Chapter Text
Fili is laying out an intricate design of diamonds and sapphires when Kili storms into his chamber and slams the heavy oak door behind him. Fili startles and silently curses when gems fly all over the table and his work of the last half hour is all undone.
"Thank you, Kili," he says dryly, and without turning he can tell that Kili is glaring at him. His brother has been in a strange temper all week, either oddly lethargic, or full of frenetic energy, one moment laughing, and the next practically growling at anyone who comes near him. It’s odd, Fili reflects, for Kili is usually good-tempered. The thought makes him turn and look at his brother curiously.
It is three years now since they reclaimed Erebor and they have long since recovered from their wounds. Illness is unheard of in dwarves so it can’t be that, but something has certainly stirred in his brother, and Fili has had enough of being glowered at.
"Want to tell me what your problem is?"
Kili gives him an unusual look, one full of heat that Fili can’t define.
"I’ve changed," Kili says in a flat voice.
Fili raises an eyebrow. "Well, if this is what you’ve changed into, would you mind changing back? And preferably before you break the door of my chambers."
"I can’t," Kili says. The look on his face tells Fili that Kili expects him to understand what he’s talking about but Fili can only frown in confusion. Then, slowly, it dawns on him and his eyes widen in astonishment.
"You can’t have," he says. "You’re only eighty."
"Well, I have," Kili replies, prowling around the room. "You know it happens early sometimes."
And really, it’s all too clear now. Kili’s mood swings, the extra aggression; clues that all lead to one conclusion. His brother has begun maturing into an Alpha. It’s quite extraordinary - not extraordinary that he’s an Alpha - but that Fili…
"But I haven’t," Fili says, completing the thought. "And I’m older. It’s not…" fair, he wants to say. He holds it back in time but Kili looks a bit stricken all the same.
"I can’t help it," he says, and he’s turning that melting dark-eyed look on Fili that nearly always makes him surrender.
Fili sighs. "I know."
Still it’s annoying that this has happened yet again for Fili is the one who is of the right age to make the change. Kili is younger than him by a full five years, but once again it is Kili who has taken the lead, as he has taken the lead in so many other things - choosing a Craft, his first hunting kill, almost everything. His mother had always told him that it was because Kili was more impulsive and Fili was less reckless, so it was a good thing that Fili was the Heir… but sometimes Fili just wishes that Kili would slow down a little.
"Your time will come soon," Kili tells him, almost absently, and Fili answers him silently with a nod.
"What’s it like?" Fili asks curiously. He hasn’t really thought too much about the final change, other than his awareness that he’s been nearing his time, but now that Kili is going through it, he wonders just how difficult it is.
Kili pulls a face. "Interesting," he says. "It started a couple of weeks ago, slowly at first. I began noticing attractions I’ve never had before. You know what I mean…"
Fili nods. Although he doesn’t know what exactly the ‘attractions’ that Kili is talking about feel like, he does know that they start to develop once the process of maturing begins.
"Then about a week ago it got worse. Like an itch that just wouldn’t go away. Mahal, I really needed to just…"
He trails off and Fili notices that one of Kili’s hands is clenching and unclenching. He can see the tension running through Kili’s body but it looks different somehow to the tension of battle and Fili can’t imagine what it must feel like.
"So, ah, did you…" he prompts, when Kili continues to just stand there, staring at the wall.
"Did I what?" Kili finally looks at him, with a strangely amused look that suddenly makes Fili feel as if he is the younger of them. "If you’re asking me if I’ve fucked someone, then the answer is yes. But it wasn’t enough. I need to knot."
Fili’s face burns. Kili has always been more plain-spoken, has never been cautious with his words, and it seems he’s not going to start now. In fact Fili strongly suspects that Kili has gone out of his way to be so provocative because he knows, and enjoys the fact, that Fili finds it embarrassing. He wonders why he always lets Kili get away with it but at the same time he’s distracted by his concern over what Kili has said. Because if he’s bedded someone without knotting then it means he was with a Beta. He can’t imagine his brother bonding hastily so if he wants an Omega, and one in Heat, it can only mean one thing.
"I’m going to the Halls of the Unbonded," Kili says firmly, confirming Fili’s suspicions.
"But you can’t," Fili says, so shocked he’s almost spluttering and Kili shoots him another amused look. It’s almost patronising and it irritates Fili so much that he stares heavily at his brother until Kili’s smile fades.
"You don’t know how this feels," Kili says, his eyes pleading with Fili to understand. "Thorin’s told me that it will get easier, that it will settle. But it’s too much, Fili, and I don’t have any other option."
"Thorin doesn’t go there," Fili says, "and you know mother wouldn’t approve."
"Well, she’s not here, is she," Kili says, and his smile is strained because he’s never fully accepted their mother’s decision to bond with a dwarf from the Iron Hills. "And she’s always been a bit judgemental about the Omegas, you know that. As for Thorin, he isn’t a new Alpha, he’s had plenty of time to learn his control."
"Besides," he adds, directing a look at Fili that Fili can’t fathom, "he knows what he’s waiting for, has known for a long time. I’ve only just found out and as much as I’d like to wait, I need this now."
Fili doesn’t understand much of that and he’s even more confused when he sees that Kili hasn’t expected him to. He’s silent for a moment to see if his brother will explain but he’s not surprised when Kili just shrugs and looks apologetic.
"You’ve talked to Thorin?" Fili finally asks.
"He’s talked to me," Kili corrects, and the glint of laughter is back in his eyes. "I’m only taking his advice."
"He told you to go to the Unbonded Halls?" Fili is astonished and can’t conceal it.
"He told me to do what I needed to do," Kili responds. "That’s what he does when it gets too much. He might be able to go without knotting but he’s still an Alpha. Many Beta males have welcomed him to their bed."
Fili is not surprised. Whilst Thorin is a formidable Alpha with powerful control he still has the Alpha’s strong mating drive… and he is unbonded for Omega males are rare. It doesn’t happen often but Fili knows that sometimes Thorin mates with some of the Beta male dwarves.
"Fili."
Kili’s low voice breaks into his thoughts and he looks up surprised at his brother’s sudden proximity. Kili is standing over him. He’s always been slightly taller, and Fili predicts that in the next few months, as he has his final Alpha growth spurt, he’ll end up taller still.
"What?"
Kili winds a finger in one of Fili’s braids.
"As soon as I’ve done what I have to, I’ll do the same."
Fili frowns. "What?" he repeats.
"I’m saying that as soon as I can, I’ll do the same as Thorin does."
"Oh… that’s… yes… well, fine," Fili stammers. He suspects that Kili is trying to reassure him and charm him out of his obvious disapproval, but the intent look on his face is oddly unnerving.
To Fili’s relief, after a moment Kili smiles. "I’ll see you when I get back."
"Oh… um… all right," Fili says, awkward with the knowledge of where his brother is going.
After Kili is gone - closing the door quietly this time - Fili leans against his workbench and thinks back over the conversation. Some of it hadn’t made sense but he supposes that’s normal when he hasn’t made the change yet himself. The whole Alpha, Beta, Omega situation has been in the background of his adult life for many years now but he hasn’t really thought about it for a long time. He suspects that with Kili having matured it will now have more impact on his life and he tries to recall what he knows.
Most of it he learned in the early days, way back in Ered Luin, in the Halls of Rearing when he lived there with his mother. Later Kili had been there too, and whilst at first Fili had thought that Kili was a noisy annoying mess who dribbled on him whenever he was forced to hold him, later they had been inseparable.
The first time he’d heard of Alphas, Betas and Omegas had been when Nori had been on one of his visits to the Halls to see his mother and younger brother, Ori, who was one of Fili’s playmates. The three of them had found a dark corner (one of the few times Kili hadn’t been with them) and Nori had spoken of matters that Fili really hadn’t understood. Now he wonders just how much Nori himself had truly understood at the time.
But his first real true knowledge of it all had come from his mother when he’d been about to leave the Halls of Rearing.
Fili settles in a chair by his fireplace and loses himself in memory, surprised at just how much of that conversation he still recalls so clearly.
Fili is fifteen and it is finally time for him to leave the Halls of his infancy and join his friend, Ori, in the Halls of Training. He is excited to be leaving the Halls of Rearing; it is his first step to becoming an adult dwarf. He will learn about the Crafts and find his own, and he will learn to wield a real weapon instead of the wooden swords and axes that the dwarflings play with. His only regret is that he will be leaving Kili behind and it hurts him to see the despondency in Kili’s dark eyes as he watches Fili packing up his belongings.
"I don’t want you to go. Not without me," Kili finally says, his eyes wide with the pleading look that has won Fili over to him many times. Fili sighs because he knows that this time Kili will be disappointed.
"I know," he says, gripping Kili’s shoulder. "And I wish you could come with me but you know that I have to go. I promise I’ll visit you a lot. And the time will pass quickly and you’ll join me and then we’ll always be together. This is the only time we’ll be separated, I promise."
Kili sighs and pouts but he laughs when Fili tugs on a lock of his dark hair.
"Have you finished packing?"
It is his mother’s voice and Fili turns to see her standing in the doorway of his chamber. She nods at Kili.
"Run along, Kili. I need to talk to your brother."
Kili looks mutinous for a moment but his mother watches him steadily until he gives up and leaves and then she takes a seat on Fili’s bed, holding out a hand to him.
"Come Fili, sit down. There is much I must tell you before you go."
Fili sits and his mother pats his hand.
"You won’t live in the Halls the way that the other young ones do," she begins, and Fili’s eyes widen with surprise.
"You are the Crown Prince, the Heir," she reminds him. "You will live in the Halls of Royalty as befits your status."
"With Uncle Thorin?" Fili asks, almost breathless with wonder at the idea.
He has only seen his Uncle a handful of times and he still remembers his first sight of the tallest and strongest dwarf he has ever seen.
He had been speechless when Thorin had turned his piercing blue gaze upon Fili, and when he had spoken the deep, warm velvet of his voice had made Fili burn to perform great deeds for him. Later he and Kili would hear the tales of their Uncles’s adventures, of his prowess in battle during the war with the Orc’s and at the Battle of Azanulbizar and it would ignite their fervour and admiration of their Uncle even further. Eventually Fili’s hero worship would be tempered by familiarity but Thorin’s regal bearing would always be apparent to him.
"Thorin lives there, yes," his mother continues, breaking into Fili’s memories. "But he travels often and he has many duties, remember that."
Fili nods, determined to never be a burden to his Uncle.
"What about Kili? And you?" he asks, and his mother smiles.
"Yes, when Kili leaves these halls he will join you there but I will go to the Halls of Weaponry, for that is my Craft, and I am more comfortable there than in the Halls of Royalty."
It is no surprise to Fili; he knows that his mother is one of the best swordsmiths in Ered Luin and that she has missed the companionship of others in her Craft.
"You will have more freedom now, Fili," his mother continues. "Here you have been confined to these Halls and its gardens, but now you will be free to go where you wish. However, there is one place you still should not go. You have heard the terms Alpha, Beta and Omega many times, but now you must understand what they mean. What do you know of them already?"
"I know that Uncle is an Alpha," he says. "And that you are a Beta, as was father. I think Ori’s mother is an Omega, but I’m not certain."
"Yes, some of those here are Omegas, Fili, but they are rearing dwarflings and many of them are here with their bond-mates. Outside of these Halls you will meet many Omegas both bonded and unbonded. Bonded Omegas live in the Halls of their Craft or in the Halls of their bond-mates. Unbonded Omegas live in the Halls of their Craft except for certain times when they go to the Halls of the Unbonded. You must not try to explore those Halls, Fili, the guards there will detain you if you attempt to enter. Only unbonded Omegas and unbonded Alphas go there."
"Then I could go there when I'm an Alpha," Fili nods.
His mother looks amused. "Yes, there are many Alphas in the male Durin line but there are some Betas too, you know."
"I know, but I’m going to be an Alpha like Uncle," Fili assures her.
"You have many years yet before you make that change, my son."
"Why aren’t you an Alpha, mother?" Fili asks. When he’d first heard his mother was a Beta he had wondered at it but, sensing that it was quite a personal topic, he had never found the courage to ask. Now seems like the perfect moment.
"There are never female Alphas, Fili," his mother tells him. "You know that there are far fewer female dwarves than males, and the majority of them are Beta. Male dwarves can be Alpha, Beta, or Omega," at Fili’s surprised look she nods, "yes, there are male Omegas, but they are more rare, and they cannot bear dwarflings. In general, there are more Beta dwarves than there are Alphas or Omegas, and there are yet still more Alphas than Omegas. Alpha dwarves are stronger, larger, powerful and more dominant. They also have the power in their voice to influence, and in battle to command. Betas, both male and female, are steady, strong and work well in groups. Omegas are quieter, they can be very creative and they are also fine strategists, they seem to have good minds for compromise and negotiation. You will often find a good trader is an Omega. But as well as that, in certain situations they are more... er... well, submissive. I’m not talking about in battle, you understand," she adds, and Fili realises she must have seen his frown of confusion. "A male Omega can make a very fine warrior, quick and agile in ways that Alphas and Betas are not. I’m talking about in matters of a… ah… private nature."
"Do you mean mating?" Fili asks, still confused, and Dis flushes a deep red.
"Well, that makes it easier," she says. "Yes I mean mating, Fili. You know that we mate but don’t always bond?"
Fili nods. "Ori’s brother Nori told us about it one time they were visiting."
"Hmmm, it would be him, of course," Dis murmurs. "Early signs of an Alpha, indeed. He’s coming close to his time."
"His time?" Fili asks, then nods when he realises that his mother means the time when an adult dwarf will make the final change and mature into an Alpha, Beta, or an Omega.
"He is almost eighty and whilst the usual time of sexual maturity is around eighty-five that family has always been precocious. What exactly did he tell you?"
"Only that unbonded Omegas will turn over for any Alpha’s knot," Fili says, frowning. "And that an unbonded Alpha will plough any Beta or Omega who is willing. I didn’t really understand what he meant."
His mother makes a strange choking sound, and later, when Fili knows exactly what he has repeated (to his everlasting embarrassment and now he wonders if that’s why he isn’t as plain-spoken as Kili), he understands why.
"Really, that dwarf," she finally says in a dry voice. "Fili, I want you to promise me that you’ll never repeat any of that again. Ever. To anyone. Particularly your brother." She pauses for a moment. "And definitely not to your Uncle either."
"All right, mother," Fili agrees, but he’s not going to lose the opportunity he now has to find out exactly what Nori was talking about. " But what’s a knot? And what’s an Omega’s Heat?"
Dis closes her eyes. "He mentioned those too?"
Her voice sounds weary and Fili isn’t surprised at the tired look she gives him when she opens her eyes.
"Kili wasn’t there at the time was he?"
Fili shakes his head.
"Well, that’s something at least. I’m already dreading having this conversation with him as it is and I’d like some time to recover before I have to go through this again."
"Very well," Dis continues, and Fili notices that the colour is again high in her cheeks. "You have been taught the differences between the female and male dwarf but an Alpha has something extra and it’s the reason why all Alphas are male. It is a… swelling… in their shaft, called a knot, which only appears when they mate with an Omega in Heat. "
Fili frowns thoughtfully because that just sounds… uncomfortable… as far as he can see but he supposes that when he’s an Alpha it will probably all make sense.
"But what is the Heat?" he asks.
"Well," his mother says, after clearing her throat, "it’s a time when the Omega needs the … ah… needs to be satisfied by the knot of an Alpha. It happens every couple of months. Fortunately they don’t all go into Heat at the same time for it lasts for a few days; and it is the reason why they will only mate or bond with Alphas."
"So, why is it that some of them are unbonded? Aren’t there enough Alphas?"
Dis frowns. "I don’t know, Fili. I’ve never really understood that myself. There are more Alphas than Omegas, presumably because it takes a lot of... well... energy to satisfy an Omega in Heat. One Alpha alone cannot do it. But for some reason, not all Omegas choose to bond, preferring to mate with any Alpha they choose. But bonded Omegas will only mate with their bonded Alphas, and you must remember this, Fili, for bonded Alphas are possessive of their Omega, particularly during a Heat. At that time they will only allow the presence of the other bonded Alpha, for there are usually two, and at least one of them of the same blood."
"Same blood?" Fili asks.
"Not parents and their children you understand," Dis says, "that blood tie does not happen. But cousins, siblings, the offspring of siblings."
"Do you mean that Kili and I…?"
Dis nods. "Yes, if one of you was Alpha and one of you Omega, you could bond together. That is the only way that you would feel a blood tie attraction."
It would certainly be a way of keeping his promise to Kili that they’d never be separated again, Fili thought, but as Kili was as unlikely to be an Omega as Fili was, it would probably never really be possible.
"You don’t need to think about any of this for a long time yet," his mother says. "All you need to know for now is that unbonded Omegas go to the Halls of the Unbonded when they are in Heat and that it is not at all appropriate for you to go there, no matter how curious you may be. Only unbonded Alphas go there and, of course, the Unbonded Halls guards have to."
The tone of his mother’s voice makes Fili think that she doesn’t entirely approve of the Halls of the Unbonded and those who visit there.
"Are they so bad, then?" he asks.
Dis stands and begins to gather up Fili’s packed satchels.
"No," she says quietly. " They’re not bad, but it is hard for me, as a Beta, to understand them, particularly the ones who choose not to bond. Beta dwarves are more settled, they only take one bond-mate, and they are not held hostage by their natures the way that Omegas are, poor things. Even Alphas, with their high… um… appetites … have more control than Omegas. There are many of the unbonded Alphas who don’t go to the Halls, preferring longer associations with Beta’s even if they can’t have the fuller satisfaction of knotting with them. There are also many who prefer to mate with males, your Uncle and Dwalin are of their number, and they are unbonded because Omega males are rare. In fact, there hasn’t been an Omega male here for many years. "
Fili still isn’t sure he completely understands but he does get the feeling that his mother doesn’t really think that the life of an Omega is an easy or desirable one. Later he will learn that many Beta dwarves pity them.
"Now it is near time for you to go," Dis says in a pained voice. "If you have further questions, there will be others to answer them in the Halls of Training." She holds up a finger and smiles. "Not Nori."
Fili laughs, although his mind is whirling with all that he has learnt. "Not Nori," he agrees.
Fili smiles to himself as he remembers that his mother had been right about Nori because shortly after that he had matured into an Alpha… and he’d spent his fair share of nights in the Halls of the Unbonded.
Until Ori had matured… and that had been the next time that the issue of Alphas, Betas, and Omegas had intruded into Fili’s world.
In the Halls of Training he hadn’t learnt much more than his mother had told him and he’d had no interest in asking any further questions. There had been too many other important things to focus on, learning to wield axe and sword and hold his own in battle, as well as exploring the Crafts until he reached his coming of age and settled into his place in the Halls of Adornment to train under the Masters there. Kili had decided on his Craft quickly, studying with their mother in the Halls of Weaponry, and whilst they’d been aware of the Alphas, Betas and Omegas around them, and could tell who was which, none of it had really interested or affected either of them.
Particularly when all the time, in the background, they had known that their Uncle waited, for the right time and the right companions, to reclaim Erebor and take back their Kingdom. Eventually that time had come and Fili and Kili had followed their Uncle without question (they would have followed him into death, and almost had) but in the end they had succeeded in their quest and Thorin now sat on the throne of Erebor.
Alphas, Betas, and Omegas had never been an issue during the Quest either. The group had been a mixture. Thorin, Dwalin, Gloin and Nori, the Alphas. The rest had been Betas except for Fili, Kili and Ori, who had not yet reached their maturing. As for Bilbo, he had just been... Bilbo. None of them had ever really figured him out.
So, beyond the idea that one day he would be an Alpha like Thorin, he still hadn’t thought too much about any of it.
Not until Ori.
It’s been a year since they reclaimed Erebor and Ori has finally talked Fili into helping him sort out the Tomes of Adornment in the Halls of Knowledge. Fili follows along the rows of shelves, muttering a little, for he knows that Thorin is sparring in the Halls of War, and he would much prefer to be there to join it.
"I don’t know why we had to do this now," he says, and Ori gives him a peeved glance. It’s so unusual on Ori that Fili looks at him more closely.
It can’t be illness but Ori doesn’t look right. He’s flushed and his eyes look darker than normal.
"What’s wrong with you?" Fili asks.
Ori shrugs. "Nothing," he says. He gives Fili a hesitant look and then continues, "Well, I’ve been having… strange thoughts."
Fili takes a step back. Strange thoughts do not sound… good. The last time he’d heard of a dwarf with strange thoughts it had been Thorin, suffering from the gold madness. He’d fought it and conquered, but Fili knows it’s the reason Thorin will not hoard gold at Erebor.
"What sort of thoughts?" Fili asks, but Ori doesn’t answer him. He’s staring over Fili’s shoulder, almost as if in a trance, and Fili turns curiously to see Dwalin entering the chamber they are in.
"Aye, Fili, there you are…" Dwalin starts to say, and then he just halts and stares at Ori.
There’s a strange noise behind him, and Fili turns back to find Ori now sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. Dwalin brushes past him and when he kneels on the floor in front of Ori, Ori flings his arms around Dwalin’s neck and starts mumbling.
It sounds a lot like ‘No’ repeated over and over again and there’s something about the sound of it that makes Fili’s skin crawl.
"Ah, lad, don’t fret," he hears Dwalin say. "You’re almost there but there’s still some time yet."
"What is…?" Fili starts to ask but his voice dies in his throat when Dwalin looks over his shoulder and g lares at him in a way that makes Fili take several steps back this time.
"Get out of here," Dwalin practically snarls. The Alpha growl in his voice makes Fili freeze in astonishment.
"Find Nori," Dwalin adds urgently, and that sets Fili moving.
Nori just nods when Fili tells him about Ori and then he’s gone swiftly, whilst Fili is left wondering just what exactly is happening .
By that night it’s common knowledge. Ori is maturing into an Omega and is fast approaching his first Heat.
There’s great excitement, particularly amongst the Alphas who prefer males, because Ori is the first male Omega for thirty years. Fili watches it all; thoroughly uneasy with the way Ori has become some sort of prize to be won. Even Alphas who have never even spoken to Ori are offering to mate or bond with him and Fili wonders if Thorin will offer as well and is relieved when he doesn’t.
Fili doesn’t see Ori for a couple of weeks and by that time he knows that Ori has bonded with Dwalin and Nori. Dori is beside himself with pride, one brother an Omega and one an Alpha, bonded together with another Alpha as powerful as Dwalin. It’s a good mix of family blood ties and strength, and although there will be no dwarflings, it is still one of the highest status bondings for many years. When Dori tells Fili this, all Fili can do is smile uncomfortably, wondering if his childhood friend is as happy about the bonding as Dori is.
When he does see Ori again, he can’t help feeling a little embarrassed and he can see that Ori feels the same.
"Are you all right?" Fili finally asks, and Ori gives him a shy smile.
"Yes," he says. "At first it was difficult and Nori says that it was lucky I was isolated early because it gave me time to be able to think more clearly. But after that… well, I always thought I’d be a Beta and turning out to be an Omega, it was… different."
Fili’s heart sinks. "You don’t really hate it, do you?" he asks and is a little reassured when Ori laughs.
"No," he replies. "It’s who I am. I’ll admit, at first it was embarrassing, everyone knowing and talking about it," his voice drops to a whisper and he leans closer to Fili’s ear, "and the Heat was more intense than I thought it would be. But it felt... good."
Fili blushes and when he looks at Ori again he’s not surprised to see his embarrassment reflected there.
"Dwalin says that next time it will be easier," Ori continues and something in his smile reassures Fili. "Because we’ll all have been bonded for a while by then. You know how much Dwalin believes in rigorous training."
Fili remembers that Ori had actually laughed after that and Fili had been relieved that he seemed to be happy even though he hadn’t really understood what Ori had meant. But even now he wonders just how content Ori is at being locked away six times a year, a slave to his need to service and satisfy his Alphas.
The stream of thought and memory breaks as Fili shifts uncomfortably, suddenly realising that out of the three of the unmatured who were on the quest, he is now the only one who has not yet made the change.
He doesn’t want to think about it anymore and as his stomach rumbles in hunger he decides that it’s well past time to find something to eat. He heads to the dining hall hoping that it won’t be too full of other dwarves; only Thorin, Fili and Kili, and the Guard Watch sleep in the Halls of Royalty but there are many dwarves who are in and out throughout the day and so the dining hall is often busy.
He’s lucky, for only Balin and Dwalin are there and Fili fills a plate and then takes his seat at the long table. A few moments later Thorin walks in, notes Kili’s empty chair with a raised brow, and takes his own seat.
"Your brother is absent," he says to Fili, and Fili gives him a look of exaggerated surprise.
"Durin’s beard," he says, sarcastically. "I hadn’t noticed. I wonder where he could be?"
Thorin laughs and takes a long pull of his tankard. His blue eyes on Fili are searching and, as usual, Fili feels as if Thorin can see right through him to the depths of his soul in a way that is completely disconcerting.
"Don’t let it rankle you," Thorin says quietly.
Fili shrugs. "What exactly?" he asks. "Where he’s gone or the fact that I’m the one who is of the right age?"
"Both," Thorin says simply. He leans closer, the long waves of his dark hair brushing Fili’s shoulder. "Your time will come, Fili, soon. That’s all I can tell you."
Fili frowns, wondering what that means. Is there something that Thorin knows about this that Fili does not, or is he just being deliberately mysterious?
"Don’t think too much on it," Thorin advises. "And don’t judge your brother too harshly. The Halls of the Unbonded are there because some dwarves need them. I know my sister disapproves, many Betas do, but they don’t understand the compulsion. The first days of a new Alpha are not easy. Kili needs our support."
"I know," Fili agrees, and he does. But for some reason it reminds him of the first time they had been separated when Fili had left the Halls of Rearing… except that this time it is Fili who is left behind as Kili moves forward to new experiences.
"He will always be yours, Fili," Thorin says softly, and Fili wonders, not for the first time, how it is that his uncle can seem to read so easily those close to him. He has seen him do the same to Kili many times.
"As will I," Thorin adds, and the undercurrent of Alpha in his voice makes Fili look at him in surprise, for he rarely directs it at either of his nephews. Thorin’s eyes are unreadable though and when he turns away to talk to Dwalin, Fili wonders if he perhaps imagined it.
It’s not until he’s back in his chambers that it occurs to him that the actual words were strange as well.