Kings and Masters

Chapter 10

Thorin watched as Oin finished examining his youngest nephew, "why did this happen?" he asked. It was very disheartening to see Kili back in bed after it had seemed his injuries were all behind him. His brunette nephew still wheezed as he breathed, though he looked to be in a very sour mood, grunting a bit as Oin put his ear trumpet against his chest.

"It seems his lungs were more damaged than we originally thought," Oin said. "The lad's got a touch of pneumonia, but I'm afraid these attacks may be the result of permanent lung damage."

"Permanent?" Thorin repeated. "You mean he will continue to have these attacks?"

Oin nodded, "We caught the pneumonia early so with a bit of bed rest, he'll recover, but he'll be more susceptible to respiratory ailments from now on. He'll need to take care not to get worked up, stress can bring on the attacks."

Thorin pulled up a chair and sat in between his two nephews beds as Oin finished up with Kili. "I'll send a servant in with some soup for the lads," Oin suggested. "They both need to keep up their strength."

Thorin watched as Oin left the room and turned to Kili who promptly rolled over on his side, "why don't you ask Fili," he grumbled.

Thorin turned to his eldest nephew who was watching the whole thing from his own bed. He gazed up at his uncle with what Thorin could only interpret as guilt, "What got him so upset?" Thorin asked.

"I'd rather not say," Fili said, glancing down, avoiding Thorin's gaze. "I'd rather just move on."

At that, Kili whirled back around in bed, glaring across the room at his brother with anger in his eyes that surprised Thorin, "You'd rather move on!" he gasped. "Are you afraid to tell Uncle what you were trying to make me do?"

"Kili, lay still," Thorin warned, feeling a bit of a headache coming on as he tried to understand what was happening here. He had one crippled nephew and one nephew who couldn't breathe, both with frayed nerves, hurt feelings, and seemingly hopeless outlooks on life.

"I don't want to lie still," Kili shot back, sitting up in bed, gripping his chest a bit as the effort got him a bit winded. "That's what he has been doing. He's been laying here feeling sorry for himself and now he wants me to kill him."

"What!" Thorin started a bit, staring wide eyed at Fili in bewilderment. "Fili, is this what this is about?"

"I said I don't want to talk about it," Fili growled, his mood souring a bit at Kili's words. "Kili, you don't know anything."

Thorin let out a long sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to calm his own nerves, "that's enough, both of you," he said firmly. He tried to sort out the turmoil going on here, the frustration at this situation that he felt threatened to overwhelm him. He slowly looked up, studying both his nephews carefully,

"Fili, you have been laying in this bed for over a month," he began slowly. "I know you've been through so much and I know it's going to be hard to move past this kind of... change in your life, but I cannot believe you would ask your brother to kill you."

"It's my life," Fili shot back. "I'll choose when to end it at my will. None of you know what this is like. You don't know what it's like to be faced with being a cripple for the rest of your life. I'm a dwarf warrior and if I can't be a dwarf warrior anymore, what is the point in going on?"

Thorin shook his head, not wanting to accept what he was hearing. His heart broke for his nephew. He knew very well he would want the same thing if he were in Fili's situation. But he would not accept the possibility of Fili's death, not even by his own hand. What could he do? He felt desperate. His nephew needed to feel valuable again, to feel his own worth again.