Chapter 2-Skipping Geography

"Today we are learning about geography. Now, in order to have diplomatic relations with our allies, we must first know where all their kingdoms are located. I expect you all to at least know the major dwarf settlements already. Today, we will be learning about human and elf kingdoms as well."

There was a loud groan that rang up through the small classroom where they all sat. Each of the lasses sat at a table with a large piece of parchment in front of her eyes. There was a pot of ink and quills for them to use as well.

Dis was lecturing them on the importance of grace and not complaining while Raela had to stop herself from openly scoffing at the dams in the classroom with her.

It had been a week since they all arrived, and their lessons had started. Most of the things they had learned, such as deportment and the history of the dwarf race, were all review. But Raela already learned that the nobledams with her were incredibly whiny and practically insufferable. She sighed as she rapped her fingers on the table, zoning out as Dis began recounting all the different human kingdoms, specifically the ones that were worth knowing—Haradrim, Rohan, Gondor and, of course, Dale.

Several dams held that same glazed look that Raela remembered seeing a number of times before when Helle, of the Stonefoot clan, raised her hand.

"I beg your pardon, Lady Dis, but what is the importance of knowing the human kingdoms again?"

Dis took a deep breath, and Raela could practically see her counting numbers in her head as she tried to calm down. That was something that Raela had learned from the others over the last week—Lady Dis hated to be interrupted. And for a group of dams that were used to being the ones in charge in their own clans, the experience was excruciating for them.

Dis' eyes flashed in irritation. "Lady Helle, we must know where our allies are."

"But our menfolk will just take care of it, won't they?" Iona said, her eyes wide and soft, like usual. Raela had no idea how she managed to always find herself with eyes as wide as saucers. She was positive that Lady Iona practiced the expression in the looking glass as much as possible.

Dis glanced around the room, and said, in slow, patient words, as if talking to a mentally impaired dwarfling, "It will be important, during diplomatic meetings, that you know who each person is by sight, and that you know where they hail from, both in name and in physical location. It would not do to cause offense."

Dis' nostrils were flared slightly. Poor Lady Dis.

Raela would almost feel sorry for her, but she was the one putting them all through hell, so she spared her any sympathy.

Instead, she saved it for herself.

"Now, who can tell me the name of one of the elf kingdoms?" Dis looked around at the lasses gathered, changing the subject suddenly. Perhaps she felt it was best to just get on with the lesson. Some of them looked honestly surprised at the question while a couple of dams even had looks of disgust on their pretty faces.

"Well, there's the Mirkwood or Greenleaf elves." Siri answered, a smirk crossing her face. She was extraordinarily clever, and was well aware of it as well.

"Aye, and the Rivendell ones," Erika answered this time. They were looking pleased with themselves and their answers. The rest of the lasses all agreed and then looked at Lady Dis in expectation.

She asked, "Are there only two or are there more?" It was a quiet question and several of the lasses gulped audibly. They all knew the answer and furiously began speaking when Raela piped up, tired of the idiots in her group.

"Lothlorien or the Golden Wood. There's also Lindon, although the only parts around there now are the Gray Havens. There were several other kingdoms in the history of the world, but those are the only settlements of elves remaining." Raela closed herself suddenly. She had not realized that she spoke aloud.

Dis looked at her in surprise and the rest of the dams were all staring at her as if she had grown a second or even third head. Raela shifted her back straight and leveled her gaze at them all. Only the elf maiden, the rumored lover of Prince Kili and one of the guards in the room, beamed at her openly.

Dis looked at her shrewdly, and said, "I had no idea that there were still elves in Lindon."

She looked at Tauriel, who only nodded at Raela's words and answered, "Lady Raela is correct. There are a few remaining who help those elves that wish to cross the havens."

There was an awkward cough that came from one of the dams, and a few of their heads shifted together and they began talking quickly. Raela felt herself flush at the words that she heard from their mouths in Khuzdul.

Elf-lover; barefaced bitch and her personal favorite, know-it-all.

She suddenly stood up and told Lady Dis, "I won't be staying for this lesson, milady. I can draw an accurate map of middle-earth with my eyes closed and half-asleep. I don't need this." She then left the room without waiting for an answer from the Lady, who was gazing at her with a surprised expression when she left the room.

She was angrily stomping back to her rooms when she realized that she couldn't show up there now. Her uncle would send her right back. She paused and leaned against the wall, her eyes closed, trying to stop tears of frustration from rolling down her cheeks. She hit her fist against the stone wall in anger.

She hated being here. She told herself she wouldn't participate at all. And instead, she had drawn attention to herself. She should have bit her tongue, but she hated when dwarves were so dim-witted and judgmental over others. She breathed in deeply and then when she opened her eyes, the elf maiden was right there in front of her.

"Lady Dis sent me to bring you back, Lady Raela." The elf had long, pretty auburn colored hair and she was so tall and delicate—but there was a toughness to her features as well. Raela could easily see how Prince Kili fell in love with her.

Raela shook her head. "No, I'm not going back today. I've had enough."

"Where will you go then?" Tauriel asked quietly, looking down the hallways. Nobody was in that part of the kingdom right now—the dwarrow were all training, in meetings or at work. The dams were either at work or in their homes and the dwarflings were most likely in school.

"What do you eat in Orocarni?" Tauriel broke the silence. "I don't mean to be forward, but I've never met a dwarf from the Red Mountains. And I do like food."

Raela recognized the maneuvering. She was suggesting the kitchens—a place that Raela could hide away for the rest of the day without anyone knowing. She felt a surge of gratitude for the elf.

"There are few different things that we eat in our settlement. Perhaps Master Bombur won't mind if I borrow some of his supplies?" Raela asked her with a small smile.

"I can assure you, that Bombur won't care at all. He is a lover of food, and I'm sure would love to learn a new dish or two to add to his repertoire." Raela nodded at the elf and then the two walked to the kitchens together.


It was easily the most pleasant afternoon that Raela had for a long time. As she kneaded the dough that she was working on, she chatted merrily with Tauriel, Master Bombur, and Alina, who was Bombur's wife.

She worked the dough steadily in her hands as she spoke to them about the ways that they use the dough in cooking and baking in her settlement. Raela learned how to cook from their manor's cooks, who took pity on her when apparently she tried to make a cake for her father on his birthday. It tasted horrible, she informed them, though in her defense, she was still quite young. Her father begged for the cooks to teach her something so that she could never poison him again.

As she was kneading the dough, the doors to the kitchen opened wide and some chattering male voices were heard. Raela practically winced, hoping she hadn't been found out by Lady Dis or her uncle, but instead, she heard a little voice cry,

"Rae-Rae!"

She felt a thump on her leg suddenly as she looked down at the little lad wrapped around her skirts.

"Hello there, nadadith. What are you doing here this afternoon?" Raela asked her younger brother. He was tiny. As he was not quite twelve, he was still on the smaller side for a young dwarfling. In a year or two though, he would begin to sprout up quickly enough. He had dark brown hair, and green eyes that were the exact same shape and color of her own. His smile was mischievous though as he looked at her in adoration.

"I need suste- what's that word again?" Rang, Raela's little brother asked over his shoulder to the two dwarrow that had accompanied him into the kitchens.

"Sustenance." A nice sounding voice replied to the lad. Raela glanced over her shoulder to follow her brother's line of sight and instantly stiffened at who she saw there.

It was the two princes who accompanied Rang into the kitchens.

She steeled her resolve and forced herself to calm down. Instead, she only looked at her nadadith and asked, "Exactly what kind of sustenance? Nothing too sweet before supper, I hope?"

Rang only widened his brown eyes and shook his head no in what he deemed was an innocent manner.

Raela pursed her lips at her younger brother's feigned innocence. He was such a little liar at times.

The two princes remained so quiet that Raela wondered if they had already left. Technically, she wasn't even supposed to see Prince Fili for the first time since until another week when there was a ball in the honor of the nobledams visiting.

And she had already glimpsed him and his brother!

Tauriel smiled at the dark haired dwarf who stepped forward. Raela continued kneading the dough in hopes that the two princes would go away.

He looked at her intently, leaning against the wooden kitchen counter on one elbow and asked, "So you must be Lady Raela then?"

Raela looked at the dwarf out of the corner of her eye. He had black hair and a thick beard, although it wasn't very long. He was handsome though, with dark eyes that shone innocently. That was definitely Kili then.

She then looked down at her little brother and said, "Rang, you didn't tell me that the new friends you've been training with are Erebor's princes."

His eyes widened even more. "They are?" He looked between his sister and the two brothers and then, with a huge grin exclaimed, "Amazing!"

Raela refrained from commenting, and instead, settled her brother on the counter in front of her with Master Bombur's permission. She was well aware of a discussion behind her between Bombur and Fili, the prince that her uncle wished for her to marry, even though he knew that she thought the whole thing was ridiculous.

She gave her brother a snack, one of the bread pockets filled with meat and cheese she had just finished making.

"You may have one, and a piece of fruit. And no sweets, Rang, understand me?"

He nodded and bit into his food. Raela continued speaking to Alina, who was taking studious notes over the whole process for Bombur's book of recipes.

"Shouldn't you be with my amad in a class right now, Lady Raela?" It was Kili, once again, who asked the question. Apparently, he didn't notice the awkward tension that had settled in the kitchen.

And for some reason, he was looking at her.

And that wasn't creepy at all.

"I should, yes. But, I told her I was done for the day and I left." Kili looked at her with wide eyes and glanced at Tauriel, who only nodded at Raela's words.

"In Lady Raela's defense, the whole thing was rather ridiculous." Tauriel added, and continued, "She even managed to teach your mother something new today. I'm not sure how her ladyship felt about it though."

Raela's face was beet red at that. So much for staying under any scrutiny. And now she was to be the target from some of those nasty dams! Oh well, she'd been through worse.

She handed a bread pocket with meat and cheese to Rang and asked him to give it to Prince Kili. Kili exclaimed a thanks and she held out another one for him to run to Fili.

She didn't turn around but she heard him say, "Thank you."

She wasn't sure if he was saying it to her or Rang, and she didn't care to find out.

She continued to teach Alina the process of the bread, pulling it apart finally, showing her the strands of the bread that indicated that it would rise after a couple of hours.

She was aware of her audience still, and looked slightly annoyed and putout when she saw that Rang was now settled in Kili's lap, eating a muffin. Kili himself was sitting down on the floor, only a few feet away from her.

There was a silence when Kili broke it. "Why is your hair so short?"

Raela paused her kneading, feeling herself stiffen once again, and she heard Fili, to the side of her, not so far away this time say with a warning in a deep, slightly hoarse voice, "Kili."

"What nadad? I'm just curious." Kili attempted to placate him. He still looked at Raela with open curiosity in his eyes. She knew her hair would get questions. So far, everybody had been too polite to openly ask.

"Why is your beard so thin?" Raela, turned to look at the prince with a glare. Kili looked at her with surprise in his eyes and he smiled slightly.

"I'm an archer. Wouldn't do to have too full a beard, would it?"

There was a silence again when Rang began to say, "It's short because..."

"Rangvaldr!" She fully turned to look at her brother, with her eyes wide in warning.

He looked at her sheepishly and said, "Sorry namad."

"It's alright. Let's just not tell your new friends all of our secrets." Raela commented, shaking her head slightly. Her brother was so young, and had no problem telling people he just met whatever he wanted. She looked up and for the first time, made eye contact with Prince Fili. He stared back at her, almost curiously and she turned her back to him as calmly as possible.

Dammit it all, why did he have to be handsome?

"How's your training, Rang? Are you learning a lot from Lord Dwalin?" Raela questioned her little brother. She didn't want it to be too quiet in the kitchen—she felt as though they were staring at her enough as it was.

"Aye, he and Kili and Fili are very strong. They are learning me much."

"Teaching me, nadadith."

"Sorry, teaching me much."

"Teaching me a lot."

"Oh, right. Teaching me a lot."

Raela nodded her head as he repeated the words in the correct sentence back to her. She gave some more instructions and then, her brother said something else that surprised her.

"Why can't you train with me, Rae-Rae? I miss you."

She smiled at Rang, who stood up, and then flung himself at her. It was obvious that she wasn't spending enough time with her little brother. She noticed Kili and Tauriel were speaking quietly but Fili was still watching her with an odd expression on his face.

"You know why, nadadith. It's only for a few months." She put a hand on his face, and pulled on one of his braids—the braid that indicated his status as the head of his clan. She touched her forehead to his own and then felt his hands grab the fabric of her gown.

She wasn't sure how he would respond to her reassurances when he gasped suddenly and said, with a loud whisper, "Rae-Rae, there's an elf in here." His hands left her gown, and an index finger trembled as he pointed it at Tauriel.

Raela only looked at her brother and began to laugh, quite suddenly. Her laughter filled the kitchen. Young dwarflings always managed to make her laugh—they had no sense of propriety or situational awareness.

"Aye, Rang. This is my dear friend, Lady Tauriel." Kili said, overhearing the conversation between the two other siblings. He gestured to Tauriel at his side.

"You're a lady too?" Rang asked, his brown eyes wide in curiosity.

"Aye." Tauriel nodded at him softly, her eyes bright and compassionate toward the sweet little lad.

"Well, I'm Rangvaldr, at your service." He gave a little bow to the elf-maiden. "But you may call me Rang, all my closest friends and allies do."

Raela's eyebrows raised at his words. That was a much different introduction than she was used to her brother giving. She wondered who had introduced themselves to him in that manner or where he had picked it up from.

He gasped again and Raela was a bit worried for him, reaching for the meat cleaver in order to protect him, when she noticed him pointing to Tauriel's sheathed daggers.

"You're a warrior!" He exclaimed as his eyes widened even more.

Blimey, how did he manage to get them so round? Was he practicing with Lady Iona?

"Aye. Daggers. Do you have a weapon of choice, young Rang?" Tauriel asked, now kneeling in front of him. She pulled them out of their sheaths at a nod of permission from Raela, and showed the elvish weapon.s to the young dwarfling.

"Not yet. Namad is quite good with a-" he was cut off by Raela's hand covering his mouth quickly. He looked up at her with his bright green eyes curious.

"What did I say about giving away all our secrets, nadadith?" Raela practically growled at her much younger sibling. He had no problem chattering about anything and everything. He had to learn discretion at some point, right?

"Sorry." He apologized again cheekily. He then looked at Tauriel, who was kneeling in front of him still. She was taller than him and his eyes narrowed in on what was exactly in front of his line of sight.

He then said, to add onto Raela's further embarrassment, "How will you feed your bairns? You have no boosoom."

Raela gasped slightly at his comment, and then scolded suddenly, "Rang! That is rude. You do not say things like that, especially to someone you just met."

Tauriel only looked perplexed at the exchange and unconsciously looked down at her chest. She crossed her arms over her breasts, her lips set in a grim line.

Raela was telling Rang exactly why it was rude to comment on a lady's bosom, when she heard the sound of deep, sighing breathless noises. She looked over toward Tauriel, who was glaring at Kili, who was laughing openly at the entire exchange. Raela only shook her head and apologized to Tauriel.

She noticed that Fili's shoulder's were shaking as well, and he had a hand over his mouth. He finally surrendered to the hysteria, after he looked one last time at his brother before bursting out into laughter himself. It was a booming, loud laugh that Raela thought at any other time she wouldn't mind hearing. Kili's laughter doubled as his brother joined him.

Raela immediately, and without a second thought about it, turned herself onto the two amused princes, who were setting a terrible example for her brother.

"You two! Stop that laughing or you'll only be setting a bad example for him." She raged at them suddenly, her eyes fierce and her hand on her brother's shoulder. Poor Rang looked confused as he stared between his sister and the two laughing imbecile princes.

"Apologies, my lady." Kili said, his hand on an empty counter space. Somehow during the whole exchange, most of the kitchen staff had managed to leave with an impressive amount of stealth. "But, I must say that your little brother is highly entertaining. Don't be too hard on him, he's a good lad."

She practically growled at Kili, and then pulled her apron off and throwing it at the counter. She then took Rang's hand.

"We are going to have a lesson on appropriate language, nadadith." She nodded her head at Tauriel in apology. Tauriel only pursed her lips and glared at the now openly laughing brothers.

Raela was forced to pass the crown prince in order to leave.

Fili composed himself as they approached the exit, and said, "Yes, I believe that would be a good idea. Plus, I believe you should teach Rang the proper word is bosom." Fili's eyes met Raela's in stare. His deep blue eyes sparkled in amusement. Raela huffed at him and said something about annoying princes before stalking off with her brother in tow.


Fili lay in bed that night, staring at the stone ceiling. He couldn't sleep.

He could only think of the encounter that afternoon with Lady Raela.

What an interesting dwarrowdam.

Her hair was different, but it didn't bother him so much. She wore it down, because it was so much shorter than other dams, but it was quite lovely still. It framed her face, which he had only managed to glimpse a few times, very well. Her face was quite attractive—she had some freckles, sun-kisses, as his mother would have called them, on her nose and cheeks. Most nobledams hated any blemishes on their skin, but he thought they didn't take from her appearance at all.

And then there were her almond shaped eyes, almost an emerald green, framed by long dark eyelashes that shrewdly looked over him.

He could tell that she was uncomfortable from the moment that she realized that he and Kili had entered the kitchens. From what his mother had said, the one dam that did not cooperate with her was this Lady Raela of the Ironfist clan. She was quiet, almost too quiet her mother said. She refused to participate in discussions and she hardly ever interacted with any of the other ladies.

Dwalin, though, and a few others said that she made quite an impression on them. But, she was too independent, and she hated the idea of being forced into a marriage. So, he hadn't thought about her or any of the other dams too much, to be honest.

And now, he remembered every single detail about those twenty minutes in the kitchen. Her brother adored her, which he was impressed to see. There was a large age difference between the two of them, it was obvious, but she doted on him.

And he was a good lad—he, Kili and Thorin had spent the better part of their training the last five days with the dwarfling who worked hard and was quite advanced for his age. Dwalin had commented that Raela trained him with weapons, but unless she was a warrior by craft, there was no way that the lad should have been as skilled as he was. Unless he was naturally talented, of course.

Thorin had no problem with dams being able to defend themselves—in fact, he encouraged it. But to have active female dwarves as a part of their army, well, that was unheard of. Dwarrowdams would be too much of a distraction, in Thorin's opinion and the dwarves would think about protecting them more than anything else.

Fili shifted onto his side, trying to close his eyes in order to sleep. But, sleep evaded him. There was something off about the whole encounter with the nobledam. She was stiff, but she was still kind and polite to him. She had, after all, sent her little brother with some food to give to him. But the way she told her brother not to give away their secrets—now Fili wanted to know what those secrets were.

And by ignoring him, it made him want to talk with her even more. It was obvious that she wasn't interested in an arrangement, just like Fili wasn't.

Perhaps that is what drew him in.

Although, it could have been something else altogether. After all, she had a lovely figure, with hips that were begging to be held, and a nice bosom (he smirked at the word). There was also the way that her eyes lit up in annoyance and her lips pursed in disapproval.

Those lips… Fili groaned to himself and turned himself onto his stomach. For the last one hundred years, he had managed to stay chaste. He knew that he couldn't go around playing with any lass that he found attractive, and while there had been a kiss or two, things had never escalated in the physical or emotional sense.

And now, after only being in this dam's presence for a few minutes, he couldn't stop thinking about her?

Not to mention that she was the dam that wanted nothing to do with him either? Perhaps that was the problem. She was a challenge, and that's what he wanted.

His mother had asked why he was so quiet at supper and he had given a token reply. Between him, Tauriel and Kili, they agreed it would be best not to tell his mother that he had unofficially met the nobledam already.

Of course, she was the first (technically the second since he had grown up with Brynn), and he had five others to meet and judge. It had only been a week, and he still had eleven to go.

He closed his eyes and tried not to think of those green eyes and dark red hair, but he failed miserably.


Author's Note: I'll try to post Chapter 3 by Thursday.