I walked. That was all there was to it really. It was mid-december, and the cold was intense. I made sure to keep my flint dry, but without dry wood, there was not a lot I could do in terms of warmth, but I knew I would have to keep myself warm if I did not want to become frostbitten. As I walked, my sadness at becoming exiled turned into anger. I was pregnant with a dwarves' child, true, but it was the middle of winter! How could anybody, even one as cruel as Thranduil, exile a pregnant woman to the wilderness, and how could the entire court simply stand by as I was exiled, them knowing my condition! Perhaps they wished me to die. I do not understand their reasoning. At least wait until spring! If I could not make it to an inn, I would surely die! It was insane, to have survived the battle that claimed the life of my beloved only to die alone in the wilderness, abandoned by my people when I needed them most.

I shivered as I drew my cloak tighter around me. I was at least a week's journey from Old Ford, the nearest town where I might be able to find an inn. I would be able to cross the Anduin river there, assuming it was frozen over. If not, I might have to wait until spring. I would not mind doing that. Travel would be easier then, and not so cold, as it was now, and I would still be able to reach Bree before the child was born. It was going to be dark soon, so I looked around for a small cave, or somewhere to escape from the chilling wind. A few minutes walk from the path there was one, so I looked around for wood, started a fire, and rejoiced in it's warmth, rubbing my hands together to free them of their redness, which nearly matched my hair, despite the thick gloves I had been wearing. I ate lembas for supper, as I had done for every meal since I had left. I hoped I had gotten enough from the kitchens to last for the entirety of my journey, but I had a sack full, and I decided that would be enough when I left. I hoped I was right.

Frostbite, food and fire trumped the list of my worries, but I was still nervous about what I would do once the child was born. I would be weakened for quite some time after the birth, as it was a long and painful process, judging by the screams of my mother when she gave birth to my younger sister, who still lived in our home village. I chose to go to Thranduil's Hall after our parents died, and had lost most contact with her. I wouldn't be welcome there either, the people of my village hated dwarves. I wondered if someone would care to inform her of my exile, or if my infrequent letters would simply stop coming, and she would think me dead. I had little experience with children and babies, as soon after her birth, our parents were killed. She stayed with relatives, and I was sent to the Hall, because no one wanted me, as I had quite the reputation for being a troublemaker, a player of harmless pranks, but still, no one wanted me. I had essentially been isolated from all domestic work at the Hall, as I was told that I would train to be a soldier, and soldiers did not do housework. As such, I could only cook the skimpiest of meals, and learned to sew only through stitching up wounds from swordplay. I didn't even know how to hold a child! I wished Kili was with me. He would find some way to make me laugh, and we would go at this unknown together. But he wasn't. I was alone.


Hi! Sorry I haven't updated for a while, my robotics team had our first regional of the season! We didn't move on, but we had an awesome final match, and it was really fun! HUGE shoutout to Borys68 for helping me with all the little details about traveling in Middle Earth! Can't thank them enough! Chapter eight won't be up for a few days, as I have to rewrite it and I'm going to another regional in a few weeks, and will be rather busy with the bot! Remember to review, favourite and follow! Starship T.A.R.D.I.S. out!