It was morning, and they all sat down at the skin-changer's table to eat the great breakfast he offered them while he talked to Gandalf about something that Brine was not very interested in. Things had improved a little for her. At least she was no longer so lonely. It was Kili who kept her company and discouraged the inquisitive glances of other dwarves like Gloin's.

"Have you thought about what I said?" Kili asked a little shyly. Brine looked at him for a moment without understanding what he was talking about. "About my proposal to avoid your marriage." It didn't take long for Brine to put her hand in his mouth and shut him up.

"I don't think this is the place to talk about it." Brine whispered looking around to see that no one had heard him. Everyone seemed absorbed in their conversations, but Brine had the feeling that someone's eyes were glued to the back of her head. Kili moved abruptly in annoyance.

"It's okay, but I don't want you to forget about it. I totally meant it and I still mean it."

"Kili, stop. Seriously." Brine was a little upset that Kili saw everything so simply. She was about to explain to him where the flaw in his plan was when Gandalf came in with the skin-changer. The dwarfs shut up their conversations and paid attention to what they were saying.

"You must leave now. There's a herd of orcs around, and something tells me they're following you." He said as he prepared several sacks of food and nectars. "Take the dark forest path, but remember not to leave it."

"The Dark Forest?" Bilbo asked, intruding into the conversation. Gandalf shut him up with a look.

"You may take some of my horses, but you must let them go when you get there." The skin-changer ignored Bilbo's question. "They know the way back." He said as he gave the full sacks to Gandalf.


It didn't take long for the company to get back on track. The younger ones were on foot, while the older ones were on small horses. Brine thought it was a good time to talk about Kili's proposal.

"Kili, about what you told me..." She began to say as she thought and carefully chose the words she was going to say. "I don't think it's a good idea."

"What? Why?" Kili seemed a little upset by her answer.

"Because it's not what you want." Brine replied with a warm smile as she patted him on the back.

"I want to help you and I'd do anything for you. Isn't that enough?" Kili insisted, but Brine shook her head as she stopped. They had reached the entrance to the forest. All the dwarves left their horses, although some complained about having to return them.

"We'd get faster with them." Gloin protested without letting go of his pony's reins. Gandalf began to argue with him, though with little interest. He paused before entering it, gazing silently into the great thicket of the forest.

"Is it necessary to go that way?" Brine asked as she approached Gandalf. The gloomy aspect did not invite one to go into it. Gandalf looked at her and slowly nodded.

"It is important that you do not go out of the path." The wizard said as he retraced his steps and shouted for his horse to be held.

"What? Aren't you coming with us?" She asked as she tried to follow him.

"There are other matters that require my attention," Gandalf replied. Brine looked at him worriedly. "I promise you we shall meet again." That did not convince Brine, but the wizard did not give her time to reply and galloped off in the opposite direction. Some dwarves began to protest.

"Where is he going?" A voice asked behind him. Brine turned around and met Fili. She thought about whether she should answer him, but decided to keep quiet. Given the events of the last few days, it probably wouldn't be the question for her.

Brine rejoined Kili while waiting for Thorin to give the orders. It was very simple: Don't leave the path for anything in the world. They lined up and walked one after the other. Soon the light was replaced by the darkness. The atmosphere of the forest was heavy and made the dwarves easily distracted. Brine began to sweat and breathe heavily. Kili helped her to maintain the path but there came a time when no one was able to guide her. Everything became confused for Brine. She was wandering around while trying to get back on the road.

"There are dwarves here," Nori said as he picked up a small flask. "Dwarves from Erebor, I'd say." You could hear the agony in his voice, as well as the other dwarves.

"Because it's yours," Brine Complained as she continued to walk around. There came a point when the voices stopped being heard. She turned around and found herself all alone. She surprised herself by screaming Fili's name as she ran backwards looking for him. There was no sign of any dwarf. Brine fell to her knees in despair and worry. "Where are you?" she moaned, closing her eyes.

The movement of branches caught her attention again. As if she had received a new charge of energy, Brine got up and tried to locate the source of the sound. Hidden in the heights was Bilbo dropping large white bags that fell heavily to the ground. The bags began to move and Bilbo shouted at Brine to open them with her sword. Slowly, the dwarves were released. A sense of relief came over her when she finally freed Fili.

"Are you all right?" Brine asked as she helped him up by pulling his hand. Fili looked at her and blinked a couple of times before nodding. The two looked at each other long and hard until Kili appeared beside them.

"Brine!" He exclaimed as he hugged her and looked at her to see if she was all right. "I'd lost you."

"I'm fine, Kili." Brine smiled as she gave Kili a few taps on her arm. Fili looked away and started to walk away from the couple when again there were noises from the branches. Brine located Bilbo, who was on the ground with the other dwarves, with his guard up. In the blink of an eye, they were surrounded by Elven soldiers.

"Drop your weapons." A blond, blue-eyed elf commanded. Everyone obeyed without question. Several soldiers began to make sure the dwarves were completely unarmed.


The elves took the dwarves to a palace hidden deep in the forest. Surprisingly, Brine didn't see Bilbo in the group. How could he have escaped so quickly?

Brine could barely make out the inside of the place. They were quickly taken to the palace dungeons. The number of dwarves was greater than the number of cells so some had to share them. Brine was going to get into the cell with Kili, but a redheaded elf stopped her.

"Leave this one alone." She said seriously, looking at the two dwarves coldly. The elves who were distributing them nodded and locked Brine in an empty cell that was later filled by Fili. Brine watched them disarm him again while he cursed in the old Dwarf language. He smiled without realizing it. She couldn't believe that he had so many things hidden and could keep moving without a problem. Fili looked at her as he raised his hands in a gesture of resignation and sat down on the side of the small cell. Brine sat in front of him silently. For the first time since Fili discovered her true identity, it was just the two of them. Brine started to bring up different topics of conversation but she was not sure that Fili would follow the conversation.

"Your family?" Brine was surprised to hear Fili's voice. She looked up.

"I hope not." Brine responded with a funny tone, although she tried to hide it as best she could. Silence reigned among them again. Fili kept staring at the cell door, trying to find a weak spot or flaw in its structure that would allow them to escape. Brine could not help but watch him as she thought of how to start a conversation with him. His appearance had nothing to do with what he looked like the first day she met him. He now had a dishevelled image and was covered in the remnants of cobwebs that clung to his hair. "You have something..." Brine muttered as she pointed to her hair. Fili looked at her with a raised eyebrow until he understood what she was talking about. He nodded his head in appreciation as he tried to groom himself.


More than two hours had passed and Phil and Brine had not spoken again. The voices of the rest of the dwarves fell silent the moment Thorin arrived from his audience with Thranduil. As Balin had predicted at the time, things did not go so well and the hopes of the Dwarves to get out of there vanished like anything else.

The silence that reigned since then was heavy and was only broken by a little chat that could be heard in the distance. Brine peeked through the door of her cell. A few feet away from her was the redheaded elf that had led her away from Kili.

"What's going on?" Fili asked sitting in the same place he had sat at first.

"Kili is talking to an elf." Brine replied as she sat in front of him.

"What?" Fili exclaimed as he stood up and walked to the cell door, shouting Kili's name.

"What are you doing?" Brine asked as she stood beside him. "He's just talking to her."

"He's just talking?" Fili looked at Brine with a confused look. "He has to respect his honour and yours. He can't have that kind of conversation with-"

"My honour?" Brine asked in confusion. "What are you talking about, Fili?"

"You think I don't know about your engagement?" Fili turned to Brine. "I've been watching you and, although I know it's not right, I've heard your conversations."

"Our engagement?" Brine was trying to assimilate what Fili was confessing to her. "You're making a mistake."

"Listen, Pip."

"Brine. My name is Brine." She corrected quickly.

"Sorry, Brine." Fili closed his eyes and breathed a couple of times before he spoke again. "It's clear that our relationship is a complicated thing to save, but if Kili has decided to propose to you it's because he really cares about you. I know he's young, but that doesn't justify what he's doing. She must respect you." Brine looked at Fili as she thought about his confusing words.

"Do you really think it's impossible for us to settle our differences?" Brine tried uselessly to hide the pain in her voice.

"That's not what I meant, Brine." Fili tried to get closer to her but Brine walked away from him.

"But you said it." Fili looked at her in pain. He opened his mouth to say something else but a couple of elves came to take Brine away. King Thranduil had requested an audience with her. Brine looked at Fili before passing by him, trying not to even brush against him. She was really hurt.