I did well on my exam, so thank you for your good wishes and patience. I stayed up very late and worked hard this morning to get this out. I didn't split it in two to make you suffer! I really didn't have it written. Anyway, here it is! Thank you, thank you for all who've reviewed and signed on. I won't be able to get back to you all despite my desire to do so. School is heating up, and I figure that you'd rather have the chapters!

Chapter 28

The noble clans and their servants murmured with confusion while watching the King of Erebor stare out into the crowd, unmoving and unspeaking. The maids looked around them and met each others' eyes. Heads nodded slowly. Gentle fingers pulled at Relianna's hands and arms, and bodies wove a slow dance to carefully move her to the center. A group of Onkra's former footmen stood by to defend them, and they all closed in like a cocoon until Thorin came for her.

"Stay in here, Reli," Bemma whispered. "These other guards that came in look like Erebor's, but King Thorin's face says otherwise. I don't know if they happened to come in with Onkra or they're with her, but something's wrong."

Thorin closed his eyes briefly, and Fili stepped up to talk to him. His heir did an admirable job of masking his worry and, even in his fury, Thorin couldn't help but think that Fili had come into his own.

"Should Dwalin have them removed, uncle?" he asked quietly. He kept his shoulders loose and pose casual.

Thorin shook his head slowly while looking over his shoulder.

"We control the room," he answered while marking where friends and enemies stood, "and we need to stay in control. It's time to have it out once and for all."

Dolor left his place with the council and approached the king. He walked over with the strut of a plump rooster, making like he ranked just below the Princes of Durin. Glancing smugly over at his colleagues, he mounted the steps with all the pomp of a coronation.

"My lord, is something wrong?" he asked snidely. "You have your choice of any in the room, and the time has come to make that choice."

Thorin shook off his trepidation with a toss of his black and silver hair and pushed his alarm into the citadel of his heart. Dolor felt Thorin's glare like strong hands gripping his shoulders and squeezing until they bruised.

"Indeed," he replied coldly, "you're right, and now I will choose my bride."

Then he prepared himself and raised his hands. Dwalin tensed and surreptiously unhooked his dagger from a hidden pocket in his jerkin. The other members of the company widened their stances and prepared their weapons. Nori clenched the handle of his thin blade bound to his wrist, and Bofur pulled the grip of his club part-way out of his short coat.

The crowd hummed excitedly. Ladies preened and fluffed their bosoms while their menfolk yanked on the hems of their jerkins and lifted their chins proudly. Lords from rival settlements tried to best each other in silent competition. Narrowed eyes met sneers and snorts of derision. This wasn't a contest anyone wanted to lose in front of his peers.

"Eight hundred soldiers strong for you to command, Oakenshield!" one dwarf lord called out from the back.

Suddenly, voices rang out with bribes of wagons loaded with fragrant spices to casks of rare wines and ales. Anything they could barter was offered in exchange for kinship with Erebor.

"This is disgusting," Frain commented with a cringe. He and Kili had their arrows notched and bows drawn. "It's going to be hard to get a clear shot; there's so much milling on the floor."

A rhythmic wave began of dwarves pushing to get close to Thorin and others pulling them back. Fili started down the stairs first, and hands reached for him, offering him younger daughters and begging him to sway his uncle. Then Thorin took a deep breath and started after him. The frantic clamor rose to a shrill din until his feet landed on the floor. Then it stilled. The crowd parted in front of him, and those he passed by groaned. Heads dropped in shame, and scorned contenders shed hot tears. Onkra watched with fury as he passed her by with a single word: rukhs or orc in the common tongue.

The number of still-possible choices thinned as he made his way to one side where the servants were gathered. A hum arose with those spurned looking around to see who was left. Standing in front of the maids, he turned and addressed the crowd.

"I've made my choice, and it's final!"

He nodded, and the maids opened their circle of protection. Relianna stepped forward with a tight smile fixed on her face. Thorin pulled off her veil and took her by the hand.

"I choose her!"

No one spoke while she defiantly stood by her lover and king. Her red hair flamed in the light of thousands of diamond facets, and onlookers gasped at the master works around her neck and on her ears—rich signs of Thorin's favor. No ordinary maid would be wearing a necklace of topaz, diamonds, peridots, and emeralds. The necklace in particular, with a large peridot pendant cut in the shape of a heart, was an opulent gift. Dain's mouth fell open and his eyes blurred at the irrefutable proof that his daughter with Tamra stood before the crowd.

"Oh, my child, my child, what have I done?" he whispered in anguish. Tears began to fall, and he struggled his way forward to reach her. A few lords eyed Relianna's hair and eyes and turned to find Dain with puzzled looks on their faces. Then the crowd looked lower and exploded.

"Mixed blood!" "Half-breed!" "Harlot!" "Disgrace!" "Outrage!" "Insult!" "WHORE!"

"Get ready, Frain," Kili muttered, "and don't let your feelings spoil your aim."

Frain only nodded. So angry was he over his sister's treatment that he couldn't speak.

The cries and threats of violence grew louder and wilder by the moment. Most of it was against Relianna for somehow bewitching Thorin into choosing her. Her lower lip trembled, but she stood her ground. Onkra's remaining servants quietly moved her to an alcove.

"How dare you take us for fools, Oakenshield!" shouted a grizzled dwarf lord. He pulled out a knife and pointed the tip at Relianna's throat. "We won't stand by and let that slut be queen over our daughters!"

Others stepped forward shaking their fists and cursing the same. Thorin trembled with rage, and Fili came over and put his hand on her shoulder.

"All Durins stand with her!" he shouted into the sea of enraged faces. He ignored calls asking where Prince Kili was.

"Does he approve of this travesty?" voices yelled.

Frain shook his head at Kili's involuntary twitch to open his mouth.

"Don't give us away, cousin," he implored in a hushed voice. "They need us up here."

Suddenly, the guards wearing the notched ax heads drew knives and leaped forward, shoving aside father and daughter alike. Frightened dwarf women fell to their knees in swirls of heavy skirts. Shrieking with fear, they curled tight, and their kin stumbled over them. The snick of knives being drawn was heard throughout the hall, and furious dwarves took the opportunity to unleash their rage while rivals looked to settle scores.

Thorin's own guards ran in to fight their pretenders while members of the company did everything they could to help. However, many tripped and fell in their way, and they struggled to keep their wits and balance. Dwalin and Balin found themselves back to back fighting both guards and angry lords.

"Nicely done, brother," Balin said after Dwalin shoved his heavy boot into the knee of one guard while elbowing aside a red-faced dwarf lord. Thorin's own guards fought to reach him and Relianna, but they were pushed back again and again by the angry and panicked crowd. No one wanted to harm the innocent, but it was difficult to tell enemy from friend when every other arm held a blade.

"Where is he? Where is he?" Dori panted as he threw a bleeding courtier out of his way. "Nori, do you see him? Do you see Zozer?"

His nimble-fingered brother punched a cursing dwarf and helped a maiden step over him before answering.

"No, he's not near me," he yelled. Then he stomped on the foot of a heavily armed dwarf. "Oi! Outta my way!"

Bofur banged anyone near him over the head. He lifted his club to cudgel a head of long, brown hair and then looked down to see a dress.

"I was about to brain you, lass, but I doubt if it'd make you smarter," he quipped, and he sheltered her in his arms until he could get her to safety. Ori, Bombur, and Bifur worked together to grab screaming maidens and get them out the door, but it was hard. Drawn by the clash of arms, more dwarves poured in rather than out, and no one could hear each other in the shouting.

Thorin whipped out his own dagger and pulled Relianna behind him, trying to inch her back to safety. The maids and servants with her tried their best to stay with them, but they were unarmed and no match for the roiling crowd. Fili heard Thorin's shout and fought to get back to them.

"Lock arms!" Bemma commanded to no avail. "Lock arms!"

Up on the balcony, Kili and Frain stared down in horror.

"This is madness!" Kili whispered.

They watched with dismay, and then they saw a figure moving slowly but steadily toward Thorin. He wasn't a guard but was dressed instead like a low-ranking servant. Time and again though he efficiently cut through the crowd one way or the other. Using a sharp shove to the ladies and ruthless thrust of a blade to the lords, he was the only one moving on a steady course.

"Zozer!" they exclaimed at the same time.

"Kili, do you have a clear shot?" Frain asked urgently. "You're better than I am."

The dark-haired prince sighted down his arrrow.

"Too many in the way," he replied. "He's moving behind the others, using them as shields."

Frain cast a desperate glance back onto the floor. No one was seeing what was happening. Thorin and the others had suspected the guards, so Zozer set up a diversion that played into their expectations. Frain cupped his hands and shouted down, but no one heard him. Standing suddenly, he dropped his bow and turned to leave, but Kili caught his arm.

"Don't be a fool!" he argued. "You'll die down there!"

Frain looked back in anguish.

"If it were Fili?" he asked, his face drawn and miserable.

Kili hesitated for only a second.

"Get me an opening," he answered with a sharp nod, "and I'll take the bastard down."

Frain threw his hood over his head and ran down the stairs.

With a mighty push, two of the imposters broke through and headed for Thorin. He turned to parry their knives, but one found an opening and slashed his arm. His blade wavered, giving the other guard the chance to smash the pommel of his knife into his temple. Blood started flowing down his cheek.

"Thorin!" Relianna cried, but he held out his arm and threw himself back in front of her, stabbing one guard in the gut. The other readied a crippling blow, but a hammer clocked him on the head, and he dropped where he stood. Thorin turned in surprise to find Dain beside him. The ginger-haired dwarf stared with open yearning at Relianna who looked puzzled. Then her face hardened, and she backed away.

"Get away from me!" she spat. "Don't come any closer."

It was in that one instant, when neither Thorin nor Dain had her in arm's reach, that Zozer made his move. He surged forward and whipped a serrated blade under her chin. His other arm snaked around her middle.

"No!" Thorin cried out as Zozer dragged her back. He pulled her up the steps to the top of the dais. She struggled against him, but he pushed his fist against her throat, and she gasped and choked.

"Well, well, well," he chortled in a deep, malevolent tone. At the sound of his voice, those nearest him stopped fighting first. Heads kept turning to see him up there with her, and the sound of weapons diminished blade by blade. A few cheered his actions, but then he laughed his cold, cruel laugh, and the room fell silent.

"How sorry I am to have interrupted this lovely gathering!" he said with the sadism of one whose conscience had been seared to numbness many years before, "but I've business here that I've been waiting to conclude for many a year, eh, Dain? Never knew how your whore died, did you? Now you're going to watch your bastard die in front of your eyes. I would have been happy to kill her under any circumstances, but this is much more satisfying, believe me. And you, Oakenshield. I'll make you suffer as well for spurning these noble dwarrowdams to take up with a mongrel like your cousin did."

Those watching forgot their own anger and injuries to watch the little drama being played out on the stage. Fili tried to slip in from the other side, but Zozer spied his movement.

"Uh, uh, Prince Fili, step away, if you please, or the Crown Princess of the Iron Hills will die ahead of schedule."

The crowd gasped at his words, and Fili dropped his knife, raised his hands, and stepped back. The company moved forward with grim faces, but Zozer jerked his chin to bid them stop.

"That's better, my good dwarves. My, what long faces!"

Then Thorin squared his shoulders and clenched his fists.

"You won't leave Erebor alive, Zozer. I'll make sure of that!"

At the name of Zozer, the dwarves inhaled as one, and hands clapped over mouths. Everyone knew who he was, what he had done, and what he was capable of doing. They looked from Relianna's frightened eyes to his gloating grin, and they no longer felt so sure of themselves.

"I don't need to, Oakenshield. I'm more than content to die after I kill the bitch. My life's work is done. Now only one more throat to slit ..."

"ZOZER!" a loud voice shouted in the stillness. "It seems that you're not as skilled an assassin as you claim if you go about getting the job half-done!"

A hooded figure strode down the middle of the crowd, and the dwarves parted to make way for him. Frain walked to the front of the steps and dropped his hooded cloak. The crowd inhaled sharply at his noble bearing and unusual coloring. His golden hair fell in thick waves around his face, and he challenged Zozer with a lift of his brow.

"No!" Relianna cried. "Don't Bear! Don't!"

"C'mon Zozer," Kili muttered from the balcony. "Just a little to the left."

"Now it seems that if you were going to kill anyone at this little gathering," Frain observed with all the contempt he could muster, "it would be the Crown Prince of the Iron Hills, wouldn't you say?"

Zozer lost color, and his eyes opened so wide that the whites could be seen all the way around. Dain staggered at the sight of his son, and he gripped Thorin's shoulder for support.

"No ... you ... you couldn't be ...," Zozer started.

"What?" Frain countered with one hand cupping an ear in an attempt to goad him into making a mistake. "Say again? I didn't catch that. Were you trying to say that you missed one? What a stain on your reputation! Tsk, tsk. I don't know if anyone would ever hire you again knowing that not only did my sister survive your first, tawdry little attempt, but that I escaped you for the whole of my life! You must be in your dotage indeed not to know that Tamra had twins!"

Zozer licked his suddenly dry lips, struggling to keep in control. His nostrils flared as he stared down at the gloriously blond dwarf who kept a mocking smile on his face.

"Well?" Frain mocked. "Nothing to say? Pity."

Zozer twisted his neck in his attempt to master his rage, and Frain took that moment to get Relianna's attention. He tilted his head to one side and flicked his eyes up. She looked down at him in confusion and then spied Kili in the balcony aligning his arrow. Slowly, she leaned away from Zozer's arm.

"So what're you going to do, Zozer? Interesting logistical problem you have here. You can't murder us both before someone runs you through."

"Kill them!" Onkra bellowed. "What are you waiting for?"

Zozer looked around and considered his options before gritting his teeth and sneering. He drew himself up and stared down at Dain with naked hatred on his face. Then his eyes swung to Frain.

"Yes, I can, boy!" he snarled.

Relianna wrenched to one side at the same moment Kili loosed his arrow. It caught Zozer's shoulder just as he jerked the knife across her throat. Then he flicked the blade into Frain's stomach. Thorin cried out and ran up the steps to break her fall. Zozer had no time to gloat before Dain stabbed him in the back. He met his end with a sudden gasp and lift of his chest. Dain kicked him out of the way and hurried down the steps to his son.

"Oin!" Thorin shouted while he tried to stem the blood that made his hands slick and sticky. "Oin!"

Kili ran down the stairs. The assembly saw the younger prince dash through the crowd with his bow in one hand.

"Stand aside! Stand aside!" Balin yelled. Oin bustled in ahead of dwarves carrying stretchers. Nella ran faster with a leather bag over her shoulder, and she urged Thorin to move aside.

"NO! I won't leave her," he cried. "Oh, Mahal, don't let her die now! Not now!"

Nella tugged at his arms.

"Let me take over, my king. I can help stem the flow if it's not too deep. Let me save her if I can."

Dwalin knelt next to Frain and yanked up his tunic. A mithril shirt held the point of the dagger. Fili pushed it back to see a thick bruise spreading.

"Dwalin!" Oin ordered while on his way to Relianna. "Get a bag of ice underneath his mail. Strip him if you have to." Then he hurried up the steps. A dwarf trotted up with a large ice pack and bottle of Frain's medicine.

Dwalin nodded, and Fili and Kili supported Frain's back so he could drink it down.

"Reli?" he rasped afterward. "My sister?"

Dain bent down to see his son's face. Frain's eyes were clouded, but he peered up at the red-headed dwarf leaning over him. Putting up one hand to shield his eyes, he dropped back at the sight of the dwarf he knew had to be Lord Dain.

"Not now," he whispered while turning his head away to lean on his cousins, "not now."

Nella worked grimly to see where Relianna's bleeding was coming from. Thorin moved to the other side and slipped his hand underneath her cheek. She was pale and clammy.

"Don't leave me! Stay with me, love. Think on our life together. Don't let it go. Don't let it go!"

Oin's eyes locked with Thorin's.

"I'll do everything I can, Thorin, everything."

He pulled away the leather piece that Nella had pressed against the wound and felt around her neck. Relianna choked and whimpered. His look of intense concentration gave way to a growing smile.

"Deep but just under the jawline," he said with immense relief. "You can thank your nephew for saving her life. Zozer would have slit her throat if not for a timely arrow."

Thorin turned with tears in his eyes to nod and smile at Kili. The rest of the company sagged with relief, and Dwalin gripped Frain's shoulder.

"She's still with us, lad, she's still with us."

Frain's brow knotted with pain, but he had a smile on his face.

"Get them to the infirmary along with anyone else who needs treatment!" Thorin ordered. Then he stood, turned to the crowd, and held up bloody hands.

"Is this what you wanted to see?" he roared. "Have I not suffered enough in this life? Would you put me and my kin through more pain to satisfy your pride, your jealousy? LEAVE MY MOUNTAIN! Begone! If any of you wish ill on my wife, I'll never see your faces again!"

Oin readied the stretchers and moved Relianna and Frain out first. Nella walked beside her stretcher to keep pressure on her wound. Bemma and the maids dropped small curtsies before hurrying to the infirmary to be of help when Frain and Relianna arrived. Dain grabbed Thorin's arm at the door.

"I need to be with them, Thorin!" he begged. "I need to be with my children!"

Thorin shook his head and held out his arm to keep him from following.

"Not now, Dain. First we need to see them out of danger and maybe then. Maybe."

So, what do you think? I didn't keep you waiting long, did I? Two chapters in a week deserves reviews!