A War Not Yet Won {Thorin Oakenshield Sequel to My Heart My Mountain My King}

Chapter 4 - An Unexpected Announcement

We traveled back to Erebor with caution. Azog was definitely back. But how, and why?

We warned Bard that there had been an Orc attack, and he should be on the lookout.

"We have to ready the kingdom," Thorin said. "This was completely unexpected."

I shrugged. "Most things are."

I thought back to my unexpected journey with Thorin. Being thrust into a journey that I never consented on going on. And boy, was I sure glad that I did.

"Gandalf should be back in a few days," I said. "I'm sure he'll know something."

Thorin nodded and weakly smiled. "I hope so."

He looked down at my chest and touched the emerald necklace.

"This goes quite nicely with your eyes," he commented.

"I know," I agreed. "You have great taste."

He cocked his head. "I have great taste in everything." He gave me a wicked grin. "Especially women."

I returned his grin. We kissed once more, then set off to the dining hall for supper.

After the usual craze of first digging into the meal, Thorin stood up to get everyone's attention.

"Listen," he said. "When Jaedda and I were escorting Thranduil back to Greenwood, we were ambushed by Orcs."

Everyone gasped and started whispering about why there were orcs in Greenwood. Thorin nodded.

"This was no ordinary Orc attack." The crowd hushed. "It was led by Azog the Defiler."

This caused a large uproar.

"I thought he was dead!" Ori exclaimed.

"We all thought that," I chirped in. "But, there was no mistake. We heard his voice. It was him." Thorin and I looked at each other. "There was no doubt about it."

"Then, what are we to do?" Kili asked. "We haven't had nearly enough time to rebuild our armies from the last Orc battle we were in. What if they have even more of them spawning somewhere? What then?!"

Thorin held out his hands. "Calm down!" he commanded. "Everybody, just calm down. It will be alright. If we alert the Elves of Rivendell and Lothlorien, as well as the 7 Dwarf kingdoms, I'm sure we'll be completely capable of defending ourselves."

"Trust us, everything is going to be alright," I reassured.

After things died down a bit, we went up to bed.

"How many times am I going to have to kill the pale orc?" Thorin asked himself.

I chuckled. "More than twice, I suppose."

"What makes him so resilient?"

I shrugged. "Perhaps it's his charming good looks."

He gave me a sarcastic glare. "Sure..."

"Thorin," I began. He looked up into my eyes. "Is everything going to be okay?"

He smiled and laid down next to me. He brushed a lock of hair out of my face and kissed my cheek.

"I promise you. Everything will be fine."