The landscape grew gloomier by the distance they covered. They passed abandoned villages, charred woods and hungry animals that sized up the situation. Often they saw hollow-eyed wolves between the trees, but the group was too large to attack and their glowing, green eyes were just watching them as they went by.
More floes appeared in the lake, swung by the invisible wind, so it seemed like giant monsters moved beneath them. The end of the lake came in sight, where a floating city tried to defy the unsteadiness of the frost.
At night they sat around the camp fire. The closeness to their homeland made the dwarves chatty and they shared memories, not only containing an unparalleled beauty, but also a deep sadness.
Alyssae didn't dare to mingle, she just listened and took all words in, unconsciously wondering if Thorin and she would ever have children to pass on this history.
They probably won't. First of all because she didn't know if she could return the stones to Thranduil, secondly because she didn't even know if she and Thorin would stick together and in the end she didn't even know if dwarves and elves could bring forth posterity. As far as she knew, nobody had ever tried or hadn't succeeded at least.
The thought about children made her sad and she stared absently at the flames, while the cold crept into her skin and caused a shiver. She took her eyes from the fierce fire when something thick was draped over her shoulders.
Thorin looked at her and gave her a quick kiss on her temple. She wrapped his cloak, made of animal skin, a little tighter around her body, but the kiss he had given her seemed to have dislodged all the cold immediately.
He sat down next to her and took her frozen hand in his.
Alyssae smiled shyly, wondering what he thought about. For a moment she was caught in his blue eyes and when he smiled back her heartbeat sped up.
"Come," he whispered and he stood up, pulling her gently on her feet. He took her hand and led her away from the others. "Moving keeps you warm."
"You keep me warm." She stood still and stroked a tuft of hair from his face. "You said you didn't want to be without me. I - I thought you would react differently when I told you I was no longer engaged."
"You have no idea how I felt, Alys." He put his hand on her hip. "It's just... difficult. I owe Thranduin so much and all I do is taking away his love from him, while he has so much more to offer you."
"Don't speak about me as if I'm some kind of commodity," Alyssae mumbled. "Thranduin doesn't want to be with someone who weeps over the loss of her own love. He wants me to be happy. He wants us to be happy. I don't exactly know how I have to picture us, for I understand very well I can't be on your side as long as I'm an elf. Which will obviously never change." She was silent for a moment. "Let's first concentrate on the dragon and then on us."
Thorin nodded sighing. "Maybe there won't even be an us by that time."
"Of course there will be," Alyssae smiled and she lowered on the grass. "We have been through so much, I'm sure we can do this too."
Thorin said nothing and just stared in her eyes. Her cheeks glowed by his passionate look, that disappeared when he closed his eyes and kissed her.