She wasn't sure how long she had fallen asleep on his shores tonight.

Most unexpectedly, she had found herself every night that week on Ulmos idyllic beach. It has been cathartic, after she had been feeling so lost lately.

While everyone in Rohan had been on the whole welcoming, the Queen had continued being uncomfortably watchful of her. It had become exhausting.

So each night, unlike how things had been for the past several months, she had found sleep, and welcomed it. And each night she had found her way to his golden sands.

The warmth and light there seemed to dispel the sorrow within her. He was always there, but didn't press her for conversation. And with exception to the first and third night, when she had revealed her worries, about whether she was doing the right thing, and about the home she left once so long ago, she had remained silent the rest of the week. He too had spoken very little, listening most of the time intently, occasionally asking questions, but never making any judgements or offering solutions.

She too had discovered that the Vala enjoyed playing a strange game. It was a bit like chess with pieces on a board, and seemed to also be for two players, but he sat in the shade very happily on several nights playing apparently against himself.

And she too had fallen into a silent routine of swimming and then falling asleep next to him in the shade, watching him move the strange pieces about.

He had even set some soft blankets out ready for her to lay on after her swim and linens to wrap herself to dry off each time.

She has not found him overbearing, or overly watchful either. But he was company. Even if he was silent. And it suited her perfectly, because she didn't really want to talk.

He would on occasion glance over at her, or watch as she emerged from the water. But beyond that he remained nothing more than a silent guardian.

So it came as a surprise when one night, she felt his hands stroking her face and hair.

"You must wake up little one..."

She sighed, struggling to open her tired eyes. It felt as though she had finally been able to fall into her deepest slumber yet, that night.

"Listen to my voice...and wake up..." He urged again.

She could feel him cradling her into large his arms now. But still she struggled to wake up. The fatigue she felt weighing her down in every possible way.

"You are in danger...so you must rouse yourself..." He coaxed. There was something urgent in his voice. "Wake up little one...or I shall have to wake you..."

She could feel him lifting her and moving. But her sleep felt so deep...and she was so tired...

"I care for all those who rely upon my water for life..." He spoke in that calm and deep voice of his. "But I think you know that I have come to care for you more than I do for any other...so while I hate to do this, I fear I must..."

She blinked again, trying desperately to open her eyes, but her body felt paralysed.

"I will see you again tonight. But now you must wake up."

And then suddenly she was falling.

Within moments she was engulfed by warm water and darkness...

"My lady. You must wake up right away."

The voice that called to her was not Ulmo any longer. But his roughened hands gently touched her cheek.

"You need to get dressed right away."

She blinked in the darkness to find Thorongil kneeling beside her bed.

"My lady, please..." He pleaded quietly.

And then as if she had finally emerged from within water, she gasped, taking a deep breath. But Thorongil was quick to cover her mouth with his hand.

"We are under attack..." He whispered. "It appears that some wild men have entered Edoras under cover of darkness..."

She sat up in bed and looked at him worried, before glancing over at the children who lay asleep in her bed, and Lola who slept in a nearby bed.

"Get dressed quickly and quietly. We must rouse Lady Lola and get the children dressed quietly also."

She nodded, quickly getting out of bed and hurrying over to Lola before pulling on a dress she had worn yesterday.

Thorongil had moved to the door now, where he stood with his head close to the wood, listening carefully.

Silently, she rummaged in her trunk, to find the two swords she had been given a long time ago by Dwalin when he had once attempted to train her.

Heart racing she unwrapped them setting one on Lola's bed and her own in one corner, before looking at Thorongil, who gave her a nod.

"Once you have the children dressed, we will barricade the door," Thorongil whispered, while Lola and Shobha hurried to get the children dressed, still keeping them quiet.

Finally she helped to move a large dresser over as quietly as possible, while Lola sat with the children in a corner.

They could hear the sounds of fighting along the corridor, and Thorongil looked pained.

"My lady, I must go and help..." He whispered finally. "Keep this door barricaded, and you will be fine..."

"No..." Lola replied from behind them, where she sat huddled with the children.

But Thorongil ignored her, and continued to look at Shobha. After all, he had sworn to protect her, and if she denied him permission he would not leave.

"So long as you are in this room, you are safe, my lady," he whispered. "None will even be aware of your presence..."

She sighed, mentally cursing herself now leaving the apparent safety of Erebor. Perhaps it was all her fault for messing up her relationship with Thorin, and now she had dragged her children on this dangerous journey. And this was only the start.

Shutting her eyes briefly, against her better judgement, she nodded. But when she opened them again, he stood closer to her, and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Unsheath your sword. Remember what I taught you. And keep this door barred. If any should attempt to enter, do not spare them - for you must protect our little ones here..." He prepared her. Then from behind them they both heard the sound of two more swords being unsheathed and turning, found the two princes standing there holding up their small swords at the ready.

"We will help Mama!" Thrain spoke quietly.

"Aye brother. We can protect Seraeya and Lola!" Arun stood shoulder to shoulder with his brother.

The boys made her smile, they had grown up so much over the last year and had begun to sound so much like Thorin and Dwalin. It made her heart ache. They could have really used their help right now.

"My brave princes, you stand guard, but let your Mama deal with anyone first. And be completely silent. Is that understood?" Thorongil knelt before them quickly, instructing them as he always did when he had given them daily training during their journey here. Then he once again stood up and moved towards her, where she stood by the door. "My lady..."

She reminded herself of why they had to make this journey again and nodded.

"Be safe Thorongil. You still have to get us to Lorien..." She patted his shoulder. Over the last few weeks, he had become the brother that she never had.

Thorongil wanted to promise that he would return back, but he could not speak the words. This woman, her children and Lola, who were now his own family, had been placed in this danger because of his decision to have remained this long in Edoras. They could have chosen to travel to Lorien directly. But she had pleaded with him to help her, and together they had made this plan.

Moving to the door they shifted the dresser just enough for him to squeeze through. Then with one last glance back at the huddled Lola, in whose lap Seraeya slept still, her long, chubby arms and legs spread out and her brown wavy hair cascading around her shoulders. And then to her two brothers standing guard bravely in front. Followed by a final look at Shobha, who appeared to whisper a prayer in her own language, he finally squeezed out stealthily into the dark corridor, shutting the door behind him.

...

"Have you lost your mind entirely Thorin?" Dis frowned. "Summoning us to your study like this!"

"Well it appears the only way that I may get either of you to speak truth." Thorin paced up and down beside his desk. He had spoken to many now and was indeed aware that Dwalin had left Erebor. But where he was going Thorin could not find out. "So I have invited you both to find out what you know of Dwalins whereabouts."

"Well, you are his closest friend, so how should I know?" Dis laughed bitterly as though he was being entirely ridiculous.

"But I also know that you have grown somewhat closer in recent times, Sister." Thorin snapped. "No thanks to my wife's meddling..."

Balin looked at Dis, surprised. And Dis noticed his expression a little hurt. Apparently Dwalin had not shared anything about his new relationship with his brother.

"So as Dwalin is missing. Perhaps now is the time to share the nature of that with us all, Sister?" Thorin pressed again.

"We are not courting. If that is what you mean..." Dis smoothed out her skirts and sat up straight, holding her chin up. If Thorin's intent was to make her feel embarrassed she would not allow him the satisfaction. She had never considered another since her husband has died so tragically, but she couldn't deny that there had always been something special between herself and Dwalin. He had often been there when her children were young and Her brother was away. "So I do not know what it is that you might be alluding so eloquently to."

"Perhaps I should enlighten us all then." Thorin moves to his desk to look down at a piece of parchment. "One evening, two months ago, my wife requested two dozen candles and flowers to be delivered to our apartment. That very evening she also requested Elin to cook a supper for two. Now she specifically wished for 'romantic' food according to Bombur..."

Balin blushed, glancing briefly at Dis before turning back to Thorin at what he had mentioned.

"So do you mean to say that my wife was seeing another male and had planned a 'romantic evening' for herself and another?" Thorin inquired earnestly. He knew this was not true. He had now made enough inquiries to be certain that she had not left him for another. And he now felt ashamed that he had even suspected her in that way.

"No! She dressed the dining room and invited Dwalin and myself for dinner. She sent each of us a note. So we had dinner, talked and enjoyed a pleasant evening. There was nothing else." Dis explained, blushing again. "Dwalin and I talk on occasion. Perhaps we dine together as we have done in the great hall for years now. But I am not sure what this has to do with his leaving Erebor?"

"So you did not hear from him before he left?" Thorin watched his sister carefully for any signs that she might have been hiding the truth.

"We last met perhaps two weeks ago... But I have neither seen nor heard from him since. I imagined you were all busy with searching for the whereabouts of your wife.." she shrugged. Of course Dwalin had let her know that he was going away. But he had stated that he could not reveal to her where. And given Thorins behaviour right now, there was no need to reveal this to him. "Do you think he might have found her?"

"Well, I was wondering whether you might know that..."

But Dis shook her head.

She missed the children sorely. Her evenings felt so empty now, that she would on occasion go and tidy up their nursery. Or clear down Shobhas closet, straightening her clothes hanging in there and dusting everything down. But that often made her feel worse.

Once, she had enjoyed her evenings dining with friends or quietly embroidering tapestries or mending Thorin, Fili and Kilis clothes. But all that time had been quickly taken over when the children came along. And it had been with great pleasure.

"Honestly Thorin, I imagine Dwalin is trying to find her. Why he would leave without telling you...or Balin...I am truly not sure of..." She stated very plainly. "As for Dwalin and myself, we have only spent a few evenings together...I do not see any reason why he would confide anything in me..."

She meant to say a few dozen evenings together, but that little detail did not need publicising at that very moment, to her apparently paranoid brother.

"Did he let you know that he was leaving, Balin...? Or even where...?" Dis quickly shifted focus onto the dwarf sitting very quietly indeed.

"He didn't, Thorin...but I was not surprised to discovered that he might have been gone. After all, I was aware that you had tasked a few of us with finding out what we could about the lass's whereabouts," Balin genuinely pondered, stroking his beard. He, of course had been informed by Dwalin that he was leaving. But they had decided the less Balin knew the better...he did after all, believe in plausible deniability! "Perhaps it matters not where Dwalin has gone - but rather where Shobha might be travelling to..."

Thorin seemed to stop pacing at his advisors words. He had been considering this question all along. But the raven he had sent to Lorien had returned with word to indicate that no new travellers had arrived in the last week. And surely had she been travelling there, unless, Mahal forbid, some calamity had struck, she should have had ample time to reach its borders safely.

"Where IS her home, Thorin?" Dis pressed. "You spoke of another world..."

"It was a different land..." His thoughts drifted to how they had first met.

"And how did you get back to us laddie...?" Balin asked gently.

"She found us a wizard...well...it was Gandalf...I mean, he looked exactly like Gandalf. But from her land..." Thorin frowned to himself, feeling as though he were a rambling mad dwarf. "I do not know whether this makes sense...or whether you might even believe me..."

But when he looked up, he found Balin nodding with a very thoughtful expression and Dis who was listening carefully, clearly trying to make sense of what he was saying.

"And this Gandalf from her land, transported you back...?" Dis attempted to fill in the blanks.

"Well no...he took us to see their elves...and it was their...Lady Galadriel…who cast us back...through a pool..." He revealed, after a pause. "I could not believe it myself at first...that there might be such people in her land...but they were exactly as our elves and wizards were..."

He looked from Balin to Dis, but to his surprise did not find them taken aback.

"In truth, I have often thought lands, wherever they may be, or peoples wherever they live, would need some folk capable of powers...or those who are wiser and capable to guiding others..." Balin spoke sincerely, as he brushed his beard deep in thought. "It does not surprise me at all laddie..."

"And how did you live in this land from when you first arrived until they transported you back?" Dis asked. She had so many questions at the time about what had happened, but they had been so busy with returning Erebor to its original state, and then Shobha had come to bear Thorins children so soon, that all curiosity about her brothers journey had been forgotten.

His heart felt heavy as he recalled how she had given him shelter in her own home, despite having met him for the first time. She had been so open and generous, even though he had been so guarded.

"She let me stay with her..."

This somehow seemed to strike a nerve with both Balin and Dis.

"I recall your story that you killed a warg that had chased you -"

"In truth the beast chased her...and I killed it before it could kill her!" Thorin explained attempting to soothe his ego. Perhaps he could convince himself that somehow she owed him for killing the beast that he had led towards her.

"So the beast had followed you into her land." Balin concluded, making Thorin feel worse, for had he not led the beast there, then her life would not have been in danger.

"And even after seeing you, dirty, and smelly from your travels, she still offered you to stay with her?" Dis sighed, now feeling terrible for the way in which she had treated the woman when she had first arrived. "Although you were nothing but a perfect stranger..."

Thorin fell silent.

"Perhaps then, it is possible that the white Lady might send her back again?" Balin finally suggested. While he missed the woman maybe even as much as his brother - and he knew without a doubt that contrary to his gruff exterior, Dwalin had developed a great attachment to her, he also hoped that she would be safer and happier in her new destination. He had watched her grow quiet, and melancholy over the past few months, until she was so changed, it pained him to see her that way. So, if indeed she was travelling with a hope of reaching her home, and her kin, he hoped she made the journey safely.

"I sent a raven, who returned a message from Lady Galadriel. None have crossed the borders into the forests of late.." Thorin contemplated. "It was as if she disappeared altogether..."

"Surely that is not possible." Dis huffed. "The truth is that she found a way of concealing herself and the children. How I am not certain. But she did."

Thorin watched her, as she reluctantly revealed what exactly she was thinking.

"Then why is there no trace of her?"

"Because there are many who love her enough to risk your wrath by keeping the truth from you... Also she could not make any journey alone. So she must have been travelling with one whom she trusted implicitly."

While there were many dwarves that would hide her, and even lie for her, there were only a few of any race that she trusted so deeply with the task of aiding her travel and escape with their children.

He just had to identify who they might be...

...

She stood by the door straining her ears in the dark to listen. They had put out all their lamps, so that only the fireplace burned.

It sounded as though the fighting was moving further away.

But then out of the quiet she could hear the wail of a baby and a woman.

The woman was sobbing, and pleading apparently.

Of course she had not seen a baby recently, and they had not heard any at night. But Prince Theoden had mentioned of his sister having recently given birth.

The sounds were closer, and she was now certain they were both in distress.

Turning she found Lola standing closer now, and shaking her head vigorously, almost pleading that she did not go. But she could not bear to hear them any longer.

"I have to Lola..." She whispered glancing back at the children. The boys stood bravely holding their swords, but their faces were filled with fear. And Seraeya was huddled inside two blankets by the bed. "I won't be long, I promise. Block the door again, once I leave. And the sword is there."

She pointed at the sword that lay against the wall nearby.

"Five minutes. And I will be back, Lola." She reassured Lola again holding her hand, before turning to leave.

But Lola tugged at her hand again.

"Please, Shobha. Five minutes."

Shobha turned back to her nodding and giving her a hug, before slipping out of the door again. In the dark corridor there was no one, but the sound of the woman now begging as she cried, and the baby wailing came from a room nearby.

Several of the rohirrim guards in their leather armour and strange helmets lay on the floor, lifeless.

There was still clear fighting ahead, but despite her heart pounding in her chest, she followed the sounds of the baby, finding her way to a room, where the door was slightly open.

Taking a moment to stand silent and still, she peered around the door, to find a man holding down a woman on the bed beside the baby.

The woman kicked and fought, in attempt to keep him off her, but it seemed he had won the struggle. He thrust into her with a grunt, as she screamed out, only for him to slap her face and cover her mouth with his hand. Once again, he resumed his previous activity.

Quickly looking around she spotted a heavy iron poker in the fireplace, where the flames had almost entirely died out. Then sneaking up from behind, she swung it hard against the back of his head.

Taken aback and very dazed he fell to the ground, the hot metal burning his scalp, making him cry out.

But before he could get up or move, something equally wild and brutal seemed to take hold of her as she recalled the vile scene that had unfolded moments previously against this new mother.

Raising the heavy poker high in the air with both hands, she began to repeatedly beat him. The man, unable to hold her back even with both hands fell back onto the floor, his eyes and nose swollen and broken.

When she finally came to her senses and stopped, he lay there unmoving.

Looking at the bloody mess, and the poker in her hands, she took a step back, disgusted with herself and let it fall to the floor with a clatter.

It felt as though she had unleashed all her pent up rage since she had found herself unhappy in Erebor. But she didn't like it.

Middle earth was not the simple life, that she had once imagined. Suddenly the fast paced stress of her old life, which felt like a lifetime ago itself, now felt like a utopia!

The woman, sobbing silently, picked up her baby, cradling him to her chest and hushed him. The baby too appeared to be instantly soothed by their mothers touch.

"Thank you, my lady...," She whispered, sobbing into the bundle of blankets the baby was wrapped in as she kissed it's round head. "My..lady..."

Her words seemed to bring Shobha out of the daze she found herself in.

"Is your baby alright?" Shobha whispered looking back at the door behind and then at the man who lay on the floor.

"Yes, my lady..." She peered over at her oppressor. "Is... he...dead...?"

"No. His nose is broken and I have probably broken a few ribs and given him a bad concussion." Shobha replied. "But he will live. Once he is eventually healed. And with a very ugly face too."

"You are the dwarf Kings consort... it is true then that you are a shield maiden...and a healer..." The woman seemed puzzled by Shobhas explanation but smiled anyway.

"I am a healer...but not a shield maiden, my lady. And you are not safe here...we need to go back to our room. But you need to keep the baby from crying too much..." She pulled the woman onto her feet, both of them somewhat unsteady from the surge of adrenaline that coursed through them now. Carefully tiptoeing to the door she picked up a shield from one of the fallen guards, before turning back. "You need to stay behind me, and hurry when I say so. Is that clear?"

The woman nodded firmly in the dark.

Opening the door a little wider, Shobha looked around the corridor. And satisfied that it was quiet, she crept out again beckoning for the woman to follow her. They had hurried down the corridor back to their door, and she tapped as quietly as she could. But when no answer came, she was forced to tap again.

Finally Lola opened the door after she called out, and just as she was able to have the woman and her baby slip in, another man appeared in the corridor.

Unsure if he had seen or heard her, she froze, shutting the door. But he was quick to move towards her as she attempted to duck down.

"Who's there?" He called out moving towards her. "Bor...where are ya? Have ya finished...?"

He walked along slowly, clearly adjusting to the darkness.

She knew, there would only be moments before he found her. So she attempted to find something beside the shield to defend herself.

But as she picked up the shield again, it was apparently too late.

"Ye are no servant girl..." He growled at her moving closer. "Where were ya hiding?!"

He came closer, a crude looking sword in his hand.

She planted her feet squarely and held the sword as close to her as she could.

If this was where she would die, then she would make it a good one.

"Speak!" He began approaching her with a sneer on his face. "That thing didn't help ya soldiers. Won't help yooo..."

She didn't say a word. Her heart thundered in her ears as he neared even more. All she could hope was that Lola and the children would all stay silent.

Briefly, he seemed to pause in front of the open door, that led to the room she had been in. He glanced in briefly.

"Well...Bor were no good at fightin. But I will show ya how it's done, wench..."

He moved closer again, holding his sword up higher, ready apparently, to lunge towards her...

…

Dear All

next chapter soon - sorry for the cliffhanger xx