find as Alfrid watched him enviously.

"Oh, what is it, Alfrid?" He asked after giving a wet belch.

"It's nothing, sire," he said. "Got a bit of a sore throat…it's the damn cold, you see. Nothing a drop of brandy can't fix-"

"Quite a shame, then, that we've run out. Ooh, look! Another bottle!"

"I-" Alfrid started and then put his finger down as he watched the Master gulp down the rest of the newfound brandy. The Master gave a contented sigh and wiped his lips.

"As I was saying," he continued. "It's quite a shame we've run out."

"Would you like me to ask the people to scour for more?"

The Master dismissed this with a wave of his hand and adjusted himself atop the chest. The room was filled with boxes and bags full of Lake-town's remaining riches. The rest had been pillaged by the fleeing people and subsequently lost in the water below.

"The more you go down there, the more requests they'll make," the Master said and then sang in a grating falsetto. "'Oh, Master, what are we going to do now?' And, 'Oh, my children are so hungry!' or 'oh, my children are dead!' Bothersome peasants with their gripes and nuisances…" he belched again. "Besides. Whatever was left of the brandy was probably taken by Bard and his pilgrims."

"What about Ironhaven? We could send a guard over to pick up some supplies."

"And just what do you think the people will do when they see a guard delivering us brandy and food like some sort of birthday present!? They'll want in!"

"So we just sit and wait for…what exactly?"

The Master shrugged and crossed his arms. "Well, something's bound to happen eventually."

"It's a shame gold ain't edible," Alfrid said. He tossed the coin that he'd been holding and leaned back against the window. Fires were still burning throughout the decimated town. Those who had chosen to remain were still searching the rubble for lost loved ones or cherished possessions. It had been days since the dragon had been slain, days in which Alfrid and the Master had remained holed up in the treasury like a pair of obsessive thieves. Alfrid turned and stuck his head out the window in an attempt to escape the Master's stench.

"I'll tell you something, Alfrid," the Master said after surreptitiously swallowing a strip of jerky. "What I could really use right now is a nice, warm pair of-"

"Dwarfs!"

"I was going to say-"

"No - look! Dwarfs! On the Lake. They're headed our way!"

The Master stood up and pushed Alfrid away from the window. It was indeed true. A trio of Dwarves were approaching on a boat laden with bags and boxes. The Master's memory wasn't that strong, but he could have sworn that he had seen them in the company of the King Under the Mountain. There was a woman sitting with her arms wrapped around her chest, a raven-haired youngling, and an older Dwarve with flaxen hair who was working the paddle.

"Could've sworn the two boys were related to the king…" Alfrid said slowly.

"Then what could've brought them here?"

"Perhaps they're seeking refuge…perhaps the rest of their kin were killed by the dragon-"

"A lovely thought," the Master said with a nod of his head. "That means the treasures within the Mountain lay unguarded."

Alfrid rolled his eyes. As if we have the power or people to claim it, he wanted to say. But he knew better than to try and argue against his stubbornly foolhardy Master.

"But speaking of treasure…" the Master crooked his finger at a pair of binoculars which Alfrid placed obediently in his hands. The Master lifted them to his eyes and gave a low whistle. "Feast your eyes on that, m'boy."

The Master threw his arm around Alfrid's shoulders and held the binoculars to his face. At first, Alfrid didn't know what he was supposed to be looking at. Then, the Master gave the binoculars a push until they settled on the female Dwarve.

"That there is a woman that never misses a meal," the Master cooed. "All bosom and…birthing hips."

Alfrid winced. "She seems quite young for a Dwarf…"

"Well, no one likes an overripe peach." The Master plucked the binoculars from Alfrid's hands and placed them back over his eyes. "Or a fuzzy one. Look at that shadow along her jaw. I'm sure I could convince her to shave it off…you know, with my masculine charm. Heh, heh, heh. Come to daddy, sweetheart."

"Your masculine charm makes my masculine charm want to vomit," Alfrid said beneath his breath. "Shall I hail them, sire?"

"Oh yes. But give me a moment. I must preen my luscious locs!"

Alfrid took one look at the Master combing his wispy hair over his bald spot and decided that then would be a great time to walk out.

X

"Well…"

Fili steered the boat through the narrow channels of Lake-town until they reached a suitable dock. There, he and Kili unboarded and set to work tying the tether around a wooden post. Nadi watched them with her arms crossed tight upon her chest. She'd never forgive them for sentencing Bahn to such a cruel and unusual death. The possibility of him being her father made the matter much worse. She'd never forget the sight of Bahn's pale, twisted face staring back at her through the water. From there on out, she decided, her dealings with the two brothers would have to remain purely professional.

"Cover the top of the boat," she ordered them as she climbed out. "No one can know what we've brought with us."

"What's the plan now?" Kili asked as he tossed a heavy blanket over their bags of gold.

"We must get a lay of the land," she said. "I have to see how much damage has been done."

"The town was attacked by a dragon," Fili said. She grit her teeth in response to his scathing tone. "I think it's fair to say that the damage is quite extensive."

She turned away from them and walked along the docks. What Fili had said was true. The damage done to Lake-town was considerable but not, in her opinion, unrepairable. She kept her head tucked beneath her hood as they examined the burnt structures and exposed beams. Bard was right in his assumption that around a hundred people had stayed behind, mostly elderly folk, women, and children. They were too busy with their fruitless searches to spare a glance at the hooded Dwarves. Something crunched beneath Nadi's boot and she looked down. It was a severed arm sticking from beneath a pile of rubble with its bones exposed. She stopped and leaned against a broken pillar to catch her breath.

"What's wrong?" Kili asked. He placed his hands on her shoulders. As always, his touch was comforting and vivifying, even though his fingers were cold.

"It's nothing. I'm fine," she said gruffly. Though, in truth, she was disturbed by the destruction surrounding her. She had known that Lake-town would suffer greatly as soon as she had seen the dragon take off. But actually being there and witnessing the desolation first-hand was troubling. How many people had died, she wondered. How many corpses lay mangled and burned beneath her very feet?

"Fili," she said. "As I said before: sovereignty is your birthright. You have a duty to those who have been displaced, even if they are not your kin. Tell me, now. Have you made your decision?"

"This is a dead land," Fili said carefully. "What would you have me rule?"

"I will see it reanimated," she responded.

"How? You see for yourself that the town has been destroyed. Those left will soon die of starvation, or succumb to the cold."

"Nay," she said as they continued to walk along the ghostly avenues. "There is a little town by the name of Ironhaven not far from here. The people there are reclusive, but make their living through iron smithing and crafting. We could source labor and material from there."

"What have we to bargain for such a request?" Kili asked. Nadi smiled.

"Do you not remember that we've brought along a boatful of treasure? If we're careful, we should have just enough funds to restore Lake-town. It won't be perfect, but it will be habitable. Besides, Bard said that there is little gold left within this town. We could use that when our funds are exhausted."

"And after that?" Kili asked.

"Have you no faith in me, you silly Dwarve? I always have a backup plan."

"Feel free to share whenever you'd like," Fili muttered.

"Oh, I'd hate to spoil a good surprise. Fili," she stopped and turned to him "What more do you require?"

"An audience with the Master of Lake-town," he said.

"That can be arranged," came a voice from behind them. They turned to face a small, shifty-looking man dressed in a tattered fur coat. Nadi recognized him as the Master's right-hand man and verifiable cur, Alfrid. His disdain for their kind was obvious by the curl in his lip, but he was trying to be gracious and hide it. "Hello, children," he said.

"What do you lay claim to, thirty years?" Fili asked as Kili came up behind him and braced his arm upon his shoulder. "I hate to be the one to break it to you, but I've been on this here earth about fifty years longer than you."

"Oh, don't play coy," Alfrid said with an ugly sneer upon his face. "I know how Dwarf ages work. You and I are roughly the same age."

"Wouldn't be able to tell it by looking at you," Kili said and Nadi rolled her eyes.

"The Master of Lake-town," she said quickly, before things could get too heated between the three men. "Where is he?"

"Awaiting your gracious presence," Alfrid said with a sweep of his arm and then added, "Yours. Not your boyfriends'."

"It is not our custom to send an unwed woman into the presence of a man without company," Fili lied.

"And it is my custom to shove my boot up your…ahem. Please. Follow me."

Alfrid turned on his heel and began to walk along the docks. The three Dwarves glanced uncomfortably at each other and then followed him. Nadi kept her eyes lowered to the ground to avoid the harrowing sight of the stooped women sifting through piles of rubble. She was anxious for the day in which the glory of Lake-town would finally be restored. There, then, she'd finally have a place to raise her son away from the madness and desperation of their former world. It was possible that there were flaws in her plan, but the amount of gold that they had brought with them could waylay any near future problems that would arise. All she needed to do was set Fili upon a suitable throne and guide him from the shadows. And if all else failed, she'd do what she had been taught from birth: run, far away, and settle herself within some unnamed forests.

Alfrid led them up a flight of rickety stairs to a small chamber hanging upon stilts above the water. Once at the door, he stopped and pressed a hand to his chest in a mock gesture of politeness.

"The Master awaits," he said in his gravelly voice. Nadi made a move to walk through the door but Fili stopped her with a hand on her chest.

"You wait here," he said and she puffed up in indignation. "Kili and I will handle this."

"But-" she started and he quickly shook his head.

"You've done enough. This is a man-to-man sort of ordeal."

"I think it's fair to say that she's man enough," Alfrid said, gazing pointedly at her barely bearded chin. In response to this, Nadi snorted and spat right between his leather boots. "My point has been proven," Alfrid muttered. Kili grabbed him by his collar and pulled him down to his level.

"One more word at our dear lady's expense and I will pocket your tongue," he growled. Alfrid gave an uncomfortable grin.

"Shall we?" He croaked. Kili loosened his hold and smiled proudly at Nadi.

"This won't take but a minute, starlight," he said with a wink. With that, the three men walked into the room and shut the door behind them.

Nadi took a moment to rest against the outer wall. Her thumb roved lightly over her belly as she gazed up at the moon. There was a certain charm to Lake-town, even though it had been destroyed. The moonlight cast a white glow along the misty water, illuminating the sparkling veins of the ice slabs that drifted waywardly. She could have almost believed that they were cut from the glistening white gems that had been mined from the mountain. A deep breath filled her lungs with icy cold air as she leaned out over the railing and observed the land. The worst of it was already behind them, she decided. Leaving Thorin behind had been the hardest part of it all, but now that was done with. That familiar sense of homesickness filled her again as she watched the lost souls wander around the town. Her entire life had been spent running and wandering away. For a moment during the journey, things had felt so stable. She had been surrounded by her kin with a singular mission in mind. Now, all of that had been lost: Thorin had changed, the mountain was no longer her own, and she would most likely never see her dear Hobbit friend again.

The voices from within the room reached her through the opening beneath the door. She heard the Master's voice - proud, sickeningly rambunctious - and then Fili's in response. She could tell by his tone that he was trying to sound reasonable but was quickly becoming impatient. She imagined him standing there before the Master with Kili beside him, watching him with those beautiful brown eyes that could go from jovial to somber in a second. It would have been just as easy for her to convince Kili to take over Lake-town - he'd do anything that she'd ask of him, after all - but Kili was simply too unpredictable. She needed to play upon Fili's malleability and sense of duty. One day, perhaps, he'd come to resent her willingness to use him. But there were only so many matters that she could concern herself with at once, and that one was very low on the list.

There was a glimmer in the water below her. She leaned out further over the railing. There was a sharp thump from the room behind her and she startled. "I shouldn't scare so easily," she muttered to herself as she watched the rolling surface of the water. "Damn men are so clumsy."

She couldn't be sure, but whatever was lying within the water seemed to be long with a tapered end. A few ice blocks floated over it, obscuring her vision, as another thump rattled the boards beneath her feet. There was gold in the water or some sort of golden tubing. She leaned out even further, squinting her eyes. Could it be…?

There was a strange noise from the room - human but strangled. She jumped again, twice, as the odd thumping resounded from the room. Someone from within gave a short cough and then muttered something. And still, she stared at the water. She was sure of it now: there, below her, lay a gold-scaled tail of-

A sudden crash resounded from the room, followed by several angry words spoken from Fili to Kili. Then, the sound of rapid footsteps on the wood boards leading to the door. She rushed forward and attempted to push the door open but something - or someone - was blocking it. The boards beneath her boots trembled violently from the movement within. She threw her weight against the door again and again, but only succeeded in bruising her shoulder. Somebody let out a gurgling scream from inside that ended with such abruptness that she realized that whomever it was had been fatally silenced.

She began to scream and pound upon the door with her gloved fists. Shadows danced back and forth beneath the doorway and the heavy footsteps continued to sound out. Suddenly, the door to the room flew open and slammed straight into her stomach. She recoiled with a pained grunt as Alfrid rushed out and glanced around him. She'd never forget his face when he turned to look at her: it was twisted in horror as he held his bloodied hands out to her and wailed.

"M-m-m-m," he stuttered as she stared at him in alarm. His pale lips moved soundlessly for a moment before he put his hand to his throat and croaked out, "-murderers! Murderers! The Master is dead!"

Suddenly, Kili launched himself from behind the door and looked around wildly. Upon the meeting of their eyes, Alfrid screamed again and barreled down the wooden staircase. Kili made to go after him but then caught himself with a sudden grip on the rail. He swung himself around and grabbed the back of Nadi's coat before she could rush through the door.

"Don't," he grunted as he quickly looped his arms around her. Though she thrashed and kicked and flailed with all of her might, he did not relinquish his hold. "You'll be doing yourself no favors."

"What did you do!?" She howled. "Kili, what did you do?!"

He said nothing to this and instead swung her into the rails. Her back collided with the worn wood as he closed the door quickly and set his back against the wood. Seeing the vengeful look in her eye, he bent his knees and put his arms out as she went barreling toward him. Their chests collided and she began to scratch his face, bite his shoulder - anything to gain entry to the room.

"Quiet," he grunted as he grabbed her arms and pinned them to her sides. "Be still, Nadi!"

"Is it true," she panted. Her hair had escaped its binds and was hanging in frizzy strands before her face. Still, she held his eye as she hissed, "is the Master of Lake-town dead?"

Kili said nothing to this as he struggled to hold her arms down. Then his face took on an uncharacteristically vacant look and he said, in a strange voice, "if he is not, he will be soon."

She screamed and began to thrash against him with a renewed vigor. But he was stronger than her, he always had been. Having seen Alfrid take flight with the anguish upon his face, a few people had gathered beneath the raised room and were looking up at them in concern. She realized that she would not be able to get past him and she fell still, breathing heavily as she looked up into his eyes. There was the sound of footsteps within the room and the door opened, revealing Fili's figure. His face was flushed and he, too, was breathing heavily as he slid a small blade against his pants. A dark purple shadow followed it. It was all over his hands and splattered across his chin. He took one look at her and frowned.

"What did I tell you," he said calmly as Kili let her go. She pushed herself away from him and fell back against the railing. "Warriors first," Fili said. "Gentlemen second."