"What do you think? " I asked as I approached Kili, when we were almost there.
"I don't know. " He replied and glanced at me. "I certainly won't believe a single word of them... Unless I have no choice. " Hearing the last words I smiled at him.
Kili was always able to make me laugh and support me whenever I needed it. I was very grateful to him for that. I also knew that I could always count on him, just as he could count on me.
***
We reached a large round square, to which a large staircase led. I must admit that the appearance of all this up close was even nicer.
We waited a while until an elf came to us.
"Be on your guard. Stay sharp." Thorin whispered to us, to which I only nodded my head in response.
The elf had long black hair and was dressed in a dark tunic. Honestly, if it weren't for that hair, he would look like a priest.
"Mithrandir. " Elf said.
At first I didn't know what or who it was, but when Gandalf answered the elf, I guessed he was talking to him.
Wizard approached him to say hello, and after a while the elf said something to him in elven language. I didn't understand any of that.
"Do you understand something? " I whispered to Kili.
"Nope. " He replied.
"I must speak with Lord Elrond. " Gandalf said in normal language.
"My master is not here." Elf replied also in normal language.
"Not here? " Gandalf asked, surprised. "Where's he? "
It was as if in answer to this question, we heard the sound of a horn, the same one we heard during the fight with the orcs. We all turned to the direction from which he was coming. I saw a bunch of elves riding horses straight towards us.
"Ready weapons! Close ranks! " Thorin shouted.
We lined up in one group. Bilbo and I were pushed inside. The elves surrounded us and began to look at us. They were much taller than us. After a short while, they stopped, and one of them got off his horse and greeted Gandalf, of course in elven terms. I guessed it had to be all this Elrond. He was dressed similarly to the elf we had met before, and like him, he also had long, black hair. For a moment he talked about something elven with Gandalf, of course none of us understood anything. Later, elf looked at us closely. Thorin went ahead.
"Welcome, Thorin, son of Thrain. " He said.
"I don't believe we have met. " Dwarf replied dryly.
"You have your grandfather's bearing. " Elrond said. "I knew Thror when he ruled Under the Mountain. "
"Indeed?... He made no mention of you." Oakenshield looked at him.
After a moment of silence, the elf said something in his own language that we obviously didn't understand.
"What's he saying?! " Gloin interjected. "Does he offer us insult?! " He began to approach the elf with an axe in his hand, but Gandalf stopped him by saying:
"No, Mr. Gloi, he's offering you food. "
We deliberated for a moment, wondering if we should agree, after which Gloin said:
"Well... In that case, lead on. " Said proudly.
The elf smiled, and after a while he looked straight at me.
"This wound must be dressed. " He said and pointed to my wound.
It wasn't a dangerous wound. I glanced at the wound and then back at the elf.
"Thank you. " I replied. "But I don't want your help. "
"Nothing threatens you here, my dear..." He said. "And we just want to help you. " Added gently.
"Oh, really? " I asked in disbelief.
"Malia. " Gandalf interjected. "Let them help you."
"I don't want help from the elf. "
Thorin turned and walked over to me. He smiled slightly and then said in a whisper:
"I'm glad you support me, sweetheart..." He said, and took me by the hand wanting to see the wound. "But I don't want you to suffer. " Looked at the wound and then turned to Elrond again. "Will you help her? "
"Of course. " Replied. "Come with me. " He addressed his last words to me.
"You'll not go alone. " Thorin interjected and turned to me again. "Kili will go with you. "
I glanced at the brunet. Dwarf nodded as a sign that he agreed, and we both followed the elf.
***
Elrond led us down a long corridor that seemed to have no end. On its sides stood columns that supported the ceiling, and the walls were decorated with various paintings. Finally, the elf turned into a room and invited us inside. He told us to make ourselves comfortable and wait a while for him to bring the things we needed. Kili and I exchanged glances and started looking around the room. After a short while, Lord Elrond came back to us and told me to sit down. I made the request and sat next to him. Kili immediately came up and stood by me like my guard.
"What is it? " He asked when Elrond began to soak the cloth in something.
"Water. " Lord replied and looked at him. "Don't worry, I won't do anything to your girlfriend." Added, and Kili and I exchanged glances. I felt myself blushing.
Of course, neither of us protested. Kili was very important to me, but I never had the courage to tell him that. And I don't think he told me everything either.
Elrond gently began to wipe my wound, and when he finished, he put on a bandage with a dressing to speed up healing.
"You must be hungry. " He said and began to clean things up.
"Not at all. " Kili said sarcastically. "Where did this idea come from?"
Elf glanced at him.
"Your stomach rumbles. " Said and smiled.
Kili glanced at his stomach and then back at the elf and said nothing more. Seeing his expression, I started laughing. Brunet looked at me and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "What?" I just shook my head, took him by the hand, and walked out of the room behind the elf, dragging dwarf with me.
***
When we came to the "dining room", the other elves were just giving away a meal. We took a seat next to Fili and Bilbo.
Thorin saw us and glanced at me. I nodded my head as a sign that everything was fine and sent him a smile, which he reciprocated after a while.
"I don't like green food. " Ori said.
"Try it. Just a mouthful. " Dori said.
"Where's the meat? " Dwalin asked.
"Have they got any chips?" Ori said with hope in his voice.
As Ori said, there was far too much green food here. I admit that sometimes I ate something green, but here it was too much of it. In addition, this music... The elves played harps and flutes, which slowly drove me crazy. I glanced at Kili, who was looking somewhere ahead. I looked in the same direction and saw an elf playing the harp. I glanced back at dwarf and saw him wink at her and smile.
"You're kidding? " I asked, catching his attention.
"What? " Frowned slightly.
"Did she catch your eye? " I turned my head.
"What!? N-no... " Explained. "This is... I mean... " He opened his mouth with the intention of saying something else, but first he looked at me and said. "Why? You're jealous? " Asked, raising one eyebrow.
"You wish. " I smiled slyly.
"I can't say I fancy elf minds myself. " Brunet said. "Too thin. They're all high cheekbones and creamy skin... Not enough facial hair for me. Although... " Kili looked behind him when one of the elves passed by him. "That one there is not bad. " Added in a half-whisper.
"That's not an elf maid. " Dwalin interjected.
Kili looked at the "elf maid" and only now noticed that he was a man. Dwalin winked at Kili, and seeing his expression, we began to laugh.
"That's funny. "He said, and I patted him on the shoulder.
"Very funny, honey. " I laughed.
Thorin and Gandalf showed Elrond their swords from what I saw, and Lord told them swords names, as if he knew the name of every sword that had been forged by an elf. Bilbo glanced at his sword.
"I wouldn't bother, laddie. " Balin said. "Swords are named for the great deeds they do in war. "
"What are you saying, my sword hasn't seen battle? " Hobbit asked.
"I'm not actually sure it's a sword. " Balin replied.
"More of a letter opener, really. " I added and smiled.
"Change the tune, why don't you? "Nori said suddenly. "I feel like I'm at funeral. "
"All right, lads. There's only one thing for it." Bofur said, then got up and stood on the table, and then began to sing in his own way, and in time we all joined him. Thorin, seeing all this, began to laugh at us. We started throwing food at each other, which I don't think Elrond liked, but at least we could have some fun.
***
In the evening Thorin, Balin, Bilbo and Gandalf were to go to talk to Mr. Elrond. Similarly, only he can read our map, so they went to ask him for help, and we stayed. Bofur decided to make a bonfire, so we made it. Bombur sat on a wooden table and held a plate full of food in his hand. Bofur like Bofur. He threw him another sausage, and when the other one caught it, the whole table collapsed, and the dwarf fell to the ground and we all started laughing.
After eating, most of the dwarves were already asleep, but I wasn't. Some of them talked to each other or played some games, while I went to sit down with Kili, who was sitting by the fire.
"Hey. " I said.
"Hey. " Brunet replied.
"We're sticking to the plan, right? " I asked.
"Yes. Tomorrow at dawn we move on. " Said and added wood to the fire, and then I sat back next to him.
I glanced at him and moved closer. Without saying anything, I started to make braids on his hair, brunet just smiled. We've always done that.
"Does that mean you're not angry anymore? " Kili asked and glanced at me.
"Don't fidget. " I said and turned his head back. "What am I not angry about? "
"For this elf. You're not jealous? "
"And should I? " I asked with a sly smile.
"Never. "
" Well, that's good then. " I smiled, leaned over to dwarf and kissed him on the cheek and went back to making braids.
Kili started laughing.
"What? " I asked with amusement.
"You could do that more often. " He said still laughing.
"I could. But first you have to deserve. "
"So I'm supposed to pick up some elves more often? " At these words I hit him with pillow.
"Oh no. " Kili said and reached for the second pillow lying next to me and this time I got hit.
That's how we started the pillow war. After less than a minute, the others of the Company joined us. Feathers fell out of the pillows and were literally everywhere, but none of us paid attention to it. We just had a great time.
Kili chased me with two pillows, and I had none. I hid behind a pole and when I wanted to escape to the left it replaced my way, and when I wanted to go the other way, it was the same. Finally I ran back to the left, but Kili managed to catch me in the waist and pulled me closer to him.
"And what now, honey? " He asked with a smile.
We stood close to each other and looked into each other's eyes. Kili was still holding me at his waist, and I put my hands on his shoulders. Fili ran past us and hit Kili with pillow, and as a result, dwarf staggered and fell to the ground, and I fell on him. We looked at each other and started laughing.
"Disturbed, lovebirds? " Fili asked.
"No... " Kili said. "Or maybe you want to join? " Asked, and the three of us started laughing again.