The Sons of Durin

Disputes and Negotiations

Kíli returned to Dale, and the moment he entered the city Balin was at his side. Dwalin was not far behind his brother. Bofur also was there, though he seemed by now to have entered into a state of perpetual confusion, and his expression was one of befuddlement. "Kíli, you've got to stop running off... or at least you should be telling us where you're going," he protested. "You might be the king... sort of, I mean... though you haven't been coronated yet, so maybe you aren't quite a king at the moment... but either way, king or no, you are a bit careless at times, and..."

"I'm all right," said Kíli, interrupting Bofur's flustered stammerings. It was not often that Bofur seemed to be at a loss for words, and under other circumstances his behavior might have been amusing. But nothing could amuse Kíli at that moment; he was sick with heartache and worry, and still angry with Dáin for having burned the bodies of brave dwarf-warriors that might otherwise have been brought back to life.

"Good to hear, good to hear," Balin soothed, seeing that Kíli was in a bad temper and seeking to turn him toward a less irritable state of mind. "Glad you're all right, lad. We just want to know why you went running off like that, that's all."

"I had to talk some things over with Dáin," Kíli said. "Now, where is that Elf-king? Does he have time yet to hear what I've got to say, or is he still busy playing with my runestone?"

Balin shook his head. "Now, laddie, you can't be talking like that when you go to negotiate with Lord Thranduil," he said. "You've got to be dignified about it—noble and kingly, like Thorin would have been." A frown wrinkled his brow, and then he hastily corrected himself, "Well, perhaps not exactly like Thorin would have been. You've got to be polite and reasonable, and speak to him with respect. In fact, you might start," he thoughtfully added, "with thanking him for healing you. Aye, thank him, and thank him sincerely. Before you try to demand anything more of him, show that you're grateful for what he's already done. At the very least, that should start you out on good terms."

With a dark scowl, Dwalin shook his head in objection to his brother's advice. "And give him the occasion to treat us like we're inferior, and demand whatever he wants! No, thank ye very much!" he blustered. He glared down at Balin, and then whirled viciously toward Kíli and grasped the younger Dwarf by the shoulders. "You're representing all of us, see? Ye can't be going to Thranduil acting weak, begging his mercy and expecting him to give it! No, ye make a display of strength, Kíli my lad! Ye just walk right up to that Elf and give him your terms, and then stand by them!"

"Dwalin, now think about this a moment. We'll get nothing accomplished that way," Balin said, looking alarmed. He laid a hand on Dwalin's arm. His grip was sturdy, but not nearly as rough as the viselike hold that Dwalin had on Kíli. "We've had enough strife; it's time we thought of what we've got to do in order to come to a peaceful agreement with our neighbors, so that we can start out building a new life in Erebor without the threat of war looming over us. This isn't only about Thorin... and if he were alive (alive and not held in the clutches of insanity, I mean), I think that he would agree. If we arouse the Elves' ire first thing as we're reclaiming our homeland..."

"We've already done that!" Dwalin shouted, shaking Kíli vigorously as though to make a more forceful point. "The Elves hate us, and they always have, and they always will! Even when we prospered, and they traded with us, it was only for their own gain! They never cared about our well-being, and may Durin curse them, they proved that by deserting us in our greatest time of need!"

"Then all the more reason to make sure that any new treaty between our peoples would benefit them as much as it would us!" said Balin. "You cannot rightly expect the Elves to give us anything, if we will give them nothing in return. Nor should we expect it. That is not, and never has been, and never will be the way of the world. No, if we ask them for what we want, it is only natural that we ought in return to give them something they want."