The engagement celebration was huge and the dwarves and men feasted heavily side by side. Thorin sat at a table with Runa and Ragnor and the dwarves of the council under the mountain. Oda sat down at the table with Dwalin, Fili, Kili, Dis, Garain, Gwain and Ours and his huge family. Thorins mouth had fallen open as he had seen Oda that night. She wore a ruby red dress which flowed around her curves as if she was born into it. Although the mountains mines skimmed silver and ore, Oda wore gold that night. Simple thin necklaces lay around her neck and she wore simple golden drops as earrings. The belt caressing her waist was also gold. Odas brown curls feel freely down her back, covering most of it down to her hips. The princess did not only attract the men that night, many dwarves turned around to look at the beautiful woman.

'I have never seen my sister dress like that before. You must have a good influence on her.' Runa turned to Thorin.

The dwarf king cocked an eyebrow at her. 'I beg you pardon?'

'Oda was always the wild one of us both. I was my fathers daughter who should inherit his throne one day and Oda was the son he wished for. A few years ago she would rather have died than dress like this.' Runa smirked. 'I guess she finally grew up.'

'Why should this be my influence?' Thorin asked her, now totally lost.

'You dwarves do not have much experience with women, do you?' Runa smiled softly. 'Oda dresses like this to provoke you, but also to show you that she might have other options if you are not interested. Look at the men and dwarves in this room. And now look how they look at her.'

'You have competition, my friend.' Ragnor popped in and smiled at his fiancée. 'Not in me, of course.'

Thorin frowned hearing Runas words. Oda had told his sister that she had fallen in love with him. Now Thorin wondered why she acted as if she wasn´t. Thorin felt a headache grow and grabbed his ale. He just did not understand women.

Meanwhile at the other table Oda watched Ours and his wife handle the twelve children. Twelve. Odas personal nightmare. She adored Ours children, but only because they were not her own. She admired Ours wife for the strength she had in raising all of them. Number seven came to Oda and sat on her lap.

'Aunt Oda, you look beautiful today.' he grinned. 'You look like a queen.'

'One day maybe she will be.' Frigg, Ours wife blinked at Oda and laughed at her frown. 'What did he do?'

Kili rolled his eyes at the turn of the conversation. He still had problems in getting the pictures of Oda and Thorin in bed out of his head. Frigg laughed as she saw the young dwarfs expression.

'Can we maybe talk about something else?' Oda muttered and got an accepting nod from Kili. Fili only smirked at his brother and stopped number three, a little girl of two years as she pulled his braids.

'Sure! Since we are in desperate need of a new subject, Frigg and I need a babysitter. We need some time alone again.' Ours grinned at his wife.

'No way! The result would be number thirteen!' Oda exclaimed and the whole table laughed at her shocked expression. Smiling at the happy couple Oda leaned back in her chair, wondering if one day she and Thorin would sit here surrounded by dwarflings. Thorin. Oda had only seen him as the feast was established and had not spoken to him since their fight. She was still mad at him for not involving her into his plans, but she also knew that this was nothing worth jeopardising what they had. Fili ripped her out of her dark thoughts.

'Would you accompany Kili and me to the market tomorrow?' he asked her. 'We haven´t done anything together since...well, since Kili ran out of your room because of...you know.' he grinned.

Oda smiled and chuckled as she remembered Kilis reaction. 'Yes, why not?'

The next days past swiftly. Runa was packing for her new life at Ragnors side and Oda was spending much time with Fili and Kili. Thorin was busy in the council and so a week past without Thorin and Oda even meeting.

Oda, Dwalin, Garain and Gwain accompanied Runa and Ragnor to the border and said goodbye. The two sisters hugged tightly and Runa smiled at Oda.

'Farewell, we will see each other again at the wedding.' Runa told her younger sister and looked her deep in the eye. 'You are the leader of our people now. Don´t forget that.'

Oda smiled at Runa and said her goodbye. Sadly she watched her sister ride away at the side of her love, into her new life. On their way back Oda was not concentrated and jumped as the four of them were attacked by hooded robbers. An arrow only missed her by inches and she cursed as she saw that they were heavily outnumbered. She heard Dwalin and the two human knights fight the attackers and charged at the man standing next to her. Dwalin had gotten of his pony, he still was a dwarf and fought standing on his feet. His warhammer swung around, sending many of his enemies into darkness. Oda used her legs to urge on the horse and swung her two swords at the attackers. She saw Gwain being hit by an arrown in his shoulder, but the young knight stayed on his horse and continued fighting. Oda suddenly saw five armed men charge at Dwalin. The dwarf stumbled at the sudden attack and managed to fight back three of them, but the fourth and fifth man managed to injure the captain of the mountains guard. Oda drove her horse into the pile of fighting men and tried to protect Dwalin as long as he needed to get back onto his feet.

'Stand up dwarf!' she yelled at him. 'No time for sleeping!'

Grumbling Dwalin came back onto his feet and attacked the remaining robbers. A few moments later the robbers had fled and the knights sighed in ease. Gwain was in pain and the road was not safe, they had to return as soon as possible.

'Oda!' Garain exclaimed. 'You are bleeding!'

Oda frowned and looked down her side. She had not even felt being hit, but there was a deep gash runinng down her right side which bleeded heavily. Before she could react she felt darkness surround her. Dwalin managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

Thorin was just leaving the mountain to visit his sister as he saw four riders approach the mountain. As he looked closer he could see that it were four horses, only two of them mounted. Worried he ran towards them and heard Dwalins voice cutting through the cold air.

'Oin! We need a healer right now! Gwain and Oda are hurt!' the dwarf yelled and Thorin could see that he was holding an unconscious Oda on his saddle. Thorin felt his knees buckle. Oda was bleeding from her side and she looked too pale. Together with Oin he rushed down to help the knights get off of the horse and pony. Thorin took Oda in his arms and held her tight.

'Its just a cut, its deep, but she´ll be fine.' Oin stated calmly. 'We need to make sure that it does not get infected.'

Oin gave the healers some instructions and started working on the shoulder in Gwains shoulder. Thorin carried Oda to the infirmary and growled at Dwalin.

'What happened?' he asked his captain of the guard.

'The little girl...Oda came to my aid.' Dwalin muttered. 'We were attacked by robbers and were outnumbered. I did not even see her get hit.' Dwalin had to admit it, he felt guilty. 'I am sorry, Thorin. I should have been more careful.'

In this moment Oda opened her eyes. 'Nonsense, dwarf. This was not your fault...am I flying?' in her delirium she did not realise that she lay in Thorins arms. The blood loss made her dizzy and she was happy as she felt a soft mattress beneath her. As she looked up her vision was blurry, but she could see blue eyes staring down at her. Blue eyes full of grief like the day she had looked at Thorin as he had returned from the Battle at Moria. Smiling weakly she lifted her hand and reached for Thorins face. The dwarf king took her hand and pressed it against his cheek. Relieved he felt that her fingers were warm, that was a good sign.

'Why are you looking so sad?' Oda whispered. 'I am here, its just a scratch.'

Thorin opened his mouth to answer, but then shot a glare at Dwalin who understood and left. Thorin did not hold Dwalin responsible for what happened, but he wanted to be alone with Oda for a while.

'I was worried. I can not stand the thought of losing you, Oda.' Thorin whispered hoarsely. 'I cannot live without my sunlight.'

'I am here, Thorin. I am with you. Nothing will change that.' Oda stated lovingly. 'Don´t be mad at Dwalin, he already feels guilty enough.' she added worried.

Thorin smiled at Oda, stroking a few streaks out of her face. 'You should sleep, we can talk tomorrow.'