So Comes Snow After Fire

26.ii

"So when are you going to ask her?"

Fíli looked up from the golden pendant he was polishing to see his brother smiling eagerly at him from the other end of the work table.

"In another sennight or two. I've one more project to finish first."

"Oh?" Kíli had been privy to the progress of his brother's betrothal gift; he had assisted in crafting it, as Fíli's true expertise was in steel, not gold or silver. Yet this second gift would be news to him.

"It's a secret."

Fíli worked for a while longer in silence, buffing away the file marks from the cast metal.

"Have you noticed," he went on presently, "I think Audha has stopped avoiding you."

"Err, maybe?"

"Well, she was avoiding you; you knew that much, right?" Fíli looked up at his brother.

"Um..." Kíli returned Fíli's glance, before shrugging and going back to the jeweled necklace he was making. "It's not like I went out of my way to see her, before or after she released me," he admitted with an awkward laugh. "And of course, after I would have felt like I was reminding her of what she gave up."

"You were probably right. Sif tells me she thinks Audha was jealous of you and Tauriel at first. Not personally so, perhaps, but still it was hard for her to see you together."

"I still feel bad about things between me and Audha," Kíli said. "But you say she's better now?" He peered at his brother, brows knit.

Fíli laughed. "You really have been oblivious."

"I've been busy! I'm getting married next month."

"Well, it seems that Freyr Ironsides noticed the pretty Blacklock maid as soon as his sister befriended her last summer. I'm sure he's happy you're out of the way."

Kíli laughed from pure astonishment. "What, Sif's brother?" He stared, clearly considering the fact that his one-time betrothed might yet become connected to his family. "And what does Audha think of him?"

"Sif refuses to say. But as I said, Audha doesn't seem to be troubled by the sight of you any more."

"I hope she finds someone to make her happy," Kíli said. "She deserves much better than to be made miserable by me, for one reason or another." And chuckling softly to himself, he returned to his work.

Some while later, Fíli threw aside the final polishing cloth and held up the pendant to inspect it. The surface of the cast golden knotwork gleamed smooth and flawless, as did the three tawny topaz stones set within the angular loops of the knot. The whole pendant was shaped in a shallow V meant to rest just below the wearer's collarbones.

"Finished?" Kíli asked.

"All but adding the chain."

Kíli rummaged on a shelf at the back of the shop while Fíli completed this easy task of connecting the chain to either end of the pendant. When he set down the finished piece, Kíli thrust a mug into his hand. Fíli smelled whiskey.

"To your betrothal!" Kíli pronounced, knocking his own mug against his brother's.

"And to your wedding," Fíli returned before drinking.

As Kíli poured them each a second draught, he said, "I have Thorin's permission to travel after the wedding. I think we'll leave immediately; I'll have things ready, and we'll be off the next morning. I mean to visit Kheled-zâram, and Rivendell, and maybe even the Shire."

"And so you won't even get a chance to use your new home. Not even for your wedding night," Fíli teased. He knew his brother had promised Tauriel a dwarvish wedding in exchange for a marriage bed under the stars. This last was a peculiar arrangement—no other dwarf would ever have agreed to, never mind asked for, such a thing!—but Fíli supposed that elves, at least, must be used to such rustic practices.

"I'm coming back!" Kíli protested.

"You'd better! I'm not marrying Sif without you beside me." Fíli grinned, not truly doubting, then tossed back the second pour of whiskey.

"I know; I'll be here."