Ch. 11: Reunions

"Lay still," Eily insisted, pushing Fili back down into the high grass, "Do you want that rash to spread?"

The tiny red bumps went from around his mouth, across his chin and down his neck, "I think it may have already," her brows furrowed, fingers nimbly working at the laces of his tunic to reveal a spreading rash across his chest.

"I'll have to make a salve for it," she winced, but firm hands grabbed her wrists and held them at his tunic.

"I can think of a balm which needs little preparation," Fili mumbled, eyes locked on her blistered palms and soft fingers.

His heart beat so loudly in his chest that she could hear it in her ears.

"If you were to gnash the flowers with your teeth, your spittle would work it into a paste and…"

She popped a chamomile blossom into her mouth without question, chewing it into a fine paste and leaning her face close to his chest.

Fili's breaths were shallow and his skin goose pimpled as she placed two steady palms onto his bare chest to steady herself as her tongue worked gently across his skin. And even though her tongue and the balm upon it was warm he was caught in shivers and chills that made the hair on his chest prickle and his eyes so hooded and foggy that he could only barely recognize the victorious smile on her busy lips.

He gasped weakly as her soft mouth and terrible, wonderful tongue worked over his exposed collarbone and up his neck, stopping to nuzzle under his beard with her small nose, taking in the musky smell of furs, leather, and water rushing over stone. For some reason the sensation of her delicate fingers playing in his beard sent fire rolling down his hips, and his hands pushed their way up and over her thighs so that he could begin stroking and grasping at her rear, working to pull her hips to meet his. He had never been so disordered and yet completely gratified in his life, only knowing that if he could pull her to him the heat and friction would enhance his pleasure. But she was up on her knees and would not relent to him, even as he groaned in supplication beneath her.

When her mouth had finally reached his he could bear it no longer, reaching out and clutching her soft braids and clinging greedily to them like the spun gold that they were, pulling her delicate face to meet him and crushing her tiny mouth under his, growling happily as he did so. He broke the kiss only to spit out the bit of chamomile that remained in her mouth, looking back to see that the fury of his kiss had left her lips swollen, her sweet face red from his beard.

He smiled approvingly at the way she chewed gently on her lower lip as if beckoning him back to her. And he would return gladly, moving his hands to hold either side of her beautiful, delightful, beardless face: the gentle curve of her smile, the freckles that dotted her dainty nose, and the eyes, shining emeralds weaved with gold.

Flowing gold.

Troves of it.

"Erebor," he moaned as he kissed her again all the more fiercely, biting into her lip, drawing blood and sucking greedily at the wound.

For she bled gold.

Fili jolted awake with a choked scream on his lips, hands blindly groping the ground until his eyes adjusted to the dark and he began to realize where he was.

A dream, only a dream.

He swallowed the remaining panic of it, feeling the chill of a cold sweat on his skin. He licked his lips nervously and tasted blood there, but when he turned to Eily she was sleeping, undisturbed and unhurt.

The blood was his. He sighed with relief.

Only a dream.

For the past four days Fili had been awake before her and by his look each morning he had been awake for some hours prior. He was always ready to leave and had already checked her snares (this morning he was cooking the only catch, a squirrel) by the time she awoke. He had said very little of consequence to her since the night he had dealt her that compliment, and she had been too self-conscious to bring it up. Fili seemed perpetually unnerved, yet whenever she tried to ease him with conversation he seemed to be lost in thought.

He must have been worrying about Thorin and the others.

It could only have been midday when the company's tracks led them away from the road and into the woods.

"Why would they go in there?" Eily asked, eyeing the dark wood cautiously.

Fili shrugged, it didn't matter why they did, they did, and so the two of them must follow.

They passed many upturned trees and hasty footprints until they came upon it.

"Trolls," Fili spat, his strong nose wrinkling at the sight of them.

"Turned to stone by the daylight," Eily marveled, circling the huge bulky creatures, noting the large boulder to the East that had been cloven in two.

She poked at a large empty burlap bag with the tip of her boot, "What happened here?"

Fili did not seem interested in speculating, he merely walked the camp, observing the tracks and following back into the trees, "This way."

"By the First Fathers what is that stench?" Eily gagged, trying to step lightly so avoid slipping on the rotting leaves that carpeted the entrance to the cave.

Fili did not respond as he carefully dug through a barrel of weaponry and then over to a large rack of shelving, "They took nearly all the food that was edible, and a cask of the wine," Fili remarked, running his finger along the dirty shelves and noting the disturbed markings in the dust.

"How long?" Eily asked, rummaging through a cobweb ridden chest of goblets and trinkets.

"At least two days," he said, picking up an empty sack and stuffing what food seemed safe to eat (and some that would probably represent a risk were they not entirely deprived of provisions), "probably more as I am no ranger. And still on ponies which puts us even further behind unless they stop somewhere."

He sighed heavily and set his jaw firmly, "Let's get out of this foul place."

Eily nodded her agreement, stuffing a fine looking silver pen into her belt pouch as she did so, leaving the disgusting putrid hole without a backwards glance when a strange glimmer in the stone caught her eye, "Fili? Fili what is that?"

He backtracked and turned to stand abreast with her, leaning backwards slightly to gaze up where she was narrowing her eyes intently, "It's a message from Gandalf!"

"Not much of one. It's only two runes. How can you be sure it's from him?"

"One is the same mark he left on Bilbo's door," Fili had that smug closed mouth smile again.

"And the other?"

At this Fili cringed, "The other is not a dwarven symbol, which must be why you do not know it. It is the shorthand for Imladris."

Eily took a step back as though the rune may jump off the stone and bite her. Her mother had instilled her with no love of elves, but neither had she given her daughter a hatred of them. They were a strange people who took to living in the hot dense air of forests, and who preferred the voices of trees to the singing of stone. They were as foreign to Eily as any creature of Middle Earth could be, and the aversion that the King Under the Mountain and his heir had for them made her guarded, "Thorin would never agree to meet there."

"No," Fili agreed, "He would not."

Thorin brooded alone on a grand marble veranda overlooking tumbling waters and immaculate gardens, unable to believe he had allowed that haggard old gray bird to lead his company into the den of their enemy. He sighed in agitation even as his eyes shifted below to where his youngest sister son sat leaning against a pillar with a blank pathetic expression on his face.

The young dwarf's cheeks were sallow and sunken, his eyes heavy and dark from lack of rest. He held his goblet halfheartedly, more interested in tracing the delicate swooping engravings on it than drinking from it.

To his knowledge Kili had slept little in the past nine days, and eaten even less, but it appeared that now that the company had finally stopped to wait for Fili and the girl that his spirits were slowly lifting. Hope was daring to spring, encouraged by the damnable wizard. Rather than turning to find the lad weeping in utter silence Thorin now found him staring longingly at nothing. It seemed like progress, especially when the others were equally morose and taciturn in spite of Gandalf's relentless urgings that Fili and Eily would catch up now that they awaited them in the safety of Rivendell. Even so the last nine days had been spent in an almost perpetual bereavement but for complaints about the lack of meat at table and the occasional optimistic remark. Bilbo seemed to be the only one who took the wizard's interpretations as fact, content to tour the grounds and make lists of his preferred fountains to show Eily once she arrived.

Thorin did not need the word of wizard's to know that his heir and the lady of the Vividstone lived, he was convinced that should she have fallen he would have felt it in his bones.

He was as certain of his connection with her as he was unable to explain it, except to say that he had been born in the same halls as her, had bled into the stone before she sprung from it, and so she carried in her not just the lifeblood of the mountain but Thorin's as well.

It was on the evening of their second day that a speaker for Lord Elrond came to their common chambers before dinner, bearing what he called "glad tidings." That two dwarves (one a lady and without beard) had been picked up on the road by servants of the generous Lord Elrond at the wizard's request, and were being escorted to them as he spoke. Both were in perfect health, and would arrive by midday tomorrow, or perhaps later, as the young bearded dwarf had insisted on walking if no mount could be provided for him as no dwarf of Erebor would be carried like a burden by any elf.

At this the company had laughed approvingly, and Thorin had suppressed a smirk.

The sound of this news was like a resurrection, and much merrymaking occurred that night so as to confound the elves with the infamous appetite and strong stomachs of dwarves for several kegs of wine were depleted (and a great deal more would have been had Thorin not insisted on temperance so that all would be in proper shape to greet the return of the heir of Erebor). But all had had enough to make merry with, even Mr. Bilbo whose round cheeks were rosy with inebriation well into the night.

The next morning every dwarf ate a very substantial breakfast, finally able to enjoy their meals as their stomachs were no longer locked by grief (however denied), and saw to washing themselves and their clothes, at which point a great deal of roughhousing and laughter occurred (especially from Kili, who seemed to have sprung from his goblet the night before a new born dwarf made of nothing but delight and elation).

Thorin of course was absent; as was Mr. Bilbo whose hobbitish habits demanded far more shyness. Rather the hobbit took the gardens once more, memorizing his favorite paths, certain the lady Eily would be most eager for his company and comforts after being deprived of both for so long.

But he found that even the peace of Rivendell could not ease his excitement, and he spent much of his afternoon checking sundials, tapping his foot impatiently, and snacking out of boredom.

Fili and Eily did not end up arriving until part way through dinner, which caused quite a fuss and a rather large disturbance in propriety as the entire company immediately rushed from the table at the word of Elrond's speaker, completely abandoning the lord at his own table for a moment. But it seemed he was as patient as he was ancient, and rose to follow alongside the laughing Gandalf (though far more slowly and quietly).

Fili and Eily each stood agape in the grand courtyard, their escorts stood to the side, assuring them that the rest of their company would surely join them soon. Despite their guides ability to be somewhat condescending (not aided by Fili's predisposition towards instigation), they seemed like kind enough creatures, and their home was certainly quite beautiful (if not to her own liking), and its stones were ancient though they were not inclined to sing for her.

Overall she was quite impressed and only a little put out by the experience, Fili also was not entirely displeased (though he would not have admitted it to Thorin for anything), but both were very anxious to be reunited with their company.

"FILI!" came a growing call from above.

Both looked up to see a cavalcade of dwarves erupt from a hall and into the balustrade of a balcony that overlooked them.

Poor Ori was nearly split in two against the railing as the others clamored to call over his shoulder, a barrage of hellos and questions and oh how we missed you and Bofur thought for sure you were dead no I didn't yes he did come here laddie so I can squeeze the life from you, and all manner of affectionate babbling until Balin finally caught up and found the stairway from the balcony to the courtyard which set another race in motion down the stairs (nearly taking a group tumbling).

Fili was immediately overcome with elated bodies as his kin grabbed and embraced him and tossed his braids, praising him for his heroic rescue of the lady and his ingenuity at delivering her to Rivendell unharmed.

All this happened so fast in front of her Eily did not notice Nori, Dori, Ori, and Bilbo bringing up the rear and heading straight towards her.

"Eily!" Bilbo cried, near joyous tears.

But before he could envelop her in the most loving hug east of the Shire Nori took ahold of both her arms, chuckling, "Lass!"

At which point he promptly slammed his head into hers.

Eily was stunned.

Bilbo nearly passed out in horror, an outraged wail reverberating through the courtyard.

But by the budding look on Eily's face one would have thought she'd just received an early birthday present.

She was not in any sort of pain, quite the opposite, she was so happy she could have died.

"Nori!" she suddenly squealed, bashing her skull into his reciprocally and then turning to Ori, with whom she repeated the process.

And Dori, and Bombur, and Dwalin, and so on, typically also getting a hug or a firm elated shaking in their strong arms. Bilbo hung on her for a good long time, and her world was a flurry of acceptance and affection as everyone circled between her and Fili, and all words meant the same thing.

"We're so sorry"

(You're our friend)

"We missed you so much"

(You're our sister)

"We were so worried"

(You're our daughter)

"We're so happy you're back"

(We love you)

But one embrace stood out, for he suddenly grabbed her from behind and held her back firmly to his chest, his short beard scratching against the side of her face as he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

"Kili."

His was the only connection without words, for he simply held her there for a short moment, but each heartbeat felt like a day in itself as his soft breath touched her skin.

Until the voices died down, and the crowd cleared, and Kili's arms no longer encircled her.

Thorin.