Thorin enjoyed the cheerfull evening in the company of the dwarves of Erebor, Ered Luin and the other kingdoms. The only ones missing were the dwarves of the Iron Hills who would arrive the next day. He sat between Brann and Balin and looked upon Dwalin, Bombur, Bofur, Dis and her sons sitting at the end of the table with him. Gloin and his wife were there, together with their son Gimli and Oin was there, too. Bifur sat beside his brothers and Thorin had to chuckle as he saw Branns shocked face.

'This dwarf has an axe stuck in his forehead.' she whispered as she noticed Thorins amused face.

'I know.' Thorin smirked. 'Its stuck there since the day he got into a fight with a dwarf of the Iron Hills. Oin said that pulling it out would probably have killed him, so he let it stick.'

'Oh my goodness.' Brann was speechless and stared at Bifur with big eyes, which made Thorin laugh. His laugh was deep and quiet, but it reached Branns heart the moment she heard it. She looked at Thorin and tried to memorize the small wrinkles around his eyes and mouth when he laughed and decided that she liked the look as much as the sound. But soon, their private moment was interrupted by a dwarven woman from Ered Luin who came to Thorin and snagged him away for a conversation with an arrogant expression towards Brann. Brann only held her gaze and smiled politely, she refused to openly show her anger about the dwarf womans behaviour. She moved over to Dis and her sons and spend an evening full of laughter and fun with Fili and Gimli. Gimli was a little hothead and looked like a miniature version of his father and Fili made Brann laugh as he told the dinner party how he found Dwalin in the infirmary after his mother had given birth to his brother Kili. Brann laughed till her stomach hurt and hugged Fili as he came up to cuddle her up on her lap. She really liked the dwarfling, but she also used him to hide behind him, or otherwise Dwalin would have killed her dead for laughing.

Brann helped Dis to bring the dwarflings to bed and slowly walked back to her chambers late at night. Thorin had left the dinner moments before she did and Brann thought that she had seen that dwarf woman at his side. As she reached her chambers she could hear voices coming from Thorins room. Curiously she walked closer to the door and caught parts of the conversation.

'My king, how could you marry this fragile, shy human woman?' she heard the dwarf woman purr. 'What an awfully skinny thing. She is not match for you.'

Brann paled out of rage and felt like exploding as she heard Thorin answer. 'She was my brothers woman. It was my duty to marry her after Frerins death.' The pain about his brothers loss was obvious in his voice but the dwarf woman did not seem to care. Brann heard sounds like clothes falling to the ground, followed by a metallic clang of Thorins belt. Soon other noises came from inside of Thorins chambers. Brann started blushing as she heard the woman moan and heard the sound of flesh hitting on flesh. She could guess what they were doing and it made her furious. She was about to storm into the room, but her hand froze in mid motion. Thorin had never touched her and never forced her into his bed. He was denied the pleasures of a marital bed although it was Branns duty as a wife to pleasure him. At least that was what her mother had told her. Brann felt torn between the shame, betrayal and guilt. On one hand she wanted to grab the dwarf womans hair and drag her to the gates of the Blue Mountains to throw her out. On the other hand she had denied Thorin any pleasure and now he looked for pleasure with another woman. A woman of his own race. Brann sighed, how could Thorin even find her attractive? She was frail, pale and shy. She had no strong character nor body like dwarf women had. Slowly she recoiled from the door and grabbed her cloak, running for the gates of the mountain. She desperately needed fresh air.

At the gates she ran into Dwalin and sighed irritated. As if the night could get any worse.

'What are you doing here, girl?' Dwalin adressed her by the nickname he had given her on the battlefield instead of her title, but somehow that comforted Brann. 'You should be in bed. With your husband.'

'My husbands bed is already occupied...' Brann stopped herself before she could share private information, but Dwalin frowned at her words. Even the nonsensitive captain of the guards could see that Brann was troubled. He saw the cold fury in her eyes and had to smirk. Secretly he hoped that she would give Thorin a piece of her mind the next morning. Dwalin had seen Thorin leave dinner with the dwarf woman from Ered Luin. He had not liked it, but he would never have imagined Thorin to cheat on his own wife so soon after the wedding. Their marriage had not been one of love, but Dwalin respected Brann - even if he would never tell her - and he disliked the slutty dwarf woman who had thrown herself at Thorin.

'You should stay with lady Dis for the night, girl.' Dwalin told Brann and gently grabbed her arm to guide her to Dis room. Brann followed him reluctantly, but she had nowhere else to go. Great, a queen prisoner of her own mountain. Suddenly Brann felt tired and all she wanted to do was sleep. As Dis opened the door and looked at Dwalin and Brann with a questioning look, Brann just walked inside and lay down beside the sleeping Fili and closed her eyes. The last thing she heard was Dwalin speaking to Dis in Khuzdul and Dis furious snarl.

Thorin woke up from a thundering knock at his door. He had a terrible head ache and grumbled and cursed as he stood up and walked to the door. Half way to the door he realised that he was not wearing any clothes and stumbled back to his bed, in search for his tunic. His nightly visitor had gone already, at least she had had the dignity to leave first thing in the morning.

'By Durins beard, who is it?' Thorin snarled as the knocking continued.

Instead of an answer the door burst open and his sister stormed in like a furious whirlwind. As she saw the sheets in disarray and her brother standing in front of the bed merely dressed in his trousers she frowned and Thorin suddenly felt sobber.

'How dare you do this?' Dis snarled at him and slammed the door. The bang of the door slamming shut echoed in Thorins head for the rest of the day.

'How dare I do what? Whats wrong, Dis?' Thorin asked in surprise.

'Whats wrong? I tell you whats wrong! Your wife and queen is sleeping in your nephews bed because she could not stand sleeping next to the room where her own husband was fucking some whore!' Dis usually never used such language, but she was furious and she became even more furious with every second that passed.

Thorin had to sit down on the edge of his bed. He had not known that Brann had seen him with the dwarf - Dara was her name. He felt guilty at first, but soon he realised that he had nothing to feel guilty about.

'Listen, Dis.' Thorin tried to explain. 'Brann and I...we are only married...on paper. I married her to give her a home and a family, like tradition demanded. Nothing more. I do not love her and neither does she love me. We haven´t even been intimate for Durins sake! She sleeps in the royal chambers and I sleep here. Now whats the problem?'

'The problem is that you are unfaithful to your queen. I do not care wether you two are intimate or not, but you gave her a promise and you should keep that promise. A marriage also implies faith, honor and loyalty, regardless the reasons for the marriage. You do not see Brann fucking around with anyone else, do you?' Dis snarled. She could somehow understand Thorins reasoning, but she had seen the hurt expression on Branns face and she hated her brother for that. 'Fix this.'

With these words she left her brother and slammed the door again, causing Thorin to groan in pain.

Brann woke up with an empty mind and a cold heart. That morning she made a decision. She would not let her unstable emotions bother her any further. In the past months she had felt so many intense emotions that she felt extremly overloaded. The horror of the battlefield, the grief over the dead, the loss of her family, finding love and losing it again, all of this tore at Branns heart. It hurt deeply and Brann longed for peace.

Accept your life, Brann. You are the queen of the Blue Mountains. You have a new home and you have responsibilities. Pull yourself together. Who needs love? Brann scolded herself and determinately stepped out of the bed, careful not to wake up Fili. She walked back to her chambers and dressed for the day. Today, she chose a dark red dress and bronze jewelry. She also picked a brown fur, because the days had gotten cold and chilly and sighed comfortably.

Today the dwarves from the Iron Hills were supposed to arrive and Brann would face them like the queen she was. And she would face the floozy dwarf who slept with her husband with class and dignity. Brann stepped out of her chambers, her head held up high and her eyes gleaming with fiery determination. The dwarves who passed her bowed deeply before their queen, which comforted Brann in some odd way.

'Make way for the queen of the Blue Mountains!' she heard Balin exclaim as she reached the gates. He rushed towards her in hurry.

'Lord Balin, whats wrong?' Brann could see the hectic surrounding the usually calm dwarf.

'Lord Dain from the Iron Hills has arrived early. The king is still in his chambers and he will not make it in time to greet them.' Balin sighed. 'Our scouts have detected the delegation too late and now they are already heading towards our gates.'

Brann took a deep breath. 'I will greet them and will escort them to the throne room. You get my husband. And make sure that servants bring ale to the gate, quickly.'

Balin looked at the young woman in astonishment. He could see a confident young woman who grew into her role as the queen of the dwarves of the Blue Mountains. Balin liked it and bowed before he rushed to Thorins chambers.

Brann concentrated on keeping her head up high and stepped out into the daylight. Dwalin and the mountains guards were already taking position and Brann nodded her greeting. If Dwalin was surprised to see her here, he did not show it. The delegation from the Iron Hills had a long way behind them, they had pratically travelled through half of Middle Earth to come to the Blue Mountains. But they did not look exhausted at all. Their leader, lord Dain, was an impressive dwarf. He was as huge as Dwalin, but bald and full of tattoos. His beard almost reached his waist and he carried a huge and heavy axe. His armor was made of iron and must have been incredibly heavy, but he held his back straight and carried the weight as if it was mithril.

Brann walked towards him and bowed her head. 'Brann, at your service, lord Dain.'

'Dain, at yours.' Dain looked her up and down before he continued speaking. 'You are my cousins queen, the healer who came to our aide at the gates of Moria.'

Brann looked closer at the dwarf and felt as if she had seen him on the battlefield, but she could not remember when. Dain smirked and roared in his loud voice 'Do not worry, queen Brann, I have changed alot in the last eight months, as you have.'

Eight months. So only eight months had passed since the death of all her loved ones. Brann felt as if it had been ages ago.

'I am honored to meet you again, lord Dain. Your people can be proud of their valiant and strong leader who survived the Battle of Azanulbizar.' Brann stated diplomatically and hoped that it would be well received.

Indeed, Dain bowed his head in respect and that seemed to break the ice.

'You have a long journey behind you, lord Dain. Maybe you want to freshen up first? May I invite you to a pint of ale?' Brann hoped that the lord of the Iron Hills would comply with her offer, it would buy some time.

Dain was surprised but he had to admit that a pint of good ale sounded lovely and he could see that his fellow dwarves thought the same. 'It would be a pleasure.'

Brann smiled politely and escorted Dain to the ale standing at the entrance of the gates while servants rushed towards them offering them pints and relieving the delegation of their luggage. She missed the impressed smile in Dwalins face as the delegation passed him. The girl was more than met the eye.

Thorin followed Balin to the throne room cursing and muttering. This day had begun awful and now his scouts had missed the delegation of his cousin. It had surprised him that Brann had greeted the delegation from the Iron Hills at the gate and he was thankful that she had bought him time. Brann. He had to talk to her as soon as possible. But first he had to greet his cousin. He had barely sat down on his throne as the door to the throne room opened and the delegation marched in led by Brann and Dwalin.

'Cousin!' Dain roared through the throne room, causing Thorin to wince slightly.

'Dain, how was your journey? You haven´t been able to enjoy the warm fires of the Iron Hills much, haven´t you?' Thorin asked with a sympathetic look. Dain and his dwarves had travelled from Moria back home only to hear about his wedding and had decided to travel south to pay him their respects.

'Ah, it was worth the journey. A lovely queen you have there, cousin.' Dain grinned widely at Brann who smiled back warmly and sat down beside Thorins throne. She did not look at Thorin through the whole day, but managed to keep up the impression of a confident queen. The council meetings in the afternoon were tiring and Brann had difficulties understanding the complicated trade agreements. What she did understand was that every dwarven kingdom was bound to the other and strong trade agreements were the basis of a strong and stable kingdom. The dwarves of the Blue Mountains were at a disadvantage. The former rich and powerful dwarves had lost their golden mountain to a dragon and had travelled the lands in search for a new home. They had found one in the Blue Mountains, but their economic power had to be renewed. The dwarves of the Blue Mountains could not stand on their own and they needed the support of the neighbouring kingdoms. Dain supported his cousin, but the Iron Hills were far away and had to face many perils, like the neighbouring dragon and the dark threats from the East. For the first time since Brann was in her new home she looked forward to the cheerfull and carefree atmosphere of the dinner party. There was something else she looked forward to. For this she returned to her chambers and took a long hot bath and washed her hair till it shone brightly and fell over her back in soft long waves. Brann chose a dress she had designed herself. It was cooper red and bronze yarn draw through the fabric. Since her queens crown was silver she quickly braided her hair over the silver band, so that only the part on her forehead was visible. With a last satisfied look into the mirror she left for the dining hall.

Dwalin grumbled irritately as he saw the dwarf floozy from Ered Luin move closer to Thorin and actually had the nerve to sit down on Branns seat beside Thorin. Dwalin exchanged a dark look with Dis who also stared at Dara furiously. But the dwarf from Ered Luin could not enjoy her flirting for long. She saw a cooper red flame before she was adressed from behind.

'Excuse me, lady Dara. But I believe that this is my place to sit.' Brann stood behind Dara, looking down at her with a fierce expression and a cold smile. She leaned down to the petrified dwarf woman and whispered to her, but loudly enough for Thorin to hear. 'And this is my husband. If I see you anywhere near our chambers ever again no riches in this world will save you from my wrath.'

Dara paled and could not stand up fast enough. Branns usually soft brown eyes burned into her with a menacing gleam and Dara bowed quickly before leaving the royal part of the table. Brann sat down at Thorins side with a satisfied expression and continued ignoring Thorin, much to Dis and Dwalins amusement. Thorin was so shocked about Branns performance that he just stared at her while she was smiling at the other dwarf lords. He could not help but notice that she looked gorgeous that evening. But one thing was different. The woman beside him was not the shy and sweet woman his brother had fallen in love with. This woman was the queen of the Blue Mountains, a strong and more confident woman. The Brann sitting beside him should be more to his liking, but she wasn't. Thorin missed her shy looks and her low key attitude. He missed the old Brann.