Arvind burst through the doors without knocking, enthusiastically followed by Dwalin. They both looked very much ready for battle.

"Our scouts have found the problem! Dains general has set up a block on some of the large roads that run just outside their borders. They ambush all tradesmen, merchants and others, taking supplies. Unfortunately it lies close to the river jetty where the raft elves bring their supplies -"

"So my mothe- Lady Thalia and the Shah have been held there also," she confirmed raising the ransom note. "And he has the audacity to ask for a random..."

"Och aye - except General Eejit has now inadvertently started a war with Thranduils tree shaggers by holding back his precious wino!" Dwalin guffawed rubbing his hands together.

"So then we wait for Thranduil to join us right?" She picked up the maps that lay on her chaise and placed them on a small table. "Has anyone informed him yet?"

"Yes we have sent several of our men just now, but it will take a few hours no doubt." Arvind added as he moved to stand beside her and pointed at the sites on the map where the Iron Hills legion stood.

"But donnae wait for those tree shaggers. They need ter get their hair done, all washed and combed and silkified before they go ter war!" Dwalin spat disgusted at the sheer thought. "Nah we are able to tackle that lot!"

"Hang on both of you. We don't want to start a war with Dain. They are our closest allies..." She looked up from the map as she considered what Thorin would do. "And I think Balin would agree."

"Then what do ye propose?" Dwalin grumbled. "General Eejit isn't gonnae listen to a bonnie lass!"

"Yes but I am carrying Thorin's bloodline..."

"But they don't know about that yet. Besides THEY started a war with us by doing this..." Arvind looked worried. While he was usually in agreement with his sisters methods, he was not sure her 'diplomacy' would work on these dwarves. "And your gestation makes you more of a risk that we cannot take - they could capture you or kill you and wipe two in one attack!"

"Let's meet them and let me talk to them first..."

Arvind and Dwalin looked at one another, as if communicating in a silent secret code about all the reasons they disagreed with her plan.

She had seen Thorin doing the same with them and often hated it. It was like some warrior boys club - like what her brothers would do when she was young and wanted to play with them! (Not that any of her sisters with their vastly inflated self-importance ever even gave her the time of day!)

"We speak to Balin, and Gloin...they will agree with me." She moved away from the map and towards her dressing room remembering that she urgently needed bloomers.

"My dear sister, while I agree with you and hate the idea of unnecessary bloodshed, I still do not believe this is the solution and puts you at significant risk!" Arvind called out. "And even if Gloin and Balin agree with you that is still two against two...where are you going sister...?"

"No it's three against two - don't forget my vote!" She called out and rummaged through a dresser. "I am looking for my mail vest -"

Dwalin and Arvind looked at each other again, while Dwalin sniffed the room.

"Yer armour was being prepared in the armoury lass..." Dwalin sniffed the air again and looked at Arvind. "It donnae smell fresh like the lass in here...? Do ye think Thorin may have snuck in earlier?"

"I hope not - I have informed the guards that they are to let me know if they see or hear him..." Arvind frowned suspiciously. "Shobha, what are you still doing in there? Let us get you properly kitted in the armoury!"

"I...am..." She wondered what to say but couldn't think of anything. "I am changing my bloomers..."

"Och lass! What's wrong with yer old ones?" Dwalin rolled his eyes.

"Always best to wear a good sensible pair for something like this right? Don't want to get caught out." She emerged from her dressing room. "Let's go find Balin and Gloin on our way to the armoury. And have the carriage prepared..."

"What do ye expect ter be needin' with new bloomers lass?" Dwalin scowled at what he firmly believed to be utter frivolity. "Yer not going ter be encouragin' any streakin' again are ye?! Because I bet that Iron Hills rabble will happily run around the place with as much on as the day they were born if ye ask..."

"I didn't ask them to streak! Ugh!" She groaned again as she thought of how some of her diplomatic plans that had truly gone awry! "Besides one doesn't need bloomers for streaking anyway...by the Gods, now I am discussing it..."

"I am really not happy about this..." Arvind repeated as he followed her. "I wish to have this formally noted. And should any problem arise, I shall be the first to find Thorin and ask that he reclaims his throne."

"My dear brother, you focus on how to deal with General Gror and his men if my discussions fail to find a solution and let me worry about the rest..."

...

The carriages had come to a halt some moments ago along the dust road, and as she checked her armour once again just like Arvind had taught her as a little girl, a knock on the door made Bilbo jump from where he had fallen asleep.

"I...I...I do not like this.." the Hobbit muttered looking around from the seat beside her.

Her brother opened the door allowing for the crisp morning air to fill the carriage. They had set off just before dawn the next morning to ensure that their small platoon could travel under some cover without being spotted from some distance.

Arvind was dressed in his Rhun armour, which now also bore the crown and stars of Erebor.

Following the death of their father and the succession of her eldest step-brother, there was little place for many of the other princes, including Arvind. And no doubt her brother would in fact find him more of a threat than an ally. Either way, she needed him more than he needed to return.

He glanced over from her to the Hobbit critically. While Arvind was not usually on to judge, on this occasion the look in his eyes seemed to disapprove of the halfling's presence.

"Your body guard has had more rest that you, sister. But I agree with him," Arvind smiled as he opened the door.

"Do they know we are here?" She asked urgently.

"No. And we intend to keep our advantage of surprise. Dwalin and I have discussed a plan," Arvind held his hand up for her. "Come let us show you..."

She moved over to the door, taking his hand, and he too was quick to help her out, while Bilbo followed.

They quietly moved over to a small wooden table on which a map had pinned down using several daggers.

"We approach the rest of the way on foot. The General is here - my scouts have got eyes on him. But he is keeping the grain and hostages here..." Arvind pointed to several parts of the map where the road and river met at a large jetty.

"Aye - I should go distract him while ye release the prisoners and supplies..." Dwalin suggested.

"Let me talk to him first. Perhaps he might bargain with us?" She offered, still certain there was some hope of smoothing things over. Perhaps the Iron Hills dwarves didn't like her, but they were dwarves and surely they liked gold? "After all he has sent a random note for Lady Thalia."

"Och no!"

"Absolutely not!"

Dwalin and Arvind spoke together.

"I am Queen, and you will here me out this time -"

"I am beginning to regret this..." Arvind muttered.

"We cannot afford to lose more lives. I suggest that you and Balin come with me...they are duty bound to negotiate. Otherwise what good is all that grain. If they wanted it they could have stolen it a while ago -"

"Aye! This is an attempt to weaken yer rule lassie!"

"But now they are upsetting the woodland elves. And I can offer to negotiate with Thranduil. Surely they see an advantage in that?"

"He thinks yer attractive, and clever...he fancies the pants off ya. But I donnae think he will extend his favour to that lot!" Dwalin looked at his brother who had remained silent all this time for support. "Come on brother, yer gottae talk sense inter our Queen...or all we have worked fer will be in vain..."

"I for one agree, my lady." Bilbo nodded quietly. "It's too dangerous. I hoped we would sit at a distance while they deal with this -"

"I have my armour on. And it is a task that the true ruler must perform," she sighed in frustration. "You wouldn't say this if I were Thorin! Besides, again, I have my armour on, I am not going to fight and I have Dwalin and Balin there -"

"Thorin has been fighting all his life. He is a seasoned warrior. You on the other hand are carrying my nephew or niece," Arvind paused again hopeful that everyone else would agree with him and that she too would finally see sense. This was not a play adventure from when she was a child!

"I will withdraw the second it gets hostile." She reassured again patting her armour. "You have my word that I will protect little Thrain...and I will not take no for an answer."

Arvind and Balin groaned.

"Mahals big bollocks Princess! I donnae like it..." Dwalin huffed also.

The idea of her mother and her sister being harmed upset her. But all the same, she had no desire to be near them. She had over heard stories of how her father was a wolf in sheep's clothing or worse. Yet she had never imagined it true. So the idea that he had taken her mother from the Shah had surprised her. Of course her father was soft and gentle when it came to her, but then again she was his daughter. And she knew he had a particular soft spot for her, which she returned with complete unconditional admiration. Perhaps it was entirely possible that he was a brute to others and maybe even to her mother. But she simply had not seen it with her tainted view of him.

Her heart ached as she recalled her father. How she longed to have embraced him one last time or kissed him goodbye.

"You don't have much choice." She glanced around the table determined now to face this general. "How dare Dain allow this?! Besides, giving birth in public is going to be much worse. So if I have to deal with that, I can most certainly deal with this."

...

She had returned back to her carriage and the remaining soldiers had marched up in front to make their approach towards General Gror seem more natural. After all a Queen of Erebor would never travel without a proper entourage!

Finally she had stepped down and approached the General Gror who stood watching with a sullen look.

He was a rather rotund and wide dwarf, which the armour he wore only seemed to amplify.

His head barely peeped out from under his heavy helmet however a lengthy red beard, braided into heavy plaits hung from beneath sitting over the top part of his breast plate.

Seeing him standing there, entirely still, annoyed her.

She was now Queen. Why weren't others willing to take her seriously?

So she stopped some distance short of him. She would make him come to her, rather than the other way.

She stood watching him for some time. While she wore armour, she had the decency to approach with her helmet off, choosing to wear a light circlet instead. Bilbo stood beside her and Dwalin to her left.

"Have ye changed yer mind princess?" Dwalin whispered. "Do ye no longer wish to speak with him? He is a big fat oik so nobody would blame ye..."

"No, I want him to come to us." She whispered back and then turned towards one of the guards behind. "Could you bring forward a small table please?"

Her guards were mostly dwarves. Arun had taken his men from Rhun to the jetty. Lowik and Gert, two of the Kings guard that stood outside the royal rooms in Erebor had accompanied her today also and stood at the front.

Lowik had proudly proclaimed that it was his duty to take an arrow, sword strike or axe blow in order to protect their Queen. It had involuntarily conjured up some terrible images in her head, thanks to some of the more horrifying aspects of court life in Rhun.

He had been quick to rush back and return from her carriage with the small table and map, which he began to set up with daggers just as before.

"What's the matter lassie...?!" Gror called out from where he stood. "We promise not to bite!"

His men stood fully armed and looking as if ready for war behind him. But for a moment his words raised a wave of laughter amongst them all.

"I am Queen under the Mountain, and I will not be treated to such hostilities when we have been nothing but generous to you and your kin in the Iron Hills." She took several steps forward again and stopped so that she was not flanked by any other dwarves but also still left some distance from Gror who remained visibly puffing with anger. "In return you have kidnapped my kin, hold up our supplies and dare to send me a ransome note...either this is some sort of tactic to gain my attention or an abysmal mistake. Either way I am here to open a dialogue..."

She signalled for Lowik who was quick to bring forward the small table with the map unfurled.

At first her guard stood proudly by her, reluctant to leave, but she signalled for him to stand back, much to his disappointment.

"But you must extend me the courtesy of meeting me at the negotiation table," she gestured for him to step forward. "Besides, if you do not bite, and I am just a 'wee lassie' why do you come forth with an army, wearing heavy breast-plates and a helmet to meet me. Perhaps YOU are scared...?"

Her words seemed to make him freeze on the spot for quite some time. The squat, broad, dwarf stood there completely still but for his breathing which had turned heavy, like a wild boar when it snorted.

The longer he stood there, the more she worried that her taunting had perhaps worked too well, and that any moment now, he would sound a call to charge!

But to her surprise after what felt like an eternity, he walked over to the table slowly and begrudgingly as if still calculating the option of violence with each step. Then finally after meeting her across the table with the map, he finally took off his helmet.

His face was still red with anger, his round face filled with a range of emotions. And after he evaluated her and the map again his beady blue eyes looked up to meet hers.

His cheeks were surprisingly plump for what she expected from a hardened warrior. In fact the only real giveaway to his time on the battlefield was the enormous scar that ran right across his eye. It was impressive with an irregular edge, suggesting he had been cut with a jagged edge blade like the sickle-blades that were used by the more vicious second-tier warriors in her father's army. The wound was deep enough that nothing would have obscured it - not even the hands of the best battlefield-surgeon, but it was also superficial enough to have left his right eye still working well.

"I do not know how you stole the raven seat from Thorin, lassie...but...I think a closer alliance between the two kingdoms is now better -"

"If it's gold you want I am willing to discuss terms. But you would be foolish to risk all your lives, when so much was lost not so long ago," she looked down at the map, spotting the roads leading to the iron hills and the blue mountains. "Perhaps we could pay for your guards to protect our routes for safe passage? There are many nobility that travel between the halls of their kin and some are accosted by brigands and stray orc...we could even provide your guards with armour."

He scowled at her initially, as if he had not understood the words she had spoken.

"Dain is busy, he does not need the added trouble of another kingdom to govern. And I know what the nobility are like, they would...struggle... to govern by committee...with all their petty bickering..." She spoke again, this time attempting to make her tone of voice a little softer, as if she were speaking with an unruly toddler throwing a tantrum. Apparently her husband was not the only stubborn dwarf! "All you truly require from Erebor is access to some of the gold in our coffers...this offer is most generous, does not involve unnecessary bloodshed and would even help with trade..."

Suddenly he pulled his lips up to bare his teeth. It was hard to say for certain whether it was a smile or gritted teeth. Either way it was quite unnatural and almost unpleasant.

But he seemed to suddenly be interested in the map.

"Very well...perhaps if you might show me again...?" He peered down at the map.

She was not sure of this sudden change in heart. But she was ever the believer in resolving matters without the use of killing or maiming of any more soldiers. They had not committed any crime but to offer their loyal service to their leaders and greed was certainly not a reason to sacrifice their precious lives in her eyes. If anything, she owed it to all the soldiers gathered today and to their families to prevent any further warfare.

So she hesitantly reached out to point out the three routes she had already considered but no longer felt comfortable enough to touch the map, for it was far too close to him.

"This is a route we patrol often..." He used a rather vicious dagger he had apparently silently unsheathed to trace the route from the Iron Hills to Erebor.

The route was a large and near straight road but ran through a wooded area and then open scrubland the rest of the way and had been the target of several robberies recently. His confession made her wonder whether the robberies recently encountered were in fact planned, if indeed they patrolled the route frequently.

She glanced up to find his beady, blue eyes watching her closely and when she met his gaze he once again pulled his lips into a repulsive smile.

"Perhaps your ladyship would care to show me again the other two routes proposed...?" He spat out gruffly.

She couldn't help hesitating. There was something about her interaction with General Gror that made her skin crawl.

But he seemed to almost sense her hesitation so was quick to ask her again.

"And what of the river...?" He inquired, drawing her attention back to him once more.

And again when she glanced up at him he presented her with his disturbing version of a smile. She quickly glanced back down at the map as if thinking again, and silently prayed to every god she knew that her repulsion was not betrayed by her features.

"The waterway is the trade route from Dorwinion. It is best to leave them to their business..." She offered without mention of the elves. "But the route to the Blue Mountains..."

She finally placed her hand on the map to follow the path of the wagon road, still focussing on the map ahead where the routes diverged through a mountain pass.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain to her left hand and everything seemed to slow down.

It almost felt as though someone had dropped a heavy boulder on her hand pinning it down to the table and preventing her from reflexively withdrawing from the pain.

She could hear the sound of Gror laughing.

It was a horrid sound, matching the grotesque nature of his smile.

And as she looked back at her hand, she realised to her horror that he had driven his dagger right through her hand and deep into the wood of the table.

"That is what we think of yer wee negotiations!" He laughed again at her. "Ye need ter get yer wee head out of the clouds lassie!"

She hadn't screamed apparently despite the pain and no one was quite aware that he had pinned her down like that since the table was hidden out of sight!

And as the realisation dawned on her that he was never open to negotiation, she found her rage blossoming and growing.

It was like that ember that had been glowing at the bottom of a dead fireplace for sometime. It would be easy to assume all heat had died out. But given enough tinder and a little stirring with a poker it would lead to a roaring inferno soon enough.

"Ye come here, wearing yer little armour and bringing yer brothers army to sneak up on us while ye pretend to negotiate..." He spat on the map. "Did ye really think we wouldn't notice?! Your strategy is as poor as yer ability to rule!"

She stood up struggling to remain hunched with her growing belly now and looked down at the squat general, who frankly looked proud of his actions!

Her anger roared up within her again. It felt like the flood waters held back by a dam. But the wave of anger within did not seem to ebb away this time. It continued to swell with each word the dwarf before her uttered.

These dwarves had been trying her patience from the moment she had arrived in Dale. From their idiotic stubbornness, that would make them happy to sacrifice their lives for gold, to their lack of humility.

"Ye should be enjoying yer husband's bed as yer belly swells with his babe! Not ruling a kingdom!" Gror laughed again. "But you swarthy lasses have a fire in ye that makes yer dream...I have shared enough of Dains little Rhun sluts to know how they like it. But Thorin is too soft on ya...ye need to be taught a lesson..."

She pulled again at her hand which now felt as if it had caught fire. But it was the fire that burned within her chest that was spreading faster.

"So I have asked my men to set the barge your whore of a mother is on alight with your brother and his men!" He barked on. This time he bore his teeth in a more genuine smile, which was even more sickening than his feigned one!

She could feel her heart pounding and her breath falling faster, constricted by the mail vest and her armour.

And his words began to fade into the sound of her heart pounding in her ears.

Slowly her rational thought appeared to be leaving her. It was the sort of strange experience that one had on certain occasions when pushed to the limit of patience but not permitted to walk away to cool off.

All she could see was his unpleasant face, and his repulsive smile.

She pulled her hand off the table at last, and pulled the knife out of her hand watching the blood trickle down her arm.

"Then we will take Erebor from you!" Gror laughed again.

She looked at the blade smeared with her blood, still warm and wet.

"And turn ye into a pretty little whore...maybe even yer babe can become a good whore. Some like em young-"

But before Gror could utter another word, he howled in pain clutching at his remaining eye as blood poured out of his eye socket.

That was the moment she realised that she had stabbed him with his own knife.

She withdrew the blade again with a squelch and without hesitation or thought plunged it into the other eye. The scarred one.

"You bitch!" Gror gurgled, clutching his face blindly before attempting to grasp at his sword.

She could hear the cries from Dwalin, Balin and Lowik somewhere behind her. But it was all like a distant dream.

Like a dream filled with rage. It was all consuming. From all those years when she had been teased by her sisters, or watched helplessly as her mother was openly called a whore since she was three of four - one of her earliest memories. And right through to now, where every day of ruling was a struggle.

In the past she would try to distract herself, or ignore the anger of injustice that clawed at her very core.

But not today.

Today she could let it consume her. All of her.

She was her rage and it was her.

The next moment she was aware of her actions, she found herself covered in blood.

Her hands shook as she noticed the blood soaked knife, still firmly grasped in her fist and her other hand with it's large ragged cut trickling with blood.

She had seen blood like this before when a tribe had once attacked the palace by scaling the walls. But she had been very young then and had hoped never to see so much blood again.

Her heart still pounded in her chest as a large pool of blood continued seep out from beneath the Iron Hills general. The dusty road simply refused to soak it all up as it ran out thick and warm to surround her boots.

Slowly as she looked up she spotted the Iron Hills soldiers shouting as they began running towards her. But her feet refused to move.

It took her back to that day when she should have been consumed by a sandworm as she stood just outside the walls.

To say that life flashes before you at a moment like this didn't quite feel correct to her. She had no strong opinions of how her life should have been, other than to believe that everything had led her to this moment for a reason.

She had no regrets of how she had lived her very short life so far.

And just as that day in her childhood, she found the idea of dying was much more peaceful than she had expected. Whatever awaited her next would be.

But she did wish that she could have told Thorin that she loved him.

She could hear Dwalin shouting behind her. But she knew there was little she could do to stop Gror's soldiers from attacking her now.

Her hands slowly cradled her abdomen and regretted that she would not have the chance to meet little Thrain, wondering what he might have looked like.

She let Gror's knife fall out of her other hand too.

And then to her surprise, as if he could hear her she felt a firm stretch from within her abdomen, into her palm.

She could now hear the whistle of arrows as they flew past her, miraculously missing her and had no intention of looking up. Dying would be much more peaceful that way.

And then she couldn't help wonder about her strange relationship with the elven King. She had kissed him, and found he had kissed her back.

As the searing pain from her hand began to finally set in, she found herself lifted her off the ground and she closed her eyes allowing the fates to determine her survival.

...