Chapter Eighteen
Five years later
It was a big day in Erebor as a huge birthday celebration is the planning for the Prince and Princess of Erebor, and the entire kingdom is bustling. Dis and Neniel had spent the remainder of the day shopping for gifts and clothes for the twins. So it was Balin, Fili and Kili whom had taken up duty of watching over the twins while Dis and Neniel went shopping. Thorin had been extremely busy with his duties as King. And his meetings were excruciating annoying (to him that is).
"Your Majesty there is a group of rebellion dwarves whom have found out about the twins, and they are unhappy about it. They are plotting something, but we have no idea what they are plotting, or whom is leader the rabble." said an older dwarf named Roland. "Well then we must keep a look out on these dwarves, because if they are going to be a threat, I'm going to make sure no harm will come to anyone, especially my children!" said Thorin. And now this was going to be on his mind all day.
Finally the meetings have came to end, and Thorin felt ready to relax after a long morning and afternoon filled with meetings. He felt like he mind was ready to burst. Thorin retired to his chambers, as he sat by the hearth, smoking his pipe. Meanwhile, Fili and Kili ended up watching Frerin and Autumn. Kili was taking Frerin for a walk around the kingdom while, Fili and Autumn were busy reenacting one of Autumn's favorite bed time stories.
"Say, Mister Kili! Can we walk around in Dale! Adad always told us abut the town, and I always wanted to see it! Can we go, please, please, please?" said Frerin. "Not today, Frer. Maybe another day. Besides your father wants you here, you'll be having lessons in another couple hours." said Kili. "What about the Mines? Can you take me to see the mines and forges?" asked Frerin. "Frerin, you are way too young to be down there! Its too dangerous for you! Bad idea!" said Kili, firmly.
"Oh come on, Mister Kili! Where's your sense of adventure?! I wanna see the mines!" snapped the dark haired dwarfling. "I said the answer is no, Frerin! No means no!" said Kili, folding his arms across his chest. "Well, I'm going to tell Dad that you've been walking around wearing that she-elf's undergarments!" snapped Frerin. Kili scowled. "Fine. We'll go-Frerin! Hey Frerin! Wait up!" called out Kili.
It was too late, Frerin was already running ahead of him with excitement. Meanwhile, Dis and Neniel returned from shopping, and they first went to the children's room. "Where's Kili and Frerin?" asked Dis. "Kili took Frerin for a walk. They should be back here shortly." said Fili. "Having fun?" asked Neniel. "Yeah! We're playing dollies! Mister Fili is playing Prince and I'm Princess, and here's our lucky horses James and Luka!" beamed Autumn holding up her toy ponies.
Neniel laughed. "Fili even played his fiddle for me and we danced and he taught me a new song!" said Autumn. "What song?" asked Dis. "Blunt the Knives, bend the folks-that's what Bilbo Baggins hates!" sang Autumn. Both Dis and Neniel burst into laughter. "I'm sure Bilbo would like hearing that too, when he's coming for a visit." said Neniel. "Mister Bilbo's visiting?!" exclaimed Autumn, with excitement. "Yes he is. He's planning to stay a while too." said Neniel. "Hurray!" chirped Autumn as she danced around the room.
Two hours later, there was no sign of Kili or Frerin. "What has taken those two so long? The birthday feast is going to be in two more hours!" said Neniel, as she paced back and forth in the King's chambers. Even Thorin felt concerned.
And Thorin decided to send for Balin and Dwalin to go look for Kili and Frerin. Thorin waited in the corridors for any signs of the dwarves. When suddenly he noticed Balin and Dwalin running towards Thorin, followed by Bofur. "We found them!" cried out Dwalin. "What's going on? Where are Kili and Frer?" asked Thorin. "They're trapped in the mines, Thorin. We came to you so you can help us rescue them!" said Dwalin. Thorin's eyes widened. "Okay, lets go rescue them. Oin, you're coming as well!" said Thorin. Oin nodded. "And Balin, go and tell Neniel and Dis the news." said Thorin. Balin nodded, as he headed towards the Great Hall.
Balin entered the Great Hall, where he found Dis, Tauriel and Neniel talking nearby the large great hearth. "Ladies, we got a situation!" spoke up Balin. "What's going on?" asked Dis. "Kili and Frerin got trapped in the mines!" said Balin, gravely. "WHAT?!" exclaimed all three women, standing up. "Where are they now?!" asked Neniel. "Thorin and the others are rescuing them now as we speak." Balin replied. An hour later, Thorin returned, his face saddened. "Thorin?" asked Neniel. "Kili is okay, Frerin, however is badly injured." Thorin spoke up.
"How badly injured?" asked Neniel, sharply. "He's unconscious, and is not waking up!" said Thorin, sadly. Neniel clasped her mouth.
"Their birthday feast is less than an hour away! What are we going to do?" asked Dis. "We'll have to postpone the feast until Frerin is better." snarled Thorin, and he was about to leave the Great Hall. "Thorin, where are you going?" Dis called out. "I'm going have a long talk with your son, sister!" shouted Thorin, angrily as he stormed out of the chamber. Dis decided to follow him, because had a bad feeling this isn't going to end well, and she wanted to be there before things would get worse.
Neniel and Tauriel went to the healing chambers to stay with Frerin. Meanwhile, Thorin stormed into Kili's room. "What is your problem, Kili?! You were supposed to be watching FRERIN! Why did you let him go into the mines?! You know damn well he isn't allowed there!" barked the Dwarf King. "Uncle, I'm sorry, I told him no several times, he refused to listen to me! Uncle, I tried! I'm sorry!" shot back Kili. "Don't sorry me, Kili! I'm sick of your reckless behavior, and you call yourself a heir of Durin? You will no longer be near my children! Is that understood?!" barked Thorin.
"Thorin, you don't mean that?!" cried out Kili. "Not only that, I will strip you from the title as Heir!" growled Thorin, and he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
"Fine! Is that how you're going to be! Then I'm out of here!" shouted Kili, angrily, and he packed his belongings. He also knew Tauriel was here. After packing, he left his belongings in his room to come back to later after he went to find Tauriel. Kili stormed into the Great Hall. "Tauriel, may I speak with you alone?" asked Kili quickly. "Of course!" said Tauriel. And the two of them walked out of the Great Hall. "Tauriel, I want to live with you in Mirkwood." said Kili. "Kili, where is this coming from? I'm not sure King Thranduil will allow it." said Tauriel.
"Tauriel, I need to get out here. I'll explain along the way. And no one needs to know that I'm leaving." said Kili. "Kili, you should let your mother know too." said Tauriel. "My mother doesn't need to know as well. After all, I'm no longer a heir to the Throne." said Kili. "What are you talking like a madman, Kili? Of course you're an heir!" exclaimed Tauriel, feeling quite puzzled on what's going on. "Kili, what is going on?" asked Tauriel. "I really can't say." said Kili.
"Damn it, Kili, tell me what's going on!" snapped Tauriel, impatiently. And so Kili explained the harsh words Thorin barked at him. "Kili, you made a mistake, and your Uncle is in the wrong for speaking that way towards you. You tried to stop Frerin." said Tauriel.
"Well try explaining that to my Uncle." growled Kili. "Kili, Neniel needs to know of this, and so is Dis. We need to go and talk to them." said Tauriel. "No, Tauriel! They shouldn't know!" protested Kili. "Kili, this problem needs to be fixed before it gets any worse!" said Tauriel. "Tauriel, why can't we just leave?" said Kili. Tauriel turned to Kili, taking his hands. "Kili, running away from the issue is not going to solve anything. This problem has to be fixed, and you and Thorin need to work things out." said Tauriel. "Why do elves have to be so effing diplomatic?!" mumbled Kili.
"And why do dwarves have to be so damned bloody stubborn?!" shot back the red haired elf, as she grabbed Kili by the arm as they headed towards the healing chambers. When they entered Kili and Tauriel both wished to speak with Dis in private. "Frerin, you're awake!" exclaimed Kili before leaving the chambers. "I'm sorry, Kee. I should have listened you! I didn't mean to get you into trouble with adad-!" Frerin spoke softly. "Could you two wait a minute?" Kili asked Dis and Tauriel. The two of them nodded as Kili approached his cousin.
"Apology accepted, dear cousin but please don't let it happen again, okay? You promise?" said Kili, softly. "I promise." said Frerin, taking his cousin's hand.
"Kili?"
"Yes, Frer?"
"Papa doesn't hate you does he?" asked Frerin. "No, no. Your father doesn't hate me, I assure you. And he doesn't hate you either." said Kili. Kili's heart shattered hearing this words from Frerin. Maybe Tauriel is right, I should try and make amends with Uncle Thorin! Kili thought. "Now you get your rest, and keep your mother on her feet!" said Kili, grinning at Neniel. Neniel laughed, as Kili walked away and leaving the healing chambers, followed by Dis and Tauriel.
Kili explained the harsh words Thorin had bellowed at him earlier, and this angered Dis very much. "Kili, this isn't entirely your fault. You made a mistake, and you promised it wouldn't happen again. However your Uncle was a bit out of line when he spoke to you like that! You will keep your title! And I like to get my hands on my brother for speaking that harshly to you!" said Dis, and she walked away. "Woa, she is steaming mad." said Tauriel. "This isn't the first time either. She was angry at my Uncle for the longest time for bringing us on the quest." said Kili with a shrug.
It didn't take Dis long to find Thorin.
She found him of course, standing outside on the balcony, looking over the Mountain, and smoking his pipe. "Thorin, we need to talk. I didn't like how you handled Kili earlier about the situation with Frerin." spoke up Dis. "Dis, you don't understand! How could you defend Kili, when he shown lack of responsibility of MY SON?! Frerin would have died down there!" shouted Thorin. "Which doesn't mean you have to be so harsh on the lad, damn it!" Dis shouted back.
"What would you do in my situation, Dis?" snapped Thorin. "Thorin, I've been in the situation once, in fact YOU shouldn't talking because weren't you the one that was keeping an eye on Kili at Frerin's age, when he went into the YOUR FORGE? Allowing him to run amuck and getting hurt in the process?!" snapped Dis angrily. Thorin fell silent. She got me there, once again she wins this argument, Thorin thought. "Just because you are angry with Kili, doesn't mean you have to strip his title from him, which is WRONG! Kili is very upset about this, whole ordeal himself, and he feels bad, and you're making him feel worse than he is already! Its time you sit and have a calm talk with him. And if you don't! I WILL MAKE YOU!" hissed Dis, as she pointed her finger at the dwarf's chest.
"Alright, I will go and talk to him." said Thorin.
Thorin now felt bad for his harshness towards Kili, as Dis gave him a reality check on how Thorin handled the situation of allowing Kili running amuck in his forge when they lived in Ered Luin. It was just Thorin felt scared of losing Frerin. And with the birthday celebration and everything, it was a lot of pressure on the dwarf king. Later, Thorin caught up with Kili in his room, and they sat and talked. Thorin even reminded Kili the day at the forge in Ered Luin, when he made the same poor judgment as Kili had done.
"So that means I still have the title?" asked Kili "Yes." said Thorin. And the two of them embraced. Suddenly, Neniel entered the room. "Guess what, Frerin is recovering quickly, and he wishes to see the two of you!" said Neniel, smiling Kili grinned. "Come on, Uncle! Let's go see Frer!" said Kili. Thorin nodded as they left Kili's room.