Warrior's Heart

Chapter Six

Arielle turned away shaking her head. "You are talking madness, Thorin, and I will not listen."

"Love," he caught her by the shoulders to turn her toward him once more, "you must listen. You must hear me because—"

"You are coming back." She broke away from him, moving out onto the terrace. "And I refuse to listen to any more rubbish."

"I'm facing a dragon, Arielle. A dragon who breathes fire. And while I hope I do return, it is entirely possible that I will not."

"And if that happens, I will not marry again. I will raise Tiriana in Erebor, surrounded by her family, and that will be that." She looked up at him, her throat squeezing tight as she whispered, "How can you stand here and tell me I should look for another?"

"Because you have so much love to give. And someone else should be fortunate enough to experience being loved by you. Trust me, as one who knows, it is an amazing thing." He caught her face in his hands, tilting it to meet his eyes. She could barely see him through the filmy veil of tears. "An amazing thing, princess. And you should share it. I don't want you being alone, being lonely. Your happiness is what I'd want."

"I cannot see me loving anyone the way I do you, Thorin." She shook her head. "And I don't want to."

"I do not want that for you. I do not want you mourning me for the rest of your days, princess. I want you to smile, to laugh, for your laughter is one of the most beautiful sounds in Middle Earth. Your laughter, in the dark, when you are just lying in my arms is beyond beautiful."

She squeezed her eyes shut to try to keep the tears at bay, but couldn't. How could he stand there and so calmly tell her to go to another man, should he fall? How could he think she could ever want anyone else? She would spent the rest of her days mourning him, even as he lived on in their daughter.

"Thorin, you cannot ask this of me."

"I can and I will." His thumbs moved lightly over her cheeks, his eyes dark and more serious than she'd ever seen. "I want you to love again. Have more babies if you wish. Love them as much as you do Tiriana and when you look at our daughter and see me, smile. And when you look at them, smile as well."

"Please, stop," she whispered, her voice breaking as she let her forehead come to rest against his chest. She slid her arms about his waist to pull him closer. "You are coming back."

"Oh, love," he murmured back and kissed the top of her head. "I wish I could promise I will, but—"

"Lie to me, then," she said, her voice muffled by his tunic, "I don't care."

He wrapped his arms about her, pressing his cheek into her hair. "Do you remember the night we met? When I carried you back to the room we shared?"

"Of course I do," she let out a laugh that was almost as much a sob. "You dropped me."

He held her away, a smile playing at his lips and his eyes softly blue. "I wouldn't have, had you not been wriggling about when I shifted you to try and unlock the blasted door."

"Be that as it may, you dropped me."

"It wasn't intentional. I rather liked how you felt in my arms." His eyes softened further. "At that moment, I knew."

"You knew? Knew what?"

"You were mine." He loomed over her, almost blocking out the lamplight as his voice softened. "Kili asked me earlier, if I knew when we met that I'd marry you. I told him no. But I lied. I knew. I knew the moment I touched you, when I grabbed your wrist to keep you from stabbing me again. I felt it then, something I couldn't explain at the time, but looking back, know exactly what it was."