As JoraLee led both ponies home, he kept telling himself that everything would be all right.
The two Dwarves had assured him that ThoraLee would be fine. That she would be looked after…in the dungeons!
Now, as he took a deep breath as their home was in sight, he wondered how he was to explain to their father why he came home without his sister.
Damn it, Lee! Thanks for putting me in this position! He scowled in front at the poor innocent ponies.
Taking the ponies to the stable behind their home, he put them in their stalls and after combing them and feeding and watering them, he slowly made his way into the back door.
"Jora, is that you?" His father called from the bedroom. It was late and the elderly dwarf had retired to his bed but he had stayed up to wait for his children.
"Aye, father, tis I."
"Where is your sister? Did you two have fun? Did you two behave?" Erimm frowned; it was too quiet when Jora came home, Lee was a very noisy and boisterous child.
Jora stepped into his father's room and sat on the edge of the bed, and told him all that had happened, he did omit the kissing part. The old man didn't need to hear that.
Instead of getting mad, Erimm began to laugh and laugh until tears fell from his wrinkled face.
"Um, father? Are you okay?" Jora was becoming concerned; this was not an expected reaction from his father.
Erimm held up his hand, "I'm fine, my son. And I'm sorry to startle you. But honestly coming from your madcap of a sister, this whole thing does not surprise me anymore."
Relief that his father was not going crazy, Jora at last permitted himself to smile.
"You should have been there father, she really lay a good one on that Shia Cimbolli, knocked her out completely."
Erimm grinned, "Yes, indeed. I think her father will be paying us a visit this morning, I wager."
"Oh, I'm sure he will. Oh, speaking of visit, I almost forgot…" He then told him about Balin's and Dwalin's proposed visit to their house.
Erimm's eyes bulged opened, "Oh my, two great master of metal crafters, gracing us with their presence. That is very fortunate, very fortunate indeed. Let's hope Curian Cimbolli saw these two and change his mind about paying a visit to us."
JoraLee smiled, "That would be great and it will teach him that he is not the only important Dwarf around Dale anymore."
Erimm nodded, "Indeed my son. Go, it's time for bed. We have much to do in the morning to ready your swords. Hopefully he'll give you a couple of commissions to do."
Jora leaned over to hug his father before he stood up, "Goodnight father, sleep well."
…..
Back in Erebor, specifically in the dungeons, the guards led ThoraLee to the most comfortable cell they could find.
Lee was actually frightened to death; she had heard of the most horrific stories of prison stay and that the prisoners were torture mercilessly and now, she was dreading the torture part. Lee tried not to show her fear as she followed the guards to what she thought was the torture room.
"Here you go, little lady, we will light a fire in the fireplace across from you, that will keep you warm. It gets cold and drafty here." The first guard, Hilliem, said gently.
The second guard, Atum, "If you don't mind, we have not dined yet and you're more than welcome to join us. It's a simple fare of bread and cheese and cold cuts. Oh, cook left us some apple pie for dessert, plenty of food to go around."
Hilliem nodded as he left to fetch the food.
"Wait!" Lee stopped them. They turned around to look at her inquiringly. "You mean you are not going to torture me? All night?"
They stared at her in horror, "Goodness no, little lady! We are not barbarians!" Atum shook his head.
"But the stories…you torture your prisoners…"
The two men shook their heads as they laughed, "Gaw no. That's for the enemies anyways. And you're not our enemies." He grinned toothily at her.
Relief was written all over her as she smiled widely at the two friendly guards and settled at the table across from them.
As they brought the food on the table, her stomach began to gurgle loudly. She blushed when the men laughed at her and offered her a plate and a mug of beer.
It was a jovial dinner for the three of them; she learned that the two were married happily with four children. They began to tell her about the antics of their kids and how their wives had a difficult time keeping up with the children. All through the evening, she was laughing hard as she ate and drank.
Then they asked her about her family and home and what she did. And then the big question; what she did that earned the anger of the prince.
She shrugged and told them the whole event starting with the rivalry with Shia Cimbolli and the subsequent fight in the Halls.
"Wait, you fought in the Halls?" They stared at her admiringly.
She nodded as she drained her beer, the men filled her mug. "She insulted my father. No one does that and gets away with it, especially that 20 stone fat frump."
Upon hearing those words, the two guards broke out into more laughter; "Gaw! Fat frump! That is precious!" They were holding onto each other trying to keep from tipping over the bench they were sitting on.
"Then what?" as soon as they sobered from their laughing spree.
"I hit her…well, here's the thing, if I get this right, I was making to swing at her and as I was about to do so, I must have hit Prince Thorin just as I hit Shia. I mean when I looked at him, he was covering part of his face. Last I saw was it was his left eye was swollen shut."
The two men were quiet.
Lee had expected them to laugh more, "What?"
"No one ever hits the Prince and not paid for it."
"So that's why I'm down here."
They nodded solemnly.
"But like I told him earlier, I didn't do it on purpose, he was standing too close. So, it's not my fault he was hit."
Atum shook his head, "It doesn't matter, you struck a Royal personage. It's a crime."
"What's the punishment?" She almost whispered.
They shook their heads, "We don't know. It's been a long time anyone's been sent down here. I expect you'll know in the morning when you're summoned."
Lee nodded, "I guess so. I guess I'll either spend the rest of life in here or banished from Erebor."
"You should get some rest. It'll be a difficult day tomorrow morning. Goodnight, little lady."
They nodded as they stood up and began to clear the dishes. Lee helped them as well but they waved her away. She slowly made her way into the musky cell and looking around, saw that there was a straw bed with a thin cover for a blanket. She sighed as she crawled over it and covered herself with it. The fireplace the kindly guards had made helped keep her warm through the night. She noted that they did not lock the cell door; they knew it was pointless as she was not going to run away.
She knew she had drunk too much beer that when she lay down, her head was beginning to spin. Not normally a drinker, unlike her father and brother, she grinned happily as the cell began to spin and then tilted at an odd angle. The guards were fast asleep in their rooms away from the cells so they couldn't hear her giggling as she waved her hands above her head.
Then she closed her eyes which made the room spinned even faster, her head moved around and around and then suddenly she saw him…or she thought she saw him. Thorin! He was standing over her telling her that he was going to cut her head off and sent it to her father! And he was laughing evilly until she socked him in his eye again and again, calling him a scum while she was headless. Shia Cimbolli was standing holding Thorin's hand and laughing at her, calling Lee a fat cow. Suddenly, Lee saw that she had ballooned to Shia's proportion. Thorin began laughing as well, calling her fat cow too.
Lee woke up with a start, than she groaned out loud; her head was pounding, she felt as if she went ten rounds with an orc and lost badly.
Lying back down gingerly this time, she tried to go back to sleep and it was a long time before she did. When she woke the next morning, the headache didn't go away instead it had gotten worse. She felt as she couldn't move a muscle out of bed.
….
Thorin groaned out loud as he lie in bed as the morning sun shone into his room through the double window.
He had one of the worst nights and he didn't even drink the night before!
That was a first since the first time he took a drink and got roaring drunk and thought he was going to die. And the next morning he had one of the worst head sore in the history of his young life.
And you'd thought he learned a lesson about heavy drinking but he didn't as the next week he repeated the fool hardiness.
That was more than twenty years ago. He never had any more drunken head sores until this morning, or what felt like it.
His head felt as if a warg was dancing on his head.
At the moment his face was still swollen and in pain; Crimm had come into his room in the middle of the night and applied a soothing poultice on his face and covered it lightly with a thin linen cloth without smothering him, and he had given him a glass of something vile and bitter that enable him to sleep better.
His dreams were riddled with one particularly annoying woman. That young ThoraLee or whatever her name was! He grunted in annoyance but winced in pain as his cheeks hurt when he tried to twitch it.
"Confounded female," he muttered in his sleep. "Damn her eyes!"
But he had to admit to himself that her eyes were something else, one green and the other amber. Never had he seen such a mixture, and full of fiery fury as well.
He frowned and paid for it when he felt sharp pain lined above his brow.
Just how badly did she inflict on him? He wondered.
"Good morning, brother!" It was Frerin.
"Go away, Frerin." Thorin groused. "You sounded too cheerful."
He felt someone lifted the linen cloth from his face, then it was quickly replaced again.
"God! Thorin, I'd think you should stay indoors for a week…a month. That face will scare everyone in Erebor."
"When I want your advice, I'll ask for it. Right this moment, I don't. So I'll say it again, go away."
"Can't."
"Why not. All you have to do is just walk through that door and disappear, preferably forever." He waved at the direction of the door.
"I would if I could. Father sent for you." Frerin stated simply.
Thorin sat straight upright fast, the linen cloth slipped off his face; His face was now a rainbow color of yellow, red, and purple patches. He was a real sight.
Frerin was trying his best to hold it in.
"Laugh and I'll give you matching bruises." Thorin threatened him.
Frerin shook his head, "I'm trying brother, I'm trying. But I have to say, if I want a good beating, I'd rather Miss ThoraLee give it to me any day. She really knows how to redecorate your pretty face."
Thorin made to lunge at his brother but Crimm had arrived at this point.
"Ah good, you're up. Your father has summoned you to the Halls."
Thorin nodded, "I'm on my way, Crimm."
"As am I. I certainly am not missing this."
Thorin glared at him, "Something you're not telling me?"
Frerin shook his head, "You'll find out soon enough. And if I were you, I wouldn't stand so close to him."
"What's that suppose to mean."
"You'll see."
They had reached the Halls by then.
They bowed at their father showing respect for the King.
King Thrain, who was reading the morning report, nodded and then looked up to greet his sons in return when the greeting stopped short in his lips as he stared hard at his oldest child.
Thorin tried his best to not look down at his feet, covering his face from his father.
"Dear me, so it's true." Thrain looked over to where Balin and Dwalin were standing, they nodded discreetly.
The great man himself looked down suddenly and his body began to shake. Everyone looked at him with concerned. They thought he had taken ill or something worse.
But to their relief and Thorin's embarrassment, the King was actually laughing.
Thorin frowned, or tried to, "Father? Are you all right?" He asked anyways, might as well face the music and get it over with.
The king held one hand out, indicating for Thorin to give him a moment to get his composure back again. But he nodded to let him know he was fine.
When he looked up, his face was still flushed, a small smile still visible. "Thorin, I was told there was an incident last evening during the ceremony."
"Aye, father."
"And…because of the events, you have imprisoned an innocent maiden. Is that true?"
"No…I…That's not it…she hit me…I…mean well, she is not really innocent. She is a maiden, I guess."
"You guess?" the King stared at him, "You know we have not imprisoned anyone for a very long time much less a female. What will I tell her father?"
Thorin shrugged, "She shouldn't hit anyone. She has a temper that someone needs to control her."
"And you took it upon yourself to do so?"
"No! I do not presume to do so." Thorin shook his head. His brother was grinning like a fool.
"You gave an order. She must apologize to you before she is to be released, is that true?"
Thorin nodded; coming from his father, it now sounded childish and foolish.
Thrain turned to his Royal guards, "Please sent for the young lady currently in the dungeons."
They nodded immediately and departed.
Twenty minutes passed before the guards came back …without Lee.
The guards looked fearfully at the King, "Your majesty, uh, the girl refused to grace her presence."
Thrain frowned as he leaned forward, "What? She defied my orders?"
Thorin shook his head and smiled; how bold she was to refuse to meet with his father; no one had ever dared to defy him, not even Thorin himself.
"Did she give any reason?" He was not pleased; no one had ever dared to defy his orders.
"Yes, my King. She said that she is innocent and she refused to apologize to the s…sc….scum. So she'd rather remain in the dungeons." The guards blushed furiously.
Balin and Dwalin groaned out loud; they couldn't believe the stubbornness of that child! She was really playing with her life this time.
The King was confused, "Who is this scum she was referring to?"
Thorin shook his head, "Me, father. She called me a scum last night several times."
"Oh, and why?"
"Because I called her a harlot."
Everyone gasped except for Frerin who was guffawing hard."
Thrain stared hard at his son, "Thorin, I think you owe me an explanation, and then I suspect, an apology to the young lady."
"Yes father." He then proceed to fill his father last evening's event, omitting the kiss, he felt his father did not need to know that particular detail.
When he was satisfied with the story, Thrain turned to Balin and Dwalin and said, "Gentlemen if you two would be so kind as to escort Ms ThoraLee up here, please."
The two dwarves nodded and left together, grinning happily.
"Now my son, you mentioned a penance for her. I have a suggestion."
"Yes, sir?"
"I am told she can read and write Ancient Runes perfectly. And you have not the time to do so?
"Father, I have been busy at the Forge, if you'll recall I am in the middle of casting the mold for the blade. I can't do five things at one time."
"That is why I think we have found someone who can read and translate the text script."
"You have?"
"Well, she has not agreed to it yet."
"She?"
"Your little prisoner."
"Oh no…not her, father. Anyone but her."
"Why not?"
"Well, she's rude, obnoxious and..and…stubborn..and rude.."
"You said that already but that's not good enough reason. Son, you said so yourself you don't have time to work on the script and time is moving fast, I'm getting old…"
"You're not old, father. Just wiser."
Thrain shook his head, "Nonetheless, you'll work with her." He insisted.
Thorin thought for a while and shook his head, "We can't work together, sir."
"Why not?"
"Because she has a bad temper and so do I, and we'll probably end up killing each other." He stated simply.
Thrain stared at his son who was looking serious.
"Just give it a try. It is an order."
"But I thought you just said it was a suggestion?"
Thrain glared at his son and said angrily, "Well, I changed it to an order now."
"That's not fair, father, and you know it." Thorin continued to argue. "She is a very unreasonable female. And...and...very stubborn."
"So you've mentioned it before. The script text is important." He held up his hand, indicating that the conversation is over.
Frustrated at his father's meddling, he nodded angrily.
"Oh, Thorin," his father added. "If I learned that one piece of hair is out of place from her head, I'll personally hold you responsible. Is that clear?"
Thorin glared at his father and then nodded. Since when did he become so concern over that…that…crazy female?
They turned towards the stairs from the direction where the dungeons were, the sounds were getting loud and angry.
"He is proud and obnoxious, that's why no one wants to marry that scum in the first place." They heard her angry pronouncement.
Thorin tried to hold his temper in check, telling himself that she was a female, that they don't hit females. He was facing a losing battle. Ha! And his father wanted him to work with her? He could move to another country!
"Really ThoraLee, if you get to know the real Thorin, you'll find that he is a fine man. You'll even like him, everyone does." Balin tried to placate her.
Lee harrumphed but held her tongue as they approached the King. As she stood before him, she bowed low but almost groaned out loud; her headache was still there, still pounding hard into her head.
Thrain looked closely at her, and saw that she was very pretty and thought she'd make a good wife for his son… if they could keep their tempers in check, they might find that they have much more in common than not.
"So, you are Ms ThoraLee. Your father is Erimm, I'm told. A crafter."
She nodded her head slowly.
"I will make this quick, my son informed me that there were a couple of incidents happened last evening and that it led to you being locked up by mistake…"
"Mistake?" ThoraLee interrupted the King. "Your Majesty, your son sent me to the dungeons all because I hit him accidentally. Now I ask you, if you stood close to me and I took a swing to hit someone else, and you were hit as well, I most certainly am not responsible for your injury, aren't I, sir? It's called collateral damage. Not responsible." She put her arms across her chest and held her head high despite the fact her head was throbbing painfully.
Thrain, Balin and Dwalin saw her logic and reason and began to nod in agreement; she had a point and she was in the right, Thorin…locking her up was in the wrong.
Thorin couldn't believe they were agreeing with her, a mere slip of a female
"Oh no, I cannot believe you are agreeing with a bunch of ridiculous reasons. She is nuts. Look at my face! She hit me! She should be punished."
"An accident." She reiterated again.
"Deliberate." He glared at her.
"Was not."
"Was so, gnat." He had moved to stand close in front of her, practically nose to nose. Everyone was watching them with vast interest. Even the King.
"You scum, it was an accident and you know it."
"You keep saying that. That I was standing too close. I was not." Thorin argued back.
"You can't bare that a female hit you and you can't do anything about it." She poked him on his shoulder.
He poked her back on her shoulder hard, "Like I said last night, I don't hit girls but keep doing it and I just might, starting with you. And by the time I'm done with you, you won't be able to sit down for a week."
She poked him back, "Why did you kiss me last night?" She didn't know why she asked him that, it just came out of the blue.
Thrain's eyes shot up; he was not aware of that very interesting fact, he couldn't wait to tell his wife.
Thorin frowned, "Because…because…well…I thought…you know what I thought you were."
"I'm what? That I was a harlot?"
"Yes…well, you seemed to be obsessed with that kiss, aren't you?" He sneered. By this time, they had forgotten that they had an audience.
Lee arched an eyebrow at him and laughed, "Please, don't think too highly of yourself, you called that a kiss? I didn't know it was a kiss?" She whipped her head away from him, ignoring him.
Incensed at her arrogant attitude, Thorin was seeing red and decided to teach her a lesson, "Making fun of my kisses, aren't you? Not impressed with it, well I'll give you one that you'll never forget!" He spun her around to face him and grabbed her to him and kissed her soundly. In front of the whole court who were wide-eyed and in total shock, even the King, as his mouth was wide opened. For once Frerin was speechless.
After a moment Thorin pushed her away and grinned, "Now how's that for a kiss? I bet you won't forget this one for a long time!"
Lee was in shock as she stared at him; the gall of the man, this was the second time he'd kissed her without her permission.
And her response? She reared her hand back and punched his nose and heard a loud crunch!
"OH FRIG!" Thorin was yelling as he held his nose, "SHE BROKE MY BLOODY NOSE!"
"WELL! YOU SHOULDN"T KISS ME WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!" She yelled back at him.
"ENOUGH!" The King shouted finally, ending the bickering couple.
""He started it first!" Lee pointed at Thorin.
"She started it first" Thorin pointed at her. They both had said at the same time.
"Stop! Both of you, just stop. I am getting a head sore, no thanks to the both of you."
He looked at Balin and Dwalin and said, "Were they like that last night?"
"Worse!" the two said together.
"My goodness. How is it possible for the two of you to work together if you two argue so easily at the drop of the hat? No…don't answer. I don't want you two to answer. You'll turn it into an argument for sure." The King was rubbing his head.
"Thorin," Thrain said after a moment's silence in the hall. "I do believe you have something to say to Ms ThoraLee?"
Thorin who was still holding his nose, a little blood trickling through his fingers, "I'm hardly in a fit position to do so at the moment, forgive me, father." He turned around and left the Halls.
Thrain stepped down from his throne and said to Lee holding out his arm, "Take a walk with me, child." Lee nodded as she wrapped her arm around his elbow, just like she did to her father as they took their walks in the woods.
He took them to the corridors of the Halls, his men and guards trailing discreetly behind them.
Thrain looked at Lee and said, "My dear, I am sorry for my son's boorish behaviour, he shouldn't have behaved the way he did. Please forgive him."
ThoraLee shook her head, "Your Majesty, it's not your fault he's like that. I am responsible as well. I admit I provoked him as much but I don't know what came over me, I'm not usually like this…I'm sorry, your Majesty." She bowed her head.
"Would you consider something for me, my dear?" Thrain asked.
Lee looked up, "Anything Sire."
He smiled a little, "A favor…but it will require working with my son."
With a start, she looked at him, "The P...Pr…Prince?"
"Aye, my dear, Thorin, I know you don't like him but hear me out. I have a text script that was written in the ancient Cirth Rune. Unfortunately I didn't take any lessons when I was a wee lad so I can't make heads or tails of the text. It tells of a legend of a gemstone, a very rare gemstone called the Arkenstone."
"Arkenstone?" Her interest was perked.
Thrain nodded, "Aye. The legend tells of our ancestors crafting the Arkenstone thousands of years ago, it is the size as big as a dragon's egg." ThoraLee's eyes were wide opened.
"It's the most brilliant of brilliant white diamond ever made. It's buried somewhere in the Blue Mountains, we don't know how deep. But the script text tells us of the location of the Arkenstone. ThoraLee," he paused for a moment. "The Arkenstone is an heirloom belonging to the Durin family."
"Your Majesty, it's seems like it's very important that we recover this Arkenstone and restore it to your family. And I take it you want me to translate the script text for you?"
Thrain smile at her, "Yes my dear, someone told me of your skill. We have been searching for someone who is able to do so, and of course you'll be compensated handsomely."
Lee shook her head, "No thank you, your Majesty. I offer you my service to you for free. I don't mind doing it. It would be a pleasure, in fact to do so."
He stopped walking and turned to her, "My dear, I cannot do so! Name a price. Surely there is something you desire that I can pay you?"
Again, she shook her head, "No, sir. I don't mind. I enjoy reading and translating ancient works and I don't have such works at home to do it. You have asked me to work on something so important, it is an honor to do so. Your Majesty, I want to do it freely. Seriously, are we going to stand here and argue about this?"
Thrain chuckled, "Are you?"
She shrugged, "I have been known to be stubborn and argumentative."
"I know, I have seen it in person." He shook his head as he chuckled.
ThoraLee blushed.
"Very well however I insist on something to reward you for your service but I'll think about it first and you are not to refuse me, you hear?" He tried to look stern.
Lee nodded fearfully; he was a king after all.
"Very well, I'll have Masters Balin and Dwalin escort you home, we'll talk more about it as soon as my son recovers from his…er…injuries."
Lee and the King parted ways as Balin and Dwalin came to take her home.
…
End of Chapter 4