A small caravan moved down the road to Erebor. A golden litter was carried by six dwarves and surrounded by heavily armed guards. On the litter sat an elven women, beautiful, pale and with red hair. Her eyes, formerly glowing with a fiery spirit and lust of life, were sad and she did not gaze upon the huge mountain which arose in front of her path. People walked beside her on the narrow road and some were looking at her with sympathy. She was the posession of the elven king Thranduil of Mirkwood, a mere guard, and now she was to become king Thorins concubine for political reasons. The fortyfirst to be exact. She was told that it was an high honor, that the king was a gentle and kind lover and that he treated his women well. But nevertheless tears fell down her face and onto her lap. Her heart was not free for this journey.

'Tauriel!' a young and brown haired dwarf ran towards the litter. It was Kili, the dwarf Tauriels heart belonged to. They had met on an archery contest and had fell in love instantly. Kili had been the only archer to keep up with Tauriel and he had shown no sign of hurt pride as Tauriel had won the contest in the end. Tauriel had no family, so Kili had asked king Thranduil for her hand in marriage. But king Thranduil had not blessed their love and in his cruelty he had sent Tauriel to become a dwarf kings concubine instead of a dwarf archers wife.

'I love you, Tauriel! Do you hear me? I will never forget you! Never!' Tauriels tears soiled her dress as she heard Kilis desperate cries fade behind the litter. The caravan disappeared inside the Lonely Mountain at sunset.

Today was Billas first day of tutoring. The hobbit tutor was nervous, but she had to keep her cool, for the dwarves would jump at her the second she showed any weakness. Fili welcomed her in class with the smug confidence of a dwarven crownprince.

'Good morning, mistress Baggins. May I gift you with a present before we start?' without waiting for her answer Fili clicked with his fingers and a servant rushed towards Billa, handing her a rolled up map of the dwarven territories of the north as big as Billa herself. As she rolled it open she saw a huge painting of king Thorins portrait smack in the middle of the map, staring at her with confident eyes, such as Filis. 'This is a map of our kingdom, with its heart, Erebor, ruled by king Thorin, whose strength and power reach everywhere!'

Frodo could not help but snicker at his mothers face and the words of the crownprince. Fili turned towards him and frowned. 'Whats so funny, son of teacher?'

'Son of teacher does not believe that son of king is correct. The kings power did never reach the Shire.' Frodo stated firmly.

'Frodo. Enough.' Billa scolded her son and she saw Filis glare.

'I apologise, mother.' Frodo said, but the matter was not settled.

'In Erebor, dwarves never apologise!' Fili exclaimed furiously. 'If you had a father he would have told you so!'

Before Billa could react Frodo had stood up and shoved Fili against the nearest desk.

'How dare you touch me?' Fili snarled.

'I am not touching you, I am shoving you!' Frodo snarled back and soon the boys were shouting and shoving each other.

Billa quickly tried to roll up the map which she was still holding, as the shouting became louder and the shoves got harder. She rolled and rolled and rolled until she gave up and tossed the map over her shoulder onto her own desk. She rushed towards her son who was struggling on the floor below Filis grasp. The other princes and princesses were standing around them, cheering for them to fight. In the chaos nobody noticed that princess Sigrid ran away towards the throne room.

Thorin had a severe headache. He had spent half the day in council already and the endless discussions tired and bored him. He wanted to go back to the treasury and relish in the sight of all his gold. Or sit in the throne room under the bright light of the arkenstone. Today, another concubine had arrived. A woman from the race of the elves. She was tall, athletic and beautiful, but Thorin did not care for her. Her eyes were dead and she looked down at her feet during the entire session. But he would do his duty and welcome her into his family. His other wives and concubines were happy in Erebor and he was sure that the she-elf would get used to live under the mountain. His thoughts were disrupted as princess Sigrid burst into the council and whispered into his ear. The councildwarves winced as they saw the kings eyes harden and bowed deeply as the king stood up to follow his youngest daughter out.

As Thorin reached the royal families wing, the tumult had already been turned down by Billa and Frodo was about to write down his punishment sentence onto a board. "Loyalty, honor and a willing heart are Erebors hope for the future." Thorin read and smiled as he remembered his words from the days before, just that he had said that Erebors dwarflings would be the hope of Erebors future. Billa had turned his words into a new context and Thorin liked it. Thorin looked at the hobbit closely. She was sitting at her desk, reading a book, while Frodo wrote and Fili stood beside his board, stubborn and with his arms crossed. Fili did not move one finger to write down his punishment and looked straight ahead with his head held high. Thorin knew his son. Fili would never start to write and Billa Baggins would spend the rest of her life waiting. But Thorin was curious to know what had caused this punishment from the hobbit at the first day of class. He strode towards Dis and asked his first wife.

'Our son insulted the memory of the hobbit boys father.' Dis told him. She was embarrassed about her sons behaviour and she silently gave the hobbit credit for punishing him for it, regardless his rank or his position. But she also knew that her sonw as one of the most stubborn dwarves in Middle Earth, right after his father of course. As she looked at her husband and king Dis saw an amused gleam in his eyes, one she had not seen for a vey long time. As Thorin told her what to do, Dis smiled knowingly.

Frodo had finished his thousand sentences two hours before midnight and was free to leave for his bed. Exhausted he looked at his mother and at the prince who had still not moved one bit.

'Will you come, mother?' Frodo asked Billa, who shook her head.

'I will not leave until prince Fili writes down his punishment.' Billa stated determinately.

Frodo frowned at Fili and let out a long sigh before he left for his bed. He knew that his mother would sit there all night and probably fall asleep over her book. A short moment after he left Dis and a dozen other wives came into the classroom with food and drinks and smiled at Billa who looked at the food angrily.

'I have not dismissed the prince from class, yet.' Billa said calmly, ready to face the first lady who surely tried to pamper her son.

'It is food for one person, or better say, one hobbit.' Dis stated firmly and supressed a grin as she saw Fili smug face disappear and being replaced by utter shock. 'The king sends his respects and hopes that you are pleased with the food he sent you.'

Billa was speechless for a while and stared at the plates of food standing in front of her. She had not eaten since the morning and she was incredibly hungry. But she could not eat until prince Fili also ate. It was just not right. But king Thorin had set a clear sign. He would take care for Billas wellbeeing over the wellbeeing of his son, who had rightfully received his punishment from the hobbit. Realising this, Fili grabbed the chalk and began to write. Dis blinked at Billa and left for her own chambers. She was glad that her son, for once, did not get his way.

Hours later, Billa sat down with Fili and shared her food with the young prince. Filis respect for Billa had grown during the day, for he had never before met a person whose stubborness matched his own. Well, a person who was not his own father.

'Tell me something about your people, prince Fili.' Billa asked the young dwarf. Today, she had realised that she knew only little about dwarves and she knew that she would never be able to teach them about the culture of the West if she knew nothing about their own. 'How do you live? Tell me more about Erebor, it is the sevenths and youngest of all dwarven kingdoms is it not?'

'The dwarves were made of stone, after the wish of Aule, who wanted to see others than elves and men to populate Middle Earth. Aule created six pairs of dwarves and Durin, the forefather of our kin. Its is told, that Durin, as well as the forefathers of the other dwarven lines, will be reborn various times in our kings and therefore my father, king Thorin, is seen as a goodlike ruler of our people. Aule created only six female dwarves to pair with six of the forefathers. Durin was to take a dwarf wife from every one of the other lines with every of his reincarnations. Today Durins Folks contains the blood of all dwarven lines and is the most powerful of all lines. Our house is the house of the Longbeards. There are also the Firebeards, Blacklocks, Stonefoots, Stiffbeards, Ironfists and Broadbeams. The Longbeards inhabited Khazad-dûm for the First Age. The Firebeards and Broadbeams inhabited Ered Luin and built Nogrod and Belegost. The Ironfists, Stiffbeards, Blacklocks and Stonefoots are to be found in the East. Dwarves also inhabit Gundabad, Ereth Mithrin, the Blue Mountains and the Ered Luin.' Fili explained to Billa, not forgetting that the hobbit heard this for the first time. 'The dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost are the only warriors who can stand their ground against the firedrakes who came to Middle Earth from the north. Even the elves were powerless against such power. Sauron, the dark lord, tried to enslave the dwarves with his seven rings of power, but the dwarven stubborness is far more powerful than Saurons magic. Dwarves held their wealth and riches above most, so that the other people of Middle Earth look upon us as greedy and ignorant, but remind yourself that we were the only ones to withstand Saurons magic. The dark lord despised dwarves for their resistance and got back three of the rings by force. The other four were destroyed by dragonfire. Us dwarves were the only ones who resisted the dark lords magic.'

'For what prize?' Billa asked curiously. 'Everyone has a weak point. Does the dwarven love for gold stand over their love to their partners. Or other people even? Do dwarves love anything else than their riches?'

It sounded like a horrible thing to ask to Billa, but Fili shook his head, for the question was normal in his eyes. 'Dwarves love their families, most of all their children. Dwarven parents take attacks on their children more serious than attacks on themselves. They defend their little ones with all their power, even if it would mean their own death. Same goes for the children. I would do anything to protect my father and he would also give his life for me.'

'Our children are our hope for the future.' Billa remembered Thorins words and felt the sincerity behind them.

'And what about your class system?' Billa asked, but their conversation was interrupted by a long, shrieking howl from the corridors.