Hear is the next chapter I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think..

THanx to Kristall my beta

Chapter 3

Thorin sat himself across the fire form Liana with his eyes fixed on her every move.

"Here." She handed him a large portion of the stag she had been cooking over the fire. Thorin took the deer but kept his eyes locked on Lianas every movement. Thoirn's constant intense gazing did not go unnoticed. Smiling at him she asked "Tell me, why is it you stare at me so?" Her eyes flashed up to meet his.

Thorin slightly shook his head as if shaking himself out of some dream world he had been trapped in. "Forgive me, I did not mean to stare." his voice was deep and throaty but still had a calming effect to it " It is just that I have not seen a creature such as you before and your habits fascinate me."

Liana cocked her head to the side slightly as she stirred the fire with a long stick. Her curiosity peeked.

"I'm a creature am I?" Her eyes narrowed at him from across the fire. A small smirk tugged at her lips as she took a sizable bit of her food. She loved making people uncomfortable in her presence; it was one of the few things she took full pleasure in.

"No, wait, I didn't mean it like that." Thorin's face quickly filled with panic as he realized how he had worded his statement he had not intended for it to come up be taken as an insult.

Liana's laughter cut him off. "It is ok, Thorin son of Thrain. I am a creature. I am a creature of the night, a creature of the wild, and a creature of Middle Earth. I take no offense. I am a creature that very few in this world truly understand."

"Forgive me for asking but from what I know of the Fae they are largely animal but also have some human attributes as well. I could tell your father was largely wolf Fae, but I am uncertain of what you are. I did not think Fae breed out to other species and you do not seem to be that of a wolf."

Liana smiled weakly. This topic was bound to come up at some point especially because of her strange markings and the overall look of her.

"My father is a wolf Fae, but he believes that if we only stick to what is known as the "pure" blood lines, where wolf mats with wolf, and fox mates with fox, that over time our numbers will dwindle and the blood lines would become too inbred. He believes it would be the down fall of our race. So he took my mother, who was lemix, as his mate, making me what some call a mixed breed. I am both wolf and lemix, which is why most can't identify my markings."

Thorin sat back against a large log resting snugly behind him, crossing his hands over his chest. "Lemix are very large cats. I did not believe there were still any in existence. I thought them to be extinct years ago, hunted for their coats and teeth."

"They are extinct. My mother held the last of the Lemix blood line and when she was killed over twenty years ago that was the end of them, both in the Fae world and the animal world. I hold the only part of the blood line left but it is only half of my that hold it."

She adjusted herself, crossing her legs so she was sitting Indian style. "There are many who believe mix breed Fae to be an abomination to our race and only want to see a pure blood line flourish, and so my father taking a Lemix as his mate caused uproar with some clans, one in particular being the Dargone, a clan of all bear Fae. They have been leading the resistance against my father and I fear they will be challenging us for control of the clans before long." Lianas eyes dropped to the fire, as she watched it dace back and forth.

They were both silent for a long time, listening to the crackling of the fire and the wind rustling in the leaves in the forest around them. Liana wasn't entirely sure why she had shared so much of her history with Thorin. But now that it was said she almost seemed to breathe more easily, as if a long kept weight was lifted off of her chest.

"If this Dargone clan takes control, what happens to you and all the of the other mix breed Fae?" Thorin asked his gaze was again on her, but this time bore a concerned look. He seemed to truly fear for what might happen to her kind, to this Fae. There was a part of him that felt for her and what she must be going through just because she was not considered "pure".

Liana's gazed dropped, Thorin could feel the tension in the air grow as she shifted under his gaze. "I am looked upon as wrong for many of the Fae that do not follow under my father's rule, and I seem as an abomination, an insult to the pure blood lines, so I would be likely hunted down and killed along with all the other mix breeds."

Thorin sat silently on the other side of the crackling fire. For a long time they sat in silence. The moon hung low in the sky, causing shadows to creep slowly across the forest floor.

"We must be heading back. That guard you knocked out would have raised the alarm when he came to. They are likely looking for you." Thorin's voice was stern now.

Liana smiled a wide, tooth-filled grin. "They are not looking for me. The guard would not have told anyone what happened."

Thorin stood from where he was sitting. "Bali is a good solder. I picked him personally because of his skills and trustworthiness. I would place my life in his hands if the time ever came. What makes you so certain he would remain silent about the attack?" Thorin's voice was deep and commanding. Clearly Liana had struck a nerve.

She stood and started to head back to mountain castle. "Answer me woman!" Thorin's voice echoed through the trees.

Liana stopped and turned back to look over her shoulder at Thorin. "It is a gift, if you want to call it that at least."

Thorin stepped around the fire and headed towards Liana. "What is this gift?"He was clearly becoming aggravated with her cryptic answers.

Again she smiled; she was toying with him, pushing him to see what his limits were. He walked over to her, grasping her arm rather abruptly. "Your gift, what is it? Do not toy with me." His eyes burned into her.

Liana brought her head close to his, her eyes moving from where his hand had grasped her arm to meet his eyes.

Smiling a wicked wild grin at him "I have always been able to read people's intentions, good or bad. What they have in their hearts."

His grip on her arm tightened as her muscles tightened under his grip. "How." This wasn't a question, it was a command.

She was close to his face now, her warm breath brushing against his lips. Her eyes darted to where his arm was grasping hers "By touch." She said it so calmly and non-threateningly that what she did next came as a surprise and caught Thorin off guard.

In an instant she twisted her arm up and around effectively removing it from his grip. Before he could grab her again, she slammed him backwards into a tree trunk just a few feet behind him. As she slowly twisted her fingers around her claws effectively dug into his chest through his shirt.

"I warned you about touching me again did I not? Do not think, Master Dwarf, that because I am a woman you can so easily over power me. I am not a human woman and it will do you good to remember that."

She was grinning at him and though her teeth were clenched, she was still toying with him. "Your friend, Bali, was it, is not as honorable as he would have you believe. He will not tell anyone that someone sneaked up on him, knocked him out, and stole his bow." With that said, Liana removed her claws from his chest. She did not put enough pressure behind them to dig into his flesh, just enough to keep a constant purple and black reminder on his chest for the next few days. Thorin sat silently on the ground for a few minutes while pondering what Liana had said. Could she be right, could he be so wrong about someone he knew and trusted with his life?

"I tell you what Thorin. If he comes to you and tells you of what has transpired I will behave myself with the full courtesy of the dwarves, attend the parties, and play the doting daughter of the king while I am here. If not then you will let me be as I am."

Liana went to move off into the woods when Thorin finally spoke. "The mountain is back this way." Pointing in the opposite direction of which she was moving.

"I am a child of the woods and cannot survive in a cage. I will be happier sleeping out here in the wild." It took a few moments to fully understand what she was referring to. Then he remembered what the guest quarters looked like with their plainness and closeness of the walls, something that did not bother dwarves.

"Come," he gestured "It would greatly please the king if you partook in his hospitality, I will find you better accommodations if you so wish it."

Liana turned to look at him. She really was a ravishing creature now that he stopped to fully take her in. There was something other worldly about her that made her seem more compelling.

"And you master dwarf what is it that would please you?" Her eyes were fixed on him now; he couldn't help but notice that they seemed to glow in the pale light of the moon.

"It would please me as well if you would return with me to the mountain."

Liana grinned a wild toothy grin, her tail swaying from side to side as she walked over to where Thorin was standing. "Well then, who am I to keep you separated from what pleases you?" She snaked her arm through his and allowed him to escort her back to the mountain castle.

Thorin lead Liana down a long corridor in one of the upper levels of the castle. This part of the castle was nicer than the one she had previously seen. Long elegant tapestries lined the walls and stone carvings of dwarves with hammers in all the corners. Lines of torches lit the way down to the end, illuminating everything.

He stopped in front of a large green double door." I'm sure this will be more to your liking." With that he opened the doors, letting them fall back against the wall and fully exposing the room to Liana. Letting go of his arm she slowly walked inside. This room was substantially larger than the last one. It had a large bed in the center of the room, marble flooring, its own bathroom with a large metal tub in the center, and best of all a large open balcony that looked out over the city below. Liana let her fingers drift over the soft fabric of the bed as she walked past it and out onto the balcony.

"I trust this will suit your needs?" Thorin asked as he moved into the room behind her.

"Yes I believe this will be much less claustrophobic, thank you." She turned and warmly smiled at him.

"This is the royal wing. If you need me, my room is just down the hall, second door on the left, and Lord Edoras is the third from the right. I will return in the morning to escort you to breakfast." And with that he turned and left closing the doors behind him. Liana grinned slightly. 'Must still be smarting over our scuffles from earlier,' she thought to herself.