A Promise

Chapter Two: The Dawn Will Come Anyway

"Amad?" Their native language rolled off his tongue with ease as he stared at the closed chamber door at the end of the landing. After a moment, Fili looked the other way, where a greater source of light was ebbing from downstairs. His eyes returned to the floorboards as he walked, stepping over the weaker panels to remain silent. The wall was cool when he pressed his back against it to peek around the corner, too unbearable on the back of his arms but he endured.

Through the spindles of the banisters, he could see down into the heart of their home. Adad was standing before the fireplace, his hand tangled in the back of his long hair. His shoulders were tense, Fili had been in trouble enough times to recognise what that meant in his father.
A heavy sigh from their table caught his attention. Uncle Thorin. He was leaning back in the chair, wrapped tightly in furs to keep out the chill, his jaw set, his eyes serious. An unexplained feeling of awe welled up inside Fili at his presence. Silently, he knelt down at the top of the stairs, his hands gripping two of the spindles.
Uncle Thorin was here. How exciting.

"Do you need to go to her?" His Uncle asked, his voice gruff. Adad shook his head with a little laugh, though it was clear to Fili he was not amused at all.
"Are you kidding? She'll rip my head off, she's as bad as you sometimes." He turned from the fire and slowly eased himself down into the rocking chair, still left over from when Kili was smaller. Thorin nodded and pressed on.

"It needs dealing with, Vili. My grandfather is right. Azog cannot go unchallenged."
"I know, I know." Adad rubbed at the back of his neck tiredly. "I agree with your grandfather. Azanulbizar should never fall into hands that are not dwarven. It's just...timing is all, Thorin. I only just came back—"
"I know," Thorin mumbled, his voice a little softer. So soft, that Fili had to press his forehead against the banister a little more to hear.
"I can't keep leaving her alone. The boys are a handful, they're getting older. And soon I'll have to take Fee with me to work, teach him the forge and—"
"He's a Prince, Vili." Thorin lifted his eyes to him slowly, and in the firelight, they seemed to glow. "I won't have another son of Durin making horseshoes for humans. If the orcs take Azanulbizar there is nothing stopping them from taking the Blue Mountains."
Adad exhaled slowly and fell into a contemplative silence.

Orcs? Master Balin had spoken of Orcs before. Fili leaned back a little, suddenly aware of the dark hallway that stretched out behind him. No matter the species, there was very little that a child's imagination could not dream up. The sensible part of him knew that there weren't any orcs hiding in the shadows, but a chill still trickled down his spine, and he gripped the spindles a little tighter in his hands.

"Do I have you with me on this?" Thorin spoke again. The wood on the fire popped and crackled. Vili stood, reaching for another log.
"I take it Frerin is going?"
"Of course my brother is going, our father has asked us."
"The three of us in battle again doesn't bode too well for my wife's nerves, Thorin." Vili shook his head to himself as he tossed the log onto the fire.

"Do I have you with me?" Thorin asked again, his tone a little different now. Adad lifted his eyes from the fire and smiled. The smile Dis often said their sons inherited.
"Name one time I have disappointed you, old friend."
Thorin studied him for a moment. The corner of his lips twisted into a crooked smile.
"When you slept with my sister."

The two dwarfs laughed then, and Fili frowned. He didn't get it. Perhaps he had misheard. He watched as his Uncle clapped his adad on the back, watched them touch foreheads.
"I'm with you." Vili squeezed his arm again and stepped back. "I always will be. I just need...I need time tonight, Thorin. When do we leave?"
"Dawn. If we are to have the element of surprise."
"Aye," His Adad replied after a moment of silence. "Dawn it is."<

Fili sucked in a breath before he could stop himself. Thorin's keen eyes flicked up to him and he stilled, a look of resignation crossing his face. He lowered his hand from his brother-in-law's arm.
"Vili." He said gruffly, nodding up at the stairs.