Thank you so much for the reviews ! you are the best ! Your reviews really cheered me up during this tiring week :)

And thanks to all the readers and followers !

The next chapter is all about Thorin and Mylan. So more Thorin yay ! :)

Warning : this chapter contains a scene of abuse (light, but still). Rated M.

The story will alternate from here between Evendim Manor and the Blue Mountains. I hope you'll still like it :)


Chapter 12: I want to shelter you

[Freton. Eriador]

Mylan arrived at the back of the garden, where a fence separated it from a nearby field. She did not enter the shack, nor did she retrieve the ale Esther wanted her to bring back.

She instead opened the fence and started walking in the field, the grass reaching up to her knees as she bathed in the sun. She stopped and looked east again, at the small hills that were hiding Evendim Manor from her view.

In this moment of calm, everything was still except for the wind that made her hair and the grass dancing all around her.

She had not realized she was being followed until she was seized from behind and roughly turned to face Esther's son, Joffrey.

He had a nasty smile plastered on his face. His dirty blond hair was falling from his shoulders and his forehead sweating. His grip on her arms was strong and painful, his eyes hungry. He was so much taller than her, the top of her head barely reaching his neck.

"Where d'you think you're goin'?" he growled, his uneven teeth enhancing his already dangerous smile.

"Let me go" she told him firmly, shaking her arms helplessly. He only brought her small form closer to his. She could feel his hot and damp shirt against her forearms.

"Why should I?" he asked, laughing at her.

Mylan grew angry and scared. She was all alone in this field with him, too far from her house to call for help. She did not trust Joffrey for a second to have good intentions. He was twisted and took delight in her fear.

"You hurting me!" she said, raising her voice.

"Am I?" he whispered to her, bringing her face closer to his until his hair fell down on her face. He smelled of dried sweat and rotten meat. Mylan almost gagged and tried again to break free from his iron grasp.

"Let me go!" she screamed this time.

There was only the wind to hear her plea.

Joffrey laughed again harder this time, and released one of her wrists to grasp her neck. He glued his face against her cheek and licked the side of her face. Mylan shuddered with disgust and screamed louder.

She tried scratching his face with her free hand, and he seemed to like even more that she was resisting him.

"Fierce little thing aren' you?" he told her, still smiling and catching again her other hand "I wanna taste what's mine. Don't you think it's fair?"

"I'll never be yours!" she yelled at him "Let me go! I'll tell my father about this!"

"Tis gonna happen anyway, I don't see why you bother to resist" he said, still deeply amused.

"What do you mean?" she asked, eyes now wide with fear.

"D' you hear them talking before?" he told her smirking "I thought you were supposed to be smart… But your cute face and fiery hair will still do."

"I'll never marry you!" yelled Mylan, now understanding, and trying to break free from him like a possessed woman.

He only laughed and brought her down on the floor, crushing her small body with his, his nails digging the skin of her arms.

"Now, I wanna a nice preview" he whispered, trying to rip her shirt with his teeth exposing her shoulder and biting in her tender skin.

Mylan screamed again and struggled in vain as the tears filled her eyes.

No one would come to her aid. She had no one. Her father had almost sold her to this beast of a man.

How did it come to this?

She never had much friends or family, but she never would have thought she could be abandoned by all.

She could fell his knees trying to part her legs and screamed louder, praying towards the blue sky.

She would not give up.

She would die before she stopped fighting him.

All of a sudden, Joffrey was torn off from her frame and thrown away, landing heavily on the floor, moaning and clutching his left arm.

A very large person clad all in black had saved her from her attacker. He wasn't facing her, his wild dark black hair shivering under the wind, his large hands hairy and transformed into terrible claws.

He was watching Joffrey whining at his bleeding arm and crawling back to the garden, like the coward he was.

Mylan did not need to see his face to recognize him, and as he was about to pursue Joffrey, she launched herself at him.

She grasped his arm and forced him to face her. They both fell on their knees, the grass surrounding them.

"Echo, no!" she said to him, pressing herself against his large and warm chest.

She was shivering all over with shock.

He instinctively put his arms around her petite frame, but she could still feel him shaking with anger.

She drew back from his chest after taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, and saw his face for the first time. Her eyes first registered surprise, and very soon relief, pure relief.

His dwarven features were slightly altered, his nose very long, most of his skin covered with dark hair and his serious eyes fixed upon her. His teeth were slightly bigger as well.

"Echo, let him go" she whispered to him, already lost in his amazing blue eyes, and not able to look elsewhere for one minute.

He was trying to calm himself from the fury he had felt when the blond man had attacked her. The pleasure of seeing her relieved face and her sweet brown eyes for the first time helped him.

There was no hint of disgust nor fear in Mylan's eyes when she looked at him.

And for that, he was grateful, and so relieved his heart was bursting.

Very quickly, the stress of the attack came crashing back upon Mylan and she was shaking all over again, clinging to his shirt with her small hands balled into fists.

"Don't leave me" she whispered through her sobs.

He had just saved her. Of course, he wasn't going to leave her. But she didn't know that.

"You're safe now" he told her firmly in his comforting low voice, hugging her to him to emphasize his words.

She buried her face against his hairy neck and never wanted to let go. He had come back for her. He had saved her. He was there for her.

"Take me with you" she whispered against his skin.

"But your family…" he hesitated.

"I have none now" she told him, her tone final.

He nodded, not wanting to ask for explanations. He had wanted to bring her back to the Manor since they had been separated, had watched her almost every day from a distance, as she worked in her back garden, strolled in the fields. He could see her baking through the kitchen window every morning. It was his ritual and he liked it. He liked that she was still a part of his life, even if they were not in contact with each other.

He had missed her, had been almost obsessed with her for weeks.

He did not know if she wanted to see him, so he had kept his distance, even if she seemed gloomy.

But now, she wanted him to bring her back to the Manor.

She wanted to stay with him.

Thorin could not believe his ears. He smiled through her hair, his lips grazing gently the top of her head. She was there, in his arms, her hair smelling of something fresh and soap like he had imagined it would.

"Take me with you, Echo" she repeated feebly, almost feverishly, pressing herself against his chest.

He could feel all her curves and her full breasts crushing against him, and he lost it. Thorin was still a dwarf with desires and it had been a very long time since he had felt so aroused and warm inside at the same time.

He gathered her in his arms and stood up. As he walked in the direction of the eastern hills, he could feel her relax as she fell asleep, exhausted.

He would bring them home.

He would take care of her, shelter her. Maybe that was his purpose in life now, and what a sweet burden it would be.


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