This is a shorter chapter than some of the others, but it's intense, and I thought it might be better not to overload your drama circuits. Many thanks to those who have followed and/or favorited since the last chapter. So nice to see continuing interest, and special hugs to readers of my other story. Areen's turn next. Wouldn't it be something if the two met? Or maybe not.

Chapter 39

After taking comfort from Relianna's embrace and basking in her soft and tender words, Thorin rubbed one eye with his fist and turned away, abashed that she saw him in tears. That wasn't how he ever wanted to appear before his woman—or anyone else for that matter, but before he could find a rationale that recast his behavior into an indisputably masculine response, he heard her stomach grumble and pulled away with a chuckle. She blushed scarlet and hugged her stomach. The scales were rebalanced—not that either was weighing anything of dire importance now.

"Hungry?"

"Not until this moment," she said with burning cheeks. She tried to cool them with the backs of her hands. "My mind and heart were too occupied to think of food," and she told him what she had brought in her basket. It wasn't much.

"You should have packed more, love," he said after tossing aside the linen cloth and looking in at the meager fare, hardly more than light snacks. "It pains me to think of you so close and in need in more ways than one."

"I wasn't hungry," she repeated. "Truly. My stomach was too tied in knots to even think of food. Besides, carrying a laden basket would have been suspicious if they had checked."

"Down to the last detail," he said with a smile. "I'm thankful that the maids hold no grudge against me. I'd hate to think of what they'd come up with if they did."

She giggled, and he took her in his arms and held her by the small of her back. "They would be diabolical, Thorin. You'd stand no chance."

"I believe it," he said. With a kiss on her forehead, he pulled away and strode toward a velvet rope near the door and pulled once.

"Stay out of sight, sweetheart," he said. "I don't want your reputation questioned. It's not proper for you to be in these chambers."

"That didn't stopped you before," she said with a saucy grin, and she struck a coy pose. He groaned and turned his head away. "Don't tempt me, love. Besides, you were in disguise then and, if I recall, you asked to see my chambers."

"So I did," she said and hid behind a silk curtain. A guard, Berlig as it happened, came almost immediately.

"Bring cold meat, cheese, and a selection of roasted vegetables with my compliments to the cooks," Thorin said. Berlig saluted, bowed, and left with quick steps.

"I'm going to have to get used to that, Thorin," she said, peeking around the curtain after Berlig left. She smoothed her hair and brushed off her dress to hide her nervousness, but she failed and bit her lip. He raised his brows, not understanding her meaning. "You know," she said when she saw the quizzical look on his face, "having people wait on me. That's been my place for years."

He kissed her on her nose. "If it helps any, I'm sure that the baker could use an assistant." She swatted his arm, and he chuckled. "I suppose I never thought about it," he mused, "having been born to such a life. Even in our leanest times, my people never forgot that I was a prince, and they gave me their loyalty and service without hesitation." An adoring light shone in her eyes. "You deserve it," she said. "I watched you with a smith when I was in disguise, and you helped him with something he was crafting. You picked up the hammer and worked the metal, and I knew then that I would love you no matter what your station or profession."

"That's why you said what you did in the sick rooms?"

"Yes. I love you, Thorin," she said with a bright smile. "Smith or king makes no difference."

"Just as maid or queen makes no difference."

"You caught me there."

"And I'll never let you go." With those words, his tone changed from playful to resolved, and she understood.

"Never, Thorin. Never again will I leave you, and never again will anyone pull us apart. We were meant for each other from the start. Somehow, Aunt Relia knew it, and who am I, who are we, to deny her wisdom?"

He kissed her hands with unrestrained passion, but a knock on the door signaled the arrival of food, and she ducked next to the bed until the servers left. An array of succulent platters awaited them, and he pulled out a gold-gilt chair and seated her with a flourish before sitting opposite.

"So gallant," she said, and she made eyes at him. He inhaled and put his hand over his heart before wagging a finger. "My self-control has it limits, love." She nodded and stopped her teasing. Looking into his eyes, she reached for his hand across the table. "I'm happy it's over," she said. He grimaced and squeezed her fingers. "Not quite. There's still Dain to deal with."

"But not now, not now, Thorin," she said. "I want to think about something pleasant, something diverting."

"Hmmm, perhaps moving into the royal wing tomorrow might suit," he said. "It's a tradition that Durin brides-to-be reside in the family wing to become accustomed to their new lives."

"Did you make that up?"

He flashed a grin, and his eyes held a merry gleam, but he shook his head. "No, although I would have ordered it so if it wasn't already protocol. You'll have a set of chambers down another hall and several maids to see to your needs as well as ..."

"Prevent amorous kings from sneaking through the door?"

"Something like that, but Frain would move in as well being your brother."

"And Bemma if he asked her to marry him?"

"Yes, that would be appropriate if she accepted."

Relianna wrinkled her forehead before bursting into riotous laughter, and he watched bemused while she held her stomach. She laughed until she could barely speak and gasped out her next words, "Can you, can you just imagine all of us being in the same wing together?"

The thought of her in close proximity stirred his blood, but thinking of Frain cooled it at once. Not that he had any plans of taking advantage. For certain, her friends would be on the lookout, and he didn't want to cross them. Fili and Kili's accounts of their revenge on Onkra were entertaining, but a little unnerving as well. Frain was another matter. The look on his face when he challenged Dain was fearsome, and Thorin recognized that his normally genial manner indeed hid a ferocious bear ready to take on all comers in defense of his sister. And speaking of relations ...

"I think I should tell you that Fili and Kili live there as well." Her eyes and mouth opened wide, and the lovers laughed until they cried.

Dain reached up to knock on Frain's door once again. His visits—too close together in Oin's opinion—earned him a scowl from the grizzled healer and an almost-scowl from Nella.

"Come on, lass," Oin said. "This one looks serious, so let's busy ourselves and leave them be," but before he left, he held Dain back with one hand on his wrist. "He's doing better now, but I'll give you the runs for a week if you set him back."

Dain nodded without looking up. This time there was something solemn and heavy about him.

Ah, he's come to explain himself, Oin thought with sudden insight.

Dain didn't hesitate to knock this time, and Frain met him at the door. His father gasped and took a step back. His son though still thin, glowed with health and happiness. "Bemma's doing, isn't it? I'm glad of it." Frain bent his neck and swung his arm wide to usher him in. The door shut behind them. The room had changed. The bed had been stripped, and the blankets folded and left at the foot. All the pungent medicines, bowls, and jars of ointments were gone, and the room smelled fresh and clean if still a bit medicinal. Frain wore a light green tunic and black breeches, and unlike the last time, he was clean with a trimmed beard and mustache.

"Where is your sister, Frain?" Dain asked. There was no evidence of her in the room.

"She left to find some peace of mind."

"I see," Dain said. "I regret that she felt the need. I was too bold."

"Even so, make yourself comfortable, father."

Dain ran one hand through his hair at his temple and sighed. "You might not want me to be your kin in any fashion after this." Frain gestured for him to begin, and Dain gathered himself. Though so long ago, the memories and feelings that went along with them had scorched his mind and heart, and the pain of the burn was ever present.

"I met Tamra, er, your mother after I had been of age for some years. Your grandfather had moved to the Iron Hills at the request of my father to fill a post left vacant by our own healer who died honorably of old age." His gaze focused on the back wall of the room. "She was the loveliest woman I ever beheld in both mind and heart. I fell in love on the spot and almost drooled like a helpless idiot." His voice was hushed and reverent, and his eyes grew glassy.

He took a deep breath, and Frain offered him some water. "Do you have anything stronger?" Dain asked looking around the room. Frain shook his head. "Just as well," Dain said, "I'd be in a stupor at the end of this." Frain filled a glass with water, and Dain emptied it with noisy gulps.

"As I was saying, I fell in love, not some passing fancy, and we spent every possible moment together, although in secret. I couldn't court her as I wished to for reasons you know, but our time together changed me. I became more responsible and more concerned with the welfare of my people and duties of the realm. It was all your mother's doing. She was the most giving and selfless person I've ever known. Father grew curious about my change of heart, and one day he had me followed. He was livid at first, of course, but he softened when he saw the effect she had on me. He had been worried about me and frustrated as well. I was rather wild in my youth and, by the time I met Tamra, I had already been in a number of scrapes that were ... 'most unbefitting my station' as father put it."

Frain gave him a once-over and saw how he could have been unruly and reckless in his youth. "Go on."

"Anyway," Dain continued, "I had hopes that we'd be accepted in time. After all, father knew, and I thought in my stupidity that perhaps he'd even change the law confining my choice of wife to a noble-born. Like Thorin, I had them paraded before me, but even before I met Tamra, I saw no one who interested me. My heart was waiting for her. Ah, my Tamra! She loved me in return—despite my glaring faults—and I wanted to believe that a future with her was possible. We worked so hard to make it so. Your mother did everything she could to win our people over, and I sung her praises to anyone who would listen."

A knock interrupted him, and Kili poked his head through the door. "Hey Frain, you want to go to the …." His voice tapered off when he saw the Lord of the Irons Hills sitting there. The air around him was thick with despair and gloom. "Not a good time, I see."

"Maybe later, Kili," Frain said with an apologetic smile. "I'll find you." Kili snuck another look at Dain. "No worries, cousin. Take your time," and in his haste to leave, he slammed the door shut with such force that rattled it on its hinges.

"I apologize for the interruption," Frain said. Dain refilled his cup and downed it at once. He coughed and thumped his chest, waving Frain's words away.

"When Tamra told me that she was with child. I was beside myself with joy and thought it proof that Mahal had blessed our union. I asked her to be my wife. 'Surely they can't deny us now,' I told her. I see your scowl, Frain, and you're right. I had no right to take such liberties, but she was the other half of my soul, so it seemed natural to join our bodies as well." He raised both hands to placate his son. "I don't excuse my actions, but know that I never forced her, nor took advantage of my position, nor her love for me." He stopped to wipe away a tear.

"By then though, my father wasn't so lenient, and he pressured me to take a noble wife soon since he thought I was ready to take on the responsibilities of a family. His council gave its loud approval, as it always did, and they did their best to bend me to their will. To them, Tamra had served her purpose."

He clenched his fists then and growled at unseen adversaries. Mumbling to himself, he appeared to argue with those long dead before Frain cleared his throat, and Dain shook himself. "Where was I? Yes, how could I forget? Then a contagion that spared no one swept our lands as far as the outer settlements and beyond. Healthy and frail alike, rich and poor, peasant and noble succumbed one after the other and many times in groups. I saw whole families laid out in a makeshift morgue." Dain whispered the next sentence. "There were so many bodies that we had to burn those of lower rank." Frain gasped. Such a thing was a desecration meted out to orcs and other foul creatures who deserved nothing more than to burn like the refuse they were."

"It was a hopeless time, and your grandfather and mother searched desperately for a cure. I was so worried for her and begged her to be careful, but she said that she couldn't rest while our people died. There was so much turmoil, and no one knew who would be the next to fall. Our people were frightened and angry, and their rage fell on Tamra and her father. They were merciless in their abuse, although I tried to shield Tamra as well as I was able, but when she told me that she had lost the baby, I lost heart." He paused and ran his hands over his head. "How much she had to bear!"

"Does Thorin know any of this?" Frain asked.

A shadow passed over Dain's face. "He knows some. I told him the bones of the story, but there was much I didn't say." He tugged on his beard and scoffed. "I came here pretending to envy Thorin his choice, trying to forget my pain in company, food, and drink," he said, "but I couldn't, and a bottle of whiskey loosened my tongue."

"What else?" Frain asked when Dain fell silent. "I want to hear everything."

"Of course," Dain said. "You of all dwarves deserve to." He swallowed hard and seemed to age before Frain's eyes. "Then the worst happened. Onkra's people," and his mouth twisted in disgust, "said that they had a cure that would save those whose symptoms hadn't progressed beyond all help, but it came at a cost."

Frain sucked in his breath. He had thought that his father threw his mother over for political advantage, but it wasn't so. At least not in the way he had thought.

"We should have known," Dain said bitterly, "and perhaps they even started this cursed plague to worm their way into the Iron Hills. I'm sure you've already guessed where this is leading, but they said that the price of the cure was the marriage of their oldest princess to me." He shuddered, and Frain opened his mouth, curious to know something but unwilling to voice it. Dain nodded.

"No, she wasn't as ugly as Onkra, but she wasn't far behind," he said. "They probably thought that this was their only chance to settle her well. She was weak-minded but not cruel, and she hoped that her lot would be a reasonably happy one. Of course, my father insisted that I go through with it, asking me how I could be so heartless and disloyal as to sentence our people to death and all for the love of a mixed blood. I held out for as long as I could, but my guilt became too much to bear as I watched my people perish before my eyes. I was distraught, and my only solace was Tamra. To my shame, we continued to meet and love in secret even after I had wed."

Frain closed his eyes and put his hand over his nose and mouth. "How could you?" he asked when he could talk. "You, you lack all honor to have done what you did! All honor!"

Dain dropped his head. "I know. All I can say was that I was desperate and wanted to kill myself. She caught me before I plunged the knife in my belly. It was the morning after I had spent the one and only night with Onkra's mother. I choked on my bile to take her to my bed, and I closed my eyes and pretended that she was Tamra to even be able to, to …." Taking a deep breath, he cleared his throat, and continued, although his voice was now thin and weary. "I should have died that day, but Tamra took pity on me, and we clung to each other in desperation. I know you won't believe this, but she said that she still loved me despite my decision, that she understood it. All she asked was that we not give up our love. We felt like outcasts and that all we had was each other. I gave her everything I had left to give. Everything. She had my body, heart, and soul, and I spurned Onkra's mother from then on. I still believed that Tamra had miscarried, but I was mistaken, and one day she said that she had to leave on some emergency. She must have begun to show. I never saw her again, although I tried to find her. She came back to me when someone brought back her body. Father allowed her to be buried in the vault for lower servants. When I found out, I wanted to die and be buried with her. After the late watch, I snuck into the vault to beg her forgiveness, and I slept by her tomb that night."

Dain took a deep, shuddering breath and turned his face to the wall. Time and again he dabbed his face with his sleeve. After several minutes, he turned to Frain and gestured his willingness to continue. "Is there more you want to know?" Lacing his fingers together and squeezing hard, Frain asked his last question.

"And Relianna? How do you account for your behavior there?" Dain sighed and opened his mouth to speak, but Frain held up his hand before he could say a word. "You thought that history was repeating itself and that Thorin was being tricked, didn't you?"

"Aye, I did. I couldn't believe that it was nothing more than another attempt at blackmail, and we argued over his choice. When he pressed me to acknowledge her, I refused, thinking that he'd come to his senses before too long. He's always been more serious and level-headed than me. I'm so sorry, so very sorry."

Having come to an end, Dain wrung his hands and waited for Frain's verdict. His son blinked, unable to take in what his father had said in its entirety. "You must understand that I need time to think this through."

"I understand."

"And that I don't want to see you again until I do."

"I expected that you wouldn't and might not ever."

"I might not."

With a dip of his head, Dain shuffled out. After he was sure that he had left, Frain put his hands over his face and cried.

So what do you think, dear readers. Does Dain deserve another chance? Will his story change Relianna's mind?