I would like to thank my perennial fan for its support through its comments, as well as Fair Helen for commenting on the last chapter (I hope to hear from you again hahaha). I encourage the rest of you to follow her example and leave a comment telling me what you think of the chapter and the story so far. I also want to thanks to all of you who have fav and follow the story.
"So it's true," Thranduil said from his throne when Brine arrived in front of him. "You are her daughter." Brine looked at him in fear and admiration. His beauty was intoxicating. "I had heard the rumours, but I always wished they were just that, rumours." Brine remained silent at all times. "You finished her off. It is your fault that she is not here anymore."
"My fault?" Brine could not stand those accusations anymore. She also regretted her mother's death and would not let anyone say those things about her. "It was your fault. You left an elf alone. No one went to support her. No one cared how she was or if she needed anything." Brine bitterly spat out those words as childhood memories invaded her mind. The image of her mother crying in her room had never left her. They had always been alone. No one ever showed up at her house. Not even on the day her mother left forever. By then she was just a child who did not understand, but lately, everything was taking on a new meaning and explanation. Both the dwarf village and the elves had abandoned their little family.
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Thranduil replied angrily, facing her. Brine could see pain and hatred reflected in the eyes of the Elf King.
"Enough!" A new voice interrupted the conversation. Brine turned and found the blue-eyed, blond-haired elf who had found them in the forest.
"What do you think you're doing?" Thranduil asked.
"That's what I'm asking you. She is not to blame for anything that happened." Brine could not believe that he was defending her and was able to talk to the king like that. The blond man approached her and mumbled something in elvish to the soldiers guarding her. He kept arguing with the king but Brine could not understand anything they were talking about. After a while, the elf took Brine and guided her to the cells.
"Thank you." Brine muttered on the way.
"I did not do it to get you to thank me." The man replied sharply. "It's a personal matter between him and me." Brine looked at him with big eyes waiting for a continuation that did not come. "It's my father." He finally said. "He's been doing the same thing to me for years, blaming me for my mother's death too." He confessed uncomfortably after a silence. "I know how far he's capable of going." A dark shadow crossed his face.
"But why to talk about my mother?" Brine asked as she tried to follow him. "She's just another elf."
"Just another elf?" The elf stopped short and turned to her with a mocking smile. "It was his fiancée." Brine could not hide the surprise in her eyes, which the elf found amusing. "It was the bond that the elf people needed. But a certain dwarf crossed her path and, well." The elf started walking back to the cells. "You'll know that better than I do." Brine was trying to process all the information she had received at one point.
Brine and the elf soon arrived in their cell, where Fili was waiting.
"May I know your name?" Brine asked before he left.
"Legolas." He answered after a moment of hesitation before retracing his steps in reverse. Brine stared at him disappearing until Fili's voice caught her attention.
"What's happened?" He asked, walking up to her and looking at the elf's back. "Are you all right?" He gave Brine a strange look and she nodded without looking away from Legolas, who had already finished climbing the dungeon stairs. "Who was that?"
"Not again, Fili." Said Brine in a tired tone. She did not have the strength to argue with him again.
The days passed and the dwarves were still locked up in their cells. Brine and Fili kept talking even though the conversations were very superficial. Legolas had gone a couple of times to check that Brine had not been disturbed again. At first, they were very short visits that became longer then. Brine could tell that Fili was not very happy about it.
"What does he want with you?" Fili asked, upset when Legolas was leaving.
"Keep me company." Brine answered without much interest. "I'm not doing anything dishonourable." She added every time Fili mumbled. "I've already explained that Kili was a misunderstanding on your part." Usually, the conversation died there, but that time Brine could hear something else from him.
"And who said anything about Kili?" Brine tried to dig into it, but Fili did not answer. At that moment, Bilbo's voice echoed in the dungeons. He had managed to reach them with the keys to the cells.
"Bilbo!" Brine shouted with joy at the sight of him. Fili ran beside her to see the little hobbit.
"Not so loud." The hobbit smiled. "You don't want the whole guard to come here, do you?" Brine looked at Fili eagerly. They were finally going to get out of that hole.
"You have to come with me. I know how to get you out of here." Bilbo said as he finished freeing Thorin from his cell. Kili was soon reunited with Fili and Brine, giving her a hug and making sure she was all right.
"She's been well taken care of," Fili mumbled. Brine gave him an angry look and Fili responded with a proud look.
"I have no doubt that since she has been with you." Kili laughed as he patted Fili's back and followed Bilbo through the palace corridors.
They arrived at the palace kitchen where there was a large pile of empty barrels. Brine was startled to see several elves but fortunately for the dwarves, they were so drunk that they did not notice the noise they were making. Bilbo began to rush the dwarves to the barrels, asking them to go in. Many of them like Dwalin complained, but one look from Thorin was enough to make the complaints go away and be obeyed.
"Pip. I mean Brine. Help me get them up." Bilbo said. Brine nodded and began to push Ori and Gloin. It did not take long for them all to be inside. "And now you." Bilbo began to say, but a few hasty steps interrupted him. Bilbo looked at Brine and the dwarves. There was no time to locate Brine. "I'm sorry," Bilbo said looking regretfully at Brine as he grabbed a sort of lever. "Be ready to hold your breath." He announced as he counted down quickly and pulled the lever. Without giving her time to react, Brine began to see the barrels fall through a trap door and she beside them, into a sort of stream.
The dwarves began to fall down the stream while Brine kept trying to avoid them with difficulty. Ori hit her on the shoulder, causing a howl of pain to escape from her mouth. Kili tried to grab her to help her, but they were too far away and he almost rolled over. Brine continued to struggle to stay afloat and keep dodging the rest of the barrels. The journey began to get more complicated as some jumps appeared. On the other hand, the elves began to catch up with them, but they were not the only ones. On the opposite bank were a group of orcs trying to hunt them down as well.
"What are you supposed doing?" Brine looked up and met Legolas' cold blue eyes. He was running beside her as he protected her from the orcs on the other side. "I thought you were different from them."
"It wasn't my plan!" Brine exclaimed, distracting herself for a moment and crashing into a rock, injuring her arm which began to bleed quickly. Legolas tried to get closer to her, but the current was stronger. "But, Did you expect me to stay there and take your father's scorn for who I am?" Brine asked without ever turning her attention away from the stream.
"I could have helped you," Legolas replied angrily as he reached out and pulled her out of the water by her arm. "You could have trusted me." The betrayal and the pain could be seen in the elf's eyes. Brine felt guilty of that betrayal. But what would happen if she returned to the palace? Would the responsibility for the dwarves' escape fall on her? The king already hated her simply because she was the daughter of his former fiancée, and she was sure that he would not be merciful in imposing a punishment on her. Brine understood that then. As kind as Legolas was to her, she could not stay with him. She had to keep running. She cast a quick glance at the stream and then at Legolas.
"Forgive me." She said before she let go of him and jumped back in the water. A pair of arms broke her fall.
"I'm sorry, little prince, find yourself another dwarf!" Brine looked up and found Fili, who was looking proudly at the elf as he held her in his arms. Brine let a smile escape her lips. Carefully, Fili made space for her in the barrel, although it was not very wide and his chest was pressing against her back. Brine blushed at the situation and felt her muscles hard against it. Discreetly she let herself lie against him. "Hold on," Fili said in Brine's ear, which she obeyed without complaint.
Inside the barrel, the journey was less complicated but just as dangerous. The elves and orcs were catching up with them. Legolas ordered the gates closed, leaving the dwarves trapped by them.
"We cannot give up!" Brine exclaimed, turning around to look at Fili. Their eyes met briefly before Fili began to look around for a way out.
"Kili!" He exclaimed as he watched an orc kill the elf who was closing the door with an arrow. Kili nodded and ran to the shore to get to the label.
"Be careful!" Brine exclaimed as she saw more orcs approaching him. Kili had been too slow and the orcs were closing in on him. Brine turned her face and closed her eyes tightly. Fili, in a reflex action, embraced her and hid her gaze on his chest. Brine only stepped aside when she heard an inhuman howl. Her green eyes located the elf that had been talking to Kili these days with her bow drawn and her aim at the orc pack. Kili took advantage of the situation and began to open the gate, allowing the dwarves to cross it. They had managed to escape from that place. Brine breathed a sigh of relief and let the gentle current guide them to the next stop.
They came to a kind of lake where the water was completely calm. Fili pulled his arms out of the barrel and began to row to the shore, pressing his body against Brine and making her blush. Once on the shore, he helped Brine out of the barrel, making sure she was safe there. Once outside, Brine began to inspect her injuries caused by the trip down the creek. Her left shoulder was dislocated and her forearm was cut quite deeply.
"It doesn't look good," Fili commented by watching her with a pained expression. Brine tried to stay calm as she shook her head. "Can I help you?" He asked as he put his hands on Brine without touching her. Brine looked at him and nodded as she sat on a rock away from the group.
"Do you know how to do that?" Brine asked.
"I have a slight idea, but I think you'd better guide me," Fili replied with a smile and warm blue eyes. Brine could get completely lost in them. "So where do I start?"
"The first thing is to put my shoulder into it." She said as she asked Fili to take her shoulder. The delicacy with which he did it left Brine surprised. "On the count of three, make a dry move towards you." Fili nodded and looked at her, waiting for the moment. Brine took a deep breath and nodded as she counted down from three. At the end, Fili pulled her arm. Brine bit her lip hard, silencing the cry of pain, but could not hold back her tears. An instant later her shoulder was perfectly fine.
"I'm so sorry," Fili said, quickly approaching her and wiping her tears with his thumbs. "Are you all right?"
"It's all right." Brine replied with another breath. Her eyes moved to the cut in her arm. "Now I have to fix this." She said with a face of disgust.
"It's deep," Fili commented by watching it. Brine got up to go to the shore and wash the wound, but Fili stopped her. He tore off a piece of his shirt and ran to wet it and came right back and asked Brine how to clean it.
"Carefully." Brine groaned in pain. Fili apologized and cleaned up more gently again. "You're sure to find a flower on the shore. It is called Florviva." Brine said when Fili finished cleaning her wound.
"Florviva?"
"It's a herb with purple flowers. I saw it on the way down." Brine stood up and started looking around. "You have it there." She said, pointing to the shore. Fili got up quickly and soon returned with a bunch of them. "You have to make a paste out of them." Brine reached out with her hand for a pile of herbs and started chewing them to get a paste to spread over the cut. Fili imitated her and carefully applied the paste.
"You'll need to cover it up now," Fili said. Brine nodded as she finished spreading the paste. Fili caught her attention as he got up and walked to the river with the piece of the shirt he had used to clean the wound. Brine watched as he rinsed it in the river and came back with it clean. "Let me put it here." He mumbled as he covered the cut. Brine felt the back of her neck bristle as she felt Fili's fingers caressing her skin once he had finished covering the wound. Fili's blue eyes met Brine's green ones and at that moment she had the feeling that something had changed between the two of them.
