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THE COURTSHIP OF THE SPARROW-HAWK
Chapter 15 – Wreck
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"Ribbon" Billie Marten
King Fili was settling into the warm coverlet with his wife, shivering away the last traces of cold as the large, ornately etched woodstove gave off enough heat to fill the room quickly. But the eyes that were glaring at him from the pillow beside his were cold—the woodstove couldn't solve that problem. Only he could.
"All right, my heart," Fili grunted, lying back against the mattress and exhaling the deep breath he'd taken in. "You've been quiet, which means you're thinking—and I have ears to listen, if you've decided on what you're going to say."
"You know me too well," Queen Nur halfway grinned, propping her head up with her hand as her elbow pressed against the pillow, lying on her side to face him. He didn't have to see her face to see that some of her anger had already ebbed. "Bran is a bother. You knew that before she entered the mountain and then said nothing when she practically demanded to be invited to dinner. And then you were nothing but courteous as she shamed your brother and his new wife."
Fili tilted his head and was about to speak, but Nur pressed a fingers to his lips and kept speaking. "Anyone else might think it was cowardly of you or uncaring. But I saw that look in your eye—you had a purpose to it. I'm only frustrated that you didn't share your thoughts with me before the dinner."
Sighing and grasping Nur's hand, he brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them, his features succumbing to the weight of all that had happened. "My love," He said softly. "It gives me courage to know that you had faith in me. Yes, I had a purpose. But I wasn't sure how the dinner would play out—how much Bran would reveal and how much she would keep back."
Stretching himself for a moment before inching closer to his wife and locking his legs between hers, Fili pressed a firm kiss to her forehead before wrapping an arm around her waist.
"Her lawmen contacted ours about a week ago—so, no, I wasn't surprised to see her here. There was something about a contract dispute, but they mentioned nothing of importance and so I didn't think anything of it. I had wondered if she would mention it this evening at the dinner and wanted to give her an opportunity, but she clearly had one thing on her mind."
Nur rolled her eyes and Fili snorted a little laugh, nuzzling her neck and closing his heavy eyelids. "She's scheduled an audience tomorrow morning, so I'm sure we'll get to the heart of the matter, then, but I promise you that I have no intention of letting her waltz around our home. Bran stirs up enough trouble just being here, but when that awful creature opens her mouth…" Fili feigned a gag.
He could feel Nur nodding in agreement and he was half-asleep, having snuggled into Nur's soft, warm flesh and having sunk into the plush mattress, when Nur cleared her throat and tapped at his back.
"Did you really mean what you said about having her dig out a fifth level of the dungeons with her bare hands?"
Fili chuckled, a deep sound at the back of his throat. "Only if she really means what she said to you about the royalty of Erebor needing 'escorts'. But I won't be called unkind—we'll gift her with a rusted shovel to spare her hands."
"Zion (Instrumental)" Kings Kaleidoscope
Kili was dreading leaving the bed, but the sun was already peeking through the window, causing him to groan.
"What's wrong?" A small voice came from beside his chest. Picking up the edge of the blanket, he peered underneath it to find the small body of his wife curled into his side, her small hands clutching around his waist. She looked like a baby kitten, he mused, snuggling him like a rounded ball.
"Nothing. Sun was in my eyes."
"Mm." Eila grunted. "Come under here with me. It's safe."
All too willing to comply, Kili shoved his feet further down and wrapped himself around Eila's petite form. Peppering her shoulder with kisses, he narrowly avoided the swat of her hand.
"Your beard tickles," She giggled, turning herself over and scooting backward so that he spooned against her. It was an unexpected movement, but he grinned to himself when she turned her head and looked over her shoulder at him with a wry smile. Oh, Mahal, that temptress knew what she was up to!
Kili was about to move his hands lower down her back when a demanding knock sounded at the bedchamber door. A snarl and a curse left Kili's lips and he pulled the blankets down and away from his head only long enough to shout, "I'm not here!" before ducking his head beneath the coverlet again.
But whomever it was knocking at the door did not seem to hear him or had ignored the obvious plea for more time and became more insistent.
Eila had turned to face him and blushed heavily when he uttered a string of indecent words, her hands shooting up to cover her mouth in embarrassment. Her innocence to such language only endeared her to him more and he apologized quickly, leaning to kiss her forehead before jumping out of bed.
"Really, I am sorry. Just take it as a compliment." He said, letting his eyes graze over her beautiful, pale body as he dressed.
"A compliment?" She squeaked, sitting up and clutching the blankets to her chest.
Kili nodded, pulling his boots on and smiling mischievously. "Yes. Proof of how much I'd rather be here with you."
Eila's cheeks swelled with blush and she ducked her head shyly, melting Kili's heart and making him groan again. Did she have any idea just how desirable she was to him?
Those were the thoughts that followed him as he made his way from the royal chambers to his private study, where he'd been scheduled to speak to someone about something that somehow, someway… well, he'd completely forgotten what the chamberlain had said, having walked on clouds all the way there. But even as his thoughts were on his wife, the face that greeted him in his library killed his happy spirits.
"Prince Kili," Lady Bran said with a low curtsy, lower than was necessary for the buxom lass.
"Wreck" Mieka Pauley
"What the hell do you want?" Kili growled, sitting slowly in the chair behind his desk.
"Oh, sweetheart, that's not very cordial." Bran tutted, clearly enjoying his discomfort as she walked slowly back and forth in front of his desk.
"It's more than you deserve."
"Why are you so uneasy, sweetheart?" Bran said with mock-concern.
"I don't want you in here." Kili muttered. True, his private library was small and oftentimes cluttered, but it was one of his sanctuaries and just her presence in the room seemed to defile it in some way.
"You can have me somewhere else, if you prefer." She winked.
Clenching his trembling fists, Kili scowled at the lass with the red lips. He had never struck a female before, but he was coming close to it now. "I'd rather let the pale orc, Azog, cut off my—"
"Perhaps you should read this." Bran giggled, picking up a paper from Kili's desk and leaning over the surface to press it against the dark-haired dwarf's tunic.
Kili's brow crumpled and he snatched the paper from Bran's hands, reading its contents. "What is…? This is—"
"The marriage contract you signed just before you left the Blue Mountains with Thorin." Bran said with a sweetness that made Kili's stomach sour.
"No," Kili shook his head, recognition smoothing out the angry wrinkles into confusion. "No, that's not possible—you burned it! You didn't want me!"
"Well, now, that's not true," Bran pouted as if hurt by his words. "I've always wanted you—"
"You said that I was an ugly prospect of a dying branch from an inferior bloodline—"
"This," Bran pressed a finger to the paper in his hands, "has been looked over by law experts from both Erebor and Ered Luin." And inching dangerously close to Kili's face, as though intending to kiss him, Bran added, "and I'd be willing to withdraw my legal actions against you if you're willing to do a little something for me." The way her fingers tugged at the paper made her meaning perfectly clear to him and he came close to striking out at her.
"I will not take on a mistress just to avoid being wrongfully accused of breaching a contract." Kili snarled, sitting back in his chair and gripping the arms of it. "And you seem to forget that I am very much married, making your lawsuit irrelevant." Crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at the lass, he pressed his lips into a line. "I love my wife—"
"She's not legally your wife." Bran cocked her head to the side and grinned. "The same experts who looked over this document are, at this moment, combing through their law books to determine how to annul—"
Bran's words stopped with her breath as Kili's gloved hand reached out and clenched around her throat.
"You evil witch." Kili said through gritted teeth. "You're going to leave Eila out of this! You're going to leave her alone!"
"Kili!" A voice called from the doorway—Fili stared at them in shock.
Releasing his fingers from Bran's throat, Kili watched the lass rub at the reddened skin of her neck, before putting on an expression of indifference.
"You might want to reconsider my offer," She said with a small lick to her lips, as though completely forgetting that he'd come close to strangling her. "before I speak to your King about this."
"Do what you will, but I will never betray Eila." Kili spat. Understanding dawned in King Fili's eyes and his hardened glare was enough to cause Bran to display a little of her fear.
But then her mask of seduction concealed it once more and she strode past Kili, but not before whispering, "Never say never."
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To all my lovely readers—updates will be sketchy for the next week and a half. The military pretty much said, "So, you've got five days to pack yourselves up and leave." Um, thanks. It doesn't mean I won't be writing, it just means I'll be scatter-brained and I'll be worrying over whether or not a chapter is good enough for an upload.
In response to reviews:
Celebrisilweth: You and me both! That dwarf-woman needs to have the fear of Mahal scared into her!
Aranel Mereneth: Thank you! :) Hopefully a healthy addiction ;)
Guest: Update? Hahahaha! By the skin of my teeth, as always!
Karebear119: Tell me about it- there are just some stories where they're like, "well, we have to be nice, even if they're not going to be." and I'm sitting back and thinking, "What the what? Um, no, this is fiction, you can do whatever you want." Therefore, I don't feel even a little guilty about fitting in a slap at the beginning of their meeting :)
tygrislily: Hopefully I answered your questions, and, yes, I think a little Nur/Eila training would be appropriate right about now
megan98: I hope you're liking it so far!
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