'I am here to see my daughter in these times of peril.' Thorin exclaimed in a thundering voice which echoed through the huge camp. Clad in a long fur cloak and his crown, Thorin made an imposing figure and the men and elves who crossed his path bowed their heads in respect. Thorin could not see Tauriel anywhere, but he knew that she as watching his daughter.

Prince Legolas was the first to emerge from the royal tent and Brann, who had stayed at Thorins side, could see him sigh in relief. The prince was a good elf with a good heart, who suffered under his father, even if he did not realise it himself.

'King Thorin.' The young elf also lowered his head in respect. 'Please, follow me.'

The dwarves followed the prince into the tent and joined Gandalf, Bard and Bilbo, who were already gathered there. Brann had also sneaked into the tent and walked up to stand beside Thranduil. The elven king saw the crown on Thorins head, but he did not acknowledge the other king but with a frown.

'King under the mountain, what brings you to me?' Thranduil asked and made Brann roll her eyes in despair. And she had thought that Thorin was stubborn and proud.

'I am here to bring my daughter to safety. I will pay for her release with the one and only thing which seems to be of your kingly interest.' Thorin stated through grinded teeth and gestured Dwalin to step forward. Dwalin walked towards Thranduil and opened the small chest. The whole tent was suddenly filled with a white light. Thranduils eyes widened as he looked upon the jewels inside of the box. They shone like starlight and reflected in the cold eyes of the king.

Thranduil had been that close to the jewels already. Over a hundred and fifty years ago, king Thror had lured him to the mountain to show him the jewels that called out to every elven soul. Their shine was of pure starlight and Thranduil had felt his very soul drawn to it. But before he could reach out and touch the jewels, Thror had made the dwarf holding the chest close it with a loud rumble. It had been a cruel act between allies and Thranduil had turned his back on Thror for the first time that day. He also remembered that the current king under the mountain had also been there. This time, he would not be fooled by the dwarves.

'More...' Thranduil whispered, but this time Legolas stepped in and did not bother speaking elvish.

'Ada. You have gotten what you have asked for! Let the princess go! She will be in danger in our camp when the orcs arrive anyway. We should bring the women and children to safety. This should be our highest priority!' Legolas held his fathers deathglare and managed not to blink as Thranduil let the chest close with a loud snap.

'King Thranduil, we need to move quickly.' Gandalf insisted and looked at Thranduil with a heavy glare. 'This is not the time for petty old differences. The orc army will be there in two days.'

Thranduil turned around and closed his eyes. Only Brann could see the insecurity in his expression and held her breath. Suddenly she felt a breeze and looked around. She could feel another presence, but this one seemed distant and cold. Thranduils hair moved as the breeze moved over his head. His expression softened and he took a deep breath.

Brann blinked in astonishment. She knew that Thranduils wife had died long ago. Was she the other presence in the tent? Was Brann not the only one who had a link to the world of the living? The queen of the dwarves moved towards Thranduil and felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

Greetings, Brann - queen under the mountain...

Brann jumped as she heard the soft voice. It sounded like the sound of hundreds of little silver bells and Brann instantly knew that it was the voice of the late queen of Mirkwood. But why...? When elves died they sailed for Valinor. How could she also be here?

Thranduil took a deep breath and smiled faintly. He murmured something in elvish that made Brann think of the Khuzdul endearments Thorin had always whispered into her ear when they were alone. In this moment Brann could not think of anthing else than how much she missed this.

'Very well, I´ll have Tauriel get the princess.' Thranduil stated and turned to Thorin, his face an unreadable mask again. 'And we can discuss how we shall fight the scum that is moving towards us.'

'You will not turn your back at us this time, elf?' Thorin asked and made Legolas flinch. Only the fact that this was a legitimate question made him stay at his place beside his father and not jump at the dwarf´s throat. King or not, his father deserved the respect.

'The men of Laketown are our allies. Who shall defend them if not us?' Thranduil answered arrogantly and Brann could hear Thorins teeth grind against each other through the tent.

'You will be happy to have a strong dwarven infantry at your side!' Dain interrupted. He had followed his cousin into the elven kings tent, determined to not let the arrogant elf put down dwarven royalty. 'Your elven archers are fine on great distance. Dwarves are no cowards, we fight our enemies face to face!'

'Oh dear.' Brann could hear Bilbo sigh. 'Maybe we should focus on the strength gathered here today, by men, dwarves and elves. And two wizards and a hobbit.'

'You will not take part of this battle, Bilbo.' Thorin interrupted him.

'I beg your pardon?' Bilbo cocked his eyebrows at the king.

'You heard me. You will remain in the safety of the mountain with the women and children.' Thorin insisted. 'I will not risk my burglar's life for this madness.'

Bilbo was about to protest as Tauriel and Belladonna entered the tent. The princess looked pale and tired and Tauriel stiffened as she felt the icy atmosphere inside of the tent. Thorin rushed forward as he saw his daughter and took her into his arms. Belladonnas eyes went wide, but she wrapped her arms around her fathers shoulders. Apparently, the young dwarf was so shaken about the recent events that she needed her father´s strong presence and tried to forget the things she said to him in her anger and sickness.

'My gem...' Thorin whispered and glared at Tauriel over Belladonnas shoulder. He wanted to thank her, but his hatred of all elven existence was stronger. But this elf had saved his nephews and had been kind to his daughter. With a deep sigh, Thorin closed his eyes and released Belladonna to turn to Tauriel. He bowed his head and laid his heavy hand onto her shoulder. He could feel Tauriel flinch, but he rested his hand on her shoulder for a while until he felt her relax.

'Thank you.' he murmured and Tauriels eyes widened. It hurt Thorin that it seemed to surprise her that he was able to show gratitude, but then again, Thorin knew how wrecked the relationship between elves and dwarves had become. Maybe one day dwarves and elves would be able to speak to each other normally.

'Now that this is all settled.' Gandalf sighed and looked as exhausted as he already was. 'We need to prepare for war.'

#

The following day the armies prepared for battle. The old, women and children of Laketown moved into the mountain for protection and the armies made ready. Oin was busy preparing the old infirmary for the wounded as well as some of the halls. One of the smaller halls was prepared to shelter the dead and everyone hoped that the smaller hall would suffice.

Fili and Kili helped Oin prepare and wandered down the halls. They stopped in the hall where the dead would be put to rest until they would be burried. Fili sat down on the cold stone and looked at his little brother. Sometimes he could not believe how fast Kili had grown up. He was only a handful more years older than Kili, but he had always been more mature. While he could mask his facial expressions quite well, Kilis eyes always betrayed his emotions. The curious glint and the mischievious sparkle were always present in the young prince's eyes. Fili had always envied his little brother for his unbothered life. He was the one who would never worry about the responsibility of an heir. Sure, Kili was second in line for the throne of Erebor, but neither Thorin nor Dis had prepared him for it. To Dis, Kili was still her little dwarfling, who replaced the painful void Lindin had left when he died. And now, Dis would kill him dead for having fallen in love with an elf of all people. An elf...Fili snorted and Kili looked at him with a questioning look.

'What is it, brother?' he asked and grinned boyishly.

'Nothing.' Fili shook his head, but he could not hold his straight face any longer. 'An elf, Kili?'

'Where?' Kili turned around and made Fili sigh in amusement.

'In your heart.' Fili grinned. 'That red hair is a nice lass, but you do know that you two have no future?'

'Why not?' Kili frowned at his older brother. 'We love each other!'

'You have just met!' Fili scolded Kili, but his little brother was stubborn.

'I knew it when I saw her fight off the spiders. She is different from the other elves. Maybe thats because she is a Silvan elf an none of those blonde, arrogant, snoozepants of an elf, like that king and his son. Who is really not that good looking, by the way.'

Fili smirked at his brothers frown. 'How do you even imagine living with her in the future? She loves wandering under the stars, the breeze in her hair. She will never agree to live under the mountain with you. And would you want to live in Mirkwood? With the stick air and the huge spiders? Without your family?'

Kili bit his lip, he had really not thought that far. But he was thinking of his uncle and Brann and their love gave him hope. 'Aunt Brann has left everything behind when she married uncle. They were happy, although they were from two very different worlds. They showed us that our roots should not keep us from following our hearts. Their love was stronger than any other love I have seen in all these years. Why should that be any different with Tauriel and me?'

Fili nodded slowly. His little brother had a valid point there. 'I just want you to think about it. Do not rush into anything.'

'We will fight the battle of our lives tomorrow, Fili.' Kili looked towards the exit of the hall. 'We will all get out of this mess alive and then I will plan my future. But I want you to know that no elf or dwarf will ever come between us. You are my brother, Fili, and I will always stay at you side. Always.'

The shadows moved over the mountain as the kings nephews took each other into their arms and gathered their strength in the brotherly love of the other.

#

The army of men, dwarves and elves stood in rings around the Lonely Mountain. The dwarves and few men provided the infantry and the few riders and the elves secured the mountain with their archers. Thranduil, Bard and Thorin would fight, much to the dismay of Tauriel, Dain and Gandalf, who wanted the kings to remain safe. The orc army was more in number and the necromancers power scared at least Gandalf. The grey wizard had shaken his head as Radagast had informed him that he would stay and fight as well, but the gentle brown wizard had made up his mind.

Brann stayed with Thorin at night, but with Radagast during the day. The brown wizard knew alot about what happened in Middle Earth. His animals kept him informed and he did not even have to set foot into the wild and uncivilised towns of men. The wizard strongly disliked the company of other people and the stay in this camp was a huge distress for him. Brann tried to keep his mind off the constant quarrel between dwarves and elves, but that was no easy. From him, Brann learned alot about Thranduil and suddenly everything made more sense.

'Thranduils wife was a beautiful elven lass. Some say that she was even more beautiful than Luthien, but then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.' Radagast blinked at Brann. 'For me, Delia is the most beautiful being in the world.'

'Hedgehog?' Brann guessed.

'Robin!' Radagast grinned and lifted his hat, under which the said bird had cuddled into its nest.

Brann chuckled and shook her head in amusement.

'Where was I?...Oh yes...well, Ceridwen, Thranduils wife, had long silverblond hair and blue eyes. She was of a tall build and had a proud bearing. You could say that she was her husband in female form.' Radagast smirked. 'The year their son, Legolas, was born, the firedrakes from the North came and descended upon Mirkwood. They burned the northern part to the ground. The dwarves fought them, as well as the elves. But they did not ally up against the drakes. The dwarven king...I forgot his name...killed the dragon with his sword made out the strongest metal you can find in Middle Earth. It was in fact made of star stone. You know...from the iron found in fallen stars. The dwarven blacksmiths have perfected this one sword in their forges. Anyway...the drakes were killed one by one, but at a high cost. The dwarven kingdom in the north was weakened due to the loss of most of their warriors and soon overrun by orcs and goblins. Mirkwood on the other hand had only few loses to bear, but one very severe one. The queen Ceridwen was killed in battle. She had fought at the side of her husband, although he had forbidden her. Ceridwen had dressed up in the armor of his personal guard... you know the ugly armor with the helmet covering the whole face? Thranduil did not recognise her until it was too late. One of the drakes spit his dragonfire at Thranduil, but Ceridwen pushed him aside. The dragonfire burned her alive and scared his face for life. You must know that elvish magic lays upon Thranduils face. But sometimes, when he gets angry, you can see his real face as the magic fades. It need high concentration to uphold the magic. His face is half burned and open to the bone. But no elven magic could rescue the queen. All Thranduil could see were her blue eyes in the flames as she burned to ashes. Thranduil has never gotten over her death. The starlight jewels - the ones your husband brought to the camp - they were hers. They fell into the hands of the dwarves by mitake, so it is told.'

Brann twitched at the sudden change of topic. 'Interesting mistake...That is why Thranduil wanted them back so desperatly.' Brann muttered. She sighed and frowned as she thought about the deep hatred between elves and dwarves. If Thranduil had asked Thorin for the jewels and had explained to him why he wanted them, Thorin would have given them to him. Thorin could be arrogant and proud, but he knew the hurt and grief for the dead.

'The Mirkwood elves are way to introverted if you ask me.' Radagast stated and made Brann smirk. He was the one to talk. 'They have lost touch to the rest of Middle Earth. They do not even care about other kingdoms, which is foolish if you ask me.'

'They have managed to live their lives without the influence of others.' Brann murmured. 'In Thranduils eyes, their alliances have probably been only disappointment. But I am glad, that no all elves of Mirkwood think that way.'

'This red hair...Tauriel...' Radagast had guessed which elf Brann was speaking about. 'Her parents died in the battle against the orcs who tried to invade Mirkwood like they had the dwarven kingdoms. The wee elven lass was only four years old. Her father was killed by an orc and her mother, who was one of the late queen´s courtladies faded of grief. She had lost her quen and her husband in a short period of time. The wee lass was alone in this world. She made it to captain of the guard in no time, she is barely sixhundred years old! And one of the fiercest warriors I know!'

'How do you know so much about them?' Brann wondered.

'Brownie told me, he lived in Mirkwood for a while before he came to live with me and the others.' Radagast stated.

'Bird?' Brann almost rolled her eyes.

'Squirrel.' Radagast smiled widely. 'His family still lives with me long after his death. They share their nuts with me.'

Brann felt a headache build up in her skull, but she could not help but like the wizard. Unlike Gandalf, he shared his information with everybody. Brann smiled and walked back to the mountain and to her daughter. She needed to know how Belladonna was doing.

Alright folks, a little update on my progress...First of all Thank You Thank You Thank You for your wonderful support, reviews, favs and follows! Thank you so very much!

I have started this story on the 9th of november 2013 and I will post my last chapter on the 9th of november 2014. I cannot believe that it has actually been a year! And this story started as a short story! LOL

I have 5 chapters left and I will post a chapter every week and a half until then. I feel really sad that it comes to an end! Until then, enjoy the chapters to come!