Hello all you beautiful souls out there. This is my second chapter - hoping to update again soon.
Kisses!
Somehow they all managed to get out, into the daylight. Somehow they had managed to do things she had never thought possible in her state.
There had been so much going on in the past few days. It was only now, at dinner time, that they all had introduced themselves properly at her. She wasn't sure that she had been in a state to take in all of their names yet, though. It was hard to memorize the names of thirteen dwarves, a halfling and a wizard, given what she had been through.
Upon their arrival in Beorns hourse, her body had shut down from the last days lack of sleep and food. She had simply been standing up aganist a wall, and the next thing she knew, the others had found herself slumped aganist it, her body shut down in a deep sleep.
Once she had woken up, she woke up to the sounds of chattering and the sound of food being consumed and every sound that went with it. She had sat up, thankful that someone had placed a wool blanket upon her. Under that, she was still in the leaders fur and leather coat, now secured with a broad leather belt to hold it together a bit. But under that, she was still as naked as she had been the day they had found her. She sat there, not wanting to speak up to disturb them, and waited for someone to take notice of her.
"It appears the girl is awake." a low, grumbling voice said, to no one in particular. It was from the man she would later know as Beorn, and when she had first laid eyes upon him, she had been scared of him. He looked so...feral. A cross between a man and animal, eyes wild and hair untamed. They all looked at her.
"You hungry lass?" the shortest and apparently oldest dwarf with white beard asked her from the table.
"Thank you..." she mumbled under their scrutinizing stares. "More tired and thirsty..."
It was not long before a young dwarf with golden hair and beard had gotten up and had presented her with a large costrel of water. She looked up at him and noticed his friendly smile towards her. It was too heavy for her, so he had to help her drink by lifting it along with her. She almost finished it in a couple of long, hearty swigs. She looked at him once she came up for air. Thankful, she thanked him and felt really exposed with all of the company watching her in silence. It wasn't long before Beorn spoke though.
"Perhaps you would like to freshen up."
It was not a question. She could feel herself reeking of foul odours. She didn't remember the last time she had a proper bath.
He had then called for one of his dogs. A large one with grey, thick fur. He had spoken to the dog in a language she had never heard the likes of before. It was too foreign for her to get her head around. And the dog had placed itself beside her, as if waiting for her to get up. She looked questioningly at the dog, then at Beorn.
"Do not be afraid." he said. "Just go with her. She's just going to show you what she prepared."
So she got up, and again noticed that the dwarves were averting their eyes from her, as the coat slid away from her, exposing her naked thighs. She felt ashamed to have been seen so naked in front of them, but it wasn't much she could have done about it. If she would have had to choose between showing herself naked in front of every man in the world or dying a gruesome death in those goblin caves, she would gladly do it again.
The dog went to another, smaller room, and she followed. Stopping by a large, hot bath, it waited for her to get in. Once she had hissingly got the coat off er aching skin, she stepped in, reveling at the feeling of hot water for her broken body. She sighed as it enveloped her and almost wanted to laugh as the dog presented her with a string of soap in its mouth.
She took it with a smile. Dried flowers was in the bar of white soap. Lavender? The dog wagged its tail as she pat the creatures head and scratched the fur behind its ear. She knew not how else to thank it, and even though the dog appeared more than intellegent, it was still a dog, and she doubted it would understand her if she spoke. Then, it left the room to let her take her much needed bath in peace.
Soaking in the warm water, she noticed a small vanity beside her on a chair, along with a comb. Out of curiousity, she picked it up to look upon herself. She was taken aback with a gasp, hand held to her mouth in shock. She was almost unrecognisable. Dirt were caked on her face, and it was nearly impossible to tell the real color of her skin under all the grime.
The same seemed to go for her hair...She didn't look forward to try and comb through it, a tangled mess with dried blood in it. She had taken several blows to her head in Goblin town and she knew there would be scabs as well. Her face were full of small scrapes, cuts and bruises. She would later discover, once the thick layer of dirt had been washed away, that they all were on their way to heal though, bruises shining yellow on lightly tanned skin.
Her face was not the only part that had been bruised. She noticed that she had a lot of bruising in the side of her chest as well, making it painful for her to take deeper breaths as the skin of the ribcage expanded with her lungs. But she didn't think anything was broken, thankfully. She had experience of cracked ribs from before, and that had been pure agony compared to this.
All in all, she knew how lucky she was... She knew what must have happened to the other prisoners... Knew that the goblins had worked them to death, before they would cut their bodies up, cook them and eat them...A shiver went through her at the thought. A frown was planted on her face, which soon grew into a morbid gurn. It was there, then, in the warm water that embraced her, that she had allowed herself to cry more than a few silent tears.
In fact, it wasn't long before she was shaking and tried to supress her cries by biting her hand. She was surprised by the sounds that escaped her throat, but she couldn't seem to be able to stop. She was out of breath, mouth hanging open in a silent scream as she rocked back and fourth...It hurt so much...She hadn't been crying this much since that fateful night He had come home drunk and she had made the mistake to talk back to him...
She was startled as there was a cautious knock on the door to the room. She choked on a sob and cleared her throat before croaking:
"...Yes?"
"You in the bath lass?" a voice said behind the door. She recognized that voice. It was the dwarf who was responsible for her rescue. The one with the chestnut colored hair, the long moustasche, the one with the hat and the kind face. He who had stopped for her.
"I am..." she said, a bit too quickly. Why was he disturbing her? Had he heard her crying? Had he only been playing nice so that he could catch her in a bath at his mercy?
Thoughts flew through her head...Then she realised that she had no right to be so...Offputting. She should let them claim her in every way they wanted. Perhaps it would be what would be expected of her as...payment. To show her gratitude towards them. She had heard a lot about dwarwes, and not all the things she had heard was good things. They would lie for their own benefit, they had an unquenchable goldlust, and they raped women...
But to be fair - so did her own kin. Even amongst theirselves.
"Is everything all right in there?" he said quietly. "I thought I heard you crying..."
That was perfect. Now she was really in it. She had been crying and they all must have heard her. She shouldn't show herself this vulnerable. Never let anyone see her like that.
"I am fine..." she said, trying to steady her breathing as she spoke. "I just, needed a moment alone, that's all. But you may enter if you want."
There was silence for a split second before the door opened cautiously. She didn't dare to look his way, but when she finally did she just saw the back of him, his braids and his hat. He had been walking in backwards so that he wouldn't embarass her in her nakedness. He really didn't want her to get the wrong idea about his intentions. She softened a bit at that. She had expected him to come in to look at her, atleast, touch himself, or something...Despite her thoughts and distrustfulness to people in general, if she had to choose which one she would trust the most in the company, that dwarf would be the one. What was his name again...? Bofur? Bifur? Bombur?
"I am sorry to disturb you, lass." he said. "But I just wanted to check if you were all right and if you needed any help...With clothes - I mean, the company don't own any dresses, you see, so we had to see what we had in spare clothing."
She then noticed from behind that he held a bundle clutched to his chest. Watching him now, when they were alone, and from the little she had seen of him...She made the deduction that he was more shy than when he was amongst his kin.
"Oh." she said, trying to catch a glimpse of what he held. "That is very thoughtful of you. I am very grateful for that. Here I was, thinking I would have to walk around naked."
The dwarf chuckled at that. It had been her intention to lighten the mood.
"Aye." he said. "Even though I don't think the lads would mind."
She cleared her throat at his comment, blushing a little. She could tell he was a bit ashamed for what he had said. She imagined his cheeks tinted pink, and she smiled for a split second despite the situation and uncertainess of it all.
"Well, if that is all, lassie." the dwarf said hurriedly. "I will put the clothes here for you on the chair." he didn't dare to face her. She almost began to think of it as amusing. She decided to push it a little, but wouldn't have if it wouldn't have been necessary.
"Master dwarf..." she said as she saw him beginning to leave. He stopped, before speaking;
"Please, call me Bofur."
She was thankful at that, she hadn't want to get it wrong, since his name was very much alike at least two of the others.
"Master Bofur-" she said. "I would not ask this of you had it not been for the current situation. But, I seem to have trouble reaching my back, and I know it is in dire need of cleaning... And since there are no females aviable to assist me..."
He could see where she was going with this. He tensed a bit, flushed red. That was not a task he could do with his back turned to her. Nor with his eyes closed. She continued in a small voice:
"I am sorry if my request seems inappropriate. But you see, I think I might have sores on my back, and more the reason for cleaning myself properly."
I was true. She could feel how her skin was aching and itching. She had no idea what the goblins whips might have done to her, but she knew her back needed to be cleaned to start with. She trusted this dwarf more than any of the others. And to be fair, he, and the others, had already seen her naked. What would a few more glimpses of her bare, upper back be compared to that sight?
"I know you need to turn towards me to look, but I hope you can be honourable about this."
she hated herself for saying this to her rescuer. Perhaps it was an insult to say that to a dwarf? She hadn't met that many in her years, and even less gotten friendly or interacted with their race. She had no idea how to speak, or how to act, but went along until someone would be insulted and tell her so. She was sure that they would.
"Of course, lass." he said. She felt the honesty in his voice. A kindness that she almost began crying at. "Turn your back at me." he said softly.
He waited until he heard her shift in the bath, and turned a few seconds later to look up at her. The water went up to her mid back. She had her back towards him, and she had her arm around her upper body, glancing over her obviously stiff shoulder at him, through a curtain of wet hair...And that hair...Without dirt and blood, it was like the colour of light, cream colored pearls, silver, and mithril at the same time. A dwarvish lust for all beautiful and precious things reminded itself when he gazed upon that hair. The only thing that woke him from his thoughts were the way she began to shift uneasily under his gaze, as if the trust for him drained away in mere seconds and she were having second thoughts. She looked at him, with eyes of light blue topaz.
"Sorry lass." he said before hurriedly picking up the soap. "It is just...Your back. It looks really sore...Are you sure you want me to clean it? It needs cleaning, mind you, but I don't want to hurt you."
"Yes." she said before turning. "Yes, do it. But just be gentle..."
Bofur nodded and put the soap in water before putting it on her back. Flinching a bit at the sudded contact, he looked up at her. He hadn't hurt her. He could however, feel how tense she was...
He could see the thick layer of grime coming off her skin after being soaked a long time. Her back was covered in bruising and red streaks. She might live with these marks for the rest of her life.
"The goblins did this to you, lass?" he said before tracing one of the fresher ones with his index finger. Despite his soft touch, she flinched and hissed a bit.
"Yes-" she said breathlessly. "And fresh ones were added every day."
"What about this?" he asked before softly tracing another, much older mark on her back. It was a scar, and it was broader than those from the goblins whip. Bofur knew what they looked like - they all had them to some extent from their time in Goblin town after they all had been whipped in front of the goblin king, howling in pain after some time. This was different.
He felt bad for her when she tensed up and didn't answer. He damned himself and his curiousity.
"Yes-" she croaked, trying to keep her voice clean as she was now fully turned away from him. "Goblins as well."
She had taken too long time to answer, and despite not knowing this woman he could tell when someone was lying. He kept gently cleaning her back in silence, hurrying his actions as to not upset her more. He took care not to move below the water lever on her mid back. He didn't want her to think he was taking advantage of her trust and lack of barrier between himself and her skin.
There was a long pause before she spoke again:
"I never got to thank you properly..." she said, before trying to meet his eyes again over her shoulder.
"That's all you've ever done since we got here lass." he said with a low chuckle. "Saying thank you."
"I know..." she said. "But I meant you, personally...I...I...just wanted to thank you for...stopping for me...Back in Goblin town. You were the only one in your company who took notice of me when I was calling out."
Bofur kept on cleaning her back gently. He had received scolding looks from some of his kinsmen for having insisted they'd set her free from the goblins. He knew Thorin was displeased to have a stranger amongst them. More so because she was a human and a woman. Bofur knew they were probably discussing it amongst themselves out there now.
If the cleaning was to be done even more properly, she would need to change her bath water. It was brown opaque with dirt and grime at that point.
"Well..." he said, moving her hair to the side so that he could clean her shoulder and neck. "You looked like you needed help. Lucky for you old Bofur have sharp ears. Had it been Oin you called out for you would have been lost by now."
She giggled. She had noticed that one of the elder dwarves carried a trumpet with him.
"You have thanked me enough lass." Bofur said, almost having finished his task. "But since you already know my name, it wouldn't be more than fair if you told me yours."
She looked at him. It was true. She hadn't told any in the company her name yet, since there simply had been no time. And no one had asked her until now. She could not blame them for not doing so. They had plenty of other things to consider. Right after they had escaped goblin town a pack of warg riding orcs had attacked them...leaving their leader hurt. Had it not been for the halfling he would have been dead by now. In fact, she had thought of him as dead until he had been awoken by the wizard over at Carrock. They had been brought there by giant eagles. She had only watched them from afar, but she never thought she would see any up close, and much less ride on the creatures back...It was possible the events of the past days had all been a dream. Even so, she would never be surprised anymore in her life. Not after all that. Still, there had been no time for pleaseantries during those events.
"Of course." she said. "My name is Celyn."