Chapter four: The tale of reunion

"My lord Thorin! I hope you had a good night. Del is still asleep, which is good, for I need to talk to you in private. Do you mind? - No? - Well, that's good. I know you are a prince of your race. Del speaks highly of your honour and your skills...and of you for that matter. And I hope he is right. Anyway, you will listen careful now: Del is very dear to me. He is a good man and though he may be 97 years of age and appear to be strong despite his looks, yet he is fragile. You shut up and listen! And do not interrupt me again. I will tell you something about him in order to warn you. You are going to take him with you, and for your sake I hope that you have no ulterior motifs in doing so. I don't know why you take him with you and I don't want you to tell me. Del did never have a proper family. His father hated him. He hurt him and nearly killed him. He grew up with his cousin who trained him to be a warrior. And he is the best now. I still ask myself what methods he used to achieve that. He would never tell you the truth, he says he left them. I tell you this because I think Del trusts you, whether you deserve this trust or not I cannot say. And because of that you have to know. He rarely trusts or makes friends. He has few friends because he was let down too often. His friendship is precious, and special. It means a lifelong thing, worth risking his own life for the other. And he has paid a price too many times and far too high. If you let him down, if anything happens to him because of you and I gain knowledge of it, I swear you will answer to me, Thorin, son of Thrain. Am I understood? - I hope so. Have a seat now and eat away...Don't you dare hurt him!"

Thorin wondered why Del had not asked him about his conversation with Belladonna. In general he never asked many questions. Normally people wormed him for stories of the fall of Erebor, of their journey to the Blue Mountains or battles he had fought in his life. He was sure Del knew a fair record of what had happened back then, but never talked about it. The last two days had passed quickly, Del had checked on his injury once again and had happily said that it was nearly fully healed. Soon they would reach the dwarfish settlement in the Ered Luin. Never before had he taken somebody with him here, and no human at that. But now he was prepared to introduce Del as a friend to his family. "My lord..." Del called out. "We are close." he smiled. "I'm 97, and still I'm nervous. Will I be allowed to stay?"

"Of course! I'm a prince here, and they respect my authority. And I want them to know that you are a friend to me and my family... so stop addressing me with 'my lord', alright?" Del turned on his pony to be able to face Thorin. He looked in his eyes and was searching for anything he had missed, anything Thorin might want to hide, but he only found sincerity in them.

"I am honoured, my... thank you, Thorin. I'm proud to call you my friend." with his hand on his heart he nodded his thanks and Thorin once again remembered Bella's words. He would treasure Del's friendship and prove worthy of it.

The first houses came into view, they were small and built of stone with wooden roofs and doors. The further they got the more the houses were also caved directly into the stone of the mountain. Del saw some tunnels leading down and wondered where they might end up when Thorin stopped his pony in front of a house with a heavy black door. It immediately swung open and a female dwarf appeared in the doorframe, worry and delight shown on her face at the same time. "Thorin? Brother? Is this real? You are back!" and she gathered him into a bone crushing embrace.

"Dis! It's good to be back, finally. How do you fare? Are you alright? Where are the boys? And where is father?" he kissed her cheek and brushed through her amber hair. Dis was slightly smaller than her brother and possessed a neatly combed beard with two tiny braids in it. She wore a simple dress, yet she looked as much of royal blood as Thorin. He stepped back and grabbed her shoulders.

"The boys are off with Dwalin. He trains them with the axe sometimes. And father left for the Misty Mountains to meet with grandfather..." she looked past her brother and eyed Del suspiciously. "Who is our guest, brother?" Thorin turned around, waving at him. "This is my friend Del, son of Dhal." Del took a step forward and bowed low.

"Mylady Dis, daugther of Thrain, I'm at your service. Your brother was so kind to invite me to stay, but if that is inconvenient with you I will not bother you. Just let me know if I cause you any trouble. I will take my leave then." and with that he looked up. " But I assure you it's a pleasure meeting you. Your brother praised your beauty and your talents. Now I see he did not exaggerate..." at that Dis started smiling. and waved him to come closer.

"I'm positive he said no such thing. I know my brother. But it was nice to hear it anyway. You do not trouble me. If you are a friend of Thorin, you shall be my friend as well. Come on in, you had a long journey and I'm sure you both could do with some stew and cheese, right?"

"That would be very much appreciated, Mylady." Del flashed her a smile and waited for the siblings to enter the house first. The first room was big with a low ceiling, a fire cast its warm glow around the walls. In the back two doors led into other rooms. There was not much inside despite a table with chairs and some cupboards. Thorin sat down and pulled off his fur cloak.

"May I be of any help, Mylady?" Del offered standing behind her. Dis turned around to stare first at Del, than at her brother.

"Where did you meet your friend, Thorin? Go back and try and find some more..." Thorin looked grumpy and mumbled something about women, but Dis smiled. "I'm not used to men helping around in the house, and Thorin is no exception here, I fear. But you can be of help...Del, right?" when he nodded she placed two bowls of stew in his hands. "Take them and have a seat. Spoons are in the cupboard on your right!" Del placed the stew in front of Thorin, fetched three spoons and carefully sat down. "So tell me, where did you meet my brother, Del?" he saw Thorin shift uncomfortably next to him. Dis grabbed her own bowl und sat opposite him.

"We met on the great eastern road. We stopped at a friend of mine and moved on here together. We found Warg tracks one day previous. Did you have any troubles of late?" Del looked concerned, and indeed he was, but Thorin realized his distracting strategy. It worked, for Dis did not ask further on their first encounter and nodded instead.

"Two days ago a pack of astray Warg attacked us. Balin and Dwalin had their fair share in defending the settlement. They will be here by nightfall, I assume. I invited them over for dinner. Dwalin has done al lot of training with Fili lately. He is 25 now and needs to learn. He does well so far, it is Kili I'm worried for. He's 18 now, Del, and I fear he has taken a likening to archery. Dwarfs are no bowmen, they prefer axes or swords. I hoped you would talk some sense into him, Thorin..." she looked at her brother, concern and hope openly displayed in her eyes. "You know I missed you..." she stood abruptly and walked over to a small shelf, putting cheese on a plate and slicing it.

"I have been away for too long, I'm sorry, Dis. But this time I will stay for a while."

"You better hold true to your word, brother. Del, did he tell you how he left last time?" Thorin shifted uncomfortably and moved to speak up, but Dis did not give him the chance to voice his interjection. "He did not even tell me. One morning he was just gone. Weeks later a letter arrived, telling me he was in Gondor! Gondor! The boys and I have been worried sick, you know. And I will not have it again. Del, how long are you going to stay with us?" the Dunedain looked at Thorin, unsure of how to answer.

"As long as it pleases him, dear sister." Thorin simply stated and gave her a stern look. Hands on her hips she towered over him.

"How long have you known each other now? I doubt a friendship can develop so easily and fast, for that matter. What happened to you for you to trust him like this, no offense, Del..." he looked down to his plate, muttering something like no offense taken and inspected the carvings on the table closely, not daring to look up. It was a good question and he wanted to hear Thorin's answer as well. But before Thorin had the chance to say something the door flew open and two young dwarfs stormed in, throwing themselves at Thorin and knocking him over on his chair. One was blond with a tiny beard, the other had dark hair and no beard at all. They laughed all along, talking to him without pause and not waiting for a reply. Del smiled and stood as another dwarf entered the room. He was taller than him, bald with a single line of hair on his tattooed skull and wore a frizzy dark beard. His eyes observed him coldly and with some distrust as was to be expected toward a stranger. He did not say anything and went to face Dis instead. Right after him another dwarf entered. This one was smaller and his hair was just about to get grey strands. His eyes were kind and he took in Del's appearance from head to toe. He bowed slightly and gave him a smile.

"Balin, at your service. And this grump is my brother Dwalin. He lacks some manners, I'm afraid." the said dwarf shot him an icy look.

"Del, at your service, master Balin." he bowed as well and smiled when he watched the two dwarflings hugging their uncle. Thorin got up, carrying the two boys along with him.

"Boys, this is Del. Behave yourselves and great him." the boys exchanged looks and curiosity shone in their eyes when they turned to face Del. He could tell that these two were quite a handful, they had mischief basically written all over their faces.

"You are human!" the blond one stated.

"And you look young!" the other chimed in.

"You have no beard!"

"You are quite thin!"

"What is your weapon of choice?" a smack to each head stopped their rush of questions. They bit their lips, rubbing their heads as they bowed low. They introduced themselves as Fili and Kili. Del could not help but smile at the two adorable brothers.

"My name is Del, and I'm quite pleased to meet you. I was told you two have some skill with weapons, I'd love to see it one day..." the dwarfs started grinning in unison and nodded their heads eagerly. They all sat down again and Dis ushered the boys to their beds with a lot of complaining from their side.

"You will have enough time tomorrow to enjoy your uncle's company and to pester Del. Off to bed now!" and when Dis had closed the door she joined the men along the table. Balin and Dwalin talked shortly to Thorin, told him that it was good to have him back, to see him whole and healthy and that there was a lot to do ahead. When they stopped talking all eyes went to face him and Del felt trouble rising.