Chapter Text
Erebor, 2941 TA, November 14th, 21 days after Smaug's death
Mari sat leaning against a merlon on the battlement, high above the main entrance to Erebor, watching the sun rise over the Desolation, drinking in solitude, as had become her habit the past few weeks. It was a chilly morning and there was a distinct tang of metal in the air. The clouds in the sky, looking like they were dipped in pinks and purples, would likely bring snow to the mountain as the day wore on.
Despite the nippy weather it was a relief to come outside whenever she had a chance. Since they had arrived to the Desolation, she had been feeling nauseated and tired. She herself attributed it to the dragon's long presence in the mountain. Who knew what Smaug had infested the place with? Fresh air helped, at least somewhat and every morning she sought refuge out here on her own, watching the sun rise.
She wasn't completely alone of course. Aside from the usual guards, she had a shadow. Usually it was one of Dwalin's trustworthy dwarves, but on occasion it was the big dwarf himself. Today she was being watched by someone else entirely – Fili. Her friends usually let her have this moment to herself, so his presence did pique her curiosity. Eventually, when the cold drove her inside, she'd have to poke at him about it. For now though, she was happy sitting where she was, facing the red sun with him faintly visible in the shadow of an arch, his blond hair giving his position away.
She studied Dale in the distance. There were subtle signs that the town was slowly coming to life. A thin pillar of smoke rose from somewhere inside the city walls, then another. It was too far off in the distance for sound to reach the mountain, but she imagined people calling out to each other, the sound of someone chopping wood and other noises common in a town slowly waking up.
With a soft sigh she turned her eyes to Mirkwood. There had been little information on the developments in the south. The ravens had told them the elves were returning, but that was the only news they'd had so far. She guessed they would come to the mountain eventually, which could become interesting.
To her left she heard the clang of steps on stone and she shot a cursory glance in that direction, catching Fili's blond hair coming out of the shadows. He was slowly making his way over to where she was seated on the wide and strong wall. Her eyes refocussed on Mirkwood.
"You often look to the south," he said when he drew near. "I can tell it is worrying you."
Mari smiled faintly. "And it's not bothering you at all?"
He squinted his eyes and sent a long look towards the south. "Of course I care. There's no point to losing sleep over it, though,” he continued and came to a halt next to her. “Kili tells me you dream. New ones.”
She hadn't told Kili what she was seeing in her dreams when she woke up, sweat-soaked, and with a hammering heart. Quietly, so she wouldn’t wake him, she would get out of bed on silent feet, then cross the floor to the nearest embrasure. They had hung skins over them to keep the cold out and she would tear the skin to the side and stare into the darkness, letting the cold wash over her to wake up properly so the dream wouldn’t stay with her. Other times she woke with a dull ache in her chest, grieving over the world as it was, wishing it could be different, even though she knew it was futile.
"How would he know it's new? I have told him nothing." She knew she was churlish, because it would be obvious to someone who'd shared her bed the past two years, that the nature of her nightmares had changed lately.
"Something else terrifies you, more than the orcs that used to slay you before. Then there are the times you wake and simply stare for the rest of the night into the fire. He never saw you like that before. It makes us both uneasy." Fili looked at her with concern.
She tried to shrug, but the old wound twinged and she scrunched up her face in pain. Fili reached out and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Still bothering you?" He stepped unusually close. Ever since they had arrived in the Iron Hills in summer he'd kept a slight distance between them in public spaces, the way he hadn't before. It didn't take much imagination to understand why and she'd been perfectly fine with it.
Something was different this morning, but she couldn't pinpoint precisely what. She took another look at him and noticed the shadows under his eyes.
"It will always bother me, until the day I die," she said, then smiled.
"You were healed," Fili insisted with a frown.
She nodded. "By the best. But it leaves a mark on anyone who lives through it."
He shook his head and his gaze grew solemn. "I'll never forget. It was an awful promise I had to make."
"You know I couldn't trust Kili," she said softly. "Besides, I doubt I could have done it if the roles had been reversed. How could I ask him to do something I couldn't do myself?"
Fili sighed heavily. "I understood why you asked me, but had I been forced to follow through with it, it would have been the hardest thing I’d ever had to do."
With a smile she put her hand over his, pressing it reassuringly. "Good thing then we crossed into Lothlorien before I was hit."
"Anyone who questions your loyalty should know what you did." He twisted his hand around and gripped hers, pressing tightly as he slowly brought their joined hands to his metal-clad chest. It was cold under her skin and she frowned, her eyes drawn to his torso. He was wearing a cuirass, she realised. Chain mail. Next to her he placed a helmet with a quiet metal scrape. She hadn't noticed before that it was in his hand.
With increasing concern she looked him over. Fili was more protected now than when they had taken on the dragon, she realised. He was expecting a fight. She swallowed hard and raised her eyes to meet his steady blue gaze. This was all wrong, she thought, and her stomach decided at that moment to start churning. She curled her fingers trapped in his hand, and he tightened the grip in response. He was not going to let her walk away from him.
Something must have happened that she was unaware of. It wasn’t an outer threat or she hadn’t been allowed out on the ramparts. Kili would have warned her and told her what was happening and what they should do, but he had been gone since the evening before. With his usual smile he had kissed her forehead and had told her to not wait up, because he could be late. When she had woken up this morning, she had thought that he was maybe having breakfast already. He rarely slept more than three-four hours a night these days. Thinking back, she knew he hadn’t come back.
"Where's Kili?" she blurted with an alarmed voice.
A heavier gait reached Mari's ears. She glanced over Fili's shoulder and met Dwalin's sincere gaze. Fili slowly released her hand and turned towards the older warrior, positioning himself between Mari and the approaching relative. She couldn't help notice that Fili’s hands rested on his swords and that his usual ease was gone. He was ready to pull his swords. Dwalin's eyes missed nothing and though he didn't change his pace, he grew tense and hawk-eyed.
"Good morn," Dwalin greeted them quietly. Far too quietly.
Fili gave him a short nod, but offered nothing else.
"I have been ordered ta escort ye ta see the king, Miss Mari," Dwalin formally informed her, looking straight at her, past Fili.
The blond heir was already straight as a spear, but he somehow managed to square his shoulders even more. "Why?" he demanded, and Mari glanced at him, surprised by his tone. Fili could hardly take Dwalin on and hope to live, but he outranked the older warrior and he let Dwalin know that he did. It was the future king talking.
Dwalin hesitated for a moment, studying the blond dwarf who was looking every inch the crown prince that he was.
"Yer brother has been arrested fer treason, and the king has reason ta believe he has co-conspirators." Dwalin’s voice was heavy and his face was weary.
Mari's lungs deflated and she stared at Dwalin in disbelief. Fili's words seemed like they were spoken at a great distance and when she registered them, they had ceased to mean anything to her. She closed her eyes. Thorin's escalating paranoia and aggressive behaviour had been troublesome, but despite his increasingly erratic behaviour she hadn't expected something like this to happen.
"No!" Fili's words cut into her consciousness and she snapped her eyes open. "You know this is complete and utter madness. It has to be stopped."
"He's yer king! Continue and ye will face tha same fate as yer brother," Dwalin growled, standing very still, like carved in the very granite of Erebor itself. Mari drew a deep breath as she watched him. Like Fili, he showed signs of being off kilter too. She noticed that he was missing his weapons. Dwalin never went anywhere without at least some of them. Grasper and Keeper, his axes, were not on his back and he wasn't carrying his war hammer either. When she looked at his face she realised he seemed drawn, like he had lost faith. Here was doing his duty, but it was one he didn't believe in.
Undeterred, Fili continued his protests. "There are no others that are as loyal as Kili and myself, save you and Balin. The fact that he is accusing Kili of treason is proof enough that he's not himself. If we allow him to put Kili on trial or worse, execute him, we'll soon have a rebellion on our hands, and Dain would step in as a sensible alternative to the throne.” Fili shook his head. “I can't say I would blame him."
Mari slowly scooted from her position and slipped down to the ground. It was all wrong, she knew it was, but Fili and Dwalin were about to manoeuvre themselves into corners they wouldn't be able to get out of without loss of face or a fight. It could end in serious injury and possible death. She couldn't watch that happen to either of them.
"Fili," she said with a low voice. She put her hand on his chain-mail-covered arm, and began slowly rounding him as she glanced at him with a reassuring smile. Fili spun towards her and snatched up her wrist in a firm grip, positioning himself between her and Dwalin again, invading her personal space to the point of almost sandwiching her between himself and the wall behind her.
"You have to try to reach Uncle. I can only do so much, and Kili has failed," he hissed in her ear.
She ducked her head, trying to hide in his hair as best she could to keep her face out of Dwalin's sight – not an easy thing to accomplish since Fili was about as tall as she was, giving her very little to actually hide behind.
"I don't know if I can do anything!" she hissed back. "It's not like Thorin usually took my advice before."
"Try convincing Dwalin. You might reach him," he breathed and she shuddered both because of the air ghosting over her ear and the grave situation she found herself in. Dwalin cleared his throat behind Fili's back and she instinctively peeked up at him, meeting his flustered glance.
"Ye might want ta consider how this looks," the warrior groused.
Fili moved away, enough to lean his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. When he pulled back she met his eyes and gave him a single nod. He stepped back and let her wrist go, allowing her to pass and stand in front of Dwalin.
"There’s no need to haul me off like a common criminal," she said with a lopsided smile.
"Yer nawt, so ye have little ta fear," Dwalin replied and his eyes softened a bit. It gave her some hope that he perhaps would listen to her.
"Dwalin, of course I fear what’s going to happen,” she protested gently but earnestly. “Kili locked up for treason? Me being fetched like this because the king suspects of a conspiracy? I can’t expect a fair hearing, and you know it." Because she was nervous, her stomach began churning in an alarming fashion, and it forced her to pause and breathe with an open mouth. She closed her eyes momentarily. Her mouth filled with saliva, and instinctively she swallowed before she could stop herself.
"Oh bloody hell," she moaned and tore away from the two dwarves as bile filled her mouth. Leaning on her hands against the wall, she heaved again and again, though her stomach was empty. Tears streamed down her cheeks and her knees were about to buckle when a solid arm wrapped around her waist, holding her upright, at the same time as a palm supported her forehead.
"Breathe slowly. Don't swallow. Spit if you must," Fili coached with a calm voice.
She snapped after air but willed herself to calm down, and slowly the reflex to vomit ebbed away. As she straightened and opened her eyes a handkerchief materialised in front of her and she blinked gratefully as she reached for it to clean herself up.
"Why haven't you told us you're sick?" Fili demanded, watching her with concern.
"I'm not sick. I've had bouts of nausea since we came to the Desolation. It's something here making me feel less than stellar, that's all." She smiled weakly. "It's worse in the mornings after being shut up in the mountain all night. The fresh air usually makes me feel better." She reached out and patted him on the arm. "Thank you," she added and turned back to Dwalin, taking a deep breath.
"I have a few things to say, before I'm dragged off, if that's all right with you." She couldn't keep the weariness out of her voice and she wished she could sit down for a while. As if Fili sensed her exhaustion he stepped back in and steadied her, holding her around her waist again.
Dwalin looked at her for long moments, and then he nodded reluctantly. Looking into his eyes she saw the inner conflict and her heart went out to him. His position was a difficult one, she knew. Thorin was not only his king and commander, but a friend too, one he had known all his life. He, if anyone, would know when something wasn't right. Having to execute the orders spawned in his friend's paranoid mind, putting him in direct conflict with the young heirs he had raised and knew better than anyone, aside from their mother – it had to be very difficult. For all his strength and capability, he must feel powerless in this situation. Mari took another deep breath and steadied herself as best she could. She had one shot at this. She couldn't fail.
"Thorin and I have never quite had the same familiarity as I've had with the rest of you. That doesn't mean it has been bad. Different, certainly, but fine. But I have watched him change, and it's not the same Thorin wearing the crown now, as we fought side-by-side with at Greenfields. Once we came here and had killed Smaug, it really took a dive. You have to admit you have seen it too."
He hesitated for a while and Mari held her breath. "Aye," he finally admitted darkly, briefly averting his eyes. It was like her heart remembered it should beat again. It wasn’t over, though.
"People are whispering about madness, but I don't think it is. The rest of you who are related, are unaffected. Dain's family branch is also unaffected. It's only ever the kings suffering from it. It just cannot be 'in the blood', or other family members would be affected by the same affliction." She paused to catch her breath for a moment.
"You can see when it happens," she said. "It's something about the eyes and how he pulls in on himself – that's when you know it's coming. I keep thinking it's like he's two people, where the Other is about to slowly take over." She shook her head and shifted slightly. Fili adjusted his grip on her and she looked up at Dwalin to gauge his reaction. He was listening intently, with half an eye on Fili, not comfortable with their closeness. She really wanted to kick the older dwarf in the shin, telling him to pull his head out of the gutter.
"Have you seen it?" she asked, focussing on persuading Dwalin to help his friend before it was too late.
Dwalin stirred marginally, uncomfortable with her question. "I can't betray my king." His voice was a raspy whisper.
"No one's asking you to betray Thorin. It's not what it's about. You knew Thror. You saw Thrain. And now you see Thorin, here. Don't tell me you don't see that something is very wrong." She motioned towards the mountain. "This isn't Thorin. He can be disgruntled, quick to anger. Harsh. But he can also be generous and admit openly when he's wrong. And he can smile. The Thorin endlessly pacing inside the mountain right now, is not that person." She paused to catch her breath for a beat. "It's just too familiar for me to ignore, but I don't know exactly what's causing it. I can bet my life on that it's something from the outside affecting him, something. . . " Her eyes darted towards Mirkwood and the south. "Smaug may be dead, but that doesn't do much good, if all is lost because of Thorin's increasingly erratic behaviour. The source must be found. This must end or we'll also condemn the next king to the same fate.” She glanced at Fili. “If he even is allowed to become king. It's no secret there are those who oppose the idea of Fili's ascension." In Fili’s eyes she saw fear. She ignored the impulse to give him a reassuring hug. This was neither the time nor the place, in particular since she already was subject to slander.
She turned back to Dwalin. The instant she laid her eyes on him, she knew she had won, and her heart ached for the great warrior. On impulse she reached out and put her hand on his arm. He gave her a long look, then turned to Fili and grunted in response.
"Mahal's forges," he sighed. "This. . . " he made a helpless motion with his hand. "It's nawt as simple as ta order him ta stand down" His shoulders sagged and he looked away, blinking rapidly.
At her side she felt Fili straighten. "We must remove him. Put him to sleep. It's not hard to do; a bit of wine and some opium, and he's knocked out." It was bluntly put, though it wasn't said as if it was an order. "Once he's out, we'll lock him up in a safe chamber, while we try and find what's causing this.” He paused and Mari saw him sag a bit. “Meanwhile, everything has to continue as normal. Make certain the rebuilding and cleaning up continues, and that people are fed. No plan changes."
Dwalin grunted, still not facing Fili, but he nodded.
"You'll need to explain his absence," Mari pointed out quietly.
"An attempt on his life,” Fili replied quickly. “We could hint at him being poisoned. It makes it easy to explain why he's not in his halls either, recovering, since we fear someone might want to finish the job." He looked grim as he spoke, and she realised this had been a genuine fear of his, that Thorin would be murdered. Dwalin finally looked at Fili and she could tell this had definitely been his fear too. Finally Fili and Dwalin had found common ground; they worried about Thorin.
"He'll need to be looked after." Her eyes wandered between them. "I think I can do some good there," she suggested.
They stared at her for a moment. Fili shifted his weight, throwing a glance at Dwalin, who returned it, both of them uneasy. For a moment her nausea bubbled up again, and when she hung her head Fili's grip tightened on her. She breathed through the nausea, then raised her head and turned to face Fili.
"I'll. . . try to find out what's going on with him.” When she saw that he wanted to protest, she shook her head. “You know I can't be anywhere near you in this situation, so it's the perfect solution. I'm out of sight and out of mind, hopefully."
Fili sighed heavily, but didn't tell her no, even if she could tell he really wished to. Dwalin shuffled next to them, bringing their attention to him. He looked dejected but he pulled himself up, squaring his shoulders.
"I'll find my brother. Meet me in the armoury once she's resting," he said with resolution. He and Fili gazed at each other for a beat, then Fili nodded at him. Dwalin glanced at Mari, gave her a grave nod before he turned and strode towards the entrance, leaving them standing there, watching him leave. Mari's knees buckled as he disappeared inside, but Fili kept her upright.
"Fuck," she growled and tried to convince her legs to cooperate.
"Dirty mouth you have sometimes, sister," Fili commented blandly.
"As if yours isn't," she sighed.
"Feel like being carried inside?"
She snorted. "Not really."
"I thought you were used to it by now. I think it might be Kili’s favourite pastime," he said with dry amusement.
"I think he does it because he likes to pick me up." She tried to find some purchase with her feet but her legs kept being far too wobbly, much to her annoyance. The adrenaline had worn off and she was exhausted, and it was topped off with nausea.
"Yes, because being shot and otherwise mauled, and collapsing because of exhaustion and illness has nothing to do with it," he deadpanned.
"No one ever carried me around before I came here," she protested.
"And you died. Come here," he resolutely said and moved in, picking her up.
"That was below the belt," she sighed, but she didn't fight him.
"You have to be careful, Mari. Don't forget, Uncle's a warrior. And strong. He's capable of all sorts of foul play." Fili clenched his jaw as he brought her inside.
"I'll be watching myself," she promised.
"I don't like it," he said grimly.
"You don't have to like it, just make sure no one gets any ideas about putting Dain on the throne." She leaned her head against his armoured shoulder, drawing deep breaths to stave off the nausea getting worse because of the rocking motion of being carried.
"Let Oin take a look at you. Please."
She groaned in frustration. "Stop nagging. You're like Kili."
"In this case, I fully agree with him. If it's serious you may need to leave the mountain for a while."
"Can't do that now. And if it were truly dangerous I'd be dead already." She smiled faintly at him. "I’ve read my Agatha Christie, you know."
He huffed and glared down at her. "Sometimes I wonder if you're making those things up."
"You know that I don't. Where are you taking me?" She glanced in the direction they were heading.
"To Gisla."
She sighed deeply in relief, even if nausea was hitting her in waves now, intensified by the swinging motion of being carried. "I'm getting seasick. Are we there yet?"
"Soon," he replied with a smile.
Gisla was up and dressed, and if Mari were to guess, her friend had never gone to sleep. The black-haired dwarf lady gasped as she opened the door and let them inside.
"I'm not dying," Mari quickly said and waved at Gisla, as Fili crossed the floor to a chair by the fire.
"You're not doing well either," Fili said pointedly. He gently put her down, and then sank down on his knees in front of her. "Please take care of yourself."
She smiled encouragingly at him. "Don't concern yourself with me. Just make sure the mountain is still in one piece, with everyone alive once this is over." She reached out and tugged him into a hug. "Good luck." Hesitantly he returned it and then he quickly rose, faced Gisla, and took her hand, leading her back to the door.
With a hushed voice Fili informed Gisla of the progress, as well as about Mari's condition, expressing his concern about her health.
"I'm still not dying!" Mari called out in protest.
Fili sighed. "I must leave. I'll send a message once it's all settled." Gisla nodded and he leaned in to kiss her.
When Gisla had closed the door behind Fili, she briefly leaned her forehead against the door.
"Just so you know, there might be some gossip about me and Fili," Mari said tiredly from her place by the fire.
"Doesn't matter what you do. Some people will gossip about you and Fili. And Ori. And Dwalin. And Thorin." Gisla turned around and smiled. "It's not about you. They don’t like what you represent."
Mari nodded. "So, want to tell me what has happened? I take it Kili really wasn't having a late night, keeling over someplace because he got too drunk?"
Gisla sat down next to her and shook her head. "He confronted Thorin last night. Got himself locked up."
"Yeah, Dwalin told me he was incarcerated. Why didn't he tell me he was going to talk to Thorin?" There was a note of hurt in Mari's voice as she asked.
"He wanted you safe. If you didn't know, you'd just do what you usually do and have no answers if brought in for questioning."
"I was being watched." Mari sighed. "So that's why Fili showed up this morning."
"Keeping you from simply being dragged off and locked up too," Gisla confirmed. "He hoped you'd be able to say something, convincing the right person to stop this lunacy."
Mari leaned her head against the backrest. "It worked. With a little help from my nausea." She pulled her lips into a brief smile.
Gisla nodded, though she scrutinised her friend closely.
"Not dying," Mari said in a sing-song voice.
"So you say," Gisla said dryly.
"If the dragon had left anything that was actually dangerous for me, I’d be dead by now." Mari sighed. "Please trust me on this."
"What if it's something else?" Gisla asked. "We're not that easy to kill with poison, but that doesn't apply to you."
"Then you'd have to put Bombur behind bars. And anyone trying to poison me would use a dose large enough to knock you out, which would definitely kill me. As I'm not dead, I doubt someone is deliberately trying to poison me."
She sighed. "I think I need to eat something. I haven't had breakfast yet and I've had a tough morning. Do you have something light, like crackers? Something to drink would be nice too."
Gisla practically shot out of her chair and quickly brought out some biscuits. As Mari nibbled on one, Gisla began making tea.
"Ginger tea. Good for upset stomachs," Gisla announced when she poured it and handed a cup to Mari.
For a long while Gisla studied Mari who nibbled biscuits and sipped tea. "Do you have any idea at all?" she asked. "What's wrong with Thorin, I mean."
"I recognise the way he's acting, which is a clue, of course,” She sipped on the tea. It was strong but she supposed it needed to be to help combat the nausea. “I don't know the source though, and I'm a bit at a loss as to why it has exploded the way it has just recently. I think I need to find out when things started to get out of hand."
Loud banging on the door startled them both. Mari’s heart began beating hard, and she feared who the person on the other side of the door could be. Gisla drew a deep breath and rose from her chair, crossed the floor and opened the door with the confidence of someone not expecting anything untoward. Without a word, she stepped aside to let the person outside come in.
Mari peeked at the door, then quickly pushed herself out of the chair when she saw Kili coming inside. She hurried across the floor to meet him. The grim expression he had melted away when he saw her, and when Gisla closed the door behind him, he wrapped her into a crushing hug.
"What were you thinking?" Mari chided him with a scowl, when he released her. "This could have ended really badly! He's not in control of himself. Treason is a very serious accusation! He could have had you executed!"
"Something had to be done and fast, and the only thing that would be serious enough for people to spring into action to try to salvage the situation was if either Fili or I faced Uncle's wrath. It couldn't be Fili, so it had to be me," he explained gently. For some reason he looked almost giddy as he bore the brunt of her anger, and when Mari shot a look in Gisla's direction, she noticed how Gisla was quelling a smile.
"You really don't think I can get angry when you put yourself in danger like this?" she asked and turned back to Kili. "Of course I can!" she exclaimed.
He burst into laughter and pulled her back into his embrace.
"Whatever makes you happy, love," she grumbled dryly, because she understood the reason for his mirth – the good old dwarven possessiveness, which she didn't have.
"I had all but given up hope," he said and slackened his hold on her.
"Well, you've not done anything quite this hairbrained before," she replied.
"Unlike someone else I know," he said, and Mari's face heated up. "Which leads me to the reason why I'm here." He sighed heavily. "Mari, I don't think it's wise for you to lock yourself up with Uncle. First of all, you're not well. He's asleep and when he wakes up. . . "
"He'll be furious? Yes, I can imagine. Did you persuade Oin to help or did you steal the opium?" Mari asked.
"He hadn't slept for days, and Oin was ready to slip the opiate in his wine of his own accord."
She nodded. Oin was an eccentric character who didn’t necessarily listen to others even when he could hear them. He’d do things because they needed to be done and pretended to not hear stupid things. "And the rest? How many know?"
"Ori. Of course. Dori and Nori. Nori is out somewhere, listening in on what people are gossiping about and spreading news, while Dori is running the household, keeping unwetted servants and anyone else from entering the royal wing, to keep Uncle’s whereabouts a secret. Dwalin and Balin obviously. You and I, Fili and Gisla. Bombur because he runs the kitchen. If Bombur knows, Bofur and Bifur will learn about it. The guards Dwalin trusts. That's it. None of the servants brought here from the Iron Hills have been let in on this."
"Gloin?" Mari arched her eyebrows.
"Balin has called him in, but I don't know if he's been told yet, and either way, he doesn't have a task in this particular venture. Not much he can do really. His work will not change simply because of this."
Mari nodded. Gloin was feisty and would not take lightly to being excluded.
"I'll just pick up a few things I need-" Mari began, but she went quiet when Kili grabbed her shoulders tightly, gravely gazing at her.
"He'll be livid. Under normal circumstances he would be able to contain it, but he has lost his sensibility. Completely and utterly. I never thought I'd say this, but we cannot rule out that he could actually harm you." Kili looked pleadingly at her.
Mari reached up and put her hand on his cheek. "I know-"
"He's chained up," Kili said, cutting her off.
She stared at him with her mouth slightly ajar. "You. . . chained him up?"
Kili nodded. "We took his boots and chained one ankle. He can't reach the door."
"I thought you were going to keep him confined. . . " she said, stunned by what they had done.
"We don't have the people to keep up the security required to simply lock him up. We can't risk an escape attempt," he explained. “I wish we didn’t need to do this.”
She drew a deep breath and blew out the air, squaring her shoulders and put her hands on her hips. "He can't wake up alone in such a condition."
Kili started looking desperate. "He could. . . despite being chained up he still can. . . you could do nothing. . . " He went quiet and ducked his head.
"He can't reach the door, you said. Right?" she asked. He gave her a small nod. "Then the door is the safe place. If it gets too bad, I can leave and come back, but he can't wake up alone. Someone must be there."
A hammering on the door interrupted them. Kili moved himself and Mari away from the door as Gisla opened it to receive a message, which she quickly read.
"I'm called to Balin's office," Gisla revealed and turned her head towards the other two. "Kili, you're asked to join us as soon as you can. No lingering. The message is written in Fili's own hand."
Mari gripped Kili's hands, pried them from her shoulders, and tugged him towards the fire. "He can't reach me," she whispered and looked intently at Kili. "He can yell, curse, threaten all he likes, but he can't do anything. If he throws anything, I'm out of there. I'll be fine. You, on the other hand, must be with Fili because he needs all your backing or we'll have chaos here. You're good at this. What's more, you're well-liked among Dain's people and Fili needs that."
She put her hand on his cheek and smiled. "Come and see me when you can. I'm quite sure Thorin would appreciate seeing you as well. It was the Other who imprisoned you, not Thorin."
"I promise I'll come this evening," he replied, not looking convinced that he should let her keep an eye on Thorin but he had to let it go.
"We must go," Gisla announced, and Mari and Kili turned towards her. Mari nodded and glanced back at Kili.
"Come on. Let's do this." She smiled encouragingly at him.