My last chapter was late, so this one is early ;)

Perfect. This is just...peachy. Brann cursed as she saw the tip of an arrow pointed at her husband. In the past moments, Bilbo had freed the dwarves and the company had fought the remaining spiders bravely, standing their ground, but now, they were surrounded by elves. A young and blond elf threatened Thorin and Brann saw Belladonna clench her hands into fists, ready to jump the elf who dared to point an arrow at her father.

Please, my daughter, do not do anything stupid. Brann prayed silently. A cry for help sounded through the forest and Fili recognised his brothers voice. Kili was in trouble. His arrow had been broken as he had fought against the spiders for the first time and the huge spider he fought now had ripped his sword from his hands. The young prince tried to stay away from the poisonous spike as a redhaired elf came to his rescue. She slayed four spiders while Kili could only watch in awe. He asked her for a dagger to defend himself, but the she elf arrogantly cut him off.

Brann growled deeply as she heard how the redhair called her nephew "dwarf" in her arrogant and snarky elven tone. But Kili only looked at her with his huge brown eyes. He seemed as if under a spell and Brann frowned at him. An elf? Brann had to smirk despite her anger. Thorin would love this. At least this time Kili had immediately recognised the sexe of the elf. Obviously.

The dwarves were stripped off their weapons by the elves, the elf searching Fili for weapons nearly exasperating. After he had pulled about a dozen daggers out of Filis tunic, he rolled his eyes and turned to the blonde elf, who was leading this group. The young leader held Thorins sword in his hands and accused the king of theft. Brann was furious beyond reason and jumped as a branch from a nearby tree crashed down onto the ground, missing the blonde elf only by inches. The elves and dwarves jerked at the sudden collaps of the branch and Brann held her breath. Had that been her? She had been so furious about the young elf's behaviour and that branch had nearly hit him. Biting her lip, she followed the group of elves who led the dwarves towards the city realm of Thranduil, the elven king who Thorin hated so much. Brann felt helpless and irritated. She knew that Thorin would not take this embarassment well and that he would lash out at the elves. Especially the king could not expect any curtesy from Thorin.

The dwarves had noticed that Bilbo was not with them, but they did not dare to alarm the elves. Brann saw the hobbit small presense follow them into the fortress of Mirkwood, but her focus lay on her daughter and her husband. Belladonna was pushed into a cell by the young blonde elf and Brann made the cell door snap shut with force, so that a few streaks of the elf's hair got trapped in the door. Startled, the elf pulled back and struggled. He had to open the door again to free his strands of golden hair, cursing. Belladonna only smirked at him and thanked her mother for that small sign. Brann was about to follow Thorin who was dragged away as she heard Kili adress the redhair. He asked her if she did not want to search him and that he could have anything down his trousers. Brann had to laugh the whole way to the throne room. Her little nephew was growing up.

But what Brann witnessed in the throne room was beyond her worst fear. Her husband and the elf king despised each other greatly. Hatred, disdain and disgust showed in both of their attractive faces when they looked upon each other. Thranduil, king of Mirkwood, made it clear that he only longed for the riches which the dwarves had kept from him. The relationship between their people did not interest him in the slightest. Thorin could have swallowed his pride and accept the deal, but he threw the elven kings dishonor back into his face, crushing every chance of reconciliation. Cursing in Khuzdul, Thorin was dragged back to his cell, but as the guards grabbed his arms, the necklace with the forget me nots fell out of his tunic. Thranduils eyes immediately caught sight of the beautiful necklace and he held up his hands, telling his guards to wait. Slowly, he walked towards the dwarven king, whose arms were still held by two tall elves. The elven king smirked as Thorin struggled wildly in his enemies grasp and got a hold on the necklace. Thranduils eyes widened as he looked back into Thorins eyes and saw more than hatred. He saw fear and hurt. There was something about this necklace that called out to him. Something more than greed. This piece meant something to Thorin and Thranduil was eager to find out what it was that made the dwarven king fight his guards like a mad dwarf. There was nothing special about it. It was a simple silver chain with a glass pendant, holding some dried forget me nots inside. Flowers, how unusual for a dwarf. Suddly, Thranduil smiled wickedly. He had his own spies who informed him of the happenings of the other kingdoms of Middle Earth. About a century ago, one of his spies had returned and had told him the tale of a human woman, a simple healer, who had become the queen of the Blue Mountains. Her love to the dwarven king, Thorin, had been that strong that their union had been blessed with three strong daughters.

One of his prisoners was a female, at least that was what his captain of the guard had told him. Tauriel had an eye for dwarves, Thranduil could not distinguish which one was male or female. In his eyes thy were all ugly. And he could not even care less. But if one of the dwarves was indeed female, this could mean that he might have Thorin Oakenshields daughter in his grasp. There was no other way a female would accompany this company on this quest. She would be the perfect pressure to achieve his goals.

'This necklace means alot to you. How sentimental.' Thranduil smirked as he ripped the necklace from around Thorins neck.

'Do not touch this, you filth. This necklace is pure! More pure than any of your kind could imagine!' Thorin hissed and fought his guards even more. The two elves had to struggle against the furious dwarf.

'This is a token of your love for that woman?' Thanduils smile grew as Thorins eyes widened in disbelief. 'A human woman capturing the heart of a dwarf prince. I have not believed this story until today. And this is hers? She did not seem to have much taste in anything.'

Thranduil shrugged his shoulders and threw the necklace away carelessly. The glass pendant broke and splintered into many pieces at the foot of the throne and Thorin cried out on agony. Thranduil looked back at the dwarf in surprise. He had broken the necklace on purpose to inflict some pain, but the agony in Thorins voice had been more than he had expected. Thorin stopped to struggle and fell onto his knees, gazing at the broken necklace in pain and disbelief. It was then when Thranduil saw the dwarven king's hair moved by a breeze. Wind? They were in his throne room, there was no wind here. Thranduil turned around and sensed a presense between Thorin and him, but even his keen elven eyes could not spot anything. Shaking his head, Thranduil waved his hand to signal the guards to bring Thorin back to his cell. This time, the dwarf did not struggle at all. His gaze was empty and cold, as if all his hopes had been shattered along with the necklace.

#

Brann gasped as the necklace shattered into pieces. At first, she felt a stinging pain in her whole body, but after a short moment the pain stopped. Nothing was different. She was still existing between the worlds and she could still see her husband. Thorin. Branns heart nearly broke as she saw Thorins despair about the loss of the necklace. She had not been able to talk to him since they had entered the forest and now he must have thought that he had lost her for good. Softly calling out his name, Brann kneeled down beside him and stroked his hair. But in his current state, Thorin did not notice her presence. He was too furious, too sad and filled with hatred for Thranduil.

Suddenly it made sense to Brann. Their love had held them together, not only the necklace. Thorins hatred for Thranduil and all elven things made her mute to him. It had begun in the elven realm. Brann held back a sob as she followed her husband back to his cell, where he was shoved in by the two guards. He did not resist them and he ignored Balins questions. Thorin slowly slid down the wall of his cell, cursing the world and cursing himself. Brann was gone, the necklace was broken. He stubbornly ignored the fresh breeze that moved over his beard like Branns touch used to do. Only many moments later, when the moon had risen, he heard a female voice and moved towards the bars. It was the red haired elf. She was talking to his nephew Kili. He could not see them, but he could see Belladonna in the cell opposite of them. Belladonna was smiling at them and she even grinned as Kili said something bright and flirty. Thorin shook his head in disgust. How could his nephew show any interest in a creature as an elf?

Thorin flinched and groaned as a small rock of the size of his fist landed on his head. It had apparently broken out of the ceiling for no apparent reason. Elves, not even their prison cells were stable. As a second rock came down on his head, Thorin cursed quietly and rubbed his aching skull. As he walked back to the corner of his cell, he was followed by small pieces of rock falling down of the ceiling? Irritated, he looked up and frowned. This was not normal...

'Ow!' Thorin cursed loudly as another rock hit his head and caught Balins attention.

'Thorin? What happened? It sounds as if its raining stones in your cell?' Balin asked.

'Not even the cells are stable enough!' Thorin moved back to the bars and yelled at the she elf, disrupting her peaceful talk with his nephew. 'You, will you do something about it?'

The redhair, the blond elf had called her Tauriel, moved towards Thorin with a frown and inspected his cell. The ceiling had stopped crumbling by the time she had arrived at Thorins cell, but she could see all the stone on the floor.

'I will lead you to a new cell, master dwarf.' Tauriel spoke quietly. She eyed Thorin suspiciously. 'I trust that you will not fight me.'

Thorin snorted, but as a new rock hit his head, he quickly nodded. It seemed as if his cell punished him for his behaviour. Tauriel opened the cell and gestured towards Belladonnas cell.

'I think you might feel more at ease in the presence of your daughter?' she asked and watched Thorin pale.

'How can you be so sure that she is my daughter?' Thorin asked hoarsely and tried to hide his panic.

'Peace, master dwarf, I will not use this knowledge against you.' Tauriel sighed. She was loyal to her king, but her conscience told her to act. 'But king Thranduil will use your daughter to get what he wants.'

Thorin started to shiver in fury. He immediately wrapped his daughter in his arms as Tauriel opened her cell. Thranduil would not touch his little gem, not for the life of him.

'How can you let this happen?' Thorin asked the captain of the guard. 'How can you be loyal to this elf who calls himself king? He has no honor and he has no heart.'

'His heart died with his wife.' Tauriel answered bitterly. She had been there when the queen of Mirkwood had died and she had seen Thranduils heart break. 'You should know that feeling, king Thorin.'

Thorin saw his nephews sad faces, as well as the sympathy in the eyes of most of the dwarven company. They all despised Thranduil, but they understood what had made the elven king act that way. Grief could destroy peole beyond repair. Tauriel sighed and turned away. Kilis eyes followed her until she was out of reach, but he paled as he saw the shadow of another elf above them. The young blonde elf patrolled the cells as Tauriel had gone. He sneered at Kili and turned towards Thorin and Belladonna.

'You must think us barbarians, if you think for one moment that we would harm your son.' he spoke calmly, but he was clearly angry.

'Daughter.' Belladonna snarled and the elf cocked his brow.

'Really? The facial hair is irritating.' he sneered.

'At least I have some. You look like a newborn babe.' Belladonna sneered back and Thorin smiled. That was his daughter. He jumped as it started raining rock from this cells ceiling, too.

But the elf did not seem to notice. He seemed distracted by the feast above them. None of the dwarves knew, that this elf, the prince of Mirkwood, worried deeply about his fathers sanity. Thranduil had not been the same since his mother had died. He could see the same pain in the dwarven kings eyes, but unlike Thranduil, Thorin seemed sane and sound. He was close to his daughter and he protected her fiercely. Thranduil was cold to his son and the young elf could feel the hurt about this rejection in his heart. He followed Tauriel back to the higher levels of the elven city and tried to forget his doubts.

#

'Adad, you are shivering.' Belladonna frowned as her father backed away to one of the walls. As she sat down beside him, she could hear him sigh deeply.

'Your mother is gone.' Thorin had to fight to hold back his sobs. 'The elven king destroyed our necklace.'

'The glass one with the blue forget me nots?' Belladonna paled. She knew how much this necklace had meant to her father and she knew that the wizard had bound her mothers soul to the necklace. 'Are you sure that she is gone? The falling rocks...this has not happened by chance.'

'It would be exactly something your amad would have done to get my attention.' Thorin had to smile despite the situation. 'But it cannot be. The necklace is broken and so is my connection to her.'

'What if the necklace is not the only thing which bound her to you?' Belladonna asked and felt a soft breeze move over her hair. 'You told me that she was able to move around and to listen to the wizard and his plots. If she was bound to the necklace, how has she been able to move from it?'

Brann sighed in relief. Her daughter was bright and intelligent and she would support her father as much as possible. And she even seemed to get through Thorins thick skull. Thorin looked at his daughter with hope in his eyes.

'Do you still feel her?' he asked and his eyes brightened at her nod. 'But why can't I feel her?'

Because you are a stubborn oaf! Brann snarled and Thorins head snapped up. Did you hear me?

'Brann?' Thorin whispered. He looked back at his daughter and smiled. 'I think I can hear her again.'

'What did she say?' Belladonna wanted to know.

'She call me a stubborn oaf.' Thorin smiled.

'Yes, that sounds like her.' Belladonna whispered and moved closer to her father.

I am so proud of our daughter. She is such a bright and intelligent dwarf. And she is strong and fierce. She is perfect. Branns words warmed Thorins heart. He did not tell his daughter what her mother had said, but he took her into his arms with no attention to let go. The elves would have to kill him first if they wanted his daughter.

#

Bilbo cursed as he moved through the elven city. He had listened to a conversation between Thranduil and his captain of the guard, the red haired she elf. The coldness of the elven king had scared him, for he was nothing like the elves of Rivendell, who helped all people in need. Quickly, the hobbit had slipped out of the room and ran into the elf who carried the keys to the cells. Bilbo followed him into the wine cellar. He watched as the elf hung up the keys on one of the walls and began drinking with one of the elves working in the cellar. They were drinking the king's wine, but Bilbo was too worried to care abou this rudeness. He could not reach the keys, they were hanging too high for his reach. The hobbit bit his lip and ran back to the cells. He needed the queens help.

As he rushed up to the cells he ran into Thorins queen's presence in front of Belladonnas cell. She sat outside of the bars and watched her husband and her daughter with a sad smile. Bilbo looked at her for a while before he walked up to her and made her jump.

'Excuse me, my queen?' he started shyly, but Brann only smiled at him.

'I am no queen here, master hobbit. Please call me Brann.' she offered.

'Brann...' Bilbo felt awkward, but he accepted gladly. How this warm and loving woman had lived ith Thorin Oakenshield that long was beyond him. He respected the dwarven king highly and he saw him as a friend, but Bilbo knew that Thorin was difficult to live with. He had thought that only dwarves could take him, but Brann was a human. Bilbo quickly pushed his thoughts aside and took Branns hand.

'Brann, I need your help. Please follow me, I have a plan.'