So Comes Snow After Fire

27.i Blithe as the Month of June

Ten days before the wedding, Tauriel came into the barracks office where Kíli was making the final arrangements of the guard, prior to their upcoming departure from Erebor. At the sound of her light elven step, Kíli set down his pen and looked up to find one of those odd, unreadable expressions on Tauriel's face.

"Yes, my love?" He pushed his chair back from the desk and stood.

As he came round to her, Tauriel held forth a folded letter, its green wax seal broken. Kíli glanced over the direction on the other side, though he did not need to see Tauriel's name written in sweeping elvish letters that glimmered faintly silver to know that the message was from the Elvenking himself.

"Kíli, Thranduil is coming to the wedding," Tauriel explained.

"Ah. That's good." He said it somewhat questioningly; his bride-to-be had sounded perplexed at this news.

She laughed at him then. "Yes, it's good. But still, Kíli— I never expected to have a king at my wedding! It is really too much!" Her expression eased into one he could read well, now: she wasn't exactly blushing, but her freckles seemed to deepen, giving her face the effect of having been dusted with stars. She was self-conscious.

"Tauriel, there will be two kings at our wedding," he said, amused. He handed the letter back to her, letting his fingers linger against hers.

"Yes, but Thorin is your uncle."

"I thought Thranduil was your guardian. Shouldn't he be here, too?"

"Oh Kíli!" Her voice was half wail, half laugh. "Thorin and Thranduil haven't faced each other since the battle! What if they make a scene at our wedding?"

"Nonsense!" Kíli said, hoping he was right. "They're allies now, remember? Besides"—he chuckled—"if they do start a quarrel, it will be all the better excuse for us to leave the feast early." He flashed her a roguish smile.

"Careful, love, or I shall suspect you intend to incite disagreement," she teased, drawing her hand from his and forcing Kíli to stop himself before he reached for her again. She noticed and her eyes sparkled with mischief.

"I don't even suspect you of intentionally tormenting me," he said cheerfully. "I know you do."

She laughed, and then added, more serious, "Kíli, Thranduil's arrival does not change our plans for the ceremony, does it? If he comes, it will mean the presence of even more outsiders."

"Nothing will change. I've already caused a scandal by being the first in all the history of the world to invite non-Khazad to a dwarvish wedding, so I suppose a handful more elves can't make a difference now."

"Are you sure?" Tauriel asked, her brows narrowed.

"Yes, I'm sure. There's just one thing: You must promise your elven king won't steal my true name and use it to cast a spell on me," he said, his tone deadly serious. "He might make my beard fall out or turn me into a squirrel."

She laughed softly for a moment. Then, her expression very serious and intent, she asked, "Your true name?"

"Yes, haven't I told you?" He shook his head in astonishment at himself. "No, of course not; there've been a thousand things to think of, and I've forgotten! Anyway, you do know we dwarves all have our secret names which are never used among outsiders?"

"I'd heard that. But I thought perhaps it was merely a tale; you've never told me you had any other name." Kíli thought she sounded almost disappointed.

"Tauriel." He chuckled, pleased to know she rightly considered herself close enough to merit his confidence in this. "You mustn't be offended. I never meant to keep it from you; I honestly didn't think of it as something you'd want to know. These days, a dwarf's true name is little more than a ceremonial formality for weddings, funerals, coronations, that sort of thing. Not even my family uses mine."