25: To Spark a Flame

It was Kíli who had first uttered Ruari's name into the darkness surrounding them, but Tauriel who moved first. Paying no heed to her protesting knees, stiff after laying still for so long, she shot up and wrapped the startled Dwarf in a firm embrace, a laugh bubbling up in her chest.

"I cannot believe this! How?"

Ruari reached up to loosen the hold she had onto his neck, rolling his eyes as she released him. From the small smile peeking out from underneath his bushy beard, though, she could tell that he was not as displeased by her enthusiastic greeting as he would have her think.

"Alright, alright, enough already with those sentimentalities." He wrinkled his nose. "Besides, you both reek. What did you do? Took a bath in the harbor?"

Kíli laughed, more carefree than Tauriel had heard him sound in a while. He reached around her to clasp Ruari's shoulder. "That sums it up just perfectly, my friend. And while it is good to see you, I can only repeat the question—How? What are you doing here?"

"You insult me if you truly believe that I would sit by idly while a plan is put into motion to get you two damsels in distress out of the hole you have dug for yourselves."

A glance passed between Kíli and Tauriel.

"We suspected that, after everything, you might not be so very inclined to help us." Tauriel could not help but think back to the look of betrayal in Ruari's eyes on the day they had arrived in Riavod. "We are aware that our actions may not have looked very. . . honorable, from where you were standing."

"Well, I will admit that for a few days I was a little out of sorts with the two of you."

Kíli quirked an eyebrow at Ruari's uncommonly polite choice of words. "Out of sorts?"

Ruari turned his hard gaze unto him. "Do you need me to spell it out for you, lad? I would gladly have let an orc pack tear you apart and watched as wargs gorged themselves on your entrails. That specific enough for you?"

Kíli sucked the air through his teeth as he winced. "That bad, huh?"

"Quite," Ruari confirmed rather cheerfully. "The other two blockheads, however, wouldn't hear of it. Kept insisting that you were just trying to get us all out, in your own way." He looked a little sheepish. "I suppose I came 'round to their way of thinking. Especially after I saw that what they were using you for was just a glorified version of the shite they had been doing to us all along."

Tauriel grimaced. "The Harvest Hunt."

"Aye, indeed." Ruari shook his head in disgust. "Why in Mahal's name did you not just run away when you had the chance? You were out in those woods by yourselves for ages."

"We tried to help some others first. By then, it was already too late for us. Or for me, at least." Tauriel pulled the neckline of her tunic aside, exposing the wound on her shoulder. "Poison," she explained.

Ruari grunted in dismay. Again, his eyes shifted to Kíli. "Of course. And where she goes, you follow, you little fool."

"I will not have this argument with you." Kíli's glare could have shot a bird dead out of the sky. Ruari, however, remained unfazed.

"Yes, yes, I know better than to argue with members of your house about the harebrained things they've set their minds to. Anyway. You have your little soldier friend to thank for my soothing presence at your side today."

Kíli's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You mean Adis?"

"Aye, that's the one. He was supposed to be here in my stead, but when Suri caught wind of the plan they were hatching in their little rebel group she arranged for me to replace him. Which could not have come at a better time, for I was just about to go positively mad from the tediousness of it all. Why they had to haul my arse across half of Middle-earth just to have me lose my marbles in some fucking seaside town eludes me, I can tell you that."

"Why? What have you been doing all this time?" Whenever Tauriel had thought of the friends they had left behind when they had gone to Nurtha, she had pictured them enslaved in dire conditions, the debased tastes of their captors a constant threat to their safety. And yet here Ruari was, looking perfectly unharmed and, more importantly, free to move about the city at his own will.

Despite all that, her question appeared to make him rather uncomfortable.

"Ah, that's a tale for another day, I should say."

Tauriel would have been lying to say that her curiosity was not peaked by this evasive statement. However, she did not feel that she knew Ruari well enough to pursue the matter against his will and was prepared to let it slide, for now. Kíli, not so much.

"Ah, come on, what did they have you do? Sweep their floors? Empty their chamber pots?"

Ruari's face flared red. "I am an honorable member of the Firebeard clan and a seasoned warrior, not someone's chambermaid!" Realizing that he had just risen to Kíli's bait, he deflated a little and sent them both a sulky glare. "One of their noblemen got it into his head that a Dwarf would make an entertaining companion for his little daughter."

Tauriel experienced a stab of pity for the unknown child who had acquired the hot-headed Dwarf as her companion. This sounded like the foundation for lifelong trauma.

Kíli said as much, once again fueling Ruari's indignant fury.

"Oi, what do you think I am? Some sort of monster that goes around terrorizing innocent children? Not that there was much innocence to that little brat's character. But I'll have you know that I can be very good company. If the effort is worth it," Ruari added with a pointed glare in Kíli's direction.

Kíli, however, appeared too occupied picturing Ruari as some sort of unfortunate court jester to react to the thinly veiled jab. Overcome by a wave of fondness, Tauriel smiled. She had not realized until how much she had missed the banter which had pulled their group through many dark hours. Speaking of which. . .

"If Suri had a hand in all this, does that mean we can expect her and Ingolf here soon?" She frowned into the gloom surrounding them. "Wherever here even is."

"It's just a temporary hideout. We will move on once it gets dark. Until then, we should be safe here, I was assured." Ruari's skeptical frown directed towards their current lodgings suggested that he was not entirely convinced of that fact. But then again, no one could ever guarantee that nothing would go wrong. After a brief moment of hesitation, Ruari looked back at Kíli and Tauriel. "As for the rest of our merry band of captives. . . I'm afraid they won't be joining us."

Tauriel's stomach dropped. "They're. . . are they hurt?"

"No," Ruari rushed to assure her. The pallor of her face must have given her worst fears away. "No, nothing like that. Ingolf managed to get himself locked up, the old oaf. After the little stunt you two pulled during the hunt, we deemed it too risky for you to stay here long enough for us to break him out. Which is why Suri chose to stay behind while I get you out of the city."

The blaze of hope Ruari's presence had caused to flare inside Tauriel's chest slowly cooled as Ruari, after a little prodding from Kíli, related more about what had happened to him, Suri, and Ingolf after they had parted ways. While he had spent his days child-minding, Suri had made good use of the time to make herself almost indispensable as a handmaiden to a rich widow. From what little Ruari was able to tell them, Suri's new mistress was a cold, cruel woman, who had, however, yet to lay a hand on Suri. The advantage of her new position was that she got around the city quite a bit on the errands she was asked to run. Which was how she had gotten involved in the whole rescue scheme.

Ingolf, meanwhile, had been handpicked by one of the tribal leaders as his personal guardian, which, given Ingolf's sheer size and somewhat rough exterior, was a somewhat logical choice.

"What they did not take into account," Ruari recounted, "was Ingolf's complete inability to not play the hero wherever he catches even a whiff of injustice. A couple of days ago, he was supposed to escort his master to a meeting in the town square. Got into a fight with the guards when he stepped in on behalf of some poor lad who had been accused of stealing food. He gave them a good beating, but in the end, he did not stand a chance. He's locked up in his master's dungeon until they decide what to do with him."

Tauriel and Kíli exchanged a look. There was a question in Kíli's gaze and Tauriel confirmed it with a small nod.

"No, absolutely not." Ruari had witnessed their silent communication and was waving his hands about in an abortive gesture. "I know exactly what you two are thinking, but there is no way we are going to go in after the old fool. We are going to get out of this doomed city and we are not going to look back."

"And leave both Suri and Ingolf to their fate? I think not." In all the time she had recently spent in Dwarven company, Tauriel had learned a thing or two about stubbornness. Now, she crossed her arms in front of her chest to emphasize that this was a matter she would not budge on.

Exasperated, Ruari threw his hands in the air. "But it's what we've all agreed on! Suri and Ingolf are a good team, they'll make it out of here on their own before too long. Mahal, if we hadn't been waiting around for a chance to get in touch with the two of you, they would probably be long gone already."

"All the more reason to help them now, then." Kíli had hopped down from the cart and was pacing back and forth behind it. "If they delayed their escape for us, the least we can do is return the favor."

Ruari groaned as he leaned against the side of the vehicle. He pressed the heels of both hands against his eyes, muttering a string of obscenities into his beard. "Alright," he finally said, "let us assume for a moment that we do as you suggest and try to retrieve Ingolf. Even if, by some miracle, we make it to his dungeon undetected, how are we supposed to get him out? Last I looked, those cells the Easterlings build are not exactly easy to break out of."

Sliding off the back of the cart as well, Tauriel came to stand beside Kíli. As she faced Ruari, she could not quite stop a smug smile from spreading across her lips. "That is true. Unless, of course, one has a key."

She produced the key she had taken from Gansukh's dungeon and held it out for Ruari to see. He stepped closer and stared at the innocuous object, speechless for once. After a few moments, he cleared his throat.

"Well, that does change things a bit, I suppose." He stroked his beard, cocked his head to one side. "If this goes wrong, though, I don't see how we might be able to put another rescue mission together. Not with all of us locked up. Or worse."

Tauriel turned to Kíli, a question in her eyes. It was his people they needed to warn of the danger coming for them. He would have to be the one to decide if they should risk delaying their escape.

Kíli ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. Then he nodded to himself, his resolution formed. "We are going in," he said. He looked at Ruari. "You are staying here, though." When Ruari made to protest, Kíli held up a hand. "If we don't make it back, I need you to leave on your own. Back on the island, we learned of a threat that is moving towards the Mountain. If worse comes to worst, Thorin will soon have a war on his hands."

Even in the dim light, Ruari visibly blanched. He was not a dwarf of Erebor, Tauriel knew, but the fate of the legendary kingdom under the mountain was not something any member of their race would shrug aside lightly. Still, his willingness to obey Kíli's command came as a bit of a surprise to her when he squared his shoulders and looked Kíli square in the eye. "What do you want me to do?"

"Ride to Dáin and convince him to come to Thorin's aid. He'll need an army if he is to stand a chance and Dáin is the only one close enough to be likely to make it in time."

"The Iron Hills, hm?" Ruari did not seem enamored with the prospect. "Not sure how welcome I will be there, but fine. I'll try to persuade Ironfoot to get off his lazy arse for once."

"I would not use those exact words when you speak to him, if I were you. I know Dáin refused to aid Thorin in his quest before, but perhaps the threat of an attack so close to his own halls will change his mind. And, if all goes well, you won't be alone when we plead our case to him." Kíli stepped forward to clasp a hand on Ruari's shoulder. "But I need you to promise me that you will go, no matter what happens to us."

Ruari rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, I already said that I would go." When Kíli did not release him, he relented. "Alright, fine. I promise. And now leave me alone for a bit while I work out a way to get you to where they are holding Ingolf. This bloody city is the worst kind of maze I've ever seen."

Grumbling to himself, Ruari withdrew to the other side of the cart, where he poured over a scrap of parchment he had pulled from his pocket in the weak lamplight.

Tauriel stepped up to Kíli's side. "So. The Iron Hills, then." It seemed that he had made use of the prolonged periods of waiting their journey to Riavod had entailed to come up with a tentative plan for what to do with the knowledge Gansukh had so arrogantly imparted to them.

Now, Kíli looked a bit sheepish as he turned towards her. "It is the thing that makes the most sense. The hills are closer than Erebor, even if only a little. Even if we made it to the mountain in time, what use would that be in a fight against a whole army of monsters? Asking Dáin Ironfoot for help seems to be our best chance."

Tauriel quirked an eyebrow. "'Our chance', hm?"

A blush spread across Kíli's cheeks and he dropped his gaze. "Forgive me, I should not simply have assumed. . . I know that the Iron Hills are not exactly the distant beaches I promised you, nor are a bunch of ill-tempered Dwarves, so I would not hold it against you, if you chose another path—"

She silenced him with a laugh and a quick peck on his cheek. "Oh, be quiet. I was only teasing you. I thought we had established already that from here on out our paths would not diverge. Or did I have that wrong?"

A slow smile crept across his lips, a shy thing, almost. His hands grasped hers in the near-darkness. "No, that was about the gist of it, I believe."

She nodded. "Good. Then let us make sure that our friends get out with us. Then we will try to talk some sense into that Dáin Ironfoot. He cannot be that much more hard headed than the rest of you lot, can he?"

Kíli grimaced. "You might be a bit biased on account of my sunny personality. But yes, that is what we shall attempt. Once we get Ingolf and Suri back."

"Once we get them back, yes."

Ruari returned to their side shortly after, the parchment Tauriel had seen him study before now filled with a lot of scribbles. It was a hand drawn map, she now realized, of what could be nothing other than the city of Riavod. On paper it looked even more labyrinthine than out there, in the narrow, winding streets.

Once Ruari had spread the parchment out on the back of the cart, they all leaned over it while he pointed out the safest route to Ingolf's whereabouts.

"The shortest route would be directly across the town square, but you ought to avoid that at all cost. Swarming with guards, both by night and by day. You need to stick to the smaller alleys—the darker, the better. But be careful, there are lots of folk out there that are just waiting for two unsuspecting foreigners to run into their lair so that they can rob them."

The prospect of grappling with a couple of pickpockets did not trouble Tauriel very much. They would not be able to deter her and Kíli from their mission, not when they had already come so far. What worried her more was how they would get into the mansion where Ingolf was being held. If it was as grand as Ruari said, it would be well guarded.

"With the streets being as narrow as they are, most of the larger buildings are connected to a set of underground tunnels, through which they receive larger shipments of food and so on," Ruari informed them when she gave voice to her concerns. "That's the best way in, I should guess."

"And how do we access those tunnels?"

Kíli's query was met with a shrug. "I've never seen them with my own eyes, only overheard the lad who delivered firewood to the kitchens complain about getting lost in the tunnels to one of the maids," Ruari said. "You'll need to find the entrance on your own."

"We will manage," Tauriel said, staring at the map to commit as much of it to memory as she could. Her eyes flicked to Ruari. "Do you have a way of reaching Suri? She ought to be here when we get back. In case we need to make a fast escape."

To her relief the Dwarf nodded. "Aye. I'll need to leave for a bit, but it won't take long. I know someone close by who ought to be able to get a message to her."

"Hurry, then." To Kíli she said, "We should go as soon as possible. Ruari is right, we need to leave the city under the cover of darkness. Which means we have until tonight to free Ingolf."

Kíli nodded, his resolve written all across his features. "Let's go get him then."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

It was the first time since their arrival in Riavod that they were tasked with navigating the streets of the city by themselves. Ruari had not been exaggerating—it was easy to lose one's way in the maze of narrow alleys, winding stairs hewn into stone, and low archways through which what seemed like hundreds of people at once were trying to squeeze. Without their map and Ruari's directions, they might have ended up adrift in the bowels of the city for endless hours while searching for their destination.

As it was, they did not encounter much trouble on the route Ruari had sketched for them. And despite the constant threat of discovery, despite the questionable smells and even more questionable crowds in the dark alleys their path let them through, Tauriel reveled in her first taste of freedom in many weeks. With those uplifting feelings, hope returned to her, as well as the conviction that they would make it. In her heart she knew that soon they would be truly free.

A little later, after they had been crouched in a truly uncomfortable position for over an hour already and had yet to discover a way into the fortress of a house which Ruari had circled on his map, her spirits were not quite so high anymore.

"Look, there's another of those carts coming." Kíli pointed towards a wagon which appeared to be loaded with empty wine barrels. "They must be coming from the house. And yet I've neither seen them go in nor out."

"If those tunnels Ruari mentioned do really exist, they must be using them. We need to find the entrance—and soon, preferably." Tauriel glanced at the small sliver of sky that was visible above the narrow gap between two buildings they had squeezed into. Afternoon had already progressed quite a bit. "We are running out of time."

"Let's go 'round the back then. Look for a way in."

Tauriel blew out a breath. "We did that already. Twice."

"Then we'll do it a third time. Magical number, and all that."

"I thought it was the number seven to which special powers were attributed?"

"Three, seven, one hundred ninety-two. . . I don't care what number I need to believe in, as long as it gets us out of this sinkhole." Kíli cast an unhappy look into the depths of the alley they were stuck in. He was right. It reeked, and Tauriel did not want to put too much thought into the reasons behind that.

She nodded. "You go first, then. l shall watch your back."

In the semi darkness, Kíli wiggled his eyebrows at her. "So long as you don't get distracted by my shapely backside."

Her snort of laughter accompanied his exit from their hiding place. The crowd wasn't quite as dense as when the sun had still been high in the sky, but still it was not too difficult for them to make it across the square into the alleys surrounding the house they were trying to gain entrance to without drawing attention to themselves. After two previous attempts, the route was already somewhat familiar. Still, Tauriel forced herself to remain alert, to focus on every small detail that would give them a clue as to where the entrance to the tunnels running underneath the mansion might be hidden.

Her eyes found nothing new. She was just about to suggest to Kíli that they should return to their original hideout and begin plotting a way to access the building through the main entrance when she noticed a dark shape in the general gloom ahead of them. It was moving towards them.

She grabbed Kíli by the back of his cloak and yanked him sideways into a small alcove.

"Ow, what–"

"Shh." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "We have company."

Pricking her ears, she listened for the sound of approaching footsteps. Whoever this was, they were good at keeping quiet. Still, Tauriel was able to detect the slight shift in the air when they drew closer to their hiding place. She stepped out of the alcove, ready to fight.

Dark eyes met hers, the look they shot her not in the least bit impressed with her attempt at a surprise attack.

"Suri!"

Even as her friend's hands settled on her shoulders for a quick but firm embrace, Tauriel could hardly believe her eyes.

"What are you doing here? Did Ruari's message not reach you? You were supposed to meet up with him and wait for us."

Suri shook her head vehemently. Pointing first at Tauriel and then at Kíli, she used her upturned palm to move the loosely curled fist of her other hand upward, like lifting a weight.

"You want to help us?" Tauriel interpreted and was rewarded with a firm nod.

Kíli stepped forward, reaching out to put a hand on Suri's upper arm. "We're really happy to see you, but I'm afraid unless we find a way into this bloody place soon, there won't be much you can help with."

Her eyes crinkled at the corners and she tapped her temple before beckoning them to follow her.

Tauriel and Kíli exchanged a look. "Seems as if she knows a way in," Tauriel said, baffled by this stroke of luck.

Kíli's grin was infectious. "Well, what are we waiting for, then."

Suri led them down the alley and then continued straight ahead, her step confident despite the fact that they were heading further and further away from the villa. Tauriel was just about to bring that circumstance to Suri's attention when she took an abrupt turn in front of them and hurried down a set of narrow stairs nestled between two shabby buildings. Careful not to trip, Kíli and Tauriel followed, arriving just in time to see Suri press something into a man's palm. His lank hair and gap toothed smile did not lend him an altogether trustworthy appearance, yet Suri did not hesitate as she brushed past him and through the doorway he had obviously been guarding.

This was getting interesting, Tauriel thought to herself as she, too, ducked through the low door, Kíli on her heels. Inside, it was almost too dark to see. Luckily, Suri was waiting for them, and stopped Tauriel from tripping down the stairs which began just after the threshold and descended into utter blackness. Down they went, Tauriel's puzzlement growing with each step. And then, when she expected to end up in a rotten cellar any second now, the narrow staircase suddenly opened into a tunnel that was not only lit by torches at regular intervals, but also wide enough for two carts to pass each other by without too much trouble.

Kíli gave a low whistle through his teeth and Tauriel could only join him in his appreciation. The underground trade route. They had found it after all.

Right now, the tunnel was empty, but the distant rattling of wheels on hard, uneven ground suggested that this would not remain so indefinitely.

"Let's do this, then."

With confidence Kíli strode out into the tunnel and turned left only to be yanked back by the sleeve of his tunic. With her free hand, Suri was pointing in the opposite direction, her eyebrows raised.

"Oh. Well, my bad." Kíli shrugged and gestured for her to take the lead, which she did.

Grateful for Suri's guidance, they fell into step behind her. Ruari's map was of little use down here, and Tauriel had to admit that she, too, had lost her bearings somewhere between squeezing through dark alleys and climbing down into the tunnel. As it was, they made swift progress through the underground space. On their way, they came across several intersections where the tunnels forked off into separate directions—it seemed that down below, Riavod was just as much of an intricate web as above ground. After a little while, Tauriel gave up on trying to make sense of how the buildings above ground were connected via the network of tunnels. After all, she had no intention of lingering in the city long enough to make use of them a second time.

Suri stopped them when the noises from up ahead suggested that they were no longer alone. Peering around a corner, they observed two men busy unloading several large crates from a cart and stacking them in piles alongside the wall. They were sweating profusely, which was no wonder considering the multitude of crates which were already towering over their heads.

"Big delivery, it seems," Kíli muttered. "I wonder what's in those boxes."

Before Tauriel could speculate about the contents of the crates, Suri tugged on her sleeve. With raised eyebrows, she nodded towards the gap in the tunnel's wall, through which a third supplier had just stepped and begun to help the other two.

"Is that where we need to go?"

Her eyes never leaving the three workmen, Suri nodded grimly.

Next to her, Kíli sighed. "Well, I suppose we can count ourselves lucky that there are three of them."

"Why?" Tauriel doubted that they would have much difficulty overwhelming the three apparently unarmed suppliers, but still, luck was not exactly what was on the forefront of her mind.

"Three men, three disguises?"

"Oh. Right." Tauriel grimaced at the thought of putting any of the far from clean items of clothing the three men were wearing on her own body. Kíli was right, though. Once inside, they would fare much easier if they were not immediately recognizable as intruders. "After you, then."

Kíli shot her a knowing grin as he pushed past her and inched his way down the tunnel towards where the workers were so focused on their task that they did not even look up once. Tauriel and Suri followed close behind.

When they reached their destination, one of the men had just lugged one of the heavy crates through the opening in the wall and Suri slipped in behind him, silent as a shadow. Kíli took the man closest to the cart, while Tauriel went after the other. Ambushing an innocent worker gave her no pleasure and she hoped that the collision of his head with the tunnel wall would not result in any permanent damage.

Turning around, she saw Kíli drag the limp body of the other supplier behind the cart, hiding him from view. After she had divested the unconscious man at her feet of his cap and jacket, she grabbed him by his feet and dragged him over to where the cart would conceal him from sight for anyone approaching. Her cloak she stashed away in a crevice in the wall. She wasn't overly attached to it, but had no intention of wearing the trader's reeking jacket for a second longer than necessary. The cap was a welcome addition to her wardrobe, though (as long as she did not think too hard about the possibility of lice), for it was big enough for her to push her hair underneath.

This took a bit longer, and when she was done she looked around to find Kíli, already dressed, crouching beside one of the high stacks of boxes alongside the wall. He was trying to peer through a gap in the wooden panels.

"What are you doing?"

He shrugged, straightening up. "Just curious."

Suri stepped back into the tunnel, then, also wearing the uniform of the traders. Looking from Suri's headscarf to Kíli's shorter than average stature, Tauriel thought that they probably still did not quite fit in with Riavod's usual populace, but it was better than nothing.

"Here, let us take a box each when we go in," she suggested. "If nothing else, we can use them to knock someone out of our way."

They picked up three crates which they found just inside the narrow passage leading away from the tunnel. The boxes had to be left over from another shipment, for they were smaller and, thankfully, easier to carry than the ones the workers had been unloading. Apples, Tauriel judged by the smell emanating from her box.

She took another calming breath of the slightly stagnant air in the tunnel before following Kíli and Suri into the narrow passage which would lead them to the mansion above and, hopefully, to Ingolf. If all went according to plan, they might be back here within minutes.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Everything did not go according to plan.

"Well." Kíli contemplated the robust looking wooden door to which their search for a dungeon and Ingolf's cell within it had taken them. "I suppose we were a bit naive to assume that every cell in this whole town could be unlocked with one and the same key."

Tauriel shot him a look meant to convey that he was not being very helpful right then. It was not as if she did not feel like the biggest of fools already, the treasured key useless in her pocket since their discovery that here there was no mechanism they could manipulate in order to free Ingolf.

"You're big bloody idiots, the lot of you," Ingolf grumbled from his side of the door he was locked behind. There was a small opening higher up in the wood through which Tauriel could just see enough of his face to make out his scowl. "What are you even doing here? You should have run when you had the chance."

Tauriel set her jaw stubbornly. "Not without you and Suri."

Ingolf blew out a breath. "I'll be fine. It's not too late—leave now and it will be as if you were never here. You too, little dove. I'll see you once they let me out of here."

That last bit was directed at Suri, who frowned unhappily.

"You don't look fine," Kíli remarked.

He was right—the side of Ingolf's jaw was marred with purple bruises and he sported an impressive black eye. In fact, he looked much the same as the day Tauriel had first met him, back in their cells.

"It's nothing. Got a bit beaten up before they put me in here, yes, but since then, they haven't bothered me. I expect they'll let me out once they feel I've learnt my lesson, or whatever."

"What if they don't, though?"

His brows pulled together, Ingolf looked down at Kíli. "Then I'll find another way out. And you'll be far away by then and won't need to concern yourselves with that."

"No." Tauriel stepped forward, her resolution more firm than ever. "We have come to get you and that is what we shall do."

"And how exactly do you propose to do that? Your little device won't work here and while there must be a key to this door somewhere up there, I don't have the faintest idea where. So unless you face turning over a whole bloody mansion and alerting everyone in it to your presence, I suggest we stick with my idea."

Ingolf looked a bit smug about his (not entirely incorrect) assessment of the situation. Still, Tauriel refused to be deterred from their mission quite so easily. Taking a step back, she studied the door to Ingolf's prison.

"Do you reckon we could break it down?"

Kíli had stepped towards her, his head tilted forward as he spoke quietly. Suri, meanwhile, was engaged in a silent exchange with Ingolf through the small window in the door.

Tauriel chewed on the inside of her cheek for a bit. They had no real weapons to aid them in such a task. However, Ruari had provided them with a few improvised ones, which he had managed to squirrel away during his time in Riavod. Among those was a hammer with a decent heft and a small hatchet—both potential candidates for a jailbreak. "It should be manageable. But it would require a lot of force and it would be a rather noisy business, I suspect. Someone would be bound to hear."

Kíli contemplated this for a bit. "What if there was a distraction? Something to cover up all the noise?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Let me worry about that."

Kíli's grin made her feel a tiny bit afraid. "You are not going to do something stupid, are you?"

A smile graced his lips as he stepped more fully into her space and leaned up to press a quick kiss to the corner of her mouth. "Meet me down in the tunnels once it's done."

He was already on his way out of the dungeon when Tauriel hissed, "Wait! How will I know when it is time to start?"

That infuriating grin again. "Trust me—you'll know."

And with that he was gone. Tauriel turned, expecting to find expressions of confusion or concern on Suri's and Ingolf's faces. Instead, they were regarding her with a healthy degree of smugness.

"What?"

The two exchanged a glance. "It appears you two've grown rather. . . comfortable with each other during the time we've been apart."

Tauriel gaped at Ingolf with exasperation. "Really? That is what you want to discuss right now?"

A shrug from Ingolf. "'Twas just an observation. Also, it's not as if we currently have much else to do."

Well, he did have a point there. Still, Tauriel allowed herself a small eye-roll even as she felt a blush warm her cheeks. "Fine. If it comforts you to know, your 'observation' regarding Kíli and myself is accurate."

"I always enjoy being right." Ingolf's cocky grin softened into a smile. "But what I enjoy even more, is for my friends to be happy."

Suri shot him an amused glance that was clearly meant to convey that he was a sentimental old fool. Tauriel, meanwhile, returned his smile. Having her bond with Kíli not merely acknowledged but even appreciated by others filled her with a sort of joy she had not been expecting.

"Thank you Ingolf. We are happy, I suppose, even amidst all this."

Whatever Ingolf had been about to say in return was cut off by a loud crack sounding from somewhere outside the dungeon.

"Was that—"

Before Tauriel got to finish her question, the loud crack was followed by another, and then a series of smaller pops in quick succession. Kíli.

Swallowing down the worry that whatever he was doing very likely put him in extreme danger, Tauriel gripped the hammer in her hand. The hatchet she handed to Suri. "Let's get to work, then."

Together, they took alternate turns beating at the door's lock and hacking away at the wood. Using all her strength, Tauriel soon felt sweat gather at the back of her neck, her ears ringing from the combined noise of their efforts with the door and Kíli's distraction, which was still in full play.

"Step back!" she shouted at Suri over the noise the second she felt something give way under her hammer.

A well-placed kick knocked the door from its hinges, leaving Tauriel to stare at it breathlessly as it feel inward with a sad groan. Not the most elegant maneuver she had ever accomplished, but certainly effective.

Ingolf had taken up position at a safe distance while they worked, but now he was already halfway out the destroyed door. "Let's move, then. Whatever Kíli is doing out there is certainly loud, but what you two just did is bound to attract some visitors before too long."

Tauriel could not have agreed more. Together, they made their way back to the tunnels, Ingolf leaning on Suri. As Tauriel had already suspected, he had downplayed his injuries before—in addition to the bruises in his face, he had a pronounced limp, but seemed determined not to let it slow them down.

They encountered no one on their way to the tunnel, but Tauriel could hear agitated voices and hurried steps sounding from what appeared to be both above and below them. If they were drawing closer she could not discern over the general chaos, but it was best they hurried up. Her silent prayers that they would not make it to the tunnel only to find that Kíli was not there as promised were answered when he came hurtling towards them as soon as they stepped into the cavernous underground space.

There was a large streak of what had to be soot across his cheek and despite the fact that he appeared to be running for his life, he bore a maniacal grin on his face. The tunnel, which had felt drafty and somewhat damp before, now seemed considerably warmer. Also, it was filled with smoke.

"Keep going," Kíli yelled as he grabbed Tauriel by the elbow to move her along. From further down the tunnel, another series of earsplitting cracks was accompanied by panicked shouts. "That was the last of it. They'll be after us soon."

"The last of what?"

Tauriel's eyes were burning from the dense white smoke. Still, she somehow managed to grab the cloaks they had stashed near the entrance to the tunnel before letting herself be dragged along by Kíli. She could just make out Suri's and Ingolf's blurred forms ahead of them.

"Fireworks. That's what was in those boxes." Despite the fact that they were just running from what would likely mean their death if they got caught, Kíli sounded as if he was having the time of his life.

"You are utterly, completely mad," Tauriel gasped as they rushed down the tunnel.

"I might just be," Kíli agreed cheerfully. "And you love it."

Well, there was no arguing with that, was there?