As he looked her over, he didn't seem very impressed with whatever he saw.
She scowled fiercely under his scrutiny.
"She doesn't look like much," Thorin said bluntly, still eyeing her with an expression full of doubt and even mild disdain. He turned to Gandalf, his arms folded across his chest. "Was she really all you could find across the sea? She doesn't have a beard; she might not even be old enough to come with us. Where are your parents, girl? Are they not missing you?"
He was being consciously snide, but all Lady Aeducan did was wrinkle her nose in disgust, unable to hear past the beard comment. "Wait a second, your women have beards? No wonder you look so grumpy. I'd always wondered whether the stories were true about our kin in Middle-Earth. Do you happen to hatch from stones as well?"
Fili and Kili sniggered behind their uncle, but were swiftly silenced by an icy stare from him. "I hope your blade is as sharp as your tongue. Don't expect any special protection in battle just because you're a woman."
"Funny," Lady Aeducan shot back, "I was about to tell you the exact same thing."
The royal dwarves glared at each other for a few seconds, before deliberately going off in separate directions in an attempt to put distance between the two of them, despite the size of the hobbit hole they were in.
Gandalf pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed tiredly.
This was going to be a long journey.