After supper, the company assembled around a small fire, warming themselves and warding off the gentle chill of the falling evening. Night was drawing on, and the sky was painted in shades of soft pink and brilliant orange, fading into violet like the slow easing away of the tide. Everyone was quiet, as they had been for most of the meal, and Evie refused to be the first to strike up a conversation. She was always the one to begin talking, and she was well tired of having to think up topics of discussion. Earlier in the day, Dwalin had shared with her his interest in forging knuckle dusters to make himself an even more formidable brawler for nearly an hour, and if she had to hear Telchar tell the story of the time he once seen a bear the size of a mammoth in the forests of the Greenwood, she thought she would scream.

Evie was about to give in and say something, anything, to break the silence, when another voice carried over the sound of the crackling flames.

"Shall we sing?"

It was Thorin who suggested it, surprising Evie yet again. He was suddenly not the dwarf she had ridden with all day; not the husband who had refused to lay with her in the lavender field nor the one who had complained that the stew was overcooked. The king now sitting before her was the dwarf she had wanted to get to know while on this short journey; the one her longing thoughts strayed to when she needed comfort.

Evie smiled, meeting his eyes as if daring him to remain in this strange, cheerful mood. He tilted his head in reply, though the gesture was as unreadable as his sudden good humor. She knew he had asked about the singing because of her – usually dwarves would simply break into song without any sort of introduction, but Thorin had wanted a pause for Evie to admire his unusual spirits.

After his unexpected proposal had achieved its full, desired effect on his wife, Thorin began to sing. At first he looked to Evie, watching her bemusement shift to curiosity and then to contemplation as she considered him and his motives. Her mind then moved on to the lyrics of the familiar song. It was a song of Ered Luin, and all the outcast dwarves of Erebor and their kin were familiar with it, so though Thorin began in his deep baritone, the others all joined in. Evie's higher, female voice soared above the rest, like a sparrow singing along with low throated owls. But that was why they sang – to remember. To raise their voices, however different, together in one purpose they could all believe in and respect.

"Deep in the halls of our fathers,
Our people now have been reborn.
Within the mines we toil and labor,
Until each night gives way to morn.

We daily sweat like our forbearers,
Who left us all that they could give.
We sacrifice as they did for us,
So all our sons may yet still live.

And though great trials are set before us,
We will stand tall and bravely by.
Our people bow and bend to no one,
Our eyes set straight and heads held high…"

The song went on a good long while, telling the story of the heritage of the dwarves; all they were committed to do in honor of their ancestors and their hopes for bringing continued prosperity to their people. It was, at times, a sad song; and, at others, a heartful one. When it was done with, the weariness of the day crept into the company's bones, signaling that it was time for sleep. Dwalin took first watch, and the others fell in amongst their bedrolls and curled up for a well-deserved rest.

The previous night, Thorin and Evie had slept next to one another, but in separate coverings. Tonight, Thorin arranged them together, inviting Evie to sleep beside him. She hesitated, watching as the king removed his light armor and his surcoat. He glanced up at her, the way one would dip a finger in bathwater to check its temperature, before climbing into their makeshift bed (though there was indeed little more than a quilted cloth between the sleeper and the stiff earth beneath them).

Evangeline slowly followed, removing the top layer of her dress and sinking into place beside her husband. The linen of her white underdress was instantly much thinner than it had been a moment before, now that her body was so close to Thorin's. She edged away, just a little, trying not to look in his eyes. Evie questioned herself and her sudden reluctance to be close to him, this dwarf who she had promised her life to and who the hobbit knew she loved with all her heart. She knew it, yet at this particular moment it was her churning stomach and not her heart which warned her that there was something wrong.

The queen was sure she was simply still angry with him after the argument which had inspired the journey they were now on, though she should not hold his brash words against him. Evie had wanted to come here for the sake of adventure – to still that restless part of her which found even spacious mountain halls just a little too confining – but the assembly of the company also led her to thinking that this might be a valuable opportunity to spend time with her husband and reeducate her heart to all the reasons she loved him. They were apart too frequently and their schedules were too full for romance, yet now that she was here, lying beside him, closer together than they had been in some time, the hobbit's heart beat loud in her chest and a fierce panic rose within her. Why, why this sudden fear? Fear of her husband, of the single soul she knew most well outside her own?

Thorin's hands on her face broke the healer from her reverie, pulling her hard and fast back into the present moment. She took a deep breath that rattled in her throat and looked up at him, her anxious grey eyes meeting his striking blue ones. His thumb crossed the plane of her cheek and lingered at the corner of her lips, making the hobbit shiver.

"Is the pass between us truly so great?"

He asked softly, the sound coming from deep in his throat. It was apt that he spoke of mountain passes, for surely they were two great stones set apart with less and less between them as time went on. Both were sturdy and unyielding, but they lived for the sake of the entire range, rather than just for each other.

Evie sighed, trying to divine a response from her troubled heart. How could she tell him how she was feeling when the healer did not know the answer for herself? She silently cursed herself for acting so foolishly, for asking for something and then balking at the gift when she received it. Her unqualified, unscheduled time with her husband should have been a blessing, but instead she was making it into a burden for them both.

"I'm sorry, I…"

Where could she possibly begin? She was nearly a century old, ancient in Shire years, yet she felt like a young maid, challenged with the task of figuring out her own desires. It was ridiculous to her that someone so old could have so many childish feelings.

"I don't want this to be all we have."

She confessed, finally, realizing the meaning behind her words only after she said them. Thorin's eyes narrowed as he tried to understand.

"We live our lives apart," she continued, attempting to explain. "You travel far too often and I am busy with the affairs of our people. When we are both in the same mountain, let alone the same room, it is rare enough that we talk or truly see each other. I… I used to miss you so desperately when you were gone, and now… Now I have grown accustomed to your absence. I think I have forgotten how to be with you, how to truly know you…"

The healer's lips pursed, her voice full of emotion but her eyes unmistakably dry. The hard drawn lines on Thorin's brow darkened.

"It has been a long time since we have truly acted as husband and wife," he agreed, his eyes searching hers. "My need for you is an ache, constant and sure, deep within me. Yet, as you say, it dulled as time went by. I still feel it, but as we walk along our separate paths, though they lead in the same direction, I do not always feel you beside me."

Evie let out a shaky breath, looking down at her hands, which were folded together against her chest.

"I fear that we shall know each other tonight and remember, and then tomorrow all will be as it was before."

Thorin nodded, studying her with his sharp, penetrating eyes.

"Then let us make sure it is not."

He promised, tilting her chin up so her lips met his waiting kiss. She was stiff, at first, unsure. But as he kissed her, as the familiar shape of his mouth molded into hers, his nose skimming across her cheek as he shifted on top of the queen, he felt the kindling light up within her and transform into a flame. The hobbit cast aside any uncertainty the moment she wove her fingers into his long, dark hair, tugging at the strands until he gasped into her mouth. Her body woke suddenly as though it had been asleep, and every action he made against her sent the hobbit farther into insensibility.

.

.

Though they were unclothed and had only the blanket of night to surround them, Evie felt very warm. The heavy, reassuring weight of Thorin's marriage cloak was still about her shoulders, even after all these years (and forevermore), shielding her from any dangers that might be lurking beyond the silent trees standing sentinel around the heedless couple. All was well, if only for a moment, and Evie reminded herself that even the hardest, most inflexible stone could sometimes be shaped.

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Author's Note: So this one is shortened due to some mature content – feel free to check my other story "Home X" if you would like to read it in its entirety! Once again, my apologies for the slow posting… Hopefully I can get things going! Thank you all so, so much for your comments! I don't want to say too much, but I hope that you will all enjoy what is to come. I think there is much happiness still left for Evie and Thorin, and maybe a little sadness too, in true Middle Earth fashion. But I think that's all part of life, and I want to tell a story with some truth, as well as passion and love and joy and heartbreak. I hope you will enjoy it.