7

Do not leave the King's Levels.

Thorin stood outside the entrance, relishing the cold against his skin. He stood by the rock with Azog's mark scratched onto it, his mind awry. Officially he had come out here to inspect the one bit of evidence they had aside from Bolg's word. In reality, he had come out to clear up the mess in his mind, put some order to his thoughts and see if he could work out the reality.

Or perhaps it was to summon the courage to face it.

Do not go anywhere alone.

In the immediate aftermath of his declamation, he had been met by utter shock which had numbed them all into silence. But it wasn't long before the anger had started making itself known. The atmosphere was unbearable as Thorin then handed down a list of commands which on the surface may have been instilled for the safety of the company – until the final statement. He would stop the traitor from doing any more damage, because the company wouldn't let him.

Do not leave the prisoner alone.

The air of suspicion was tangible. The company, the honest, loyal company that had set out from Ered Luin months ago, the company comprised mostly of family now harboured a traitor. The trust, forged in fire, was cracked within, and it was only now coming to the surface. There was fear in the air, not of what the traitor would do, but of the idea that one they trusted, one who was their brother, was the traitor.

Do not leave anyone alone with the prisoner.

Fraternal factions had started to emerge. Balin and Dwalin stayed together, trying desperately to maintain bridges with the others, but it was futile. Oín and Gloín, it was clear, trusted each other, but nobody else. Dori, Ori and Nori were a closed unit, not speaking to the others, barely speaking to each other. Fíli was evidently uncomfortable, and Kíli was furious. Bifur, Bofur and Bombur were just shell-shocked, because the fact of the matter was that noneof them could have believed it of any of the company.

Keep a watch on the King's Gate.

Bilbo had rather naively suggested searching the mountain for the rest of the orcs, which was quickly laughed away. The mountain, in all its glory, had been a city. Bordering upon a metropolis beneath the ground, there were thousands of streets and houses and markets in a beautiful tunnel. The King's Levels were the parts of the mountain that stood above the rocky landscape outside. Beneath the ground stood a thriving metropolis of tunnels and alleys stretching halfway to Dale. While there was, in theory, only one official way in and out of the mountain, there were thousands of routes to different parts of the underground metropolis, with their own levels, the mines being at the bottom. The entrance to the city was marked by the King's Gate, and fourteen dwarves could not comb the entire mountain.

Keep a watch on the hidden door.

It was amazing how the atmosphere had completely shattered in the hours since Thorin's proclamation. The air of victory at the reclamation of the mountain, of unity in the company, was gone. All of them were praying that the traitor would do no more, that Bolg would stay silent, but he was to be kept alive. Thorin was yet to visit him again, to question him further about the identity of the traitor. He didn't want to know which of his company, his blood, had turned on them.

Do not leave your post for any reason.

It was the solitude that Thorin craved more than anything. He didn't want to see the others. He didn't want to find himself constantly asking whether the person talking to him was the one who had turned his back on them. He knew Bofur and Bombur stood just inside the door, and Bilbo was leaning against the doorway, but he couldn't see them, and they were silent. So for now, for a brief, elusive moment, he could pretend.

Do not leave your partner alone, even in sleep.

The cold, hard truth though was that he couldn't escape them. Their names ran through his mind with a constant rhythm, a biting ostinato to his waking hours. Balin, Dwalin, Oín, Gloín, Dori, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fíli, Kíli. He knew it wasn't Bilbo, because even the unhinged orc in their dungeons could not mistake Bilbo for his kin. But their names ran through his mind constantly. If he dwelt too long on any one, analysed the likelihood of them betraying the company in any depth, it hurt. Too much. He moved onto the next one. His stomach churned. The pain was unbearable.

Balin, Dwalin, Oín, Gloín, Dori, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fíli, Kíli.

He would make the traitor pay.

Anyone in breach of these without the King's blessing will be found guilty of treason.

"Kíli?"

Kíli looked up at his brother. He had a growing sense of unease that had started since arriving back and finding Bolg guarding the door.

"Are you alright?"

Kíli looked down at his knees, determinedly avoiding his brother's eyes.

"Do you really think it's true?" Kíli asked. "Do you really think one of them betrayed us?"

Fíli sighed. "I don't know, Kíli," he said wearily. "I really don't know. I wouldn't have believed it of any of them, but I also can't envision another way that the orcs could have entered the mountain."

"I could almost understand a betrayal," Kíli said, his voice tightening. "Thorin hasn't led this company at all well, I understand why someone would take matters into their own hands." Much like Bilbo and I did. "But to them? The orcs? To Azog?"

"Kíli…" Fíli started, but he didn't get any further. He broke off, he didn't know what to say.

"And how long were they in league with them?" Kíli choked. "Were they working for him when I-"

He raised his stump of an arm, tears sparkling in his eyes, his throat closed tight.

Fíli sighed. Kíli lowered his arm and bowed his head, his face shielded by the curtain of unruly dark hair.

"There is nothing I can say, Kíli," Fíli said quietly. "The idea that one of them betrayed us – you – like that is unthinkable. But think back, Kíli. When you were with… him, did he give you any indication that someone was feeding him information?"

Kíli pondered it for a minute. "…He didn't say anything…" he began at length. "At least, not to me. He might have said something in passing but… I didn't pick up on it at the time, or I might not have known it, because I honestly don't remember."

They fell back into an uncomfortable silence, before it was broken by a soft, bitter laugh from Kíli.

"Nine days…" Kíli said sourly. "I was with that orc for nine days. Look at the impact it's had on my life. On all our lives."

"Kíli…"

"I will never shoot a bow again," Kíli continued angrily. "You can barely stand the sight of Thorin, the company is in ruins, we can barely trust each other-"

"Kíli, please, you need to-"

"To think that all of that could have been caused by somebody in the company…" Kíli trailed off, looking at Fíli in a way that Fíli had never seen before. The way his brown eyes seemed to look through him into his very soul unnerved Fíli, a long hidden fire raging in the depths.

"Kíli, I…" Fíli began slowly. "I know I have said this before, but I am so… so very sorry for what you went through. I swear to you, you will never go through something like that again. I will do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen to you. I will do what I can to fix this. Just please… Do not let this despair eat away at you like this. You cannot let this anger poison you any more than it already has. I can help you but you must do your own part. I cannot watch you descend into an anger and hate from which you may never recover but I cannot pull you out of it if you are not willing to try. I beg of you, please, come back to me. This is not you. You are my brother and I love you with all my heart but I cannot watch you transform into a vengeful creature, not when I remember someone so full of happiness."

Fíli looked Kíli in the eyes with a similar piercing look in his eyes. As blue eyes met brown, it felt as though the veil of the world was torn away, leaving only their souls exposed and they could finally see all there was within them laid bare for each other – and only each other. In that moment, both of them felt the unspoken words Fíli had not said.

Leave the vengeance to me.

Ori and Nori sat alone outside the cell of the orc. Ori had done nothing but fiddle with a hole in his scarf all morning, and as such it was about twice the size it had been previously.

"Ori, just… just stop that, alright?" Nori finally said exasperatedly. "You're going to pull it to pieces."

"I'll make another one," Ori said dismissively.

Nori sighed. "You've evidently got something on your mind, are you going to talk about it, or are you going to keep destroying your clothes?"

Ori let the scarf fall, but still he didn't speak. He just looked at the floor, his thumbs twisting around each other, until he finally turned his head away from Nori and closed his eyes.

"Fine, don't talk about it-"

"Do you really believe it's possible?" Ori asked suddenly, turning to Nori with a funny look in his eyes. "That one of the company would align themselves with Azog?"

Nori gave a small, dark laugh. "Oh, Ori," he said softly. "You are incredibly sweet…"

"It's not funny!" Ori began to protest.

"Of course it's not funny," Nori said. "And I have no doubt it is true. It is definitely possible."

Ori threw his brother an anxious look in response. He picked up his scarf again and started to fiddle again, his hands twisting around the wool at twice the speed as before. It wasn't long before a thread came completely undone and part of it began to unravel.

"Ori, for goodness' sake!" Nori said exasperatedly. "I told you that would happen!"

Ori continued to fiddle, the string wrapping around his finger in all sorts of different ways until finally he extracted the finger, leaving a mess of a knot. He immediately started to unpick it.

"Ori, just stop it!"

"I think I know who it might be," Ori breathed.

"Sorry, what?"

"I think I know who the traitor is!" Ori hissed.

Nori was silent, giving his younger brother an unreadable look, imploring him to continue.

"I mean… I don't have any proof," Ori said, talking very fast and slightly breathlessly. "I just… he said something in Mirkwood… It worried me… I had no idea he felt that way, and I… I don't know what to do…"

Nori sighed. He had really hoped his brother would not get caught up in what was about to happen. He had to make sure Ori stayed well out of this.

"Oh Ori… I think I know who it is too," he said. "But to go to Thorin with this information, if Thorin is not ready to hear it, is going to be viewed as tantamount to treason. All it would take would be a quiet word in Thorin's ear and we'd be toast. We've got to be delicate, we've got to play this very carefully. If he knows we're onto him…"

Ori looked at the ground sadly. "I know he's close to Thorin, but I… I don't want something bad to happen that we could have stopped but chose not to because we were too scared of the consequences!"

"Ori, please, don't do anything without running it past me first!" Nori implored. "I may not have always been around when we were in Ered Luin, but you're my brother and I won't see you clapped in irons for doing something rash. The situation is incredibly delicate, and to go around accusing his close kin, particularly given who we are… I know that Thorin said all that about how were we came from doesn't matter any more, but we cannot just go around flinging unfounded accusations at his kin, it's suicide! Please, Ori, don't be so naïve as to think that the ramifications of this are limited only to what we don't do!"

"But we cannot just not tell him!"

"I'm not saying we don't tell him at all," Nori said. "I'm just saying we tell him at the right time!"

Ori sighed, dropping his scarf again. He felt less anxious, but still felt like a heavy weight was pressing down on his shoulders.

"And when we do tell him…" Nori continued. "Let me be the one to do it."

Ori's eyes shot up to meet Nori's, looking surprised and scared.

"Please, Ori," Nori implored, giving him a small smile. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Ori looked down again, picked up his scarf once more, looked at it for a moment, and then dropped it again. He gave his brother a small nod. Nori's posture visibly relaxed.

"I'm surprised you've seen it too," Ori said softly. "I thought I was the only one…"

Nori gave a soft laugh. "I really don't think you're the only one, it's quite obvious he's been furious at Thorin for a while now."

"Really?" Ori said, surprised. "I was really surprised when I heard his outburst."

"Really, Ori? You must have seen it coming! I don't think even Thorin himself was surprised."

Ori stopped, confused. "Thorin didn't hear it though."

"Of course he did!"

"But I was the only one there…"

Nori fell silent, completely confused. "Hold on… Ori… who are you talking about?"

Balin, Dwalin, Oín, Gloín, Dori, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fíli, Kíli.

The names swirled around his head, each of their faces twisting into hideous nightmares.

Balin, Dwalin, Oín, Gloín, Dori, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fíli, Kíli.

Round and round they cycled, the twelve names of people whom he counted closer than blood.

Balin, Dwalin, Oín, Gloín, Dori, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fíli, Kíli, Balin, Dwalin, Oín, Gloín, Dori, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fíli, Kíli, Balin, Dwalin, Oín, Gloín, Dori, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fíli, Kíli-

He jerked himself out of his reverie. He sat at an old desk, a relic from his grandfather's chambers that had barely survived the inferno of Smaug. Bilbo slept on the floor not far from the door, wrapped up in a blanket looking more at peace than Thorin felt any hope of achieving for himself. The room was illuminated by the dull flickering of the candle beside him. He didn't want to think about it. But he had to. He would go mad otherwise.

Balin, Dwalin, Oín, Gloín, Dori, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fíli, Kíli.

Balin and Dwalin… they were loyal. They were his oldest friends. If they had misgivings about his leadership, they would know they would always have an audience with him. They would not keep it to themselves. And they certainly would not take matters into their own hands.

Balin, Dwalin, Oín, Gloín, Dori, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fíli, Kíli.

Oín and Gloín… they were not as close to him as some of the others in the company, but… what reason would they have to betray him? If gold were involved, he supposed… but they had a share of Erebor's hoard owed to them. Gloín was an accountant, he knew that at a certain point the sheer amount of gold stopped mattering, and a fourteenth share of Erebor's wealth was more than enough for one person.

Balin, Dwalin, Oín, Gloín, Dori, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fíli, Kíli.

Dori, Ori and Nori… Now they were a bit different. Nori could hardly be considered trustworthy… but he cared very deeply for his brothers. He would not risk their place in Erebor. But he did look out for himself far more than anyone else in his company.

But, but, but…

Things did not seem to quite add up. This was his chance at redemption. And when would he have had a chance to form an allegiance with Azog? Unless Azog had found a chance to threaten Dori and Ori, but Nori had not left the company alone for long enough? Unless they were all in on it, but Dori would not stand for it. And he always had been a terrible liar…

Balin, Dwalin, Oín, Gloín, Dori, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fíli, Kíli.

Bifur, Bofur, Bombur… if there was a traitor, the orcs would know that they were not related. And again, this was their chance at redemption. And he truly could not imagine it of any of them, they abhorred orcs on a deep level. After what had happened to Bifur, he could not believe it of any of them…

Balin, Dwalin, Oín, Gloín, Dori, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fíli, Kíli-

The realisation, when it came, hit him like a landslide. It did not surprise him, or perhaps if it did, it was mostly a surprise that it had been a surprise. It was something he had been fighting to reject, an understanding that broke his heart to accept. The only person in the company who had been in a position to betray them… he should not have expected so much from his nephew. The time had not been long, but it had been brutal, and he was so young, so very very young… Kíli was not even of age, and Thorin himself had seen what he had been subjected to. That his nephew had been in such a position where, if Azog offered him a chance at salvation, he would have taken it without question… And now Thorin knew what needed to be done, but he did not think he had the heart to do it… Even if the betrayal hurt so very deeply…

Thorin felt a maelstrom of emotions well up inside him. Anger, rage, betrayal, and hurt swirled around with pity and sadness, but as tears welled up in his eyes, the one that rose to the surface was guilt.

Ah, Kíli, how I have failed you.

A/N: Okay. So. I'm not dead, so that's something. I'm still around and still kicking, but I am also stupidly busy. I am now a gainfully employed person six days a week and so very very busy. But I am also determined to get to the end of this story AT SOME POINT. I hit major writer's block for a good few months but I promise, even when stuff like that happens, this story is always weighing at the back of my mind. If you can be patient, I hope it will be worth it, but it will definitely take some time, so for that I'm so very sorry. Seriously though, there are some names I recognise who still review who I remember reviewed back when this story was first published back in 2012 (jeez was it really that long ago?!) and for your loyalty, I am eternally grateful. Peace out xxx