A/N: So just under two months for an update, not too bad! I'm hoping to get to monthly updates, but it might continue to be every two months for the next little while. I will attempt to make sure it doesn't go past that, however! Hope you enjoy this one, as we finally run into the elves in this chapter. I'm hoping I didn't make Thranduil or Legolas too out of character here, as they are difficult to write, especially when there were certain things that I needed to have happen. Anyway, since there is a fair bit going on here, the rest of their stay in the dungeons will continue in the next chapter so this one isn't too long. While this chapter is all Alison's POV, I am hoping to do hers, Fili's, and a brief scene in Kili's POV next chapter. This will finally answer some questions about his feelings in the whole Lily vs. Tauriel issue ;).
Thanks to all those who have favorited, followed, and read so far, I'm happy you're enjoying it!
Extra special thanks as always to my awesome reviewers, ThatOtherWriterGirl, OpaqueSunests, the guest reviewer, Arkinstone, lavonnadarc, and of course the amazing Moira Starsong with her own terrific Fili story! I really appreciate all your reviews and thoughts on the story, and hope to hear more on this next chapter!
Moira got half points on the rock Easter egg in the last chapter: It was some lyrics to Welcome to the Jungle, but she didn't quite remember the band, which was Guns and Roses. There are two nerd Easter eggs in this chapter, one which should be quite obvious, and the other more obscure for those looking for nerd points ;).
PLEASE REVIEW EVERYONE, IT ENCOURAGES ME TO WRITE FASTER! THANK YOU!
Disclaimer: As always, I don't own any lines or characters you recognize, just the rest of the story.
Chapter 12: The Elves of Mirkwood
Alison blinked rapidly. She shook her head, closed her eyes for a long moment, and tapped her temple lightly a few times. But when she opened her eyes, he was still there, in the shifting, desolate landscape of Mirkwood. Chris. Not in the uniform as she'd seen him earlier, but dressed as he might have been the last time he was on leave. He wore a black AC/DC Rock or Bust shirt from a concert they'd attended, his favourite, faded jeans with the rip in the knee and battered Nikes on his feet. His dark brown hair was still buzz-cut close to his head in military style, as it had always been, but dark stubble shaded his jaw as it often had when he was on leave and didn't want to bother with shaving so much. His stormy grey eyes were awash with a chaotic mix of emotions, or so it appeared to her, but he smiled when she blinked again, unable to believe her eyes. "You're not dreaming, gorgeous," he told her, his voice both amused and infinitely sad at the same time. "I know that's the only way you've seen me, lately, but you're not dreaming now."
"Right," she said breathlessly, giving herself a surreptitious pinch just to be sure. Nothing happened. Okay, so she was hallucinating, then. That was fine. Hallucinating Chris alive – or not dead in a coffin, anyway – was far better than a lot of other alternatives. Unless – maybe he'd gotten another chance, too? "Does that mean you're really here?"
His smile faded into a sorrowful, apologetic expression as he shook his head. "Sorry, Ali, but no. I didn't get a 1-up. Just a chance to come talk to you, that's all. Like I said, I've missed you."
So, definitely a hallucination, likely produced by the desperate longing of her own brain. That was fine by her; it was one she was fully willing to play along with. "I've missed you too, handsome," she managed, feeling her eyes well up with tears that she blinked back as she took a few steps closer.
His hand stretched out as if to touch her, but he pulled it back, the sorrow on his face deepening. "Fuck, I wish I could touch you. But I'm not, you know, corporeal."
Despite herself, she was amused. "Corporeal?" she grinned at him, quoting a show they'd often watched together: "Excuse me, professor."
Chris laughed at that, his eyes and face brightening. "Shut up," he replied obligingly, that bright, handsome smile that had once been such a familiar sight stretching across his face. Yes, she didn't mind this hallucination at all. How often had she thought that she would give anything to see that smile again, even if it was only for a moment?
"I've really, really missed you," she said softly, feeling the brief flash of humour fade in the wave of longing that washed over her. She wished she could touch him, too. "Every day, I've missed you."
His smile faded again at that. "I know, Ali. I'm so, so sorry. You have to know that I . . . if I'd had a choice, I never would have left you. Never."
"I know." She managed a wobbly smile at that in an attempt to reassure him. "Of course I know."
"And I sure as hell . . ." Chris hesitated for a moment, as if he was trying to pick his words carefully. "That is, I would never have wanted to hurt you so badly that you would close your heart off."
"I didn't . . ." Alison began, wanting instinctively to protest, to reassure him, but she trailed off after a moment, especially when faced with his doubtful look. She supposed she had, at that. That was what her "nothing serious" policy meant, after all. "Well, I suppose I did, but that's not your fault."
"No, it is," he disagreed, shaking his head. "I may not have done it intentionally, but it still happened because of me. If I'd left the service when you wanted me to . . . well, I suppose there's no point in thinking about that."
"No, there isn't," she agreed softly. Though of course she had thought about it, many times, it was one of the few things she'd managed to come to terms with. There was nothing that could change what happened now, and he simply wouldn't have been him if he had left his friends and his duty behind so easily. And she wouldn't have loved him as much as she had – as she still did.
Chris sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, another achingly familiar sight. "Anyway, that's why I came. I want to help fix the damage that I did, help you open your heart again now, because I want you to be happy. And of course I still wish I could be the one to help make you happy, but since I can't, I'll at least . . . rest easier knowing he loves you as much as I do."
Alison had already been thinking of how to say that she wasn't sure she wanted to be fixed, while also wondering if she was arguing with herself right now, and so it took a moment for his last words to register with her. When they did, she jerked her gaze up to meet his in shock. "Knowing who loves me?" she demanded warily.
"Your dwarf," Chris replied simply, looking a little surprised. "Fili is his name, right?"
"He doesn't love me," she denied automatically, feeling a rising tide of panic buffeting over her. She would know if he did, wouldn't she? Wouldn't he have said something? Wouldn't she have noticed something, even as wrapped up in other concerns as she had been?
"Doesn't he?" Chris said mildly, in a tone that she knew well. The one that said he knew he was right, and he was just waiting for her to figure that out. "Have you ever asked him how he actually feels about you?"
Alison opened her mouth to answer automatically, then snapped it shut again as she actually thought about it. That panic rose up ever further, threatening to drown her as she realized she'd never asked Fili how he felt about her. She'd asked if he wanted anything serious, and assumed his feelings from that . . . but even that, now that she thought back on it, he'd never given a direct answer to. But what did that mean? Did that mean anything? Why wouldn't he have said something then?! Confusion mixed with the panic, and she felt everything starting to slide and swirl again. She was no longer sure if it was because of Mirkwood, or her own emotional turmoil.
She shook her head again, looking back up at Chris in panic. "Even if he does – I don't – I can't . . . ." Her thoughts tumbled around, leaving her unable to finish whatever she'd been about to say, as another thought popped up. Is it that I really don't, that I won't ever feel that way, or just that I think I can't handle it? I don't know!
"It's okay if you do, you know," he said softly, his eyes full of sympathy. "It's good if you do. Like I said, I want you to be happy, and I don't think you will be if you keep your heart closed off from love. The Ali I know isn't a coward, who would break a man's heart out of fear."
"Maybe the Ali you know died when you did," she snapped defensively, stung by his words. And by the thought that if Fili did love her, she might end up doing just that. Lily had been right; her bit of fun had been a bad idea.
She immediately regretted what she'd said when she saw him flinch a little at the words, but he shook his head in response. "No, you've just been hiding. And that's okay, but I think it's time you came out now."
"Now would be the worst time. You know what happens – he's supposed to die!" she cried, feeling fear mix in with the waves of panic washing over her. He'll die, if we can't save him. All three of them will, and I think that might just break me for good.
"If anyone can save him – them – it's you and Lily," Chris replied firmly. "Hell, it's almost better this way because you have advance warning, and know how it happens. Anyone could die at any time, and you wouldn't know it was coming." He indicated himself with a sweep of his arms. "You wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it. But this one, you can stop. You will. I'm sure of it."
The utter conviction in his voice, his unshakable faith in her that she could see in his eyes, finally started to calm Alison down. She felt as though she could breathe properly again, as though her head was above water and clearing of its confusion and panic. "You really believe that," she said in wonder.
Chris smiled, nodding to her. "I really do. And I really believe this is the best time for you to try again."
"I . . . I don't know for sure if I feel that way about him." She couldn't quite bring herself to say the word aloud, not just yet. She didn't feel quite brave enough. "But if I do, you really wouldn't mind?"
"All I want is for you to be happy," he told her, his smile gentle now. "So if he can help make you happy again, then no, I won't mind at all. I promise."
"God, Chris." Alison wiped away the few tears that were suddenly trickling down her face. She went to hug him, but realizing she couldn't, she stepped back again, her arms falling to her sides. "Way to be totally unselfish." She laughed unsteadily, watching his smile go bright again. "Thank you, really. But no matter what happens, I'll always love you. You know that, right?"
His smile was so bright now as to be nearly blinding. "Of course I know that. Just like I know you'll win this." He looked over his shoulder, almost as if someone was speaking behind him that she couldn't see or hear. "I have to go now, gorgeous. So do you. I wish . . . hell, I wish so many things. So I'll just wish you the best of luck, in everything. And remember, Ali, distraction can work as well as any weapon."
"I'll remember, handsome," she promised him, even as she was already mulling over his words, which she assumed he'd meant for the Battle of Five Armies. "Goodbye, Chris."
"Goodbye, Ali. I love you." Even as he said the words, he disappeared, leaving no trace behind to indicate he'd been there.
Alison took a deep breath, trying to sort through everything that had just happened, or the fact that the whole drunken fog Mirkwood had descended on her brain seemed to be gone. But before she really had a chance to think through any of it, she heard alarmed shouts and crashing noises behind her, off in the distance. Shit, had the spiders started attacking already?
She whirled and ran back in the direction she'd come from, heading for the noises. Some of the shouts ended abruptly as she kept running, making her certain that it was the spiders knocking out the dwarves. Partway there, she nearly ran right into Fili, who was heading in her direction, probably looking for her after she'd left so abruptly.
"Ali!" He caught her by the arms, giving her a quick and frantic once-over. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, but –" She was interrupted by a shout that sounded rather like Kili, and a scream of pain that sounded like it came from Lily. "I don't know about everybody else!" she finished hastily, following Fili as he ran back in the directions of the shouts, yelling for his brother.
She didn't really know what she expected to do, since she knew this was going to happen, indeed, pretty much had to happen, but she could no more stop herself from running to help Lily than she could breathing. What she didn't expect was the sudden, blindingly sharp stab of pain in her back the moment she spotted the now unconscious Lily being rolled up by an immense, disgusting spider. She cried out from the shock of it, her vision swimming in earnest once more, but this time being overwhelmed with blackness. She only faintly heard Fili's shout of her name ending in a similar cry before the blackness overtook her completely.
It was the sudden falling sensation that woke Alison back up. Well, that and the hitting the ground part, which nearly knocked the wind out of her. Fortunately, she landed in a pile of dead leaves, which cushioned her fall enough that she didn't feel as though anything had broken.
She very nearly had a panic attack, however, when she realized that there was a sticky cobweb wrapped around her face, making it difficult to breathe properly. That was something that frightened her as much as bees did, and she started thrashing around in her cocoon, about to descend into full panic mode, when some of the cobwebs were peeled away from her face by grubby fingers. She took a gasping breath of the relatively clean, fresh air, and felt her heart rate starting to steady as more of the cobwebs were peeled away, freeing her arms. With help, she managed to get most of the rest of it off, sitting up and looking at her helper: a dishevelled and dirty Bilbo who smiled in relief when she sat up.
"Alison, are you all right? I am sorry about the fall, but there was no other way to get you down," he explained hastily.
"No, it's fine, thanks for the help. Is everybody else okay? Lily?" she demanded.
Even as she said it, she could hear the shouts of the other dwarves, calling for one another, followed by Lily saying, "Here, I'm right here." Alison looked over to her left, seeing that Ori was breaking Lily free of the cocoon she'd been in as the other dwarves scrambled around, readying their weapons. Alison realized why a second later; angry spiders were dropping from the trees above to the ground around them. She scrambled to her feet, drawing her sword even as Bilbo drew Sting.
One spider came straight for her and Bilbo, and not knowing what else to do, she began dancing around as much as she could, hacking at its legs. Bilbo tried to follow suit, but it fortunately only took a moment before Fili was there as well. His dual swords flashed with impressive skill as he helped them cut the legs out from under the spider, and once it fell to the ground with a thump, he sliced its head off.
"Let's go!" Fili said urgently as soon as he'd finished, gesturing for them to run ahead after the other dwarves, who were racing after Thorin and Dwalin through the trees.
Alison willingly ran after them, seeing that Lily was ahead of her and looked well enough, bow at the ready, as everyone ran along. She nearly ran right into Lily's back, actually, when the whole group suddenly halted; a spider had landed directly in front of Thorin, in the only clear path ahead. Thorin raised his sword, about to attack the spider, when something caught his attention.
Looking up, Alison saw what he had; Legolas, riding the back of a spider down a branch above. When it got close to the ground, he jumped off, slid beneath the spider in front of Thorin, running a sword through its belly, and came up on the other side with his bow notched and aimed at them. "Show-off," Alison muttered, half-admiringly, making Lily snort in agreement.
Meanwhile, the dwarves around them had lifted their weapons in response to Legolas, but the instant they did, numerous other elves appeared from the trees around them, arrows aimed precisely at them. The dwarves, however, didn't seem inclined to immediately respond to this threat. Alison noted, too, that some of the older dwarves had angled themselves in front of the younger ones, and Fili stood between her and an elf's arrow. Had her hallucination of Chris been right, or was this just part of Fili's protective nature? She just didn't know anymore.
She was distracted from this thought, however, by Legolas saying icily, "Do not think I won't kill you, Dwarf." She looked up, seeing how hard his dark eyes were in that far too handsome face as he added, "It would be my pleasure." And okay, he was really hot in person too, Alison admitted to herself, with that long, white-blonde hair falling to his shoulders and his superbly fit body encased in a green tunic and breeches, with high brown boots on his feet, leafy vambraces on his arms, and the two short swords he favoured strapped to his back. Yeah, she could see why he had been her first big fictional crush back when LOTR had come out. Of course, some of his hotness was diminished now by the sneering anger on his face as he stared Thorin down - and he no longer seemed to quite measure up to Fili.
Thorin looked around, and seeing all of the elves surrounding them, lowered his sword. The other dwarves followed suit along with Lily and Alison herself. She sighed as she looked down at her sword before sheathing it for the moment. She'd have to see if Bilbo might be able to recover it later; she was really quite fond of it. Fili had just sheathed his swords next to her when a shout rang through the woods. "Help!"
Shit. In all the excitement, Alison had completely forgotten to keep an eye out for Kili, and he'd still ended up separated from the rest of them. Still, if Tauriel came to his aid like she was supposed to, he would be just fine, she reassured herself as Fili frantically called back, "Kili!"
He took a few running steps in the direction of Kili's shout, but came up short when an elf stepped closer, drawing his bow back a little bit farther, a threatening look on his face. Fili stood glaring at the elf for a moment, fists clenched, as they could hear crashing and shouting in the woods beyond. Alison hurried forward to Fili's side, suddenly worried that he might push things a bit too far, and grabbed his arm, nearly sagging in relief when she caught the faint sound of Tauriel's voice telling Kili she wouldn't give him a weapon.
"Fili," she whispered urgently in his ear, feeling how tense his arm was beneath her hand. "He's going to be okay, I promise." For now, at least.
To her relief, Fili relaxed at this, turning back towards her and letting her draw him back towards the middle of the circle. "Are you certain of that?" he murmured to her.
"Yes," Alison told him firmly, and as if to verify the truth of her words, Kili came back towards their group at that moment, walking reluctantly in front of Tauriel, who ushered him past the armed elves and back into the circle.
"Search them!" Legolas shouted from the head of the group as soon as Kili was back with them.
The elves, speaking Sindarin amongst themselves, began to divide up, some keeping their bows trained on all of them as the others began grabbing the dwarf nearest them and taking their weapons. Alison watched as Fili gave Kili a brief, hard hug and a quick once-over, Kili assuring him that he was fine, before Fili turned back to her, giving her a grateful smile.
Alison returned his smile, and was about to take his hand and squeeze it in reassurance, when elves approached the two of them. One of them went right to Fili and began rifling through his heavy coat, pulling out daggers while Fili smirked at him. The other grabbed Alison's sword-belt, yanking it off her. "Hey!" she exclaimed when the dark-haired elf reached back again, pulling at her cloak. "Relax! Here!" She pulled out the two daggers she'd gotten from Fili, one from the small of her back, the other from her right boot, and handed them to the elf. "This is all I have, I promise you."
She could see, out of the corner of her eye, Fili scowling in the direction of the elf that stood in front of her, but he relaxed when the elf seemed to take her word for it and walked away with her weapons. Alison was relieved, herself; she didn't really want some strange elf groping her. She could hear Legolas arguing with Gloin in the background, insulting his locket, as she turned her attention to the other elf searching Fili. She had to admit, she loved that cocky smile that had popped back up on his face as the elf continued pulling out dagger after dagger, though he sighed a little as one was pulled from an inside pocket of his coat. She had, in fact, discovered the location of all of his weapons as she'd promised herself during their stay at Beorn's (part of their skinny-dipping fun) and so she knew there were three more the elf had yet to discover.
She smiled as Fili opened his coat wide, giving the elf in front of him an innocent, 'all gone' look. The elf, clearly not buying it, pulled another dagger out from behind his head. After a few more seconds of searching, the elf pulled out one more from another inside pocket, before he apparently decided he was done, and walked away with the pile of Fili's weapons.
Fili came to her side, still smirking about his small victory of retaining one dagger for the moment, as he asked softly, "Are you all right? The spiders didn't hurt you, did they?"
"Other than that bite at the start, no. I'm fine," she reassured him softly. She actually felt pretty good, all things considered. She was a bit sore, of course, especially in her back where she'd been bitten, and her head ached a little, but it was clear. Whatever Mirkwood had done to her seemed to be gone completely, which was a vast relief, enough that she could ignore her thirst and hunger for now. "What about you?" she asked.
"Just fine, lass," he answered with a grin.
She smiled at him in reply, turning to look for Lily, and stiffened a little when she noticed Lily was heading to the front of the group, where Legolas was now checking the balance of Thorin's sword. Uh-oh. She moved forward to follow Lily, Fili close behind her, as Legolas demanded, "Where did you get this?"
"It was given to me," Thorin retorted coldly.
Legolas pointed the sword directly at him, his expression ice-cold. "Not just a thief, but a liar as well."
"He's not lying," Lily snapped, and Alison winced as all attention turned to her cousin. She'd been hoping not to draw too much attention to them; hard to know how this angrier version of Legolas would respond. It seemed it was too late for that, however, for Legolas was staring at Lily with shocked surprise.
Alison noted his gaze taking in Lily, then flashing to her where she'd stopped a few feet behind Lily, and realized that he must have been so focused on Thorin and the other dwarves that he hadn't noticed them in the middle until now. His gaze snapped back to Thorin. "What is this? You brought women with you? Are they even Dwarves? They do not look as goblin-like as the rest of you. Why are they here?"
"Shockingly enough, we can speak for ourselves," Alison put in dryly before Thorin could say anything. Go big or go home, she decided; since it was too late not to draw attention to them, she might as well join Lily in pissing Legolas off. His attention snapped back to her, his brows rising as a few of the dwarves chuckled and she went on, "For your information, we're half-dwarves, half-human. I'm Alison; this is my sister Lily. We asked to come along to help them on their journey. And we wanted to learn more about our dwarven heritage."
"And like I said, he's not lying about the sword," Lily added. "We found it in a troll-hoard during our journey, and Lord Elrond told him that it was Orcrist and he could keep it. So it might be a good idea for you to follow his wisdom, Legolas Greenleaf, and ease up on your hatred of dwarves."
Alison winced. Damn it, Lily! Her cousin must be either really pissed or distracted by something else, to have slipped up like that. She could only hope that Legolas wouldn't notice, but it seemed he had. He stepped closer to Lily, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "How do you know my name, half-Dwarf?"
Alison could see Lily's shoulders tense in front of her as she realized her mistake, but she quickly covered with, "I heard one of the other elves say it."
Alison was impressed by Lily's quick thinking, but it seemed Legolas didn't buy it; the suspicion did not disappear from his face as he said, "I do not recall any of the other elves speaking my name." When Lily didn't answer, he went on, "No matter. My father will know what to do with you two." He barked out something in Sindarin, and the elves began shoving the dwarves along, still keeping them tightly surrounded.
Alison grabbed Lily's arm, pulling her back into the centre, letting Thorin and Dwalin take the lead. Fili, Ori, and a few of the other dwarves gathered around her and Lily, keeping them in the centre, and Alison noticed Lily glance behind them and frown. Following her gaze, she saw that Kili was bringing up the rear along with Nori, and Tauriel was directly behind them in all her shining, red-headed beauty. Was that part of the problem between her and Kili? Alison wondered, in a startled moment of insight. Was Lily worried or jealous about what might happen between Tauriel and Kili? She'd have to find time to investigate that further when they had a moment alone. For now, though – "What were you thinking?" she hissed at her cousin.
Lily shrugged, still frowning. "I don't know," she muttered back. "I guess I was just pissed about Legolas being such an ass to Gloin and Thorin and the others that I didn't think. I'm sorry."
Alison sighed, putting an arm around her shoulders. "No, it's okay. Mistakes happen." She winced again, thinking of her own slip-up earlier. Fili had not mentioned it so far, and didn't seem to be acting odd around her, so she could only hope that Mirkwood had messed with his head so badly he didn't remember it. Otherwise, she'd have a lot of explaining to do if he chose to question her about it, and she didn't think she was ready for that. Lily's slip-up was minor in comparison, really. "We'll figure it out, don't worry."
Fili dropped back a little further so he was walking closely next to Alison, murmuring, "Did either of you see where Bilbo went? Bofur just noticed he isn't here. Is he all right?"
"He's fine," Lily whispered back. "Don't worry about him."
Mindful of the elves and the fact that they likely had sharp hearing, Alison pulled him even closer, breathing into his ear, "He'll be along later. He's going to help us get out."
Fili shot her a surprised glance at that, but nodded, relaxing even further at her words. He didn't move far from her side, however, as the elves took them through the twisting paths towards their home.
Fortunately, it didn't take long before they arrived at a stone bridge that led over a rushing river below, the bridge ending right in front of the door to the elves' palace. It was really quite beautiful, Alison noted, the archways carved into trees and twisting branches and vines, the walls a mix of grey and blue stone. The elves marched their party across the bridge, Legolas lingering at the end of the procession until they were all through the large double doors. Alison could just hear him calling something in Sindarin, before he slipped through and the doors clanged shut behind him. She just hoped that Bilbo had still managed to make it inside.
Once they were inside, Legolas barked out some more orders in Sindarin. Several of the elves grabbed the other dwarves and begin shuffling them toward a stairway leading down, Tauriel leading them, while a few elves grabbed Alison, Lily, and Thorin and begin hustling them along to a stairway leading up. As soon as the other dwarves realized what was happening, they began struggling and shouting protests, Fili and Kili especially. Several more elves ran to the aid of those guarding the dwarves, aiming weapons at them, and Fili yelled something in Khuzdul that sounded distinctly uncomplimentary.
"Don't, Fili!" Alison called back, feeling worry tighten her chest. She did not want him getting hurt by the elves because of her. "We'll be all right!" At least, she hoped they would. No matter how angry or suspicious Legolas was, she couldn't see him actually hurting them, especially when Thranduil didn't even harm Thorin in spite of their intense dislike of each other.
"We'll be fine!" Lily added, and that seemed to calm the dwarves down; they went without much further struggle, Alison saw with relief, though they still grumbled quite a bit.
Legolas cast them a speculative glance, but he didn't say anything, just kept leading them through the palace. It appeared to be a mixture of trees and stone, open and airy, with several separate floors connected by intertwining bridges and steep pathways. Alison followed the elf in front of her carefully, keeping a wary eye on the side of the pathway and the drop below.
Finally, they arrived at a twisting stairwell that led up to a balcony, where Thranduil sat in an immense throne atop yet more stairs. Like Legolas, he had shoulder-length white-blonde hair, and a very handsome face. His face, however, was set in even colder and more intimidating lines than his son's, and he wore a tall crown of branches, looking rather like antler horns mixed with red leaves. A set of almost metallic-looking, silvery robes topped it all off.
Legolas went right up to him and whispered something in his ear as the three of them were dragged forward to stand on the balcony below his throne. The elves guarding them moved back to the edge of the platform, and Alison watched as Legolas finished up whatever he was saying and moved to stand a few steps below Thranduil.
"I certainly did not expect to see Thorin, son of Thrain, in the company of two female half-breeds," Thranduil said at last, in cold, measured tones as he stared at them with narrowed eyes. "Perhaps you can explain to me, Thorin, what use they are to you on this quest of yours? Or how they knew my son's name?"
Thorin gave him a bland smile, his face otherwise expressionless. "They wished to know more of their dwarven heritage, and wanted to offer us their assistance in our travels. The eldest is a skilled healer, and the youngest a skilled cook and tailor. I simply saw no reason to turn away the additional help. As for your son's name, I believe Miss Lily already explained that she simply overheard it."
Oh, thank God, he's covering for us, Alison thought, doing her best to mask her relief and keep her face as expressionless as Thorin's. Of course, he probably didn't want Thranduil snatching up his seer, so he would have no more reason to reveal Lily's supposed abilities than they did. She just hoped that Thranduil would leave it at that.
Thranduil studied Thorin for a long moment. "Is that all it was? Well, perhaps you are right. Not all of the guards mark their speech as closely as they should, after all. But I still do not see how such minimal assistance enticed you to drag two women along with you. There must be another reason. Perhaps they play the whore for you and all your men?"
Alison couldn't help it; she snorted. "What, just the two of us for all of them? No thank you, that just sounds plain exhausting."
Lily covered her mouth to muffle a snort of laughter, and even Thorin's lips twitched a little at that before he straightened up and glared at Thranduil. "I would thank you not to insult their honour, or that of my men and myself by implying such a thing. Perhaps Elves would treat women travelling with them in such a low manner, but we Dwarves would not."
Wow, Alison thought, impressed. Not only was Thorin covering for them, but he was standing up for them, too. Maybe he was starting to like and accept them more than she'd realized. Thranduil looked seriously pissed at Thorin's comment, and even Legolas looked a little angry, but before either of them could say anything, Lily added, "Yes, all of the dwarves have been perfect gentlemen towards us."
Thranduil made a scornful noise at that, glaring down at them. "You expect me to believe that not a single one of them has touched either of you?"
"That depends on what you mean by touched," Alison said mildly, seeing Thorin shoot her a quick look out of the corner of her eye. She ignored it as she went on, "If by touched you mean a pat on the shoulder or a helping hand here or there, especially when we were training, then sure they have. But they've certainly never forced themselves on us or demanded that we 'play the whore' for them. So yes, they've been perfect gentlemen." Which was true enough; Fili had only ever done what she'd invited him to do, after all, and the others had treated her like a sister.
"So not even the blonde dwarf who watches you so closely has enjoyed your attentions?" Legolas asked quietly, looking right at her.
Alison saw everyone look to her at this, and she let out a sigh. Trust Legolas to have noticed that after he'd finally realized she and Lily were there. Well, if it satisfied their curiosity and made them stop digging for a deeper reason as to why they'd come along with the dwarves, she was happy enough to let them know. Better that than they found out about Lily's 'abilities'. "Oh, bloody hell, are all elves this nosy? Fine, yes. Lily here hasn't shared her bed with anyone, but I quite willingly and happily let the 'blonde dwarf', who incidentally is much better-looking than either of you, into mine. But he never touched me without my permission, so he's still a gentleman. Are we done with this now?"
Thranduil gave her a freezing glare before looking to Thorin. "You would allow such insolence?"
"She is not being insolent to me," Thorin replied, a slight smirk on his face that reminded Alison distinctly of Fili as he went on, "and considering the rather invasive nature of your questions, I think she is quite justified in her response. Besides which, we dwarves do not believe in stifling our women. And as she is my nephew's betrothed, she is to be treated with the respect due her station."
Alison just barely managed to control her shocked reaction and the automatic denial that wanted to spring to her lips; instead, she managed to make herself smile and nod tightly. She'd figured that Thorin had to know that she and Fili were sleeping together, since he wasn't an idiot, and had likely addressed it with Fili at some point, confirming that it was only a fling, or else he would have intervened by now. So she hadn't seen a problem with confessing to it in front of him, but she certainly hadn't expected him to claim that they were betrothed. He was likely trying to preserve her honour, she decided, or Fili's, in the eyes of the elves. Or both. Either way, she might as well play along with it for now; it would do no good for her to contradict him in front of Thranduil.
Thranduil stood up, eyes blazing with fury. "Well, if you refuse to correct her insolence, then I – " But he was interrupted by Legolas saying softly and firmly, "Father," before moving to his side once more and whispering something in his ear again. Alison let out a small breath of relief at that; she had luckily been right in assuming that even pre-LOTR Legolas wouldn't want to harm women.
The fury on Thranduil's face had only marginally lessened, but he gave his son a curt nod and sat down again. "My son is correct; it matters little in the larger scheme of things. We were correct in our assumptions that the women came along for another reason; so that your nephew might have his whore readily available." He gave Thorin a tight smile at this, as if daring him to say something, and then continued, "But perhaps they would be willing to confess what the true purpose of your journey is?" He fixed Alison and Lily with an intense stare once more.
"Why, I believe the purpose was to visit their kin in the Iron Hills," Lily answered with admirable innocence, turning to look at Thorin as if to confirm this. Alison nodded in agreement, doing her best to match Lily's innocent look.
Thranduil scoffed at this. "Surely you do not expect me to believe such a tale. It is far more likely that Thorin spun you a story of a noble quest to reclaim a homeland and slay a dragon." When neither Alison nor Lily replied, he stood and walked toward Thorin, who had placed himself slightly out in front of them now as if to capture Thranduil's attention. "I myself suspect a more prosaic motive. Attempted burglary. Or something of that ilk." He leaned down to look directly into Thorin's face at that, but Thorin simply stared back impassively.
Alison watched as Thranduil paced away again, continuing, "You have found a way in. You seek that which would bestow upon you the right to rule. The King's Jewel. The Arkenstone." Though Thorin had continued to meet the elf's gaze, at this he looked away, making Thranduil smile slightly in an eerie fashion. "It is precious to you beyond measure. I understand that. There are gems in the mountain that I too desire. White gems of pure starlight. I offer you my help." He bowed his head at this, closing his eyes briefly.
Thorin gave him a brief (and obviously false, to Alison's eyes) smile. "I am listening."
"I will let you and your dwarves go, including your nephew and his . . . betrothed," Thranduil added with faint scorn, "if you but return what is mine."
Thorin turned away at that, raising his eyebrows at Lily once his back was to Thranduil, and when she gave a minute shake of her head, he wandered to the edge of the platform. "A favour for a favour," he said mildly.
"You have my word," Thranduil replied smoothly. Alison didn't have to see Thorin's face to know the twisted smirk he gave at that as Thranduil finished, "One king to another."
"I would not trust Thranduil the great king to honour his word should the end of all days be upon us!" Thorin shouted, turning back around and pointing an accusing finger at Thranduil. "You, who lack all honour! I have seen how you treat your friends." Alison took a few cautious steps backwards, watching Legolas's impassive face as Thorin stalked toward his father, shouting, "We came to you once, starving, homeless, seeking your help. But you turned your back! You turned away from the suffering of my people and the inferno that destroyed us." He finished up with a phrase in Khuzdul that Alison didn't know, and didn't think she'd ever seen translated on the movie subtitles.
Thranduil got right up in Thorin's face at that, the cold fury in his eyes even worse than it had been earlier, making Alison shiver a little. "Do not talk to me of dragon fire. I know its wrath and ruin." He inhaled deeply, while the left side of his face seemed to dissolve away into a burned ruin of tendons and ligaments, his eye dead and cloudy white, reminding Alison distinctly of Two-Face as he bit out, "I have faced the great serpents of the North." He pulled back and the ruined flesh was suddenly gone as he began to pace back to the stairs leading up to his throne. "I warned your grandfather of what his greed would summon. But he would not listen. You are just like him. Legolas, take them below."
He waved his hand, and Legolas and the guards still remaining hurried to do as he said. Two elven guards grabbed Thorin by each arm, while one took Lily's arm, and Legolas himself took Alison by the arm as Thranduil added, "Stay here if you will and rot. A hundred years is a mere blink in the life of an Elf. I'm patient. I can wait."
The two guards with Thorin took the lead in dragging him down the stairs towards the dungeon, with Lily and her guard in the middle, and Alison and Legolas bringing up the rear. As they descended, Legolas said calmly, "We do not have quite enough cells to accommodate all of you. Thorin will be granted his own cell, but the two of you will have to share with one or more of the others. As we are not entirely unfeeling, we will allow you to select whomever you wish to stay with."
"I'll stay with Fili," Alison decided. She wanted to talk to him, to find out if her hallucination had been accurate, even though the thought of not being able to run away to think if need be made her nervous. Besides, she suspected it would look suspicious if she chose not to stay with her 'betrothed.' "The blonde dwarf," she added when Legolas didn't immediately reply.
"I had suspected you might wish to remain with him," Legolas replied evenly. "And yourself, Miss Lily?"
"I would like to stay with Ori," Lily said, not surprising Alison in the least; she'd guessed that Lily would continue to avoid Kili. She was definitely going to need to talk to her once they were out of here. "He is one of the younger dwarves; I will point him out when we are down there."
"Very well," was all Legolas said as they continued downwards. Once they reached the top level of the twisting, turning dungeon, one elf remained behind to shove Thorin into his cell across from Balin, while Legolas continued on with them down to the next level, ignoring Balin's brief conversation with Thorin and the Khuzdul phrase Thorin loudly shouted after him.
One of the elves took Lily over to the other side when she pointed out Ori, while another grabbed Alison's arm and steered her toward another cage, following after Legolas. Fili was waiting at the front of the cage, hands clasped around the decorative-looking bars, and looked relieved when he spotted her. "Amrâlimê!" he exclaimed. "Are you all right? Did they hurt you?" He shot a poisonous glare at Legolas, who returned it in kind.
"Stand back," Legolas told him curtly as he moved to unlock the cell door.
"I'm fine," Alison reassured him as Fili slowly backed up, glaring at Legolas all the while. "They didn't hurt me."
The elf that had a firm hold of her arm, as if to contradict her words, gave her a harsh shove as soon as the cell door was open, snapping out, "Here is your blonde dwarf, half-breed whore."
Caught off-guard, Alison stumbled and nearly fell, but Fili caught her before she did. Seeing the murderous glint in his eyes, she decided to lean on him much more heavily than she needed to as the door clanged shut behind her. She didn't want to give him a chance to take a swing at either elf, not knowing what they would do to him after that. "Don't listen to him," she hissed in his ear, feeling the rigidness of his body against hers.
Apparently choosing to ignore her, he straightened her up carefully as he growled over her shoulder, "How dare you speak to my – " He cut himself off, his body tensing further, and Alison shot a quick glance of surprise up to his face, wondering what he'd been about to say as he continued tightly, "to her that way! I see elves have no honour even when dealing with ladies."
"She is no – " began the dark-haired elf who'd shoved Alison, but Legolas held up a hand and snapped out something in Sindarin, causing the elf to subside and stalk away.
Legolas looked speculatively at them for a moment as Fili glared at him, keeping an arm around Alison, and she squeezed his tense arm lightly to reassure him. "My apologies," Legolas said at last. "That is not reflective of our typical treatment of female prisoners. I will see to it that it does not happen again."
"It had better not," Fili snarled.
Legolas didn't reply to that, merely walked away without further comment while Fili watched him go, his face tight with rage. He relaxed once no more elves were visible, and turned to Alison, who'd been watching him closely in turn.
What, she wondered, had he been about to call her? His what? Had he been about to use some Khuzdul word for lover, and decided not to in front of the elves? That was possible. He might have wanted to preserve her honour, especially after what the guard had said, just as Thorin had attempted to do. She didn't know what else he could have wanted to say, since he couldn't have known what Thorin said to Thranduil about them. Unless, her hallucinating brain had indeed been right about how he felt about her. If it had been, though, she had no idea why he wouldn't have said something before now. And she needed to ask, but she was afraid to. What if he had no idea what she was talking about? Or worse, what if he did and admitted that he loved her? She wasn't so sure she was ready to hear that answer, because she didn't know how she was going to deal with it just yet. Though her talk with Chris, or her hallucination, had calmed her down a good deal, the thought of having her heart broken once again was a little too terrifying to deal with. But she could take some time to think about it; if she recalled correctly, they'd be stuck in here for about a week, anyway.
Yes, she decided as she sent another reassuring smile to Fili, she'd wait for now, think about how best to handle it before she asked him. "What happened with the elves?" he asked, with scornful emphasis on 'elves' as she steered him over to the stone bench set into the wall, the only decoration in the bare stone cell. "I am relieved to hear they did not physically harm you, but clearly they have been insulting you."
"Well, what you just saw was the worst of it," Alison replied, before giving him an account of what had just happened in front of Thranduil's throne. She watched his face closely when she mentioned what his uncle had said about them being betrothed, but he was annoyingly expressionless. All she managed to catch was a flash of surprise in his eyes mixed with some other emotion, but she wasn't sure what it was. She could clearly see his anger during much of the rest of the story, though.
And when she'd finished, there was a bit of concern and worry on his face as he said hesitantly, "What they said about you . . . I hope that it did not cause you to regret our time together, or to believe that I do not respect you – "
"Fili," she interrupted him, squeezing his hand in hers, "of course not. I'm not about to regret my decision to have very enjoyable sex with you just because some prudish elves might disapprove of it. And I know you respect me; I can tell. Like I told them, you've never been anything but a perfect gentleman unless I asked otherwise." She gave him a wink at that, pleased when he smiled. "I just hope you don't regret any of it."
"Of course not!" Fili exclaimed, looking shocked. "I would never regret a single moment that we have spent together!"
Alison smiled, trying to ignore how warm his words made her feel. "Good, I'm glad to hear it. And I hope you don't mind that, when they gave me the choice, I asked to share a cell with you."
He shook his head, squeezing her hand in turn. "Not at all. I am pleased to have you with me. I only wish I could see Kili from here, as well."
"He's just fine," Alison told him. "The elves won't do anything to him." In fact, one elf in particular was likely being quite nice to him. She just wondered if Lily was indeed jealous of Tauriel, and if she had any reason to be, or if Kili's attention had already been fully captured before he ever met the female elf. If she was right about Lily's feelings – and she thought she might be – she hoped the latter was true.
Fili let out a long breath. "I am relieved to hear it. You said – " he lowered his voice – "that Bilbo will get us out? Has Lily seen that?"
Alison nodded, picking her words carefully but deciding to be as honest as she could be as she murmured, "She saw that the elves would capture us, but also that it was unfortunately the only way to go and still get there on time. But Bilbo will be able to get us out of here in about a week, so it will work out in the end."
Fili nodded thoughtfully, leaning back against the wall. "Well, if our burglar can get us out, we will simply take the time to rest, then. And while we are waiting, I did have a question for you."
"What is it?" Alison asked warily, feeling her heart thump a quick and nervous beat as she wondered just what he was about to ask. Whatever it was, she felt sure it was a question she was not ready to deal with.
Fili took a deep breath, turning sideways to face her on the bench as he said seriously, "I need to ask you about what you said in Mirkwood. Am I truly supposed to die?"