This pointy eared son of a...Brann could not believe it. Her hatred for the elven king grew beyond reason.

Thorins hands clenched to fists so strongly that his fingernails drew blood. Balin and Dwalin rushed to his side and the captain of the guard cursed loudly.

'I found the little princess as she was sneeking to the camp of men.' Thranduil told the shocked company. 'She told me that she needed to retrieve the arkenstone. The heirlom of your line, oh mighty king under the mountain.'

Thorin lowered his head and closed his eyes in defeat. So Belladonna had managed to break out of his room and had left the mountain. How could she know that Bilbo had brought the stone to the men?

'Now, tell me, what shall stop me from going to Dale and take this stone? From taking the heirlom of your house and ask my treasure in exchange for it and your precious daughter?' Thranduil smirked as he saw the shocked expression on Thorins face.

'None of this treasure is yours!' Thorins voice boomed and the elves flinched. 'And you will release my daughter at once!'

'Who shall make me?' Thranduil stopped in his forward motion as Bard and a grey cladded person joined them.

'King Thranduil, this will not get us anywhere.' Bard told the king of the elves, but nevertheless bowed in respect.

'You!' Thorin could not believe it. 'We offered you our support and our help and you stab us in the back?'

'I can assure you that we have no part in this.' Bard held up his hands and frowned at Thranduil. 'The girl has done nothing to threaten you. You should release her.'

'I will do no such thing until her father has given me what is rightfully ours.' Thranduil snarled.

'Stop this madness, you fools!' the grey cladded person took off his hood and the elves and dwarves gasped. It was Gandalf and Bilbo appeared at his side below the coat. Bilbo saw that Thorin reached for a bow and gasped. In this moment an arrow landed in front of Thranduils feet.

'I will not repeat this. Release my daughter!' Thorin roared and the men and elves flinched.

Gandalf tried to interfere, but he was too late. Thranduil straightened his back and gestured Belladonnas guard to take her away. Thorin lifted the bow again, but Bard stepped into the flight path of the arrow.

'This is madness. You both will lead us to war!' Bard yelled at the two kings, but they were beyond reasoning.

'I will have war!' Thorin exclaimed strongly and glared down at the men and elves. 'I will retrieve my daughter from your cold hands, Thranduil!'

Gandalf closed his eyes in defeat as the elves reached for their weapons to defend their king. Bilbo looked at Bard for help, but the bowman just stood in the middle of elves clad in golden armor and looked utterly lost. Thorin and his dwarves retreated into the mountain and Belladonna was nowhere to be seen. War was coming. And it was coming quickly.

#

Thorin, please, just give him what he wants! Brann begged and tried to reason with her husband. He has our little gem!

'I will not give this damned elf one single coin of this treasure!' Thorin roared. Brann flinched, but the dwarves of the company nodded in agreement.

Are you seriously holding this treasure higher than our daughters life? Brann asked and clenched her hands into fists. You cannot be serious!

But Thorin was trapped in his rage and did not even listen to his wife. He would have given Bard what he deserved, but not now. Not now, when the elves swarmed around the mountain and threatened him with the life of his daughter. And those weak men were standing there, doing nothing.

'The blasted wizard should have showed up earlier.' Dwalin growled. 'He has always disappeared when we needed him most.'

'We cannot change the past. We have to concentrate on the future!' Balin insisted and kept a clear mind during the whole time. 'Thorin, what do we do now?'

'We wait.' Brann dared to hope as she heard her husbands words, but in the next moment all her hopes faded. 'We wait for Dain and his army. Then we will go to war.'

Brann decided to leave for the camp of the elves. She fled the mountain and reached the camp a few moments later, barging into a commotion in the elven kings tent. Thranduil, Legolas, Tauriel, Gandalf, Bilbo and Bard were all talking at once, yelling and shouting at each other. It was the hobbit who managed to calm everybody down. He had walked over to a small slate board of one of the scribes and scratched his nails over the board. The horrid sound made everybody in the tent clench their teeth, especially the elves.

'Do I have your attention?' Bilbo asked gently and cocked his eyebrows. Gandalf smirked and immediately stepped in.

'King Thranduil, I beseech you, this has nothing to do with the princess. I ask you to release her at once!'

'I will do no such thing, Gandalf Greybeard.' Thranduil answered calmly, but below the fassade he was fuming.

'Ada...this is not the way we handle things.' Legolas insisted in elvish, but all people in the tent but Bard could understand.

'My king, I need to inform you that...' Tauriel also stepped in, but was cut short by Thranduils hand held up in front of her face.

'I will not discuss this with any of you. You heard the dwarf king. He lusts for war. I will give it to him.' with these words, Thranduil stood up and left the tent, leaving a shocked group of people behind.

'How could it have come to this?' Bard whispered and looked at Gandalf. But the wizard only shook his head. What happened now was beyond his reach. He had lost all power over either of the leaders.

Brann shook off her stupor and followed Thranduil to the next tent. He had led her to Belladonna, who cowered in the middle of the huge tent, surrounded by four guards. There was no chance to escape and Thranduil knew.

'Your father will not see you free, little princess.' Thranduil smirked. 'His gold means more to him than your life.'

In his obsession with Erebors treasure and its stubborn king, Thranduil had completely missed the sickness thriving in Belladonnas eyes. Now, the pricess looked up at the elven king and sneered.

'My life means nothing. But my father will rule and he will hoard his treasure longer than Smaug has!' Belladonna exclaimed and wrapped her arms around her middle. 'The arkenstone will make sure of it!'

'The arkenstone...' Thranduil suddenly remembered why he had wanted to speak with the princess. 'Why were you searching for the stone outside of the mountain? Why did your father give it away? And who has it now? The wizard?'

'I will not tell you anything.' Belladonna growled and glared daggers at the king.

'We will see.' Thranduil knew that he had time. The dwarves were trapped inside of their mountain and would starve to death in their stubborness. He was an elf, he could wait.

#

Brann walked back to Gandalfs tent as if trapped in a nightmare. She had tried to contact her daughter, but the princess had not even shown a small sign of awareness that the soft breeze moving over her face were the hands of her mother. The golden gleam in her eyes was still strong and Brann could not take it. She would try to talk to Gandalf. If Radagast could see her, maybe Gandalf also could.

But the grey wizard disappointed Brann. Neither did he hear her nor see her. Brann was close to lose her mind and a small voice adressed them from behind.

'Gandalf, why is the beautiful lady yelling at you?'

Both, Gandalf and Brann turned on their heels and looked at the brown wizard, who had entered the tent without a sound. Now, Radagast stood there and looked back and forth between Gandalf and Brann.

'What are you talking about, my friend?' Gandalf sighed.

'I am talking about her!' Radagast pointed to Brann, but Gandalf could only see an empty space. 'The pretty lady who was standing with you as we met in the forest for the first time!'

'Queen Brann...' Gandalf muttered and glared at Radagast. 'You can still see her? Is she here?'

I am right here, you moron! Brann snarled and made Radagast smirk.

'She is furious, Gandalf.' Radagast informed the grey wizard. 'Maybe it is a good thing that you cannot see her, or even hear her.'

What is he going to do about my daughter?! Brann asked Radagast and stepped forward in an intimidating way, which she had seen many times on Thorin. He brought us into this mess!

'She demands to know what you plan with her daughter.' Radagast told Gandalf and frowned. 'Why? What happened to the lovely dwarf lass?'

But Gandalf shook his head. 'The situation is out of control. Radagast, what are you even doing here?'

Gandalfs focus on his own problems made Brann want to hurl the next axe at him, but sadly she could not. So she only started yelling and made Radagast flinch. He looked at her with wide eyes and then looked back at Gandalf.

'Gandalf, I suggest you find a way to resolve the situation or else the lovely lady will yell down all the Valar.' Radagast told Gandalf and glanced back at Brann again. 'You know that the love of a mother can move mountains!'

Both, Brann and Gandalf, were about to mutter something about moving mountains, but the sound of a horn made them freeze on the spot. It was a dwarvish horn.

Thank Mahal! Dain! Brann sighed and ran out of the tent.

'Dain?' Radagast repeated loudly and made Gandalf sigh in despair. This would get out of hand, the wizard knew.

#

'Thorin!' Dwalin rushed to the kings room. 'Dain has arrived and he brings a whole army! And supplies!'

Thorin jumped up from the rest of the old armchair and nodded. With this reinforcement they would be able to stand against the elves.

'Make ready. I will talk to the cursed elves once more. Either they will return Belladonna or we will have war.' Thorin decided.

'What about the stone, Thorin?' Dwalin asked and looked at his king in worry.

'Screw the stone!' Thorin exclaimed and ran out with Dwalin on his heels. He had not thought about the stone since it had left the mountain with Bilbo. He trusted Bilbo and he knew that the hobbit would not give it away, at least not freely. Dain and some of his generals were already inside of the mountain and the army made up camp in front of the gate, forming a huge protective ring around Erebor.

'Dain! You are most welcome!' Thorin tried to forget his cousins refusal to join his on this quest. This was simply not the time.

'Thorin! Quite a mess you got here! But it warms my heart to see you up and about! And your company...I heard about Belladonna though.' Dain looked ashamed all of a sudden. It had been his responsibility to take care of Belladonna. But she had escaped and had followed her father to the Shire. 'I am so sorry, I should have kept an eye on her. I just did not see that coming. And as I realised where she had gone it was too late. Never I would have thought that she would be the one to...you know.'

Dain lowered his head in shame and guilt, but Thorin would not accept it. 'This was not your fault, cousin. I have to thank you for taking such good care of my gem for so long, after her mother died. The Blue Mountains were not her home anymore, not without Brann. But apparently, Erebor cannot be either.'

Dain marched forward and patted Thorin on the shoulder. 'I have turned my back on you when you needed me most, cousin. I will not make the same mistake again. Where is she, anyway?'

Thorin grinded his teeth and gestured Dain and his generals to follow him. In the throne room he informed them about the happenings of the past days. Dain was furious and nearly marched out to launch his army at the elves for good. But Thorin held him back.

'I will give them one last chance to settle things in peace.' Thorin took Dains arm to hold him back. 'We need this peace. No newly reclaimed kingdom can survive a full scale war.'

'War is on our hands either way, cousin.' Dain sighed. 'My scouts reported a huge orc army marching upon Erebor. They will be here in two days.'

'Please say again?' Doris eyes widened almost comically. He immediately glanced at his younger brothers in worry. The Ri brothers had joined the group in the throne room, as well as the rest of the company.

'Azog.' Thorin growled and sat on his throne with slumped shoulders.

Dain frowned at his cousin and nodded. 'I have an army, but we will not be able to defend ourselves against the orcs and the elves.'

'We need to speak to Bard and Thranduil.' Balin insisted. 'At least for now we need to ally up. Only together we will have a chance against the orcs.'

Thorins eyes grew dark at the mention of the elven king. Slowly, he stood up and straightened his back. 'Prepare for battle. Gloin, get my crown from the treasury. I will meet with Gandalf, Bard and Thranduil in the camp.'

The company rushed to fullfill their orders and Thorin turned to Dain. 'I will get Belladonna back now that I have the chance. Please accompany me to the treasury.'

Dain nodded in confusion. 'Will you give in to the horrid demands of the elf?'

'I have no choice, Dain. There is more at stacke than my pride and my honor. All our lives depend on this alliance between the tree huggers, men and us.' Thorin sighed.

'I hear Brann speaking.' Dain smirked. Until that day he wondered what good influence Branns warm heart had on Thorin sometimes. She could be his reason, much like Mya could be Dains reason.

'I wish she would speak to me.' Thorin mumbled. Little did Dain know that his cousin and his late wife did indeed still speak. Brann was still with the men and elves in the camp and Thorin worried. He knew that she was mad at him for letting the situation out of hand with Thranduil. But Dain was right, he thought of his wife and how she would have handled the situation in his place. She would have swallowed down her pride for the sake of her family.

Thorin and Dain arrived in the treasury and Thorin could hear Dain gasp. Suddenly, Thorin worried about his cousin, who could also be affected by Durins curse. He realised how stupid it had been to ask Dain to accompany him.

'Dain, maybe you should...go back.' Thorin asked quietly, but Dain shook his head.

'I am fine, cousin.' Dain looked at Thorin and the king sighed in relief as he saw no sign of the goldsickness. 'Mya threatened to cut of my crown jewels and burry them here if I succumbed to the family curse. Thats a really good argument.'

Dain roared of laughter and Thorin shook his head in amusement. They walked to a small room beside the treasury.

'Thror wore his crown the day he fell. He had another one made and the spare should still be in the treasury.' Thorin pushed up the heavy door and scanned the small room for the box with the royal emblem. Dain already gathered the royal armor in his arms as Thorin pulled out the box and opened it to find the crown. Hesitantly, Thorin took the heavy crown into his hands and looked down at it. Normally, he would be crowned in a huge ceremony, in the presence of dwarven royalty and the assembled court. But now, Dains presence would have to suffice. Taking a deep breath, Thorin closed his eyes as the heavy metal and stone slid onto his head. He had seen this crown the day Thror had been beheaded by Azog for the last time. In a few days, he would wear this crown while marching against the pale orc once again. But first, the king of Erebor would meet with his allies.

#

This cannot be happening. Brann covered her eyes with the hands. Elven scouts had reported that a huge orc and goblin army marched for Erebor. Dain had also arrived in Erebor and had secured the mountain. At the moment there were three separate armies standing against the orcs. Thranduil had send word to Mirkwood to send reinforcements and would be able to gather about six thousand elven warriors. Dain had about three thousand dwarven infantry and one thousand riders. The men could barely gather a few hundred uninjured men. The orc army was over ten thousand strong and they had trolls and wargs with them. Azog and his son Bolg led them and they carried the sign of he Necromancer. Sauron. Brann knew that the dark lord had arisen again, she could feel it. She had talked to Radagast, who had also shared her suspicion. The brown wizard walked through the camp talking to Brann out loud, but nobody paid attention. He was Radagast the Brown and people knew that he was...special. Bran liked the wizard, he was a gentle soul and he loved his animals, he had actually come to fight for them and the survival of his forest.

The brown wizard and the presence of the queen had just passed the camp of men as they froze. A delegation from Erebor had arrived. Brann gasped as she saw Thorin clad in a rich fur coat, his armor and the crown of the king of Erebor. He looked old all of a sudden, but he also looked regal and majestic. He looked like the king he was. Dain and the Fundin brothers were with him, as well as Ori with his scribe set. Dwalin was holding a small chest in his hands and Brann knew exactly what it was. Thorin had come to rescue their daughter. In this moment, Brann forgot everything, but the love for her husband.