The Secret Son

Chapter 1: The Birth

Thorin Oakenshield was in a difficult place. He was being hunted by a rogue dwarf clan, the Movrin dwarves, long standing enemies of the Line of Durin. He had taken a different route to the Blue Mountains than the rest of the dwarves of Erebor, with him, only three companions, his sister Dis, her son Fili and Islia, the exiled daughter of King Thranduil. Unbeknownst to all but Dis, Islia and Thorin had been wed in secret shortly before Smaug's attack on Erebor and Islia now carried Thorin's child within her. His heir.

The attack on the small company had been swift and scary. Normally, Thorin would have no problem dispatching the Movrin but the timing had been all wrong. Islia had gone into labor. Her screams emanating from the bushes she where she was giving birth to his heir cut through Thorin's consciousness like a hot knife. He slashed at a gray haired dwarf with fury accompanied by tears. Only seconds later, a scream that rattled his soul, in tune to his final blow on the attacking company, was following by a wail. His child was born.

"Thorin!" His sister's voice shook him. "Hurry!" He ran towards the bushes, sliding down to his wife. She was pale, paler than normal for an elf. In her arms was a small, bloody, crying, naked babe. There was a faint smile on Islia's face.

"We have a son, my love." Her voice was faint.

"My son." Thorin kissed Islia's brow. He shrugged off his royal blue cloak that was a gift from his father. He wrapped his newborn son within the soft cloth, not caring about the blood seeping into the fabric.

"Thorin, my love." Her voice jerked him away from his son's beautiful brown eyes that mirrored that of Islia's. "I feel death coming upon me swiftly."

"No! You cannot die!"

"It was my destiny, my sweet, to give birth to the key to peace. Our son. He is both your heir and my father's heir, whether or not he chooses to accept it. I am older than all my brothers, heir to the throne, but now that passes to our little boy."

Thorin looked down at the dark haired child in arms. Such power will rest with him.

"Protect him. Love him. Raise him in the ways of both our people."

"I will."

"Promise me, Thorin. Promise me you will tell him of me when he has grown." Her voice barely above a whisper.

"I promise, my love."

"Let me hold him one last time."

Thorin surrendered the babe to the weakened woman that had held his breath since their first meeting two years before. She pressed her lips to the babe's nose, whispering something in Elvish he did not understand. Then the love of Thorin's life stilled. Thorin cried. He buried his face in her neck, his hand resting on their child and cried.

"Thorin. Brother." Dis. He had all but forgotten about Dis. "We must bury her then leave. There may be more of the Movrin." He knew she was right, but he could not move. Part of him just died just as a light has turned on within him.

"I have a son."

"Yes, brother, you do. We must keep him secret."

"What? Why would I keep my son secret?! Are you mad?!" He rose from his dead wife with the babe still in his arms.

"He's part elf, Thorin. The dwarves of Erebor hate elves more than that blasted dragon right now. He will not be safe." He could see his sister's reasoning, even though he did not want to. He wanted to be numb.

"Then what shall I do?! I cannot hide a child!"

"I will raise him as my son until the time when the dwarves are ready to accept him as the heir with all the parts of his blood."

"Your son? But—"

"No, this is how it must be done. He will have a companion in Fili."

Thorin held his son to his chest, his gaze not leaving the child's haunting brown eyes.

"Fine. We'll do it your way."

"You must treat him as Fili's equal. Do you understand?

"Yes, yes I do."

"He must have a name."

"Kili. His name is Kili."