Hey all! We're back with the next instalment of Shakana's story. I hope you are all enjoying this one. If you do like it, please leave me your thoughts, as they keep me writing, keep me motivated. Although, I would like the art requests to stop, as I have said before I am not interested.

Chapter 7

The next morning, after enjoying a nice breakfast, Shana and I go back to the guest homes to finish them. My close friend, Elfryda, is with us.

"So, you've finally reunited with Thorin." she comments with a smile.

Elfryda has been one of the ones who has been by my side through everything, been there for me when things were rough, comforted me when I was upset about being away from Thorin and had helped me with raising Shana. She is my best friend.

I smile back. "Yeah, I did. It's so good to be with him once again."

"That's great! I'm so happy for you." she then goes quiet for a moment. "You mentioned he's with a group of dwarves. . .is Dwalin among them?"

I pause am I'm making one of the beds, remembering when we were younger, she had a huge crush on Dwalin. But, since we left the dwarves, she had not spoken about him again. I look to her, as does Shana.

"Do you still like him?" I ask softly.

I see her blushing as she continues to clean. "I-I don't know. Did I used to have a crush on him? Yes. But. . ."

"Since you haven't been with him for so long, you don't know anymore?" Shana guesses.

She nods. Shana and I share sad glances before I walk over to El, placing a hand on her shoulder, making her look to me.

"They're going to be staying for two weeks. Take this time to find out. Get to know him more and see how it goes from there. If you don't, you'll regret it forever."

She thinks it over for a moment before nodding with a smile.

"I will. Thank you, Kana."

I smile as I hug her before we get back to cleaning.

For the next few hours, we finish up the houses and get the last minute touches in place, and by the time lunch rolls around, we are done

"That was quicker than I expected." Shana comments.

I smile at her. "It helps we had many of us working on them last night so we could finish off this morning."

She nods.

"Chieftess." a voice calls from behind.

Turning, I see one of the guards, Kohana, jog over. Bowing as he reaches me.

"Chieftess, the dwarves have arrived at the gate. Shall I bring them through."

I smile. "Yes, please, Kohana. Bring them to the square."

He bows before he turns and heads back to the gate. I turn to El, who is still with us and see her looking extremely nervous. I put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Are you ready, my friend?"

She takes a deep breath before nodding. "Yes. I believe so."

I smile as I give her shoulder a squeeze before we make our way to the town square; which is just basically a large, unlit, campfire in the middle. There's also a chair, which is almost like a throne, where the Chief would sit during celebrations and meetings. I take my seat here with Shana to my left and Rhoswyn stands on my right, Dakota sitting between her and I.

From here, I watch as Kohana lead Bilbo and the dwarves through the village towards us. Behind them, the rest of the people follow, most curious at the new visitors, although I see some excited, as some of them had been around dwarves before.

Taking notice of Dwalin, I notice him looking off to the side and have to withhold a grin as I see him looking directly at Elfryda, who is blushing.

Turning back to our visitors, I smile at my guard. "Thank you Kohana, please return to your post."

He bows before he turns and goes back to the gate to join his twin brother Rohana. I then look to Thorin and the others.

"My friends, welcome to our home."

Thorin, knowing that duty will come first for me at this moment, steps forward and bows before me.

"Chieftess Shakana, I thank you for your hospitality in housing my company."

"You are most welcome. I trust you remember my Shaman, Rhoswyn?"

He nods and bows to her. "That I do. It is a pleasure to see you once again, Rhoswyn. I trust you are well?"

Rhoswyn smiles as she nods. "It is a pleasure to see you, also, Thorin. And yes, I am well, thank you for asking."

I smile and glad to have the formalities out of the way, I stand before making my way to Thorin, taking his hands into my own.

"Now that formalities are out of the way, I can do this." I kiss and hug him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

He chuckles as he holds me close. "The joys of being a leader, right?"

I grin. "Oh yes." I pull back to look at him. "I'm glad you came."

He smiles down at me. "So are we. Thank you for inviting us to stay."

"As I said before, you are most welcome." I then turn to all of them. "Come, Shana and I will show you where you will be staying."

The company agree and thank us as we walk along and show them to the five houses.

"Here we are. There should be plenty of space for you all. There are three beds to a house, so I trust I can leave you all to decide where you sleep?"

Balin nods. "Aye, lassie, we can handle it from here."

I smile. "Wonderful. We will leave you to get settled. When you are finished, just ask for someone to bring you to the mess hall. Lunch will be served soon."

They all bow and thank us again before they begin organising each other. I smile at Thorin before Shana and I take our leave.

"Did you see Dwalin!?" Shana exclaims excitedly as she takes my hand. "He couldn't take his eyes away from El!"

I chuckle. "Yes, I saw that, too. If that is anything to go by, I truly believe her feelings are definitely reciprocated by the gruff dwarf."

She smiles. "Who would have known?"

"What is it I've always taught you? Never judge a book by it's cover."

"It just may surprise you. Yes, I know. That book certainly does surprise me."

I chuckle again before we make it to the mess hall and walk inside. The hall is just a long building with a few tables set up, with one table at the back facing the hall. There are already a few Arcani sitting around and eating. Shana and I go to the table on the far right wall, which is ladened with all types of foods from stews, to meats, vegetables, breads, fruits and other kinds of sweet treats. I'll have to remember to praise our cooks, they do such a good job.

Filling up a plate, Shana and I sit at the head table, with me in the middle and Shana to my left. I put a plate of food down for Dakota and she tucks in as Rhoswyn, after getting herself a plate of food, sits to my right and we immediately get right into talking about how things have been since Shana and I have left and of the trades until talk turns to the company's stay and making sure we have everything we need to keep them happy and content.

Half an hour later, the doors open and I smile as the company walk in. I stand and hold my arms out in greeting.

"Friends, welcome, please help yourself to lunch and take a seat wherever you like and enjoy yourselves."

The dwarves cheer and immediately go to get food. Rhoswyn and I finish talking about politics before she moves over a seat, allowing Thorin to sit next to me, which he does. Balin and Dwalin sits on the other side of Rhoswyn and strikes up a conversation with her, while Shana joins the others, sitting with Fili and Kili.

"I trust the homes are to your liking?" I ask Thorin.

He nods. "They are, yes. We have everyone settled in."

I smile. "That's good."

The hall soon begins to fill up, and I have to smile as I see many of the Arcani join the dwarves and bilbo at their table, including some children, who are very curious. I sit back and smile as watch my people mingle with those of Thorin's. I look over to Thorin as I feel him take my hand, to find him smiling at me.

"I remember this. The days spent with your people in the woods by Erebor. The times we spent running around the trees, eating in the mess hall there and then running around some more. It's times like these, where I think we'll be able to have that again."

I smile as I squeeze his hand. "That is my greatest wish, Thorin. For our people to come together once again, hold great celebrations and just have that peace we once shared. All these years, I would sit here and remember the good times. I would sometimes pretend we were still there, in the woods outside Erebor, and we were just waiting for you to arrive, to join us, but then reality would hit and the pain I would feel. . .it was awful."

He leans over and wraps an arm around me, pulling me into him before placing a kiss upon my head.

"We will have those days again, my love. Once Erebor is ours again, we will see those days return. I assure you."

I just smile as I keep my head on his shoulder and smile as I watch the happy faces of my people, and of the company, and believe that Thorin could be right. One day, we could have those days again, where our two people would become one and live in peace.

It has been a few days since the company had joined the Arcani clan and things have been as well as I could have hoped for. The company have really settled in well with my people, I've even noticed Bilbo seems happy here, seeing him talking with a few people here and there, and even with the children.

Having shown them where the training yard is, they get stuck into their training, other Arcani watch and soon join in. Having seen Bilbo with his own sword, I take it upon myself to begin training him, something he isn't happy about at first, however he soon picks up the lessons and is doing quite well for a beginner.

One day, halfway into the week, Thorin asks for Shana and I to come to his guest house, which we do, and we're surprised to see not only the whole company there, but Rhoswyn.

"What is going on?" I ask with suspicion.

"Nothing, amrâlimê ." Thorin assures me. "I was just speaking with Rhoswyn about our quest and making sure everything would be alright here with you gone for so long."

Rhoswyn smiles at me. "I assured him that, after you have been gone for two years, a few more months wouldn't be too much of a worry."

I smile as I nod. "I trust Rhoswyn to have things running smoothly in my stead. That was never an issue. I would have just let her know and made arrangements beforehand."

Thorin nods. "Well, one of those arrangements is for us to have you and Shana sign contracts. Balin and I have spent the past few days writing them up and readjusting the other contracts to coincide with yours. As all of us will, you will receive one sixteenth share of the treasure."

I look to him in surprise. "Really? So much?"

He nods. "Of course. This quest is a great risk to both of you, you deserve to be rewarded handsomely. I imagine it would do wonders to help get your people settled by Erebor again."

I nod. "Very much so. Thank you, Thorin, I appreciate this, more than you know."

He smiles. "I do know, my love. I do. As my share will go a long way to rebuilding Erebor, also."

I smile and as Shana and I are given our contracts, we sign them without hesitation and are officially welcomed into the company, to cheers among the dwarves, Bilbo smiling away, also happy.

"Excellent." Rhoswyn begins with a smile. "That means I will have to have your ceremony organised as soon as possible. I will go and make arrangements."

She leaves, patting my shoulder as she goes. I have to smile to myself, I knew she would be right on it.

"Ceremony?" Kili asks.

I nod. "Yes. While I am the Chieftess of the Arcani, it was never made official. From always being on the move to. . .other issues, there was never any time. But, Shana helped me realise that this is the right time. And what better time to do it before we leave for the quest."

He nods in understanding.

"I remember your father's ceremony." Balin says with a smile. "I remember it being beautiful."

I nod. "It really is. Of course, I've never seen it, but my parents had told me about it often. I'm glad you will be able to witness it. It's a full day celebration, starting in the morning and lasting well into the night; with food, drink, music and dancing."

"Sounds like my kind of party!" Bofur exclaims with a grin, causing the others to cheer in agreement.

That night, as everyone is gathered around the fire, I inform the people on the quest, explaining how in over a week, I will be leaving with the dwarves, in the hope of reclaiming our old home. The older Arcani look happy and excited to return, while the younger ones look anxious. I also inform everyone that the choice to return will be up to the people. If they wished to remain, then they could, however, if they did want to return, then they can.

They are also informed of the ceremony, in which I will officially take up my title as Chieftess, to which the people loudly cheer at, which makes me happy to see.

As people begin to dance and be merry, I let them have their fun and make my way up to my home and after lighting some of the lanterns, walk over to where my father's shawl still rests.

Even though I know I am ready to do this, ready to become the official Chieftess of the Arcani, I still have my doubts. I know I can't compare my thoughts and actions to those of my father, as he had not been the position I was. The original plan for us was to go where the dwarves go. They were our friends, allies and family, where they went, so did we. But then he died, he and mother died and I was suddenly left with the responsibilities of leadership long before my time.

I turn to the door as it opens and Rhoswyn steps in. She gives a sympathetic smile as she walks over, gently putting her hands on my shoulders.

"Shana has told me your feelings on the ceremony, and you have nothing to be concerned about. We all followed you that day. You did what you believed was best, and although we had lost people, it was the better choice. Although I know you would have been happier with Thorin, I believe had you stayed, you would not have become the strong woman you are today, the leader you grew to be. As much as it hurts to say, you and Thorin needed this time apart, to be able to come into your own, become the great leaders you were both born to be. Not only did we thrive through our hardships, but so did Thorin and his people.

I did not tell you this, but I have been keeping an eye on Thorin throughout the years and have watched him become the man he is now. I am sorry for deceiving you, Chieftess, and I will accept whatever punishment you may give me, however, I felt it was best you were not to know, as I felt it would pain you too much to hear of him. I knew that the time would soon come when you would reunite with him, and then reunite our people."

I look to her a moment, both not able to believe, but able to believe, that she would do something like this. She has always been all knowing, able to see things whether it's the past or future, and I knew she care as much about the dwarves as I did. So, to know that she was keeping an eye on them, and know she would have come to me the moment things had turned for them, it did not surprise me. It made me happy to know that someone was keeping an eye on Thorin, was looking out for him.

I smile up at Rhoswyn. "There is no punishment needed, Rhoswyn. I appreciate you keeping a watchful eye on him. And you were right to not tell me. If I had known, it would have pained me, knowing I could not be with him, and I thank you for watching out for all of us." I look back to the shawl. "Do-Do you truly think I can do this? Take up my father's role officially?"

She smiles. "You have done it unofficially all this time, and have done wonderful. The only difference now would be; you would officially become our Chieftess. You will have the official title. You are going to continue to do great things for us, Shakana, I know it."

"Rhoswyn is right, my love." Thorin's voice speaks up.

We look over to the door to see him leaning on the door frame.

"I apologise for listening in, but the door was open." he explains.

I smile as I shake my head. "Not to worry. Please, come in."

He does so as Rhoswyn smiles to me.

"I will leave you two alone."

She then takes her leave, shutting the door behind her. Normally, with us being unwed, we would not be allowed in the same room alone together, however, I know she trusts me to not cross any boundaries before then.

I watch Thorin as he walks over, looking around my home before his eyes land on the shawl.

"it has been such a long time since I have seen this. The last time was. . ."

He lets that sentence fall, both of us knowing exactly when he last saw it.

"Yes. I have not worn it yet."

He looks to me. "You haven't? Not once? Why?"

"Guilt. The feeling I don't deserve it. It's why I have not had the ceremony yet. I don't feel as though I have earned not only the title, but the trust of my people. I lead them to their deaths, Thorin, how could they follow a leader who would do that?"

He shakes his head before taking my hands. "No, you didn't. You did what you thought was best for your people at that time. And maybe it was. What happened was a tragic incident, one that could not have been avoidable. The orcs are the ones responsible for those deaths, not you, and the people know that. They love you, Kana, I can see it clear as day. You are a great leader, as Rhoswyn said. I know you are going to become an even greater one."

I give a fond smile, feeling a tear fall down my cheek before reaching up to press a hand to his cheek.

"What did I ever do to deserve someone like you?"

He grins, using his thumb to swipe my stray tear away. "Oh, something awful, I imagine."

I giggle before he leans down to kiss me, his hands on my hips as he pulls me close to him. My arms go around his neck and I press my body up close to his, my fingers delving into his hair, causing a groan to escape his lips. As his hands wander over my body, I pull back as I feel something hard press against my stomach.

"Thorin, we need to stop before we go too far."

He looks at me through half lidded eyes, though he has a grin on his face.

"I would apologise, but I'm not sorry. I can't resist you, my love. You're absolutely beautiful; heart, body and soul, and I can't wait until the day I get to call you my wife."

I smile at him. "As I can't wait to call you husband."

He smiles back before pressing a quick kiss to my lips. "I had best go, before we do something we may regret."

I nod and go to walk him to the door, before I suddenly stop him as I remember something.

"Thorin, there is something I have to tell you."

He looks to me, concern etched onto his face. "What is it?"

I look up at him, worried about having to tell him this. "The night of the orc raid, when I lost Shay, I don't know if it was a trick of the mind, or the light, but I could have sworn I had seen Azog in the distance, just watching."

He suddenly goes pale, eyes widening slightly in shock as his mouth opens a little.

"What? You saw him?"

"I don't know if I did, it was just a quick glance, so I can't be too sure of myself with it. But, I had looked up and in the distance I had seen Azog astride a white warg, watching and sneering at me."

He just takes in what I said. "Maybe you saw him after all and he organised the attack on your people."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I realised when Balin had told the story of the battle, but I didn't want to xay anything when I wasn't sure. I'm still not sure, but I thought you should know."

He smiles down at me. "You have nothing to apologise for, amrâlimê. I'm not mad at you, don't worry. Thank you for telling me, I believe we now know who sent the orcs after us."

I nod, the whole chase now making sense.

"Will you rejoin the festivities tonight?" he asks as he nods to the door.

I shake my head. "No, not now. I have some things to think about."

He nods. "Alright. Sleep well."

We kiss and he leaves, shutting the door behind him. I sigh as I close the drapes on the window and turn down the lantern before making my up the stairs to bed, where I strip out of my clothes and get under the blanket, my thoughts on the up coming ceremony. I know everyone is right; Shana, Rhoswyn and Thorin, they are right. I did what I thought was best, I didn't know we were going to be attacked that night. I just needed to stop being so stubborn and let that guilt and anxiety go. It was easier to say than do, so I hope I could do it, especially before the ceremony.

And there we have it; the company are settling in well with the Arcani and Shakana's "crowning" ceremony will be taking place. Hope you all enjoyed this one and will continue to do so.

Translations;

Amrâlimê – My Love