Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Kili did not want to get married. Not in the least. At all. He was seriously considering hiding for the rest of his life in order to avoid it. It wasn’t that he was actually against the idea of getting married in general, he just didn’t want to get married to someone he did not know and go live somewhere else. Most dwarves got to choose their own mate, take the time to find their One, and live how and where they chose. Being an heir of Durin and a member of the royal family however, meant that Kili had his mate chosen for him in order to make political alliances to benefit the kingdom, never mind that they had no kingdom to speak of. The announcement of his betrothal (life-as-he-knew-it-ending doom) would come at his coming-of-age ceremony which was, unfortunately for him, that very night.
Until last night Kili had been excited about the ceremony, practically bouncing with it and annoying everyone with said excitement for days, if not weeks or months. Then Uncle Thorin had mentioned casually at dinner that he would be making the betrothal announcement for both his heirs at Kili’s ceremony. Fili had accepted his fate as expected, with the calm dignity befitting a prince of Durin. Kili however was so surprised that he had just stared at his Uncle with his mouth hanging open and eyes wide until his mother had quietly reminded him told him to finish his meal.
In all honesty, Kili had been looking forward to his coming-of-age since he was just a dwarfling. First he had thought it would mean that he could eat all the sweets he wanted and not have to go to bed so early. Then he had thought it meant that he could skip a day or two of lessons and weapons training so that he could go hunting or fishing all day. As an adolescent he thought it would mean he would have the freedom to go to the tavern as often as he wished and drink as much as he wanted. However, as he grew and matured the idea of what it meant had changed and he learned that, for him at least, it did not mean freedom of any kind, only a new set of rules and a different set of trappings. He learned that he would never have control of his own life as long as he was a prince of Durin. For several years he dreamt of running away and leaving his responsibilities behind just so he could live for himself and enjoy the same freedoms that other dwarves had. He spent a lot of that time drinking too much in the evenings and fighting too much with the very dwarves he envied.
For all Kili may be reckless though he is not one to quit a challenge or back down from a fight so he never left, only resigned himself to making the best of things and moving on with his life. He stopped drinking as much, stopped fighting when he could, and put all his energy into training with his bow and long sword. He continued with his lessons with the same enthusiasm however, they would never be anything other than boring.
Now Kili sat in the highest pine tree he could find, reverting back to those adolescent days of passive-aggressive rebellion, hiding from the fact that he should be bathing and dressing for his now dreaded coming-of-age ceremony. He couldn’t help but wonder who he would be betrothed to and where he would be sent to live. He could only hope that it was not to the Grey Mountains where they did not treat bearers as anything but property. Surely his uncle would not send his there? He had no choice but to wait and find out tonight. With a heavy heart Kili climbed down out of the pine tree and began making his way home to prepare for tonight, determined to meet his doom with as much dignity as he could muster.