Prologue
Kansas City, Kansas
March 20,2015
A young woman in her early twenties, was sitting outside reading a book. Another woman called out for her. "Lalina! Lunch is ready!" The woman called out. "I'll be right in!" the young woman called back. After pulling her red hair up in a pony tail, she sprinted inside the large old Victorian home and met up with her great aunt, Adrianna in the kitchen. "Lalina, I'm going to be needed your help in the attic today. I have so much stuff to out and get rid off, its unreal." said Adrianna.
"Of course I will help you, Auntie. When do you want me to start?" asked Lalina. "Start after lunch would be nice." Adrianna replied. "Right on to it!" said Lalina, cheerfully. And so after lunch, Lalina went straight to work on cleaning out her Great Aunt's attic. She felt amazed at so many of the antiques she had find up there, some appeared to go back thousands of years, and she wondered how her Aunt ha acquired some of the old things.
And as Lalina continued to clean out the attic, she saw an old chest sitting in the corner of the attic, and she went to it and opened it. Inside, she found some old parchment and letters. Alongside with the parchment and letters, she found an old portrait of a family. It what appeared to be a man with grey hair and a beard, wearing a silver circlet on his head, alongside with a woman with her hair in a braided up do.
Standing in front them, was a little girl with red hair and freckles, and in a dress with a full skirt. And the little girl wore a amulet necklace around her neck. Who are these people? Where is Aunt Adrianna getting some of this stuff? I will ask her about it later, thought Lalina, as she continued looking through the chest. Suddenly she came upon a small brown box and she opened it. Inside laid a necklace with an amethyst jewel centering the necklace. And it appeared to be the same on the little girl wore in the picture.
"Ah, I see you found my old chest!" spoke up a voice from behind Lalina. "Aunt Adrianna, may I ask where you find all this stuff? These seem to be very, very old. Explain to me of the people in the portrait and this necklace!" said Lalina. Adrianna smiled.
"I'm glad you found this, Lalina, because I've been meaning to tell you about all this stuff that is here. First lets begin with the portrait. The little girl in the portrait is you!" said Adrianna. "But she's a dwarf, Adrianna! I'm a human! That little girl is not me!" snapped Lalina. "Lalina, sit down. I should have told you this along time ago." began Adrianna. Lalina sat down. "Lalina, you're not really born of the race of men. You are a dwarf, daughter of Lord Narin of Ered Mithrin. The reason you are here, because your father sent you away for your safety because his kingdom fell under attack of the orcs. He called for the help of Gandalf the Grey, whom had sent you and I both here in Kansas, where I raised you." said Adrianna.
When Lalina heard this, she couldn't believe it. Especially when she heard Gandalf's name mentioned. She thought Gandalf and dwarves were only fictional characters from a book, and not real. "Aunt Adrianna, you have forgotten to take your medication today, have you? I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time to reason to believe that I'm a daughter of a dwarf lord. Dwarves are fictional characters from fairy stories, they're not real! As my father, he died years ago!" Lalina snapped.
Adrianna sighed and closed her eyes. She had a feeling that Lalina wouldn't believe her about this.
And she didn't know how to convince her great niece that most of what is told to her is true. "Lalina, it is true." said Adrianna. "If he's truly my father, why in the hell did he send me away for? And if you say he's truly my father, why am I here then?" Lalina snapped angrily. "Lalina, I just told you that you were sent away for your safety." Adrianna shot back, sharply. "This is too much for me, I need to go and get some fresh air!" shouted Lalina, and she bolted out of the attic.
Lalina stepped outside on the front porch and sat on the porch swing. There is no way in hell, I'm a dwarf! I maybe short, but I a most certainly not a dwarf! Aunt and her damn tall tales! Lalina thought angrily. Lalina decided she would go for a walk, until when she noticed the clouds in the sky started to get dark, and rolling in fast. She could feel sprinkles of rain falling on her shoulder. Suddenly she could hear Adrianna call out for her. "Lalina! Come in! We're in for a nasty storm! Get your ass in here, now!" Adrianna called out.
"NO!" Lalina shouted back stubbornly and she turned away as she continued to walk. "LALINA MICHELLE!" Adrianna bellowed. Suddenly, Lalina looked up into the sky and saw a funnel cloud forming. What are you doing, Lalina? Get yourself inside now! That is a tornado about to touch down, you idiot! Lalina thought to herself.
Lalina spun around and darted back to the house. "Into the basement, Lalina!" said Adrianna. "Hold on, I need to get something!" said Lalina, as she ran towards the attic. "Lalina, you have no time for this! We must seek shelter NOW!" protested Adrianna. "It will only be a minute, Auntie!" Lalina called back. Lalina went up to the attic, and she reached for the amulet and the portrait, and she ran back downstairs, and joined her Aunt in the basement.
The storm was so bad, the tornado torn the old home off its foundation, leaving Adrianna and Lalina out in the open. Lalina screamed, as she witnessed her Aunt being pulled up in the tornado. "ADRIANNA!" Lalina screamed, and her aunt is gone. Tears falling down her face, Lalina held on to a pole as tightly as she could. But unfortunately, the tornado was so powerful, that it pulled Lalina away from the pole, sucking her up into the core of the twister. The last thing Lalina remembered, everything went black after that.
Two hours later, Lalina woke up, and she looked around, as she found herself in a wooded clearing. When suddenly she could hear voices nearby. "Who is she?" asked the first male voice. "I dunno. She looks very familiar though." another one replied.
Middle Earth,
Ered Mithrin, 2775
"My lord, we have found a young lass on the ground outside of the kingdom. She appeared to be lost. Shall we bring her in?" asked the guard. The grey haired noble dwarf stood up. "Yes, please do." Narin replied. The guard left. Narin closed his eyes. Mahal, please let it be her! Please let it be my daughter! Narin prayed. Fifteen minutes later, two guards entered, and one was carrying a young red haired woman with blue eyes. "ITS HER! My Lalina!" cried out Narin. The guard smiled. "Take her to her rooms. And send for some the maids they will take care of her, and make sure she will join me for dinner this evening." said Narin. "Yes, my lord." said the guard.
Lalina's POV:
I woke up finding myself in a large bed. I was beginning to wonder if I died or not. "Where am I? Am I dead?" I asked loudly. "No, my lady. You are not dead. You are living and breathing. Its good to see that you have wakened." said a female voice. Lalina looked up and she could see a dwarf woman standing in front of her, with her blonde hair neatly braided and a small beard on her chin.
"This can't be right, I must be dreaming!" I said loudly, rubbing my temples. "You are not dreaming, my dear. By the way, my name is Torche Firesilver, at your service!" said the dwarf woman with a curtsy. "Lalina at yours!" I said, still puzzled on where I am at. "Where am I exactly?" I asked this dwarf woman. "You're in Ered Mithrin. We must get you ready to see your father!" said Torche. "FATHER?!" I exclaimed, and I could feel my heart jumping to my throat. So, my aunt had spoken the truth-I am daughter of a dwarf lord.
But how can this be possible. "Your bath is ready, my lady." said Torche. I nodded as I went into the washroom and climbed into the tub. The bath felt relaxing, as I am still getting adjusted to the fact that I am a dwarf lord's daughter, which I believe makes me a princess! After my bath, Torche handed me over a dress. I didn't mind wearing dresses, however I noticed there was a corset involved, I refused to wear it.
"My dear you have to wear this. Its inappropriate for a dwarf woman to go without a corset!" Torche had to remind me.
"But I can't even breathe in these things! How people expect to breathe in these corsets?! I rather wear my bra!" I snapped. "What's a bra?" asked Torche. And of course, I showed her my white bra I've been wearing.
"I rather be wearing this, than the corset, thank you very much." I concluded. Torche nodded. "As you wish, my lady." said Torche. After putting on my bra, I put the dress on. The dress seemed very comfortable enough, and warm, although the skirts felt rather heavy. After I was dressed, Torche braided my hair, and she escorted me to the Royal Dining Hall, and that is when I met my father. "Lalina, my have you grown up! You grown so fast! And didn't you know today is your birthday as well?" said Narin. "Yes, I knew my birthday was coming up. I'm going to be.." I began.
"I already know, you're going to be twenty five." said Narin. "I can't believe this, my father-in front of me!" I gasped, as I reached for my father's chin. Suddenly I embraced him, tears falling down my face. "Welcome home, inur!" My father whispered. "My lord, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have company." said a guard. "Who is it?" asked my father. "A group of Dwarves, they're from Erebor." replied the guard. "Send them in." said Narin. "Dwarves from Erebor?" I exclaimed. "Oh yes, my dear. Something bad happened in Erebor, just a few years ago. The dragon, Smaug attacked their home, forcing them to leave their home, leaving them no choice, but to travel, pretty much living on the road." My father replied.
I knew what this had meant. This means I'm going to meet Thorin Oakenshield! The one dwarf whom I loved from the books and movies, and I'm going to meet him! I felt nervous an excited at the same time. And I thought this was a great birthday present on my behalf. "Now remember your manners, Lalina. You are royalty, as well as they are." my father reminded me. "Father, I'm always polite to anyone comes my way. That's how my great Aunt raised me!" I said. Suddenly, the large double doors opened, and five dwarves entered.
I recognized them right on the spot too as they entered. The first was Thror, Thorin's grandfather, and next to him is Prince Thrain, and on the right side of him are Thorin and Frerin. "Lord Narin, we come to ask if you don't mind if we rest here a while?" asked Thror. My father smiled. "I don't mind at all. Lalina, wouldn't you mind showing the Princes to their rooms while I speak to Thror?" My father asked me. "Sure, father!" I said with excitement.
I had the honors of showing the Princes to their rooms, and we spoke quite a bit. "We've heard you turned up missing years ago! Its good that you have returned, my lady!" said Thrain. "Thank you." I said. Thorin however just looked at me, and remained silent. But then I heard him mumble soon as I showed him to his room.
"A little too late for your return is it not, Lady Lalina?" asked Thorin. "What do you mean?" I asked sharply. "Its nothing. Good night, my lady and thank you." said Thorin and he went into his room. I stood there, wondering what all that was about, an what he meant about the comment. I also didn't expect him to be that rude to me! Well, tomorrow's another day, maybe at my birthday feast, he'll be more nicer. After all, he did look tired, I thought, and I walked away.
