The dragon was gone. Smaug was no more. Thorin Oakenshield had finally achieved his long quest to reclaim the throne of Erebor and he was officially King of his people once more, and in spite of the fact that he had promised himself he would never do it because of how long the quest to reclaim his homeland from the fire-breather had been, as he sat on the throne inside the mountain one evening, the Company scattered around the place and the hobbit, Bilbo, on his way back to Bag End in the Shire, his thoughts turned to finding a mate.

"You ok there laddie" Balin asked as he approached the man who now was officially his King if it had only been in name before. Thorin was pulled from his thoughts as he saw the old white haired dwarf walking towards him at a steady pace, simply nodding in response, not wanting to surprise Balin much by revealing what he was really thinking about, but as usual Balin refused to take a simple nod for an answer and pressed further, almost falling off the seat beside Thorin when the truth came out; that Thorin Oakenshield was finally wanting to settle down.

"I am well aware Balin of the fact that it won't be an easy thing to be able to do; finding a mate suitable to help run a newly returned kingdom" Thorin confided, "But since reclaiming the homeland that was always rightfully ours I have stood on that balcony and watched all of the couples in Erebor and other lands where our people dwell during our travels and lately I've begun to think that maybe I have been missing out; though it would have hardly been fair on a maiden to wait with no guarantee that I would succeed alive".

"That is a fair argument for waiting to be finding yourself a suitable companion indeed" the older dwarf agreed, "But where are you going to look because you have clearly not shown any kind of interest in a woman of our own kind so I can only guess that you're going to start to look further afield". Thorin nodded, "Indeed I am and while some might think myself to be a bit crazy for even contemplating such a thing; my gut instinct tells me that the right one is in Rivendell; though to get to her I must get past Lord Elrond".

Balin stared at his king in silence for only a few seconds, "Rivendell; are you sure you want to be spending the rest of our life with an Elfling" Balin asked as Thorin quickly stood and got to the door as fast as his dawrf feet could have carried him. "I am sure of it Balin and I am leaving now to make the necessary travel arrangements; I may be gone for a few days or so which means that I will be leaving you in charge of what goes on here and trust you will always be fair yet steady".

As per Thorin's request, a message had been sent out to Lord Elrond, informing him of the dwarf king's impending arrival and Elrond saw to it that he would be as comfortable as they were able to make him, though not expecting Lady Galadriel to show up at the same time as he did. "King Thorin seeks a mate Elrond" she commented shortly after she had arrived at the beautiful home of the elves, "And he may well be looking among your own people as it seems that there is nobody in Erebor who would be able to hold his interest".

Lord Elrond looked up at the beautiful blonde standing before him, not quite believing what he had heard "If I am to be honest with you then Lady Galadriel the truth is that I am actually flattered to think that he may contemplate choosing one of my own as his mate" he replied, "After defeating that God awful dragon and freeing us all; I would not stand in his way for a moment; in fact I do believe that there are quite a few lovely young ladies here in Rivendell who would be quite a perfect match for the Dwarf king".

After two and a half days on horseback, Thorin and a retinue of dwarves finally arrived inside Rivendell's borders where they were greeted by Elrond himself, who was accompanied by his daughter, the Lady Arwen and a few of her friends, one of who seemed to catch Thorin's attention as soon as he had dismounted his steed, passing its reins over to an Elf to be taken care of appropriately but Elrond was quick to sense the young elf's feelings of discomfort at being looked at in such a way that he escorted Thorin away for just a couple of hours.

"Briella what is it; you should be flattered that King Thorin has taken such an immediate and it seems genuine interest in you" Arwen whispered when it was just her and the young elf in her chambers. "How can I be flattered when my own past is continuing to haunt me Arwen" she replied, struggling and losing a fight of trying to contain her emotions. Arwen wordlessly crossed the room and took her friend in her arms and held her, "You will be safe with Thorin" she reasoned, "Nobody can get to a Queen without the guards knowing of it first".

Later that night after everyone else had retired to their beds for the evening, Briella quietly left Arwen's chambers and headed for the deck that overlooked the most beautiful waterfall in Rivendell. So lost was she in its magnificence and the sounds it made as the water raced to the bottom that she did not hear Thorin approach, slightly startling her for which he was quick to apologise. Wordlessly they stood side-by-side before she plucked up the courage to formally introduce herself to the dwarf king and to apologise for the way in which she had acted a few hours ago.

"I did sense that something was troubling you Lady Briella" Thorin replied as they walked in the gardens, but that was all Thorin was prepared to say on the subject because he too was able to sense, just as Lord Elrond had done, that this was not something Briella wanted to be talking of with someone she had just met. Thorin quietly escorted Briella back to Arwen's chambers and quickly departed for his own, slipping into the bed and the only thing that he could think about was the young elf maiden who had unwittingly captured both his heart and mind.