"Where were her guards? I made it clear she was not to move about the mountain alone, for this reason!" Thorin yelled, at no one in particular. Kili remained on the ground, his arms holding Aerchkaleya tightly against his body. When she had tried to step over the edge of the walkway, his heart had stopped before starting up faster than before. He had burst forward and grabbed her before she could fall, shoving them both away from the edge, clutching onto her as if she were about to jump out of his arms if he loosened them.
Bofur appeared and answered Thorin, cheerful as ever, "Oh, they were tryin' t'follow 'er. Bit stuck at th'moment, though." When he received confused looks from Thorin, Fili, Dwalin and Nori, he clarified himself, completely deadpan, "Their feet are stuck in the floor."
Fili studied his friend's face and asked him, "They're stuck IN the floor? You said 'in'?" Bofur nodded and replied that the entire guard, except Dwalin a few feet to his right, literally had their feet stuck in the stone floors of Erebor.
The expression of confusion changed to disbelief, until Gloin came up behind the floppy-hatted dwarf and verified, "Aye, they're all ankle deep in stone." No one was quite sure what to say, or how to react. It had to have been the girl Kili still had yet to let go of. Thorin, Fili, Dwalin, Nori, and Balin all looked down at the girl, wide eyed.
Ori scuttled up next to his brother and managed to pipe up, "I, uh, I don't think she was trying to, you know, do what you think. I've been reading some of the older documents she showed me last month, and, well, it seems that those doors," the young scribe pointed to the pathless doors, "are to her rooms, her original rooms. A-and there are plenty of accounts of her walking on 'air' so to speak. S-so I think she might have just been, uhm, trying to get to her rooms."
Aerchkaleya's eyes fluttered open and she groaned, blinking a few times as Kili let go of her. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, frowning for a moment before standing and stretching her arms. The sleeves of the dress she wore fell against the movement, revealing the flecks of color that naturally decorated her skin, and were hidden beneath the dresses that she was provided. They were fairly, well no, entirely different from what she was used to wearing. Actually, she was quite sure that the usual attire of the Fae would give several dozen, if not all, dwarves heart attacks.
As her arms dropped, and she felt the stares of the dwarves on her, she heard a particularly deep, and irritated voice ask her, "What in Mahal's name did you think you were doing?" Aerchkaleya couldn't help but notice just how hard it was to keep a fairly even tone, and knew he was trying his absolute hardest not to scream and yell and throw a royal fit.
The brunette turned and faced Thorin, King under her Mountain, and, glaring, she told him bluntly, "I knew that I was trying to find some semblance of privacy inside my own mountain. I'm sick of you all treating me like I'm some helpless little whelp, that Erebor is some kind of danger to me, that I'm a dwarf."
Thorin held his ground but it was etched into his face he was shocked she would talk to him like she did. He wasn't used to anyone treating him like this. Yes, he had been looked down on and faced plenty of prejudice during exile, but never anyone treating him as if he was a clueless or idiotic child.
Even being smaller than him, Aerchkaleya's presence towered over him, making it clear he had no rule over her at the moment. With her hands on her hips, she gave him a piece of her mind, "I'm not a bloody dwarf, just because I'm small does not mean I am weak. I don't need a babysitter, or a guard with me every moment of every day." Her face softened slightly as she told the king in front of her, "I know you worry for the loss of any more of your kin, that you want to keep them from any more harm. I do as well, and I will not allow any more damage. I protected your ancestors, and I will protect you, and this kingdom. So I will be going wherever I wish to in Erebor, without a guard from now on."
Everyone stood still and silent, watching the king who was practically nose to nose with the small female. It was an odd yet frightening sight. While Thorin was taller and always had an air of authority around him, Aerchkaleya was radiating power. She hadn't requested anything of the king, she had told him.
Finally, Thorin stepped back and conceded, "Fine, you will no longer have a guard accompany you within the mountain." Trying to force a guard on her any longer would have been futile, he already knew that, as every one of them was stuck in stone at the moment. He knew very well just how strong she was, Gandalf had made it clear to him before his departure months ago. Aerchkaleya was deceivingly strong, even for a Fae, and highly independent. But she was also the Heart of the Mountain, that wasn't something that Thorin had been able to overlook and thought it necessary to protect her. His fear had been anything happening to her would have resulted in misfortune or disaster for the mountain itself.
Aerchkaleya smiled triumphantly before turning on her heel and marching right back to the edge of the walkway. This time, before she could be grabbed, she stepped off, shocking them all when she didn't fall. The Fae turned and frowned, before realizing that the Fae blood in the Line of Durin and their descendants had been too diluted for them to see it, what she could. They couldn't see the bridge she was standing on, they though she was going to fall.
Sighing, she knelt down and touched the bridge that only she could see, and murmured a few words. Immediately, the air beneath her feet glowed and within moments, everyone could see that she wasn't just floating in the air, rather she was on a white walkway, but the material seemed to be moving beneath her, without moving her. It faded away quickly enough, and Aerchkaleya told them as they watched it, "This isn't the first time I've lived in Erebor." And with those words, she finished crossing the once more invisible bridge, opening the doors on the other side just enough for her to slip in.
Thorin rubbed his hands over his face, still fairly irritated, and told the dwarves around him, "We should remove the guards from the walks."
Authors note: Okay guys! So, all OC spots are taken except Bombur.
So, I didn't get the five reviews, I got three, but I did get OC's so I'm counting that, and here is chapter three! It's a bit short, but quality over quantity. Plus, last chapter had a whole background story.