Date: TA 2859

Thorin: 113 years old

Lina: 110 years old

Lina and Kira, like the males before them, had been banished from Dis's birthing room. Kira, the ever independent swordswoman, was still snickering quietly over the midwife's words to the pair of warrior women.

"'You're as useless as the men!'" Kira shrilled, imitating—poorly—the midwife for Dwalin. The massive male dwarf just laughed that deep belly laugh of his. Kira, like the males, found the midwife to be highly entertaining. Her expulsion from the birthing chambers simply added to the notion many of them held that the midwife had entirely too high a value placed on her own self-importance.

Lina, however, sat quietly beside Thorin. For Kira the expulsion had been the punch line to a funny joke. For Lina it was a slap in the face. As the wife of Dis's elder brother, Lina had intended to help in the birth of her nephew. Dis had been glad of Lina's support throughout the previous nine months. Now, as her time drew near, Dis had begun to rely heavily on the knowledge of the older dwarven women. And these women did not approve of Lina.

With the disappearance of Thrain, Thorin had received the role of leader to the scattered dwarven people of Middle-Earth. When news spread of Thorin Oakenshield's rise to power and the growing wealth of his city, many had flocked to join his banner. The women who joined the banner were of a far different breed than those who had followed Thror and Thrain into exile. These women had never known the hardships and dire poverty Lina had faced. They'd never faced being without hope of food or shelter for lack of a male relative. They'd never had to fight for their place in society, for their right to live. Lina was a pariah. She had no male protector. It was quite clear to everyone that Lina operated independent of her husband. While he was the leader of the city—and Lina respected that authority—and he was her husband, he did not, by any means, control her as most husbands controlled their wives. In fact, Lina had essentially the same rights as her male counterparts, taking an active role in the leadership of the city and the military.

Lina had command over a loosely organized band of warriors with specialized skills the regular army couldn't incorporate. Thrain—and now Thorin—had kept the line breakers as part of a specialized grouping in the dwarven military. Both males had seen firsthand how effective having independently operating agents on the battlefield was. Thrain had, as a sign of respect for the female warrior, placed Lina in charge of all his freelance fighters. Over the years, she had collected a wide assortment of highly skilled dwarves. The line breakers were, of course, part of this unit. The unit included one dwarf with fairly weak, but consistent and effective earth magic. His skill lay in finding fissures in the ground below an enemy and exploiting those natural weaknesses. Twice he'd opened holes large enough to trap the enemy until the regular army could be brought to bear. There were a handful of berserkers. The commander of the regular army had sent the six fighters to Lina when he'd been unable to find a place suitable for them. All six had trained with Dain Ironfoot's army for a time, but Dain had been unable to use them any more effectively than Thorin's commander. They were extraordinarily strong and surprisingly fast. They required little to no specialized equipment and wore relatively little armor into battle. Lina had yet to find a lineup that could hold up beneath their attacks for any length of time. Of course, all tests had to be performed on the enemy. The berserkers in a full rage were a threat to their own people if no obvious enemy was present. A few of the specialists simply had bizarre weaponry not suited to any other unit. There was one pair of specialists who had become Lina's pride and joy. A brother-sister team had appeared at random from the far north. No one was quite sure where they'd originated from and they did not feel the need to enlighten anyone. Wherever they came from, Lina was glad to have them. They were highly skilled assassins, and surprisingly good when it came time to do battle. In a number of the small battles the dwarves still fought with the orcs and goblins of the Misty Mountains the team had gotten in behind the lines somehow and taken out the enemy's leader. The rest of these battles became simple cleanup jobs once the leadership was destroyed. The worst casualties had come from those caught in the flight path of retreating orcs. When news of the team's specialty leaked out, most of the dwarves had been scandalized. Thorin had allowed the team to stay once they, like their brothers- and sisters-in-arms, had sworn loyalty to the city and its inhabitants. Their continued presence, however, still set some of the newcomers off.

The combination of fierce independence and her command over a polarizing group of fighters made Lina something of an outcast among the new group of women. The women had practically chased her from the birthing room. Kira, who was practically a male now, thought it was hilarious. Lina did not. She enjoyed her independence, but there were some things she had enjoyed about being female. The rituals surrounding the birth of a child was something she had loved sharing with the other women when she'd been a child. There was so much hope and joy that filled a room during a birth. Lina had clung to those feelings as a child who had been shunned by her father. The desire to be a part of the birthing rituals had only grown stronger with the knowledge that she could never have children. Any son Dis had would be like a son to Lina as well. That son would be groomed to become Thorin's heir. Helping to raise the heir was the closest Lina could come to having children of her own.

Years earlier, before she had wed, the idea of children was ludicrous. Now she would give nearly anything to have even a daughter to pass on her skills to. Most dwarves never realized Lina was physically unable to conceive. They simply assumed she had chosen not to bear Thorin's offspring. This assumption brought some of the worst criticisms of her. No matter how often she or Thorin explained to someone that a wound prevented her from having children, another individual, louder than the last, would appear to decry Lina as a disgrace to all females.

Never before had Lina felt so utterly alone. Her only female companion, Kira, had no intentions of ever marrying anyone for any reason and despised the idea of having her own children. The males, well . . . The males would never understand her desire for her own child. Even Thorin could never understand the pain that gripped her heart so tightly. In this moment, Lina was completely alone.

A hand settled over her clasped hands. Looking up, Lina saw her husband watching her. There was worry and concern in his eyes. He didn't say a word, just tugged her closer to his side, his arm wrapping protectively around her shoulders. The simple gesture made Lina's heart feel so much lighter. No, Thorin could never understand this pain, no one could. Yet Lina was not alone. Thorin would make sure of that.

The wait dragged on. One by one, the other dwarves filtered out of the room until only Lina and Thorin were left waiting. Lina fell asleep beside him, his arm still wrapped about her.

It was in the wee hours of the morning that the door finally opened. Thorin woke Lina as the midwife and her assistants entered the room. She wore a broad smile as she addressed Thorin.

"The parents are ready to receive you, My Lord," she informed Thorin, bowing. The dwarven prince was on his feet in an instant. Lina followed him quickly into the birthing room, trying to ignore the midwife's sniff of derision as she passed.

Dis was propped up in bed, cradling her newborn. Her husband rested on the edge of the bed, peering into the child's face. Pride and joy radiated from her as she looked up at Thorin's approach.

"You have an heir," she whispered in breathless wonder. The tiny babe stirred as Thorin accepted him from Dis. The dwarven prince and his wife gazed down at the child. He had soft blonde hair, something that seemed out of place considering both of his parents had dark hair. His nose was most definitely from his mother's side. Lina smiled. There was a strong resemblance between the child and his uncle in their faces.

"What have you named him?" Lina asked finally.

"Fili."

As if awakened by the sound of his name, Fili opened his eyes and grinned up at his aunt. Lina was startled by the familiar blue eyes staring up at her from the tiny face. Thorin, noting her fascination with the child, passed the baby to her. Her hands trembled as she took Fili from her husband. The resemblance the child had to his uncle was incredible.

"You almost look more like his parents than we do," Dis laughed. "He has your face, Thorin, and your hair, Lina."

Lina simply smiled, stroking the child's hair. He was the closest she would ever come to having her own child.

"Fili," she murmured, "Heir to the Throne-Under-The-Mountain."

A/N: I apologize for how late this chapter has gone up. I worked longer than I was supposed to today. Then I went to The Hobbit for the second time with a friend from my high school days. I can truly say that Thorin Oakenshield was keeping me from writing this chapter.