Daughter of a Southern King
Inspired by this quote by Richard Armitage during an interview with
Hoping to beef up Thorin's emotional arc, Armitage discussed with Boyens the addition of backstory elements that would reveal that the dwarf prince lost a loved one. "A princess or someone he was betrothed to," as Armitage describes it. "It was never something they were going to explore but I did keep it in my head that perhaps he was once in love, and it ended with Smaug."
Eria looked from the child to Oryis who was still watching at the wargs at the top of the hill and to the child once more. Eria closed her eyes as the wind rushed passed her in the opposing direction of the wargs; they were up wind and didn't smell the little human running toward the city of Dale, that was until it changed direction. A warg howled and Eria's eyes shot open as she watched as the dark figure of a warg begin to chase after the human child, Eria raced down . She heard shouting from the archers that lined the walls as a warg ran down the hill after the child and the only thing she thought, was that Oryis would do what he was trained to.
Eria ran passed the human; a boy no older than 8 short years, and drew her sword the sun catching on it black obsidian blade. She let out a battle cry as the warg changed its sights from the child to her, it picked up speed and leapt at her only to be slammed into by a massive orange body whose two large canines sunk into the flesh of the wargs neck and crushed it spine in its jaws. Oryis snarled as he pulled his sabres out of the wargs neck and spun on his haunches and let out a monstrous roar; that would rival a dragons and have Eria covering her ears, as more wargs and their riders race down the hill, some wargs ran off track as if trying to run away but was straightened by their orc riders, others would stop completely and cower paralyzed by fear.
Eria took her chance to look for the boy to see him disappear behind a battalion of spear and swordsmen marching their way towards them as archers to aim from the wall behind. And that's when something else caught her eye, the doors of the mountain had opened and an army of dwarves were racing out to meet them and the blue fabric of Dis' dress running for the doors. A moan sounded behind Eria and she spun around to lock eyes with Oryis who was panting with anticipation of the oncoming battle, Eria smirked and ran to a crouching Oryis hauling herself up onto his back as he stood, glad that she had kept the riding harness on overnight in case she needed a quick getaway but never expected a battle.
Oryis let out another roar and sprang forward into a run as Eria dug her hands into the fur of his neck. Digging his claws into the ground to help propel him forward at a faster pace she could hear the wiz of arrow above as they arched their way through the sky over them toward the approaching wargs. She watched as wargs and orcs fell victim to the rain of arrows and tumbled and slid, yelped and cried falling to the ground in heaps of pain and death. The next wargs were not as unfortunate as one leapt at Oryis only to have one of Eria's throwing knives lodge itself in the wargs skull and hit the ground behind them.
An orc rider and warg was Oryis' next target as he leapt onto a bolder and launched himself into the air over a horde of wargs and onto the orc and his mount, sinking his teeth into the orc and crushing the warg with the weight of his landing all the while sinking his claws into its flesh. Eria leapt off his back and turned just in time to slice an orc in half, her volcanic glass blade cutting through flesh and bone with tremendous ease. Black blood splattered he face as the halves of the body withered and fell to the ground. Eria's eyes then fell on an orc heading toward her at a rapid pace swing a mace above his head. The orc was almost double her size, but like her uncle said the big they are the harder they fall. Eria race toward the orc and dove between its legs turned and brought her blade down across the back of his knees; a howl of pain escaped his mouth before she thrust her sword in through the base of the orcs skull and out his mouth.
When she pulled her sword free she turned to see a warg had her in its sights. As it neared another orc tried to have a swing at her, she ducked the blow and swiped her foot out catching his ankles and he fell to the ground where she unleashed a blade hidden in her left vambrace into his throat just as the warg was on top of her. She swung around from her spot on the ground and thrust the obsidian sword into the wargs open mouth. The warg tumbled on top of her and jerked as the sword cut through flesh and bone to its hilt and knocking her to the ground. Eria stared into the wargs open mouth in complete shock as the wargs mouth twitched around her arm that held the sword in place its blood staining her clothing a dark red almost black. The blade struck through and through its black tip glinting red in the sun as it protruded out of the wargs skull.
Eria tried with all her strength to push the dying warg off her, "Oryis," she called as she struggled and looked around to see him preoccupied with five other wargs. She looked back at the warg on top of her and tugged on her sword to dislodge it from the wargs skull only to be drenched in more dark blood as it slid out, only then did she notice two orcs were advancing, one with a sword the other with a club with three what looked to be nails protruding from the top. "Oryis, Oryis!" she called franticly as she fought to escape the dead weight of the beast on top of her. Eria reached for a throwing knife on her belt and tried to throw it as best she could from her position under the warg, but the knife missed and embed itself into a completely different orc behind them. The orcs faces contorted into a gruesome smirk as they came closer but were ambushed when three dwarves rounded the wargs body and charged the orcs.
When the three dwarves had cut down the orcs, they barreled into the wargs body on top of Eria, finally free she stood up with the help of one of the three dwarves. He had greying light auburn hair with a long light auburn beard that frayed out at the ends and dark brown eyes. "You alright there lad," He asked as he helped her to her feet.
"I am fine," Eria responded as she wiped some blood off her face with her other sleeve and looked at the three dwarves staring at her "What?"
"What are you doing on the battle field, woman." The second dwarf with a black Mohawk and a great black beard and brown eyes demanded as he eyed her clothing and sword "much less lacking a shield."
The third took a step forward, his grey eyes raked over her before looking into hers. "He's right, a woman should not be fighting." he scolded her. Eria quirked an eyebrow, excuse me.
"A southern woman does what southern woman wants, northerner." Eria retorted as she stepped up to him, they were mere inches apart she could feel his breath on her face as he; only an inch taller then she, looked warningly into her own eyes chocolate. A movement behind the dwarf caught her eye. "Look out," she yelled; they three turned spun around in time see a warg and rider bearing down on the four dwarves.
They all readied the weapons and were about to meet the beast head on when a feline snarl vibrated through the air as Oryis leapt over them and landed feet away. Letting out another rumbling snarl Oryis leapt forward and claws extended and threw down his left paw on top of the wargs head and swung the other at the rider on its back sending him flying through the air and landing thirty feet away. Burying his teeth into the wargs back and tossing it in the opposite direction. Eria smirked at Spartan as he turned towards them, the three men stood with their weapons ready to defend themselves and each other if Oryis attacked.
"Good boy." She praised as the three looked at her in surprise, but her smirk soon turned into a grimace when she saw an orc leap at the toothed cat from behind. Racing forward with a roar, Oryis sensed her aggression to something behind him, whipping around as the orc arched his mace toward his head. Eria ran up Oryis' back and curved her blade through air and blocked the blow making her tumble to the ground and the orc miss his shot, luckily her training taught her how to land on her feet as she brought her sword upward to sliced through the orc open from groin to rib cage. The orcs intestines poured out of the orc as he fell to his knees and Eria cleaved the orc head clean off his shoulders its body jerking as blood flowed from its jugular vein and covered its dark body in black. She looked at Oryis then to the dwarves to find them busy and took her chance to move away from them. Says a woman can't fight. Eria looked to Oryis and smile. "You ready to dance, big guy?"
Oryis chuffed and leapt into a quarrel of orcs men and dwarves with Eria at his heels and began to fight as a cohesive unit killing every orc and warg that challenged them head on and always looking out and protecting the other, Eria using her small stature and intensive training to move around, under and over the giant cat that fought at her side.
After a few long hours of battle, it was over. A blood and gore stained Eria walked through the corpses of mainly wargs and orcs. Some if not most of the dead were killed by the lethal force that was Oryis; who walked in stride with her. He would veer off and chase vultures, ravens and crows as they landed to feast on the bodies like a kitten chasing a piece of yarn. Vultures and ravens circled above waiting for the chance to dig their beaks into the flesh of the dead while it was still hot but rats had already started to gnaw on the deceased bodies, from where she stood there were a lot more orcs then she had expected, the hills had been hiding the massive amounts of wargs and orcs that know la at their feet.
Eria pushed the tip of her sword into the abdomen of an orc only to have liquid spew onto her already blood and grime covered clothing; the smell was the worst of it. Gagging Eria hopped over bodies to get away from the stench. That was until she heard someone shouting at her; she spun around to find the dwarf men she had confronted during battle. "Aye,"
"My grandfather wishes to speak with you." The grey eyed one requested as he eyed Oryis curiously as he chased vultures off the carcasses a fair distance away. Eria looked him over and noted the some small familiarities between him and the dwarf princess she had met earlier.
"Why would he want to speak to me?" she asked as she got a closed look at him, he was tall for a dwarf maybe a few inches taller than her, he had long wavy black hair and brushy eyebrows, his black beard was braided and a silver clasp with intricate engravings kept the hair from straying. He had an aristocratic nose and a pair of thin yet full lips, to say the least he was, handsome. But what stood out to her was the remarkable resembles between his and Dis' eyes.
"Must I repeat myself women, the King requests your audience." He stated as he gripped the pommel of his sword, the dwarven warrior with the unique hair to his left folded his muscular arms and glared at her the dwarf to his right only sighed. Oh that's why, he's a prince.
"Your Dis' brother aren't you, you have the same eyes." Eria smirked as they obviously seemed stunned at her sudden assumption. "Come on Oryis, we've got a king to meet." She called as she walked past the prince toward the bridge that led to the mountain doors before stopping and turning to the three dwarves. "By the way my name is Eria, mind if you so kindly gave me yours?"
"My name is Thorin and these are my cousins Balin and Dwalin." He introduced gesturing first to himself then to the greying dwarf and to the other and began to walk toward the Gates of Erebor. Dwalin looked at her disapprovingly and followed behind the prince. Balin hung back and smiled warmly at her and motioned for her to walk with him, Eria smiled back and complied falling in step with him.
"Nice to meet you lass, mind me asking where you learned to fight." He asked his brown eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"My mother's clan, all women in her clan are trained to be assassins." Eria responded smiling, a chuffing was heard behind them and the turned to find that Oryis was now a proud new owner of a fresh warg carcass. She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oryis would you get rid of that thing I don't think they'll let you bring it into the mountain."
"Oryis; you know this beast?" Balin gaped at the monstrous cat that stood in front of them with a warg half dragging on the ground. Oryis looked at Balin and growled. Well as best as he could with a warg in his mouth. Balin blanched and took a few steps back grabbing the hilt of his sword in case he needed to defend himself.
"Know; I raised him. He is my war companion and best friend, but do not call him a beast, he's a Saber Tooth Tiger so you either call him by his name; Oryis or by what he is." Eria corrected and scratched Oryis behind the ears causing him to chuff and lean into her touch, lowering his head to give her better access. "But he's friendly and very protective over me and his food. Never touch or go near his food or while he's eating, he becomes very dangerous even more so if he feels that he or I are threatened."
Balin looked in between the two and nodded. He would not want to fight the creature that he watched destroy five wargs at once, one right after the other. He looked to his brother and saw they were waiting for them at the bridge. "Well, we better get a move on we do not need the king waiting any longer then he has to." Eria nodded and walked beside him with Oryis following close behind whom thankfully deposited the warg when they reached the bridge. Dwalin eyed watched him as he walked to the water's edge. Oryis searched the water's surface for signs of an enemy below before crouching and lapping up the cold clear liquid.
"Oryis, it would be wonderful if you could swim across so I would not have to scrub you clean." Eria giggled as Oryis gave her a playful look before leaping into the water with a splash and paddling leisurely to the other side as the four dwarves walked along the bridge. A small crowd gathered at the other side and watched as Oryis suddenly found interest in trying to catch a fish. He jumped through the water after it and then dove after the fish, coming up and shaking his head of water before giving chase after yet another. Eria heard some of the group talking amongst themselves when they reached the other side. "Oryis, come!"
The tiger looked up at Eria and bounded through the water, leaping up the bank toward the group of dwarves at the top as they moved aside for him pass, bewildered by his very being; that was until Oryis shook himself dry. Millions droplets of water flew from his orange, black and white coat, flying everywhere. All the dwarves; including Eria, groaned at their now wet attire and Oryis of course chuffed. Thorin and Dwalin glared at Oryis then at Eria who shrugged. Balin only chuckled and motioned Eria to continue walking.
It was now that Eria realised where she was. She stood in awe as her eyes moved over the giant stone dwarves that kneeled at the mountains face on either side of a great stone fortress carved into the mountain. Eria's eyes roamed the many stories of the gate in awe at its monstrous size and its simple yet elaborate architecture. "Amazing is it not," She turned to see Dis walking up to her. "Look I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier it was wrong of me to assume you culture was anything like ours."
"It's alright, there are something's that even I would expect from you that is common in my homeland that may not be here." Eria replied and smiled at Dis and she smiled back then looked at Oryis curiously and opened her mouth to speak till she saw Eria nod and stared at him in wonder. "Say, did you speak to your grandfather bout me being a princess."
"Only after the battle, he saw you fighting and after was confronted by my elder brother; Thorin," Dis motioned for Eria to follow her as she walked toward another group of dwarves. A crown prince, well what do you know? She nodded for Dis to continue, "He appeared upset that you were fighting; that is when I told my grandfather of you and how you claimed that you desired to fight. My father told us that every culture is different; we don't always do the same thing or go by the similar rulings and traditions. After my grandfather ordered Thorin to find you and bring you to him. I apologise for my assumptions I pray to Aule that you forgive me."
Eria looked at Dis in confusion and curiosity, who's Aule. "No need for apologies, it was a simple misunderstanding." Dis did not seem to notice her confusion as they reached the gathering but were welcomed with the heads of spears pointing at Oryis who roared in protest. Eria turned to him and patted his neck calming him down to low grumbles.
"Lay down your arms." A dwarf with silver grey hair and grey eyes ordered as he pushed through the defending dwarves. His great grey beard was layered with interlocking metal pieces that hung at the ends of each, his beard was braided in various areas and two braids framed his face. "That is an order." He shouted and the dwarves reluctantly raised their spear heads to the sky and let the butts thump the ground. "You must be Eria daughter of Kane King of Trojanheim; my grandchildren have spoken to me of you."
"Aye, I am Eria." She was about to curtsy when the king raised his hand with a smile. Thror's eyes moved to Oryis curiously who looked back at him. "This is Oryis my war companion and best friend; we of the south call his kind in the common tongue the Saber Tooth Tiger or Speartooth. Through I assure you he is quite friendly." As Eria finished Oryis sniffed Thror which in turn mad the dwarves behind him shuffle with uneasiness.
"Never have I seen such a creature as large and lethal, he is absolutely massive. My son had told he has never seen an animal so intent on killing every warg and orc in his sights. He is a master piece of war." Thror mused as he stroked Oryis' forehead. "And yet here he is calm and kind."
"Indeed, he is." Eria ran her fingers through Oryis' orange fur. Oryis chuffed happy for the attention; Thror laughed heartily and with a final pat on the head turned to Eria.
"As for you child, I have heard as much about you as my granddaughter has told me and I have become more than a little intrigued. I have never met a southern dwarf, any of us for that matter and I would like to know more, especially from their princess." Thror avowed and clapped a hand on Eria's shoulder. "Come we must feast."
"Feast, oh I apologize but I cannot, for I am joining family friends for supper, I have not seen Halldor in two years and his wife Astrid quite a bit longer." The crowd mumbled about Eria refusal to the king's offer but Thror only smiled and nodded.
"Ah the traveling merchant is a friend to us as well, they shall come to." Thror chuckled and clapped a hand on her shoulder, "Now let us talk about the south my dear." Eria smile and was about to walk with the king when she felt Oryis nudge her. She turned to him and watched as he sniffed her clothing soon realising that she was covered in filth and in need for a bath.
"King Thror, I would love to but if I may excuse myself for a time I must change my attire. I rather not put shame to my kingdom by wearing nothing but battle soiled clothing." Eria said as she looked over her attire before meeting the king's eye, he let out a hearty laugh and held his armoured arms out wide.
"Don't we all," he laughed placing his hands on Eria's shoulders and squeezed reassuringly, "take as long as you need and when you are ready come to the gate and my granddaughter will be waiting for you inside to escort to the dining hall." With that he let go of Eria's shoulder and scratched Oryis between the ears. "What does he eat my dear?"
"In the south I usually let him hunt on his own but on occasion we will bring down two full grown water buffalo for him to eat, raw of course he won't eat it any other way." Thror hummed and thought for a moment stroking Oryis' striped cheeks.
"Right then, I will send a group of hunters out whilst our cooks prepare supper and we will see you shortly." Thror said and patted Oryis, smiling at Eria. Eria smiled back and bowed her head thanking the king. Dis approached Eria and discussed meeting at the gate before dinner, two hours was thought to be enough for both of them. When Oryis and Eria left did she notice how late it was, the sun was descending from the sky to the west and painted the sky around it a variety of reds oranges and yellows. Eria loved watching the sunsets and sunrises in the south with its rich ocean air that mixed with the spices from the bakers and cooks as they baked and cooked though out the night and send their wives or husbands and children out in the morning to sell their hard tasty work and attract customers.
As Eria and Oryis walked to Dale she thought of how the air here seemed dull compared to home and how there was no ocean to look at as it peeked through the cliffs of the jagged mountains. Eria thought of the parrots and lemurs, the jaguars and antelope, the boas and vipers and of course the dire wolves and her friends and family. In all Eria missed home but her father's mind had become sick with the lust for gold and he had begun making irrational decisions and marrying women he thought would help raise his only child but instead help drive him even madder with greed for her benefit. Then Eria thought of her mother, a mother so caring and kind and beautiful that she lost to soon from something so preventable yet unexpected and incurable, Eria missed her mother the most out of all things.
As they entered town they notice the guards stepped aside to let them pass; only giving the slight acknowledgement that a giant cat was walking into the city and not just the guards. Everyone moved out of their way as they walked to the inn only to be stopped by a young blond haired blue eyed boy with his fist on his hips with his chin held high. "You there," he shouted as he pointed at her, Eria looked at Oryis who cocked his head, and she asked who the he was causing the human child to blink. "You saved my life remember." He recalled as Eria stared at the child, she let out a chuckle.
"That's right I did didn't I," she remembered only to have Oryis bump her with his snout, "or rather he did and you're welcome. Now if you excuse us we have somewhere to be, little one." The boy huffed as they walked around him and mumbled under his breath. They made their way through the streets of Dale without any other intrusions till they stopped in front of the inn. Eria turned to Oryis "Wait here."
When Eria enter the inn she was greeted by rather anxious Halldor as he paced the lobby. "Eria!" he hollered when he looked up at the sound of the door opening and pulled her into an embrace. Astrid stood from her chair near the fire place and sigh with what seemed like relief. "You had us worried are you alright?" Halldor asked as he released her.
"Of course, may I ask what has you so worried so much?" Eria inquired as she looked at Astrid and Halldor.
"When you did not return after the battle we thought," Astrid trailed off as she covered her mouth and shut her eyes tightly as if trying to fight back tears. Eria sighed and walked up to her pulling Astrid into a hug.
"I'm alright you see, although a little dirty but no harm has befallen me." Eria assured her and pulled away and Astrid nodded. "I was taken to king Thror and he has requested for us to join him for supper." She said looking between the elderly couple who blinked openly at her.
"Oh my, the King under the Mountain invited us for dinner." Astrid put her hand over her heart and looked to Halldor. "We should get ready, and you need a bath princess you cannot go into the mountain covered in blood and gore. Have you brought any clothing besides those?" Eria nodded and Astrid shooed her down the hall.
"What of Oryis?" Halldor smiled at her question and asked where he was. "He's waiting outside the front door." She yelled to him as Astrid pushed her into a room and closed it behind her.
"Now I have already drawn you a bath thinking you would return quickly after the battle ended, though it might be a little cool now." Astrid said as she started quickly striping Eria of her clothing so much so that all Eria could do was allow her body to bend to Astrid's will in order to remove her clothing. "And I; arms up, will do my best to clean these tomorrow; step out, but for now they soak through the night," she said as she criticized the stained clothing and looked at Eria. "My word, you as sure of your naked self as you were when you but a child." Eria stood with her arms at her side and smiled proudly "Well what are you waiting for hop in the tub and clean yourself, I must get ready myself." Astrid commanded and Eria obliged and hopped in the large tube with a splash and got down to business as Astrid left.
After her bath Eria unpacked the one pack she had rarely opened since she left the south. She gingerly pulled out the velvety black material inside, Eria placed it on the bed of her newly acquired room of the inn that seemed to be a hall once before with two large wooden doors that opened to the city streets. Eria's breathe hitched as she ran her fingers over the material before unwrapping it to reveal a Tyrian purple material. She placed her hand softly down on its silky texture and watched how the flickering light of the candles caused the material to shimmer. She gently picked up the material and let spread it out over the bed. Eria took a deep breath and looked at the dress before her; it was of an elegant southern design made for its hot weather and special events such as festivals and the meeting of clans and marriages. This dinner was no exception.
Eria flipped the dress over and lifted the dress over her head. She tugged the silky material down it till the waistline; that separated the pleated bodice from the draping skirt stopped it from going any further. Eria put her arm through the straps; one smaller than the other, the left strap was the same purple material only an inch thick and the right was thicker and was adorned with silver orchids encrusted with diamonds, the same went for a piece of silver on her waistline just above where her hip began. The hemline of the skirt lightly swept the floor; she walked around the room missing how the dress felt against her skin and flowed around her. It brought back memories of when her mother was alive and her father would adorn them with hundreds upon hundreds of jewels and gold and silver pieces just to show how precious they were to him and his kingdom.
Eria walked back to the bed and removed the rest velvet bundles from her pack. One contained a necklace with a diamond encrusted pedal hanging off the golden chain, another had large jeweled encrusted bracelets, the next a large thick plated collar embedded with sapphires and emeralds, rubies and onyx, Eria looked to Oryis who lay watching her across the room in a boat with its haul cut out and filled with cushion of all sizes and colours. "Come on you have to dress up to," she said, Oryis flicked an ear and sighing he stood up and walked over to her stopping three feet way. Eria walked to his shoulder and ran her fingers through his soft thick fur as he crouched down; she placed the collar on his neck, reaching under to grab the other end and clipped them together, returning to the bed to retrieve the bracelets for around his forelegs. "There, now you a handsome royal Saber Tooth." He looked at her and licked her chin with his large rough tongue.
Eria returned to her velvet covered parcels and opened the last remaining one. Inside was her travelling crown, its three thin gold bands were polished and molded to look like the mountains of Trojanheim and each mountain had one small gemstone, but the most prominent of the mountains; her home, held the rarest of diamonds; the red diamond. She placed the crown down on the bed and looked back at the last of the contents within the package, a white hair clip with a white opal orchid attached to either side. Eria took the bone clip and went to the mirror on the wall and began to run a brush through her hair. "Allow me my princess." A voice behind her said.
Eria whirled around and found Astrid at the door dressed in a green gown with a square neckline, white sleeves and a pleated skirt. Astrid walked toward her and shooed her hands away from her hair and took the brush from her hands. "Do you have anything warm to put over your dress, princess?" Eria shook her head as she relaxed when Astrid ran the brush through her hair, it had been a long time since someone had done her hair for her, her deceased mother had been the last. Astrid braided a portion of her hair to wrap around the remainder as she pulled it back and twisted her long sandy blond hair up against her head and secured it with the clip the teeth biting into the braid and letting the rest of the hair fall in waves over it in the traditional southern style. "Beautiful." Astrid sighed as she placed her hands on Eria's shoulders.
"Thank you Astrid." She said and walked to the fire place and picked up the fire poker and fished out a piece of charcoal, letting it cool on the cold floor before picking it up and returning to the mirror and running the charcoal around her eyes. "There, almost done." Eria walked to her packs and pulled out a small glass jar filled with vanilla beans and orchid pedals. She pulled the cork and picked out a bean, closing it to return it to the pack. Eria took the bean between her hands and rubbed them together crushing it between her hands and releasing the smell it contained. She rubbed her hands under her arms and where jaw met her neck then washed her hands. "Now I am done. Let us be on our way."
Eria and Astrid met Halldor in the lobby as Oryis rounded the building outside for he was too large to walk comfortable through the halls; Astrid gave Eria a robe to conceal her body from the cold northern night. The three of them walked outside where Oryis was waiting and began to walk to the mountain to meet Dis at the gates.
The deal with the orchids, they were Eria's mothers and hers favorite flower and Eria's name is the genus for orchids.
As for the style, I tried my best to describe this georgette dress by Amanda Wakeley shop/bridal/lookbook/africa number 9/13; I hope I did a good job. Please let me know.
And finally for Thror's personality, in the movie he kind of made me think that he was very jolly, kind and noble king or to put it simply, he reminded me of Santa Clause. I'm sorry but he did.