Disclaimer: We do not own Lord of the Rings...sadly.
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The wind blew stronger and stronger through the mountain, the sun hiding behind a huge mass of dark clouds. The little village just below the mountain, seemed to have been abandoned, because the windows of the houses had all been covered with planks and the streets were empty. No smoke was coming out from the chimneys.
Exept for one house, the house a little further away from the rest of houses in the village. The one house that stood closest to the mountain, where once the mighty dragon Smaug lived. A glimmering light, just outside the house, started to grow, stronger and stronger. And soon the light had grown into a strong beam, fire which seemed to swallow the person who stood in the middle of it all. Her hair was whipping her face, her cheeks red of frustration and the cold wind. All of sudden, the light died out, and the young woman screamed out in annoyance.
"WHY CAN'T I DO IT, GODDAMNIT!" A girl screamed, frustrated with herself. A young woman, that was standing next to the girl, stroke her daughter's hair and said quietly.
"Calm down, love. We do not want to awake Johuni. And please, do not use such foul language." The girl blushed slightly and turned her gaze towards her feet.
"Yes mother, I'm sorry. I suppose that all this time alone with father has taught me a few inappropriate words. I will not use them again." The woman sighed and looked towards one of the windows of the house.
"Indeed, your father has a bad influence on you that way."
"Mother, you know yourself that its not the only thing that's bad. We can run away mother, he can't do anything to us if we are together." She took her mother's arm and looked up at her with pleeding eyes, the woman gazed at her first, then turned her face away.
"I am sorry, Gwen. But I cannot leave him. You know he would find us, and we can't protect ourselves against him. " Gwen stomped her foot on the ground, and kicked away a small stone.
"Didn't granddad teach you any strong technique which you can use against him.
I know he must have."
"I…cannot use magic. " She replied, looking down at her hands.
"But you are teaching me all of this, I'm sure you can do it!!" Gwen yelled, tears appearing in her eyes.
"When my father left me, I did not know what to do. I was left alone in a country with no one to help me get through the hard things that happened. I owe your father so much for taking me in."
" BUT HE BEATS YOU UP!" Gwen screamed, and now the tears ran down her cheeks, glittering in the faint light of the stars in the sky.
"It is nothing I cannot live with. If I leave him now, we will have nothing."
"We would have our freedom." The woman looked back towards the window and then at her daughter.
"I think we should head back inside, before he realises that I am not sleeping by his side."
"I do not want him to hurt you anymore, mother. Why can't you just listen to me, I-"
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" The woman yelled, and gave Gwen a stern look, making her cry again.
"I will not have more of this, let us go back inside."
"Yes mother.."
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21 years earlier
A young woman walked along a well used path, her feet dragging behind her, her hair sticking to her face. She squinted her eyes while looking up at the sun, and then wiped her forehead from sweat.
"This must be one of the warmest days of the year, I do not think it has ever been this hot for years. Alas, why did this have to happen to me, while I am walking!"
Her stomach aced. She had felt constantly ill the past month, and had begged to God that she wouldn't be pregnant. She hardly managed to give herself food at the end of the day by her own, and she would certainly not manage to feed yet another person, plus that nobody would hire a woman with a fatherless child.
After two more hours of walking she could hardly stand, and felt terribly dizzy due to the lack of water. And then, out of nowhere, she saw the first house that happened to be the beginning of a village. Her heart probably struck an extra beat of joy, and somehow she managed to find the last strength left in her muscles and speeded up.
When she finally reached the center of the village the first thing that cought her eye was the sign of The Silver Arrow, the local pub. Hungrier than a starving wolf she entered the pub and sat down next to an old lady and what appeared to be her middle-aged son.
"Excuse me.. I just arrived here, and I'm looking for a job. Do you by any chance know somewhere they are looking for some workers?" The old woman shrugged and turned her face towards her, she looked abit surprised, but then gave her a troublesome smile.
"I'm afraid there are not any jobs around here, sweetness. Everything is runned by Johuni, a nobleman from Gondor. His family has ruled this village for as long as I can remember, and I am after all...veery old." She said, and gave away a cackle.
"Now, let me introduce you to Simon, my grand-grand son. He's Johuni's personal architect, a very successful man! " She gave the young man a proud smile and patted him on his arm.
"..Uhh.. Hi, I'm Gertyth." Chocked by the age of this old woman, she stumbled on her words and then reached out a hand to greet him. The man took her hand and shaked it.
"Welcome to Erebor. What bring you here, Gertyth? I can tell you're not from around here, your accent is different. Let me guess.. Rohan?" She gave him an uncertain smile and started to fiddle with her hair.
"Acctually yes. I grew up in Rohan. Due to certain circumstances I had to move, though.."
"Ah. You don't really want to talk about it? " Gertyth snorted.
"You can tell that easily? I was raised by a man with many friends, but also many enemies. When he went across the sea with the elven kings his before so quiet enemies found it to be a proper time to stop living the life of cowards. They came after me, and I'd rather not face hundreds of thieves and highwaymens alone. "
" Oh, so your old man was one of the good ones? I can clearly hear how you're defending his name. May I ask..who was he? I wont tell anybody so the thieves will find their way here by rumours, don't worry." He said with a reasuring smile.
"Oh my, are you the curious one."
"Behave, son!" The old lady said, and hit her grand-grand son on his arm.
"If my age has brought me any experience about how people work it would be that you have to earn trust from people, not force it. Uh, uh, uh.. Maybe some day you will learn to communicate, you youngsters.. hmpf.."She turned to Gertyth and gave her a soft smile.
"Don't you worry, sweetness. Simon is a good man, but sometimes his mind is like a baby's" She gave him a quick glare.
" ..You just don't tell him nothing if you don't feel like it! Now, do you have any place to rest? You must be exhausted!"
"Uh..Acctually I haven't slept for two days." She said, quite relieved that the old lady wouldnt ask her questions. But she still felt a little suspicious.
The old lady took Gertyth under her arm, and they both walked up the stairs to a room at the end of a hallway.
"You can sleep in here, honey." When Gertyth started to dig in her pocket after money, the old lady stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder.
"It's free." She nodded and gave the old lady a warm smile.
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Later that evening, Gertyth walked down the stairs. She had taken a pleasant shower and combed her hair, she had even put on one of her "not-so-dirty-and-bad-looking" dresses. She looked around in the common room of the inn. When her eyes gazed over at the right end of the room, her eyes locked with a young man's. He was quite handsome, his dark hair cut in a stylish look, he was tall and..well..quite muscular.
"Oh la la, he doesn't look too bad. Maybe he's rich too..LET'S GO AND SEDUCE HIM!" She thought, and walked over to the man with swaying hips. When she reached him, he had both raised one of his eyebrows, and he had stretched his back.
"Can I help you with anything, miss..?" He asked, looking down at her, since he was taller than her.
"Gertyth."
"That is your whole name?" She looked down at her hands, and then up at him again.
"I do not wish to tell you about my last name, I am very sorry." He just looked at her and gave away a small smile. Well, what it seemed to be.
" That doesn't matter. However, I need to ask you, why did you approach me?" She snickered.
"Is it not allowed for young women to have a conversationg with handsome men?" Gertyth winked at him and sat down in an armchair that was seated nearby. He raised and eyebrow at her and sat down in the chair at the opposite of the armchair.
"Not many people dare to get close to me willingly. But I assume that since you are new here, I guess?"
"Yes, you are correct."
"Exactly. I suppose you wish to know my name?" She smiled brightly at him and nodded.
"Johuni, son of Jerricky is my name."
After a few drinks, and a couple of hours of talking, Gertyth decided that it was time to head back to her room. She turned to Johuni as to say good night, and shrugged when she saw his eyes. They were so cold, so empty. When he realised that she was staring at him, he gave her a small "smile" and stood up.
" I think it is time to head back to my house. Please, my dear Gertyth. Do think over my offer..I can take care of you." She nodded slightly and also stood up.
" I'm sure you can, Johuni. But I cannot answer so soon. You must let me think."
" I will, now, good night."
"Good night!" And with that he left the inn, while Gertyth walked back upstairs.
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