Kíli's POV:
Sleep was impossible for him.
It wasn't so much the hard, stone bench that felt as cold as ice underneath him. Or the raucous laughter and never ending music that filtered down from whatever party the elves were having above.
Many of the others had already fallen asleep in such conditions, and it wasn't even the loud snore from Bofur in the next cell that kept his eyes from closing.
It was her.
Aulë save him. Kíli knew he shouldn't be thinking of her.
He should be thinking of the quest. Of the Lonely Mountain. Of the dragon that may or may not lurk within. Of his brother and uncle and friends that were trapped within the cells that surrounded him.
Not of the fiery haired Woodland elf.
Tauriel. He had overheard the blonde elf say her name only a few hours prior and it had echoed in his mind since.
Tauriel. Tauriel. Tauriel.
Kíli glanced down at the rune stone in his hands, running his thumb lightly over the engraving.
Reckless. That is what his mother thought him to be. It was why she made him promise to carry the token with him on his quest and had not made Fili promise the same.
If his mother knew what plagued his thoughts now…
He tossed it lightly into the air and grimaced. He did not want to imagine what his mother would say. He tossed it up into the air again and told himself that he would cast the elf from his thoughts by the time it hit his hand again.
That was when he heard the soft footsteps headed towards him and he knew, before even glancing up, who it was.
Tauriel.
He glanced back down at the rune stone quickly, not wanting her to see him gazing after her like a love-sick lad. No. He would let her walk past and he would keep his promise to his mother to not be reckless.
But the footsteps paused by his cell door and he could not help himself from looking up at her again.
"The stone in your hand." Tauriel nodded towards it. "What is it?"
A bit of reckless mischief stirred inside him and Kíli schooled his face into a serious expression.
"It is a talisman." He replied darkly. "A powerful spell lies upon it. If any but a dwarf reads the runes on this stone…" Kíli shook his head slowly, wanting to add a bit of dramatic flair. "They will be forever cursed."
He thrust out the rune stone towards her, narrowing his eyes menacingly.
Tauriel stumbled back a step, her eyes widened in shock and unease.
He watched her turn to walk away and he knew he should let her. Knew it would be better for his foolish heart to shut her out entirely.
"Or not." The words tumbled out of him before he could stop himself.
Tauriel's POV:
It wasn't her duty to guard the cells.
On any other night, perhaps. She might've taken a shift or two - or supervised the newer elf guards while they patrolled.
But it was Mereth Nuin Giliath and Legolas himself had petitioned for her to be free and clear of all duties so that she could enjoy the festivities with him.
There had been no good reason for her to have slipped out of the room when he had not been looking. To have offered to take the next shift from the guard on duty. To have stopped in front of the one cell that she should not have even approached.
In truth, when he had held out the stone towards her and threatened to have her cursed, she'd felt a rush of relief. It would be easier to cast any thought of the dwarf aside if he hated her.
But then he pulled her back in.
"Or not." The dwarf said, and Tauriel felt almost as though she were back with the spiders, being drawn into a web, as she turned back towards him.
"Depending on whether you believe in that kind of thing," Kíli hurriedly explained, giving her a roguish grin that filled her body with warmth. "It's just a token. A rune stone."
Tauriel found herself taking a step closer to the cell door, waiting for him to continue speaking.
"My mother gave it to me so that I would remember my promise." Kíli's grin slipped from his face as he spoke, and he looked down at the ground.
"What promise?" Tauriel asked, feeling suddenly cold without his smile. As though it had been a ray of sunlight that a dark cloud had now hidden from her.
"That I would come back to her. She worries. She thinks I'm reckless."
"Are you?" The words came from her with more of a flirty tone than she'd intended, but they had the desired effect.
His eyes, warm and brown, flickered back up to hers and sunlight danced upon her again as he smiled.
"Nah," he responded, tossing the rune stone up into the air again. This time, it missed his hand and tumbled between the bars of his cell.
Tauriel placed her foot over it just before it could fall over the edge of the stone walkway. She reached down and gingerly picked it up, marveling at how cold and smooth it felt in her hand. She did not think any Elvish made tokens would feel as lovely as this one did.
She held it up into the light, tilting it so that she could study the engraving across it. She did not know what it said, but she felt the love within it all the same.
"Sounds like quite the party they're having up there," Kíli murmured from behind her and Tauriel felt her face flush.
She had not noticed the sound of the festivities until he had mentioned it, though they were plenty loud. It seemed as though, when he was near, her senses could only register him.
"It is Mereth Nuin Giliath," she explained, turning and finding him closer to the bars than he had been before. "The Feast of Starlight. All light is sacred to the Eldar, but Wood Elves love best the light of the stars."
"I always thought it was a cold light," Kíli confessed. "Remote and far away."
Tauriel shook her head and stepped closer to him once more. "It is memory," she whispered. "Precious and pure."
Something must be ailing her, Tauriel thought idly. For there was no other explanation for the fierce and desperate longing that was clawing within her. Longing to open his cell door. To lead him upstairs to the festivities and let him experience the light of the stars. To experience it with him.
"Like your promise," she finished, holding out the rune stone to him before she could do anything foolish.
But then he reached forward to grab it and his fingers, rough and calloused, grazed across her palm. And she was lost in him again.
"I have walked there sometimes," she whispered, and her hands clutched the cell bars as she revealed a small part of her soul to him. "Beyond the forest and up into the night. I have seen the world fall away and the white light forever fill the air."
They looked into each other's eyes in silence for a moment, and Tauriel felt the world falling away from her again. But the white light, her beloved stars, were contained within him instead.
"I saw a fire moon once," he murmured, breaking the spell only slightly and drawing her in even further.
If there was one thing Tauriel delighted in most of all, it was stories of the world beyond her realm.
"It rose over the pass near Dunland. Red and gold it was. It filled the sky."
Tauriel lowered herself to the ground, sitting beside the cell so that the bars were pressed against the side of her. Kíli lowered himself as well, sitting close enough that she could feel his warmth.
"We were an escort for some merchants from Ered Luin," he continued. "They were trading in silverwork for furs. We took the greenway south, keeping the mountain to our left. And then it appeared, this huge fire moon. Lighting our path."
Tauriel grinned and closed her eyes, resting her head against the bars of the cell. She tried her hardest to imagine the sight, but knew it had been far grander than anything she could possibly imagine.
"I wish I could show you the caverns," Kíli whispered, and Tauriel felt his hand touch hers.
For a moment - just a moment - she let herself dream.
"I wish for that too," she answered, keeping her eyes shut as she weaved her fingers through his.
"Tauriel," he murmured. "I know this might sound as though I've gone mad, and I probably have but… Do you feel what I am feeling right now?"
No.
Yes.
Tauriel knew exactly what he felt. Felt it mirrored within her own heart. But there was a difference in allowing herself to dream for a moment, and in deluding herself that it was actually possible.
"I must go," she answered instead, pulling her hand from his and ignoring the feeling of loss that rippled through her.
To his credit, he let her leave without a single complaint. But she swore she heard him murmur something from behind her as she walked away.
Amrâlimê.
