Disclaimer: The Hobbit does not belong to me, but to Professor Tolkien, Peter Jackson, and his Company.

Gem of His Heart

Thorin continued to strain against them. "Drifa," he called. When she did not respond he got louder. "Drifa!"

Oin poured his herbal mixture down Thorin's throat. The dwarf king gasped and choked, but whatever it was worked quickly, and Thorin found himself sliding into darkness.

Chapter 9

The struggle to get Thorin up the muddy hillside in a handmade stretcher had taken hours. By then Oin's herbal mixture had worn off. Thorin began to thrash around and scream for Drifa once again. His words made no sense. He went from screaming in anger to pleading, sounding almost like a small boy.

Fili smoothed Thorin's hair back from his sweat-soaked forehead as they stopped so Oin could mix up more tea. "It will be all right, Uncle," he soothed gently; his heart twisted inside of him as he saw the raw pain and fear crawl across Thorin's face.

Kili stood on the other side of Thorin, uncertainty visible in his expression. He reached out and took Thorin's hand in his own, wincing as his uncle squeezed it so hard it felt as if the very bones were breaking.

"His fever is rising," Fili murmured to his brother, blue eyes meeting brown.

Kili nodded. "Yes, but he seems very upset about something."

"The fever could be making him-" Fili started.

"This is more that the fever talking and you know it," Kili insisted.

"Aye," Fili sighed. He turned to the healer. "Quickly, Oin. We need to get him home."

"Here it is, lad," the older dwarf puffed. "Hold up his head."

Fili lifted his uncle's head gently as Oin poured the mixture into Thorin's mouth. The dwarf king choked and sputtered, but they managed to get him to swallow enough of the foul-tasting tea to send him back into a restless sleep.

"Let's move!" Fili bellowed as soon as he was certain that Thorin was comfortable on the make-shift stretcher once again.

Drifa rode behind one of the guards on horseback. She watched Thorin worriedly, wondering if anyone had picked up the stray word here and there about a child. She didn't think they had, but the princes seemed to realize something was bothering their uncle. Why in the world had she let it slip to Thorin about her baby? What had she been thinking?

Drifa held on tightly to the guard ahead of her as he nudged his horse into a gallop. They had been sent ahead to prepare things for Thorin's arrival. She only hoped that in his fevered state, Thorin would forget what she had told him about their child or perhaps think it had been a dream.

As the guards let them into the mountain, Drifa slid wearily from the pony and allowed another servant to help her into the kitchens were Prince Fili's wife sat a heaping bowl of stew in front of her. She was exhausted, but ate as much as she could so as not to anger the Lady Sigrid.

Then she stumbled up to her room where the Lady Sigrid had ordered a hot bath prepared for her. Drifa shucked out of her clothes and slid tentatively into the hot water. It felt so good to her aching, dirty body.

The events of the day rushed over her in a sudden flood and tears filled her eyes. What if Thorin died because she hadn't cared for him properly? What if he woke and remembered what she'd said about their child? Sobs shook her shoulders as she slid down in the water. She stayed there until the water went cold and she shivered uncontrollably. Climbing out on stiff legs, she dried off with a fluffy towel and dressed in her favorite night clothes before crawling between the stiff, white sheets of her bed. Sleep claimed her almost immediately.

Thorin mumbled in his sleep as Fili and Kili helped get him settled in a bed in the healers' quarters.

"What must be done for him, Oin?" Kili asked anxiously.

"I believe an infection in his lungs, possibly pneumonia, is the cause of his fever." Oin's practiced eyes and hands traveled down Thorin's body. "All of his thrashing around has jostled his leg out of place. I will have to reset it."

Fili and Kili both went pale. They knew the pain involved with setting a broken bone.

"Might as well do it now while he is still under the effects of the tea. Boys, hold him down," Oin instructed the brothers.

Kili swallowed hard and exchanged a glance with his brother before moving to hold down his uncle's shoulders. Fili moved to Thorin's other side and pinned him down. "We're ready, Oin," Fili told the healer, his voice dripping with trepidation.

Oin nodded and removed the make-shift splint Drifa had placed on Thorin's broken leg. Thorin moaned as his leg was jostled. "Won't take but a few moments, Thorin," Oin mumbled to his friend as he moved into position and grasped Thorin's leg tightly in his hands. "Ready?" he asked Fili and Kili.

They both nodded solemnly, so Oin tightened his grip on Thorin's ankle and yanked hard. The dwarf king cried out in pain, his blue eyes flashing open and his body tensing and arching off of the bed.

"It's okay, Uncle," Kili soothed, his muscles bunching with the effort to hold Thorin still. "Oin is setting your leg and then you can get some rest."

"There," Oin panted. "Fili, hand me the splint."

The blonde prince scrambled to hand Oin what he needed. Then Thorin was given another mug of tea to help with the pain while Oin mixed up a plaster for his chest to help draw out the infection.

"You boys go on to bed. I'll have one of the other healers sit with Thorin," Oin told them. "You are both exhausted."

"We can't leave him alone," Fili insisted as he dampened a rag with cool water and placed it on his uncle's fevered brow.

"I'll take the first watch, Fi," Kili told him. "You go check on Sigrid and the boys. I'm sure they've been worried about you."

Fili considered his brother's words for a moment before he nodded. "Thank, Ki. I'll let Tauriel know where you are."

Kili nodded gratefully and sank down in a chair beside his uncle's bed to keep careful watch over Thorin as Fili squeezed Thorin's hand before venturing out into the corridor.

When he entered the suite he shared with Sigrid, Fili found Tauriel asleep on the couch and both boys cuddled up in the bed with Sigrid. He shut the door quietly behind him and moved to his wife's side, brushing a strand of her hair back from her face. She was so beautiful and she loved him. Fili's heart beat faster at just the thought.

Sigrid's eyes blinked open. "Fili," she gasped immediately sitting up. "Did you find Thorin?"

"Aye, Kili is taking a turn sitting with him for now."

"How is he?" Tauriel asked as she sat up sleepily on the sofa and rubbed her eyes.

Fili sighed, his shoulders tense with worry. "He has a broken leg and Oin believes pneumonia is settling in his lungs."

"Oh, Fili," Sigrid sighed as she brushed his hair back from his face before enveloping him in a tight hug.

Tauriel rose gracefully from the couch and moved to the door. "I am going to check on my husband."

"Thank you, Tauriel, for helping with the boys. They will be all right in here tonight," Sigrid smiled.

Tauriel nodded and then left the room to find Kili.

Fili took his wife in his arms and held her tightly. "Uncle looks so sick," he murmured against the soft skin of Sigrid's neck.

"Oh, my love," she sighed as she threaded her fingers through his blonde hair. "Thorin is strong and Oin is a skilled healer. Your uncle will be all right; I am certain of it."

A rustling at their side made Fili pull back from his wife's embrace. Soren sat up and rubbed sleepily at his eyes before he realized Fili had returned. "Fili!" he crowed as he clambered over his brother to throw himself into the dwarf prince's arms.

Fili held the small boy tightly as the child's arms wound around his neck. "I was 'fraid you wouldn't come back," Soren sniffled.

Combing his hand over the boy's hair, Fili pressed a kiss to the child's cheek. "I will always do my best to come back to you, Soren," Fili promised solemnly, alarmed at the fear he saw in the child's eyes.

"Did you find your Uncle Da?" Soren asked eagerly, his pudgy hands coming to rest on Fili's cheeks.

"Uncle Da?" Fili asked, confused.

Sigrid smiled. "Well, he knows Thorin is your uncle, but you also told the boys that he was a bit like your da."

"Oh," Fili grinned. He couldn't wait to tell Kili this new nickname for Thorin. "Yes, I found him, Soren. He is resting and Mr. Oin is taking care of him."

Soren nodded at this new piece of information and then cuddled in Fili's arms. "I'm sleepy."

"Why don't you and your brother sleep on the couch in front of the fire?" Fili smiled as he carried the child over to the warmest place in the room and tucked him snuggly beneath the blanket Tauriel had been using.

Returning to the bed, he lifted Arne. The boy opened his eyes and blinked sleepily. "You're back," he murmured as he curled into Fili's chest.

"Aye," the dwarf prince murmured. "You and your brother are going to sleep right here on the couch tonight. Ma and I will be right here when you wake up."

"A'right," Arne nodded sleepily. "Is your uncle safe?" he asked as the night's events flooded back into his mind.

"He is back here under the mountain and Mr. Oin will see to him. Uncle Kili is with him as well." Fili settled the boy on the opposite end of the couch from Soren.

Arne sat up and reached for the blonde prince. Fili knelt before him and was surprised when the boy launched himself at him and enveloped him in a hug. "I'm glad you are back, Fili, and Uncle Thorin, too."

"Thank you, Arne," Fili smiled as he ruffled the boy's hair and tucked him under the blanket. "Now, get some sleep."

Fili returned to the bed and toed off his boots and removed his belt before crawling in beside his wife. He took Sigrid in his arms and buried his face in her sweet-smelling hair. "I missed you, my Sigrid," he breathed.

"As I missed you," she sighed in return. "Now get some rest, Fili. Tomorrow will be a long day."

Fili nodded against her and held her tightly. His body was exhausted, but worried thoughts of Thorin kept him from falling asleep for quite some time.

Down the hall, Kili sponged his uncle's brow carefully, but the fever did not seem to be improving. Thorin thrashed fitfully with the fever, and the dark-haired dwarf prince feared that Thorin would once again have to have his leg reset.

"Drifa," the dwarf king slurred in his fever-ravaged sleep. "Where is our child, Drifa?" he called, his voice louder this time.

Kili's eyebrows rose as he made sense of his uncle's words. He turned to Tauriel, but she slept soundly on the couch in the corner. With a sigh, Kili leaned forward. "It will be all right, Uncle. I will send for Drifa in the morning."

"Drifa," Thorin mumbled once again.

"You can see her tomorrow, Uncle," Kili soothed.

Thorin quieted then although the fever continued to rage in his body.

To Be Continued…