A year after the dwarves of Erebor had arrived in the Blue Mountains it happened. King Thror had gathered an army of heavily armed dwarves of Erebor and Ered Luin around him and surrounded the mountain. He had not involved Thrain or Thorin into his plans, for he knew that they had been against his plans to take over the Blue Mountains by force. Queen Runa had no choice but to surrender. The men of Duath could have taken up arms, but queen Runa was wise enough to not destroy her people by sending them into a futile fight. Her knights had tried to fight the attacking dwarves, but they had been too few. There was a horrible moment where Kili and Oda were standing opposite to each other, aiming their bows at one another. With a deep sigh Oda had lowered her bow. The dwarves had come as enemies, but Kili was still her friend and she could not losen her arrow on him. Instead she charged at Thror as he entered the throne room with a group of heavily armed dwarves. Before she could reach him, Thorin leaped between them and blocked her blow with his sword. Oda was a skilled fighter, but Thorin was stronger than her. Oda fought with two swords and blows were raining onto Thorin as he tried to protect his grandfather. The womans fury did not surprise him, but her honor and her loyalty did. The female knight fought for her sister although she had no chance to win.
Kili could not watch his uncle and his friend fight.
'Oda, please.' he called out hoarsely.
His voice deflected her and Thorin managed to blow the swords out of her hands. As she seemed to want to charge at him wit her bare hands he held the tip of his sword at her throat.
'I am sorry.' was all he said. His blue eyes looked at Oda with sympathy and Oda lowered her head.
The look of despair and defeat which she gave him burned deep into the dwarves minds. The dwarves of Erebor had conquered a new home for themselves, but had taken the home of the Duath in return. There was no celebrating that night.
Thror established a new reign, a reign which included Runa as the leader of the men still living in the Blue Mountains. The dwarf king was no fool, he knew that he needed people to work the fields and work the trade. He needed the men. The establishment of Runa as the leader of her people right below him as a king assured him at least some security. And he could always have an eye on Runa and her people. They would not rebel as long as they were treated well. But Thror was not trusting Runas sister Oda. She and the other six knights had fought the hardest as the dwarves had taken over the mountain and they were still under arms. The dwarf king did not trust the young woman who gave him an hateful glare everytime they met. But Thrors grandson, Thorin, has spoken for Oda and her knights to be spared. He had praised their skill as scouts and as fighters and asked for them to remain under arms. The sole condition was for them to give an oath never to raise their weapons against any dwarf of Erebor. Thror had seen the struggle in the knights eyes, but as Oda had given the oath the others had done so, too. With the submission of these seven knights Thror had taken rule over the Blue Mountains.
The evening after their submission the seven knights of the Duath met in the training area. They met openly, under the eyes of the dwarves to not make the impression of rebellion. Thorin and his brother Frerin had just finished their weapons training as Thorin overheard the knights speaking.
'I am so sorry.' Oda said with a hoarse voice. 'But I had no choice. This oath was the only way to ensure a peaceful life for our people. We should find a way to live aside of the dwarves - in peace.'
Most of the knights nodded, but Ours was furious. He was cursing and growling until Dago stepped aside of Oda.
'King Thror has betrayed us, but our queen and Oda have not.' he looked at Oda with a soft expression. 'Our loyalty is with our queen and Oda. Thats enough for me.'
Oda nodded at him thankfully and Thorin could not help but wonder if there was something going on between the normally silent knight and the princess. They were very different, Dago was tall and rough looking and he rarely spoke a word. Oda was beautiful, full of life and barely reached Dagos shoulders. Thorin felt a sting inside of him as he thought about Oda and the knight, but he could not tell why.
'It would mean alot to me - to us, Ours, if you would stay at our side.' Oda told Ours and lay a hand on his shoulder.
'Of course I will! I can´t let any of you fight alone, can I? You'll all fall apart without me! And if that means to stride around in the forests around this blasted mountain day and night then so be it!' Ours yelled at her, but the humor in his tone was clear. As he left he murmured quietly. 'Frigg is going to kill me.'
A few months after the dwarves of Erebor had taken over the Blue Mountains, bad news reached Thror. Fundin, father of Thrors advisor Balin and his brother Dwalin who commanded the kings royal guard, arrived with the survivors from Moria, the last mithril mine of the dwarves of Middle Earth. Moria had been taken by orcs from the Mount Gundabad.
Thror immediately gathered his warriors and sent messengers out to the Firebeards, Broadbeams, Ironfists, Stonefoots, Blacklocks, and Stiffbeards asking for help. An army of sixthousand dwarves set out to meet the orcs in Moria in a battle that should destroy many of the dwarven family lines in one single day.
Oda watched as Thror set out and with Thrain, Thorin, Frerin, Fundin, Balin, Dwalin and also Dis husband and five hundred dwarves of Erebor. The rest stayed behind to watch over the mountain. Oda saw Dis looking after her husband with tears in her eyes. Fili and Kili were at their mother side, beeing too young for battle. They had been disappointed as they were told that they had to stay behind, but Thorin and their father had insisted. Maybe, if they had known what had awaited them at the gates of Moria they would not have been so eager to go.
Oda sat by the fire in Dis home. After Dis husband had gone to battle under Thrors command Oda had gotten close to Kili again and with this, also to Dis and Fili. There were no hard feelings, for Oda knew that they had not supported Thror when he had taken over the Blue Mountains. And there were other reasons. Runa and Oda did not speak anymore, because Runa had tried to marry Oda off to a neighbouring kingdom to seal an alliance. Oda spend her days either with the other knights or with Dis, Fili and Kili. She had been there so often, that Dis had even given her Thorins room to stay in temporarily, until he came back. Oda had felt strange, sleeping in Thorins bed, on a mattress that still smelled like him. It was a pleasant smell, a mixture of woodland tobacco, musk and metal. This smell caused Oda to dream of Thorin in the first night she spent in his room. In her dreams she saw the handsome face, the braided beard, the long nose and the long raven black curls. But since their first encounter it had been his eyes which had impressed Oda the most. Two orbs of a deep and cold blue, with so much passion and emotion glowing inside of them. In the following morning she had been so sleepy that she almost burned the breakfast porrage. Dis had laughed quietly as Oda had cursed in Khuzdul, some of the few words she had caught from Fili and Kili.
A few days later Oda had asked Dis if Fili and Kili could accompany her and the knights on their patrols. They were bored to death and the worry about their male family members nearly drove them insane. The two young dwarves needed a task. With a heavy heart Dis agreed and Fili and Kili became part of the group of Duath knights who patrolled the woods around the mountain, hunting down everything that could pose a threat to the kingdom of dwarves and men. Fili and especially Kili were welcomed into the group of knights and especially Ours children liked the two dwarves. Fili, Kili and the twelve children drove Frigg mad at some days. The obvious peace between the knights of Duath and the royal family of the dwarves pacified the strained situation between the dwarves of Erebor and the men of Duath and slowly life in the Blue Mountains came back to normal. That was, until the surviving dwarves from the battle of Azanulbizar returned home.
Oda, the knights, Fili and Kili were on one of their patrols as they saw them. A small group of dwarves, heavily armoured and moving slowly. Fili and Kili rode towards them as fast as their ponies could carry them and called out for their father. Oda frowned as she watched the reunion. Over five hundred dwarves had set out for Moria, but this groups was barely a hundred dwarves strong. As Oda rode near, she could hear Fili and Kili sob and looked at the leader of the group, Thorin. She could see the blue orbs under the thick layers of dried blood and dirt. Blue eyes full of grief.