Alyssae didn't listen to his words. Tomorrow Thorin would be dead and she knew she would die with him. Not physical, but mental. She knew she wouldn't be able to make any decisions.

She had knelt next to the dwarf. His soft cries were the only signs that he was still alive, but there were so many wounds that it was a lost battle.

Carefully she put back the hem of his upper garment. When she saw the bloody mess that was underneath it, she started to sob again.

"Oh my love," she whispered. "This never should have happened. I am so sorry."

She took off her own dress and started to dab the blood from his battered body. She ignored the cold that bit her skin and concentrated on Thorin's wounds, while trying to remember the spells she'd learned when she was young. She couldn't help it she considered all of this a personal failure. Other elves would have known how to ease his pain, but there was nothing she could do for him and she hated herself for her carelessness in her younger years.

Trying to dry his wounds didn't help since fresh blood kept pouring out. She fought the tears and whispered: "I wish I could something to help you."

She stroked his hairs from his face, that was unrecognizable by all the injuries. She swallowed while her lower lip started to tremble. "You can't leave me. I can't live without you, Thorin."

His sobbing and wailing had died, which terrified her. Did he still live?

Her shoulders started to shake again, but this time there was nobody who put a calming arm around her. Her tears rolled down her cheeks and spat in Thorin's face, where they washed away the blood a little.

"Don't cry," she heard all of a sudden. "That - that hurts even more."

Alyssae was startled by his voice and shrunk back. He turned his face a little. She didn't know what to say to him. It was ridiculous to ask how he felt.

"I am sorry," was all she could say. "I didn't know he would do such a thing. I -" Her voice broke and she wrapped her arms around her knees. "I thought I could save us by kissing Thranduin," she gabbled. "But I should have known Thranduil had already drawn his conclusions."

Thorin didn't react on her words, but his respiration had become more peacefully and she suspected he had lost his consciousness. She sat with her back against the wall and stared at him, afraid she would awaken him when she touched him.

Alyssae woke up from a restless sleep, in which her memories were melted with her fantasy, because of Thorin's chattering teeth. He must be ice cold. She had already draped her dress over him, but knew the thin fabric wouldn't be enough. Alyssae felt cold too, but she wouldn't succumb.

She crawled towards him and started to pull off his clothes. He felt weak, as if life had already left him.

On purpose she didn't look at the wounds that mangled his back and stomach, but wrapped her arms around him, trying to share her body heat. The pressure of her body against his wounds would probably do him no good, but he was already in such a pain that she believed it wouldn't make a difference.

"I stay with you," she whispered, not knowing if he could hear her. "Forever."

Alyssae knew those were useless words and that "forever" would probably come to an end tomorrow, but it helped her to hold grip on the situation.

She kissed his hair, after which her chest shriveled again and she turned away her face while crying.

She cracked her eyes when Thorin's fingers found her hand. An abhorrent moaning escaped his lips and Alyssae was deadly afraid he had breathed his last breath.

"I don't want you to see me like this. That you'll remember me this way."

Alyssae wanted to say he shouldn't give up, but she couldn't speak the words out loud. It was selfish to think he should suffer for her.

"I will not." Her voice was broken, not more than a desperate whispering. "To me you will always be a courageous dwarf prince, who went on his way firmly to slay a dragon. A respectable man that would do anything to save his people." She took some deep breaths when grief squeezed her throat. "A man who is so precious to me that there are no words to describe him." She kissed his sweaty forehead. "I love you, Thorin Oakenshield. I will always do."