"Our business is no concern of Elves." Thorin was unwilling to leave Ruby's embrace, and now he was in one of the many halls in Rivendell with Gandalf, Lord Elrond, Balin, and Bilbo.
"For goodness sake, Thorin, show him the map." The Wizard sighed, exasperated.
"It is the legacy of my people; it is mine to protect, as are its secrets." He would be damned if he asked the knife-ear for aid.
"Save me from the stubbornness of Dwarves. Your pride will be your downfall." Gandalf's patience was thinning. "You stand here in the presence of one of the few in Middle-earth who can read that map. Show it to Lord Elrond."
Thorin thought quietly for a few seconds, with everyone looking at him. He remembered Ruby saying something similar before, though much more aggressively. It might have been the Orc arrow in her shoulder. Making up his mind, Thorin handed the map to Elrond.
"Thorin, no!" Balin tried to stop him, but Thorin brushed him aside.
"Erebor. What is your interest in this map?" the Elf was saying.
"It's mainly academic." Gandalf interrupted Thorin before he could speak. "As you know, this sort of artefact sometimes contains hidden text. You still read Ancient Dwarvish, do you not?"
Lord Elrond walked a little bit away, looking at the map. As the moonlight hit the map, he realized something.
"Cirth Ithil."
"Moon runes. Of course. An easy thing to miss." Gandalf could have smacked himself.
"Well in this case, that is true; moon runes can only be read by the light of a moon of the same shape and season as the day on which they were written." The Elf explained.
"Can you read them?" Thorin was anxious.
"These runes were written on a Midsummer's Eve by the light of a crescent moon nearly two hundred years ago. It would seem you were meant to come to Rivendell. Fate is with you, Thorin Oakenshield; the same moon shines upon us tonight." Lord Elrond started translating the shining scripture. "Stand by the gray stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole."
"Durin's Day?" Bilbo hadn't heard of it.
"It is the start of the Dwarves' new year, when the last moon of autumn and the first sun of winter appear in the sky together." Gandalf explained. This trip was vastly enriching for the young Hobbit's life.
"This is ill news. Summer is passing. Durin's Day will soon be upon us." Thorin started pacing.
"We still have time." Balin counted the days in his head.
"Time? For what?" Bilbo asked. He wasn't informed of anything, and it nagged at his mind.
"To find the entrance." Balin turned to the Halfling. "We have to be standing at exactly the right spot at exactly the right time. Then, and only then, can the door be opened."
"So this is your purpose, to enter the Mountain." Lord Elrond did not seem pleased.
"What of it?" Thorin challenged the Elf to stop his plans to take back Erebor.
"There are some who would not deem it wise." The knife-ear struggled to keep his tone calm.
"Who do you mean?" Gandalf watched as the Dwarf-king took back the map gruffly.
"You are not the only guardian to stand watch over Middle-earth." The Elf smirked at the Wizard.
Ruby sat on the stone railing by her window and closed her eyes to the gentle shine of the moon. Her pipe was smoking in her hand, and somewhere in the back of her mind she made a note to stock up on tobacco before they left. The soft wind rustled through the leaves and lifted the smell of nature to her, blowing her hair away from her face. She listened to heavy thuds in the hall. Her senses weren't as keen as Elves', but she had to admit, Dwarves were too noisy for their own good. She kept her eyes closed as a knock came from the door and she bid the Dwarf in. The door closed behind him and she listened to silence. Frowning slightly in confusion, Ruby opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder to see Thorin, icy blue eyes alight trained on her.
The moonlight shone from behind her to cast an eerie silver-blue glow on her dark locks, falling freely down her back. The fireplace cast its light on her pale face and that insidious red gleam shone from the depths of her eyes. The thick pipesmoke swirled around her in little whisps, disappearing into the night air.
"What?" she asked, a little uncomfortable at being stared at.
"Nothing." Thorin seemed to come out of a trance and stepped closer, each heavy thud of his boots sent a shiver down Ruby's spine. Ruby put her pipe down and turned in her seat to rest her feet back on the floor as he reached her, taking both her hands in his. "I have something for you." He said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Reaching into his pocket, he took out the golden bracelet he had found in the troll cave. He had found the time to thoroughly clean and polish it, and it now shone in a warm glow in the light of the fireplace. Ruby's eyes were drawn to the chain as Thorin clasped it around her wrist.
"It's beautiful." She turned her wrist and studied the gems embedded in the golden chainwork.
"'Tis aught but a simple token that pales next to your beauty." He kissed her knuckles. In his time in Erebor, he had courted many Dwarf women, but never were his words so true. Ruby flushed, unaccustomed to being given such attention. Thorin stood toe to toe with her, taking her chin in his hand and tilting her head up to look at him.
Ruby was humbled by his gift, and stood on the tips of her toes to press her lips against his. Bending his knees, Thorin wrapped his arms around her thighs and lifted her above him, relishing in the faint giggle that escaped her lips before she dipped her head down to kiss him again. He walked them to her bed, carefully laying her down and caging her under him.
"You wear too much." She gripped at his shoulders. A low chuckle rumbled from his chest as she started discarding the material as if it had personally offended her. Not long after, he was surprised to find himself pressing back into the soft mattress, his chest bare and his boots somehow missing from his feet, a light press against his hips made him look down on himself to see Ruby perching on him, studying his form under her.
Thorin wasn't lithe, or elegant, or graceful. He was strong, bulky, tough and heavy. His arms quivered in anticipation as his hands rubbed over Ruby's thighs to grip her hips and stop the movements she hadn't noticed her body was making. She ran her own fingers from his broad shoulders down the expanse of solid muscles, covered by soft, dark hair that led her fingers down a trail to skim her fingers across his waistband. A sharp intake of breath made her raise her eyes to Thorin with a smug smirk across her lips, and she ground lightly down on the unbelievable thickness growing under her. A growl and a hand fisting her shirt made her eyes widen, but the smile only grew as Thorin ripped her shirt to shreds and glared at her corset.
He flipped them over, Ruby's thighs hugging his hipbones tightly as he studied her in turn. Her hair splayed out under her head, a rogue strand lay across her face, and with a delicacy that surprised even himself, he tucked it behind her ear. Replacing his hands back on her waist, he mused at the fact that her corset was not a simple span of fabric to give shape to her body, but a solid plate of thick, strong metal encased in soft fabric to protect her skin. The sheaths around the armour were stocked full of small throwing knives, and as he slid his hands under her back to unlace it, he found two larger daggers crossing at her back. He took a moment to steady his breathing. Ruby was a beautiful specimen, whatever her race may be, but a woman who dedicated herself so much to weaponry to the point of lounging and sleeping with them made the fire inside his chest roar with adoration.
He managed to peel the encasing off her torso, though not without cursing lowly in Khuzdul, much to Ruby's amusement. He carefully placed her armour on the floor, and all but pounced back on her, his lips finding the scar on her neck immediately. Tracing it down to her collarbone, he shivered as short nails buried themselves in his scalp.
Ruby mewled at the soft, tickling sensation of his beard as he lowered himself even more and took one of her nipples in his mouth, running his tongue over the sensitive tip. She felt a hand ghosting down her stomach to tug at her trousers. Lifting her hips, she aided in their removal and made to unbuckle Thorin's belt, but one strong hand held her wrists above her head.
"Thorin!" She glared up at him. A sparkle in his eyes alerted her to mischief, but her eyes rolled back as she felt his thick fingers working at her folds.
Thorin searched the wetness for a bundle of nerves and rubbed his thumb over the pert nub as the beauty below him jolted in surprise. He watched her face as he continued his ministrations, and chuckled as he took a nipple back in his mouth, just as a finger slid in her hot cavern, making her arch back and press her chest to his face.
Ruby writhed under the mass of muscles as she was stretched. Another finger joined its brother as a calloused thumb rubbed her clit, Thorin's teeth nipping at her breast. Soon, the heat gathering in her belly was too much to bear, and it bubbled up to her orgasm.
Thorin groaned, feeling her walls squeeze around his fingers, and pumped in rhythm until she calmed. Slipping his fingers from her, he saw they were slick and glistening to the knuckles. He let her wrists go and she lunged for his belt, his trouser all but yanked from his legs. Quivering limbs encased him, pulling him closer until the tip of his member nudged at her entrance. Angling his hips, he pushed inside slowly. He knew (and prided himself) of his girth, and allowed for her to adjust to him, but if her laboured breathing and her heels digging into his back were any indication, she did not need the time. Fully sheathing himself, he let out a low grunt, Ruby arching her back at the burning feeling between her thighs.
Setting a steady rhythm, Thorin pumped into her, gazing down at the pools of liquid red that stared back to him. They shone and glittered in shades he had not seen since Erebor, and the heat rising in the room reminded him even more of their quest, and how he had been a fool to oppose Ruby's participation in it. A rushing in his ears made him falter his movements and look to the fireplace, where the flames were licking outwards into the room. With a strong jerk, Ruby flipped them over, a dark look in her red eyes. Straddling the Dwarf, she kept up their rhythm from before, Thorin grasping her hips and aiding her movements with strong hands. The flames from the fireplace circled them, faster and faster, until Thorin felt Ruby pulsing around him, milking his seed from him, a breathless moan leaving her lips and the fire around them extinguishing, leaving the room in darkness as she collapsed on his chest.
Thorin buried his face in Ruby's hair and wrapped his arms tightly around her as she nuzzled his chest. Feeling her shiver at the cold air entering the room through the window, he pulled the covers over them and willed his thumping heart to calm.
"Did I satisfy you, zabadinhuh?" Thorin's voice rumbled in his chest under Ruby's ear. She looked up at him.
"Need you ask?" she looked around at the singed curtains and scorch marks on the walls. They shared a chuckle and nestled back into each other.
Ruby awoke with a start. Her head snapped up and her hands flew to her sides, frantically searching for her missing knives. It took a second for her to process that someone was calling her. Thorin still had an arm around her middle, stiff from caution as her violent movements woke him none too gently. Her breathing was ragged and quick, but she evened it out with practiced ease.
"What is it, zabadinuh?" he asked, concerned. His voice was still thick from sleep.
"Nothing, just a nightmare." She felt his arm coil around her waist and pull her down. She snuggled into his chest and sighed. "I'm sorry for waking you."
"No harm done." He rumbled under her ear. "This was the best night's sleep I've had in years." She could hear the smile in his voice as he caressed her back, hugging her slightly tighter to him. She hummed. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, kindly. "It might ease your mind."
She thought back to the nightmare. In her dreams, she felt the presence of an ancient power, though unknowing of its source. Large dark wings soared above all the places she had ever been in Arda, searching for something. She was never afraid in her dreams, at least not until the voices started screaming. She heard the sounds of agony and loss, and felt it deep in her heart that she had lost too, though she could not remember what, as hard as she tried. Roars of battle echoed in her mind, all the while, Arda's horizons were blackened by a shadow flying above, always seeking, always searching, always hunting for something unknown to her. The dream always ended with her confused by the search and scared by the voices.
"I don't really remember it anymore." She lied. Thorin's hands faltered. He had seen right through her, but he kept quiet, continuing to stroke her bare back.
"How's your shoulder?" he asked instead.
"A little sore, but we can get back on the road before midday, if that is your wish." She rolled the shoulder in question.
"No." He said, feeling her neat, dry stitches with his finger, humming in approval. "We'll wait for you to get these out, Wouldn't want you to tear them in the wild." She nodded, understanding, and closed her eyes, listening to the beat of his heart. Soon, his breathing evened out and his caresses stopped, his hand falling limply on the mattress. The blanket was tangled in their entwined legs, but Ruby shifted cautiously so as not to wake him, and managed to slip from the bed and get dressed without much noise.
Stepping onto the hallway and closing the door softly behind her, she made her way to the training grounds, where the Dwarves could be heard.
"Good morning, Ruby!" Fili called from where he was sparring with Dwalin, almost losing his footing as his focus faltered.
"Good morning." She called to the group of Dwarves, ignoring their knowing grins. They were all devoid of their usual armour, choosing to rest, even as they sparred in naught but their trousers tucked in their unbraced boots and thin tunics. She went through a series of exercises, until Fili asked her to teach him how to conceal the many daggers he had around his belt. Ruby jokingly suggested a corset, but they managed to find a way around his clothes to accommodate the many knives. They were different than the ones she was used to, hers being of her own design, mixing strong Dwarven steel and delicate Elven smithing, enchanted with spells worthy of Wizards, making sure her blades were strong, light, and always magically reappeared at their sheaths at an incantation learned many centuries ago. His were the traditional Dwarvish craft. Heavy, thick, and ugly (in her eyes), though nearly as sharp as hers.
They spent the rest of the morning discussing how to hide a weapon where and trained how to quickly access them, sparring with their daggers and training with their throwing knives, eventually competing with Kili's arrows at a target range. Fili had bested them, but they were all marksmen.
Somewhen in the middle of the morning, Aragorn had joined them, sitting in on a bench by the training grounds, a book in his hand. Ruby would often flick her eyes to him, until she outright turned her back on her duel with Fili as Dwalin approached her protégé, making the blond Dwarf successfully throw her to the ground on her stomach. Other than a grunt, she didn't move or speak, keeping her red eyes on Dwalin. The Dwarves had learned to connect the colour change to her emotions, and tensed as they all watched the strongest of them hand a training sword to the little boy, who looked up from his book, confused.
"You see that, lad?" Dwalin pointed to Ruby, still on her stomach with Kili's boot on her back. "She's too concerned over you to properly train. If this was the wild, she'd be dead." Aragorn's blue eyes turned alarmingly to Ruby, then back to Dwalin. "You need to show her you're capable of protecting yourself." He thrust the hilt of the dull training sword at the boy again, forcing him to grasp it.
As Ruby stood with the help of Fili, they watched as Dwalin went over the basics with the shorter boy. He was ahead in his lessons, a pleasant surprise, so the warrior Dwarf went on about correcting the boy's stance and practicing some moves with him, starting a slow, simple sparr, gradually speeding up, until the boy lost his sword and tripped over his own feet to fall on his behind, Dwalin's practice sword pointed at his chin. Fili had to physically hold Ruby back. The boy needed to learn, and the Dwarves knew no better teacher than Dwalin.
Dwalin lowered his sword as he studied the boy panting on the floor. He was small, still growing, but he did indeed see something in that boy, something...strong. "You need a lot of practice. Pull your nose out of those books and spend more time in these training grounds before you go off trying to live one of those stories." His words were harsh, making Ruby bristle next to the brothers, but she knew he was right, so she kept quiet. He offered a hand to pull the smaller body up. The boy's legs did not buckle, and there was no tremble to his lips, or wetness to his eyes. The child had absorbed the training into his bones like a dry sponge in a river and yearned for more. "You have the skill to be a great fighter, boy. Aye, you'll be a strong man." It was extremely rare for Dwalin to spew out compliments, Ruby knew this, and she puffed out her chest and raised her chin in pride as she smiled down at the tired approaching figure. Her eyes gradually went back to their loving chestnut tones as she watched a wide grin spread on Aragorn's face.
"Did you see me? Did you see me, Dovahmiin?" he was almost hopping in glee.
"Zu'u los ful rinik zokah do hi, Mal Jun." she ruffled his sweaty head. The boy bid them goodbye as he excused himself to visit his mother, a smile on his lips, protecting him from what he was about to face in the healing rooms.
"And you." Ruby turned to Dwalin, who was glowering at her. "Don't let anything distract you." He warned. Ruby smiled, knowing he was right, and fell into an easy stance as the Dwarf charged at her. He was bulky like an ox, making it easier for Ruby to twirl out of his way. They both threw and dodged punches, Ruby expertly dodging Dwalin's massive fists, and he, in turn, easily blocking her weaker hits. Her dodging was making him dizzy and frustrated, but he saw she was tired as well. When he saw her step closer to a stone about as large as his fist, he made to grab her right side, smirking as she did as he planned and stepped to her left, her foot catching on the stone, making her stumble...
Directly into Thorin's arms.
Ruby's hands stretched instinctively to cushion her fall, but landed on his broad chest instead. She squeaked as his arms snaked around her waist and her long fingers gripped aggressively at his arms, before she reminded herself she wasn't sparring anymore. Loosening her grip, she caressed the muscle under the thin dark blue shirt he wore with her thumbs, feeling him flex in a silent boast.
"Careful now." He chuckled.
"Thank you for catching me. You can let go now." She blushed at the stares and grins from the rest of the company.
"I don't think I want to." He raised his eyebrows amusedly at her flustered shyness.
"Thorin..." her plead sent a shock of arousal straight through him, her tone so similar to the one she had used last night, writhing under him. He promptly grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her to crash his lips against hers, kissing her brazenly in front of his whole company. A blatant display of possessiveness. The Dwarves around them cheered and clapped, Ruby flushing in embarrassment.
"You left me." Thorin pulled back, muttering lowly under the whistles and catcalls as he placed a sweaty strand of hair behind her ear. He could not disguise the slight hurt in his voice.
"You needed rest." She ran her thumb over the line where his beard started. Thorin gazed at her and portrayed his thanks through a kiss to her wrist.
Translations:
Zu'u los ful rinik zokah do hi, mal jun. - I am so very proud of you, little king.