My apologies for not updating for a whole 6 days! I have been having a terrible time in the world of words and have been spending all my free time fanning myself furiously as I watch Mitchell, Annie, George and the rest bumble along through their lives in "Being Human". That show is sooooo good! (Pic on the side is George, Mitchell and Annie) So that's my excuse. Enjoy this update and I'll try keep to my two day schedule!

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Sabrielle filled up the large metallic tub with water and placed it over the frame. Once it was sitting securely the elf bobbed down and began to start up the little fire underneath. The flames grew until they were licking the bottom of the tub hungrily like a pack of ravenous wargs. Slowly steam began to rise from the water and Sabrielle smiled. She removed her under garments and slipped gently into the tub. Sliding down until only her face remained above the water she sighed with content allowing the heat to soak into her bones. The little contraption had been a gift from Kili on his last visit to her. The young dwarf fancied himself a bit of an inventor and apparently almost all the houses of Erebor and surrounds had benefitted from his intriguing gadgets and experiments in some way or another.  

This particular gismo of his was quite impressive really. Kili had built a frame to hold her bathtub above the ground. Under the tub you could light a fire to warm the water. As long as the fire was still burning you could have a nice long soak and the base of the tub did not overheat because the dark-haired dwarf had modified it to have a hollowed out base filled with water. The heat of the fire caused the liquid in the base to boil and spread itself about the tub but the water would not continue to heat past a certain point as the fire could not create enough heat for it to do so. The warmed tub would then heat the water in it and voila! A constantly warm bath.

Sabrielle grinned at the memory of the day he’d built it for her. They’d both been frozen from an accidental slip into the stream where the fresh drinking and washing water came from. Kili had immediately jumped straight into designing something that could leave you with warm water to swim in all the while shivering violently. The end result had been his funny little bath-on-stilts as the elf liked to call it. The dwarf hadn’t been overly fond of the name and they’d playfully fought about it for some hours. Several of the names included hotbath, stay-warm, please-don’t-fall-over and elevated sink. Sabrielle was stirred from her memories by a sharp and excited knocking at the door. Quickly she hopped out of the bath, wrapped a soft blue dressing gown around herself and headed for the front of the house.

    “Kili Arken!” growled the elf as the door swung open, “It’s been all of seven years you lazy snail! What have you been up to that meant you couldn’t visit a friend?” The dwarf stared at her his chocolaty eyes open wide with shock not sure as to whether she was playing or not.

    “I . . . urgh . . .” he managed before Sabrielle grabbed his wrist and hauled him inside. The elf pulled him into a great bear hug and he gratefully returned the gesture realising she wasn’t actually angry with him.

    “Your hair’s wet,” the dwarf noted as they stepped apart from each other, “Have I caught you at a bad time?” The other shook her head fervently which resulted in water flicking all over the dwarf.

    “Hardly,” she smiled dodging out of the way of his playful slap, “I’ll just go get changed and shut down the fire if you want to go wait in the kitchen or something.”

    “Alright then,” he replied realising that he could not catch the elf when she was on guard, “I’ll duck out again and settle my pony in the stable. See you back in here?” The elf nodded agreement and they parted ways.

A few minutes later the happy pair gathered into the kitchen. Sabrielle had set them up with a mug of tea each and they discussed the comings and goings of the last several years.

    “I’m sorry for not visiting for such a long time,” Kili apologised, “But I’ve been in past my eyebrows helping Fili with all the kingly stuff and all. I’m only allowed off for a fortnight at the moment.” The elf laughed.

    “You were doing so well for the first three years of his reign,” she smiled, “You’d come at least four times a year but for the last seven I haven’t seen hair nor hide of you.”

    “I really am sorry, Sabrielle,” the dwarf frowned, “I was able to juggle some things around then but now it’s almost as if Erebor has two kings. We’re working sun up to sun down and often in between also. So much has to be done; Fili gets all these ideas that he wants to follow through with and then there’s the people who push and shove until we do what they want. It’s been hectic. Fili has almost had a nervous breakdown at least a hundred times.” Kili put his face in his hands as though he was exhausted.

    “I was just teasing,” the elf cut in with a grin as she moved over to rub her friend’s back, “I’m glad you’ve been given a break. You look like you need one.” The dwarf took his head off his hands and smiled at his friend wearily.

    “Any reason other than an escape from work that you came here?” she asked lightly.

    “An escape from Fili,” he answered a sparkle in his dark eyes, “He’s a nightmare! Kili, can you sign this for me? Kili, can you ride to the Ironhills and talk to Dain about trading ducks? Kili, can you run down to Balin and ask him when I’m supposed to meet with the Chief of the Yellow Worm Society? It never ends!” By the end of his rant both were in stitches of laughter.

    “Trading ducks?” Sabrielle gasped through giggles, “Yellow Worms?” The elf had almost fallen off her chair.

    “Aye,” choked the dwarf in mock seriousness, “Yellow Worms are an endangered species.” It was at that moment that Sabrielle really did fall off her seat. She landed on the ground with a clatter as her head hit the leg of the table. In an instant Kili was by her side.

    “Are you okay?” he asked worry filling his eyes.

    “Oh I’m fine, Kili,” the other replied still giggling, “Did he really ask you to do those things?” The dwarf’s face cracked a grin.

    “Pretty much,” he chuckled, “But that’s just the start of it.”

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Soooo! Just in case you got confused: this new chapter takes place ten years after Fili's installation as King Under the Mountain. It has been seven years since Sabrielle has seen either of the two dwarves. What did you think? Good? Bad? Do I need to stop this book before you rip your eyes out? Comment please! Until next we meet.

~SpanishFox