Mermaids Curse

Imladris

Thorin stood in the main entrance of Erebor, in the background his large stone thrown sat tall and overlooking his kingdom. Upon his head sat what was his grandfather's crown, to symbolise that he was now the King of Erebor. He wore robes of royal blue, encrusted with gems that sparkled under his coat with thick, black furs and a belt that shone in the light of the mountain halls. He seemed to be in deep conversation with Fili who also wore a crown of smaller grandness.

"Look what I made boys!" A voice called that sounded oddly familiar, but somehow different. There was that familiar playfulness, but it was also unusually graceful.

Both Thorin and Fili turned to see Amara come sashaying out from around a mighty stone pillar, her hips swinging as she walked elegantly towards them, a small but brazen smile pulling at her lips and a plate balanced effortlessly in her left hand. Dream Thorin grinned at her as she glided towards them, her heavy, red, lightly jewelled dress swinging and the white furs of her coat giving her a hearty appearance. Her hair was half pulled back out her face, and braided the same way Thorin's hair was with the large silver clasp at the back and the two, smaller braids starting behind her ears and ending with two silver beds at the end.

"What is it?" Fili asked curiously as she closed the gap between them, standing before them and holding out the plate.

"I believe they are called profiteroles." She grinned at them, wafting the round pastries in front of them. She held them out to dream Thorin first and raised her perfectly shaped brows at him expectantly. He took one and popped it into his mouth, humming in appreciation when the pastry popped and thick cream filled his mouth.

"They're good." He told his nephew, licking his lips and Amara handed Fili the plate before taking a few steps closer to Thorin. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leant against him, her head on his chest. Dream Thorin wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair.

"To nulma em." She mumbled, the words rolling from her lips in a melodic fashion and rubbed her head against him affectionately. She then looked up her large golden eyes meeting his. Dream Thorin seemed to understand what her musical words meant for he smiled and kissed her forehead, then her button nose and then finally meeting her lips with his lovingly.

Thorin woke with a start, choking on his anxiety and eyes wide with alarm. His heart was beating uncomfortably fast so he thumbed his fist against his chest to ease the pounding.

"Are you alright, Thorin?" Fili asked, peering at him with concern. It was still dark and seemingly hours away from dawn with Fili still on his turn of watch.

"Yes. Strange dream." He answered briskly, he couldn't bring himself to say it was a nightmare, for it wasn't.

Fili simply nodded but didn't look convinced.

"Take rest," Thorin told him, his voice low to not wake the rest of the company. His eyes desperate to search for the half breed. "I'll take it from here."

Fili didn't need to be told twice and he nodded, sending his uncle a small smile as he stood and began to make his way over to where his bed roll was next to Kili. Thorin's eyes followed him as he passed Amara. She was curled into a tight ball and as Fili stepped over her she made one of her noises.

Fili smirked as Thorin frowned.

"Strange little thing, isn't she?" Fili said, stopping to peer at her.

"She's cold." Thorin replied, instinctively taking off his coat and throwing it to Fili. His nephew shot him a questioning look as he caught it. "Cover her."

"What, how do you know?"

"That noise. It means she's cold." He had noticed her making the same noise earlier that day and also a few nights ago in the caves when she joined them for supper. For some reason she refused to go near the fire and then wondered why she got cold. However, she only seemed to get cold in the open air, in the water (which in those caves was positively icy) she seemed perfectly fine.