Chapter 16:

We spent the next couple days just relaxing. More often than not, I was riding Moonshadow, mostly just to get away from the dwarves.

I also spent awhile sparring with a lot of the dwarves. I had beaten Kili fairly easily (I had made a bet and now not only did he not know my middle name, but he also had to tell me about every dwarven woman he had ever had a relationship with), but the other dwarves were harder. Most of them were ending in draws, unless I was fighting Dwalin, and then I always lost.

I was out on the lawn, with both my swords drawn, wearing breeches, a cotton shirt, and my riding boots. "Dwalin!" I yelled. He was halfway across the lawn from me. "I want to spar again!"

I saw him roll his eyes, and then he cupped his hands around his mouth (his sword still in one of them) and yelled back, "But I always beat you!"

"Not this time!" I shouted.

He stood still for a moment, considering. "Done!" he roared suddenly.

I sprinted towards him, raising my swords above my head and yelling a fierce battle-cry (if I do say so myself). Dwalin ran at me, swinging his sword sideways for some sort of an uppercut. As we came closer, I ducked under his rather wildly swinging sword and cut one of my swords at his unprotected chest. He drew his arm back in at lightning speed, parrying my thrust and countering.

And so we battled back and forth, slicing and thrusting and parrying. We were woven in an endless dance, coming into the formation of body-to-body, our sweaty, taut skin just millimetres away from each other, and then our momentum would spin us away again.

I could never tell how long we fought. It seemed like a timeless battle, with no difference between the timing of the blows and the timing of the parries, dodges, and twists.

Finally, I sensed him tiring somewhat. With a burst of speed, I wove a web of steel around Dwalin's blade, before catching its cross-guard and sending it flying across the empty space, where it stuck point first in the ground, quivering. Then, before he could recover, I slipped one sword behind his neck and the other flicked up to kiss his throat.

We stood there, his arms at his sides, my swords still in position, neither of us moving except to blink sweat out of our eyes and breathe heavily. Dimly I became aware of cheering around us.

I slowly lowered my swords and sheathed them. Dwalin went and retrieved his sword and slipped it into his sheath.

Just then Fili reached us and slapped me on the back. "Well done, Freya!"

The other dwarves came over also to express their amazement and congratulations. I was actually kind of offended at how amazed they were and told them so. They just laughed.

Then Dwalin came back from where his sword was and lifted me up in a hug. I could't suppress a squeak (Dwalin really was horrifyingly strong), and plus, I was terribly surprised. He didn't seem like the hugging type to me.

He very quickly put me back down, though, and clapped me on the back, saying, "Excellent! Really good, Freya!"

I glanced at Kili out of habit, who was now arguing playfully with his brother about something.

We all began to troop inside, but Kili jogged up to me and handed me my bow and quiver. I immediately knew where this was going.

"Nuh-uh!" I said automatically. "Not archery!"

"Aw, come on, you're good at it!" coaxed the grinning dwarf in front of me.

"No!" I protested. With a sigh, he put his own bow in his quiver (still strung) and picked me up. He began to carry me over to a clear space a good distance from the fence.

"Gods, you're heavy," he grunted. "What've you been eating, rocks?"

"Why, is your head missing some?" I asked waspishly as he put me down. I stood on my toes and knocked on his head. "Sounds pretty hollow to me," I informed him. "Maybe it's just always that way."

"Haha," replied the dwarf calmly. "Your head's just as hollow as mine."

"Whatever," I muttered. "All right, where to?" I asked resignedly as I picked up my bow. I strung it and slung my quiver over my shoulder.

"To that," Kili told me, pointing at a piece of cloth tied to a post in the fence. "And I'm aiming for that one," he added, pointing at a different one a few yards away. "Whoever hits theirs first wins."

"What's the bet?" I asked cheekily, ducking as he took a swipe at my head. "How 'bout if I win, you can't drink anything alcoholic at Laketown?"

"And if I win?" he inquired, looking down at me.

"You're not going to." And he wasn't. Now that I had to go through with it, I was determined.

"There's gotta be some motivation for me," he reasoned.

"Fine. Let me think." I already had an idea in mind, but would I be so bold as to state it? That'd be pretty obvious. Then again, this wasn't seventh grade on Earth, where, for some reason, a crush is something secret that simply can't be told. And so, I decided I was bold enough.

"Well?" asked Kili impatiently.

"If you win -" I paused for dramatic effect, " – I will give you – a kiss!"

He raised his eyebrows so high they almost disappeared into his hair. "Really?" he asked, his voice as high as his eyebrows.

I hid a smile by fiddling with my bow string. "Yup."

"Done," he said, and I could hear the determination of his own as he nocked an arrow. "On three. Fili, you count."

"One," said his brother immediately. I stood still, sighting down the arrow, ready to release on three. I could feel the pent up tension in my bow. "Two," said Fili. "Three!"

As he started the word, my fingers released the bow string. I felt the feathers on the end brush my face as it began its journey – and suddenly, thock! My arrow sprang out of the dead centre of my scrap of cloth.

I heard another thock, and looked with surprise to see Kili's arrow a foot too far to the left of his target. I pretended not to notice that Fili was just lifting his hand from Kili's shoulder and what was clearly a shove.

"Ha!" I said, jumping about madly. "I won! I won!"

"Yes, you did," pouted Kili. "Do I still get that kiss?"

"Nope! Not for awhile yet!" I replied with a grin. I sprinted forward to get my arrow and ran back.

I was full of winning juice today.

I thought what you lot needed was a good update! By the way; Kili will get that kiss, I promise. Please review!