It would seem that Thorin had indeed lost his mind. He ordered them to close the hole in the gate. But Lhindril didn't dare to protest since her throat had been hurting several minutes after she was released. Everyone had already gathered at the gate when she arrived and it had been hard to stay away from Fíli, especially since he was always trying to be close to her. At least as long as Thorin was around she wanted to listen to him. But once he was gone she would tell Fíli and then search for a solution together. Cursing under her breath, she dragged around heavy stones, helping others to pile them on top of each other and so building a wall. The first one who dared to protest was Kíli by telling Thorin that the people of Lake-town had nothing. Thorin only answered they should be grateful to be alive. That was when Lhindril was fed up too.

"But it is our fault the dragon even came. If we hadn't been they would still have everything. They have a claim to a part of that treasure, they helped us and you promised. Which is why…" she didn't get further because Fíli thought it was better if she was silent and covered her mouth.

"More stone" was all Thorin had to say and even though she was glad that he said nothing against her, his reaction was disappointing. It wasn't before long that one of the large boulders slipped from her arms and he split on the ground. One Thorin noticed it instantly rushed over to her but Fíli placed himself in his way.

"That's enough, uncle" he declared before leading her away from the gate to their provisional sleeping quarter "Go get some sleep if you're tired. We'll manage" thankfully, she nodded and did lie down.

"Come. Everyone to the gate" Thorin's voice made her wake from her sleep. Having no idea what had happened now, Lhindril rose and decided to follow Thorin. It wasn't like she had a choice anyways. Now the whole gate was barricaded and entrance was impossible. Or leaving. Bard was riding towards the mountain and she was glad to see he had survived. But what she saw then wasn't as pleasing – an army of Elves had gathered in Dale and would attack, according to Bard. At least the Dwarven king agreed to bargain with the man and stepped down the stony stairs to a hole in the wall that he used to speak to Bard. In short, Bard wanted to claim his share of the treasure that had been promised to his people. Now Thorin of course didn't want to hear anything of it and sent him away. Once he was back with the others, Bilbo tried to reason with him that the Elves would attack us and we were clearly outnumbered, whereupon Thorin only said that one must never underestimate Dwarves. When she heard the words, Lhindril almost smiled. It was what Kíli had said when they first met in Bree.

"We have reclaimed Erebor. Now we defend it" which wasn't even necessary if he just gave a way a tiny amount of the gold but whatever, Lhindril thought. Before leaving he ordered to destroy the little bridge that led to the mountain and wanted them to gather in the armoury afterwards. Having arrived there, the Dwarves tried out the old weapons and armours. Fíli spent quite a long time with the weapons, searching the one he liked while Lhindril was sitting on a stone beside him. Finally, he approached her, wanting to find something for her too but she refused, not even knowing how to wield it properly.

"She will need no weapons. She will not join us in the battle" Thorin who had just appeared in front of them decided and walked off to Bilbo without another word, giving him a white chainmail. Somehow Lhindril agreed with him on that one but she didn't want anyone to go to war. Especially for such a reason and under these circumstances; only being fifteen, well fourteen actually, of them. And there was an army of Elves and hundreds of people from Lake-town. But that was when she got an idea. She started to look for Bilbo, who was still talking to Thorin. As the other Dwarves left the armoury, she left too but stopped when she reached the Hobbit since she needed to talk to him. Once the others had left she told Bilbo of her plan. That in the night she wanted to get some of the gold outside and give it to the people of Lake-town, find out what the Elves wanted and make sure they got that too. But Bilbo had an even better idea; to give them the Arkenstone so they could bargain with Thorin. Well, it did make more sense because like this they would only need to leave once and not drag the gold with them. And then the Elves could claim what they wanted themselves, so Lhindril agreed

"What about Fíli?"

"Why?"

"What is if he learns what you did?" desperately, she closed her eyes, not having thought of that

"I think that if I am important to him he will understand. I am doing that to help everyone"

"And if he doesn't? Maybe I should go alone"

"And be in trouble all by yourself? No, it was my idea and if it has to be, both of us will face the consequences"

-oOo-

Under the cloud of night they had planned to leave. In order to not arouse suspicion they lay down to sleep with the others anyways. Then Bilbo rose to wake Lhindril in case she would have fallen asleep. Luckily no one noticed and when they passed Fíli, she bent down to press a gentle kiss to his forehead. Carefully, the Hobbit and she climbed down the wall with a rope. Soon they arrived in Dale and asked around for Bard. And they didn't just find him but the Elven king and even Gandalf who seemed glad to see them. He explained that Thranduil, the Elven king, was in charge of the attack on the Dwarves. Thranduil was a tall blond Elf who greeted Bilbo with the words if he was the Hobbit that stole the keys to his dungeon.

"We came to gave you this" Bilbo then said as he retrieved the Arkenstone and put it on the table. After they had overcome the surprise, details were discussed and why they had done this. As they wanted to return to the mountain, Gandalf stopped the two of them and wanted that Alfrid took care of them, Deciding that was too much, Lhindril more or less pulled Bilbo back to the mountain and then lay down in her bed again. After all, if they had not returned, it would have been suspicious and she was also a little scared of Alfrid. Early in the morning the Elvish army marched towards Erebor, led by Thranduil and Bard who started talking to Thorin.

"We have come to tell you: payment of your debt has been offered and accepted"

"What payment? I gave you nothing. You have nothing" Thorin didn't even seem confused, just angry.

"We have this" Bard explained, showing the Dwarves the Arkenstone. Of course they believed it to be a ruse and not the real stone. Provokingly, Bard threw the stone up and caught it before pocketing it again. Thorin tried to tell his friends that it was only a trick.

"No, it is the real Arkenstone" Lhindril said quietly. Although no one had paid attention to her before, everyone was watching her now. After taking a deep breath she explained that she had given the stone to the Men and Elves, leaving out that Bilbo was with her. But instantly he piped up too, admitting his part in it too. The surprise on the Dwarves' faces now turned into anger.

"You dared….? How could you? How did you even get by the stone?" naturally, the king was seething with anger and shouted accordingly. Bilbo explained that he took it as his part of the treasure but would of course now forgo his share. That definitely was the wrong thing to say. Even angrier it seemed Thorin ordered his friends to throw the Hobbit and the woman down. To her relief no one moved, except for Fíli who pulled her closer; probably to be able to protect her if he needed to. "Did you not hear me?" now Thorin attacked his kin and grabbed his older nephew who quickly freed himself again. And still no one did a thing "I will do it myself" he shouted, pushing her towards the wall and then grabbing Bilbo, placing him on top of it, probably to push him over. That made the other Dwarves react and they tried to stop Thorin while Fíli pushed Lhindril out of Thorin's reach. Gandalf came to the rescue as he stepped through the crowd below.

"If you don't like my burglars then please don't damage them. Return them to me. You're not making a very splendid figure as King under the Mountain, are you, Thorin son of Thráin?" luckily, Thorin let go of the Hobbit and Bofur helped him up, sending him away, while Fíli took Lhindril's hands.

"You have to leave too. Go to Dale and hide. I will come and get you when Thorin has calmed down but now it is too dangerous here for you" she only nodded and followed Bilbo, who had joined Gandalf. Not much later an army of Dwarves marched towards them and their leader, Thorin's cousin as Gandalf explained, held a little speech. He wanted everyone to piss off.

"There is no need for war between Dwarves, Men and Elves. A legion of Orcs marches on the mountain. Stand down" Gandalf tried to reason and as if to prove his point an army of Orcs did appear shortly after but only after the Dwarves and Elves had started fighting. But now the Dwarves instantly regrouped and marched against the Orcs instead. The Elves followed a little later. Fíli had told her to hide in the city but knowing Orcs, Lhindril doubted they would leave the city alone and therefore decided Erebor was safer right now. She grabbed Bilbo by the sleeve and he was too surprised to do anything when she pulled him back to the mountain, Thorin or not. He was just one Dwarf while there were hundreds and hundreds of Orcs out there. When they were in earshot of the mountain, she heard Fíli calling for them to come back and get into safety, which they also did. Instantly, Fíli approached her.

"I know Thorin is here but it's much more dangerous outside with the Orcs. And I promise that I will not let Thorin hurt you or Bilbo, whatever he does" he explained, softly hugging her. Apparently Thorin had changed his mind and didn't want to go to war anymore. The Dwarves had laid down their armour and weapons. Lhindril was somehow glad about this but mostly that Fíli did not seem angry at her or Bilbo for what they had done. No one seemed. Except for Thorin who came back not much later and approached his nephews, wanting to talk to them. They followed him in confusion and Fíli returned alone after a while.

"What did he want?" Lhindril asked as she approached him and got told that Thorin tried to tell him that she was not worthy of him because she was a thief.

"I told him he was wrong and he really is. Not just because he hired you to be a burglar for the company. Don't listen to him because I know you are so much more than just our burglar. And I don't mean that in a negative way. In fact, I believe that giving away the Arkenstone was the right thing. Maybe a bit radical but right."

"Thank you" she muttered and asked if Kíli was still with Thorin

"I think so. He wanted to speak to him alone. I hope he won't do anything stupid. Thorin"

"Do you really thing he could hurt him?"

"I don't know him in that state so I cannot be sure. I even think him capable of it if he's provoked enough" only now she told him how Thorin had threatened Lhindril as well and wanted to know what they should do about it. The Dwarf thought to stand up to Thorin in case he said something because it was not his decision. Shortly after also Kíli returned, looking crestfallen, holding a dagger in his hand. "What happened?" Fíli asked and wanted to know what Thorin had said

"I… Fíli he's gone more than crazy"

"What did he want?"

"Well, he led me a little further and then said 'your brother trusts you'. Before I could ask what he meant by this he gave me the dagger, putting a hand on my shoulder. Again I asked what he wanted. I'd never do this, you have to believe me" he took a deep breath. Fíli approached his brother, placing his hands on his shoulders, asking him to continue. "Before I continue, you know I'd never do this, right?" again he took a deep breath, this time shakier than before "He wanted me to do it when everyone is asleep" he was talking very fast now.

"Do what?" Kíli looked at Lhindril

"To quote Thorin 'It's her own fault. I have warned her. Now, my nephew, I want you to set an end to all this. It will pay double, you'll see' I am not doing this" he muttered, tossing the dagger away "I can't and won't. She's my friend" it seemed like Fíli only now realised what his uncle wanted and Lhindril, despite having anticipated something like it swallowed hard. Kíli put his hand on Fíli's shoulder "Look out for her and be careful" she wasn't sure if Fíli even was listening because he was about do dash after his uncle but the other Dwarves that had of course heard what was going on stopped him.

"I swear to Durin if I ever catch sight of him I will forget he's my uncle this…" a salve of words in Khuzdul followed and Lhindril was sure she didn't even want to know what they meant. Kíli almost smiled now.

"Calm down" she said despite not being calm herself and hating Thorin too "nothing happened"

"But something could have"

"No, listen Kíli is right. He would never do this. Not just because we're friends but also because he couldn't hurt you" his brother nodded fiercely.

"Of course I know that. I'm worried about Kíli. What when Thorin learns that he didn't…?" instead of speaking further he leant his forehead against hers.

"Maybe I should leave?"

"No! Not while this battle is going on. We'll find a solution" nodding, she squeezed his hand and then sat down again and it wasn't before long that the brothers sat down on either side of her. For a while everyone was silent then the company started talking. Only Dwalin was standing at the rampart looking down at the battle. Then suddenly he turned around and walked off, only acknowledging them when Glóin asked where he was going.

"I cannot just stand by and watch any longer. I will talk to him" everyone nodded and some wished him luck.

"Do you think he can do it?" Lhindril asked, leaning against Fíli a little

"I hope but I doubt it" he wrapped an arm around her "But if we're allowed to go I want you to stay here" she wasn't sure what to say. It wasn't that she wanted to go into the battle and also was a little scared. But also staying wasn't much better she found because then she would be worrying. Dwalin only returned after a long time

"The madness is still within him. He won't let us go. All that matters to him is his gold and doesn't care about our kin out there. He believes we're not accepting him as king"

"No wonder when he's like that" Dori commented

"Aye. We accepted him as king before, how can he doubt our loyalty now?"

"He feels betrayed. Mostly by his own sister's sons" Fíli squeezed her hip and Kíli looked away. As it seemed Bilbo had not yet known what Thorin had ordered and seemed appalled when he was told.

"How can he be our king like that?"

"Why should we accept him as our leader?" some started talking what did surprise her a little. Others again wanted to help Thorin while others just thought they could disobey his order to stay here. Nori wanted to throw Thorin down the ramparts and see if it knocked sense in his brains. It wasn't before long that an argument broke out. Some even almost got into a fight, shouting at each other, sometimes even pushing or hitting others. Fíli let go of her, getting up

"That's enough!" he shouted "Everyone stop this. An argument is the last thing we need; have you nothing better to do? Let's instead try to find out what we can do. Together" at least the Dwarves stopped and looked around. No one said a word and Fíli just stood there as if to stare them down. It seemed like no one dared to say something and suddenly Kíli got up too "I will not hide behind a wall of stone while others fight our battles for us" he shouted and only a little later she saw that Thorin was coming towards them. Everyone tensed up visibly, anxious about what he'd do. "And I will not turn against those I call friends. It is not in my blood, Thorin" he added, walking towards his uncle. Now Lhindril saw that he was not wearing his crown anymore. A good sign?

"No, it is not" Thorin spoke in a soft voice what hadn't been the case in days "We're sons of Durin and Durin's folk do not flee from a fight" he leant his forehead to Kíli's before turning to the rest of them "I have no right to ask this of any of you. But will you follow me, one last time?" who wasn't standing already got up and all of them picked up their weapons. And even better, Thorin seemed normal again, freed of his madness. "Arm yourselves, get ready. Lhindril, a word, please" he then turned to the woman who first froze in shock. After glancing at Fíli, she slowly made her way towards the king when the young Dwarf grabbed her wrist.

"Wait" he said softly, and stepping beside her

"Alone" Thorin clarified. Fíli looked at her helplessly and didn't seem like he wanted to let her go but finally did, whispering at her to run if Thorin tried anything. A bit unsure, the woman walked to Thorin who nodded his head at his companions before leading her away a little. "Three things my dear" he said after a while "that I need to tell you. First of all, I owe you a sincere apology for everything I did to you and how I treated you. If I can ever do something to make amends please let me know." she only nodded, a little overwhelmed "I would like to take my words back to, to give away the Arkenstone for a trade was the right thing"

"Thank you" she said quietly but with a smile "And please don't feel too bad I know you had dragon sickness and could not control yourself at times"

"Still it is my fault and I want you to know how sorry I am what I did to you. And my nephew. Which brings me to my second point. Dwarves only fall in love one time in their lives then never again. But they will love their One truly for a lifetime. Will you promise me to cake care of him and not hurt him?" quickly she nodded

"That's the last thing I would want"

"Then I wish both of you all the luck in the world and am happy for you. Fíli has made an excellent choice by choosing you and you deserve to be happy together. But fate wasn't always kind to you, also due to me but I can see that you are the best for him and he's the best for you" blinking tears away, she thanked him "No, I have to thank you, for everything you did for us. Which again, leads us to the third thing. I know you want to help us a last time but I do not agree that you follow us into the battle. More than anyone you'd deserve it because after everything you've been through and no matter what you did you did not turn away from the company. But if something happened to you in the battle I could never forgive myself and neither could my nephew. I know you're not a great warrior. But a fighter with a pure heart and it would be my honour to go into battle with you as it has been to have you in the company but as I said before, I cannot let you get hurt" Lhindril didn't really feel well and only thanked him again after looking down. "And I promise I shall keep an eye on my nephew. Both of them actually, so he will return to you" with that he suggested going back to the others and it wasn't before long that Fíli approached them.

"What did he say?" she summed up the conversation and could tell that Fíli was surprised.

"This means he accepts… us?" he asked, taking both her hands in his "I cannot say how happy that makes me. But I agree with my uncle, you have to stay here, in safety" for some reason she suddenly wanted to fight too. Or no, just to be with Fíli she soon realised.

"Please stay here, with me" she whispered, again fearing that something could happen to him "I can't lose you" he gave her hands a squeeze

"Believe me, I would love to stay but I cannot. I could never forgive myself if I did. But I want you to stay here. So I can focus on myself and needn't worry about you what makes it easier for me too. Will you promise me that?"

"Only if you promise me that you all come back safe and sound" it seemed like Fíli didn't know what to say instead he cupped her face and slowly kissed her. Her heartbeat increased and for a moment everything else around them seemed to fade away until they parted.

"I have something worth fighting for and something even worth more returning for. Everything will be better once the battle is over" soon Thorin approached them and asked Fíli to get ready if he came.

"Bilbo will stay here too" he then told Lhindril "Get weapons and if anyone dares to enter the mountain after we're gone, defend yourselves if you can or find cover in the mountain if there's too many. But perhaps you'd better get into the mountain anyway" she nodded and Bilbo walked over to them as well while Thorin left already, joining the others that had gathered in front of the barricaded gate. Fíli gave her a last tight hug before slowly letting go of her after pecking her lips and joining the other Dwarves. Thorin again reminded them that no one was obligated to do anything they didn't want but of course no one reacted. Above the wall a horn could be heard and in that moment Thorin cut the rope holding a golden bell that the Dwarves had attached in front of the gate so it destroyed the fort they had built a few days earlier. Stones came tumbling down and after the Dwarves were gone, the bell rang three more times, filling Erebor with its sound. Then its echo and finally, it was unusually quiet inside the lonely mountain.