Alyssae dared to look in his blue eyes, which seemed to be a burning fire, as always when he was excited about something. A fire that both fascinated and frightened her - and not only her.
'I'm afraid of what will happen if he loses you.'
She remembered Bofur's words very well.
"It's not just Erebor I'd like to see," she admitted. "I don't want to return to Chyndall to marry a man who does nothing to me, no matter how hard he tries."
She took a deep breath and didn't let go of his gaze. His eyes were more beautiful than all the riches of Erebor. A lone tear slid down her cheek and she looked down while her lower lip quivered.
"Alys ..." Thorin's voice sounded just as broken as she felt and he took her hands. "You're not married yet. You can still get away with it if you tell this to Thranduin."
"And then what?" Alyssae asked defeated. "Should I declare that I have fallen in love with a dwarf? They see me coming at home!"
Thorin turned his face away and she knew those words hurt him. However, it was the bitter truth, however difficult it was to accept.
"I can't get you out of my head, Thorin," she whispered almost desperately, "but there is no hope for us."
The dwarf prince stared at his feet. "I know. Of course I do. You think I don't struggle with this?"
He was right. As a new king he would probably not be taken seriously as he shared his throne with an elf. She looked at his hands covering hers. She thought about Bofur's words: that they should not look too far ahead. Maybe they indeed perished in flames and were they uselessly worrying now.
She reached out her hand and stroked his face. She thought to see a hopeful glint in his eyes.
Thorin cleared his throat. "May I -"
He broke the sentence quickly and looked in another direction. His face turned red and she turned his face back. "What do you want to say?"
For a while they looked into each other's eyes.
"You're so beautiful," he murmured.
Alyssae smiled shyly. It sounded so genuine that she got goose bumps.
"I wanted to ask if - if I may give you a kiss."
Embarrassed he tried to turn his face away again and Alyssae stroked with her hand through his long black hair. She'd never expected to hear Thorin Oakenshield stammer. He showed her a side that perhaps no one had ever seen.
She sank to her knees until their faces were at the same level. Her heart pounded in her throat and her hands were clammy. She concluded from Thorin's breathing that he was just as nervous as she was.
And so they were standing there, as if they were two teenagers in love, under the dense canopy of Mirkwood, which occasionally showed a single star. Not that they looked at the sky, they saw stars in each other's eyes that no celestial body could match up to.
Thorin leaned over and pressed his lips very gently against hers. Alyssae felt as if all breath was taken from her lungs when she felt his amazingly soft mouth. His beard tickled her chin and for a second she could feel the wounds in her throat again.
She didn't know whether she winced or not, but Thorin pulled his face back and looked at her hesitantly, as if the shared the same memory.
"I can't," he whispered.
"What?" Alyssae asked nervously.
"Letting go what happened yesterday." His sad eyes were focused on the ground and Alyssae took him in an embrace.
"Me neither," she murmured, "but it was only yesterday." She pressed her lips to his hair line. "Those memories will fade away." She held him a little tighter. "Especially in this way. I cannot remember that I've felt happier than I do now. "