King Fili sat in his study and re-read the letter from Rohan. King Eomer was requesting an embassy be sent to Rohan to discuss some matters of concern. Fili had an idea. As soon as he had read the letter, a plan had started to form in his mind. It could work, he thought, with a little planning.

Fili stretched his arms over his head.

"Hey, Kili," Fili called to his brother, who sat at his desk not far from Fili's. Kili's head jerked up. Fili chuckled. "Sorry to wake you."

"Reading these reports makes law study with Old Balin seem exciting," Kili rubbed his eyes.

"Hey, I liked law studies," Fili feigned hurt.

"What did you wake me for? I was having a very nice dream about Tauriel and we were,"

"I don't want to know," Fili interrupted. "I was going to ask if you want to go to the arena for a little one-on-one, after the council meeting."

"Yeah, that's be great. I feel like all I do these days is sit here and read dull reports on commerce." Kili stood and stretched. "So, which council are we meeting with today?"

"Miners," Fili answered. Normally, Fili didn't mind the meetings with the miners, but Bofur's death was still so recent, everything having to do with mining reminded Fili of his good friend, making him sad with loss.

"Well, let's get it over with," Kili said. They walked down the hall to the council room.

When Thorin had reclaimed the mountain, he did the impossible and raised Erebor from ruins to become the great kingdom that it is now. It had not been easy, though. Dwarven law required a council made up of members of all seven dwarf clans. All decisions had to be approved by them. If Thorin had simply been left alone to run Erebor as he saw fit, the restoration could have been finished in half the time. But, Thorin had done it and Erebor was, without a doubt, the greatest dwarf kingdom in Middle Earth, and my most people's accounts, Erebor was the greatest kingdom in Middle Earth, save Gondor.

Now Fili was ruler of the great kingdom.

When he had come to his title, Fili made many chances to the council, while remaining within the law. Thorin's council had been made up of high ranking lords from the seven families, as it was done of old. They were a non-working class group who cared more for equal treatment among the clans than what was best for Erebor.

Fili had gotten rid of those old lords and brought in younger, hard workers to make up his council.

All of the dwarf clans were still represented, but their focus was more on their trades and less on their status. Fili had also divided the council into smaller, more specialized groups. He saw no point in having the commerce representatives when all the meeting would be discussing were the mines. Once a month, a representative from each of the smaller councils would meet together so everyone could be brought up-to-date on the goings on of all the other councils.

The miners council was made up of dwarves who had spent a lifetime working the mines. These dwarves knew their stuff and words were not wasted on anything else that was not related to mining. Prince Torsten also attended these meetings as he was in charge of all the mines.

The council was waiting and they rose as Fili walked in, followed closely by Kili.

Fili sat down. "Good to see you all," he said.

"Begging your pardon, King Fili," one of the mine foreman said, "I just wanted to express my condolences at the death of Old Mister Bofur. He was a good dwarf. He taught me a lot about working the mines. He was the one who recommended me when the last foreman retired from his position. I was sorry to hear about his passing."

The others in the room nodded their heads and each commented about how Bofur had touched their lives. Fili was moved. Bofur, ever humble, was probably laughing at such praises about him.

The meeting went smoothly as all the mines were in good production and had had little problems over the past month, since their last meeting. Torsten had visited every mine and was able to confirm their productivity. When the meeting was done and all of the miners gone, Kili patted his son on the back.

"We're going to the arena. Want to come watch your old man best the king?" Kili asked.

Torsten laughed. "Yeah, sounds good."

When they arrived, Fili grabbed his practice swords that he always kept there. They were replicas of his own twin blades, but these were blunter and used only for practice matches. Kili had a sword of his own that was a replica of his sword. They removed their coats and tunics until they were down to their light undershirts. They put on a soft leather tunic that served as their armor during these practice runs.

Fili and Kili went to the middle of the arena and faced each other. Kili twirled his sword a few times and Fili slashed the air with his blades, getting the feel for them before they began. Torsten sat along the inside wall of the arena, where he would have a good view of the match.

The brothers circled each other for several moments before Fili made the first move. Kili easily blocked Fili's attack before taking a swing at Fili. The fight was on. Torsten watched, calling out to his father and cheering for both dwarves, depending on who had the upper hand.

Other dwarves wandered in and watched their king and prince. It was a pretty even match. They knew each other too well to really best the other. Kili's second son, Iomhar, joined his brother in the arena and watched.

"Remember when we use to be like that?" Torsten said, his voice filled with longing.

"What are you talking about? We still do that," Iomhar nodded his head out to the fight going on in the arena.

"It's not the same, though, is it?" Torsten asked.

"No, it's not the same."

They watched their father and uncle for several minutes. The crowd was cheering loudly.

"How's the training going with the new lads?" Torsten asked.

Iomhar was the head sword master as well as being the instructor of archery for the guard cadets. All dwarves went through weapons training to some degree. At the end of their training, a select few would be invited to advanced training, which would last about eight years. At the end of the training, they were offered positions in the Guard of Erebor. It was highly prestigious to be picked for the guard and if a dwarf showed enough loyalty, dedication and excelled at all forms of weapons, they were picked for the Royal Guard, who protected the King, the Prince and their families.

"It's the usual mix. Some of them can't shoot an arrow to save their life and some are quite good. They will all be excellent archers by the time I'm done training them," Iomhar said with a small degree of teasing as well as pride. It was true, though, every member of the Guard of Erebor were expert archers as well as being highly proficient in swords and axes.

Torsten grinned at his younger brother. He looked back to the fight. Kili and Fili were still going at it. Their hair dripped with sweat, but they were both still smiling and didn't look to be winded at all.

"Come on, Adad!" Torsten yelled.

Kili managed a swing that caught Fili off and Fili felt the blunt of Kili's sword in his hip. He lost his balance and was knocked over. Kili raised his arms in triumph and the crowd cheered wildly. Fili sat panting slightly on the ground while Kili enjoyed his moment. Finally, Kili reached a hand out and pulled Fili back to his feet.

"Good match, brother," Kili said.

"Good match," Fili slapped him on the back.

Torsten and Iomhar joined their father in the center of the arena, complementing them both on their form and favorite moves they had seen.

"Hey, Adad, Uncle, watch what Iomhar and I have started doing," Torsten said. He rolled his chair to the center of the ring and Iomhar stood a distance away, right in front of his brother. They both pulled out their swords, Torsten always kept his strapped to the back of his chair. Fili and Kili backed up to watch the young princes.

Iomhar swung at Torsten, who blocked the attack, perfectly. With a lighting fast movement, that Fili could only attribute to them being half elf, Torsten swung at his brother. Iomhar moved and Torsten expertly spun his chair with one hand, and still managed block anything Iomhar threw at him. For Torsten, it was more defense than attack, but Iomhar's sword couldn't get near Torsten. Torsten's shorter height, sitting in his chair, made it awkward for Iomhar to fight, giving Tor an unusual advantage. They went on for several minutes before they mutually quit the demonstration.

Fili was impressed and by the look on Kili's face, so was he.

"That was amazing, boys!" Kili slapped his boys on their backs. "Torsten, I didn't know your chair could move like that."

"Iomhar and I have been revising the design of the chair, making it easier to move and spin," Torsten proudly said.

Fili looked at Torsten's sword. The young princes had used their own real weapons for the demonstration rather than the blunter practice swords. "May I see your sword?" Fili asked.

Torsten handed it to his uncle. The sword was shorter than a normal sword. It was more along the length of the swords Fili used. It was also a much lighter blade than what Kili or Iomhar used.

"It's not as heavy as what I used to fight with," Torsten said as Fili handed the sword back. Torsten held the sword out and balanced it, feeling its familiar weight in his hand. "The shorter size and lighter weight makes it easy for me to use in my right hand, that way my left hand can spin my chair," he explained.

"I'm very impressed," Fili said. They all talked for several more minutes about the young prince's fight demonstration, highly impressed with them both. Finally Fili said, "Anyone fancy a visit to the hot springs to relax?"

"Wish I could," Iomhar said, "but my next class starts soon. I'm trying to teach these new lads which is the bow and which is the arrow."

Fili laughed. "Best of luck to you, then. Tor? How about you?"

"Not today, but thanks. I'll see you at dinner."

The young brothers went their ways. Fili and Kili put away their swords and armor and gathered their things. They bantered good naturedly about the match until they arrived at the springs. There were ten or so dwarves there, who rose when Fili entered.

Fili waved at them, "Afternoon, lads!"

The dwarves all went back to what they were doing, leaving Fili and Kili alone. The dwarves of Erebor loved and respected their King and their Prince. They were used to seeing them out in public places. Fili and Kili were much more sociable than royalty of the past and because of their regular visits to public places, they weren't seen as quite a novelty, and so generally they were left alone when out in public.

The brothers undressed and slipped into the warm waters. Oh, how good it felt. Fili closed his eyes and let the water swirl around his body. They sat quietly for a few minutes just enjoying the water.

"Kili?"

"Mmm?" Kili didn't bother opening his eyes.

"You know I had a letter this week from King Eomer of Rohan?"

"Mmm," Kili answered.

"He would like to discuss some strategies against possible enemies, as well as talk military tactics."

Kili opened one eye and looked at his brother. "You want me to go?"

"No. I want to send Hrafn and Torsten," Fili answered.

"Really?" Kili sat up.

"Yes. They are Princes and I trust them to make good military decisions. They are seasoned warriors, after all. What do you think?"

"Torsten and Hrafn are adults. Why not ask them?" Kili asked. "You don't need my permission."

"I'm not asking for your permission. I'm asking for your honest thoughts on this situation. I've been thinking it over and I think it's high time those two started being princes outside of the mountain," Fili said.

"I think it's a good idea, but there are, of course, a few things that worry me, such as my son's inability to walk, but if you can find a way, I think it would be great for both of them. I trust the lads to make good decisions," Kili answered.

"I'll talk to them tomorrow. Don't mention it to them, yet."

"I won't. This is King's business. It's not always easy to keep our jobs separate as rulers and fathers, is it?" Kili asked.

"No. It's not. As King I can simply order them to take this mission. As a father, I have very different feelings. But either way, they are both adults and they have to get out there and get their feet wet. They might never rule Erebor, but they will always be princes and serve Erebor."

Fili closed his eyes again. He felt confident about this decision, but at the same time he worried for them, going out, on their own, for a long period of time without the comforts of home or the security of their family.

"Seeing them is a bit like seeing ourselves at that age, isn't it?" Fili mused.