Meanwhile in Mirkwood:
In Mirkwood Kili was finally fully healed. He had thought about asking for a room for himself but had moved back to Tauriel in the end because of Ronon. The dwarf and the elf argued most of the time though and so he stayed away from their quarters as often as he could.
Kili often visited the hobbits who had finally started living in their own small community in the forest. The young dwarf wanted to make sure that they were safe and he also liked to play with the fauntlings. Sometimes he even dreamed about having his own children again and to play with them and his nieces and nephew. His main reason to spend time there was Daisy though. Kili loved to see her smile and was pretty sure that what he felt for her was the true love a dwarf only felt for his One. He was also quite sure that the hobbit felt the same way although she tried to hide and fight her feelings. Since the elves still trained Daisy to become a healer, she was in Mirkwood's palace every day and Kili always escorted her back home. He wanted to hold her in his arms and kiss her but he was married and had to hide his feelings in public. But still they enjoyed their time together. The young dwarf often wondered how his life would have turned out if Daisy had worked at the Green Dragon Inn the day they had been in Hobbiton. Maybe they would be happily married with many children just like Fili and Poppy. But one couldn't change the past and now he was married to Tauriel. Therefore he could never marry Daisy unless the elf died.
Kili and Daisy both worried deeply about Fili, Poppy and their children. They hadn't gotten any news from them since they had left for Erebor. So Kili had decided to write a letter to his mother. Now he had finally gotten a reply. He was quite afraid to read it and so asked Daisy if they wanted to read it together. The hobbit had agreed and so they sat down on an old tree trunk in the forest. Kili opened the letter with shaking hands and started reading.
Dear Kili,
I hope this letter finds you well. I have to admit that I was surprised to receive your letter because I didn't expect you to care about Fili and his family at all after everything you had done.
Fili, Poppy and the children are alive and as well as they can be under the current circumstances. Your brother has to live in shame without his beard and braids as a miner and Poppy now works as a cleaner because otherwise their children would starve.
I hope you and Tauriel are happy now.
Yours,
Dis
Kili looked at Daisy in shock. He hadn't expected such a formal and quite cold hearted note from his mother. But this was probably all he deserved. He hugged the hobbit, who had started crying, tightly. Then the tears started rolling down his cheeks as well. On the one hand he was relieved that Thorin hadn't killed them. But one the other hand he felt terrible about everything because none of this would have happened without him. He wanted to help them but he had no idea what to do.
The following months passed quietly. Fili and Poppy still worked nearly every day and enjoyed their free time with Vili, Lili, Tulip and Ruby. The youngest dwobbit had finally learned crawling and kept her mother as well as her caretakers busy. She was a happy infant who made everyone smile and had adapted to the life under the mountain the easiest. She had never known a different life though and so this was normal for her. Fili even joked that she fitted into Erebor the best because of her gem name. Lili und Tulip were quite happy as well and Vili was happy thanks to Runor. Poppy was still pale and her smile didn't reach her eyes but she had gained weight and Oin was sure that she was healthy. Runa was a wonderful friend and the two females spent a lot of time together. They went shopping and sometimes even cooked together while the children played.
One day they Poppy and Runa went to the market together with their children. The hobbit still carried Ruby in a sling and the older children were holding onto the females' hands. The hobbit and the dwarrowdam were talking to a stall owner when suddenly one of the dwarflings who had bullied Runor after his father's death appeared and started making fun of Vili. The little boy first pleaded him to stop but started crying in the end. Runa and Poppy didn't notice, so Lili wrapped her arms around her brother and Runor yelled at the older dwarfling and finally punched him in the face. In that moment Runa and Poppy noticed the children's fight and the boy ran away. The hobbit immediately kneeled down in front of Vili to comfort him. Runa told her son that he shouldn't punch others but actually she was quite proud of him.
In the evening Poppy told Fili about it. He was angry and felt sorry for his son but he was proud of Runor. He had grown quite fond of the dwarfling and suggested to promise Runa that he'd help whenever Runor needed a male to talk to. Poppy agreed happily because she liked Runor a lot as well.
One day Fili heard some of his fellow miners talk about King Thorin in their lunch break. They didn't know that he was there though because he sat behind a pillar. All of them were unhappy about their working and living conditions. While they had to work six days each week from dawn to dusk for minimum wages the king hoarded more and more gold and gems in his treasury. They were also originally from the Iron Hills and wanted their Lord, Dain Ironfoot, to be King. They thought that the Battle of the Five Armies would have been lost without Dain's dwarves and so he deserved to be King more than Thorin. One of the workers suggested that they should try another assassination attempt when King Thorin inspected the mines in a few days. The others cheered and agreed. They had already tried to kill their king nearly two years ago but one of the miners had prevented to attack. But the traitor had died and so they were sure that they'd succeed this time. The King's nephew was in their group but they didn't expect him to help his uncle after he had ruined his life. And they didn't intend for him to know.
Fili put his hand in front of his mouth to stifle a gasp. So the rumours about Anor's death has been true. Runor's father had died to safe Thorin. He hasn't expected the Iron Hills miners to hate Thorin that much. He knew that he had to protect his uncle despite everything that had happened. He still loved him and knew that Thorin would have never done these terrible things without the influence of the goldsickness. Fili didn't know what to do though. He might talk to Dwalin who was the head of the king's guard but he was scarred that the other dwarves might find out and hurt Poppy and the children in their wrath. He also didn't know who to trust and so he decided not to talk about it to the miners from Ered Luin either. He'd do everything he could to protect his uncle even if he had to do it completely on his own.
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