The knot in the rope had been fashioned much like a noose. It tightened with every movement, but could also be loosened with two fingers and a tug. One end of it had been tied to a rotting beam that ran across the ceiling, and the other had been looped twice around Kili's wrists. He had been suspended from the rope several feet above the ground in a damp stone cellar. Below him, Khurza's hounds had been set loose in a fenced enclosure. He was suspended just high enough that they could just barely reach his bare feet if they leaped high enough. Though it was possible for him to loosen his binds, dropping to the ground would set him directly in their midst. Then, it was only a matter of seconds before they tore him to shreds.

In the beginning, he had seen his punishment as a sort of shallow and superficial joke played by Fili. He had laughed and sung and swung himself back and forth from his rope. He had even gone so far as to free one of his hands and use it to taunt the hounds below him.

Then, at some point, it had ceased to be funny. As shadows began to extend across the cellar and the firelight from the lamp above him grew bolder, his movements became stilted. The one arm that remained tied by the rope on the beam began to quiver and spasm of its own accord. His many attempts to alleviate the pressure on his arm failed and his desperation grew. The torture hadn't come from the fear of the snapping hounds, or even his confinement, but the meticulously chosen stress position that Fili had subjected his body to. Dehydration set in quick, hunger followed soon after, and soon his face developed a grey tinge from sheer exhaustion. When the hounds weren't lunging at his feet and tearing at the remainder of his pants legs, they were busy prowling anxiously along the bars of the enclosure and baring their teeth at each other. Never before had Lake-Town seen such savage beasts They, with their short coarse fur and pulsing rib lines, were nothing like their friendly mountain kin.

Nadi watched all of this from her spot on the wall. Fili had been lenient in punishing her, choosing only to cuff her neck to the wall beneath a circular strip of iron. The rest of her body was free, but being forced to remain in an awkward sitting position without the ability to turn her head was proving more tortuous by the second. She was in no pain, and yet the odd restriction often made her dry heave with panic. But there was nothing more torturous to her than watching Kili quickly subduing to crippling agony as he dangled from one arm from the ceiling, the hounds circling hungrily below him.

Many times she had attempted to distract them when they began to rile themselves up and jump at him with renewed vigor. But they soon came to realize that her cries meant nothing, and had begun to ignore her banging on the floor and clapping her hands. Save for a sudden twitch or strained whine, Kili hadn't moved in hours. Even when her eyes began to blur over and she became dizzy with the effort, she kept her eyes on his bare chest. She watched it rise and fall - quickly, in the beginning, and then slowly over time. Now, the time between each breath lasted well over five seconds. She didn't know how much longer he would last and spent every moment praying for Fili's pardoning grace.

Suddenly, Kili roused himself and looked up at her with confused eyes. His mouth parted around the beginning of her name. Then his face fell and his cheeks ballooned out. She closed her eyes with a wince and forced herself to look away, just as the vomit began to trickle from his parched lips. It hurt her terribly to see such a beautiful, stately warrior drenched in vomit, the front of his trousers dampened with urine and blood from his previous head wound still crusted across his blanched cheek.

"What…Nadi…where…my arm, I can't -I can't feel my arm…where is it, where…curse these damned hounds - curse these damned hounds!"

This last part he howled loud enough to set the hounds yapping. Her chest bounced as she began to sob, but still, she did not open her eyes. Kili howled again and began to yank madly at the rope with his free arm. He cursed and screamed and hollered, growing louder and more frantic by the second, until something in his voice snapped. She knew what would happen next, couldn't bear to witness it again, and so she covered her ears as a wave of lucid relation hit him again and he began to sniffle.

"Why aren't you helping me?" He begged her in a voice that broke her heart a thousand times over. "Why are you just sitting there?"

"I can't-" she tried to say but her voice failed her. He gave a long, anguished wail and she scrunched her hands in her hair. The hounds had leaped to their feet and were attempting to lunge at him again, and so she screamed and smacked the floor below her to catch their attention.

"Kili, you have to stay quiet," she pleaded, but her voice was so hoarse that she could barely hear herself over the barking animals. "P-please, you have to maintain your strength. Shouting will only agitate them."

But there was no use. Kili had become delirious with the pain and was no longer capable of reason. She knew that the strongest part of him was still there, but withdrawn beneath his aching shell of a body. His head fell forward, unleashing a curtain of tangled back hair across his chest, and he began to weep quietly.

"I was so wrong," he said in a voice much unlike his own. "I was so wrong…"

"You did nothing wrong, my sweet prince," she said.

"Shouldn't've left her behind…died the moment I left her sight…it'll take a lifetime, but-" He muttered something in Khuzdul and she leaned forward.

"What?"

"I said: do you think she could have loved me?"

"I will always love you, Kili-"

Kili gave a derisive snort that sprayed his lips with spittle. "Not you," he said weakly. "Tauriel."

These words from him hurt her more than anything she could have ever imagined. She put her knuckles between her teeth and bit down hard enough to leave imprints for days to come. Her heart was thumping so hard that she was afraid that her very ribs would crack, or she would die of suffocation. The tears were falling freely now and speckling her pants as she stared back at his limp figure. He doesn't mean it, she told herself, it is only the madness speaking. But she knew deep down that this was false. She could not deny his love for the elven maiden for, in his moment of greatest weakness, it was Tauriel that he had been thinking about, not Nadi.

But she had to be strong for him. Now was no time to let her jealous agitation overwhelm her again. For all she knew, they would both perish that night. And she didn't want to die holding hatred in her heart.

"Time will reveal all," she whispered to herself. "Kili, I'm sure that she loved you. She always had, and she always will."

This brought a small smile to his lips. He dug around in his pocket with his free hand and retrieved the small flask that he had taken from Fili's desk. He tried to lift it to his cracked lips, but the effort overwhelmed him and he dropped his arm. The flask dangled uselessly between two fingers by his side.

"Does that make you hate her?" He asked, so quietly that she barely heard him. She shook her head.

"No," she lied. "I only have respect for those who recognize your worth. I'm sure you two would have made beautiful children."

"And what of us?"

She stared at him. There was something to the glint of his single eye showing through beneath his sweaty hair. Not for the first time, he was looking at her as if he had told a joke that she was slow on understanding. She tested the iron strip across her throat and then laid her hand flat upon her belly.

Except, she couldn't lay it flat anymore. There was a swell to her abdomen that she could no longer blame on bloating over overeating. It was a firm sort of roundness that did not easily give way beneath her fingers. This confirmation of all that she had suspected flooded her with a secretive sense of joy and relief. Her dear, sweet child was no longer a questionable figment of her desperate imagination but a real thing, his tiny body growing stronger and pushing out against her womb.

Fine, then, she thought to herself, so be it. Kili could be infatuated with Tauriel, and she could handle that. Nadi convinced herself that she no longer needed him. All she desired in the world was her own strength, and her son.

And yet there was something about this conviction that felt spiteful, and therefore in vain.

And what of us? Kili had asked in reference to having a child with Nadi. She was incorrect in assuming that he did not know, and therefore was not testing her with his words. She removed her hand from her stomach and stretched her arms between her legs.

"Guess we'll never know, now, will we?"

For reasons that she could not understand and therefore chalked up to delirium, Kili gave a broad grin and pointed at her around the top of the flask.

"Won't forget the day you walked by candlelight," he began to sing in a taunting voice. "So sweet a sweltered night! Trailing your pride around…bless the luck that brought a smile to your face - the diamond of your race. That's when I knew that love was found."

She covered her ears, disquieted by the fact that he could have either been singing about her or Tauriel. He kicked his legs up and began to swing back and forth as the hounds rose from their slumber beneath him and began to snarl at his feet. A shocking thought occurred to her then: with how loud he was singing, he might have been attempting to rile them on purpose, just to put an end to his prolonged torture.

One of the hounds gave a spectacular leap and latched onto his ankle. His melodic tune was cut off abruptly by a frightened scream as he shook his leg desperately. The stone door to her right opened suddenly and the hounds immediately began to back away, their ears laid back upon their heads and their yellowed eyes following the movement of the tall figure that shuffled into the room. Nadi looked up and gasped. She tried to sit up but the iron around her neck dug into her chin and she was forced to lower herself back onto the ground.

"Khurza!" She cried in relief. "Oh sweet, blessed woman! Come, see? Fili has gotten ahold of your dogs, and he's using them to torment Kili! Call them off, quick, and help me out of this damned cuff!"

Khurza's expression twisted ever so slightly as she trudged up to Nadi. She set the flat end of her hammered staff on the floor and used it to lower into a crouch. There was a silence as she lowered her head until her face was uncomfortably close to Nadi's, taking her in as a feline would an inattentive mouse. Seeing her up close, Nadi suddenly understood why Fili had fallen so easily for her. There was a commanding presence about Khurza that was both intimidating and alluring.

"Wh-what are you waiting for?" Nadi asked. "Have you a knife of some sort that we can use to pick this lock?"

"So stupid," Khurza said in disgust. Kili had fallen quiet and was watching her from beneath a creased brow.

"Nadi-" he said in a low, warning tone but both women ignored him.

"I…Khurza, what are you doing?"

"How'my s'posedta kill ya?" Khurza glanced to the side and gave an attractive chuckle. "S'pose I can try a few thangs, star' by smashin' yer legs. But you'll hafta be patien'."

"Oh," Nadi said, her lips quivering as a single tear rolled along her cheek. "Has Fili sent you to kill me...again?"

"Well," Khurza said with a contemplative twist of her lips. "Nah Fili, exactly."

"Then who-"

"'nough talkin'!" Khurza suddenly said. She grabbed her hammer, bent her working knee, and swung it backward with a yelp. Nadi screamed as the hammer shattered the surface of the stone beneath her. She had been able to pull her legs back just in time. But, chained as she was to the wall, there was no way that she'd be able to dodge Khurza's attacks forever. Kili began to struggle madly against the rope holding him as Khurza bent her knee again and wound her arm back.

"'ll dash ya to pieces! You will nah come back!"

"Khurza, no! Nononononono, wait, please-"

Nadi turned her head and closed her eyes, already anticipating the shattering of all of her bones. But the blow never came. She opened one eye and looked up at Khurza. She was still standing with her arm wound back, but seemed to be having trouble lifting her staff.

Khurza's eyes widened in alarm and she turned around. The sight that greeted her made both women gasp.

There, behind her, stood Thorin Oakenshield in full glory. Both of his hands were clenched around the staff, preventing Khurza from striking the blow. His eyes flashed as he gave a mighty yank that dislodged the staff from Khurza's hand. Then, he swung it behind him with a grunt. It gave several loud 'clunks' as it bounced across the stone floor and slid out of Khurza's reach.

"Thorin!" Kili and Nadi cried. He looked down at Nadi and then glanced back at Kili, taking in their harrowing state with a surprisingly calm eye. Then, he turned and addressed Khurza in a low voice.

"Your services are no longer needed," he said in a voice so low that Nadi realized that she was not supposed to have heard him. "Begone, from whence you came."

Khurza laughed at this as she massaged her right arm. "You 'n I had 'n agreement, King Under da Moun'n."

"It has been nullified."

"No. You pai' me for my services. I will see it through."

"Wait…" Nadi said slowly. "What services? Thorin? What is she talking about?" Thorin glanced over at her with an expression tinged with remorse and she gasped. "You," she hissed, swinging her finger at him. She made to rear up but the cuff restricted her movements. She grabbed onto it with both hands and kicked her feet out upon the ground. "You paid her to kill me?!"

"Nadi…" he said in a tired voice.

"You would have me executed? For what? Defying your madness!? For running away!?" Her teeth clenched as she thrashed her legs harder upon the ground. Kili was staring at his uncle as if he had never seen him before. Comprehension was slow in dawning upon his face, but Nadi had long since come to the shocking realization. "Pray, now, that I don't make it out of this entrapment," she wailed as she shook the cuff around her neck. "For if I do, I swear on my mother's life, I'll serve you up a dish that you won't soon forget! You scoundrel! You villain! You're a bad apple rotten to the core!"

Thorin's jaw jumped as he looked away from her, towards the floor. Then, after a moment, he drew his gaze back to Khurza's face and set his shoulders straight. "I will not ask you again," he said softly over the sound of Nadi's cursing. "Step away. Leave. Now."

This last word was a guttural growl that did not frighten the tall woman. Her chest bounced as she chuckled quietly, making her bony ornaments rattle against her vest. "Loo'," she finally said. "'m nah one to lee a job unfinish'. On'y by my death will yer girl be free' from this contract."

"Only by death?" Thorin repeated in a whisper. Slowly, his hand slunk into his pocket. "Well, woman, I'm sure that can be managed-!"

He lunged at her with a dagger clutched upwards in his hand, but she had anticipated this. Just as quickly, she grabbed his wrist and leveraged it away from her. Nadi could hear drum beats rolling in her ears as Thorin took his free hand and punched Khurza twice in her stomach. Khurza recoiled with a pained grimace but did not relinquish her hold. She was quick to duck and weave away from his incoming fist. As much as Nadi hated Thorin at that moment, she couldn't let him fight this battle alone. Khurza was good, surprisingly so, and used her litheness to her advantage.

Desperately, Nadi began to search in her pockets for something to pick the lock on her cuff. The dogs began to bark madly and dash back and forth across the fence as Khurza reeled backward, dodging the blows. Collecting herself only took a mere moment. Unfortunately for Thorin, Khurza's right leg could still withstand enough weight to give her fair balance. Unfettered, she rushed at Thorin and caught both of his wrists in a constricting grasp beneath her large hand. The dagger jumped loosely between his fingers before he lost hold and it went clattering towards Nadi.

There, finally!

It was just barely out of her reach. She clamped her lips tight and stretched her short legs as far as they could go as Khurza swung Thorin around and sent him colliding with the wall.

"Come on, come on, come on," Nadi muttered as her toes brushed the flat edge of the dagger. Khurza had grabbed Thorin by his collar and swung him back again. This time, he landed on his stomach. For a moment, his eyes locked with Nadi's as he attempted to push himself up. But suddenly Khurza pressed her knee diagonally against his back and he was forced back to the ground. Nadi kicked out her leg in frustration and then watched in fearful surprise as the dagger spun away from her, closer to Khurza. Despite her disability, Khurza was uncommonly strong on the left side of her body. The weight that she pressed against Thorin kept him pinned to the ground and unable to reach back.

"Ik'aful," Khurza grunted in her foreign tongue as she bent down over him. "Ik'af dimwalle-kur."

"The same to you," Thorin muttered with his cheek pressed against the stone floor. At the sound of this, she pressed her hand against his back and bent down over his neck. At first, Nadi had no idea what she was doing. Then Thorin gave a cry, and Nadi realized that he had been bitten. Her mind flashed to the one time that she had seen Khurza smile, and she remembered that the woman's teeth were sharpened to points and widely spaced across her gums. Khurza reared back with a satisfied toss of her head and spit his blood across the room.

"Damn, damn, damn!" Nadi cried as she beat the floor with her fist. "Thorin! The dagger-"

This was a terrible mistake.

Khurza looked back and glanced at the floor. A grin spread across the side of her face as she realized the dagger was now within her reach. She twisted back with surprising dexterity and picked it up from the floor.

"Thank you, girl," she said as she lifted it to her vest and, for reasons known only to her, wiped the blade across the fabric. "'ll may this quick!"

"No! Nononono! NO! Khurza! Khurza, please!" Nadi cried. Moved by the desperation that he heard in her voice, Thorin roused himself with a mighty display of strength and twisted around beneath Khurza's leg. Quickly, he braced his arms across his upper body with his wrists turned inward. It was a well-calculated move meant to protect his inner wrist - the part of his body that was most likely to bleed out. Still, the blade made contact and he gave a muffled grunt as it tore through his sleeve and slid along his outer arm.

"Shite," Nadi hissed. Even though the wound looked superficial, blood was beginning to bloom with alarming quickness across his coat. She didn't know now how much longer he could hold out now that he was bleeding. He reached up with both hands and caught Khurza's armed hand just as it was about to swing down and plunge the blade into his cheek. Panting heavily, he turned his head so that his cheek was against the floor and farther away from the quivering blade. They had reached a standstill with him holding Khurza back but, sooner rather than later, someone was bound to give. And if Nadi did not do something, Khurza would utilize her advantage and fulfill her promise.

For no reason in particular, Nadi looked to Kili. He was frowning and tossing his legs as the agitated hounds bounded around him with no discretion. There was nothing that he could do - even if he did free himself from his binds, he'd drop right into their midst and be torn apart. She looked around his body, searching for anything that could be of use. But there was nothing in his possession except the bottle of stolen brandy still hanging haphazardly from his pocket and the small flaming torch above him.

Wait…

"Wait a moment, wait a moment, wait a moment," she muttered to himself. Thorin gave a surprised cry as his grip on Khurza's wrist shifted. There was an idea in her head, but it was slow in coming to fruition. "Wait a moment…Kili-" she cleared her dry throat quickly and called his name even louder. "KILI! KILI! DRAGON'S BREATH!"

"What?" He called to her over the noise.

"The thing! The thing that you did at the party! Dragon's Breath! Use it against the hounds!"

"What?!"

"Binrazmul" Nadi cursed. Thorin gave a sudden feral cry and Nadi knew that he had been struck. "Kili, use Dragon's Breath to scare the hounds!"

He understood then.

Quickly, he retrieved the flask from his pocket and filled his mouth with the brandy. Nadi watched with a thumping heart as he hefted himself upon the rope and unhooked the torch with one hand. She was afraid to look away from him lest the sight of Thorin wounded proved that the recent blow had been fatal. Deftly, Kili hooked two fingers beneath the knot on his strung arm, glanced once at her -

And then dropped to the ground on his hands and knees.

The hounds turned and began to rush at him but he was much quicker. Still grounded, he lifted the torch to his lips and spewed the brandy across the flames. The sudden ignition caused the flames to burst forward in a glorious display and the hounds retreated with singed fur and snouts. They cowered around him in confusion as he pushed himself up on shaking legs and made for the fence. Driven mad with pain, they lunged at him again but he turned on his heels and spewed another string of flames at them. He made it to the fence, swung the small door open, closed it swiftly behind him, and immediately launched himself at Khurza. Nadi watched with bated breath as he wrung his arm around her neck and pulled her away from Thorin with all of his might. The dagger went skittering out of her hand towards Nadi again. She grabbed it immediately and wriggled it around desperately as Thorin jumped to his feet and ran to his nephew's aid. Together, they grappled violently against Khurza as Nadi twisted the blade along the lock until it gave a soft 'pop' and sprung open. Immediately, she was up on her feet and running as she swiftly unbuckled her belt from her trousers.

"Move!" She cried and the two Dwarves sprung out of her way as she raised the belt above her head and brought it down with a slick 'snap' across Khurza's face.

"Damned wench!" She cried as she snapped the belt clean against Khurza's chest and then once again along her back. "Insufferable woman! Thorin!"

Thorin raised his hands and caught the dagger that Nadi threw to him. Without hesitation, he plunged it into Khurza's left ankle and the woman gave a surprised scream.

"Kili!" He called.

"On it!" There was a small smile on his face as he lifted the flask to his lips, and sucked out all of the remaining alcohol. Both Nadi and Thorin stood back as Kili filled his lungs with air and then spat all of the liquid across the fire. For a brief and spectacular moment, Khurza's entire body was aglow with firelight. The three Dwarves stumbled back in an awe-struck huddle and she hollered and twisted upon the ground.

"Tis not enough," Thorin said between heaving breaths. "She'll put it out in no time."

This was indeed true. The force of the flames had been impressive, but not enough to completely overwhelm Khurza. Already the small flames along her clothes were growing weak and smothered as she slapped frantically at her body. Kili looked around wildly and then grabbed Nadi's shoulder.

"I have an idea," he said. "The enclosure, with the hounds. Help me get him into it."

"Are you mad?!" She demanded and he smiled lightly.

"Thankfully for us, yes. Come on, we must be quick!"

They slid both of their arms beneath Thorin's shoulders. The sudden loss of so much blood had weakened him greatly and he stumbled along on leaden legs. As Khurza continued to scream and thrash in the background, they hurried towards the fenced enclosure and stopped near the doorway. The hounds had gone insane: they were yelping and lunging and snarling at the chaos surrounding them, but they were distracted.

"I'm going to open the gate-" Kili said and Nadi looked at him in horror.

"No-!"

"Yes! Just trust me for once, will you? Alright. One…two-"

He reached over and pulled the gate open. Immediately, the hounds began to rush out in a jostling line. The three Dwarves stood back as they made their flustered escape. Then, when the last one had left the enclosure, Kili gave a signal and the three Dwarves rushed into the emptied enclosure. Immediately, Kili turned around and closed the fenced doorway behind them and held it shut.

They were safe.

The hounds were now running free in the room and the Dwarves were shut away from them in the very enclosure that had once held them captive. Kili gave a victorious cry as Thorin crumpled onto the floor behind them. Nadi moved to Kili's side and watched through the fence as the hounds paced nervously back and forth across the room. By this time, Khurza had managed to smother all of the flames upon her clothes and now sat with her back to the wall, panting with difficulty as she watched the dogs. One of the hounds - the group's leader - noticed her sitting there and gave a warning growl. Immediately, the rest of the hounds became alert and turned to face their cruel master.

"Imwalle," Khurza said in a voice that was meant to serve as a warning, but instead came out high with fear. The leader hound slunk low to the ground, its hackles raised as it bared its chipped teeth. "N'nali, Asm'ar, K'lashtar…Satir…hold…"

All of the hounds were facing her now. The tension in the air was palpable as they licked their quivering lips. Khurza braced her hand upon the floor and slowly rose to her shaking feet. She stumbled and the dogs startled. Nadi realized with horror what was about to happen: the hounds had no loyalty to Khurza, as awfully as she had treated him, and the look in their eyes showed that they fully intended to maul her to death.

"Oh no…" she muttered weakly and Thorin called her name.

"Nadi," he said from his place on the floor. "Do not look. Turn away. Kili, cover her eyes. Do it now."

Kili made a grab for her and she quickly squirmed out of his hold. Khurza sprung backward, spreading her hands blindly behind her in search of the door.

"Curse you damn Dwars," she said and then added in a roar. "Curse you all! Nadi! Hee' my wor's: you will know torment! This is nah the end! He-ya!"

Khurza spun around and immediately the hounds sprung after her. She made it out the door, but the hounds were close on her heel. Nadi sank to her knees and covered her ears, lest the sound of them catching up to Khurza reached her. She sat there for a long time, rocking back and forth and muttering to herself comforting words in Khuzdul. Kili placed his hands on her back and she shrugged them away.

"Cast your line, O pretty girl, into the lake of heaven's light! 'Tis you who reels the warmth beyond into the black and sleepless night. Cast your line, O sweet beloved, into the pools of souls forgot. Reap your riches one by one and in your trance, forget me not. Cast your line, O pretty girl-"

"Nadi-"

"There was a maid named Ballah Sue - a sight to behold, for me and you! Her eyes were bright and water blue and she was bored with nothing to do-"

"Nadi!"

"Home again, home again! 'Tis the place I want to be! Bring another round, my friend-"

"Nadi! My love! Stop! It is finished, it is finished! We have won."

Nadi looked up and waited for her eyes to readjust upon the face hovering above her. Kili was peering down at her with worry, and a few paces back Thorin sat with his back against the wall. She looked around and found that the room was indeed empty and eerily silent. Eventually, the drumming in her ears faded and she shook her head until the world around her steadied.

"Is Khurza gone?"

"In some form or another," Kili muttered before helping her to her feet. They embraced for a long time until the shivers left her body, leaving behind only the harrowing warning that Khurza had delivered.

Curse you damn Dwarves! Curse you all! Nadi! Heed my words: you will know torment! This is not the end!

Kili moved away from her and tore a long strip from his shirt. Immediately, he set to work bandaging Thorin's wounds. The king hissed as Kili poked a bundle of cotton into his shoulder wound and then tied it down with the remaining cloth. All the while, Thorin kept his eyes on Nadi - watching her, attempting to gauge her feelings on the matter. She crossed her arms tightly over her breasts and tucked her chin into her neck - a defensive posture.

"What has transpired here?" Thorin finally asked, drawing his eyes away from Nadi with some difficulty.

"Well, your nephew has gone mad. And I'm not talking about me this time." Kili balled his hand around Thorin's fingers and set them in his lap. If he still harbored any grudges about Thorin's past treachery, then they had been pushed to the side by Thorin's recent brush with death.

"This is Fili's doing?" Thorin asked curiously and Kili rolled his eyes.

"It's not the worst of it. He pushed me off of a balcony and forced Nadi to marry him."

"Both of which were bound to happen eventually." Thorin closed his eyes briefly and let his head fall back against the wall. Kili gave his hand an alarmed squeeze and he opened his eyes again with a faint smile.

"Why have you come now, of all times?" Kili asked.

"I had set certain things in motion…things which needed to be corrected before it was too late." Slowly, and with an uncomfortable wince, Thorin leveraged himself against Kili's shoulder and stood up. Nadi raised her eyebrows and then quickly turned away as he approached her. "You could call it a change of heart," he said to her back and she tensed her shoulders. Kili sat back on his haunches and watched the two with tired eyes.

"Nadi," Thorin said gently. "What have I to say to you? Nothing of worth. You deserve more than the apologies of a king who besmirched his duties with dishonesty and disregard. But I have seen the error of my ways and recognized in myself a lust for gold that eclipsed the loyalty that I am bound to for my kin. And yet, as I am King Under the Mountain and possessor of the finest gold that this world has to offer, I am but a broken and impoverished man standing before you, with nothing to offer but the tears fallen in my own two hands and deep, bottomless remorse-"

Nadi spun around and punched him in the face, all five rings intact.

"Ooooooooh," Kili said with a wince as Thorin pressed his hand to his bleeding nose.

"You are not forgiven, nor will your actions be forgotten," she said as she shook out her hand. "I have but a crumb of love left for you, understand? Do not make me cast it aside in favor of my desire for cold-blooded vengeance."

"Aye," Thorin said in a nasally voice as he pressed a handkerchief to his nose. "I will remember that. But I must ask…whatever happened to the young Dwarvling who bargained lizard skins in the marketplace and tied a hemp bracelet around my wrist?"

"She was sent upon a quest to reclaim her homeland, and encountered a few mishaps along the way," Nadi said.

"Speaking of mishaps…" Thorin said slowly. "Where is the new Master of Laketown? Where is Fili?"

"Probably in his room doing what he always does - measuring his trouser dagger and worrying over its length. Sorry," Kili said quickly, seeing Thorin's unamused glance. "He's most likely in his chambers. I can take you to him."

"Alright. Let us go. War is coming, children. We have much to discuss." Thorin placed his hand on Nadi's shoulder. Blood was cascading from his ear and pooling across his sleeves, but his pride and sorrow showed through nonetheless. She couldn't help it. A small smile cracked across her lips as he turned away from her and made his way laboriously towards the door, propped up on Kili's arm.