Readers: I hope you enjoy this little scene of what might have passed between Thorin and his sister Dís before he and her sons, Kili and Fili went off on their quest to take back Erebor from Smaug. As always, I appreciate reviews. If you like it, let me know. If you don't like it, well, let me know, in a constructive way, what you feel I can do, to improve.
...oOo...
Watch Over My Sons
Thorin looked up as Dís entered the chamber, and rose without a word, forgetting the parchment on the desk before him as she drew near him.
Her eyes, clear and bright, studied his own as she reached out and silently took his hands.
"Watch over my sons," she said, a faint catch in her voice that echoed off the walls about them.
"I will, sister," he vowed as he lifted a hand, and gently touched her cheek, brushing a thumb against the thin film of dark scruff upon her jaw.
"Do you swear it, Thorin?" she choked.
"I do," he said.
"And do you swear that they will return alive?" she pressed, grasping his wrist in both her hands. Her fingers trembled. "Do you swear that you will all return alive? I would trade a mountain of gold for all of you."
To this, the exiled dwarf king dropped his eyes. "I cannot swear to that, Dís," he muttered. "Much as I wish to."
Her hands fell from his wrist, and she jerked back a step as if he had burnt her. "Thorin-,"
Her voice had grown hard. He looked up, studying her fair face, her hair and braids, long and dark, and traced with but a hint of frost. He wished he could swear it. He wished he could give her the world. But he couldn't. He could not swear to something he could not guarantee, not to her. She was too dear to him to make her false promises.
Thorin sighed. "This I do swear, sister," he said gently, and stepped forward, grateful that she let him take her hands in his. "That if we do fall, one, or two, or all three of us-" She winced, and his hands tightened upon hers, his eyes pleading with her as he continued, "that we will have done it, doing something we believed in. Something we believed to be right. Something that will make the lives of our people better!"
Dís said nothing to this, though her eyes filled with tears. Her bottom lip trembled. Gently, Thorin stepped forward, and gathered her into his arms.
"Do not forget that I love you," he breathed.
"I won't," she choked. "But watch over my sons."