When Dis said that Fili was more trouble than he was worth she hadn't been exaggerating. Dinner with the baby was an experience in itself. He refused to sit on his own chair, refused to stop screaming until his mother fed him, and refused to let Dis eat, or do anything except look after him. The Princess had told Arien she should probably find somewhere else to sit unless she wanted food splattered all over her. So she'd moved to a seat next to Thorin, Dis watching them with a knowing expression on her face.

It was Freris who asked about their journey, and her homeland. And it was Thorin who told the story, because Arien's mouth had gone dry at the thought of recounting the moment when they'd seen that place. As he got to the point where they crested the hill and beheld the ruins, Thorin's knee brushed hers in silent comfort. He said nothing of that wonderful night on the hilltop, nor anything of any other night like that, but Freris and Dis both had small smiles on their faces. Thorin just stared them down with that burning gaze of his and they shut up. Arien couldn't help smiling.

"I don't want to interrupt this with bad news, but I'm afraid I'll have to," Thrain said. Thorin leaned back, watching his father warily.

"Now that we have completed the necklace for King Thranduil's wife," Thrain said. "The elven king is coming to retrieve it. He is due to arrive tomorrow."

Thorin bared his teeth, but said nothing. Dis groaned.

"Who will look after Fili during the meeting?" she grumbled.

"I'll look after him," Arien offered. "Thror would never allow me into any meeting and I have nothing else to do."

Thorin cut her a glance, but again didn't speak as Dis said

"Oh, thank you so much."

The conversation moved on, but Arien slipped a hand into Thorin's under the table. He squeezed it gently, a thank you and a promise.

They remained like that for the rest of the meal.

***

Returning to her room after dinner, Thorin followed her in and shut the door behind him with a small click. He moved toward her, the flickering candlelight the only thing that illuminated the bedroom. He lowered his head and kissed her slowly, as if savouring the taste of her, his hands pulling her against him. Then he leaned in and whispered in her ear

"I'm afraid that if you want to keep this secret I'll have to leave you, my Princess."

My Princess.

It was those words that made Arien pull his face down to hers and kiss him fiercely, backing him against the wall.

Yes, she was his, had always been and would always be.

Part of her wanted to ask, as Thorin's hands roved all over her, as if searing the feel of her into his mind, if he considered himself hers, and to explain that her own answer had been decided for herself maybe even the first time they'd met. But she couldn't bring herself to tear her mouth from his, not as the desire to rip off her clothes so she could feel those hands on her bare skin swept her away with an intensity that had her digging her nails into his muscled shoulder.

"Arien," he whispered into her mouth.

She only arched into him, begging for more. His tongue brushed hers in lazy, deft strokes that told her precisely what he was capable of doing elsewhere. She moaned. Loudly enough that Thorin pulled away.

She put a hand on his muscled chest, savouring the steady heartbeat beneath. But instead of saying the words that she so badly wanted to, the words that she would mean with her entire heart and soul, she only said

"Well, that was certainly a good way of saying goodnight."