Coins slipped through his fingers and tapped on the bed of gold. His feet were covered in glittering objects, which all seemed willing to intimidate him with their beauty.

Thorin felt comfortable in this room, where nobody bothered him. His grandfather had spent much time here, enjoying all the splendor that was given to them. Thorin had decided to replicate the treasure. It made him calm, for he knew his forefathers had done it as well. He couldn't disappoint them as long as he did the same things they had done. 

Finally he had found back himself. The elf had driven a wedge between his family and him. He had made a fool of himself by being prepared to share his kingdom with an elf. His father and grandfather must have been afraid that all they had assembled during their reign would disappear due to an elf, but that time was over now. She was no longer in his life. Thanks to her he had lost Fíli and his sister had died. None of these things would have happened if they had left her in the dungeons and he cursed the day they went inside the Misty Mountains and freed her. When she had died between the steel bars she wouldn't have caused them so much pain. 

Thorin looked up in disturbance when a door opened. 

"You should go outside for once."

"No," he grumbled.

He didn't want to go outside, where a dark magic roamed. He knew the open air made him weak. He wanted to see no forests and no lakes, for it felt like she had put a spell on all of them, only to annoy and debilitate him. He was just glad he was redeemed from that. He hadn't left the gates for more than two years and since that time he felt much better than he had done since a long time.

"You are hiding." Her voice sounded cynical, making him think of Alyssae. He clenched his fists and gave her an ominous look. "Shut up. Or do you prefer to go to the dungeons?"

"You can't lock up everyone," she smiled coyly. "And especially not your first commander."

He clenched his teeth, trying to remember how a woman like her had became a commander. He felt the need to sentence her to dead, for her obstinate behavior made him think of the elf and he did not want to think about her. That time was over.

"You're reaching the limit, Iorwen," he warned her. 

She didn't seem to be impressed by his words, which made him feel angry. 

"You've gone beyond my limit more than once. If you don't respect your citizens, you can't expect them to treat you with respect. You have to go outside, Thorin." She sighed. "I'm not here to torment you. We just don't need a king who doesn't dare to go outside anymore."

Thorin took a deep breath, snatched a golden sculpture from the ground and smashed it to her. She dived aside just in time. "Don't tell me what to do!"

"Well, someone has to do it, right?!" she snarled. "The rest of us secretly hopes you will choke in your gold, but I believe that somewhere deep inside you there  is still the capability to lead a kingdom!" Her eyes were sparkling with anger. "But you have to show it soon, or you'll lose my support too!"

She turned around and slammed the door behind her. Thorin felt so much anger he wanted to bombard the door with everything he could lay his fingers upon, but in the end he only dropped down on the ground and stared with a grim face in the distance. He was not afraid.
He just didn't like to be outside.