Authoress Note: Welcome to Chapter 7 of Wings of the Fae. I want to thank those who have left reviews for this story. It does mean a lot to me that you guys are enjoying this story and keeping up with it. It makes me know that this story is worth writing and worth reading. I've been trying my hardest to make my fae likable and going with what I think the fae would be like. I hope that you guys enjoy this next chapter. Without further ado Chapter 7. ENJOY!

Chapter 7

Days and nights passed as the company traveled the land. They finally came to a resting stop near the edge of a cliff. Almost everyone was asleep except for a few of them who were still awake.

Kili and Fili were still awake with Aurora who was also still awake messing with some flowers making a crown.

Kili looked over to see what she was making. "Isn't it a little late to be crafting such a thing?" He mused softly leaning towards her to get a better look at the flowers that she was using to make the crown.

Aurora looked up shyly, her cheeks flushing a bit. "I suppose." She admitted softly looking into his brown eyes that twinkled in delight watching her. "But I can't whittle anything out of wood, just flowers. I suppose it is useless talent." She lowered the crown looking at it rather ruefully.

Kili waved his hands in concern that he had dishonored her in some way. "Oh no, not a useless talent." He said softly looking at the crown with a look of awe on his face. "I think it is a good talent to have."

Aurora looked up at him shyly.

Fili watched carefully as his brother's attempt at flirting was obvious. He chuckled internally seeing how the two of them were completely oblivious to the whole thing.

"It's beautiful."

"Oh…" She said shyly looking down at the crown fiddling with it just a tiny bit. Her head shot up when there was a scream in the night air. Her brows pinched together in concern wondering what it could be.

Bilbo ran over to the three of them. His eyes are wide in concern. "What was that?"

Kili's face went somber for a moment. "Orcs."

Thorin jerked awake as well as Win.

Win looked around grasping at her dagger tightly that was on her side.

"Orcs?"

"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them." Fili said, removing his pipe from his mouth.

"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet; no screams, just lots of blood."

"Surely you're joking," Aurora said, dropping her flower crown next to the fire.

Bilbo looked away scared of what could be crawling out there.

Fili and Kili looked at one another before laughing.

Aurora grabbed her flower crown and huffed slightly.

"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?" Thorin snapped looking at his two nephews with disgust. He couldn't believe that they were so stupid about scaring the ones who knew nothing of the world fully.

Kili looked down like a child in trouble. "We didn't mean anything by it."

Thorin let out a scoff, shaking his head. "No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world." He said walking towards the cliff's edge and looking out into the night sky.

Win shifted up to a sitting position knowing that there was more to the story than what was being revealed by Thorin himself. She brought her knees to her chest as she watched Balin walk towards Fili and Kili.

Aurora put the crown onto her lap as she looked at Balin with a curious gaze.

"Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first."

Fili looked over at his uncle with a gaze unknown to the full story of why his uncle hated orcs.

"Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs led by the most vile of all their race: Azog, the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the King."

Win winced at the thought. She remembered how Thror was even in his gold-addled mind. It was something that she wouldn't wish on anyone. She looked over at Thorin with a worried gaze. She didn't know that part of the story. Only rumors of what had happened, but not fully what had happened. Her heart clenched in her chest knowing that Throin had lost more than a little bit.

"Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner, or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him: a young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armor rent…wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield."

Win shifted up to her feet as she noticed that the others had awakened to the story. She wrapped her arms around herself in thought.

"Azog, the Defiler, learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, no song, that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived. And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call King."

Thorin turned to see the company looking at him in awe and the one person that looked worried was none other than Win. He knew that he didn't tell her in his letters what had happened fully. But now he wished he had told her about what had happened.

Bilbo blinked a few times looking over at Balin reeling over the story that was told. "But the pale orc? What happened to him?"

Thorin looked over at Bilbo. "He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago."

Bilbo swallowed the lump in his throat wondering if that was even true.

Win slowly walked over to Thorin with a worried gaze upon her face touching his arm softly and having him move away from the company so they could talk privately.

"Win what is it?" Thorin asked softly, unsure why she had moved him away from the company.

Win looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. "Is that why you didn't want to tell me?" She asked softly.

Thorin took a breath. "I didn't want you to think the worst that had happened."

"Thorin but it did happen… your father is missing… your grandfather was murdered in front of you…" She trailed off as a few tears slid down her cheeks.

Thorin touched her cheek softly wiping the tears that had fallen from her eyes. "I didn't want to worry you."

She looked up into his blue eyes. "I do worry about you and always have." She said softly.

Thorin felt his heart tug in his chest. He should've known that Win would worry about him. "I'm sorry." He said softly. "I never meant to have you hear the story fully unless it was from me."

Win touched his cheek softly. "Mo sheud you shouldn't have kept this so long… it bubbles up… and it could claim you whole if you're not careful."

"Amrâlimê," Thorin said softly, speaking his heart for once in a long while. Something that he had wanted to do all this time and finally he was getting the urge to tell her the truth that she was his and his alone. Perhaps he was too late. It was something that he was willing to take.

Her cheeks flushed shyly in embarrassment. It was the first time that Thorin had called her that, amrâlimê. "You never called me that before." She admitted softly looking into his eyes, her eyes sparkling in delight.

"I wasn't sure you knew what it meant." He said softly looking at her and stroking her face with his well-worn hand.

"I know what it means Thorin." She said softly, tilting her face into his hand and closing her eyes.

"I wish I could be more for you…"

She felt a pang in her chest. Of course, he would be pushing her away at that moment. He would think that he didn't deserve anything.

"I'm sorry." He said moving away from her. He couldn't do this to her. She deserved much more than a broken-down dwarf. She deserves one of her kind, not of his.

Win took a breath as a few tears slid down her cheeks. Her heart constricted in her chest painfully. "Damh stòlda."

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This is the end of Chapter 7. I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter. I have tried my best to add extra into this chapter. I think that it turned out fairly well. We got the story and we are seeing how it affected Win since she didn't know the truth. I feel bad that I'm kind of dragging her through the wringer. Thorin admitted his love, but he turned his back on it not wanting to bring her down. I wanted them to be the first to admit their love, but it backfired. Please leave a review and let me know what you think of this chapter. Reviews help me keep going when it comes to writing out each chapter and continuing with stories. I hope to have the next chapter out soon. Until next time.

Mo sheud- My Gem.

Amrâlimê- love-of-me

Damh stòlda.- Stubborn dwarf.