A/N: Hello readers! I took a very long hiatus unintentionally, but I am back with a new story. This is a prequel to my story The Lady of the Blue Mountains so please go read that first. Thank you to those who follow every story I post and hopefully you all like this one too!

Chapter 2

After four years of living in the mountain, Kaleria knew every hall and passage like her favorite book. She could avoid every crack and hole in the floors, move around the highly populated areas, and avoid her duties when she absolutely didn't have time. The path to Hedina's was one she used frequently. Hedina and Valdrus had moved once since living in the mountain–Thorin offered them a larger space closer to Kaleria–and they had put the space to good use with the birth of their son, Dinvale.

He was a stocky little baby, the spitting image of his father. Hedina was completely smitten with him from the first moment she saw him. Valdrus loved having a miniature version of himself to carry around and show off. Kaleria loved watching Hedina and Valdrus as parents, more in love with each other than before Dinvale had been born, if that was possible.

Kaleria arrived at the door and knocked twice.

It took longer than she expected, but the door finally opened to reveal Hedina holding a happy, chunky baby.

"There is my favorite little man." Kaleria greeted him with a boop to his nose.

"'Hi, Hedina. How are you?' Oh, I'm good, thanks." Hedina mocked her lack of greeting from her best friend.

"Calm down. I was getting to you." Kaleria reached out and pulled Hedina and Dinvale into a hug.

Hedina released her with a laugh. "I understand. You love my son more than your best friend. I'll tell Valdrus we have sunk to nothing in your eyes."

"I do love him more." Kaleria followed Hedina into their living quarters, closing the door behind her. "The same as you love him more than me."

Hedina admired her son. "That is very true."

They continued toward the sitting area, where they each took a seat on the couch with Dinvale between them.

Hedina didn't wait to begin. "Should I be expecting you and Thorin to be having one soon?"

"What?" Kaleria stared wide-eyed at her companion.

"Oh, come on," Hedina played with Dinvale's chubby hand, "you two have been married for nearly two years, and he's the king. I'm sure he's waiting for an heir."

Kaleria shook her head, softly. "He has Fili and Kili."

"But those are his nephews. The Durin blood would be stronger from a child of Thorin."

"We never…we haven't talked about it." Kaleria didn't know what to say.

Hedina smiled at her. "I would love for Dinvale to have a friend to play with. And you would make a wonderful mother."

"Thank you, Hedina." Kaleria looked at the little baby sitting next to her and tried to imagine what a child of herself and Thorin would look like. Would it have his dark hair and light eyes? Or his menacing scowl? Or would it have her softer features? She didn't know why it had never come to her mind to ask Thorin if he wanted children, she assumed they were both too old for children. But maybe she wasn't.

—-

That night at dinner, Kaleria was distracted by her conversation with Hedina, and didn't partake in the usual Durin debates. Dis didn't pay much attention to her, for she now knew that Kaleria's energy was as constant as a river, yet she had days where she wasn't up for much socialization. Believing today was one of those days, Dis and the oblivious princes carried on their discussions with Thorin chiming in every now and then.

The king under the mountain was distracted by the distant look on his wife's face, and he couldn't wait for his family to leave so he could ask her what was wrong.

Fili and Kili finished their food in record time and asked to be dismissed so they could join Dwalin and the others for a rowdy night at one of the taverns. Dis excused herself soon after they left, claiming she had important business to tend to.

Thorin waited until he and Kaleria were alone before he spoke.

"My love, you have been rather quiet through dinner. Is something the matter?" He remained in his seat not wanting to scare her from any topic she was about to bring up.

Kaleria sighed, removed the napkin from her lap and threw it on the table. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

"Of course," said Thorin.

He stood from the table and pulled out Kaleria's chair for her. Then he took her hand, pressed a kiss to it, and placed it in the crook of his elbow, forcing her to hold onto him. They exited the dining room, but Thorin stopped in the hallway.

"Do you have a destination in mind?"

Kaleria looked down each hallway. "Let's go to our spot."

Thorin nodded and started in the direction of the place that had become their spot.

The balcony outside the ballroom held both good and bad memories for them, but Kaleria had designated it as the spot where she began to fall in love with Thorin, when he first had shown her around the mountain. When she saw how elated he was that she loved the space as much as he did, and how proud he was of the view his forefathers had created, she knew he was a man she could fall in love with.

Arriving at the balcony, Thorin led them to the half wall at the edge to the perfect view of the valley in front of the mountain. Though it was dark, the moon cast a dim glow on the land making it visible in the darkness. The entire walk they had remained silent, but Kaleria knew she had to speak.

"I love you, Thorin." She blurted.

He took her hand and squeezed it. "I love you, too."

Kaleria squeezed his hand back. "I love our life together, and I wouldn't change a thing about it, but something came up." She didn't know how to continue.

"Kaleria, what is it? You're scaring me." Thorin, the tough and mighty king, nearly trembled waiting for the next words out of Kaleria's mouth.

She met his eyes and shook her head. "I don't mean to scare you. What I have to say isn't bad, and nothing has to change once I say it."

"Then say it, so I may extinguish my fear." He pleaded.

Kaleria nodded. "When we were wed, all I could think about was you and how happy you made me. I didn't want to question things in case this reality was not my own. But I need to ask you something now, and you must be honest with me."

Thorin furrowed his brow. "What must you ask?"

She took a deep breath, then spoke. "Do you want children?"

Thorin flinched at the word, caught off guard by the simplicity of the question and the complexity of the answer.

Kaleria waited an eternity for him to answer, and when he still didn't, she began to ramble. "I know this is something we should have discussed before we were married, but the thought never crossed my mind, and when I was visiting Hedina and Dinvale, she asked me about us having a child and heir to the throne, and I didn't know what to tell her, and–"

"Kaleria, stop," said Thorin, firmly.

She cut off her sentence and felt the words die in her throat. She had tried to prepare herself for this conversation all day, but her heart clenched at the thought that Thorin would be mad at her for bringing up the topic. The tears started falling from her eyes.

Thorin placed his hands on either side of her face and brushed the tears away with his thumbs. "My love, please don't cry."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Kaleria choked out between tears.

Thorin forced her eyes up to look into his. "I'm not upset. I was caught off guard. This is not what I was expecting from you."

"Forget that I brought it up."

"I haven't given my answer." Thorin waited for her to calm down a little. "You are not the only one who had not given much thought to it before we were wed. I know it never crossed my mind because I was so focused on my own happiness.

"The truth is, I spent so long believing I would never have the chance to be a father, I didn't think of what I would do if the opportunity did come about." He rubbed his thumb along her cheek. "I would never force a child on you, if you did not want it. If you are under the impression that I need to have an heir, I have Fili and Kili for that, and I will gladly hand them the throne when they are ready. But if you desired a child, I would not be opposed to the idea."

A smile spread across his lips and brightened his face. Kaleria loved when he looked like that, especially when he was looking at her. The storm within her broke at the sight of that smile, and peace flowed through her.

Kaleria leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I'm so sorry I worried you. Hedina brought it up as a tease, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we had not discussed the biggest decision of our lives before we were wed."

Thorin's gaze turned serious once more. "You did not say what your answer would be."

It was Kaleria's turn to be stunned. "I…I'm not sure. For the same reason as you. I went so long thinking I would never marry, that I didn't think about what would happen if I did."

"Can we agree that if we were to have a child, we would both be happy about it?"

Kaleria smiled. "Yes."

"Then we shall leave it at that for now."