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Chapter 12

~X~

"And then what happened?" Kili asked, having been on the edge of his seat the whole time his brother had been explaining what took place while out on his ride with Réann.

"We rode back to the stables, and I distracted the guard long enough for Réann to sneak past and head back to the Lady's Chambers," Fili finished with a look of satisfaction. "And no one's the wiser."

"Except for Bard," Kili laughed, still finding the trick the king of Dale played on his nadad rather amusing. "And now he expects you to bring not only Réann, but your older brother Galin to dinner tomorrow in Dale. All without anyone, especially Uncle Thorin, finding out? Oh, you are in one pickle for sure."

"Tell me about it," Fili sighed leaning his head back against the chair cushion and staring at the ceiling, as if it might hold the answers he sought. "Still, I suppose I should be grateful that he didn't just rat me out right there in front of Réann."

"Oh, no, for where would the fun be in that?" Kili pointed out. "He would rather give you an impossible task and then sit back and watch you figure out how to accomplish it. Not to mention enjoy every moment of the evening should you actually show up."

"Well, I'm not about to let him get the better of me!" Fili stated firmly. "I'll just have to figure out a way to do the impossible."

"If you want the impossible done, and in a sneaky fashion…I think we both know who you need to ask," the dark-haired prince told him.

"Nori," Fili nodded. "Let's go!"

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"Now let me get this straight," Nori said, holding up his hands for silence, the two brothers having talked nonstop since they burst into his chambers unannounced. "You need me to not only find a way to get the Lady Réann out of the mountain and into Dale without anyone being the wiser, but you also want me to somehow age Kili as well? All by tomorrow?"

"Umm, yes…if it's not too much trouble," Fili asked, sounding a bit sheepish.

"What do you think I am, a wizard?" Nori barked, throwing up his hands in frustration. "Getting the lass out of the mountain and into Dale, sure, that's not a problem. I could do that in my sleep. But the last time I checked; I didn't have the power to alter a dwarf's age."

"Maybe we could get some other dwarf to pretend to be you for the night, Kili," Fili suggested, though he hadn't a clue about who he might ask.

"NO! I wanna go!" Kili wined. "I don't want to miss out on all the fun."

"Fun? You call this fun?" the older prince barked. "This could all very well blow up in my face, ruining any chance I have with Réann, and you think this is fun?"

"Well…yeah," Kili replied, not looking at all remorseful. "I wanna go."

"And now so do I," Nori laughed. "If he gets to go, then so do I."

"Well, no one is going unless we find a way to make it appear that Kili is as old as…well, Thorin!" Fili informed them. "And since no one seems capable of coming up with a viable plan, then we're all out of luck."

"Hold on, now," Nori broke in. "Just because I said I couldn't do it, doesn't mean it can't be done. I think I know of a way, and a few someones I could get to give me a hand."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Kili grinned, standing up as if ready to go now.

"For someone in this group to grow some brains and realize how foolish this all is?" Fili suggested, shaking his head.

"Sorry, not gunna happen," Nori stated firmly, grinning from ear to ear.

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"So…he is the Dwalin your father spoke about," Amara concluded after hearing all her mistress had to tell of their adventure. "I suppose that's good news. Not to mention the fact that he is a very good fighter." Here she reached out and slapped Réann on the arm half-heartedly. "Don't go doing anything like that ever again, you could have been killed!"

"Oh, no. Not with Dwalin around," Réann sighed happily. "He's not only brave and strong, but truly an excellent fighter."

"And isn't that what every dam looks for in a husband?" Amara laughed, loving how smitten her friend appeared to be.

"Now shush!" the blonde insisted. "I would like to think I value more than his brawn. He has a brain too, you know."

"As well as a fine body and good-looking face to go along with it." This time Amara had to dodge the pillow Réann chucked in her direction over her jibe. But it had been worth it.

"You make me sound so shallow," Réann huffed. "But I just can't stop thinking of how Dwalin looked, all steel-eyed and battle ready. It turned my insides to mush."

"Yep, it's official," the young maid said, reaching up and placing her hand on Réann's forehead. "You've caught the fever. Soon it will have consumed you."

"What fever? I feel fine," she protested, batting at her friend's hand.

"The love fever," Amara explained. "You have all the symptoms. Thus, it's only a matter of time before you'll willingly become his bride."

"His bride? He hasn't even asked me!" Réann stated in shock.

"Yet!" she said with a wink. "He hasn't asked you yet! Now, let's decide what you'll wear to visit the king of Dale. You can't go meeting royalty in just any old outfit."

As it turned out, they decided that she should wear her trousers again, but also bring a suitable skirt to change into once she arrived. Before parting earlier that day, she and Dwalin had agreed to meet on the battlement in their usual spot at nightfall the next evening. That way, she could not only send another letter to her father, but they could leave for Dale from there. Thus, with everything she could do to further their plan now accomplished, she sat down and began to pen her message to her adad.

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"Do you think he can manage to get some?" Kili asked, giving Nori a worried look. The three dwarrow had met in the thief's chambers the following day, all prepared to somehow turn Kili into the imaginary Galin.

"I have complete faith in our old friend Bofur," the former thief stated firmly, leaning back in his chair as he kept his eye on his chamber door. "He'll get it and be here any moment. They all will."

"I hope he brings enough," Kili said, pulling at a strand of his long dark hair and eyeing it skeptically.

"You worry too much," Nori groused.

"And you don't worry enough," Fili chided, pausing for a moment where he had been pacing a path in Nori's stone floor. "We have less than two hours before I'm to meet Réann. This better work."

"You know, for a future king, you sure do fret a lot," Nori grumped. "And just think of how amazing this will all be when this does work! It'll be a tale to tell, that's for sure."

"A tale we can't tell…not to anyone!" Fili reminded him. "Or my goose is cooked and Réann could get in serious trouble. I'm already regretting allowing you to tell as many of the others as you have!"

"But without them, my master plan would never work," Nori pointed out.

Just then a knock at the door halted them all. Going over, Nori opened it a crack, peeking out to see who it was. Yet instead of Bofur, it was Ori.

"Ah, Ori…also right on time," he grinned, letting his younger brother inside. "Did you get it?"

"Right here," the young dwarrow beamed, holding up a small trunk. "It's a good thing I was in charge of cleaning out the craft rooms last month and found these leftovers from the days before the dragon came. I had no idea they used to put on such extravagant plays and things for entertainment. I hope we can start that up again soon."

"Oh, I think your help in this will go a long way in getting our future king here to instigate such things," Nori winked, watching as Fili rolled his eyes.

"What's he got?" Kili asked, coming over to peek inside the box the scribe carried.

"Beards! As well as other items an actor might need when playing a part," Ori explained. "Long beards, short beards, and mustaches of all sizes as well. I have brown ones, white ones, and even a bunch of bushy eyebrows. Not to mention lots of glue to stick them on with."

"Glue?" he balked, reaching up and touching his own eyebrows, having always liked them just the way they were. "This better not be permanent!"

"Of course not. It'll all come off with a bit of soap and water," Nori assured him. "Now, sit down and let my brother work his magic on you."

As Kili took his seat and Ori began to try different disguises on him, there came a second knock at the door. This time it was Bofur, with a large clay pot in his hands.

"I got it!" he announced. "And Bombur was none the wiser."

"I'll make a thief out of you yet," Nori chuckled, pointing to where his friend could set the container down.

"What's that?" Fili asked, peering into it with curiosity.

"Flour," Bofur informed him.

Fili turned to Nori and eyed him skeptically.

"And you couldn't manage to steal a little bit of flour yourself? You had to enlist Bofur to do it? What kind of sneak are you?"

"One with a reputation, it would seem," he huffed. "If I showed up in the kitchens, Bombur would be suspicious the moment I set foot inside. He would watch me like a hawk and then I'd get nowhere. But if his brother comes in, simply to say hello and visit a bit, what's so odd about that? And, I'll have you know that this isn't just any kind of flour…it's Hobbit flour, shipped in from the Shire, where they grind it so fine you would think you're touching snow itself."

"And we need this why?" Fili asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "And if you say to bake a cake, I'll throttle you."

"No! It's to put white streaks in Kili's hair," Nori explained.

"This is the clingiest flour you'll find too," Bofur added. "Once Bombur sneezed, blowing a bunch of this into his face, and he looked a hundred years older for the rest of the day until he could find the time to take a bath and wash it all out. It will age Kili perfectly and stay put all evening."

Fili still looked skeptical, but he only shrugged and let the three dwarrow keep working. Ori did a fine job attaching the fake beard, mustache, and eyebrows, and even brushed on a thin layer of egg whites over his cheeks and next to his eyes.

"Ewww, that feels cold and slimy!" Kili protested.

"Yes, but when it dries, it will make your skin look a bit more wrinkly," he explained. "You'll appear older in no time."

Once the fake hair was in place, and his skin looked suitably wrinkled, the flour was applied, turning every chosen strand white as snow. Even Fili was starting to believe they might just pull this off, when a third knock at the door announced another visitor.

"Oin!" Nori greeted, welcoming the old healer inside. "Glad you could make it."

"Well, I won't be letting you administer this without medical supervision," the aged healer huffed, holding up a small bottle of green liquid.

"What are you going to pour that on?" Kili questioned, sounding rather nervous.

"Not pour it on you, Lad," Oin chuckled. "Pour it in you."

"What on Middle Earth for?" he squawked, covering his mouth with his hand for protection.

"It's nothing lethal," Nori stated, looking at Kili as if he were a little dwarfling refusing to take his medicine. "It's a throat tonic. But instead of making your voice better, it will roughen it up for the night. Makes you sound older than you are. It's perfectly harmless."

"As long as administered in the correct dose," Oin pointed out. "And that's why I'm here. To see that it's done properly."

"Does it taste horrible?" Ori questioned, having long insisted that anything green always tasted bad when it went in your mouth.

"Don't know…I've never tried it myself," Oin said with a shrug. "Guess Kili can tell us after the fact."

"OH NO!" the now elderly-looking dwarf prince protested, leaping up and backing away from the healer. "I'm not going to be your test subject! You keep that vile concoction away from me."

"If you want to go to Dale and pretend to be Fili's older brother, then you'll have to take it," Nori threatened. "Otherwise, I'll down the stuff myself, let them put me in that get-up, and take your place."

This caused Kili to simmer down, the young dwarf thinking over his options. On one hand, he hated the idea of drinking anything icky. But on the other, he really wanted to go and watch Fili interact with his lady-love. In the end, he gave a heavy sigh and reached for the bottle.

"Just a small sip," Oin warned. "It should last for about six hours, then your voice will return to normal."

Kili nodded, shut his eyes and took a small sip, cringing as he felt it slide down his throat. Yet after a moment, he actually smiled.

"Hey, that tasted like honey," he said, grinning at the others. "Sure I can't have more?"

"Not unless you want to croak like an old toad for a week," Oin huffed, taking the bottle from him and re-corking it. "You've had plenty for what you wish to accomplish."

"How long will it take to start working?" Kili asked. Yet before he could even finish his sentence, they could all hear his voice grow deeper.

"I'd say right away, Naddith," Fili laughed, feeling as if the disguise was now complete. Not only did Kili look like an older version of himself, but he sounded more mature as well. Now if he could only act mature, they would be set. "You know, if I just saw you at a glance, I might actually think you were Thorin!"

"So, is it good enough to fool Réann into believing I'm your Nadad?" Kili asked, his deeper voice shocking even himself.

"I think you could fool Amad!" Fili assured him. "I'd say your disguise is perfect…just as long as you don't blow it with your big mouth."

"Show some respect to your older brother!" Kili ordered, taking on a stern glower. "I won't have you sassing me, Naddith."

Everyone in the room burst out laughing, finding the whole situation extremely comical…and rather convincing. They just might be able to pull this off after all.

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Réann had arrived early to the alcove, and pulling out her little whistle, she gave it a few puffs. It wasn't long before the great white snowy owl she knew so well came out of the night and greeted it's mistress with a welcoming hoot or two.

"You never fail me, old friend," Réann grinned, piling the food she had brought on the ledge and stroking his feathers affectionately. When her new letter for her father had been attached, she sat back and watched Jareth eat, waiting for Dwalin to come fetch her as they had planned.

It didn't take long before his blond head poked in, scanning from side to side until he spotted her.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Réann grinned, giving Jareth a quick word of farewell. "Are you sure we can get out of the mountain unnoticed?"

"Nori assured me he has an idea," Fili told her, offering her his arm. "Now, put your hood up and try not to act suspicious."

"I will if you will," she nodded, watching as he too covered his features, before the two slipped silently out of the alcove.

Kili, and Nori were waiting for them in one of the empty passageways that led to the west side of the mountain.

"Réann, this is my older brother, Galin," Fili introduced, watching as Kili greeted her with a wide smile.

"A pleasure my dear," the pretend Galin assured her, taking her hand in his and patting it affectionately, as a more mature dwarrow might do. "You're such a pretty little thing, just like my naddith said."

"It's very nice to meet you as well," Réann smiled, already liking Dwalin's brother a great deal.

"And this is Nori," Fili continued.

"Ah, yes, my maid's ardent admirer," Réann laughed, reaching out to shake his hand. "And the covert deliverer of letters, I believe."

"Guilty as charged," Nori grinned, appreciating her sassy nature. "But all in the line of duty, I assure you."

"Just as sneaking us out of Erebor and into Dale is part of your duty?" she questioned.

"Oh, no! This is purely for my amusement," the dwarf with the oddly pointed hairdo insisted. "That, and without my help, the three of you would never make it out of here undetected."

"Then you have our thanks, Master Nori," Réann complimented, enjoying the comradery the three males seemed to share.

"Don't go thanking him yet," Fili broke in. "At least not until he's managed to accomplish his task."

"Then watch and learn, Lad," Nori said confidently. "Watch and learn."

And heading off, he led them through a few tunnels and up a set of stairs until at last they came to a very familiar passageway.

"You're taking us out through the secret entrance!" Fili chuckled. "Why on earth didn't I think of that?"

"Because if you had, you wouldn't have needed me," Nori pointed out. "Now come, we mustn't keep King Bard waiting."

When they finally arrived at the door, Bofur and Ori were already there waiting for them, both giving a warm smile at the sight of Réann.

"Delighted to make your acquaintance, My Lady," the hatted miner welcomed, giving her a polite bow. "Bofur, at your service."

"And Ori…also at your service," the younger dwarf introduce himself in a shy voice.

"Just as I'm at yours and your families," Réann responded in traditional dwarf fashion. "And after this, even more so, I imagine." She then turned to Dwalin, looking at him curiously. "But what is this about a secret entrance?"

"It's how we entered the mountain when the dragon was still in residence," he told her, the group moving forward and watching as Bofur and Ori tripped the secret lever that opened the invisible door ahead of them. A whoosh of air accompanied the sound of grinding stone, and suddenly the night sky was visible through a doorway, causing Réann to gasp. "It's easy to open it from the inside, but you can only access the door from the outside on Durin's Day, and only if you have the key."

"Which is why I'll be waiting on the outside of the door for you to come back, with Ori remaining here on the inside, to let us all back in," Bofur explained.

"And how are we supposed to get down?" Kili asked, looking over the ledge. "You don't expect a dwarf of my age to go scaling the side of a mountain in the dark, do you? As I recall…it's a long way down."

"Does no one have an ounce of faith in me?" Nori huffed.

"I do," Réann spoke up, raising her hand with a smile. "So far, you haven't let me down once."

"Thank you, Lass," Nori told her with a look of gratitude. "Now, if you could only get these others to share the same opinion." And as if to prove his point, he walked over to the end of the ledge and pointed to an odd-looking wood and rope contraption swinging an inch or two away. "This is how we will be getting both down, and then back up, the side of the mountain. No climbing up the hidden stairs for us, no sir. We'll be going in style."

"Is it safe?" Fili questioned, eyeing the thing skeptically.

"As safe as your Amad's arms," Nori assured them. "Now, climb on, and let's get going. If I recall, Sigrid makes the most delicious rolls and I want to get there before they have a chance to get cold."

Fili and Kili still held back, but Réann all but leapt forward, eager to try out Nori's mountain scaling device. When the two princes saw there was no getting out of it, they too climbed aboard, holding on tightly as if their lives depended on it.

"Now what, Master Nori?" Réann asked, excited to see it in action.

"Now we go down, Lass," he grinned, signaling for Bofur to begin lowering the rope that attached the wooden platform to the pulley lodged in the rock face above them. And with a slight jerk, they began to descend slowly, with Nori guiding it skillfully so they didn't bump or scrape along the way.

Once they were on the ground, much to Fili and Kili's relief, their next question was answered by the sight of the four ponies waiting nearby. Apparently, they wouldn't be walking to Dale. Nori truly had thought of everything.

"With your permission, My Lady," the former thief offered, bending over and lacing his fingers together in order to help her into the saddle.

"It would be greatly appreciated," she smiled back, accepting his help and finding herself quickly seated with the reins in her hands.

Nori then turned to mount his own pony but stopped short when Fili gave him a stern glare. Leaning in so that Réann wouldn't hear, the blond prince whispered a warning.

"Just because you've managed to impress everyone so far with your skills, don't go thinking you can swoop in and steal my lass away, old friend," he hissed. "I'm watching you."

"Duly noted," Nori grinned widely. "And the fact that you imagine me so much of a threat that you feel the need to try and intimidate me, well I'll take that as a compliment."

"Take it however you want, just remember…Réann is mine," Fili warned.

"Whatever you say, My Prince," Nori laughed, heading for his own pony with a wicked grin on his face. "Whatever you say."

Yeah! You better watch yourself Nori, or Fili...er...Dwalin will take your head off. ha ha.

And it looks like Nori was able to pull it off after all, not only making Kili look and sound older, but finding a way out of the mountain with none being the wiser. He should be getting paid over time.

Next is the trip to Dale and fun with Bard and his family. Sure hope no one lets something slip. ha ha.

Guest Reviews:

Travelbug: I do like a very full chapter...one that keeps you on your toes. No, I think this is just Bards way of having fun. It gets dull being a king now and then. Nope, Bard knows that Réann has no idea who 'Dwalin' really is. He just knows that the dams were not to be out and about, and they are breaking the rules by her not staying sequestered. That fact that she's seeing another dwarf as well only adds to the naughtiness. Your prediction was correct...he ended up enlisting a LOT of help on this one, but Kili was not about to let anyone else play HIS role...he wanted to be part of the fun too. A little bit more fun and then the reveal will come, I promise. Thanks for the kind, and long, review! T.O.W.G.

Emrfangirl: Bard's a little stinker. But he's a fun character too. Kili is looking forward to being a 'Nadad' for sure. I thought it was time that Réann got to see Fili in action, being all hot and studly and defending her like that. Now she's putty in his hands. ha ha.