A few days later while leaving the Feasting Hall, Kíli pulled Rhonwen by her wrist and said, "Can I talk to you?"

"Where?" she asked, surprised.

"In the hall, after the bustle calms down."

"Alright." she agreed, pulling away. What could Kíli possibly want with her was beyond her reckoning.

Afterwards, when most of the dwarves settled down to their daily jobs, Rhonwen walked down the hall, looking for Kíli. Suddenly, she was pulled by her wrist round the corner and into the shadows. "Kíli!" she exclaimed.

"Shhh," he said, a finger on his lips, looking up and down the corridor, "I don't want anyone else to know."

"Kíli?" she asked, staring at him. "I don't understand."

Kíli sighed. He whispered into her ear, "What if I told you, that I thought you to be the prettiest girl in the world." 

"I see," she began and then paused. "Do you mean it?"

"Of course I do." Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by Coriann whistling.

Kíli pulled Rhonwen out of the shadows and Coriann found them and said, "Well, good morning. What are you doing?" she asked, seeing the faint blush on Rhonwen's face and Kíli looking slightly self-conscious.

Kíli glanced at the girl standing next to him before saying, "Whatever it is, it's none of your  business, Coriann."

"Oh, really?" Coriann snorted, before walking down the length of the hall, disappearing round the bend.

Kíli watched her disappear and then whispered, "Aye, I mean it," before disappearing down the other way.

"Kíli!" she called, running up to him.

"What?" he asked. "Go on, rail all you want."

Rhonwen looked at him, searching his face. "I wish not to rail against you. Indeed, nothing could ever make me rail against you, except for you to love someone else," she whispered.

Kíli looked at her in amazement. "What?"

She smiled and said, "I'm telling the truth, Kíli." His look of astonishment made her burst into laughter. "Right I was, when I told your sister that you were a complete idiot!" He scowled. "But I love you anyway," she continued, serious. She kissed his forehead and then took off down the hallway, leaving Kíli standing stunned. 

Rhonwen raced along the corridor, never stopping till she reached her room and closed the door. She panted from the run, but eventually calmed down. She walked to the window and looked out. The sun was shining warmly on the snow and the breeze felt warm too, another sure sign that spring was on its way. Suddenly, she heard a knock at the door and said, "Come in."

Coriann stepped inside and Rhonwen motioned to the chair at the desk and Coriann sat down.

"I'm not one to really beat about the bush, Rhonwen," Coriann began, "so I'll get straight to the point. Both my brothers love you and it's causing a strain in their relationship."

Rhonwen looked at her in surprise and exclaimed, "Well, that's bold!"

Coriann remained unmoved and said, "When your brothers are at stake, the last thing a person needs to be is cautious. Now I need to know what you feel for both of them before I decide whether or not I need to take one or both of them with me."

Rhonwen was silent, staring at the floor, her hands clasped behind her back. Suddenly, a strong breeze blew into the room, causing the open window to bang against the wall. She sighed and looked up. "Where are you taking them?" she asked.

Coriann met her gaze, an odd look on her face, and said gently and quietly, "That remains to be determined based on what you tell me. Rhonwen, Fíli's had his heart broken already and Kíli too, in a way. I don't want to watch either of them suffer again."

"What?" Rhonwen exclaimed again. "There is another?"

"There was  another." Coriann stood and walked over to the window with a slight limp. "She has been dead these twelve years."

"Oh," Rhonwen said in a quiet, dead-level voice, neither her voice nor face betraying her feelings. "I didn't know. No one told me."

"There was really no need to, at least on Kíli's part. He loved her like a sister and when she went he felt her loss keenly, as if I had died. Fíli, on the other hand, was devasted. She was everything to him." Coriann turned around and stared at Rhonwen. "This is why I am asking you what your feelings for my brothers are. I will not go shouting to the world anything you tell me. You have my word on that, but Fíli is my twin and Kíli is my baby brother and I have to look out for them."

Rhonwen looked at the floor again. "Coriann," she said, looking at the dwarf sitting in the chair. She sighed before continuing, "I take you at your word that you won't tell anyone. In other circumstances, I would have already told you, since you are their sister. But there is much that I have kept secret from everyone. Not only your brothers, but also my uncles and Thorin. It's hard for me to tell just anything because of what I have kept secret. I learned the hard way of blabbing everything to the wide world and have paid for it dearly."

Coriann reached out and took her hand. "I understand, for I have secrets that I have told no one. Except for one and he is not here."

Rhonwen smiled and said, "Whatever your secret is, for I know it not, I am quite persuaded that it is nothing like the dreadful news that I carry. Yet," she continued, looking away. "I feel I must tell someone, though who, I do not know."

There was silence for a little while and Coriann sought Rhonwen's gaze. "Rhonwen, I carry secrets that the dwarves here would find dreadful. But let me tell you, a relationship without trust is not one worth having."

Rhonwen smiled grimly and sat down on a stool next to Coriann's. "I had an older brother and my father lived with us, my mother having died at my birth. My brother and I were a close as silbings can get and in our younger years must have caused great discomfort to our neighbours, as the both of us had heads full of ideas of mischief." She smiled at the memory, but then grew serious. "As we grew older and more mature, my brother, whose name was Anar, and I noticed my father spending alot of his time gazing at the Mountain and muttering to himself. A few years later, he took off with a pony and a few supplies. He came back, left the pony at our house, and went somewhere. He returned late at night, with a smooth ball of white wax in his hands. He hid it in our tiny house, and never spoke about it. The years passed, as they have a habit of doing, and my father decided to go to the mountain again. Anar and I argued against it, telling him that once was quite enough and not to risk luck on dragons, even sleeping ones. He set out on a stormy night, the sun setting red and fiery in the west, the strong wind wipping his and the pony's hair. He never came back. We saw fire and smoke come out of the Mountain and then all was still. For several days we waited, but in vain. Da never came back." Rhonwen choked back a sob and then continued. "Anar was very close to Da. His death was hardest on him and a few months later he commited suicide. He threw himself into the icy lake and perished. Da had told us before he left that if he wouldn't come back, to take the white ball to Thorin Oakinshield in the Blue Mountains. After my brother died, I sold the house and most of our belongings and set out into the wild. Three years later, I arrived."

Coriann gently wrapped an arm around Rhonwen's shoulders and drew her close. Softly she allowed one of her secrets to slip out. "Let i' sakkata tul a amin dear. Ron uma wonders ten' i' soul." (Let the tears come. They do wonders to the soul.)

Rhonwen stared at her in amazement. "I didn't know you spoke Elvish." Then she added, "Tears do wonders, I know, but I have cried all that I could on the journey. The tears come unbidden at times to be sure, but I'm alright."

"I learned the language on my last journey. My ability to speak, read, write, and translate Elvish fluently is something I must keep quiet around here. Even though all in the mountains love me and accept me for who I am, they still look down on me for not having any hatred for the Elves, except my mother. I know what it is like to lose a parent. I know the pain more so than the rest of my family." A strange look came in Coriann's eyes.

"You mean your father?" Rhonwen said more than asked and in a quiet, understanding tone.

"Aye. I was with him on that awful day. I was the one to bring him home and the one to tell Momma, Uncle, and the boys. But there was one thing I never told them."

"If you don't mind me prying, what was that? I mean, Kíli and Fíli never told me how he died, only that he was dead."

A small smile played about the corners of Coriann's mouth and then her face became grave. "After the Dwarf and Orc Wars, Papa became a guide for tradesmen and others while we were moving about the country. Grandpapa had disappeared, leaving Uncle as the king. He never married and I doubt very much that he will. The next in line for the throne after Uncle was my Uncle Frerin, but he died in the wars. Uncle made Fíli his heir when we were three. With that began an interesting part of my life. I was the only daughter and Papa quickly felt like he had lost his eldest son to his brother-in-law. And so Papa started to take me with him on his journeys and I learned how to be guide. Then one winter day, we were returning home when we were set upon by a small band of Orcs. The fight was fierce and we managed to dispatch them all. At least, we thought we had killed all of them." A shudder passed through Coriann's frame and a tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. She swallowed and continued on with a slight catch in her voice. "Out of nowhere, an arrow flew through the sky and struck my father as he pushed me out of its path. I spun around and dispatched the Orc that had shot it. Turning back to my father, I was there by his side in the snow as he slipped from this earth, blood staining the snow where he lay. He made me promise to look out for my brothers and mother and to never tell them how he had broken his ribs on the journey before this one."

Rhonwen placed her hand on Coriann's shoulder and squeezed it comfortingly.

Coriann blinked a few times and then went on. "I never told them the promise I had made to Papa, or how he had broken his ribs." She chuckled some and shook her head. "My father was adventuresome and tended to get himself in trouble because of that. He broke his ribs falling from a tree in the Woodland realm."

Rhonwen laughed softly. "I wonder is that were Fíli and Kíli learned it from," she mused.

"Climbing trees?"

Rhonwen blushed and said, "I didn't necessarily mean that, since there aren't any trees in the mountains, but doing foolish things sometimes. Not that your father was foolish," she added hastily.

Coriann laughed until her sides hurt. "Papa could be very foolish, but it only ever came out around me because he knew I would never tattle to Mum on him. Fíli and Kíli have always had a foolish side to them. The reason Papa didn't want anyone to know the truth behind how his ribs were broken was because we were in an Elf realm and he was the only Dwarf that didn't hate them. He taught me not to hate the good people of Middle-earth but to hate the evil and I taught Mum. But he never wanted anyone to know what had happened."

"Ah, I see." There was a small silence.

Coriann grew quiet and then whispered, "There, you know another of my secrets. Momma and Fíli know that I can speak Elvish and everyone in the mountain knows that I don't hate Elves, but you're the only one I've told about my promise to Papa."

"I won't tell anyone, even if a whole army of Fílis and Kílis attack me."

"Thank you. I've been wondering if I should tell Mum how Papa broke his ribs but there never seems to be a right time. Ah well. Now, tell me what you think, feel, about my brothers."

Rhonwen laughed and said, "I knew this was coming."

A smile formed at the corners of Coriann's eyes and she said with as straight of a face as possible, "Well, Papa always said I was bit mule-headed. Mum says I just like to get to the point."

Rhonwen smiled, but then looked down at her hands resting in her lap. There was an awkward pause. "Yes, I love one of your brothers," she said finally.

"Could you be more specific?"

Rhonwen glanced hastily at her. Then she looked down again. "I love Kíli and Fíli both. But in different ways."

"You love Fíli as a brother, but Kíli more than a brother?"

Rhonwen blushed a deep crimson, and nodded. "Aye."

"That makes me happier than I can tell you."

"Why?" asked Rhonwen, looking up in surprise.

"Fíli can be pig headed and in all honesty, he wouldn't be a good match for you."

"That may well be, but Kíli can be a total idiot too."

"But Kíli practically saved your life."

"How? Please, refresh my memory."

"From what I was told, he kept you warm when you were lost in a snowstorm."

Rhonwen blushed again. "Yes, I suppose I've been too hard on him."

"Do you know if Kíli returns your love?"

Rhonwen turned so that Coriann couldn't see her face and walked to the window. "Has he told you?" she asked.

"Told me what?"

"The extent of his feelings for me. Besides, didn't you say that both of them loved me?"

"Aye, I did. But I mostly drew that conclusion from observing the two of them. However, I did speak with the two of them."

"And?" Rhonwen said, turning away from the open window.

"They confessed."

"Ah, I knew it. Aye, Kíli has told me his feelings for me."

"And Fíli has remained silent." Coriann stood up with a twinkle in her eyes and continued, "It would be best if you put Fíli out of his misery. Don't worry, he'll get over it. And then I'll decide who I'll be taking with me."

Rhonwen made great show of fastening the window. "I will, but not yet." Then she added, "Thank you for taking the time to talk to me." She showed Coriann out of the room and left it as well, closing the room firmly behind her.

Coriann hugged her and whispered, "You'll have the courage and strength to do what is right when the time comes. You were brought here for a reason and whatever that reason is, I am sure it is important."

"Thank you," Rhonwen smiled.

Then she walked down the corridor. Along the way, she ran into Kíli.

"Where have you been?" he asked.

"Been busy," she smiled. "Coriann was talking to me."

He snorted. "Let me guess, it had something to do with Fíli and I?"

"How'd you--"

"Coriann's my sister. That's pretty easy to guess," he interrupted. "Anyway, I've been looking for you."

"Didn't do a good job," Rhonwen smirked. "Anyone with a small amount of sense would know where to look."

Kíli feigned a look of hurt and said, "I'm so sorry that my brother and I cannot live up to your exceedingly high standards of intelligence."

She laughed, "Alright, I'm sorry."

"That's better," he said, slipping his arm around her waist and together they walked up the hallway.

After they turned the one corner, Kíli suddenly stopped and whispered, "Did Coriann say anything about what happened in the hall earlier?"

"No, not that I know of. I can't remember her saying anything of that."

"Good," Kíli said, somewhat slowly. "I was afraid she would."

Rhonwen looked at him closely, and then chuckled, "No, she didn't."

Kíli bent over her to kiss her, but just then was interrupted by a set of footsteps pounding down the hallway. They whirled around in time to see Dwalin running down, a terrified look on his face.

"We're under attack!"