Disclaimer: I am not JRR Tolkien. Anything you recognise is obviously not mine.
A/N: None of my work is Beta'd so I apologise for any mistakes in advance. Also please let me know what you think about this.
Prologue
Unusually for the time of day, Thrór had no engagements, no meetings and for once, no blasted pieces of parchment to sign. He felt slightly foolish as he crept out the side door of his council chambers and wandered down the corridor like a naughty child hiding from his tutor. He wandered along through the maze of corridors, acutely aware of the guards and his son haunting his every step. "Thrain, come out here boy. I didn't teach you to be sneaky so you could follow me around. " He called over his shoulder and heard a few of the guards chuckle. He listened as Thrain dismissed the other guards and walked towards him. "Adad I am not a boy." He muttered sulkily as he walked alongside his father. Thrór chuckled and they walked down through the levels until the reached the battlements, "What troubles you my son? You are not usually so silent." Thrór asked and Thrain nodded, "I feel strangely disconnected to my children. Ever since their mother died, I can't reach them. Thorin spends all his time training or down in the forge, likewise it's a struggle to get Dis away from the forge or her books and Frerin is the only one I can reach as he helps with the treaties and laws, but even he spends more and more time training."
Thrór sighed and led Thrain up into the outdoor rock garden that his wife and daughter had made together, until his little girl had moved away and married that Ironfoot swine. He shook his head and leant on the wall looking down across the foot of the mountain to Dale. "Each deal with grief in their own way. If we are being honest my son, this is the first time I have seen you and spoken to you outside of the council chambers since she died. We are Dwarrow, we grieve loudly and publicly when it is expected, but most of our grief is internalised. Dis and the boys are dealing with it in their way, but they also don't know how to approach you about it. Try and remember how you felt when your mother died, do you remember how long it took for you to approach me to talk?" He asked and Thrain nodded.
They stood silently next to each other, watching the different coloured kites flutter over the town. "What can I do to draw us back together? We need to be seen as strong and together as a family. The Ironfoot clan are watching us constantly, waiting for us to slip so they can take the throne and the Arkenstone." Thrain said after a while and Thrór growled at the thought of someone taking away his Jewel. Thrain nodded, "I know I will die before one of them rules our mountain. Mahal why is it so difficult to reach out to my children." He groaned resting his head on his arms as he stared out over to Dale, not really seeing anything. Thrór leant back looking up at the clouds that were swirling above the mountain, "You just need something that will bring them all together. That's what I tried to do with you, do you remember? I tried to get you work with me in the forge, the council chamber or the mines." Thrain nodded, "But they already do that. I honestly don't know what to do. There is nothing I can think of."
Thrór lowered his head and looked down to find a small bundle of cloth surrounded by ravens, pecking at it every now and again. He inhaled sharply when he saw a small foot uncovered by one of the birds pecks. "Son, look!" He exclaimed, pointing down. Both dwarves ran down through the corridors and out the gates, walking around to the spot underneath the garden. Thrór shooed the birds away with a shout and knelt by the figure, slowly peeling back the cloth. They both inhaled when the form of a small female child was uncovered, her face was covered in bruises and her hair and clothing was matted with dried blood. "Adad we cannot leave her out here." Thrain whispered to Thrór and he nodded, bending to gently pick the child up, freezing when she gasped in pain. He looked down to find the deepest pair of emerald green eyes shining back at him, the gold sickness he had been feeling falling away now that he had hold of the child that held that emerald gaze.
She whimpered in fear, "No please. No." She was shaking in his arms and both dwarves felt their hearts clench, no child should be this afraid. Thrór gently settled her higher in his arms and marched back into the mountain and up to the royal quarters. "Send for a healer." Thrain commanded one of the guards they met on route, raising an eyebrow at the direction his father was taking. He opened the door to one of the spare chambers, noticing out of the corner of his eye that all three of his children's doors had opened at the commotion. Thrór pushed past him and lay the tiny girl on the bed, carefully removing all of the cloth from her body. "Aulë, adad what happened to her?" Dis' voice came from behind Thrain and he turned to find his children stood in the doorway. "I do not know, we found her outside underneath the battlements." He said, gesturing for the healer to enter.
Thrór stood by the child's head, gently stroking the hair away from her face, frowning when he felt a cut underneath her matted hair. "She has a head wound and possibly other injuries to her chest." He told the healer quietly, moving to the bath chamber to collect a jug of warm water to bath her wounds. The healer nodded his thanks and then began to gently examine the wounds on the child's head, washing the wounds with a cloth as he uncovered them. Thrain listened as his children all walked over to the bed, "She is not a dwarf." Thorin said quietly and Thrain shook his head, "No, I believe she is the child of men." Thorin nodded and studied the child, "I will never understand how anyone can beat a child." Frerin said from his position next to Thorin.
Thrór scoffed, "Only an animal would beat a child this small." The healer hummed in agreement, moving from the child's hair across her face, placing healing salves over the wounds as he cleaned them. He then pulled up the child's shirt and revealed a large mass of bruising across the child's abdomen. "Aulë. You can still see the boot prints. What kind of monster does this to a child?" Dis exclaimed, promptly turning and shooing the four dwarves out, "I want to give her some privacy as we check the rest of her. You can come back in, in a moment." She decreed, slamming the door in their faces. "Well she's certainly a Durin." Thrór remarked dryly, causing the others to chuckle. He began to pace, wondering what was happening to the child with the emerald eyes.
Inside the room, Dis was helping the healer gently remove the girls torn and bloodied clothing. With each piece they were uncovering more bruises and the occasional cut, some of which were quite deep. Dis was cleaning the girls left thigh when she found a series of small scars laid out in a pattern. "Healer? What could have caused these?" The healer looked over and studied them for a moment. "I would say some kind of animal, they look like a bite." Dis stared down at the scars. "What kind of man lets a child be bitten by an animal?" The healer shook his head, for even he didn't know. "All I can say is that men take for granted the children they can have." Dis nodded, as dwarf women were so limited any child was a blessing from Aulë.
They finally finished tending to all the child's wounds and Dis dressed her in a shirt she found in the wardrobe to the side. It was a little big, but would do for the girl to sleep in without antagonising her wounds. The healer moved to the door and opened it, addressing the royal family. "I have healed all I can, she must be allowed to rest and when she wakes, do not push her. Let her tell you anything you need to know, just let her come to you, because she will need you all." He said, bowing and leaving down the corridor. The four dwarves made their way back inside the chamber and Thrór sat down beside her bed, stroking her hair back from her face. "I wonder what her name is?" He murmured absently and the whole room was silent as a small voice whispered out, "Ariana" sleepily before she turned and fell back to sleep. They stared at each other then back down at the girl. "We will protect her, she will never feel this pain again so long as I live." Thrór decreed and his son and grandchildren nodded, they would all protect this little girl like she was family.