The Lament of Dis

The halls of Erebor were filled with music and beauty once more. The dragon was slain and the battle won. Many were the sons of Durin that lost their lives to make it happen and there was an elven sword, Orcrist, and a King's jewel, the Arkenstone lying at the heart of the grave of the fallen King Thorin the Second as a reminder. The shortest reign in the history of Erebor was his. However, he passed to legend as the one that gave back their birth right homeland to the dwarves when no one else dared.

His cousin Dain Ironfoot, from the Iron Hills, was crowned King under the Mountain in his stead, and he lived to honor the agreements that were made prior to his crowning. One of them being to restore the city of Dale, where Bard the Bowman, descendant of Girion, would rule as the rightful leader of men. They had plenty of reasons to celebrate. But there was one heart that had no reason at all to smile, for her loss was beyond the point of grief. Her name was Dis, the only remaining direct heir of Durins folk.

She lost all of her dear ones in battles to reclaim their rightful reigns; Her husband; Her grandfather, King Thror; Her father, Prince Thrain; and her younger brother, Prince Frerin, all of them lost to the battle of Azanubizar to reclaim Moria. But her most recent loss was too hard to bear; Her remaining eldest brother King Thorin the Second, and her sons Fili and Kili to the Battle of Five Armies...

She was slowly wilting every time she looked at the rune stone of her youngest dwarfling, that she gave him as a reminder that he would return to her. And return he did, but not the way she expected. Her only comfort was that her lads died with honor. But it was not much of a comfort. Dis could still remember the day the rune stone was delivered to her by a she-elf named Tauriel, who was too devastated to speak. No words were needed to know what became of its bearer. That afternoon, Tauriel set out to travel west with a pilgrimage of elves that would sail away to the undying lands. Such a drastic decision for a relatively young elf, but she had no choice ever since she gave her heart to Kili, a dwarf with a pure soul that was now six feet under.

Day after day, Dis paced the great halls of Erebor trying to find a reason to rejoice. Her eyes were bloodshot from sleepless nights in which she cried herself to sleep. She sought solitude often. This day, she was delivering red roses to the tombs of her offsprings and brother with a blank expression in her face, when the husky accent of one of her kin interrupted her silent mourn...

"They fought with courage, honoring our legacy. You should be proud, for there is no greater honor than to fall in battle!" Said King Dain Ironfoot. His voice startled Dis. It took her a few minutes to come back to her senses.

"And proud I am. But no parent should be made to survive their sons..." That last word was exhaled in staggers.

Dain felt horrible, realizing how cold he sounded by trying to cheer her up. He looked down for a moment, twiddling his thumbs as he tried to find the right words to give her. Finally he sighed, approaching her to wrap his rough arm around her shoulders.

"Your loss is a great one, M'lady. It is beyond any sadness I can possibly know, for it is my loss too." He said.

At that point, Dis lost her composure, sobbing against Dain's chest bitterly and burying her face there. He wrapped his strong protective arms around her husky frame of a dwarf woman. That's when he armed himself with courage and finally told her of his intentions, "I wish to honor them all with a wee proposition that I have for you, if you don't mind giving me a few moments of your time; Would you consider being my wife?"

His words took her aback. Dis broke from the tight embrace, wide eyed and gasping, "You cannot be serious, Dain!" She protested. But there was an intense gaze in those black eyes of his, staring at her softly.

"But I am. In fact, I should have told you long ago..." Said the red head king.

Dis narrowed her eyes in disbelief, "Tell me what?"

"That I have always had feelings for you. But your heart belonged to another, so I stepped back for your happiness sake. Many were the times I watched your dwarflings, wishing they were my lads. Why do you think I departed to the Iron Hills?" He was spilling his heart at that moment, something no one ever saw him do before. If Thorin was stubborn, Dain was more.

Dis was dumbfounded, "I always thought you wanted to train as a great warrior!"

"Yes, I wanted to. But I also wanted to harden my heart in the process. Seeing you again has brought back memories..." Dain took her hand gently on his, interlacing his calloused fat fingers with hers while placing his other hand under her bearded chin to tilt her face to his, with a gentleness dwarves only display when they are in love.

"Princess Dis, daughter of Thrain, son of Thror, fairest of all dwarf women that I know, I have the honor of wearing in my head the crown that once belonged to your grandfather. I, the King under the mountain, kneel before you now, with our fallen relatives as witness to formally ask you to marry me!"

"I don't know what to say..." Said Dis astonished.

Dain rose from the floor to establish eye contact with her, "I know my handsomeness has left you speechless! Just say yes and I will live to see that you have everything you need. You will lack nothing by my side. What say you?" He had an ear to ear smile nodding with reassurance.

"I... I can't..." Responded Dis all numb with so many strong emotions to digest at once.

Dain took her hairy face between his fat hands, speaking softly to her. "All joke aside... Dis, Amrâlimê. I always have, and I always will. Let me quench those tears with a new life. You deserve to be happy."

"Very well, how about we recover those lost years and get to know each other better? Only then I can give you a straight answer" Responded Dis.

"Fair enough. I want you to know that I will work daily for that yes. I promise you will not repent" Said Dain, escorting the grieving mother away from those graves and into the feast halls, "Just to get started, would you be my dance partner for the feast?"

Dis smiled to the kindness of her cousin, recognizing he was doing his best to honor his word to her as she wiped off the grieving tears from her eyes, "I would like that very much!"

Dain was not known for giving up, so he began to court her since that moment.

The End