Thorin and his company did not stay in the Shire for long. In only a few days they had realized that the adventurous character of both Bilbo and Frodo had made them outcasts in the hobbit's society. Frodo had his friends, Sam, Merry and Pippin who tried to divert his dark thoughts and torturing memories. But Bilbo was all alone. Thorin asked him to come to Gondor with him and his company and it did not take a lot of talking for Bilbo to agree. They would also take Merry and Pippin with them, but Frodo would stay in the Shire. He and Sam were inseperable and they would stand against the hostile and ignorant attitude of the other hobbits. Frodo was tired of travelling. He wanted to stay home and read his books and smoke in his garden. He was tired of adventures and Thorin could not blame him.

On a sunny spring day, the company of four dwarves and three hobbits rode for Gondor. Bilbo looked back one last time and smiled at his nephew, who stood at the gate of Bag End, waving and smiling. At least this time, his home would be waiting for him when he came back.

After half a day, both Thorin and Bilbo were ready to ride back and dump Kili, Merry and Pippin in the nearest river. The three younger ones were chatting and telling each other about their adventures and were exaggerating massively. Merry had fought three oliphants, Pippin had defeated hordes of orcs and Kili had protected both his uncle and his brother from the pale orc, Azog, while he had wooed the elven maid, Tauriel.

'This Touriel…' Pippin asked Kili.

'Tauriel, with an A.' Kili corrected him and made Bilbo smirk.

'Yes, as I said, Touriel….' Pippin continued and made Bilbo chuckle. That was Kilis punishment for always calling him Boggins. 'Is she pretty?'

'Of course she is pretty!' Kili seemed taken back. 'Worthy of a prince like me.' He added cheekily and blinked at Thorin who only rolled his eyes.

'I thought that dwarves preferred women with beards and…well…hair everywhere!' Pippin asked curiously. 'I for my taste find that extremely…odd, but at least we would never get in the way of each other as far as women are concerned.'

Merry rode alongside of his cousin and new friend and huffed. 'You remember that you caught the bride´s bouquet at Sams wedding, right? That means that you will be the next one to get married!'

'Catching flowers mean that one gets married next?' Kili frowned. 'Why?'

'Well….' Merry and Pippin looked at each other questioningly. 'Master Bilbo?'

Bilbo snorted and shook his head. 'It is an old custom, nothing more. And it does not mean anything….'

'Phewww….' Pippin seemed relieved. 'So….maybe we should start looking for a nice lass for uncle Bilbo? He is way older than we are and should not stay alone all his life, ey?'

Bilbo shook his head and sighed. 'Nope, no lass for me, dear cousin. Do not even think of it.'

'Didn´t you say that a princess accompanied you on your quest?' Pippin asked curiously and frowned as Thorin, Kili and Bilbo looked down all together. 'What? Bad topic?'

'Well….it had to be brought up sometime.' Bilbo sighed and looked at Thorin.

'I do not want to speak about it.' Thorin growled.

'Her, Thorin, not it.' Bilbo teased, but sighed as he saw Thorins expression. 'I get from the look on your face that she left?'

'We have not heard from her ever since she…well, yes, she left.' Kili quickly stopped talking as his uncle glared at him.

'Ehmmm…..was she pretty?' Pippin asked and despite the torturing memory, all dwarves and Bilbo had to smile.

Lord Elrond sighed and turned towards the dwarves. So much for his plan to keep his guest away from the unmannered dwarves.

'King Thorin, may I introduce a friend of my family, princess Kaya from the Northern realm.' Elrond smiled as he saw the look on Thorins nephews faces. The king was looking nothing but grumpy, as usual.

'King Thorin, master dwarves.' Kaya bowed and tucked the streaks of hair behind her ear, revealing the round tip. 'And yes, I am no elf.'

Lord Elrond and Arwen looked at each other and smiled. Sometimes, father and daughter needed no words. Silently they retreated to their rooms and left Kaya with the dwarves. As they were gone, Kaya cocked an eyebrow at Fili and Kili.

'You mistook me for an elf? That's even worse than mistaking me for a male!' she stated amused.

'Again?' Dwalin roared of laughter and slapped Kili on the shoulder. 'And, no offense, my lady. You do look like an elf.'

Thorin smirked as he saw the unhappy expression on Kayas face. 'I am neither tall, nor graceful, nor fair…..but I am sure that you agree, master dwarf, since you think that all elven beings are hairless and ugly.'

Kaya smirked as she saw Dwalins caught expression.

'Since when were you spying on us?' Thorin asked and stepped forward menacingly. But the princess of men did not back away.

'Since you arrived here.' Kaya grinned.

'What?' Dwalin growled. 'Are you a spy? Are you plotting against us and our quest?'

'I know only little about your quest, master dwarf.' Kaya frowned. 'But your journey will lead me past my home and I will have to return anyway.'

'Where is your home, lassie?' a smaller dwarf with white hair stepped forward. He had been standing behind Dwalin and Kaya had not seen him.

'The kingdom of the northern realm is my home.' Kaya told them. 'King Morg….was my father.'

'The norther realm is ruled by his queen now, isn´t it?' Balin asked kindly. 'Your mother? She is a fierce and strong ruler.'

'She is…..yes, she is….' Kaya sighed. She had wanted to say that her mother was proud and ignorant, but this was none of the dwarves business. 'Your path will lead you past my city. You could rest there and gather some I am sure that my mother would be thrilled to know me safe in the company of dwarves.'

'Our quest is an important one.' Thorin growled. 'I will not risk this quest for the protection of a princess.'

Thorin spat out the word princess as if he had a bad taste on his tongue. But instead of feeling insulted, Kaya smirked. 'I know that princes and kings only come to the princess´s aid in fairytales, master dwarves. Nevertheless,my offer stands. I will travel back to the northern realm tomorrow. You can come with me or travel on your own.'

With these words, Kaya turned around, but not after she had bowed before Thorin and had blinked at Fili and Kili.

'That girl is trouble.' Dwalin remarked and looked at his brother.

'Her mother holds an iron rule over her kingdom.' Balin told them. 'She is a powerful queen and maybe we should reconsider her offer. We will be in need of allies when we reclaim the mountain and I am sure that you will not ask the elves of Mirkwood?'

Balin looked at Thorin with a warm smile and waited for the king´s reply.

'No king, nor queen, will offer us an alliance without getting something in return.' Thorin mused.

'Well, Fili could always marry her.' Kili suggested and did not know how close he was to Kayas fate.

'I hate her!' Kaya growled and paced up and down the corridor outside of the great hall of Minas Tirith. Arwen sighed and looked at her friend in worry. The queen of Gondor had prevented that Kaya spilled wine over her sisters head in the last moment. The spoiled young princess and heir to the throne of the northern realm had made her older sister serve her from head to toe and had pointed out her downfall more than once in full public. At first, Kaya had ignored her, but as time passed she had not been able to ignore her sister's behavior anymore.

'She has no right to treat you like this.' Even the gentle Arwen was frowning. 'You are my courtlady and my friend. No servant. Besides, regardless your official title, you are a princess by bloodline. Nothing she will say will change that.'

'This is all my fault, really.' Kaya sighed. 'If I had gotten married like my mother wanted, none of this would have happened. I would be first in line to the throne and not this spoiled brat. And I would bring happiness and prosper to my people.'

'Would you have been happy if you had married a man chosen by your mother?' Arwen asked and expected her friend to shake her head. But Kaya did not.

'Maybe.' she whispered and left a shocked Arwen behind.

The next day, the delegation from Mirkwood arrived. Kaya watched as King Thranduil, prince Legolas and the captain of the guard, Tauriel, entered the throne room. Kaya had known Legolas since her birth and called him "uncle". As well as with Arwen, Kaya was bound to him in deep friendship. But she could not stand Legolas father. To Kaya, the elf lord was dishonorable and ignorant. He did not care for the fates of others, only for his own. She had never understood how he and Legolas could be father and son. Legolas must be all his mother Kaya mused. Tauriel was the only one who could not hide her surprise as she saw Kaya stand beside the queen of Gondor, clad in a simple maids dress. She frowned before she could regain control over her features. Kaya smiled at Tauriels reaction. The she-elf had always been too honest for her good. It was a miracle, that Thranduil had not thrown her out of the guard after she had abandoned him to follow the dwarves to Laketown. She had followed her heart and her conscience and Kaya held her in high respect. Of course, she would never tell her that. Tauriel and Kaya had fought each other several times. For some reason, the two warrior women would not bond, although they had so much in common.

'Kili!' Thorin yelled though the storm. They had left Rivendell in the morning and had walked right into a fight between stone giants in the Misty Mountains. The king of the dwarves had to watch as the stone giant with his nephew clinging to the rock fell against a stone wall and rolled down the abyss.

'Fili!' Kili yelled right behind him. If the situation would not be that dangerous, Thorin would have laughed. After all these years, he still mixed up his nephews. He rushed around the corner and sighed in relief as he spotted Fili and half of his company alive and well. But he did not see all of them.

'Where is Bilbo? Where is our burglar?' Bofur asked, panic in his voice.

The Halfling was hanging on the edge of the cliff, holding on for dear life. Ori and Bofur tried to reach him, but the hobbit slipped. Thorin did not think about it and came to the halflings aid. He hurled Bilbo up and slipped himself. If Dwalin would not have caught his arm, he would have fallen into the dark. Then the quest would have been over before it had really begun. Thorin was carrying the key to the secret door and he also had the map. In his anger and frustration he snapped at Bilbo and ignored his burglar´s hurt look. Lateron, he would regret his harsh words. After the escape from the goblin tunnels, Bilbo saved Thorins live by defending his unconscious body against Azog, the pale orc who had been hunting the company since they had left the Shire. The hobbits brave actions opened the kings eyes for the bravery and loyalty of people outside of his kin and he continued the journey more open minded and open hearted. At least until they reached Mirkwood.