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A/N: Thank you StephCalvino for saving this story!
One part rage, three parts love
"Open up the doors!" The first command of Eilin's life felt as terrifying to her as it was confusing to the guards that stood in front of Karunn's cell door.
They looked at each other uncertain of what to do for a few moments.
Dis grabbed her bicep in order to restrain her. Not that she had managed to do that successfully throughout their quick walk down to the dungeons. Eilin seemed to have been overtaken by an invisible force that Dis couldn't reckon with easily. "Be reasonable. Wait for Thorin."
Eilin pulled her arm free. "Not this time my lady. He will forestall me. Nay, he will deny me the closure I need with this woman and I will not be able to rest until I do this. I need to settle this between me and her once and for all. Her hatred had been spat on my face for years in the Ironhills. This isn't something that happened just lately. I need to face her!" -she turned to the guards and her tone was decisive- "Open the doors!"
The guards didn't move an inch.
Dis crossed her arms. "They listen only to the King my dear." She spoke stoically, as if addressing a stubborn child.
Eilin gritted her teeth irritated and her hands became small determined fists. "Open the door, this is an order from the Queen!"
Dis' mouth dropped open and the guards looked at each other one more time before turning towards the dainty creature with the determined voice that stood courageously in front of them. Knowing that the bump forming in her belly had been placed there by the King and this beautiful woman was in reality the future Queen Under the Mountain was enough to break their resolution. After a few long moments where Eilin was fighting the guards with her fiery eyes, against all odds they pulled back and opened the door for her.
Dis grabbed her forearm in terror, "don't go in there please."
Eilin's hand grasped hers and a small smile of reassurance came onto her well formed lips. "I need to do this, please allow me, my Lady. Don't become a new Thorin for me. Don't try to stop me."
Dis scrutinised her nervously for several moments and recognised the sincere need in Eilin's eyes. She felt her chest welling up and she swallowed heavily. "Fine, but I will come with you."
Eilin closed her eyes. "No please. If she sees you she will not speak to me as she would have wanted. This has to be between me and her my Lady."
Dis squeezed Eilin's hand firmly. "Forget it. I am not letting you go in there alone."
Eilin reciprocated the touch. "Trust in me please. Let me do this. Karunn will act like a lady if you come in. I want her to be free to express herself with me."
Dis hesitated. "No..."
"Can you remain outside for me? I'd feel secure knowing you are right outside the door. There are also guards here. Nothing will happen. We are just going to have a talk."
Dis licked her lips uncertain.
Eilin forced herself to smile. "The guards are going to protect me." The moment her eyes fell on them, they presented arms. Goosebumps rushed down her spine.
Dis gritted her teeth. "If I hear any noise I am busting the doors in with them. I am not giving you any more freedom than that."
Eilin nodded and squeezed Dis' hand gratefully. "Thank you for being so understanding my lady."
Dis gave her a curt nod. "Don't do anything that will endanger the baby, you hear?"
Eilin felt her throat constricting. "I would never do that my Lady."
Dis inclined her head after a few moments and pushed her in. "Thorin is going to kill me..."
A small sad smile broke on Eilin's mouth.
Dis' demeanour took a plunge. "Go...do it! Don't have any mercy for her!"
Eilin's perfect mouth scrounged in a grimace of pain. "Did she have mercy on me, Thorin or our child? She won't get any mercy from me." She then turned around and entered the cell.
Dis crossed her arms as the door closed behind Eilin. Then she started pacing outside nervously.
-.-
Eilin crossed her hands in front of her calmly. Karunn was sitting on a chair behind a table with her head bowed low, but the moment she heard the door opening she looked up. At first her gaze was confused and slightly fearful, but when she recognised Eilin it instantly became loathsome.
"The stable bitch..." she whispered with a low sinister voice.
Eilin inclined her head. "Indeed. The stable bitch..." her tone was quietly resolute. She didn't feel fear facing her old nemesis. A strange calmness had overtaken her from the moment she commanded the guards out of the way as the new Queen of Erebor.
"Did you come to delight in my dire state?" Karunn crossed her arms in front of her chest haughtily.
Eilin walked straight and proud and stopped in front of the desk. "I am not as mean spirited as you. I don't delight in anyone's pain. I came here to discuss with you..."
Karunn's lips tilted into a sarcastic smile. "What about darling?"
Eilin's brows lifted up to her forehead. "Darling? Since when are you using beloved appellations for me, even in such a caustic way?"
Karunn's face became coldly calculative. "Since when did you find a voice in order to make any discussions? I remember you struggling to look up from your torn boots, never mind stare a Lady in the eye and speak in this audacious manner."
Eilin's lips created a flatline of cold disapproval. "I met the right people who reminded me that I do have a voice."
The corner of Karunn's mouth lifted up in a lopsided smile. "Oh, indeed you met the right people and you took good advantage of them. You probably earned your voice as you were laying on your back and the King was buried between your thighs. Your first animalistic cries must have originated there. I cannot comprehend why he kept you next to him though. You've served your purpose by letting him blow off steam. That is the only thing you were worthy for..."
Eilin's mouth formed a patient smile. "That sounded a lot more jealous than you probably realised."
Karunn's face contorted in anger. "Jealous of whom? Of a stable bitch who had the luck to be fucked by the King of Erebor?"
Eilin stippled her fingers in front of her. "Oh, I am sure you are aware that we are engaged. You were there in the dining feast where the first official proposal took place."
Karunn's face paled.
Eilin nodded. "Of course you were. Hidden in the back. Away from the court of the princess by orders of the King."
Karunn's demeanour took a plunge.
"He really scolded you that day in the throne room, didn't he?" Eilin continued.
Karunn's nails scratched the table surface.
"His speech about self worth despite a person's fortune must have struck many nerves in you, didn't it?" Eilin teased calmly.
Karunn's remained quietly seething.
"You may have thought that you and him were alone, but the workers that were mending the statues heard and they were not as discreet to keep that scolding a secret. Now all of Erebor knows why you had a feud with the King. I don't doubt your family knows also." Eilin continued calmly.
Karunn did't reply, but her eyes threw daggers.
"What is it? Didn't your family approve of what you had done in order to get such a chastising from the King?" Eilin raised her brows.
Karunn swallowed heavily.
"I am sure they didn't approve, but I wonder if anyone ever told them why the King cornered you. They don't know that you pushed me against a wall and spat the worst degrading words in my face as you cut off my warrior braid, do they?" Eilin's face slowly began shifting with anger.
Karunn offered her a hateful smile.
Eilin scrounged her lips. "Did your mom give you another scolding for what happened with the King?"
Karuun's forearms flexed.
"Did you father perchance? The honourable Lord Fain who the King holds in such admiration?" Eilin continued.
Karunn paled and her bottom lip trembled slightly.
Eilin noticed. "Oh, that's what happened. Did your father ask why the King scolded you and you refused to reveal it?"
Karunn's gaze spewed fire.
Eilin nodded with great composure. "Of course you refused. Why would you reveal to the honourable Lord Fain such a despicable and unprovoked attack on a simple maiden, whose only crime was that she had earned the King's heart. Not stolen it -mind you- earned it with her true worth."
Karunn smiled mockingly. "You are so full of yourself, aren't you? The dung you were scooping from my stables is worth more than you!"
Eilin spoke over her. "I was never full of myself. It's actions like yours, that actually made me think better about myself. You tried to put me down, you tried to destroy my already poor self esteem but you managed the exact opposite."
Karunn's smile faded into a hateful expression.
"When did you decide to take your revenge against my husband I wonder..." Eilin's brows furrowed and she leaned close to the table.
"What revenge are you talking about you silly little tramp?" Karunn spat contemptuously at her.
"I remember you departed shortly after my husband scolded you. I was the one who helped Lady Valdis make your carriage. I remember your sister was very worried about your decision to leave Erebor unescorted..." Eilin frowned.
Karunn pressed her lips scornfully. "Where are you taking this?"
Eilin tilted her head. "I am taking exactly where you took it. Back at the Forsaken Inn..."
Karunn stood up so quickly her chair toppled over. She leaned over the table heaving. "What the hell..."
Eilin observed Karunn's face closely. "Do you think your arrest was a mistake?"
Karunn eyes filled with confusion. "Of course it was a mistake. I've been telling the guards. The minute I speak to the King everything will be cleared up."
"Oh, you have no idea yet, do you?" Eilin frowned.
Karunn's eyes thinned hatefully.
"You are still confident that no one has figured you out, aren't you?" -Eilin's brow filled with wrinkles of surprise- "I thought that you would have realised from the first moment why you got arrested."
Karunn raised her brow. "No one told me the reason! How did you know about the Forsaken Inn?"
"Surprise of all surprises, your scheme has been revealed..." Eilin pulled back calmly.
Karunn's lips pulled back to show her teeth. "What?!"
"Rhiannon made it out alive. She's under the protection of the Royal family. She exposed everything that happened at the Forsaken Inn and on the road..." Eilin trailed off trying to figure out what Karunn wanted to do at that moment. She looked in limbo, somewhere between becoming physical and fainting.
"And you think the King will believe the crazy mumblings of a whore instead of the words of a Lady?!" Karunn snapped and crashed her palm at the table.
Eilin shook her head. "You are not only vindictive to the point of madness, you are also delusional. The King is already taking testimonies about your connection to the Forsaken Inn and to Lord Nyrthrasir. About your scheme against his family and against the Royal family also. There are more witnesses than my friend Rhiannon and they are all speaking. The King is preparing to take through a trial."
Karunn's upper lip trembled and her hands grabbed the sides of the table. "You are lying..."
Eilin raised her brow. "You attacked me in the most cowardly manner that night in the corridors and cut off my braid. The King found out and gave you the once over, leaving your ego bleeding on the floor. Did you swear revenge on him for that day?"
Karunn pushed the table out of the way and it toppled to the side.
Eilin kept her ground and thrust her chin up proudly. "Did you promise to destroy the haughty King who degraded you and also me for gaining access to his heart? I wonder...did you ever see yourself in my place?"
Karunn took another menacing step towards her. "Shut up..." Her eyes fell on the bump on Eilin's belly.
Eilin tilted her head. "How could you have the misconception that someone as honourable, kind hearted, courageous and proud as the Mountain King would ever give someone like you a second look?"
Karunn moved closer to Eilin and her hands became tight fists. "Shut up or I will make you shut up once and for all, I swear in the name of the Maker..."
"You shouldn't take Mahal's holy name into your filthy mouth. You are the worst filth I have ever met. You didn't feel any remorse in using Lord Nyrthrasir against the King and me and you didn't feel any pain from causing his wife to abort. You stained my reputation to my future husband and you didn't care that you destroyed two families on your way to healing your bloody ego. I wouldn't be surprised if the evil that spawned you was born in the fires of Mount Doom from the beasts of hell themselves. I've never met anyone as cold hearted as you." Eilin hurled at her.
"I'll show you what I am capable of you filthy bitch! I'll kill you right now and rid the royal family of your dirty blood and of the damned baby in your soiled loins! The heir to the throne of Erebor...don't make me laugh. It's just a fucking interracial piece trash much like yourself and when the people realise they are going to throw you and your fucking bastard out of Erebor!" Karunn's eyes were full of wrath as she raised her hand and tried to strike Eilin.
Eilin grabbed her hand and stayed it with surprising strength for her size. She remained silent, but her eyes bore onto Karunn's. "Oh, you are jealous indeed." She realised with calm determination.
"You had the audacity to get into the King's bed and you deceived him with your pretty eyes and thin waist until his mind was gone. Thank Mahal he's no longer on the sacred throne of Erebor, because his mind is sadly overtaken by a whore! He would have taken us all down with him on a road of degradation and immorality!" Karunn tried to pull her hand free, but Eilin kept it steady.
"You are so selfish the idea of true love has never crossed your mind, has it?" -Eilin whispered- "Life for you is a constant game for power control. You cannot accept loss and you cannot feel for anyone else but you. That is why it's so easy for you to destroy people without shedding a tear of regret..."
Karunn hissed. "I've felt love and I've felt its betrayal you damned whore! Don't act so self righteous. I will get my revenge against all those who wronged me and I don't care if I do that against the very Gods that created us! I am entitled..."
"You are entitled to retribution for your crimes, nothing else in the eyes of the Gods and the people! That punishment will come soon from the King himself!" Eilin spat for the first time beginning to lose her patience.
Karunn pulled her hand free so quickly that Eilin lost her grip and instantly two freezing hands wrapped around her neck and began throttling the life out of her. "You come here acting all saintly and good, daring to talk to me as if you are some lady just because the King has been fucking you to oblivion..."
Eilin's small fingers tried to burrow under Karunn's iron grip as she tried to free herself.
"You worked as a bloody servant in a sleazy tavern, sleeping in torn clothing and having men raping you. Your body is stained, your soul is stained, your mind is broken! My family saved you from the wilderness and what's your gratitude? You enter the services of the Princess and slowly burrow your way into the King's bed. I must admit that you are much more clever than I have given you credit for. I tried to reveal the truth to them. I tried to tell them that the King deserved better, but no one was listening. You've stolen his poor mind! As for my idiotic sister. I never cared about her capturing Thorin's eye. If that happened I would have discarded of her also. It was me that should have been by his side. It was me that his eyes should have been looking at with such adoration. My body that he should have been revelling and kissing to ecstasy. It was my hair that should have bore his beads and my fingers his rings! King Oakenshield should have fallen in love with me, not a fucking stable whore!" Karunn squeezed Eilin's neck mercilessly.
Eilin's eyes began getting blurry. One hand released Karunn's iron grip on her throat and came down to protect her bump.
Karunn noticed. "And now you are pregnant you filthy whore! You carry his child in your dirty loins. The interracial filth that is supposed to be the heir of Erebor's throne...I will kill both you and it before he kills me...and I want to see your eyes as you suffocate slowly...look at me!" she cried in fury.
Eilin was at the point of fainting when suddenly the door of the cell was kicked open and a wave horrifying wrath swept over the environment, drawing Karunn's eyes away from Eilin's. Karunn released her throat a mere moment before Thorin's hand wrapped around hers and pushed her back to a column, lifting her up several inches from the ground. "Keep your hands away from my wife!" His deep voice grumbled and Karunn would have screeched in terror had his steely grip allowed her the air to do it.
Eilin kneeled down heavily and began coughing. Dis dropped next to Eilin full of tears and embraced her protectively. "I shouldn't have left you alone in here! I knew it!"
"Then why did you?!" Thorin directed his rage on his sister.
Dis looked up at him petrified, not knowing what to say. Eilin lifted her hand trying to gain his attention, but her throat felt too sore to speak. He turned viciously back at Karunn. "I swear to Mahal, today you have taken your last breath..." he hissed at her face and his fingers squeezed that fragile neck so much that he felt her nape crackling under the pressure. He was a breath away from snapping it like a twig.
Karunn's eyes popped out of her head and she gagged.
Balin came in quickly and wrapped his arms around Thorin's shoulders, trying to restraint him. "No laddie! Not like that! If you kill her like this you will have the Ironhills on your case! Do it the proper way around!"
Thorin reached behind him and grabbed Balin's tunic. He ripped him off his back and threw him several feet away to the floor with an ease that shocked Dis who was trying to help Eilin breathe again. After that small unwanted break Thorin turned his murderous eyes to Karunn again even though hers were closed tight. Her mouth was gasping in a futile effort to draw a breath and her small fingers were trying to get a grip on his that were wrapped around her whole neck like pincers of death. "You slurred the honour of my wife, almost killed her and my unborn child and cost the life of another unborn child. I won't rest until I see you dead..."
Her legs kicked, aiming at him hopelessly, but he was totally unaffected by her tries to get him. His lips almost touched her earlobe. "You dared to touch my wife...my child..." his whisper was darkly ominous. Karunn's hands fell limp on her side and saliva trickled down her chin and over the back of his hand. Her legs stopped kicking and her body began convulsing. Thorin's eyes had gained the frightening capacity they had when he was at war as he felt her dying under his hand and waves of pleasure rippled through his body. He was out for blood at that moment and nothing was able to stop him. Not Dis' desperate pleads or Balin's hands that tried to pull him away from Karunn's almost lifeless body. He felt and heard nothing. Nothing was able to pass through the blind fury that had overtaken him. Nothing except from one thing.
Her beloved melodic voice.
The same one that woke him up with that beautiful song when he was recovering from his deadly wounds. "My love?"
His lips parted and he felt his chest trembling from the adrenaline that had overflowed him.
"Let her live my love. Let her live to be judged by the people and by her family. Let her be judged for her crimes, please don't kill her." Her doting voice was still hoarse from Karunn's try to choke her.
He shook his head trying to clear the rage that had overtaken every logical process in his mind. "Pull back Eilin, I cannot vouch for my actions." he warned her.
Dis tried to pull her back. "Eilin don't approach him! He's dangerous right now!"
Eilin pulled free from Dis' grasp and kept her loving eyes on his face. "Not to me he isn't..." she whispered and came at a breathing distance from his heaving chest. She looked at his eyes that spat the very fires of hell onto Karunn's livid face. His teeth were gritted and beads of sweat had broken onto his forehead. She reached up and her fingers smoothed over his skin and tunnelled through his hair at the temples. He shuddered and she felt it. "I am here my love..." she said in a hushed tone. "I am alive. She didn't harm me...Don't fall down to her level. You are not a murderer..."
He closed his eyes and his lips parted. His hand remained immovable on Karunn's neck, stopping all blood flow to her brain, keeping her in limbo between life and death.
She wrapped her small arms around his back and leaned her head onto his chest, listening to his heart drumming under her ear. "She was unable to hurt me before and she was unable to do it now. Release her...You are blinded by anger and fear, but I am well. My love, you are so much better than this..." she said and gave the sweaty skin, that his half open tunic had revealed, a kiss.
His hand didn't move, but his head turned around until his nose was buried into her red mane, inhaling her scent deeply.
Eilin's hand sailed down his arm until she touched his stiff fingers. She felt Karunn's bodily fluids running down her wrist and tried not to gag. Keeping her eyes closed, one arm tightened around his waist and the other cupped his hand that was squeezing Karunn's life out of her body. "Let her be, please. I am here in front of you, my love. I am well, I am unharmed..." she repeated and placed a soft kiss of adoration onto his neck. She felt the hair on his body standing in attention and after a few terrifying moments where everyone was counting inwards Thorin's iron grip opened up to release Karunn who fell like a rag doll onto the floor senseless.
Eilin smiled and felt her heart exploding with her love for this man. His arms came down and enfolded onto her fiercely and then his mouth planted several fervent kisses on the top of her head.
She nodded, understanding his need to make sure about her well being. "I am well, I promise..." she said quietly.
Balin exhaled in relief and cupped his face. Dis stood up angrily and mumbled curses in Khuzdul under her breath as she tried to restraint her tears.
Thorin's fingers tunnelled through Eilin's hair and then they twisted painfully in his desperate need to make sure she was alright. He asked the question breathlessly into her wild mane. "Are your hurt?"
"I am not hurt at all, my heart..." she ran her palms firmly on his back.
"Our Little Gem, is it harmed?" his voice faltered.
She shook her head vigorously. "No, we're both well! Please don't worry..."
Thorin nodded and pressed her in his arms until he could feel his breath slowing down if only fractionally. Then slowly his fear about Eilin's safety abated, but his anger remained unwavering towards Karunn who was writhing on the floor close to his boots. He took several deep breaths of Eilin's comforting scent, feeling her thin frame pressed between his strong arms and her big belly pressing on his lower abdomen. He gave another kiss on her forehead and then his lips smoothed lovingly towards her ear.
She shuddered and squeezed her eyes tight.
"Now get the hell out of here before I take my anger out on you this time..." he spoke in a hushed tone.
"What?" She pulled back and opened her eyes.
He raised his brow. "Not a word...out!" he commanded angrily.
"Thorin...!" she wanted to complain at this sudden change of his demeanour.
"Out Eilin!" he pushed her away and his lips pressed decisively.
"Hey..." she exclaimed feeling suddenly at a loss. "Wait a minute!"
He turned to his sister with a cold countenance that confused Eilin even more, especially after that breathtaking hug he gave her a few moments ago. "Dis get my wife out of here, before I do anything I will regret in front of her!"
Dis stood up and quickly grabbed Eilin's elbow. "Come with me! Enough!" she cried.
"No, I am not leaving." Eilin spat at Dis, then when she turned to Thorin her eyes filled with tears- "What's gotten into you?! I told you I am fine!" she cried.
Thorin raised his brow and showed them the door. "Get her to my office..." -When his heavy glare fell on Eilin it stripped her of any resolution she may have had up till then- "You'll wait for me there! This isn't over..." his voice held a dark tone of warning.
Eilin tried to answer, but Balin stopped her this time. "Listen to him lassie. Just go..." he said with a meaningful stare that stopped Eilin in her tracks.
She inhaled sharply and her eyes tried to find Thorin's, but he was looking down at Karunn.
Dis pulled her again to the door and this time Eilin didn't resist. "Come with me. We've done enough to rattle the boat don't you think! Follow me!" The princess commanded.
Eilin had only one moment to look at his stiff shoulders as the door closed behind her.
Thorin paced in the dungeon like an enraged wild animal. Balin was looking at him going back and forth and didn't know what to do. Karunn was trying to get herself off the floor and each time she tried to speak she ended up choking so bad that rivers of saliva ran down her chin, staining her expensive dress.
"We need to get her up." Balin tried warily.
The King stopped pacing and looked outraged down at his pray. He gave his friend a sinister hiss with eyes that spewed fires.
Balin rubbed his forehead. "She needs to be able to listen to the accusations against her and to be able to comprehend them. It's the laws of the Elders. Your fury is blinding you right now. Killing her might clench your thirst for revenge now, but that's the way of the wilderness. The Mountain King must never act on rage. It's your words laddie, not mine."
Thorin's chest was heaving.
"It was your decision to do it properly, with all the typicalities of our laws. In front of her family. Now you cannot just do her in, while she is your prisoner. I don't like her one single bit, but under arrest she still has rights. If you step over them the Ironhills will come down on us like a tone of bricks. Do you wish to create such hell? Even Dain who is on the same page as you won't accept you choking her in this cell. Just please calm down and think rationally. You are more than able to do so, it's just that now you are blinded by rage. Eilin was not harmed, I repeat!" Balin tried to reason with him.
Thorin felt his hands trembling visibly and he crossed them behind his back, away from Balin's scrutinising gaze.
"Our laws and the witnesses you have give you every right to strip her down through our judicial system, in front of her family and your court. In front of common people even, if you decide to take this into a open trial. Killing her alone in her cell will cause your reputation irrevocable harm. Do not allow her to harm you after death also. Hasn't she done enough to you and Eilin already?" Balin continued.
Thorin's nose flared as his eyes fell with terrifying hatred on Karunn who was trying to stand up. She seemed dazed and unable to comprehend what had happened.
After a terrifying long silence, Thorin's dark whisper sent all of Balin's hair into attention when he spoke. "Pick her up..."
His advisor approached Karunn and helped her up silently.
When he saw her standing up again a low growl of loathing woke up from his chest and Balin cowered away. "Calm down Thorin. Breathe...Eilin is well, she was not harmed." he tried to speak quietly even though he was truly worried by the easiness with which the King had almost snapped Karunn's neck a few moments ago.
Thorin raised his hand at Balin. "Silence! Keep her up!" his voice echoed like a sharp whiplash.
Karunn screeched and tried to get away from Balin in order to hide.
Balin grabbed her forearm and pressed it tightly. "Don't fight. I'd stay still if I were you, okay?"
Karunn trembled and leaned her head back to the column. She covered her face with her hands, trying to avoid Thorin's fiery gaze.
"Why were your filthy hands around Eilin's neck?" the question came slithering darkly through the floor to her.
Balin tightened his teeth and his grip on her arms. Karunn shook her head, but the moment she opened her mouth to answer only a gag came out.
Thorin moved so quickly that both Balin and Karunn jerked away. He placed his hands next to her head and his long thick mane created a curtain around both their faces. "Why were your hands around my wife's neck!" he roared.
Karunn screeched and tried to pull away from him.
"Thorin, please see reason! Calm down!" Balin grumbled. He wanted Thorin away from this woman as quickly as possible. This was far from the always calm and calculated King that Balin knew. This was a man who was barely in control and that was dangerous.
Thorin's eyes bore into Karunn's until she was unable to look away. "I want to hear you say it..." he whispered with hatred.
Karunn remained frozen, trembling like a leaf.
"Say it!" the command slashed through the air like an arrow.
Balin averted his eyes and Karunn yelled in fear.
Thorin pushed away from her and his fist came down with such ferocity on the column a few inches from her cheek that she howled in terror and dropped to her knees. She grabbed her head and began rocking back and forth as pieces of stone and debris from the destroyed column fell on her head.
"You missed her face by a hair's inch! What the hell are you doing?!" Balin cried and pointed at the column that had collapsed from the point of impact and up completely.
"She's lucky then isn't she?!" Thorin brought his face down on Balin. His eyes were blazing.
Karunn knew without a doubt that this man was going to kill her. She gathered whatever courage she had left and bolted up with a cry of fury. "I demand to speak with the King!"
Thorin drew his sword so quickly that Balin missed it. He extended his arm and the sword stopped Karunn's advance violently. She fell on it with both hands and hissed at the deep cuts Orcrist created on her palms. She raised her bloodshot eyes to Thorin bewildered.
His brow lifted slowly. "You are speaking with the King..." his voice was alarmingly quiet.
An exhalation of defeat came out of her mouth and she pulled back cradling her bloody hands. "No...no...please...no", she stuttered with eyes full of dread.
Balin turned to Thorin who approached her with his sword raised. "You are slowly killing her laddie...for the sake of Erebor, please stop..."
Thorin swallowed through a tight throat and run the pointy end of his sword down her cheek until it poked her adam's apple. She inhaled sharply and raised both hands. "Me-rcy, ple-ase..."
The moments rolled by painfully slow with each heavy breath and suppressed groan that came from her heaving chest. No one dared to move. Not Balin who knew he could trigger Thorin's hand and send the sword through Karunn's neck with the simplest cause. Nor Karunn who didn't even dare to breathe as the sword was almost breaking through her skin. Neither Thorin who was counting his breaths internally trying desperately to calm down. After several edgy moments where Thorin was keyed up and ready to strike, it was the carefully counted words of Balin that made his head clear up if only slightly.
"Don't kill her...think of your child and your wife. Think of the crown and everything you have accomplished. Don't throw your brilliant legacy away for this filth...laddie please." Balin spoke with a hushed tone.
Thorin's cold stare never left Karunn's as his sword twisted slightly. Tremors of horror rushed down her body. Then as suddenly as he had drawn the sword out, he pulled it away from her. She inhaled sharply and squeezed her eyes tight.
The King's eyes bore down on her. "If my fist was aimed a little to the right and it would have landed on your face I wouldn't have felt any remorse. Hadn't it been for my unborn child I would strike you again and again until I could pull your merciless deceiving heart out of your throat. I would do it in order to feed my need for revenge if it wasn't for my wife who is expecting me to act honourably towards a beast that deserves only ruins. I missed your face for Eilin's sake, not because of the ethics my father raised me with." He spat in derision.
Karunn's knees unlocked and she fell onto the floor with a howl of despair.
Thorin sheathed his sword and looked at Balin as rivers of sweat run down his temples. "Tell her what she's accused of." He spat disgusted and turned around not wanting to look at her anymore. Even one look was enough to ignite his need for blood again.
Balin exhaled in relief and unrolled a parchment. "Lady Karunn, daughter of Lord Fain, maiden of the Ironhills, you are accused of the murder of an unborn child, attempted murder of the Queen, attempted murder of Lord Nyrthrasir, attempted murder of Rhiannon Cearrach, deception against the Royal family, deception against Lord Nyrthrasir's family and treason against the state."
Karunn bawled and grabbed her stomach as she doubled over. "No...no no! It's all lies! Everyone is a liar!"
Balin continued. "According to the laws of the Elders the punishment for your deception is having all your facial hair removed and being stripped of your titles. Your warrior braid is to be cut off."
Karunn punched her face with her bloody fists as tears run down her chin. "They are all liars...liars!"
"As your actions led to the murder of an unborn child you are found guilty of the biggest crime that could have been committed in Erebor. You are to be branded with the rune of the hunted and executed in the gallows forthwith."
Karunn grabbed her hair in despair as sobs raked her chest. "I want my mother! I need to speak to my father!"
"For the ultimate treason against the state, you are to be branded with the rune of treason and you shall be executed in the gallows forthwith." Balin continued unemotionally.
Karunn screamed and jumped on her feet with surprising agility. She fell onto Thorin and grabbed his waist. "Spare me please! Everything I did, I did it for you..." she sobbed.
Thorin's eyes thinned on her. "In order to take your revenge..."
"In order to show you that you deserve better..." -Karunn hissed and her fingers clawed his heavy belt hopelessly- "I didn't mean to cause all these deaths. I didn't mean to destroy all these families. I just wanted to make you understand."
"Make me understand what? You lied, you manipulated and you destroyed. You caused one woman to miscarry and another one came very close to doing the same. You lied, exploited and tried to kill a poor woman on the other side of Middle Earth just in order to play your evil little games. You got mingled and used the help of thieves, murderers and people of questionable ethics just to get your way." Thorin pulled away in disgust.
She fell on her hands and knees and exhaled. "You deserved better! Not that blinding whore who used to clean my horses! Your children should have been born out of a sacred clean womb of a proper dwarrowdam. Your holy blood shouldn't have been mingled with the dirty blood of an interracial bitch!"
Thorin gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. Balin's hand fell warm and heavy on his forearm stalling his two trembling fists from crashing Karunn down. "No, she's doing that on purpose. You shall remain calm!" Balin spoke steadily.
It took Thorin several moments to speak again. "You are sick..." he spat in revulsion.
"I don't care about your stable bitch, nor about my idiotic sister who wanted to get your attention and once she failed she turned her eyes to your nephew! I was always there in the shadows ready to show you exactly what you deserved, but you never looked at me! You fell in love with a whore instead of a lady! She bewitched your mind and now you have none left to see the truth!"
"I wouldn't have looked at you even if you were the last woman on Middle Earth..." he spat in a low tone of contempt.
Karunn's mouth curled up with hatred. "You should never underestimate a woman in scorn!" she spat.
He shook his head and his brow clouded. "You escaped my sword and my fist by a hair's inch today. Did you listen to the accusations that await for you in the trial?" Thorin tried hard to gain his composure back.
She swallowed but didn't speak. Sweat and saliva was running down her bosom and her bloody palms had stained her expensive dress.
"Did you understand them?" Thorin repeated and his eyes burned through her.
She gave him an imperceptible nod. "I did."
"Do you have any words to say in your defence?" Thorin raised his brow as his heart slowly began settling down.
Her eyes penetrated his with suppressed loathing. "I am sorry I failed to make you understand."
A curtain of coldness covered his eyes and his brow rose slowly. "Your fate has not been decided yet, but if there is to be a trial, it will behind closed doors. I still hold a lot of respect for your father."
"I wish to talk to him!" her eyes sparkled with a faint gleam of hope.
"Prisoners on a death sentence are not allowed any visits." Thorin rejoined gaining more and more control with each passing moment.
Karunn's bottom lip trembled and her eyes pooled with fresh tears of dismay. "You will kill me."
Thorin's lips remained a flat line of indifference and his eyes betrayed nothing.
"I want to avoid the trial!" -she said after a long moment- "Shave me, brand me and release me in exile. Don't kill me please. Don't make my family go through the torment of hearing all my crimes from the mouths of the witnesses in a trial."
"When did I ever give you a choice?" His eyes thinned in hostility.
"I know you have a heart of gold. All your people know that. You must have mercy on me. Whatever I did was for you, even though it might seem mean and evil. You have such grace. Offer some to me since you could never offer me your love." her voice broke and her eyes gazed at him hopefully.
Thorin's head tilted to the side. "Oh, so now I owe you."
She crawled on hands and knees and grabbed his boots. "You don't owe me anything, but I will owe you my life if you spare it! I will do everything to please you. I would do anything..."
"You will do everything to remain alive even though you have killed and maimed. Would you bow on your hands and knees and serve the Queen I wonder...the stable girl that used to clean your horses..." he let that image sink into Karunn's mind.
She gritted her teeth, but was unable to answer.
"Would you sleep in the stables cleaning her horses?" Thorin gazed down at her coldly.
Karunn remained fixed for several silent moments before pulling away with a hiss. "Never! Never for her! Do you hear me?!" -she raised her mad eyes to him and spat- "I'd rather die!"
Thorin engaged her furious gaze for several moments before looking at Balin. "Shave her and brand her." He commanded unemotionally.
Balin bowed to him as Karunn's wail of terror penetrated through the walls of her isolation and echoed into the huge dark caverns of the deepest dungeon's in Erebor.
Thorin closed the door behind him and soon enough Balin joined him. They sauntered in silent companionship until they reached ground floor. Only then did Balin feet safe enough to address the closed up countenance of his King. "What happened was truly intense. I feared you today laddie. Haven't seen you like this in ages."
Thorin hesitated for a moment. "Thank you for today."
"I am just relieved that you didn't kill her. That would have worked against you."
"I know," Thorin frowned.
Balin grasped Thorin's shoulder and stalled him. "I believe that if Eilin hadn't been there you would have killed Karunn. She was the one who truly calmed you down enough to listen to the rest of us."
Thorin's relatively calm countenance scowled at that memory. "If she hadn't been there I wouldn't have even come close to killing Karunn in the first place. Now that you reminded me of her... I still have unfinished business." He said and walked purposefully towards his office, not giving Balin another look. He walked quickly through the corridors until he reached his quarters and the guards instantly opened the doors for him. She was waiting for him there, sitting behind his desk. She looked up the moment he stormed into the office and crashed the door behind him.
"Wait!" she raised her hand.
He stopped in a whirlwind of fresh fury.
She stood up and rounded the desk. She walked slowly to him and his eyes got drawn to the bump on her stomach. His heart stopped for a moment before speeding up. He gazed up at her eyes feeling enraged at how easily she had endangered herself and their child today, without him being present to help her. She raised a finger and hooked it around his heavy belt. "You are angry at me..." she noted with a soft voice.
"Mad..." he grumbled feeling his hands trembling.
Her other hand came up and her palm pressed softly at his side. He inhaled sharply as it coasted around his ribs and found the roughness of the terrifying scar tissue on his stomach. There her fingers lingered and created small circles above his tunic, trying to feel the planes and meadows of his skin. "Remember how I used to take care of this wound for you?" she whispered.
"Don't play all innocent...you disobeyed me!" he snapped.
One hand opened up until her palm could press firmly on his scar and the other left his belt and sailed to the middle of his chest. She felt her throat drying out. "I miss those days so much..." she murmured.
He remained silent.
"I miss trying to apply Oin's treatment gently on your wound in order not to hurt you, while my fingers were frozen from anxiety..." she whispered and leaned down to gift the soft spot between his two clavicles a wet kiss that caused her core to warm up.
"This isn't helping. I am still mad at you..." he said, but his voice didn't sound as authoritative.
She nodded and her lips skimmed across his skin until they could place another hot kiss on the round muscle of his chest. "I am sorry for today..." she murmured and his stomach clenched.
"Don't try to snog your way out of this..." he warned, but his resolution was quickly backtracking with each soft touch of her fingers.
"What's wrong in wanting to be intimate with my husband?" she snuggled under his chin and her hands slithered around his waist and held him close.
His hand cupped the back of her head and his fingers entwined through her thick mane when her mouth opened up to gift him with another hotly lingering kiss at the base of his neck. "You endangered yourself and our child. That was unforgivable Eilin. What were you trying to do?" His lips may have parted in pleasure, but his brows were still twisted in anger.
Her impossibly soft lips gave him gentle nips that raised the hair on his arms and her small hands clutched his wide belt tight in order to keep him there. "I told you I needed that closure. You wouldn't have allowed me to have it Thorin. I kept asking you and you kept refusing." She spoke gently and between each sentence she provided him with another soft touch of her lips that was embellished by a quick taste from her tongue.
He exhaled in satisfaction when her mouth opened up hungrily to allow that playful tongue to deposit dozens of wet trails of heat up to his beard. "I am still angry at you, just so you'd know..." he whispered.
She smiled on his skin and her hands pulled him again from the belt until their bodies were flushed against each other. "I know, but..." -she murmured- "that doesn't mean I will stop kissing you."
"Don't ever endanger yourself and our child in this manner again. I am here to do that for both of you." He rejoined tenderly and his fingers twisted through her long locks. He pulled her head up until their lips engaged for a brief fiery moment. When he pulled back his eyes bore lovingly at her beautiful face.
She gave him a dazzling smile that sucked all the air out of his lungs. "My knight in shining armour..."
He frowned and his fingers took a fistful of her hair and clutched it tightly, offering her mild pain. "Don't jest!" His eyes gave her an angry warning.
She shook her head. "I am not jesting. I know you are there to protect us my love, but I needed to do what I did today. Please understand me. Karunn has been on my case ever since I arrived in the Ironhills. I needed to finish this with her."
He swallowed heavily. "You almost got killed in order to get your damned closure!" He felt his stomach dropping at the memory of Karunn's hand around Eilin's neck. Then in sudden realisation he released her hair and his hand came down to check on her neck. His fingers followed the red finger marks on it tenderly. His eyes teared up when his thumb rested on her abused skin.
"At least now I have it. Karunn would have never talked to me freely if Dis or you were in there with me. Please understand me." she closed her eyes, thoroughly enjoying his careful attentions on her bruised neck.
"I don't want anyone's hands on you..." he hissed and his upper lip revealed his teeth menacingly.
She bit her lower lip. "How about yours?" she teased.
He scowled at her. "Eilin enough..."
She giggled softly and her fingers slithered through the silver hair at his temples. "At your orders my King."
"Don't take on that attitude when we both know you are easy on disobeying me anyway." He raised his brow still feeling rather cross, but also thoroughly loved.
"Well, since I am your wife to be I might need to disobey you on some occasions from now on, don't you think?" She bit her lower lip playfully.
His brow clouded. "Not on occasions when your life is in danger. Be serious!" he chastised.
Her bottom lip pouted and she pulled him down until their noses were touching. "Please...please...please..calm down for me." Her whisper sent a whiff of her scent to him and he closed his eyes as parts of the tension on his back seemed to melt into the ground with each puff.
He allowed a deep exhalation to get of his chest.
She felt it and cooed him. "There you go...better?"
He settled his head on her shoulder and his lips captured her earlobe gently. He felt under his wide palms a strong shudder thundering through her spine. "How in the name of Mahal did you manage to get inside that cell?" he whispered.
She closed her eyes and her face twisted in delight. "I commanded the guards."
He frowned and pulled back in order to look at her. "What?"
She flicked her shoulders and cupped his cheeks lovingly. "I commanded the guards." She repeated calmly.
"They only listen to my commands," Thorin rejoined bewildered.
"I commanded them as the Queen of Erebor," she said timidly and her cheeks flushed crimson red.
His lips scrounged, but the question -what- got lodged into his throat this time. He remained looking at her lost, like a frozen statue with an expression that lingered between confusion and admiration.
She giggled and cupped her mouth. "By the expression on your face, I suppose I did well?"
His brows reached the top of his forehead and he shook his head slightly. "You did find the best way to command them, but your audacity almost cost us both dearly."
Her face fell at that and her hand caressed her bump protectively. "I know."
He felt his heart dropping and his hand sailed south and rested above hers. "We never risk your life and the life of our child. Never! The only life that will be at risk is mine, do you understand?" His rich voice echoed through her body.
She felt her eyes burning. "No Thorin. Don't speak like that, please..."
He spoke over her. "My life...not yours or our Little Gem's...do you understand?" he repeated rigorously.
She felt as if a hand squeezed her stomach tight and she embraced him fiercely. "I love you so much..."
His arms clutched onto her almost in desperation and his fingers tunnelled through her mane and brought her head protectively under his chin. "Khaz torak rar azamar*. If anything happens to you and our child, I will die."
Her arms secured around him. "Don't use such words, please."
"You can use them and I cannot? Don't be unfair Eilin. I can protect you from everyone in Middle Earth, but I cannot protect you from yourself when you decide to act irresponsibly."
"Don't chastise me please..." she whispered and pressed her cheek onto his chest.
"You acted unwisely towards yourself and our child. I cannot protect you when you are like that. Today I came down because Dis informed Balin before following you to the dungeons. She acted as carelessly as you and she will get a piece of my mind soon..." he continued his scolding, but his arms never released her from their fierce embrace.
"No, please don't! I begged her to allow me to enter. She didn't want to do it. She remained outside in order to help me." Eilin's voice was saturated with sadness and regret.
"That's not an excuse. She allowed you in Eilin. Both you and Dis acted recklessly...how can I protect you if you act this way?" his jawline tensed even at the thought of losing her.
"I promise that I will not act like that again, alright?" she smiled and her small arms clutched him lovingly.
He swallowed feeling uncertain and worried. After several moment where his heart began settling down he reluctantly pulled back. His fingers tucked some long red locks behind her ear and his eyes bore down to her heavy. "I can understand your need for closure. Maybe if I had respected it instead of trying to keep you from harm's way things would have been easier. That doesn't excuse what you did though."
"I know you wish to protect me against the whole world, but is that even possible?" she whispered after a long thoughtful pause where they simply adored each other with their eyes.
His fingers reached up and caressed her cheekbone. "I will protect you from the whole world if needed." There was no hesitation tainting his deep voice.
Her eyes overflowed with tears and she pulled him down. When their mouths engaged, their kiss was full of desperate longing that quickly hypnotised them. His hands enveloped her whole face and his exhalations of pleasure engulfed her, until her very suppressed libido started singing to him in a manner that his body could respond to very well. His hands left her face and grasped her hips as he picked her up and emptied her onto his desk. She opened up her thighs and he pushed against her soft curves with a groan of bliss. His teeth clashed against hers a couple of times before biting her upper lip possessively.
Her nails dug into his shoulders. "I like your rough side remember?" she whispered and her eyes looked at him through a glaze of lust.
"I am still angry at you," he hissed and opened up his mouth to devour her neck ravenously.
"I know." Her soft whimper of rapture echoed into his stomach and his hunger for her became almost unappeasable as his mind was chanting with a weak voice.
Stop...stop and breathe...the baby...stop...
And that was the only thing that made him stop with a groan of defeat to Eilin's utter frustration. "Not again, why?" she whined.
"Remember what Loa said for heaven's sake...Give me a break." He rested his forehead on her shoulder and tried to catch his breath.
"I've got no blood anymore and I am way into my pregnancy. I will ask her again because I cannot take this. I swear to you Thorin, I simply cannot take it." She gritted her teeth and her fingers twisted painfully through his mane.
"Me neither," he agreed and squeezed his eyes tight as he tried to calm down the fire that had erupted in his loins, in his heart and in his mind.
It took him a long long time to settle down. That night he was barely able to sleep next to her for two reasons. First because of the fear that he came so close to losing her again today and second because the wolfish need to appease his insatiable desire for her was tormenting his mind. It was like an itch he couldn't scratch that was driving him insane until the very early hours of dawn. Only then he managed to close his eyes and finally rest and even then his dreams were saturated with Eilin's essence.
A/N:
*our souls are forever joined.
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