Sun-Maiden
Cinderella Songfic- ITEF
13 years after the Quest for Erebor
After a long day of holding court, hearing many complaints, and doing his best to judge them all fairly, King Thorin Oakenshield of Erebor sank into the chair at his study desk. He was exhausted, yet he still had much work to do- too much according to his Queen. With a deep sigh he sat up, preparing himself to sign what seemed to be over ten thousand official documents, which were scattered and piled haphazardly all over his desk. Just then, his ten-year-old daughter, Aarien, danced into the room, smiling and laughing.
"Come dance with me, Adad!" she exclaimed, her eyes alight with joy.
The King managed a tired smile at the sight of his little girl, who looked like his wife's brother but acted almost exactly like the Queen.
"Not now, azyungel," he said regretfully. "There is much yet for me to do."
Sadness filled the eyes of the young half-blood. "Please, Adad! Amad said I could go to Guy's begetting-day party, but I need to practice my dancing. Oh please, Adad, please?"
The sight of his daughter's pleading gold eyes as she tugged slightly on his arm was enough to make him give in. He stood and said, "But we have no music."
Aarien's smile was bright, rivaling the sun for which she was named. "Then I'll have to make some."
She began to hum a tune, soon breaking into a song from her mother's home, "Let It Go." The father and daughter began an intricate dance around the room, Aarien laughing when Thorin would randomly spin her around.
Queen Syrena was heading down the hallway to hers and her husband's bedchamber to rest before dinner, for she was heavy with child. Passing Thorin's study where she knew him to be, she heard him laughing with their eldest child. She walked to the open door and leaned on the frame, smiling as her daughter, spun around the room by her beloved husband, sang songs from her world, her former home.
Syrena Silverblade, the human Warrior Queen of the Dwarves, truly felt blessed to have such a family as she had been given.
8 years later
Aarien and Merida's begetting-day was in a week, and the soon-to-be-eighteen-year-old princesses could not be more excited. This would mark their coming-of-age, for they was aging after the fashion of their mother's people, though time would show Aarien to live as long as their father's people. For such an important time in their daughters' lives, Thorin and Syrena were holding a ball, and the dignitaries of all the Dwarf strongholds, as well as people from the kingdoms of Men, would attend. Aarien tripped down the stairs with ease as she searched for her father, who was for now the only hero in her life. The half-blood finally found the King with her Uncle Balin at the entrance to the mines, inspecting them as they did every year. Aarien ran to her father, who embraced her with a huge smile of happiness.
"What brings you here, Ezbadu men?" Thorin asked his daughter, who was now taller than he was.
She bit her lip, wondering now if she could ask him; he looked to be very busy.
"You can ask me anything, Zonni," her father reminded her. "The worst I can say is no."
Aarien sighed, deciding that her father was right; the worst thing that could happen was that he would be too busy.
"Adad, the ball for my begetting-day is just one week away, and I need to practice my dancing," the half-blood princess pleaded. "Oh please, Adad, please?"
As Thorin looked at his daughter's fair, almost Elvish face, he was reminded of the time eight years ago when she had asked the same thing. Again, her gold eyes begged him to agree, and he looked at Balin in question.
"Go on, laddie," Balin said, clapping Thorin on the shoulder. "I'll finish up here. Spend time with your daughter; soon she'll be gone with a home and family of her own."
Thorin paled a bit at that, the overprotective Dwarvish father in his rebelling at that thought, though he recovered swiftly.
"Many thanks, my old friend," Thorin said as he walked away with his arm around Aarien. The King and the princess danced together the rest of the day and through a good part of the night. The King loved all his children, but he had always held a strong bond with his eldest child, for she was almost always with him, while her twin sister spent much of her time with her mother. Balin's words made him afraid for the first time since the Battle of the Five Armies, when Syrena had lost all memories of him and the Quest when she fell from protecting him. He was afraid of losing his little girl, his Sunshine Under the Mountain. He knew that one day it would come, but whenever it happened, it would be all too soon.
At Aarien's begetting-day celebration, many young men looked upon the eldest princess with new eyes, for she was very beautiful. The princess danced with many suitors, but only one caught and held her eye. She had known him all her life, but when he saw her that night, he realized that she had grown to be a very beautiful young woman. This person was Prince Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thranduil of Mirkwood.
Legolas and Thorin had become friends after the Battle of the Five Armies, but when the Elf prince asked permission to court Aarien, the King Under the Mountain nearly declared war on Mirkwood. Only Aarien's pleading gold eyes could persuade Thorin to agree.
2 years later
There was much dancing and rejoicing in both Mirwood and Erebor, for they were soon to be united as family. The eldest princess of Erebor wore a betrothal braid in her hair and a sapphire and mithril ring on her left ring finger. Aarien was to marry Legolas in a few months, and she could not be happier. She now had another hero in her life, though she would always love and cherish her father dearly.
Aarien ran through the halls of her childhood home with the Elvish grace she was famous for, though no one knew who it had come from. She was searching for her father, for she wanted to spend as much time with him as she could before she left for her new home. The half-blood princess found the King with the Queen, standing on the battlements overlooking the re-built city of Dale, where Syrena's brother lived with his Elvish wife and half-blood children.
Aarien's parents turned to their daughter, smiling brightly. Thorin's hair and beard were now mostly silver with some raven black still showing, though he was still a strong, hardy warrior. Syrena looked much the same as she always had, her mutation keeping her from aging, though it would not prevent her eventual death. Her hip length silver-blonde hair, which Thorin said was the first thing he had loved about her, still flowed freely in the wind, shining under the sunlight.
"What is it, Sunny?" the Queen asked, looked at her oldest daughter with love and pride.
Aarien hesitated, but then said, "Adad, I know that wedding is still six months away, but I need to practice my dancing." Her eyes pleaded with him, and he once again saw his little girl, his little Sun-Maiden, begging him for a dance with her father. "Oh please, Adad, please?"
Thorin smiled at Aarien, for though she was now a woman grown, she would always be his little girl, his little Zonni. Without a word, Thorin held out his arms and swept his daughter into a dance. As Thorin looked up at his daughter, he thought back to the Quest and the long journey to retake his home. If he and the Company had not fallen into Syrena's world, he could very well have never had the family he loved so well. In fact, without Syrena, he would not be alive today to have a family.
Thorin closed his eyes as he danced with Aarien to breathe a silent prayer of thanks and protection over his family to Eru Illuvatar.
Aarien's wedding day came, and both kingdoms rejoiced as Thorin gave his eldest daughter to Legolas, who looked at her with such love and devotion that Thorin felt at peace. As the Prince and the Princess sealed their union with a kiss of love, Syrena leaned into Thorin's strong arms with a sigh of contentment.
"I never thought when you and the Company fell into my living room that my life would have turned out like this," the Queen said softly.
Thorin pressed a soft kiss against her silver-blonde hair. "And are you happy, kurdu men?"
Syrena smiled happily as she watched her eldest daughter dance with her new husband. "I would not have it any other way."
Words in the text you may not know-
Aarien- Elvish for Sun-Maiden
Adad- Dwarvish for Father
Azyungel men- Dwarvish for my love
Amad- Dwarvish for Mother
Zonni- Dwarvish for Sunny
Begetting-day- birthday
Ezbadu men- my Princess
Sunny- Aarien's nickname
Eru Illuvatar- Elvish for God Illuminator
Kurdu men- my heart