First things first – WOW! Since the last chapter we've reached 170,000 views, 900 reviews and 500 favourites – talk about milestones - that is just incredible! The numbers themselves (while amazing and INSANLEY large) aren't that important, what makes me so unbelievably happy is the fact that people have actually looked at this story that many times, and over 900 times people have taken the time out of their day to comment. Seriously, my heart soars every time I get an email with a follow, favourite or review, I am so glad and utterly amazed that you all like this story so much! Love you all! :)

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Chapter Forty Eight # The Fury of the Righteous #

It took a lot to make Nori angry.

Many things irritated him - Dori's fussing, Ori's unintentional emulation of Dori's fussing, being hungry, being too cold, being too hot...

However, it took a lot to make fury surge through his veins the way it did as he stared at the traitor's corpse. White hot rage was boiling inside of Nori, and despite what Dori always said about anger clouding your judgement, Nori's fury was making his mind as sharp as a blade. During the fight, the anger had been channelled into energy that had made his attack far more vicious, powerful and dangerous than usual and now it buzzed beneath his skin, ready to power his body once more.

It took a lot to make Nori angry but there was no better way of doing so than hurting his family. The thief knew all about the strange dynamics within the company – they were a family, though no one older than Ori would say so out of fear of being accused of being soft, or worse – wrong. Now Nori was being faced with the impossible truth that one of his family members had betrayed them and was now lying dead in a forest.

He took a step closer and then frowned, staring at the corpse and the defeated prince kneeling by it. Fíli had not made a move towards Dwalin since collapsing down his knees and howling in anger and pain, and everyone else was similarly frozen. Of course it was rather unsurprising that Bofur, who had a habit of freezing in the face of shock or grief, was standing as still as a statue with an absolutely stricken look on his face. The two elves looked angry, grieved and a little guilty – as well as incredibly awkward. Poor Kíli was leaning on Bilbo and trying to muffle the sound of his sobs while the hobbit tried to console him senselessly, his own eyes fixed on the body of their friend. Nori was not even sure if the sounds bubbling out of Bilbo's mouth were even words.

Nori himself continued to advance towards the body, his eyes narrowing as they fixed on the warrior's hands and the scars that covered them. Something was not quite right...

"You know I'm getting out of here, don't you?" Nori jeered, leaning against the bars of the tiny cell in Ered Luin.

Freezing on his way to the door, Dwalin turned and scowled at him. "You're not going anywhere, thief!"

"I reckon I'll be out of here in a week," Nori taunted, purposefully masking his annoyance at being caught with casual disinterest. Of all the dwarves in the Blue Mountains, Dwalin had to be the most infuriating and arrogant one of all, and Nori took a certain delight in irritating the stuck-up warrior. "Again."

"Oh?" Dwalin sneered disdainfully at him. "Do you think so?"

"Aye," Nori pulled the warrior's knife out of his pocket and threw it up into the air, catching the hilt in his palm and waving it tauntingly out of the bars of the prison. "Do you want this back?"

Dwalin turned a brilliant shade of red with fury "Why you-"

"I know, I know – I'm a dirty rotten scoundrel…" Nori rolled his eyes as the warrior snatched his knife back, easily dodging Dwalin's hand as it flew through the bars in an attempt to collide with his face. As the king's friend retracted his hand with a snarl, his wrist caught on the bars and it took him a brief moment to free himself.

That brief moment, however, was all it took for Nori to note the white scars that covered the back of his hand between his knuckles and the end of his arm. Boredom, irritation and a general dislike for the conceited dwarf who had thrown him in jail prompted Nori's next words.

"What did you do, have an accident in the forges?"

Dwalin paused for a moment in confusion, but when his eyes flickered down to his scarred hands the warrior did not sneer back. Instead his hand rocketed straight back through the bars, grabbing the front of Nori's shirt. The thief had not expected that and he grunted in pain as the warrior wrenched his arm back to smash Nori's face into the bars, leaning forward to snarl dangerously into his ear.

"You speak of it again and I will cut out your tongue, make no mistake of it!"

Nori recognised the change in Dwalin's tone from red anger to cold fury and hidden pain– he had struck a nerve with the scars, then. Slowly he nodded, his eyes focussed on Dwalin's other hand, which was clenching one of other bars. That hand was covered in scars as well, and as the warrior released the bar Nori caught a glimpse of the same scars cobwebbing faintly across his palms.

The warrior stormed away without another word, leaving Nori wondering how the dwarf had been burnt like that, why it made him so angry and how he was going to escape this time.

It had taken Nori a few weeks to discover that Dwalin had burnt his hands while caring for the son that the king's sister, Dís, had lost. At the time, Nori had felt a little guilty for his remark – it was hard to lose a child so close to your family, he was sure - but not guilty enough to truly bother him. Kíli had disappeared several years before he had moved to Ered Luin with his brothers and Nori had never known the boy. It was a shame, Nori had told himself, but things happen and there was nothing the thief could do about it anyway.

The scars had interested him ever since, though. Due to his old enmity with Dwalin, Nori had spent a considerable amount of time looking for the warrior's pressure points. Dwalin was a worthy nemesis who gave as good as he got, but as the quest had progressed enmity had given way for a begrudging alliance and – eventually – a strong friendship.

"That isn't Dwalin." Nori declared finally, feeling everyone's gaze turn to him. He knew that the others would put it down to denial, but that was not the case at all. "Look at his hands – those scars run up his arms more than Dwalin's do, an' they don't look that old."

A faint hope fluttered into Fíli's voice. "You mean…?"

Nori crouched down next to the corpse and lifted his head off of the floor, sagging in relief slightly and nodding. "That's not Dwalin – though they tried pretty hard to make it look like him."

"Oh, thank Mahal," Fíli breathed as Nori examined the stranger's face.

While the nose was undeniably similar to Dwalin's, the corpse's face was longer and his jaw was squarer than the dwarf they all knew and loved. The half-open eyes were the wrong colour and too far sunken into his head to be the son of Fundin's and at close inspection it transpired that the top of his head had been closely shaved to give the appearance of baldness and the tattoos had were nothing more than body paint – one was already smudging.

Grasper and Keeper were very real, however, and Nori wrenched the first axe off of the dwarf's back. "This is bad…"

"Do you think so?" Bilbo asked in rather high pitched voice as relief and confusion and a little fear ran through his veins.

"It makes sense, though." Nori decided aloud, ignoring the hobbit's sarcastic remark. "None of us thought Dwalin could ever hurt Kíli because he couldn't. But it also means that someone took Dwalin's axes and lived – so where is Dwalin?"

"Hopefully in Erebor without half a clue as to what's happening." Bofur volunteered, his voice shaking slightly.

"H-how, Nori?"

Nori looked up at Kíli, who wore the heart-breaking expression of one so hurt they could not dare to hope.

"How did they m-make it sound like Dwalin? Wh-why would they do that? It d-doesn't make sense!"

"It's not the hardest voice to put on, lad – they were probably trying to mess with your head." Nori manipulated his own voice into an accent similar to Dwalin's with very little effort to prove his point, instantly regretting it when the prince winced. He opened his mouth but Bofur cut him off with a look.

"What matters is that Dwalin didn't do anything," Bofur said firmly, putting his hand on the young dwarf's shoulder and waiting until Kíli looked him in the eyes. "We're going to find out exactly what happened and we're going to find out why, but all that matters right now is that you're safe, alright?"

Slowly Kíli nodded, several tears racing each other down his cheeks. "What do we do now?"

"Talk to Armless over there," Nori nodded towards the injured prisoner who was still blubbering like a babe. "Though if you don't want to-"

"I'll watch from here." Kíli mumbled, though he managed to sound firm despite the quiet, vulnerable tone to his voice.

Fíli sprang to his feet and wordlessly walked back into the cave Kíli had been held in, returning with a knife that Nori recognised as belonging to Dwalin. The grim, hateful expression on the gentle prince's face unnerved the thief slightly.

"Let's do it."

Bofur was the one to rip the gag out of the traitor's mouth and he was far from gentle.

"Argh!"

"Quit your moaning or I'll give you something to cry about," the miner's tone was as cold as steel. "Who are you?"

Despite the weeping and wailing the evil dwarf had commenced with his gag on, his mouth remained firmly closed as soon as the question had left Bofur's mouth and he glared up at them all fiercely.

"I suggest you answer his question," Fíli growled, the knife dancing around his fingers as he twirled it around with expert skill. "I will not hesitate to take another limb – but this time I will do it slowly, you son of a-"

"My name is Balder," the dwarf tried to make his voice cold, though it shook from what Nori sincerely hoped was fear and pain. "But I will tell you nothing more. There are many causes in this world worth dying for and ours is certainly one of them!"

"And what cause would that be?" Elrohir raised an eyebrow icily.

Balder's face turned bright red. "I don't answer to elf-filth!"

Fíli's left hand snapped across before Nori could blink, punching the traitor across the face so hard Balder spit out blood and teeth after he cried out in pain.

"You're lucky it wasn't his right hand," Nori observed coolly, noting the knife still clenched in his prince's other palm. "I think you'll find that you do answer to these elves – and they aren't that filthy."

Nori could have sworn that Fíli's lips twitched slightly at his offhand comment as he repeated the question. "What 'cause' do you speak of?"

"One that will see you dead in a gutter before you could ever defile the thrown of Erebor, and that is all I shall say!" Balder hissed.

Fíli's eyes narrowed and Kíli made a small noise of fear, causing his brother to growl viciously. "It will see you dead in a ditch first!"

"Perhaps, but I am one of many and my life matters little," Balder winced as he glanced at his stump of an arm.

"Thanks for the warning, then." Bofur grinned darkly.

"Who truly hired you?" Fíli demanded, tossing Dwalin's knife into the air. "What did you do to Dwalin?"

Balder smirked. "Nothing you can do to me would make me tell you that."

"Did you make a promise to your mama?" Bofur crooned sardonically as Fíli bristled in anger.

"Not at all," Balder smirked in satisfaction, looking at Fíli. "Take my other arm if you will. It will not hurt me as much as it hurts you to doubt your dear Dwalin."

"I don't think it's your arm he'd take – his mother is as fierce as they come and she'll have taught him to stab traitors somewhere very special." Nori added in a malicious grin of his own, pointedly looking down towards the dwarf's crotch for a second until all of the colour drained out of Balder's face. "Who hired you?"

Balder twitched for a moment. "We acted for the cause – no monetary incentive was needed."

"I don't believe you," Fíli accused immediately, hovering his knife directly in front of one of Balder's eyes. "How did you get Dwalin's weapons?"

"I do not know how they dealt with Dwalin – I was not in Erebor at the time. Perhaps they killed him, perhaps they just stole from him like Einar stole the plans, I don't know!" Balder snapped, going slightly cross-eyed to keep track of the knife.

"So Einar stole the plans?" Nori noted immediately, watching Balder's cheeks flush slightly. So he should not have revealed that, Nori thought. Interesting. Aloud, he said, "The plans for our journey? Which one's Einar?"

There was a moment of silence and then Kíli spoke up. "He was in the cave. He's dead."

"So you don't want Fíli to be on the throne – though I can't see why," Bofur began slowly. "Why did you take Kíli? What was the point in that?"

A look of quiet contemplation passed over Balder's face and he remained silent, smiling slightly to himself after a moment. "Why not?"

The smirk and the comment were too much for Fíli and he kicked the traitor in the groin with eye-watering ferocity, grabbing the dwarf's hair and wrenching his contorted face up to yell at him. "Why did you hurt my brother?"

"This-" Balder wheezed, wincing in pain. "Is why…you'd be…a terrible king! No…self-control…"

"I truly don't care what you think of my potential to rule," Fíli growled, pressing his knife against the traitor's neck. "Why did you hurt my brother?"

Balder clenched his teeth together and he refused to answer.

Almost silently, Beorn strode out from behind the caves in human form with Luno padding along at his heals, providing a distraction to the entire group. The moment his eyes fixed on Kíli, Luno wiggled and wagged his tail like a puppy, bounding up towards the young dwarf and nudging his hand affectionately. With a snarl, Fíli threw his fist into Balder's face once more before backing away powerfully to greet Beorn with a nod.

Kíli shivered at the cold expression Balder sent his way and turned his attention to the wolf cub leaning into his legs. His shaking hand reached out to fondle Luno's ears affectionately and for the first time in what felt like an age, a small smile twitched at the corners of his mouth as he mumbled. "Hello, Luno…"

Suddenly a though flickered through his mind and he looked up at Beorn, guilt at what had happened to the skin-changer's house pouring into his eyes.

Beorn smiled slightly. "It is good to see you safe, Kíli Baggins."

Kíli nodded gratefully and swallowed, though he could not bring himself to speak through his guilt and the fresh wave of pain that accompanied it.

The skin-changer seemed to understand and he turned his gaze to Balder. "So this is the only traitor left alive?"

"Aye," Bofur summarised everything they had learnt so far as Balder glowered at the lot of them, and when the miner had finished talking Beorn stared at dark haired prisoner.

"It matters not that he will speak no more. I will take him to Erebor, with the corpse of the one they used to fool us. I look forward to seeing the true Dwalin's reaction – I'm sure it will compensate for what they have done." Beorn said gravely, and Nori silently admitted that it was a sight he too would love to see. "Your kin may do with him as they will to get to the bottom of this plot."

"Thank you," Bofur nodded, and Beorn glared at the prisoner for a moment longer before turning his back on him and looking at the others.

"We found no other dwarves, though there were several signs of numerous scattered ponies so some may have escaped. Your own ponies are through those trees and they have calmed down significantly – none of them are harmed. I suggest that you ride quickly, I believe you have a secondary route, Master Baggins?"

Bilbo nodded quickly. "Yes, we did have a couple of routes planned in case something went wrong."

"Then I highly suggest you remain on your original course. If there were others and they do have your plans, they will expect you to change your route. However, I also suggest that you ride quick and hard and you do not delay until you are certain that you are safe." Beorn said gravely. "There are some supplies packed in my garden for you to take with you – the wolves will know to let you pass. I wish you the safest of travels home."

They all mumbled their thanks quickly and Beorn strode over to speak to Bilbo in a low voice. Even Kíli could not hear what the skin-changer said, but Bilbo's eyes widened, then softened, and then finally he nodded.

"Alright, yes… I shall make sure of it."

Beorn crouched down to Kíli's level for a moment. "Well, then, I am very glad that you are safe. Take care, young Kíli Baggins. I hope to see you again someday."

"You too," Kíli nodded, smiling as strongly as he could. "Thank you for everything. And I'm sorry about your house…"

Beorn sighed heavily. "Houses can be rebuilt. Burnt hearts are a little harder to fix, but you have everything you need to heal yourself."

Kíli's mouth popped open slightly but he closed it again without speaking, nodding slowly as Beorn smiled wryly and then bid farewell to the others. A couple of enormous wolves came prowling out of the woods and Kíli's eyes widened. He felt Bilbo stiffen beside him and suddenly remembered just how terrified Bilbo was of the creatures. While he did not think he could ever be scared of little Luno, he understood Bilbo's fear now – the wolves emerging from the shadows almost came up to Beorn's chest, and they towered above the dwarves and hobbit.

Without a word, Beorn lifted Balder into the air, ignoring his squalling and squirming, and draped him over the wolf's back, retrieving a length of rope and securing the traitor in place before tying the not-Dwalin corpse onto the back of the other wolf.

"His journey will be uncomfortable and unnerving," Beorn said with grim satisfaction, "And if he manages to shake his mount he will not run very far. Good luck, friends. I wish you a safer journey from here. Luno will accompany you back to the ponies."

If Kíli was not mistaken, Beorn glanced at Bilbo as he said that, but then the skin-changer was gone and the others were moving slowly towards the direction of the ponies.

Glancing at the two brown haired corpses that had been left abandoned on the floor, Kíli swallowed.

"Did you know their names?" Bilbo asked quietly, his arm around Kíli's shoulder's.

"I think they were called Dagr and Sindri." Kíli tried to add more but instead he just closed his eyes and tried to breathe.

It's over, it's over, it's alright, Dwalin does not want you dead, it's alright…

He repeated the mantra over and over in his mind but Kíli felt so broken, no matter how many times he assured himself that he was alright now. The fact that Dwalin was alive and did not hate him was wonderful – it brought as much relief as his rescue did, but if the dwarves' purpose had been to 'mess with his head', as Nori put it, they had certainly succeeded.

Kíli was traumatised, Kíli was shaken, Kíli was hurt.

But, a voice that sounded so much like Merry sang in his head. Kíli is alive. Kíli is safe. Kíli is healing.

"Kíli, let's go," Bilbo murmured gently, leading Kíli through the trees towards the ponies.

In his head, Kíli imagined Merry smiling as the voice continued to sing.

Kíli is loved.

Somehow those three words made him feel much better than the others did. Perhaps he was just an attention seeker, but knowing that he was loved – and that his loved ones were safe, for that matter – was far more important than knowing he was safe or healing.

Luno nudged his palm as if to let the young dwarf know that he was still there and then ran ahead through the trees, leading the way to the ponies, who were happily munching away on some grass.

It was fair to say that Kíli was rather dazed as he stared at the peaceful creatures and when Fíli murmured something quietly in Bilbo's ear Kíli did not notice until the hobbit nodded and let go of him.

"Come on, Kíli." Fíli looped his arm around Kíli's shoulder and steered him towards Vali, the older prince's pony. "You'll be riding with me today."

Kíli simply nodded dumbly and waited while Fíli mounted the pony, shivering slightly, though Kíli himself could not tell whether he shook from the bitter cold, the lingering pain or the haunting fear. As Bofur's pony trotted past something warm and comfortable fell onto Kíli's head and he reached up in soundless surprise, feeling the distinctive shape of the miner's beloved hat. Bofur simply winked at him from atop his pony and Kíli felt a lump grow in his throat.

"Come on, Kíli," Fíli murmured again, offering Kíli his hand.

The younger of the two brothers took the elder's hand and pulled himself up onto the pony in front of Fíli without a word. Instantly Fíli's arms wrapped protectively around Kíli and the dark haired prince felt even safer. He leant back against Fíli's chest, resting his head on his brother's shoulder.

"Fee?"

"Hmm?"

"Am I being too much of a damsel in distress?" Kíli murmured with a small smile.

"No," Fíli insisted in a whisper without a second's hesitation. "And if you were, no one would care, least of all me. Oh, I'm so glad you're safe…"

"Me too," Kíli whispered back, snuggling back into his brother's arms.

"I won't let them near you again, Kee," Fili mumbled, his arms shifting to hold Kili more comfortably. "No one will take you away again."

Kili smiled slightly. He knew that Fili would not be able to constantly protect him for every second of everyday, but his brother's promises made him feel so secure that he really did not care. "I know, Fee. I love you."

"I love you, too." Fili replied instantly. "I won't lose you again, alright?"

"Alright," Kili promised. "But you're not aloud to nearly die on me again, either."

Fili's smile was audible in his voice as he chuckled quietly. "I won't."

"Fee?"

"Yes?"

"If I went to sleep now..."

"Sleep, Kili," Fili ordered gently. "I'll keep you safe. I'll keep you safe this time."

Kili sighed softly, well aware that Fili's assurances were as much for his own benefit as they were for Kili's. Feeling warm and safe and loved, Kili let Bofur's hat slide down over his eyes as he slowly succumbed to exhaustion.

Bilbo smiled a bittersweet smile to himself as he watched Kíli doze off in Fíli's arms. Fíli had suggested that he ride with his brother in case Kíli fell asleep and tumbled off of his own pony but that was an excuse and Bilbo knew it well. He also knew that it would do Kíli a lot of good to ride with his brother, so he had agreed readily.

Now that Kíli was asleep, however, it was getting harder to conceal his own emotion. The hobbit stared pointedly ahead, refusing to let the stubborn tears fall from his eyes. In retaliation they clogged up his throat until they reached a stalemate – he would not let tears fall from his eyes and they would not let him talk.

This really was far too much for a simple hobbit from the Shire.

Why couldn't Kili's family been something nice and simple? Why couldn't the company have been a group of wandering merchants? Bilbo thought miserably. Why did they have to go and be royalty?

"Bilbo?"

The hobbit raised his eyebrows at Bofur, swallowing hard and praying that the dwarf did not ask him something he would have to answer aloud.

"How are you?" the miner asked seriously, his voice low and concerned.

Well, damn… Bilbo cleared his throat, his nose and mouth twitching as he tried to talk without sobbing. "I…I'm coping…"

"I wouldn't be," Bofur said gently, smiling sadly. "You don't have to be strong every second of everyday, you know."

"Yes I do," Bilbo whispered, angrily dashing a couple of conquering tears off of his cheeks and glancing at Kíli. "If he knew how…if he… I can't make him worse, Bofur! If he s-sees me upset or faltering he will feel guilty and hurt and I can't make it worse!"

Bofur nodded slowly, his eyes burning with pain for his friends. After a long moment he spoke. "He's not awake all the time."

Bilbo covered his mouth as a renegade sob shook through his body and burst from his lips and he shook his head. Twitching his pony's reigns slightly, Bofur rode a little closer to Bilbo, putting a hand on the hobbit's shoulder. At the simple gesture Bilbo broke, with sobs racking his body and tears flowing from his eyes so freely.

Everyone but Bofur made a point to look away as the hobbit cried bitterly and quietly with his sobs muffled by his hand, and the miner rode silently by his side until finally Bilbo regained control over himself.

"They hurt him, Bofur…" he moaned when he felt he could speak quietly. "They hurt him badly…"

"I know," Bofur's own voice sounded somewhat strangled for a moment before he summoned back his characteristic lilting optimism. "But we're going to heal him. You'll see."

Bilbo sniffed, furrowing his brow. "How are you always so hopeful?"

"It's simple," Bofur replied calmly. "The other option is giving into doubt and pain and fear and letting them control everything I do. Hope's a far better thing to focus on."

Bilbo swallowed, wiping his eyes and forcing composure back onto his face, glancing over his shoulder to ensure that Kíli was still asleep. Bofur's hat had slipped further down the young dwarf's face as he slept, probably due to the movement of the pony, and only his nose and partially open mouth were showing underneath the fur.

Even as Bilbo watched, Kíli's mouth twitched into a frown and he shifted in his brother's arms. The dark haired dwarf's fingers tightened around Fíli's arms and his back arched slightly as if he were in extreme discomfort but then he smiled softly and sighed, his head lolling back against Fíli's chest.

"We'll be alright," Bilbo smiled slightly as Fíli rested his chin on Kíli's head.

"Aye, that's the spirit." Bofur gave a small smile of his own. "I almost regret not going back, you know. I have a feeling it would be most satisfying to see what Dwalin does to that no good dirty rotten bastard – I doubt even Thorin will get a look in."

Bilbo snorted slightly, thinking of the fierce warrior and his fondness for Kíli with a fresh wave of relief that Dwalin had not betrayed them. "I think you may be right." A sudden, awful thought made its way into Bilbo's head and he frowned. "Bofur?"

"Aye?"

"You don't think…you don't think something has happened to Dwalin do you? Like Nori said, it's a little odd that they managed to get Grasper and Keeper without being killed, not to mention the knife Fíli has and the tattoos and scars all being accurate…"

Bofur shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know. I hope not…"

As Bilbo and Bofur both worried about the whereabouts of their friend, unbeknownst to them the rest of the company were doing the exact same thing within the relative safety of Erebor's walls, though there was less concern involved and far more caution.

Thorin knocked on the door of Dwalin's room, making eye contact with Balin as there was no reply. "Balin, I am not certain this is a good idea. You know what happened the last time I interrupted him when he was ill."

Balin gave Thorin that irritating look that made it seem as though the shorter dwarf was looking down his nose at the king. "When was the last time Dwalin was in bed for several days?"

"Dís thought I'd been kicked by a horse – I thought I'd been kicked by a horse!" Thorin grumbled as he pounded on the door once more, before yelling through the thick wood. "Dwalin! Get out here before I break the door down!"

"Well, you could have done with a little more tact," Balin wrinkled his nose. "Then and now."

Thorin raised an eyebrow at Balin. "This is Dwalin we are talking to. Tact would be of more use on a pack mule."

Several days ago, Dwalin had taken ill at dinner – much to the warrior's disgruntlement. Illness was very, very rare among dwarves and usually stemmed from infection or the like, but it was not unheard of. Some dwarves were prone to a certain type of sickness, for example Fíli had fainted often as a child and Thorin's grandfather had been unfortunately prone to food-poisoning, but others simply fell to the odd disease on occasion. Dwalin had complained of severe stomach pains and had taken a bottle of tonic from Óin before retiring early to his room. The next day when Balin had opened the door to ask if his brother had needed anything, a pillow had been thrown at his head and it had been made very clear that Dwalin would deal with sickness the way that Dwalin dealt with sickness – on his own in a very dark room.

Thorin smashed his fist against the door again, sighing heavily. "I am losing my patience, Dwalin!"

A furious but wordless moan came faintly from inside the room and Thorin rolled his eyes.

"Just open the door!"

"Perhaps he can't," Balin worried and Thorin could see the white haired dwarf's 'older brother' instincts kicking in.

With a short, irritated sigh, Thorin stepped away from the door for a moment. With trying to find out who had broken into his chambers over a week ago and trying to find out how to warn his nephews, as well as trying to run a struggling reborn kingdom, Thorin did not have time for this.

With one swift kick, Thorin smashed his foot into the door, but he staggered back unexpectedly and Balin sighed in exasperation. "We are not in Ered Luin now, Thorin. These doors will not break easily."

"Where is Nori when you need him?" Thorin growled, trying to think on how to pick a lock.

"We don't need him," Balin held up a single key and Thorin frowned.

"Why did you not tell me you had that sooner?"

Balin grinned slightly as he put the key in the lock. "You were going to kick something; I wanted to make sure it was the door and not me."

Thorin rolled his eyes at Balin's teasing and followed his chief advisor into the set of rooms. The king himself had little doubt that Dwalin was simply lazing around feeling sorry for himself. Striding straight towards Dwalin's bedchamber Thorin pushed open the door.

"Dwalin-"

Shock poured over Thorin like a bucket of cold water that had been dropped onto his head as he looked at the empty bed and the blood splattering the floor of Dwalin's room. A furious groan met his ears and he rushed around to the other side of the bed to see Dwalin tied and gagged on the floor, his eyes burning with rage.

"Balin!" Thorin called quickly, leaning down and grabbing a knife from his belt to free Dwalin. The warrior's hands had been tied together tightly and meticulously, but they had also been secured to the back leg of his bed while his feet had been tied to the front leg, effectively preventing him from escaping.

The moment his hands were free, Dwalin tore the mouth from his gag and growled viciously. "Oh, I am going to kill somebody, make no mistake of it!"

"What happened?" Thorin demanded, sawing at the ropes on Dwalin's legs as a shocked Balin entered the room.

"Some worthless filth poisoned my food," Dwalin smashed his fist into the bed in fury, his entire body trembling with rage. "When I woke the next morning they were in my room – there were three or four of them, I didn't really see – and they all had hoods over their faces. Of course I put up a damn good fight but I was still weak from their cursed potion and it wasn't a long struggle. The scum tied me up and told me it was them that had 'slipped me a little something' with dinner, the bastards! They took my axes, they took my knife!"

It was a testament to how fond Dwalin was of his weapons that he spoke of their theft as the greatest crime of all.

"Which knife?" Balin asked quickly. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Dwalin snarled. "It was my best hunting knife - the knife Fíli made for me."

"What is going on around here?" Thorin fumed, his shock and worry mutating into anger now it was clear that Dwalin was not harmed.

"There are some worthless, treacherous, dangerous scum in or around this mountain." Dwalin shook his head.

Thorin massaged his chin for a moment and prayed that Fíli and Kíli were safe. Little did he know that Beorn was charging for Erebor with two wolves, far faster than ponies could hope to ride, with news that would shake Thorin's word and make his current fury feel like a mild annoyance.

In under a week, Beorn would reach the Lonely Mountain, and King Thorin of Erebor would receive the first warning about the latest plot to steal his throne and sever his head.

Very well, I hope you all enjoyed that chapter, how's that for another major plot twist?

Yep, Dwalin's still a good guy – I did leave several major hints that several people picked up on – well done guys ;-)

On another note, I am very sorry but the next update may be a while. I'm down to my final month in school ever so there is a lot of stress and revision for me at the moment so rest assured that I'm not ignoring this story out of choice! Luckily, it will soon be over and I will have SO MUCH MORE TIME for writing which will be brilliant for me and you, but until then please bear with me if updates are a little sporadic. You've all been so amazing sticking with my crazy schedule (or lack thereof) so far and I am so grateful for it.

Thanks for reading, please leave a review if you can!