Kili intertwined his hands. What on earth was going on this time? He got the feeling something dark played them like puppets.
The dwarves looked at each other uneasily when they found the trail of blood on Alyssae's body.
'Don't be so difficult,' Bofur sighed irritated and he pushed the other dwarves aside. 'It's not very surprising she's bleeding beneath her dress, that thing covers half of her body!
Kili agreed with Bofur, although he did understand why the others refused to see what was underneath Alyssae's clothes.
He saw Thorin step back and look the other way. Kili wondered what his uncle was thinking. Did he want to respect her body or did he believe the elf was wasting their time?
'Why is it so damn dark here?' Bofur grumbled while he moved her dress above and followed the blood trail with his hand.
Kili's heart was racing in his chest. What would Bofur discover? A large gaping hole that was caused by the orcs? Or did the bewitched water cause sudden bleedings?
It was horrible to see Alyssae this way, helpless while a dwarf moved his hand between her legs.
'And?' Thorin asked, without turning his head towards them.
'I don't see a fresh wound on her upper legs. I will undress her completely,' Bofur muttered, after which Thorin turned his face aside. 'What?' Bofur asked irritated. 'She will bleed to dead because of our dithering.'
These words touched a sensitive subject and Thorin shook his head in despair and walked away.
Kili hesitated, but decided Bofur was right. If they didn't act rapidly, there might never be a moment that she could blame them at all.
He knew her best and hoped she wouldn't get very mad at him. Two more eyes could only be helpful.
Bofur pushed the border of her dress to her midriff. 'Look at her belly first.'
Kili nodded and his fingers glided over the soft skin, just above the edge of her underpants. Here and there he saw and felt wounds and bruises, but it was nothing compared to the mess on her arms and legs.
Kili looked hesitating at her underpants, but his cheeks turned red by only thinking about pushing it down. He knew he wouldn't experience such sensual feelings as his brother would, but it was still an embarrassing moment.
'Isn't this just her menstruation?' Gloin's voice sounded behind them.
Kili looked over his shoulder. Gloin knew the most about women – but they were of course dwarf women.
He hadn't thought for a moment that the blood could be part of a natural process. 'You think?'
Gloin shrugged. 'She's a woman.'
'But now?' Bofur doubted. 'And so much blood?'
'If you can't find a wound, it most likely comes from… that,' Gloin decided.
'What do you think?' Kili asked Oin.
'She could be bleeding elsewhere internally as well,' the dwarf said with a worrying frown. 'But even if that is the case, we can do nothing for her. Maybe Gloin is right and is Alyssae indeed in her bleeding period.'
Kili pulled down the dress to her knees again. He hoped they were right and that they hadn't overseen something. Even with the knowledge that it could be a natural process, he wasn't comforted. First of all because they were not sure about it and secondly he had never seen something like this and he couldn't imagine so much blood had no consequences for her health.
'And?' Thorin asked when he heard she was presentable again.
'We think it's her menstruation,' Ori announced. 'But we are not sure.'
Thorin frowned. He didn't seem satisfied with that answer. 'You are not sure?'
'Well, we can't look inside her, can we?' Bofur answered petulantly. 'We can barely see a thing, actually, but there are no open wounds on the rest of her body that could cause so much blood. We can't do anything about it and I don't intend to feel if the blood is coming from there.'
'Then what did you do?' Thorin sniffled.
After a short hesitation Kili pushed his hand under her dress and with his fingertips he touched her slip, that felt soggy.
'She is wet. There.'
Thorin stared at him with shocked eyes and Kili looked the other way uneasily. His intense glare made him sweat.
He was surprised his uncle looked at him full of anger, as if he could have caught an infectious disease by touching her underwear. Actually he had no idea what Thorin was thinking. Maybe he didn't even know elves wore slips.
'We can go on,' Kili mumbled, who wanted to leave this uneasy situation behind as soon as possible. He decided to carry her himself. He was so filthy a little more blood hardly mattered.