In the Shadow of Mountain Kings

Settling In

Over the weeks following the Battle of the Five Armies (as Ori had named it in his writings), it felt as if none would ever truly see a moment of rest. The first task was collapsing the tunnels made by the were-worms, which the dwarves took great joy in. They caused a rockslide on the hills by setting off a number of explosive charges, sealing the tunnels with the power of nature itself. After that, the bickering and squabbling began, as many things needed to be decided when it came to Erebor, and the company.

The outline of their plans was this: the armies of the Iron Hills, with Dáin at their head, would keep watch over the mountain, and the company of Thorin Oakenshield would return to the Blue Mountains, to guide their people home. Now, when the company of Thorin Oakenshield would be departing was another matter entirely, since they all wished to stay and help with repairs before bringing anyone back into that mountain. Firiel could understand the need to clean; even the nest of clean blankets and pillows Fíli had made for her had needed airing. This would be no place for children or the elderly until the many ruined halls were rebuilt, and the front gate was put together in some proper shape or form. With winter coming in fast, fixing the gate was becoming even more crucial by the minute.

Throughout the first week, everyone had spent their time settling in, picking their homes and rooms ahead of all other arrivals. Firiel, Bilbo, and Tauriel would have their own chambers in the palace halls, a first for any of their race in history. It turned out Fíli had found rooms he would have normally been given his pick of anyways, and was quite insistent on keeping Firiel with him. It was apparently unusual for royal couples to stay that close, but neither of them cared much for the idea of staying separate.

"Give it 'til your first big fight," Glóin had laughed at them, "You'll be itching to send each other to the far sides of Middle Earth."

It was also considered an expectation, Firiel learned from Balin, and the other lords would see it as odd if she didn't have her own room. So Firiel took over the room across the hall from Fíli's, to settle the fretting of their noble class companions. He had rolled his eyes something fierce about the whole affair, until Firiel reminded him it wasn't as if she had to actually stay there. It was more like an oversized storage room, for all the use it got.

Tauriel's room was in the next hall, as it had been from the night they arrived, and the elf seemed quite content with that as well. Kíli set himself up just a bit down the hall from her. Bilbo was given rooms that had typically been reserved for queens and consorts, which the hobbit had greatly protested at first. It was more like an entire wing, and Thorin told him he could do as he pleased with it.

"I'm confused again," Firiel had frowned when Bilbo told her, "Why would a king have consorts and a wife? I thought dwarves chose only one life partner."

"Aye, but nothing says you have to choose, nor choose the person who chooses you. Only about half the men I know have any interest in marriage to begin with," Fíli had smirked, "Besides, who said the consorts are all the king's?"

Unlike ever before, the palace would now be home to an elf and two hobbits, and that of course meant the dwarves were fussing over every tiny detail. The entire company had spent a great deal of time searching for usable furniture, repairing what they could and taking inventory of what they needed. Firiel was surprised to discover that Kíli's whittling on the trip had not just been an idle hobby. It turned out her friend was a skilled carpenter, and had a feel for woodwork in a way none of the other dwarves seemed to. When he was not being summoned around the mountain to check the quality of every last carpentry project underway, he had managed to build Tauriel a table and chairs for her room out of scraps, perfectly made for her height. While both she and Firiel had agreed they were lovely, Kíli had scoffed and complained about the grain, structure, and clashing wood varieties.