Disclaimer: All recognized characters and lines are copyright their respective owners not limited to J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson & Co. The fox, Kit, and plot are mine, and I have a muse as fierce as dwarvin warriors to support that claim.
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Five: The Arkenstone—The Curse of Dragon's Greed
His eyes narrow on her and he storms over to her.
"You must know what has become of the Arkenstone! You probably had that bloody burglar on your side from the very beginning! You would take the Arkenstone for yourself to present to your precious elf king!" Thorin spits out in his anger.
"Uncle!" Fili calls out from hearing the noise, upstairs, and Kili pokes his weary head around his brother, and adds, "You will not speak to her in such a way. I'll not have it!"
"So the both of you speak up for this traitor, this creature that would see us robbed of our kingdom, our right to rule?" Thorin bellows and turns glaring to his nephews, and then his stormy grey eyes narrow on the youngest.
"You have changed," he says stoicly.
"I was on the verge of death uncle, there was nothing else that could be done for it," Kili says, and reaches up, scratches the back of his head, revealing the newly pointed tip of his right ear.
"Are you so altered that you now lack the features of dwarves as much in appearance as in alliance!" Thorin snarls and then turns to the injured faerir, and growls, "This is your doing! You've sought to take from my people from the very beginning of this journey! You want the wealth of my people, the gold beneath the mountain!"
Kit's eyes widen at the madness in Thorin's eyes and he advances on her, drawing his sword until the tip of it is at her throat. Kit's eyes go to the top of the stairs, watches as her husband shouts, and even in his weakened state tries to come to her aid while Fili tries to hold him back.
Legolas has an arrow notched in his bow and aimed for the back of Thorin's head, and the dwarves are likewise armed with weaponry, but unsure of themselves, sensing the change in their king.
"You would have me murdered in view of my husband then? What of his destruction at my death?" she asks the maddened dwarf king.
He snorts, "I care not for the elf."
"What about for me? What about for your sister-son? Would her sacrifice be for naught if you took her from me? What is my life worth to you that you would take my wife, Uncle?" Kili says, the pain evident in his tone for witnessing the madness consuming his uncle.
"Your wife? Is this how you have come to be so altered?" Thorin snarls.
"I asked it of her, Uncle," Fili says. "Kili was dying, the Orc's poison too far gone. The elf's remedies and even our own were quickening his death. Kit knew of a way to spare his life, and damned the consequences, by Mahal, I bade her save him! Now what has become of you Uncle, that you are so blinded by gold that you forget your blood, your men, your people? What happened to loyalty, honour, and a willing heart?"
"It is the sickness of the mountain, I fear," Balin speaks up, and reaches out, his hand landing over Thorin's on the hilt of his sword, trying to get him to lower the weapon.
"There is no such sickness!" Thorin shouts, and then comes the weighted voice of the wizard Gandalf the Grey newly appeared.
"There is such a sickness and you are driven mad for it! The old friend I know, Thorin, son of Thrain son of Thror would care little for the spoils of his journey in light of the danger of losing his sister-sons! The old friend I know would not threaten the savior of his kin!"
"You know not of what you speak old man!" Thorin answers him.
The top of Gandalf's staff begins to glow, but Kit lifts her hand to him, shaking her head, the point of Thorin's sword brushing her throat.
"He needs to know the truth of the thing which he calls his means to rule," she says, and then lifts her gaze to Fili, still holding on to Kili. "Which of you has it? Bring it here."
She watches with a raised brow as the brothers are pushed aside by an invisible force and the hobbit appears, trembling, but brave enough yet that he comes down the stairs, wincing under the heady weight of Thorin's glare.
"I went to Masters Fili and Kili as you bade me, Kit. I told them of Thorin, the madness that has overtaken him, and they asked to see the stone. Kili held it first, and it had little effect, then he passed it to his brother, and Fili's eyes alit with the beginnings of the same madness, and he came to the defense of his uncle and the riches within the mountain, of where there is more than enough to share and glory in for Erebor, Laketown, and Mirkwood. Kili tried to wrestle the stone away from his brother, even in his weakened state, and that is when Fili returned to himself and put the stone back into my possession," the hobbit says.
She smiles at him and then bids him come closer. "Give it me, and I will see for myself, this time with closer examination if it is what I think it to be."
Before Bilbo can produce the stone, the door of the bowman's house is opened and Bard enters it, his son with him, and he sees his daughter's peeking from the door of the room they share, and then he looks about his house with a raised brow seeing the injured changling on his table, and armed elves and dwarves throughout.
"It would seem that my house is overrun with a war party. Would anyone care to explain this to me?" Bard asks, his tone calm, but promising malice should harm come to his family.
With Thorin distracted, Kit holds out her hand to Bilbo and whispers, "The stone."
He passes the stone to her, and it glows, it's radiance not unlike a glowing, moonlit opal, and Thorin's attention returns to it, and Kit's eyes widen as she recognizes the stone, and the name of it escapes her, "gcroílár na Dragon."
"The Heart of the Dragon?" Gandalf says, and his eyes widen in his craggy and wisened face.
"The very same Maia," she answers, and shakes her head. "It is a curse upon the people who come to possess it, and while the gold may have tempted Smaug to Erebor, it is this very stone that called out to him. It needs to be destroyed."
"You cannot!" Thorin states, and the point of his sword comes ever closer to drawing her blood, until a single drop beads up from the small knick at her throat, that is when a glow fills the room, growing steadily brigther until blinding, and the stone held in Kit's hand pulses and grows hotter.
All in the room let out cries of pain as they try and shield themselves from the light, and the stone sears Kit's hands as it continues to pulse in it's throws to remain whole. There is the sound of a scuffle, a blade soaring through the air and someone stumbling and landing on the wooden floor of the bowman's house, and then two, strong, large, familiar hands cover Kit's and the pulsing sound changes to the sound of splitting, then crumbling and the burning stone in her hands is no more.
Slowly as the light dims through the shelter of her eye lids, Kit opens her eyes and meets the newly golden gaze of her mate. She looks down at her hands, and where they should be burnt they are whole, and she smiles at the mark in her left palm. He keeps her left hand cupped in his right and releases her right hand to trace over the mark in her palm with his fingertips.
"It was hurting you, burning you, and I saw it's intent, its influence over my uncle. He's been in it's thrall since he was but a lad. It's gone now, and there is still the bloodline of Durin, the rightful heir and ruler, the true King Beneath the Mountain, and that is Uncle," Kili says with a smile.
They part their gazes and look about the room, the others, even the wizard, thrown to the floor of the house from the pulse of magic as the Arkenstone was destroyed. The get up, and Kit rolls her previously injured shoulder, her eyes widen as she realizes it no longer hurts, the damage done to it healed.
She looks at Kili and sees his own energy renewed and wonders at how altered they both are now, because she fears that she is faerir no more.
She follows her husband to kneel next to the fallen dwarf king who slowly sits up. Thorin looks about the room, the need to be strong warring with the shame he feels for falling to the same sickness as his grandfather and father.
"The wealth of the mountain shall be shared, the great city of Dale rebuilt, and it's rightful heir restored, the descendent of Lord Girion of Dale, Bard the Bowman. My heirs and I will see to the restoration of this region of Middle-Earth's growth, and our debts paid and new alliances formed," Thorin declares and it is a fair and mighty act as king.
Legolas clears his throat and says, "As Prince and heir to the throne of the Greenwood, I would like to forge an alliance as well. There needs be peace between our peoples as there once was before it was stolen by the curse of a dragon's heart. I do this for my kingdom and my father. One of his truest regrets was in turning from the need of your people. He did what he thought best for his own, but made enemies of good allies. "
"I would hear negotiations, but the suffering of my people was made greater for your father's decision to deny us aid or shelter," Thorin replies, and Legolas nods his understanding, and Kit can feel Kili brighten next to her.
"Uncle," Kili says with a smile, and soon Fili joins at his side. "You are returned to us, restored. We have done a great thing, reclaimed a home for your people."
"And yours young Kili," Thorin says in confusion, and Fili turns with wide eyes on his brother as well, the other dwarves moving in around them, and the elves with their keen ears turned to listen.
Kili chuckles and shakes his head. "It is evident that I am no longer a dwarf, and I cannot accept the title of your youngest heir. I am pleased that my brother will be sole heir. We can stay for the rebuilding, but I have a different place in mind now to call home Uncle. I would wish to stay to see my mother returned to the halls of Erebor and for her to meet my wife."
"You are not so changed that we would deny you, my boy," Thorin says, shamed for his earlier claims under the influence of the Arkenstone.
Kili smiles and takes up Kit's hand and shakes his head. "You have your home returned to you, and soon the time will come when I must find my own home. I have a place in mind if it so pleases Kit."
A flash of the Shire filters into Kit's mind and she turns pleased eyes on Kili. "Such a place would greatly please me and we could accompany Bilbo back to his home, and work on the building of our own."
"How's that Mr. Boggins! Would you have close neighbors to Bag End, there is a hill as yet claimed I believe I saw as we were leaving, and changelings, fox-kind are much like dwarves and hobbits with a fondness for holes in the ground. Perhaps you could help us in the design and building," Kili says with good cheer and Bilbo shakes his head in astonishment.
"I would help to, inlay some of the mouldings with the finery of the gold and riches of your birth land brother," Fili offers.
"It would please me as well to help with this nephew," Thorin adds, and the rest of their company agrees to join in on the prospective venture.
"I feel that as the first act of alliance between our people, and the dwarves and changelings, I would offer my hand of craftsmanship to the building of such a dwelling, and the offering of a handsome made bow and elf forged arrowheads," Legolas says, and he shares a look with Thorin.
"How fortuitous these growing alliances forged, and dare I say they will be needed in the coming days, for darkness continues to fester and grow within Middle-Earth," Gandalf says, and Kit shakes her head. Leave it to a Maia to prophecy doom and gloom at a time for celebration.
-THE HOBBIT-
The wizard's warning comes to pass quicker than anyone could expect. First the Master of Laketown and the men of the town descend upon Bard's house to take the dwarves into custody without hearing a word otherwise, to which the dwarves, Bard, and the elves fight against. Following the army of men, wood elves descend, Thranduil angered to see his son and heir fighting with rather than against the odd party of Dwarves.
While the men of the town, wood, and mountains fight amongst themselves over the spoils of the mountain, each demanding more than a fair portion and denying fealty to the dwarves, the Orc army attacks, and it is with the threat of common enemy that man, elf, and dwarf unite against Orc.
The Orc and Goblin numbers are great, and through luck and Gandalf a fifth army arrives, one led by Gwaihir, Lord of the Eagles. Even Beorn joins the battle. Thorin falls from the blade of an Orc and is carried off the field by Beorn, Fili and Kili work to push back the threat against their felled uncle as Beorn carries Thorin. Fili takes a critical wound and Kili is driven to anger, and the light rages within him again, a blinding eruption of light overtakes the field. The eagles take flight against the brilliance, man, dwarf, elf, and even wizard are thrown back, and the Orcs not felled by the strange brilliance run quick for the shelter of the forests.
Kili is caught in the center of the light, and Kit makes her way toward him, reaches him and grasps his shoulder. His golden eyes burn with rage, and she tries to talk to him, but he is beyond hearing. She closes her eyes against the brilliance of his light, grasps either side of his face and when their lips meet the light grows dimmer to a glow between them.
When they part he stares down at her in amazement and then gives his head a shake. "Fili, Uncle… Where…?"
"Come, they are being tended to by the elven healers," she says and takes his hand leading him to the tents at the borders of Laketown.
Thranduil looks at the pair in shock, makes a quick order to his best archers to take care of the Orc rabble that dared enter his domain, and then takes off after the changed dwarf and Nanat'harir. He follows as they enter the tents where Thorin and Kili were carried.
Kili comes between the beds containing his brother and his uncle.
"What was that light?" Thorin asks. "Am I dead?"
Kili laughs and says, "No Uncle, that was me. Rest now, you've done enough, the Orcs that still live are on the run. Your fighting for the day is done, and you too brother."
"It was the same when Kit was injured by the Orc," Fili says in wonder as he stares at his brother.
"That light from last night, that comes from the dark complected dwarf?" Thranduil manages in his shock, and examines the dwarf between the beds of his injured kin, and his grey eyes widen at the sight of his ears.
"Are you so transformed? You have the form and bearing of dwarf, and yet you are other, the light you contain, is like the faerir and yet not quite so. What has changed you dwarf?" Thranduil asks.
Legolas cuts in, "Father, save his kin, and he will answer. We have the beginnings of an alliance, one that I was negotiating before you charged at them in accusation with a battle cry. For your having turned them away once, you owe them this much at least. Prove that you are as good a man as I hope you to be."
"Is this truth?" the wood elf king asks, raising a brow of inquiry at Thorin.
Thorin grunts, winces in pain, and then says, "Aye, if I live I will see to it that it is truth."
"Well then, so be it, but I expect explanations from all in this matter," he says, fixing his gaze on Thorin, then Fili, then his son Legolas, next Kili, and finally on Kit.
Thranduil looks at the herbs laid out by the other elves, and takes them in his own hands, tending to the dwarf king and his eldest heir himself. The power of the medicine puts the pair in a heavy sleep.
During the time of Thorin and Fili's healing sleep much happens. The master of Laketown is usurped, Bard taking his place and breaking way the foundation of a new Dale to come, and he the rightful heir and king. The dwarves of Erebor send out word to their kin, and slowly their numbers return to Erebor, among them Dis, sister of Thorin, and mother to Fili and Kili.
Kili keeps himself busy with the building and planning, the explanations to the elf king, and his discussions with Balin about Erebor's reconstruction in his uncle and brother's absence, mainly to avoid seeing his mother, or rather having her see him so altered. Dis remains at her brother and her elder son's sick beds. Kit remains at Kili's side, and it amazes the dwarves and anyone watching to see how they talk among themselves, how they argue and settle disagreements, more like true equals than the role of dominant husband and supportive wife, though everyone knows how fiercely the youngest heir of Durin would come to her defense.
Two moons pass since the battle, and Thorin wakes from the healing sleep, still sore and weak, but on the mend, well into his recovery, to see his dark haired sister at his side. He smiles to see her, even more pleased as he recognizes his old rooms cleaned and restored in Erebor.
"Sister, how does it feel to be home?" He manages gruffly, and she shakes her head in exasperation at her brother, and offers him sips of water from a fine goblet to wet his parched throat.
"You ask me this after nearly getting yourself and my boys killed? Thorin, what were you thinking? And what has happened to my boys? Fili hurt near as badly as you, and Kili I haven't seen once since my arrival! My sweet, youngest son avoiding me. Does war change them so completely? Do I have you to blame for this?" she snaps, and Thorin winces at her tone. "I do not know if this kingdom is worth so high a cost."
"You have not yet seen Kili?" Thorin asks in surprise.
She shakes her head, glaring down at him. "I have not, he tends to the affairs of the kingdom, the restoration, negotiations, inventory of wealth, negotiation of supplies. I've heard tell a woman keeps company and council with him, an arrangement I do not approve of. If he is known to keep a woman in such a way how ever will he find himself a wife?"
"Sister go to Balin and tell him to send for Kili and the damned elf king and the elf king's heir. Also have them bring Fili in here to stay in my rooms until he is well if he hasn't woken yet," Thorin says.
"Fili is already here at my request, but I will send for the others," Dis says, her eyes still narrowed on her older brother, and he does not miss her ire.
Some hours later Fili is awake and Thorin is not very comfortable as he sits up in his bed, being examined by the elf king while Balin, his sister, and the elf king's son look on. Fili is talking to his mother, mentioning their adventures and their meeting a fox and also meeting the last faerir in all of Middle Earth.
"Was Kili not summoned forth?" Thorin finally bellows and waves off Thranduil, who raises a brow in amusement at the dwarf king's antics, and that is when the doors of Thorin's chambers are opened and a pair of foxes enter the room, the doors closing behind them.
Thranduil's grey eyes widen as he looks first at the red vixen and then to the black fox at her side. It cannot be, but then Nanat told him, "The gift will be shared with your mate."
"I sent for my nephew, not his pet, and since when did he gain a second one?" Thorin snaps, and Fili waves at his uncle for silence and gives a whistle.
The pair of foxes jump up on his bed, the red fox seeming amused and the black fox's golden eyes narrowed in annoyance. Fili chuckles and then says, "Legolas your cloak for Kit, and mine by the chair for Kili."
"Nay, she may use mine," Thranduil says as he approaches Fili's bed and offers his cloak, amused that the black fox's hackles rise.
"My brother will have words for you yet, your highness," Fili says with smirk.
Thranduil covers the red fox with his clock and there is movement from beneath the cloak as the fox shifts until Kit is revealed, holding the cloak about her for modesty. Legolas drops Fili's cloak over the black fox and a similar transformation occurs until Kili is revealed, his nose wrinkled and clutching the cloak about him in a similar fashion for modesty's sake. He is pleased at least that because of Kit's size the elf's cloak covers her sufficiently, and then he winces at the sound of his mother's gasp.
"Kili!" she says, and he looks in her direction next to his uncle, and even his uncle's astonishment is evident.
"Mother, Uncle," he says, and spares a glance to Kit before he continues, "I imagine then that you would like an explanation?"
"Immediately nephew," Thorin says, and Dis gets to her feet and approaches her youngest son, looking him over and she reaches out touching his pointy ears, and cries out, "My boy, what has happened to you, and this, who is this woman by your side."
His mother's tone is not pleasant, and even Fili winces and feels bad for Kit.
"You always did say I was reckless mother, and you were right. I took a poisoned Orc arrow, was near death, and a life debt was paid me. You see when Fili and I first began our journey, some several days before we reached the Shire I happened across a little fox with an injured paw. I brought her back to camp with me. Well into our journey I discovered the fox to be something more than just a fox. She was under a curse, and then the curse was lifted with a price. This price she paid when she saved my life when no other could. I would be dead were it not for her taking me for her mate, her husband, by the old ways. I am married by the bonds of blood, and that too came with a price, for I am changed to what she is. She is no longer the last of her kind and I am no longer a dwarf, but I am your son still."
"All of this for the payment of a life debt?" Thorin says, and shakes his head in sorrow for his youngest nephew, and that is when Kit speaks up.
"No. Not all of it is for a life debt. I promised Kili to remain at his side, whether as a fox or as I am now. After the curse was changed to a gift, and I knew the cost of it, I had determined not to ever have someone pay that cost. I thought I would live a solitary existence, not so different from when my mother exiled me here when the rest of my family moved on, but Kili is quite stubborn and insistent, and when I realized there was no other way to save him from the poison I offered the only help I could. Fili answered first in Kili's stead, and then Kili spoke for himself, and now here we are, and he is powerful, the light within him so strong. You saw what he is capable of during the battle," Kit says, and looks at Thorin, willing for his acceptance.
"I have given my acceptance once already, but I find that you both are still capable of surprising me. I thought the fox was her pet, not that it was in fact her, and now you are one too," Thorin says, and then he grunts under the strong thrust of his sisters arm across his chest.
"Marriage? You knew my youngest was married and didn't tell me? Brother, we have much to discuss later when it is just the two of us," Dis threatens, and both Kili and Fili wince at the menace in their mother's tone and are grateful that it is not directed at them.
"Hmmm," Thranduil cuts in with a smirk. "How very strange that you have been married now for over two moons passing and have yet to consummate the marriage. Is there something lacking betwixt you that the marriage bed is yet denied?"
"Father," Legolas hisses, and Kili's eyes spark in anger, and Kit places her hand on his shoulder to gather his attention.
Kit then narrows her eyes on the elf king and says, "It is wise to keep your nose out of the affairs of others, especially when your interference does little more than cause trouble. There has been much to do in settling the kingdoms, making alliances, rebuilding two kingdoms, we've scarce had time to ourselves."
"There is also the planning we've been doing for the journey home, and Mr. Baggin's grows more restless for his homelands with every day. Soon the three of us will be off," Kili adds.
"Journey home? But this is your home," Dis says, stunned by the words of her youngest child.
Kili smiles sadly and shakes his head. "No mother, it is your home. You, best of all, knew I was different from other dwarves, all throughout my childhood, and this is why I worked the hardest, was the most reckless to prove myself. I have proven myself Mother, but I have also found myself. Kit and I will return with Mr. Baggins to the Shire, and there we will make our home and start our family. Mother I fought to give you back your home, please, do not deny me mine. The Shire is a beautiful, peaceful place, green, warm under the light of the sun, and bountiful. Fili and Uncle and the others have offered to help us build our home there. There is always time and opportunity to visit."
"And we, the Greenwood elves extend swift and safe passage through our lands during your travels," Legolas says with a smile.
"Well spoken my son. Anything, of course for Nanat and her husband," Thranduil further extends the offer.
Dis shakes her head in amazement and looks to her brother as she says, "So many years we've struggled, and now I come home to find the rebuilding of two great kingdoms and an alliance forged with the elves, and all this while you were sleeping dear brother, all of this arranged by my own son, my youngest. My how the world has changed in so short a time," she pauses and then approaches Kili, bringing her hand to his cheek and smiling warming at him as she continues, "You have grown much on this journey. You're no longer the reckless dwarfling I knew so ready to prove himself. You have done well my son."
Kili nods and is pleased to accept a kiss on the cheek from his mother. Dis then turns to Kit and says, "And I believe that I've you to thank for these changes in my boy. Thank you, and welcome to our family. I would be honoured to be welcomed into your home."
"Always," Kit replies, and then Dis pulls back from the pair of them sitting on the bed Fili occupies, and she looks at her light haired, elder son and says, "Now it is your turn to find so pleasing a match to continue the line of Durin."
Fili's eyes widen and then he shoves at Kili and says, "See what you have started now younger brother!"
-THE HOBBIT-
Kit sighs as she slips into the set of rooms that she and Kili selected for themselves in the aftermath of the battle. She can tell he has a lot on his mind as he paces their room. She shakes her head and waits for him to settle his mind.
She thinks that she has as much to think over as her husband, especially at finally meeting his mother two nights ago, and their secret being shared with her and Thorin. Still Kili has a different way of approaching his thoughts, and so she makes herself comfortable on the bed they share in sleep only, for their marriage still has yet to be consummated, and perhaps that is the thought most pressing to his mind.
"Kili," she calls out to him, but he is too lost in his thoughts to hear her. The only time they've really had peace to themselves is in their fox forms, which they use to escape the demands of him being the only conscious heir of Durin. That has changed since Thorin and Fili are now awake. Now they almost have entirely too much time to themselves and no distractions.
"By Mahal's hammer!" Kili snaps, and Kit raises a brow in curiosity, and chuckles as he continues his rant, "Damnable elf! I don't care if he is a king! Constantly with his eyes on you, and questioning my claim as your husband! How do you suffer the company of such a bastard?"
"Thranduil has his moments, but he is a good man, a good king. He was quite the mischievous elfling. Oh the stories I could tell Legolas of his father," she says with a laugh.
"He insults your husband and you laugh!" Kili says in his frustration, and then he storms over to the bed, and leans over her, his palms down on either side of her, his face drawing so close to hers that the tips of their noses brush. "He questions our joining as husband and wife, as mates."
"Kili, it has been a pressing few weeks, but now we have time. Why not settle the matter for good? Am I so displeasing to you? Is it my lack of beard or proper curves like the dwarves possess, or my lack of height that the elves have?" she challenges, and he answers the challenge as he brings their mouths together.
"It is none of these," he says as he parts from the heated kiss and licks his lips. "It is the fortune of our marriage, that you chose me to spare my life. You could have taken a king for husband, and I am the one who stole your choice as much as you stole mine. What man who finds himself in these circumstances can request the fulfillment of marriage duties from his wife?"
"You still maintain reckless and misguided chivalry and we've both been foolish. I meant to never share my curse with anyone, but when it was my solitude or your life, there was no choice. Do you not realize why?"
His brows furrow, his gaze full of confusion. She laughs. "Then let me amend with that we are both fools. It is my affection for you that guided me in taking you as my husband, affection that grows greater in every moment of your company and tenfold in your absence. While in the throws of your fever you asked if she could love you, and you have your answer, that she does indeed. Therefore it would not be marriage duties you request, or that I would request. I would only ask that my husband take me to his bed in love and affection. Is this what you would deny the wife you would so ready enter into battle over?"
His mouth curves into a mischievous and wide grin, his golden eyes twinkle with delight, and he leans down, his nose nuzzling at the pulse in her neck as he whispers huskily, "Why deny what I would so readily give, if you are so inclined, but what of the children we could this very hour produce?"
She hums at his attentions as he nibbles at the base of where her throat meets her collarbone. "They would be well loved and looked after, would that not, Kili?"
"Aye, and probably as mischievous as their father and uncle too," he laughs.
"Brave as their father."
"Lovely as their mother," he teases back.
"Then I think I should like to meet these children," Kit says.
After a moment's pause in feign of consideration he pulls back and meets her eyes, and lets his breath out slowly. "I think I would as well. Then my lovely Kit'haniel, shall we see these children to the world?"
"In love and in faith," she answers and her hand reaches to the back of Kili's head, tangling her fingers into his dark hair as she pulls him back into a hungry kiss.
-THE HOBBIT-
The dinner in the Great Hall will be a magnificent affair, the first dinner that Thorin and Fili are able to attend. Kili groans as he turns over in the bed, his hold on Kit taking her with him, and she's sprawled atop him with a satisfied smile.
"We've taken our meals in the kitchen and apart from the others. I'd rather spend my time with you," he says and nuzzles against her neck, his lips brushing her pulse and then nipping her left earlobe.
She pushes herself up and rolls off of him and says, "In accepting my husband I fear I've awoken a beast!"
"Is this your way of telling me we will attend dinner tonight then?" Kili asks with a forlorn expression.
She smirks and says, "Well in this way Thranduil would know our marriage is consummated, and he would quit taunting you. Is that not a reason to attend the meal?"
"You've convinced me, but we've a while till the feast, and I would like to work up a very nice appetite," Kili says, his smile wolfish as he draws his tongue across his lips.
"But beginning dinner with dessert will only spoil your dinner," Kit chides.
He raises a brow and chuckles, "So that is what you have in mind."
"Only if you can catch me," she says as she makes quick work of slipping into one of his black shirts and breeches, tying the breeches tight as she begins to race off and out of their rooms, laughing all the while.
Kili manages to stumble into another pair of trousers he has lying on the floor and grabs a shirt from the floor as well as he pursues her in the chase. He trips his way out of the door, raises his keen nose to the air and tracks her scent and the sound of her laughter.
He is still struggling to pull on his shirt as he runs and catches up to her, his shirt just falling over his face when he runs into someone, knocking the both of them to the stone floor. He hears a musical like laugh and once he's got his shirt on mostly properly, though inside out, he looks up to see the elf prince, Legolas, laughing and shaking his head.
"Well it would seem that my father has no more reason to tease you Kili," the elf says with a smirk.
Kili's face floods with a blush, and he nods and then grins as he replies, "Right well, see you at dinner tonight, right now I need to find my better half."
"Yes, tonight, I look forward to seeing the look upon my father's face. Disappointment might fair him well for once," Legolas says with a nod of his head as he gets to his feet and offers Kili a hand up as he adds, "And you might want to straighten your shirt before running down anyone else."
"I'm certain that once I've caught up to Kit I'll have very little need for straightening the shirt as opposed to simply removing it."
"I imagine so," Legolas replies with a cheeky grin and watches in amusement as the changeling takes off once again in pursuit of his mate.
Later that evening at dinner is the first time that Kit actually wears a dress. That the dress is a gift from Legolas, she keeps to herself. It is a fine design of silks and velvet, the velvet a dark blue, the silk a silvery blue to match the fine threading of the embroidered designed of the dress. It has an empire waist, and fits her well.
At the sound of the door to her rooms being opened she turns and her eyes widen at the sight of Fili standing there. He looks her over with a smile and says, "I'm to see you to dinner tonight. Kili is otherwise engaged with our Mother who insisted he accompany her. I hope you don't mind. You look lovely. You seem to be missing something though. Kili sent me with something we found in the treasure chambers, some silver baubles, and it would seem he is right. Silver would certainly suit you."
She raises a brow at this, and in a hurried search of his tunic he produces a find silver diadem of dwarvish knots and sapphires, a perfect match to her dress. Fili also produces a necklace to match the headpiece as she puts on the diadem, and he takes it upon himself to fasten the necklace for her.
He then offers her his arm and says, "Well, while the dress is elvish, at least the jewels are of a fine craftsmanship. My brother will be pleased. I suppose you've cleared up the issue of the consummation of your marriage by now."
She reaches up with her free hand and smacks him in the back of his head. "That is rather private business between your brother and me."
"Of course, I was just fishing around to see if I won the bet or not, but I'm sure I'll know by the look on Thranduil's face in a few moments time, and that bite mark on your neck is also rather telling."
She flushes crimson and narrows her eyes on him. "And who would you be making those kinds of bets with?"
"Bofur, of course. He doesn't think that Kili is yet man enough to be so happily wedded and in turn bedded, and I of course took up the bet in my brother's honor. I daresay that I've won it too."
Kit rolls her eyes and laughs as she replies, "That you have, but I want a share in the spoils, fifteen percent."
"Fifteen percent?! That's robbery!" Fili declares as he pushes open the door for the dining hall and they enter.
"It's either that or you can answer to your brother," she whispers softly, and his eyes widen.
"Still a bloody thieving vixen!" he cries out with a shake of his head, and this catches the narrowed eyed glare of his younger brother and a similar expression from their mother and Fili looks suitably chagrinned as Kit smirks at him in amusement.
Kili rises and comes to take her from his brother, his right arm goes possessively about her waist and he drops a kiss to her brow as he walks her to the table.
The dinner is made in merriment with dwarvish song and food made by both dwarves and elves to satisfy all, including the hobbit and the heir of Dale and his family.
"It would seem that an annulment in this marriage is now out of the question," Thranduil says with disappointment in his voice, and Legolas laughs, Kili smirks, and raises a brow when Bofur tosses a bag of gold across the table to Fili.
Kit leans in to whisper to her husband, "Worry not, fifteen percent of that is mine."
Kili bursts into laughter and brings her in for a kiss. Afterward he reaches for his ale, and the meal is made in much merriment, even as the elves raise their brows at the dining customs of dwarves.
Later that evening Kit lies in the arms of her husband as he puffs on his pipe and runs his fingers through her short hair, as they trade whispered secrets between them, both content, and pleased that dwarf and wood elf, nay that Thorin Oakenshield and King Thranduil of the Greenwood, could dine at the same table without bloodshed.
With a sigh Kili releases the smoke from his pipe from between his lips in the shape of a ring and says, "This is our final night in these halls. The ponies are readied, we are supplied, and Mr. Baggins is certainly more than ready to return to his homeland. I am still caught awonder that the elf prince and our previous company and my mother will see us back to the Shire as well."
"I'm not so surprised. We have grown to be family, and they wish to see us well housed in what will become our new homeland," Kit says with a smile as Kili finishes with his pipe, taps the ashes of the leaves clear into a small stone basin for just that purpose, and nuzzles the top of his wife's head.
"A home of our own, an actual home, not a room for rent, or stables, or room over a forge, nor a castle, but home with hearth and garden, and land to hunt in. Sun and greenery, and neighbors with little care in the world, far off from battles, dragons, war, and maddening gold. It sounds more like a dream than anything," Kili says with a bright smile. "I cannot wait, and I'm sure that our children would love such a place, and with an uncle so nearby, that Bilbo would allow us to now claim him as kin."
"This journey has altered us all, and Bilbo is truly a wonder among hobbits," Kit replies.
"So he is, and you are a wonder among foxes and changelings," Kili says and captures her lips in need and want.
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