Greetings to all! Happy Friday to ya! :) Or Happy Saturday, if you're anywhere else in the world!
I don't have much to say about this chapter, really, other than I hope you enjoy it and prepare for a bit of a ride in this one... ;)
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"Are you ready?" asked Thorin, grabbing the handle of the door.
"To tell the others?" Aelin asked in reply. Then she got a pretend worried look on her face, shook her head answered sarcastically, "I don't think I could bring myself to face them."
Thorin let out an amused chuckle.
But then, Aelin smiled and slipped her hand into his and said, "I'm with you...I'm ready for anything."
"Likewise," Thorin said back, returning her smile. Grasping her hand tightly, he opened up the door and the two of them stepped out of the room.
What they then saw as they walked out was not what they expected. Right at the bottom of the stairs, all of the Dwarves plus Bilbo were all crowded around the landing, their eyes fixed upward in their direction. They all perked up as they saw Thorin and Aelin step out.
"There you are," said Dwalin. "We were beginning to get concerned."
"There is no need for that," Thorin answered with a small grin. Then he looked down to his and Aelin's joined hands and back to the others, signalling to them why.
Naturally, the rest of the company caught on; they were utterly thrilled and joyous. A loud, almost unanimous cheer roared from them all.
Fili, in the middle of the group, dramatically threw his arms out to his sides, lifted his eyes upward and cried out, "Praise be to Mahal and Durin above! They have finally done it!"
Kili next to him then followed his brother's example, threw his head back and enthusiastically shouted, "Can I get an 'amen'?"
"Amen!" everyone exclaimed with just as much fervor, throwing their fists in the air.
Both Aelin and Thorin, while still entertained by their companions' joviality, looked at each other and rolled their eyes while snickering.
"Oh, nadnûn…!" ("Oh, boy…!") Aelin muttered, shaking her head.
Thorin then kissed her tenderly on her forehead and then together, they ascended the stairs and were met with hugs and hands clapping their backs and shoulders from the others.
"Congratulations," Bilbo told them both, shaking their hands.
"We're very happy for you, my dear," Dori told Aelin, with Ori smiling behind him.
"So proud of you, laddie," Balin said gladly to Thorin, looking prouder than ever before.
Fili practically threw himself at Aelin, nearly knocking the wind right out of her, and hugged her tighter than she had ever been hugged. "You can't imagine how happy this makes me, Aelin!" he said to her.
"I am pretty sure I can," Aelin replied, her voice straining from the pressure of Fili's embrace.
He pulled back and then gently took her face in his hands, smiling brightly at her. "Did I not tell you? You and Thorin are a perfect match and you were meant to be together."
Aelin just tilted her head, grinned back at him and admitted, "Aye...you were right, my lad."
"Uh, excuse me? We both were right!" said Kili with a sly grin as he came up to her.
She smirked, shook her head and then pulled Kili in for a hug. "Oh, Kili…," she sighed. Then she pulled back, looked at the two brothers gladly and told them, "I love you two boys. You know that, right?"
Kili leaned in and said out of the side of his mouth, "Don't let Thorin hear you say that." Then he wittily winked at her.
Fili replied warmly, "We love you, too, Aelin...very, very much."
"Do I have cause to be jealous?" asked Thorin curiously, coming up beside Aelin.
Aelin shook her head. "Not at all, Thorin. Not at all."
While Thorin's nephews congratulated him, Aelin spotted Nori finally and he pulled her into a tight embrace.
"This is all your fault, you know," she informed him.
"What? My fault?" Nori asked, faking innocence.
Aelin shook her head. "You just had to go on about how 'your mind and your heart don't always agree', after the Trollshaws, which made me think more about how I felt about Thorin in the first place. Then you've done nothing but encourage it all and, better yet, you were the one who told him to speak to me, which resulted in his confession to me upstairs. You just couldn't leave well enough alone…." Her lips then formed a smirk. "...and thank Durin for that."
Nori smiled back at her. "I only ever want the best for you," he told her, "and when I could see something good coming from the time you spent together, I was determined to do anything I had to do in order to help that along."
"You've always looked out for me, even when I thought I didn't need looking after," said Aelin. Then she smiled and lowered her eyes. "I suppose somewhere in my life, I must have done something right to not only deserve the true love of a King...but the undying loyalty and devotion of a brother."
The two half-siblings embraced each other again tightly, feeling truly grateful for one another.
"By the way, Thorin knows now that I am your brother," Nori said quietly in her ear. "He overheard me calling you 'sister' back in Thranduil's cell and he asked me about it on the barge. I figured eventually either you or me would tell him, so I told him anyway."
"Good," Aelin responded as they came apart. But then she gave Nori a serious look. "You also need to tell Dori and Ori and soon. They are your brothers and I am like a sister to them already. Them knowing that you and I share a father and are actually related won't change anything and I don't believe they would be angry with you. They deserve to know."
Nori hung his head and sighed. He knew she was right. It was bad enough he had kept the truth from Aelin for so long, but he had also kept it from his brothers, who should've known from the beginning, as well.
"You're right," he said. "They do need to know." Then he gave her a nod and said to her, "I will tell them when I get a chance."
Just then, they heard Thorin call out for everyone's attention and their heads turned. When Thorin had all eyes on him, he said, "The time for a real celebration must wait until a later time. Now, we have a greater matter on our hands that we must deal with: getting the proper weapons that we were promised."
Nori leaned over to Aelin and whispered, "While you were upstairs changing, Bard came in with the 'weapons' he said he had for us. The things he brought us were a joke. They were fisherman's tools supposedly shaped into weapons."
"That's pathetic," Aelin commented.
Thorin went on, "The bargeman said all of their better weapons were inside the city armory and that we should wait until nightfall. That is exactly what we are going to do."
"We're going to sneak into the armory?" asked Fili.
"Aye," Thorin answered. "I doubt Bard will help us, so we are on our own. Once it's dark enough, we go and once we have the weapons, we're leaving the town and making for Erebor."
"But we don't know where the armory is," commented Gloin.
"No, we do not…," Thorin said back, "...but we do have a couple Dwarves that are experts at sneaking around and finding things easily." Then his eyes went directly to Nori and Aelin.
Aelin was a bit taken aback at his suggestion. "You want me and Nori to sneak around town and find the armory?" she asked to clarify what Thorin wanted.
He gave them a nod. "You are experts at moving around unseen, are you not?"
Both Aelin and Nori glanced at each other as if to ask wordlessly, "Should we do it?" Nori then simply shrugged and Aelin shrugged back as if to say, "Why not?"
Aelin looked back to Thorin and a devious smirk crossed her face as she replied, "Leave it to us."
Sure enough, Aelin and Nori did find the armory of Laketown.
Unfortunately, the company's plan to sneakily steal the weapons and afterwards make their way to Erebor was unsuccessful.
During their heist, Kili had accidentally tripped down some stairs because of his bad leg and he had dropped all of the weapons he was carrying. The sound of the ruckus he caused had alerted the guards outside and, before anyone could even try and make an escape, they were cornered and taken by the guards. Just after that, they were marched through the town, which was now abuzz with concerned citizens, up to a giant house near the center, which they assumed was the Master's house. The doors opened as they approached and an overly-large man wearing a fur robe, with a crooked mustache, a horrid combover of orange hair and beady eyes came out the door. The company figured this was the Master of Laketown. He was followed by a smaller, hunchbacked man with a unibrow, wearing all black.
"What is the meaning of this?" the Master demanded.
The guard captain replied, "We caught them stealing weapons, sire."
"Ah, enemies of the state, eh?" the Master asked, his eyes scanning suspiciously over the company.
The smaller man then added, "A desperate bunch of mercenaries if ever there was, sire."
"Hold your tongue!" Dwalin snarled. He had finally had enough and couldn't keep quiet any longer. He stepped forward, keeping his eyes on the Master and stated, "You do not know to whom you speak. This is no common criminal." Then he announced to the surrounding crowd, gesturing to Thorin behind him, "This is Thorin...son of Thrain, son of Thror!"
Surprised gasps and whispers came from all around them as the townspeople discovered that the heir to the throne of Erebor was in their midst. Thorin stepped forward and placed a hand on Dwalin's shoulder. He too then looked up to the Master.
He addressed him, "We are the Dwarves of Erebor. We have come to reclaim our homeland." He then moved forward to where he could see all of the townspeople around them. His voice spoke with firmness and only grew stronger and stronger with every word, "I remember this town in the great days of old. Fleets of boats lay at harbor filled with silks and fine gems. This was no forsaken town on a lake. This was the center of all trade of the North!" With the murmurs of agreement from the crowd spurring him on, he continued in a bold and kingly voice, "I would see those days return. I would relight the great forges of the Dwarves...and send wealth and riches flowing once more...from the halls of Erebor!"
Cheers of joy and gladness erupted from Thorin's words. Where the company stood, Aelin was smiling proudly to herself after watching Thorin show how noble and honorable he was. She felt proud to say this was the Dwarf she loved.
However, the cheers were silenced by a voice shouting, "Death!" The crowd parted and Bard came walking through towards Thorin. "That is what you will bring upon us. Dragon-fire and ruin," he said. "If you waken that beast...it will destroy us all."
"You can listen to this naysayer," Thorin spoke to the people, seeming to ignore Bard, "but I promise you this: if we succeed...all will share in the wealth of the mountain." Then his arms came out to his sides and he cried out strongly, "You will have enough gold to rebuild Esgaroth ten times over!"
More cheers rang out from the townspeople. Aelin happened to notice the Master had a pleased yet scheming look on his face after hearing Thorin's promise. She couldn't help but feel uneasy about that man.
But then the little man standing next to him spoke out against Thorin, "Why should we take you at your word, eh? We know nothing about you. Who here can vouch for your character?"
Aelin readied herself to speak on Thorin's behalf, but then another familiar voice said, a little timidly, "Me. I will vouch for him." She turned to see Bilbo a couple feet away, holding a hand up, his little body slightly shaking from the cold. She and the others were a little surprised to hear him speak up.
He went on to say, "Now I have traveled long and far with these Dwarves through great danger and if Thorin Oakenshield gives his word...then he will keep it!"
The rest of the company felt a sense of pride within them at Bilbo's conviction and testimony for Thorin. He only continued to surprise them as time went on.
However, once again, the mood was put down by Bard turning to the crowd and crying out, "All of you! Listen to me! You must listen! Have you forgotten what happened to Dale? Have you forgotten those who died in the firestorm?"
Clearly, the opinions of the people were easily persuaded. One minute, they were cheering for Thorin and happy to hear what he had to say, but then turned against him the next when Bard or anyone else spoke in opposition. There were now murmurs of concern and discontent among the crowd.
Bard went on contemptuously, "And for what purpose? The blind ambition of a mountain King...so riven by greed, he could not see beyond his own desire!"
Out of the corner of her eye, Aelin noticed Dwalin beside her jolting forward, his fists raised. He clearly was not at all happy with what Bard had said and was going to attack him. Both Aelin and Nori lunged forward, grabbed hold of his arms and held him back.
"Calm yourself, mate!" Nori told him.
"Stay your hand, Dwalin! It will do neither you or Thorin any good," Aelin also said as he pulled his arms away.
Then the Master turned the conversation by saying, looking at Bard, "Now, now, let us not, any of us, be too quick to lay blame." A malicious grin crossed his face. "Let us not forget...that it was Girion, Lord of Dale, your ancestor...who failed to kill the beast!"
"What…? Bard is a descendant of the Lord of Dale?" Aelin asked quietly out loud.
"Did not see that coming," said Nori.
"It's true, sire," said the little man beside the Master. "We all know the story. Arrow after arrow he shot, each one missing its mark."
"Those two really do not like Bard and I want to know why," Aelin whispered to Nori.
"Have fun trying to figure that out," he replied.
It was then Thorin finished saying something to Bard and then turned his back to him to face the Master. "I speak to the Master of the men of the lake," he declared. "Will you see the prophecy fulfilled? Will you share in the great wealth of our people? What say you?"
The Master was quiet briefly and then replied, "I say unto you...welcome!"
With this declaration, the Master opened his arms as a friendly gesture to the company and, yet again, the crowd cheered.
"Welcome and thrice welcome, King Under the Mountain!" cried the Master gladly.
Shortly after the Master's welcoming proclamation to the company of Thorin Oakenshield, he invited them into his house and was willing to provide them with whatever they needed for the remainder of their journey to the mountain.
Aelin had kept her eyes on the Master and something about the way he kept trying to bring up the gold didn't sit well with her. Deep down, she figured that maybe the only reason the Master was willing to help them was because he was going to get a lot of wealth out of it. He didn't care about the Dwarves or that they wanted their homeland back; once he had heard a promise of gold, his demeanor had completely changed. Aelin didn't trust him.
As they were going inside, a young boy came up to Aelin and said, "Pardon me, miss?" When she looked at him, he lifted a hand which held a piece of folded parchment in it. "I was told to give you this. I don't know their name, but they wanted you to get this."
Curious, Aelin took the paper and thanked the boy. He quickly took off afterwards. She unfolded the paper and read the message on the inside that simply said:
Meet me outside behind the Master's house.
"Aelin, are you coming?" she heard Nori call after her.
For a moment, Aelin was still distracted, wondering about the message, but then she called back, "Y—yes, give me a moment. I'll be right back. I—I need to step back outside."
She heard nothing back from Nori and, taking that as a good sign, she walked back out the large doors and descended down the wooden steps. She looked around curiously. Who was it that could possibly want to meet with her? She didn't know anyone in Laketown until they had arrived. What was going on? She was unsure of whether or not she should be worried. How she wished she had her mithril knives with her!
Cautiously, Aelin walked around the house, the wood of the docks creaking beneath her feet. She was hoping she wasn't walking into anything dangerous. When she came around to the back, she saw a hooded figure standing with their back facing her. She observed that this person was a little smaller than anyone else in the town, which only confused her more than a second before.
Nervously, she spoke up and asked, "Are you the one who wished to speak to me?"
The hooded figure was quiet for a short moment and then, still keeping their back to her, replied, "I am." The voice was a deeper, tenor-like one, so Aelin quickly discerned that it was a man. However, she didn't recognize it, which only made her curiosity peak even more.
She then inquired, "Who are you? What do you want from me?"
"I would say introductions are in order," said the man, "but however...we already know each other."
Now Aelin was feeling even more uneasy. What was this man talking about? Something about this unknown person made her feel very uncomfortable. "Forgive me, but your voice does not sound familiar to me at all. You must be mistaken."
"Oh, I know I'm not mistaken," said the man. "I would know you anywhere. You are the spitting image of her, after all."
If Aelin hadn't felt uncomfortable already, she certainly did now. Her body stiffened nervously. "What is he playing at…?" she wondered.
As if he read her mind, the man clarified, "Aela, your mother."
Her blood ran chill and her breath grew shaky. This man knew her and knew who her mother was. Something was completely wrong.
The man went on, "Except for your eyes. You have your father's eyes."
Aelin took a scared step back.
"Or rather, it'd be better to say…." The man slowly turned around and two large hands came up to his hood. He pulled it back to reveal a face covered in a large, dark brown beard with long, matted hair to match. One thing was certain: he was a Dwarf.
Then she realized he looked slightly familiar...he almost looked...a bit like Nori…
She froze.
Then he finished his statement, a toothy grin creepily spreading across his mouth, "...you have my eyes."
Aelin's body completely went chill to the bone in utter shock and fright. Her gaze darted up to the Dwarf's eyes and discovered that they were a deep, forest-green...just like hers. Her suspicions were totally confirmed and her entire body suddenly went cold and numb as she gaped at the face of a Dwarf she never believed she would ever meet.
"Norin…!" she gasped.
Norin gave her a confused look. "What is this? No greeting of 'Father'?" he questioned.
Immediately, the blood flowing through Aelin's body went from chill to boiling. The mere mention of the word "father" coming from him sent her rage escalating. She lunged forward with an angry cry, grabbed him by the collar of his cloak and then slammed him against the back wall of the Master's house.
"You have no right to call yourself that, just as I have every right to withhold that title from you!" she bellowed in his face. She glared at him furiously and said, her voice seething with anger, "Give me one...good...reason...why I should not kill you right now where you stand."
He looked at her patronizingly and replied, "Because, despite how much you may want to...you can't." Aelin's grip tightened and he held up his hands in defense. "Let me guess: it's easy for you to kill an Orc or a goblin or any creature of evil, but when it comes to any other living being...be it Man, Elf, Hobbit, Dwarf...you could never bring yourself to do it."
Aelin scoffed, the corner of her lip curving up into a half-smirk. "Oh, believe me...you would not be an exception to that." Her expression turned to a scowl again. "You are no Dwarf…," she stated, "...with as horrible as you are, you may as well be a creature of evil...and I would have no qualms about killing you." She stared at him with hate in her eyes, but he said nothing. Finally, she released his cloak with a frustrated growl and then asked, "How did you know where to find me?"
Norin straightened out the collar of his cloak. "I didn't. I live here, actually," he answered, as a matter of factly. "I have for some time now...and I serve as the head spy for the Master."
"The head spy for the Master," Aelin repeated, almost in disbelief. Then she let out a "hmph". "Why am I not surprised?"
Then a sly grin crossed his face. "As a matter of fact, I am overlooking the case in regards to a certain bargeman," he said.
Her eyes widened. "You are heading the spies that are watching Bard?"
He simply responded, "Aye."
"What does the Master have against him? Why does he badger him so?"
"Bard is the only man who dares oppose the Master and disagree with him. Such people need to have a close eye kept on them. He is a rebel that must be dealt with."
"He's a good man."
"He's a troublemaker," Norin shot back. When all he received was yet another glare from his estranged daughter, he changed the subject, "To also answer your earlier question as to how I found you, I had overheard that their were Dwarves in Laketown and I grew curious. I came out to see with the rest of the townspeople and lo and behold, I saw you and thought for a second that I was glimpsing a former lover...but I figured out that you were too young to be her and realized that you must be my long-lost daughter."
"The one you abandoned?" Aelin asked rhetorically. She continued, "Then, as I got older, hired spies my age to watch me and report to you of my endeavors, after which, you ordered them to leave me to make me so desperate I would come running to you when you suddenly came back into my life?" Norin looked surprised to hear that she knew of his plan from all those years ago. Seeing the perplexed look on his face, Aelin gave him a smug look and informed him, "Nori told me."
It was then the older Dwarf understood. "Ah, yes, I did see Nori was here, as well," he said. He shook his head. "A shame that both of the children I helped bring into this world turned out more like their mothers than me."
"There's already enough evil in the world…," she sneered back. "...I'm sure Mahal knows how disgusting you are and ensured that there would not be anyone else like you ever again."
Once again, he just stared back at her, a grim appearance in his face.
Aelin was growing impatient. "What do you want?" she demanded. "If you're going to try and persuade me to be your personal spy or assassin or anything of that like, you can forget it." Before she knew it, hateful and sorrowful words she had wished she could say to her father for years came spilling out. "Everything you did has ruined my life! The only good thing that ever came from you was Nori! I was fatherless and motherless because of you! My mother abandoned me shortly after I was born because she realized I had your eyes and thought that having a daily reminder of the Dwarf who ruined her would be too much to bear. She didn't even try to raise me! I loathe her as much as I loathe you. She left me and then you ordered the death of my uncle when you found out about me." Tears came to her eyes, but she kept them held back, while her voice began to tremble. "You killed my uncle and I was left an orphan! I was also locked in a dark cell by Thranduil in Mirkwood because of you! You stole from him and got away, he wanted justice and decided to punish me! Do you really think after all of that—and that's only a fraction of what you have done—I would ever think of returning to you? If so, then you've got another think coming."
Norin still continued to just look at her without saying a word. After a brief moment had passed, he then said to her, "You're travelling with Thorin Oakenshield, I see. When last I spoke to the agents who pretended to be your friends, they told me things were not well between you two."
Aelin rolled her eyes. He had clearly ignored everything she had just said or had chosen not to acknowledge it. But she said in reply, "You're not so well-informed since your 'agents' left you. Aye, things were uneasy between us, but now all that has changed." She tossed some hair over her shoulder, stood up straight and said directly to him, "He and I are now together."
His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes narrowed. "Surely, you're joking."
"Do really think I would bother joking with the likes of you?" she spat. "I am in love with Thorin Oakenshield and he loves me in return." Then she straightened again, looked him directly in the eyes and told him, feeling bold, "I want you to take a good look at me...and I want you to hear the pure truth; the cold, hard facts about exactly who I have become."
His eyebrows rose in anticipation.
"Firstly, I am a master thief," she began, her voice becoming firmer in her resolve, "thanks to Nori's teachings. Now, I have left that life behind me and no longer steal for my own benefit, but my skills still prove useful. I am a fierce warrior who even saved the life of Gandalf, the Grey Wizard. I am a loyal companion who has earned the trust of some great and prestigious Dwarves and then, most importantly, I have earned the love of a King. And I am quite sure that, once we return to Erebor and restore it, Thorin will make me his Queen. I will rule Erebor at his side and be Queen Under the Mountain!" She paused briefly then said, "All of this shows me that, despite all my misery and suffering, my life has amounted to something. And what has your life amounted to?" Her head tilted and she observed the worn and rugged clothing—which were similar to how Bard's clothes were—that she could now see under his cloak. "You clearly don't have much wealth to your name, judging by your attire, and here you are, playing a conniving spy to the no-good Master of a small, downtrodden town of fishermen."
Norin's jaw clenched frustratedly.
Aelin noticed his reaction and her lips twitched up into a triumphant smirk. Telling him all of this was making her feel powerful. "Just as Esgaroth lies in the shadow of the Lonely Mountain, so will you live forever under my shadow," she valiantly proclaimed. "Because you failed to get to me as a child and turn me into whatever you wanted, I have grown into something greater and better than you."
This time, she saw his hands tighten into fists.
"Remember that, Norin: I...am...better...than you," she repeated for emphasis, seeing she was getting under his skin.
He quickly appeared calm and collected and came back with, "You really think you will be Queen?"
"Aye. Thorin loves me...I see no reason why I wouldn't be his Queen. He chose me."
"That may be...but what if his people don't agree?"
"It's not up to them."
"Is it?"
Aelin hesitated.
Norin then spoke, "You see, child—"
"I am not a child...and you will not address me as one," she stated strongly.
Acting as though he didn't hear her, he went on coolly, "You see, while it is ultimately Oakenshield's decision of who his Queen will be...it is also his people who help sustain him. You say you are a master thief, which must mean you have quite the reputation in the Blue Mountains. When the Dwarves of Erebor who live there return and find out who their Queen is and that she was once a thief...do you truly think they will be pleased?"
She remained silent, unsure of what to say.
He saw that as an opportunity and continued, now coming closer and beginning to slowly circle around her, "They will begin to question Oakenshield's choice and his judgment...which will lead to them questioning other decisions he will make in the future. His people will begin to doubt him and when there is doubt among your followers, trouble soon follows. Doubt leads to fear and fear...will lead to rebellion."
It was now Aelin's turn to tighten her jaw and clench her fists together. How dare this horrid excuse for a Dwarf say such things to her! He was wrong. That would never happen!
He could see he was getting under her skin and tiny grin inched up on the corners of his mouth. "Do you really want that for your precious King?" he asked, turning to face her. "Do you really want his people to not trust him and rebel against him because of you; because he chose you, a lowlife thief, to rule the kingdom by his side?"
"You have some nerve calling me a 'lowlife'," she retorted. Then she shook her head and grimaced at him with disgust. "You're despicable. You don't know that will happen."
"You don't know that it won't," he said. "You will lead your dear Oakenshield to ruin merely with your presence at his side. His people will be against you and, in so doing, they will be against him."
She scoffed at him. "For a Dwarf, you seem to know nothing of how we truly are. I have an entire company of Dwarves who care about me and who have supported Thorin and I being together! A couple of them might have been suspicious of me at first, due to my reputation, but once they got to know me, their minds were changed and they became my friends. Who is to say that the rest of Thorin's people will be any different? If any of them do possibly doubt me, there are twelve other Dwarves, apart from Thorin, who could vouch for my character and hold any influence over any doubters."
"But what if the people turn on them, as well?" he asked, still attempting to belittle her.
Once more, Aelin scoffed at Norin. "Still trying to cut me to the quick, are you?" Her head shook again. "I believe that anyone can change, but you prove me wrong. You will never change; you will always be a cold-blooded, selfish heathen!"
Her anger was rising again, but she found it pointless to keep the conversation going any longer. She had had enough of him and wanted nothing more than to return to her company.
She slowly walked backwards and pointed at him. "I am through speaking to you. You know nothing of what you speak!" Hoping that would be the last word, she turned on her heel and started walking away.
However, Norin still called after her, "Mark my words, girl: if you stay with Oakenshield...you will be risking his utter ruin."
Aelin whipped around fast, planted her feet firmly in her place and replied, "Mark my words, you heartless coward...if I ever see you again, I will not hesitate to put a blade in your gut or an arrow between your eyes." She glared at him, revolted. "Don't act as though you care about me or Thorin. I may have never known you personally, but I still know who you are. You have never cared for a single person except yourself. You are the most vile, wretched Dwarf I have ever heard of and I never want to lay eyes on you again. Stay out my life, Norin... just as you always have!"
With one last hateful glance, Aelin turned back around and marched away from her estranged father, hoping that this would be the last and only time she would ever see him. She was already so furious that if she stayed near him for even a moment longer, then she would surely kill him.
Only one single thought consumed her mind as she ran up the stairs into the Master's house:
"I need to find Nori...now!"
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...didn't see that coming, now did ya? :P
To be perfectly honest, I was gonna have this scene play out a little differently, but some of my readers have said, "I hope Norin doesn't end up showing up after everything he's done to ruin Aelin's life", or something to that effect and well...I couldn't get that idea out of my head of having him suddenly show up...so thanks everyone, you brought that on yourself! xD haha I'm just kidding!
So now that Norin has suddenly come into play...what do you think is gonna happen? Will Aelin just shut out everything he said to try and get under her skin or do you think it's going to get to her? What's Nori gonna think when he hears their father is in the same place they are? I'm curious to hear your guesses and theories!
Review or PM me! You know what to do! :)
Love ya'll! Next chapter is about partway done already, so stay tuned! It's coming soon! :D