"Who are you?" Lindsey asked confused. How could it be that there was someone in here, in that mountain? The only entrance was the one only opening at Durins Day. How many Durins Days was this old dwarf Smaugs prisoner yet? And what's more important: How could he survive that long? The dwarf stepped closer to the cold iron bars, clutched them with his fingers that seemed to be strong despite his high age.

"So Gandalf really made it? He gave him the map and the key?"

Lindsey knew that he was talking about Thorin. "Yes, Gandalf was our companion until we reached the Mirkwood. I don't want to talk about that creepy place. That elf king had kidnapped my sister from the Sea City of Men and held her as his hostage just to press Thorin to give him the Arkenstone. But his son, Legolas, rescued her and now is also out there with us."
She kept silent and had the feeling that she talked way too much and maybe annoyed him.

"An elf is helping us?" he asked in disbelief and she sensed the same kind of aversion that Thorin still had in his voice even if he was very thankful that Legolas helped them.

"Do you know Thorin personally? Have you been a citizen of Erebor or Dale?" she asked once again. She wanted to know who that dwarf was. He nodded slowly. "I know Thorin since he was born" he replied with a slight smile. Lindsey frowned. "Have you been part of the royal guard?"
Now he chuckled quietly. "No, I am part of the royal family."

She still looked slightly confused. "I don't understand..."

He gave her a warm smile. "My name is Thrain. I am Thorins father."

"Could you feel that?" Dwalin asked and let his eyes drift along the group.

"Was that an earthquake?" Dori asked afraid. Balin turned around to them. "That was not an earthquake. That was the dragon."

"But what is he doing with Lindsey?", Kate asked concerned. It felt as if the dragon was nearly going to burst out of the mountain. They had felt his footsteps. "What if he simply smashed her?", she added. Thorin pulled her into his arms. "He won't. And we will rescue your sister!"

"Bilbo! You have to go inside again! Tell that dragon he has to give us Lindsey back!", Fili called but then he added: "Forget it, I'll go in there by myself and show him what it means to take my love!"

The young dwarf prince was going to rush into the tunnel but got tackled by Kili and both dropped on the hard ground. "Kili, let me go!" he called and pushed his brother away. They started struggling against each other, until Thorin couldn't watch it any longer. He grabbed Fili, pulled him off of his brother and pressed him against the rock. "Listen to me, lad! We're all concerned about her, especially Kate! Think about it for just one minute! Do you think it's a clever idea to rush into the mountain? Shall we all die to rescue Lindsey? How do you think that might help her? I like that girl as well and I won't let anyone or anything harm her! So calm down or I have to shut you up and tie you up here! Do you want that? DO YOU WANT THAT, FILI?!" he yelled at his nephew.

All of them watched him quite startled. The one being most startled was Thorin himself. Never did he yell at his own family like this. He stepped away from his nephew, took several steps back. "I'm so sorr...Fili, I didn't..I...", he tried to explain but Fili simply pulled him into a tight hug. Tears were running down the young ones cheeks and Thorin tried to comfort him. Fili couldn't stop it, it broke out of him, and tears began to wet Thorins tunic but he didn't care. Instead he also pulled Kili to them and the three shared an intense family embrace. Silence came over them.

Kate was aware of Legolas close to her and she looked up at him. "I could go inside."; he suggested.

"No!", Kate called out. "That would be suicide! That dragon knows the scent of elves and he will recognize you!"

Thorin turned around to her. "To be precise he already knows all our scents. He knows dwarves, elves, Men and now he also knows Hobbits. It doesn't matter who'll go in there. He will recognize everyone."

She looked at him. "We have to decoy him out! We don't have any other option. Either I go in or that dragon comes out. Lindsey is alone in there with that awful creature!"

"You are Thorins father?" she called surprised. She thought his father died long ago.

"How is this possible? Did Gandalf know about this?"

"No, the last time I saw him he had to think I would die. Even I thought my end was near and that was the reason I gave the map and the key to him. After my surprising recovery I went on without the map and the key. I was alone, I had no army behind. Not even a small company like my son seems to have out there. It was just me."

"But if you didn't have the map anymore, how did you know where the entrance was? When it would open?"

He looked at her for several moments until he continued. "There is another way in. At least there was when I arrived. I don't know if it's still intact. It's close at the main gate, but you have to go really close to the gate to see it. If it's still there. I just wanted to get my home back. Or at least some pieces of gold. But the dragon recognized me. Instead of killing me he threw me in here. Death would have been the more merciful end, believe me."

"How long ago?"

He shook his head. "Too long. Really, I don't know it. Maybe a hundred years? You'll lose the sense of time in here after a while."

"And how could you survive that long?"

Now he chuckled quietly. "Believe it or not, but that dragon brings food and water in here from time to time. Mostly small animals he hunted right outside the mountain. I don't know why he's doing it. But that's the way I survived somehow."

They fell silent again. He looked at her and his glance became soft. "I will become grandfather you said?" he asked proudly and Lindsey was not certain if he knew about Fili and Kili.

"To be precise you're already a grandfather. Your daughter has two sons. Fili and Kili."
He recognized the little sadness in her eyes. "I didn't know that. Are they fine?"
She nodded. "But they are highly worried now. Especially Fili. You have to know we're..."
"...in love.", he finished that sentence for her. She was surprised and he gave her a smile again.
"I may be locked up in here for quite a long time, but I still know that kind of look. I had that look once as well. At a time Erebor was still peaceful and I still had both of my eyes."

"How had she been? Your wife...Thorins mother?"
He seemed to think back to a time where everything had been better than now.
"Her name was...Mahild. That means 'gold' in your tongue. And she really was like gold. A beautiful dwarf lady. She lived in Dale with her family. We met on a festival and it was love at first sight. I know that sounds stupid."

She chuckled. "No, that doesn't sound stupid. To be honest, I also fell for your grandson right away."
"You're from the Men race, am I right?"
She nodded. "Yes, my sister and I are not from Middle Earth. I think you wouldn't understand even if I'd try to explain it to you. Let's say...we're from a different world."
"Thorin seems to have very strong feelings for your sister if he puts this aside...the whole breed mixing. You said they are engaged?"

"Oh, yes, he engaged to her in a very romantic way. It was back in the Sea City. One evening there was a festival and he led her down to the rivershore and asked her to become his wife, his Queen. He had created a ring for her quite similar to the one I am wearing. That one was the old engagement ring of our mother. Thorin carved the sign of Durin in the one he gave Kate."

"Your mother died as well?"

"Yes, it was an accident. We lost our father and our mother at the same day. I still miss them both a lot, I was still a child back then. Kate cared for me since then. She is all I have. And Fili, of course. The whole company is like a family for me now.", she said quite sadly. She would do anything to be with them again.

"Thorin had always been an adventurer...", he began and she realised he was deep in thoughts. A slight smile curled his lips as he looked back at her. "As far back as he was a little dwarfling he started to fight using branches. Oh, how often he fell on his nose while trying to whirl around. We stopped counting, but I already knew back then that he'll become a great warrior. The only thing I was worrying about was his little lack of orientation. He got lost so many times in the woods outside the mountain. Later he had his little brother as his duelling partner. It was nearly impossible to see them separated from each other."

Lin thought about Kili and Fili. It was the same with them and it seemed to her that this must be the blood of Durin in them.

"When his sister Dís was born my wife died not long after that. My beloved Mahild. Thorin was the eldest of the siblings, and he always cared a lot about them. After their mothers death he acted even more protective. The day Frerin died was the day his world shattered into pieces. His sister was the only thing in the world that managed to set the pieces of his broken heart together again, at least a bit. But there was always that missing piece in his heart. That one missing piece no one was ever able to fill to cure him from his pain of Frerins death. He was never able to love anybody, and after I left I knew he would care about his sister, about our folk. And he really did."

Lindsey was by now aware of the tears that ran down her cheeks. Kate might have known this already, but she never heard that heartwrenching story of Thorin. She understood by now why he was how he was. She sobbed silently and said: "The father of your grandsons died when they were little dwarflings. Thorin raised them with his sister. The lads see him more like a father than an uncle."

Thrain smiled and nodded, but there was still slight pain in his glance. "I will never forgive myself that I left my family without a word."

She wanted to embrace him, hold him tight and tell him, that they will leave that prison and that he will be able to reunite with his son, with his grandsons and his unborn grandchild. Instead she said: "Thorin is still very proud of you. He is proud to be your son."

"Thank you for saying that."

Again there was silence. After a while he quietly asked: "You said it was love at first sight between you and Fili. How was it with my son and your sister?"
Now Lindsey truly laughed. "They are so much alike that it was very difficult in the beginning. They went for their throats nearly every day and we always had to stop them. Until we reached Rivendell. I was badly wounded, got bitten by a warg and we had to stay in the elven city for a while. We had been there for two weeks and Thorin had decided to teach my sister in swordfighting. And then one thing led to another. And now it's impossible to imagine them being apart from each other. The time she was hostage in Thranduils kingdom was the worst for him. For all of us. But for him and me it was the worst that could've happen. I could've lost my sister, the only close family I have left. And he could've lost his one true love, the mother of his child, his unborn child. I can only pray that it's not getting any worse. I pray that the Company won't do anything rash."

a bit shorter again, next chapter will have some more twists and turns again! I guess it might be up at the weekend! :)