There and Back Again

Chapter Twenty-One: Line of Succession

"Word has reached us that Gandalf has fallen," Thorin murmured staring down at the letter that had arrived, it had come from one of the elven realms and he was surprised that the news had come so quickly. 

Things apparently were not looking too good and the arrival of Thalia and the twins had Thorin concerned about what would happen if things continued to get worse. 

There was a chance that war would come to the mountain and Thorin would lead his men into battle if that did happen; he was growing old now and he feared leaving the throne to one of his children when they were so young. 

Fíli was going to be regent if something happened to him, he would guard the throne and ensure that it was Theo that became King Under the Mountain rather than face being usurped by others who held a claim. 

However, that did not mean that the throne was completely secure right now and Thorin feared what could happen if he died and someone attempted to take the throne for themselves. 

Theo was still only a child and it would be many years before he came of age in dwarven culture; something that concerned Thorin would lead to someone stealing the throne from him. 

Balin sighed leaning back in his chair, these were truly dark times that they had found themselves in and there were many under the mountain that were sure war was coming. 

Now there was no avoiding it and Balin did not know if they would ever truly be prepared for what this could mean, his talk with Gloin about the meeting in Rivendell did nothing to sooth his mind. 

With the one ring in play and not yet destroyed then they needed to prepare the mountain for the moment that things went south; if a war was starting then the defence of the mountain was important. 

"Then we must truly prepare for war," Balin murmured shaking his head, he had hoped it would not come to this and he feared just how they would deal with this. 

They had barely managed to make it through the Battle of the Five Armies and now it seemed that they were heading towards another war that they could not avoid. 

Thorin set down the letter that he had been reading, he had hoped that it would not come to this; he leant back in his chair thinking about what they would have to do next.

"I want to secure the line of succession before anything else," Thorin insisted wanting nothing more than to get everything in order before madness descended; he did not want anyone attempting to take the throne if anything happened to him. 

Balin stared at Thorin surprised that his friend was worried about this, everyone knew that Theo was next in line for the throne; though it was not set in stone. 

If anything happened to the twins, then the throne would go to Fíli and any children that he had with his wife; there were plenty of people that would not contest with those plans. 

However, there were those in the mountain that had their own claims to the throne that might use his untimely death to try and snatch the throne for themselves; it would put the lives of Thalia, Samara and Theo in danger. 

"You think someone might try to steal the throne?" Balin asked concerned trying to think of just who Thorin was thinking about, he could think of no one that would be that stupid to try and steal a throne. 

However, he would admit that in the chaos that came with war that there would always be one idiot that thought that he could take the throne over one of Thorin's children. 

If anything happened to Thorin then the council needed to be sure that his will was followed, he desired for his son to be King then it would be their duty to see the boy with a crown on his head and the right regent in place if he was still a boy.