Brann saw Thorin sit in his armchair by the fire as she came back to the royal chambers. He looked tired and had dark shadows under his eyes, but Brann knew that it had been a hard day. The shock of seeing his father again must have been great. Brann would give so much to see one of her parents again, but she knew that it could never happen. Wrapping her arms around herself she walked towards the warming fire and her husband and leaned against the back rest of the chair. It was only then, when Thorin realised that she had returned.

'You are in a totally different place, my bear.' Brann whispered and touched Thorins cheek.

Thorin closed his eyes at his wifes touch and pulled her down onto his lap. 'My father is back, Brann. I thought that I had lost him and now he is back.'

'It is alot to handle, I understand.' Brann leaned back against Thorins chest and stared into the fire. She had planned about asking Thorin why he had not informed her about the councils request concerning the line of Durin, but Thorin was not in the shape for scolding at the moment. And deep in her heart Brann knew that Thorin would never have agreed to this. Not now, after their life in Bree.

'Lets go to bed, husband.' Brann was tired and she could tell that Thorin was exhausted. 'We can deal with everything tomorrow.'

Thorin followed his wife into bed wordlessly and did fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Brann looked at him for a while before she followed him to slumber, at least for a short while. In the middle of the night Brann felt Thorin stir beside her and woke up from his choked cries. Thorin mumbled some words in Khuzdul in his sleep and Brann could tell that he was dreaming of a battle, since his hands had tensed as if they were holding a sword and shield. As she heard the words "Azog" and "grandfather" she knew that he was reliving Azanulbizar. Frerin had told her that a pale orc had killed his and Thorins grandfather, king Thror, and that Thorin had destroyed him in battle afterwards. Frerin had also told her that the pale orc had lost an arm to Thorin and that he was dragged away by his filthy soldiers before Thorin could finish him. Thorin was certain that the pale orc was dead, but Brann had her doubts. A severed arm was no fatal wound. As Thorin cried out quietly, Brann broke her musing and cupped her husbands cheek soothingly. Indeed, Thorin calmed down distinctly and continued sleeping soundly, while Brann laid awake until the early morning.

Thorin was strong and he was the king, but Brann worried nevertheless. He had suffered so much in the past years, the loss of his home and large parts of his family. He had seen horrors that only few had to witness and he had no time to come to terms with his experiences because of his duty as a king. He had to be strong for his people. He had to go on for his people. Brann could only hope that Thorin would cope well with the present events. But he was not alone. Again, Brann swore that she would be at his side, no matter what. Slowly sleep took over.

Brann woke up the next morning, feeling a callous hand stroke over her hips under the sheets. Incredibly tired she rolled over onto her stomach, away from the hand. It did not take long until she felt Thorin lean over her and caress her thighs.

'You got to be joking. Its at dead of night, Thorin.' she mumbled into the pillow and heard Thorin chuckle.

'The sun is already up and the birds are singing...outside...'Thorin smirked as Brann grunted into the pillow again. 'I want to be with my wife before the daily routine gaines on me.'

'You can do whatever you want, just don´t wake me up.' Brann stated dryly and tried to continue sleeping while Thorin nuzzled the back of her head and his hand moved over her body. 'I´m sleeping.'

Thorin chuckled and ripped away the sheets, earning a quiet protest from his wife. Kissing down her back he reached bellow her and buried his finger between her legs. He rubbed her clit and moved deeper into her warmth, pressing his meanwhile stonehard erection against her bottom. Brann moaned in a mixture of sleepy irritation and pleasure and it did not take long until she arched into his touch.

'You are...insufferable.' Brann whispered, but smiled against the mattress as Thorin nibbled at her neck from behind. He was about to replace his fingers with his cock as the door swung open and Thrain walked into the room.

Brann was awake at once and Thorin pulled up the sheets to cover his wife and himself. Thrain stood petrified for a moment before he turned around quickly and covered his eyes, well - eye.

'Durins beard! I am so sorry...' Thrain made for the door again. Before it closed Thorin and Brann could hear him mutter. 'Thats no way of producing an heir by the way.'

The door slammed shut behind the kings father and Thorin and Brann could only stare at it before looking at each other in shock.

'That did no just happen!' Brann could not decide wether to laugh or cry. Thorin covered his face with his hands and sighed.

'I am feeling like a dwarfling again...' he complained. 'I can´t believe he saw us having...sweet Durin!'

Brann started chuckling at her husbands distress. Of course she felt embarassed, but she and Thorin were married and they had every right to do what they had been caught doing.

'Well...technically we did not have...' Brann laughed as Thorin looked at her with a frown. 'Do you want to catch up with it now? Now that I am awake?'

Thorin shook his head. 'After my father walked in on us I doubt that I can ever again. That´s not funny!'

But Brann had already burst into laughter.

Thorin, Brann and Thrain met in Dis chambers for breakfast. Thorin threw a frown towards Thrain who watched his son in amusement. Brann curtseyed before Thrain who looked at her warmly.

'Well, dear daughter in law, I believe that today we will have more time to get to know each other better.' Thrain blinked at Brann and grinned at her blush. 'Please forgive my interuption this morning, but I am used to my sons rooms beeing empty.'

'What did you interupt?' Dis came out from nowhere and made Thorin groan. 'What did you two do this morning...oh!'

Thorin felt a massive headache build up bellow his skull and glared at his sister.

'Well, technically - these are your rooms father, since they are the rooms of the king. That means that Thorin and Brann...' with a glance towards her sons already sitting at the table Dis smirked. '...were technically sleeping in your rooms.'

Thrain grinned as Thorins face reddened until it had the color of a tomato and patted his son on the shoulder.

'Never mind, son. I am not planning in taking the place of the king again, anyway.'

Thorin looked at him in confusion. 'You are the king! I have no right to bear your title and crown as long as you are here!'

But Thrain only waved his hand in the air. 'We will talk about that later, son. Now, we eat. I am sure that you two are hungry.'

Thrain and Dis blinked at each other while Thorin and Brann blushed and sat down at the table not looking at each other.

'Father, you are the king! I cannot and I will not keep this title as long as you are here!' Thorin was irritated at his fathers reluctance to take back his throne. Thrain and his son had retired to a private chamber after breakfast.

'I am restless, Thorin.' Thrain sighed. 'I have not slept in peace since the dragon took Erebor. Smaug dwells in our mountain and hords our gold. He sleeps on a bed of gold, our gold, Thorin!'

'There is nothing we can do. He crushed our city defenses and our soldiers in no more than an hour. Erebor is lost.' Thorin muttered and closed his eyes as the memory of that day haunted him.

'I cannot accept it, Thorin.' Thrain told his son. 'I will not stay here while Smaug rests in peace in our mountain!'

'And what do you plan to do about it?' Thorin frowned at his father.

'That, I do not know yet.' Thrain sighed and resisted the urge to rub his missing eye. The wound was infected and hurt terribly.

'You should let Oin take a look at it.' Thorin suggested, but Thrain shook his head.

'Not that I do not trust Oin, but I want to experience the healing skills of your wife, Thorin.' Thrain blinked at his first born. 'Did she ever tend on your wounds?'

'She made me a sleeping potion in the aftermath of the battle.' Thorin remembered. 'I snubbed her and she snapped at me. Frerin thought that it was highly amusing.'

'I can imagine.' Thrain smiled. Frerin had always been the warm and open one of his sons. Thrain could have told that his younger son was the one who had seen Branns potential first. 'Dis told me that Lindin gave Brann and Frerin a bead for their engagement braid. But the queen wears her hair openly and wears no beads. Have you not made her one, yet?'

Thorin sadly shook his head. 'I had planned to do so, but too many things came in the way. I love her hair. Braiding it would mean to force it into place. Thats not Brann.'

Thrain nodded in understanding. 'I understand. But she is the queen of the dwarves and she needs to be marked as such.'

'I know.' Thorin sighed. He already had beads in mind, he would forge them immediately.

Later that day Brann came into Thrains chambers to look at the wound of his missing eye. It was indeed infected badly. Brann wondered how Thrain could even take the pain without his temper being affected and silently compared Thrain to his son. Thrain and Thorin were completely different. Thrain was open and gentle, like Frerin, while Thorin was very introverted and every pain he felt showed in his mood. Thorin must be like his mother Brann thought and turned to the bowl of warm water and her herbs.

'Ah, I see you are using alot of herbs, too. And I thought master Oin was the only herb fanatic around here.' Thrain smirked.

'Herbs are essential when it comes to healing. My mother educated me in herbology since I was a small child.' Brann remembered sadly.

'I heard that your mother - your parents - died on the battlefield as they came to our aid.' Thrain said sadly. 'I am sorry for your loss, lass.'

Brann only nodded and tried to blink the tears away. 'As I am for yours. You and your kin have endured so much in the past years. I admire you for having the strength to continue like this.'

'Thorin told you everything?' Thrain asked carefully. He knew that his sons never talked much and he barely spoke about his feelings, not even to relatives.

'He told me about the dragon which took your home, Erebor. But to be honest I have not asked any further, for I saw the pain and grief in his eyes when he speaks about it.' Brann sighed. 'Thorin does not talk alot, not even to me.'

Thrain nodded and took Branns hand. 'He never has. Not even to me or his mother. Dis is the only one who he talked to in the past and only if he punched the words out of him. Don´t take his silence the wrong way, dear. He trusts you and he loves you. But in his head, opening to you would mean to trouble you with his feelings and worries and he tries to prevent that.'

Brann had not seen it that way before, but now it made sense. 'I am his wife. He is supposed to trouble me with his worries. He does it anyway, wether he talks to me or not.'

Thrain smiled warmly at his daughter in law. 'That, I can see. I am happy that my son found a good wife in you. Even if you are a human.'

Brann frowned at Thrain, but had to smiled faintly as she saw his grin. He reminded her so much of Frerin, it was almost painful. Thrain saw the sad gleam in her eyes and frowned.

'Are you alright, my dear?' he asked.

'I am fine. Its just that...I see so much of Frerin in you.' Brann bit her tongue. She did not know why she even told him this.

'Frerin came after me. Thorin and Dis are like their mother. Beautiful and stubborn.' Thrain smiled as he remembered his wife.

'Tell me about her.' Brann asked him. She wanted to know more of Thorins mother, besides Thrain needed something to distract himself while Brann would clean his wound.

'Zial was...one-of-a-kind.' Thrain smiled. 'Raven black hair, piercing blue eyes and a straight nose. She was tall for a dwarf woman and more athletic than sturdy. She had all the good dwarven qualities, stubborn as a rock, proud and strong. To be perfectly honest, she and I did not get along that well at the beginning.'

Brann had to chuckle at Thrains honesty. She also remembered how Thorin had behaved towards her when they had first met. Thorin was definetly like his mother then.

'Zial was a strong warrior, the only female warrior back then who could wield two axes at one. I have to admit that I was kind of intimidated by her at first. I feared that she would reject my courting by beheading me.' Thrain smirked. 'We were so different and yet...'

'And yet you fell in love.' Brann smiled.

'Indeed. Hit me like a warhammer.' Thrain grinned. 'Thror, Thorins grandfather, only shook his head as I told him that I wanted to marry Zial from the Iron Hills. He did not see what I saw. A wonderful and loving woman behind the fassade of a warrior. A warrior in every way. She gave me three children. That is very rare with dwarves.'

Brann had already noticed that dwarves only had small famillies. One or two dwarflings, no more. 'Why is that?'

'Dwarven births are difficult. The dwarflings are sturdy and many do not face into the right direction when born and suffocate inside their mothers womb. Nobody knows why.' Thrain looked at Brann who paled. 'It won´t be easy for you and Thorin. Although I have to say that I would love to have another grandchild before I leave again.'

Brann shook her head and smiled at her father in law. 'Why do you want to leave again? You will have a life full of peace and plenty here, in the Blue Mountains. Your family is here and they need you.'

'I hear a voice inside my head. It whispers to me: doom is near at hand, beware of Durins bane. The Lonely Mountain calls out for me.' Thrain looked at Brann closely. 'Do you know what Durins bane is, child?' as Brann shook her head he continued. 'The line of Durin is struck with the goldsickness. It is a curse, more powerful than any known curse so far. My father, Thror, has succumbed to it and I already know that I will, too. I have hope for Thorin though.'

Brann looked at him questioningly.

'Thorin has you.' Thrain smiled. 'The only power in Middle Earth which might conquer over Durins bane is the power of love. A love that is mightier than Durins love of gold.'

Brann felt her heart warm up at the older dwarfs words. She knew that Thorin loved her deeply, but would he love her more than all the gold in Erebor? Would Thorin resist the call of the gold in the Lonely Mountain? Thrains love was dead, she would not be able to keep him from the treasures in the north.

'What happened to Thorins mother?' Brann asked.

Thrain stood up from the bench he was sitting on and walked over to the fireplace. 'As the dragon came she tried to fight it. Rumor had it that one of the dragon´s scales had become loose when the lord of Dale fired black arrows at it. Zial was caught in the lower levels of Erebor as Smaug came, she tried to fight her way through. But she could not.'

Brann had tears in her eyes as she walked over to Thrain and laid her hand on his shoulder for comfort. 'Forgive me, I did not want to awaken sad memories.'

'Every memory of my beloved Zial is precious, dear daughter.' Thrain sighed. 'I will never stop myself from remembering her.'

A tear dropped out from his intact eye. Thrain touched his wet cheek and frowned. 'I have not been able to shed tears since I lost my eye at Azanulbizar!'

'The infection from the wound was already close to the healthy eye. It kept it from spilling tears.' Brann told him. 'I will have to take a look at it and tend to it every day for at least a few weeks. There is a risk that the infection has already spread, but I will do anything in my power to prevent it from attacking the healthy eye.'

Thrain nodded and smiled at his daughter in law. 'I know you will. I trust you, daughter.'

Thrain is the bearer of one of the seven rings of power Sauron has given the seven dwarf lords. This ring makes him vulnerable to Saurons will and to Durins bane. The ring whispers to him like it did to Boromir in LOTR. At least this is my interpretation of the Appendix :)

I have planned to give Brann a bead for chapters now...don´t worry its gonna happen...lol...I just have to find the right moment!