Dís had watched him with a heavily beating heart. He had not even looked at her once. Had not spoken more than a few formalities. And now this peculiar dwarrowdam would become his queen. Barefoot, uncombed and without any style. That was not what she had wanted. She was not even sure she still wanted him to tie the knot at all. Thorin disappeared on the stairs and she turned around, sighing painfully and noticed Bard's gaze resting on her. She wanted to smile at him, but did not succeed. Bard looked down on her sadly.
"Let us go, love of my life", he said earnestly.
Dís nodded and reached for his outstretched hand gratefully.
The invited guests slowly filled the temple and outside gathered the dwarves of Erebor to see their king and his new queen leaving through the Southern portal. Word had spread of course who the king had chosen. There had been quite a bit mockery but mainly the public was curious about the granddaughter of the great seeress. Even if she did and said strange things as word has gotten around from the Iron Mountains.
Thorin waited at the West entrance and looked all across the width of the temple to the East entrance where Alwa stood next to her brothers. She stood there quietly, looking up to the giant, dome-like ceiling losing itself in semi-darkness. Dan talked to his sister insistingly and Thorin could clearly sense the tension of his future brother-in-law. Kan patted his brother on the shoulder and fooled around for Alwa.
Like Frerin, Dís and me, it suddenly occurred to Thorin.
Kan raised his hand to greet them. And the king, Dwalin and Balin waved back, grinning.
Slowly Thorin's nervousness rose and he was glad when the second gong sounded and the priest took his place at the altar. The choir set in and the traditional tunes were sung, alternately with the priest. It was a deep, guttural bass chant in ancient Khûzdul and the dwarves present joined in until the air and even the stone around them seemed to vibrate.
A cold shiver ran down Bilbo's spine.
"Close your eyes. Feel it", Dwin, who was sitting next to him, whispered to him.
And when Bilbo did so, the ancient song led him down into the bosom of the mountain, even though he did not understand the words.
Deep and secure, firm and solid. To rock, coal and ore, to velvety darkness, to gold and gem. Down to caves with glittering, dripping stones in a thousand shapes, to lakes as clear as diamonds. Glowing lava, eternal ice. The mighty strength of Mother Earth.
At Dwin and Dwalin's bond ceremony Dís had not been able to hold back her tears of emotion, although the chorus consisted just of seven singers, the temple was only a fraction of the size and splendour and the audience was manageable. Today her tears flowed also, but the reason was another.
When the last tone had faded, the priest summoned Thorin and Alwa and called out aloud the names of the witnesses also.
Followed by Fundin's sons, Thorin strode forwards while from the opposite side Alwa advanced between her brothers, hand in hand.
In front of the priest Alwa and Thorin stood facing each other and the king stretched out both hands. Kan laid Alwa's one hand in Thorin's right with a nod and Dan her other hand with a threatening glare into his left. Then they stepped back.
Into the reverent silence that followed, Alwa suddenly asked aloud:
"Will we find the heart?"
Muted laughter and whispers rose throughout the temple. Kan and Dwalin snorted with amusement, while Dan and Thorin exchanged a glance. Dan looking just as abashed as Thorin felt.
But then they both smiled and the king answered:
"Yes. I promise."
Thorin could hear Dáin laughing loudly amidst the exhilarated crowd and the priest had to wait again for calm to be restored.
The ceremony then took it's course, the priest spoke the words and tied the knot. The guests in the temple rose. On the king's nod Balin brought forward Alwa's crown. Duly on a velvet cushion. It was a more delicate variation of the king's own crown and bore on the front a precisely equal blue diamond. It was the one that Thráin had kept in his desk for his daughter Dís. Thorin had asked this jewel from his sister as her present to his bond.
Bard noticed Dís freeze beside him and heard her moan softly. The last present of her father… She had left it to this stranger. This Alwa, who now took her place next to Thorin. Just why did it hurt so terribly? This is what she had always wanted. She watched Thorin take the crown with both hands and put it on Alwas head gently. Dís closed her eyes and turned away, not noticing Bard's chagrin.
Balin stepped forward, raised both hands and shouted aloud:
"Long live the Queen!"
"Queen Alwa!", it echoed through the temple.
Alwa winced, looking around for Dan. To Thorin it seemed as if she did not realize at all what was happening at the moment and he noticed from the corner of his eye that Dan shook his head anxiously, gesticulating her to turn to the king.
Alwa turned back to Thorin and began all of a sudden to search for something in her pockets.
Thorin held his breath.
"Oh, Mahal!", he thought inwardly moaning, "Now what?"
He tried to forget about the many pairs of eyes watching both of them. But the seconds elapsed and seemed him like eternities. He gritted his teeth impatiently and was almost ready to grab and pull her with him when she found at last what she had been looking for. She pulled out a small framed picture. His portrait.
She looked at him and then at the picture. His crown seemed to irritate her. Again him. Again the picture… Thorin felt heat crawl up his neck.
Finally she slowly took his hand. Greatly relieved Thorin held her firmly.
And there she looked him directly in the eyes and the gaze of her clear aquamarine eyes was so open, so innocent and so full of trust that he, baffled, completely lost his threat.
Every pair of eyes was on the couple now as they both stood there motionless, looking at each other. At last Thorin straightened himself and led her down the aisle and out of the Southern doors.
Juwa breathed an anxious sigh and Ban took her wrinkled hand and stroked it soothingly.
"If he hits her, I'll kill him", Dan whispered to his brother through clenched teeth.
"Only if you get a hold of him before me. Otherwise he is dead already", Kan whispered back, "But if you ask me, he's doing pretty good so far."
Outside a huge crowd waited for the royal couple. The craftsmen, cooks, miners, guards and all the other plain folk. Everyone cheered and stamped their feet. Thorin felt Alwa's hand tighten in his and she stepped closer to him. And so they walked around. Thorin waved and smiled and Alwa looked at everything in wonder, following the king silent and without any objection wherever he led her.
The time until the banquet at night the guests could spend at their discretion. They could stroll through the restored areas or visit the newly opened exhibition in the small hall. All the most precious works of art, breathtaking jewellery, elaborate weapons and other extraordinary valuables that had been discovered in the dragon's lair so far were exposed there. And, of course, the various models of the wind lances were presented, demonstrations offered again and everyone was given the opportunity to place their presents in the great hall. Gifts for the newly wed were not given personally according to dwarven tradition but beautifully presented with names on on a table amidst the festivity for everybody to look at. And so the donee could have a closer look at everything quietly during the next days.
Thorin and Alwa walked around, showing themselves to the public extensively. Then the king drew the new queen through a side-corridor away from the crowd and up a quiet stairway.
"Come on, let me show you your room", he whispered to her conspiratorially.
She smiled and nodded.
Dís's former reception room and study had become a comfortable living room with roundish armchairs and a cosy dinette, all in white and delicate shades of green and yellow. Chests and cabinets were of light-coloured wood and on the ceiling hung a pretty, mobile model of the solar system. The bedroom was playfully designed with white carpets, a large, square bed, snow-white, embroidered linen and a star-studded canopy. There were soft floor cushions, mirrors and lots of lamps. From here the spiral staircase went up into the stars' chamber. He led her up and watched her, quite pleased with her amazement. She explored the room and marvelled for a long time at the precious books about astronomy that Thorin had ordered here from the library and whose titles did not tell him anything at all. Then she stood on the balcony and looked out into the cloudless sky.
"Which one?", she asked without turning.
"What do you mean?", he asked back, puzzled.
"My room. Which one is it?", she asked softly.
"Well, all of them!", Thorin laughed.
Now she turned around to him with a helpless gaze on her face.
"As our queen you have many rooms", he explained.
Suddenly she looked unhappy and seemed very lost.
"Where is Dan sleeping?", she asked and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Dan is sleeping in the guest wing. Down the corridor. He will ride back to the Iron Mountains with Kan and your parents in a few days, but your Ama will stay with you", Thorin said gently.
Now she was on the verge of tears.
"Where do you sleep?", she wanted to know so softly that he almost did not hear her.
"Me? Next doors. I'll show you", he replied.
They went down together again and Thorin opened the double doors to his chambers.
"These are my rooms", he said, walking in.
Alwa made a move to follow him, but stopped dead in the door frame and remained rooted to the spot. She began to pant and stepped back hastily.
"What is the matter", the king asked concerned.
She did not answer and seemed completely disturbed. He came back to her and closed the doors behind him. Only now she relaxed a bit.
"I can not go inside", she said tonelessly.
"You do not have to! You do not have to do anything you do not want, child", Thorin replied hastily.
The "child" had slipped out and he actually felt more like her father than her husband right now. Had maybe her brothers spoken to her about that first night after the bond and she was afraid at the sight of his bed?
He had no idea how he was to consummate the bond tonight but he would not impose himself on her or do anything she did not want. He had considered it again and again. Who would know it anyway? Maybe her Ama. But she would certainly keep her mouth shut.
He could cut his skin somewhere and colour the sheets a little or spill some red wine. Then there would not even be any gossip.
To distract her a little he showed her the dressing room and the luxurious bath. And they went into the guest wing where he showed her Dan's room. There they met Juwa, who was just about to lie down a bit to be rested for the evening. She took her daughter's face in both hands and kissed her forehead.
Dreamily Alwa looked down the long hallway and Thorin asked her mother softly:
"What may be the reason for her not entering a room?"
The old dwarrowdam sighed.
"Alwa perceives things we do not see. But she seldom understands them herself. She can not interpret them or explain them to us. She never fully attained access to her gift. We take it that way and do not force her into anything. Ask Ama. She might know. She served Wala already at a young age. I hardly knew my mother for she died early. The gift consumes a lot of vitality. It is living on you, Ama says. Highness..."
"Just Thorin, please", the king asked her friendly.
Juwa smiled and nodded.
"Will you then call me mother Juwa?"
Thorin bowed and said:
"With pleasure."
"I wanted to ask you, Thorin, to be good to my daughter, but I see you are already striving for it. I do thank you. She is the most lovable creature on this earth and I hope very much you can draw strength and joy from this bond, even though it will be different that with the dwarrowdams you might know."
Thorin smiled.
"I really want to win her trust and I will do what I can to make her feel at home here soon", he answered honestly, looking over to Alwa, who was still standing motionless as a statue in the corridor.
They accompanied Juwa to her room.
"Can I get you anything, Mother Juwa?", Thorin asked and the address passed his lips surprisingly easy.
"No, thank you. Everything is just fine. I will see you later, children", she said smiling tiredly and closing the door behind her.
King and queen went down into the hall again and searched the crowd for Alwa's brothers. They found them outside the gates at the wind lances. Alwa's father and also Dan, who were both very interested in the weapons had Dwalin explain to them the subtleties of the mechanism. Kan, Balin, Bilbo and Dwin were standing not far off in the mountain's shadow, talking with another dwarrowdam.
Dís.
Thorin, who would have rather avoided his sister, wondered briefly whether he should really join them. But Dís had already seen him and he did not want her to think he was dodging her in his own home. Dís stood there, beautiful and radiant, immaculately dressed and coiffured. With her usual slightly arrogant, mocking smile and conscious of her effect on others in every single instant. She looked him in the eye and he became painfully aware that he had not at all overcome the separation. But the terrible day of her wedding had torn a deep rift.
Alwa clearly had a fine sense for the moods around her. For although Thorin, as he thought, did not let his inner tension become apparent, felt his wife follow him only reluctantly now and he almost had to drag her over.
As soon as they were there, Dís grabbed Alwa's hands, welcoming her fulsomely. Alwa stared at her wordlessly and when Dís was about to press her forehead against hers, she turned away abruptly. This was a rather violent affront. Alarmed, Dís looked up at her.
"Why are you angry with me?", Alwa asked simply.
Completely aghast Dís stood there open-mouthed and a fiery blush covered her face. Looking for help Dís glanced at her brother and saw him biting back a grin.
He whispered to her:
"Got caught off guard?"
Aloud he said:
"Dear Alwa, you have succeeded in what I did not achieve in almost two hundred years. To see my sister speechless once."
There was laughter and Dís, now back in her poise, joined in stiffly. Tension dodged but Dís remained owing an answer to her sister-in-law.
Bilbo congratulated Thorin on his marriage and wished Alwa all the best with a deep bow.
"Alwa, this is Bilbo Baggins, a good friend of mine. He comes from far away. From a land called the Shire. He is a hobbit", the king introduces him.
Alwa looked at him for a long time and finally repeated:
"Hobbit."
Dwalin came with Alwa's father and Dan out of the sun and wiped his sweaty forehead.
He pulled Dwin close and said:
"This is my wife Dwin. She's also from the Iron Mountains."
Alwa looked at Dwin and back to Dwalin then.
"What is your name?"
"Me? I'm Dwalin. And this here is my brother Balin", he muttered.
"Balin, Fundin's son. At your service, highness", Balin introduced himself formally again and bowed.
"Alwa, Ban's daughter. At your service", Alwa replied hastily, again as if rehearsed.
And then she embraced Dwin. Surprised Dwin returned the hug.
But behind her Dís was infuriated.
Highly annoyed she thought:
"How dare she expose me to ridicule and then embrace Dwin!"
As if she had screamed out these word aloud, Alwa spun around and stared at her frightened. The bystanders did not escape that and Thorin threw his sister a sharp look. And the queen of Dale turned around, head held high and walked away. She had clearly underestimated this strange dwarrowdam, this confused little Alwa. She ran straight into her husband, who just came over with Gandalf and Thranduil.
The tall man held her by the shoulders and asked softly:
"Is everything all right, my love?"
Dís calmed down in his presence, leaning against him for a moment. She took a deep breath.
Gandalf congratulated meanwhile and bowed politely to Alwa. After him Thranduil stepped forward and felicitated the dwarven king also. He then turned to Alwa.
And she lifted up her eyes to him and said thoughtfully:
"You have beautiful hair."
Balin turned around with an odd croak, but Dís could not resist a loud laugh. Thorin would have given one arm to disappear right in this instant into the stone beneath his feet. He glared at Dís who had multiplied his disgrace with her laughter. Ban and Dan had gone pale, Kan stood there, shaking his head, while Dwin, Dwalin and Bilbo were stunned, holding their breath.
Thranduil, however, surprised them all.
No mockery, no laughter. Not even a malicious grin. He squatted down to be at eye level with Alwa, bowed his head politely and smiled, as if she had made a decent, nice compliment.
And then he replied with a short glance at Dís:
"And you have beautiful eyes, Highness. I knew your grandmother very well. She was remarkable and..."
Here he broke off, looking slightly embarrassed and finally continued:
"I am very pleased to make your acquaintance."
Alwa smiled at him.
Thranduil rose again, stretched and returned to his usual bearing.
"I enjoyed taking a least a look at our stones again, Highness", he mocked once more at Thorin.
The king of Erebor had not quite recovered from his shock and it took him a moment to understand what Thranduil was hinting at. He realized the elf was referring to the casket with the white stars' jewels, that were part of the exhibition in the small hall. Over these precious gems dwarves and elves had been quarrelling since Thror's days and it was at least two hundred years since the elven king had seen them last.
"Beautiful, are they not?", Thorin replied.
"Yes, indeed", the elf answered, sighing.
"Oh, by the way I am supposed to greet you all from Beorn. I spend a few days at his place on my way here. He thanks for the invitation but said he would not fit into this illustrious company. He sends you honey", Gandalf tried to direct the conversation in another, more harmless direction.
"How touching", Thranduil remarked.
"At least he did not give away anything that belongs to Thorin already!", Dáin interrupted vigorously, "He has laid Orcrist on the table for you, cousin!"
"And now he may keep it, too!", Thranduil hissed at Dáin.
One word gave the other and although Gandalf, Bard and Balin were trying to calm things down, soon a dozen dwarves around Dáin and Veri were entangled in a fierce controversy with the present elves, especially Thranduil.
Being the host it was up to Thorin to intervene before the situation escalated. He looked over to Dís, who could have cleared the matter with a few well-chosen words in no time without any doubt. But she stood there, her arms folded, looking at him defiantly. Her gaze clearly told him that no help was to be expected from her side. At least not without him eating humble pie and asking for her support. He knew her that well. Throwing her a gloomy glance he turned, pondering what to do.
Suddenly he realized that everything had gone quiet. The quarrelling had ceased and everyone stared at Alwa. She stood there with both hands pressed to her ears, crouched together as if in severe pain.
"Oh, dear!", Veri murmured sympathetically.
Dan wanted to hurry to his sister's help but Thorin had already put an arm around her and Kan held his brother back.
"Alwa! Everything is fine! Do you hear me?", the king whispered to her.
She trembled all over her body and did not answer. Thorin looked at Dan for help. Dan shook off Kan's hand and knelt down in front of Alwa.
"She should lie down. Somewhere where it's quiet", he told Thorin.
Thorin picked her up and carried her over to one of the rooms of the gate's guards. He felt the warmth of her quivering, tense body through the thin fabric of her dress, holding her involuntarily more firmly. In the guard's room he laid her gently down on one of the bunks there and Dan covered her with one of the rough blankets that were available to the guards. The four guards peeked over curiously until Thorin's angry look of steel drove them out into the hall.
Dan pulled Alwa's hands from her ears, began to hum a children's song and stroked his sister's cheek. When Alwa began to relax slowly, he shook his head unhappily and gave Thorin a worried look.
"Mahal! Perhaps we have protected her too much in all these years. She's just not used to something like that. Quarrel and dispute, fighting… That all bears her down", he murmured.
"Do not worry, Dan. Dáin and Thranduil only meet once in a hundred years in Erebor and apart from that only my dear sister and I had notable arguments here. And since she lives in Dale, this mountain is really peaceful normally", Thorin said dryly.
Dan was tempted to ask a question about his sister and the incident at the hunting festival but he did not dare to mention the things that lay so heavy on his heart. Alwa recovered quickly, sat up and looked around in astonishment.
"I'm hungry", she said.
Dan looked at the timepiece and said:
"It will still take some time until the banquet, dear."
"If the queen is hungry now, I will have something brought to her. What does she like to eat?", Thorin asked Dan.
"Black pudding", was his answer.
Thorin laughed.
"That's not quite, what I had expected!", he said, still laughing, while Alwa sat on the bunk and stared at a spot in the corner, where there was nothing to be seen actually.
"Believe me, sire. That will not be the last time she surprises you", Dan replied.
Thorin left the guard's room with a smile on his face and looked for a servant he could send to the kitchen. The quarrelling parties had scattered. Only Dwin stood there, waiting for him.
"How is she?", she asked shyly.
"Better. Go in to her, Dwin. I would like her to feel at home as soon as possible. And I would be grateful if you took care of her a little. She seems to like you", the king said thoughtfully.
Dwin nodded, bowed and entered the guard's room.
"Dwin, daughter of Rim and Faren. At your service", she introduces herself to Dan formally and bowed.
"Dwin", Alwa repeated deep in thought.
"Rim and Faren? Then you are from our angle?", Dan asked surprised.
"Yes, my family owns a workshop there. I originally grew up there", Dwin replied gladly and continued:
"The king asked me to look after Alwa and help her get settled down here."
"I am very glad to hear that, Dwin. My sincere thanks to you", Dan answered with a bow.
Alwa smiled and let her feet dangle from the bunk.
Dan wanted to know how she had come to the Erebor and how long she had been living here and Dwin began to tell. A servant came and brought a plate of beautifully presented sliced sausages and black pudding rolls of various kinds, apple clefts, pickled cucumbers and radishes. Alwa ate slowly and joyfully with her fingers and left the polished silver cutlery untouched while Dwin and Dan continued to talk.
"So you know the king and his sister well?", Dan asked her and Dwin felt, that a completely different question preyed on his mind.
"Actually I am more familiar with the princess. But since she is living in Dale I see her only now and then", Dwin replied hesitantly.
"Dwin, I need to know if my sister is safe here! I can not bear the thought that something might happen to her. Like on the evening of the hunting festival. If he should be violent against Alwa, how he was against his sister. Mahal! Please, tell me, how could that happen?", he finally spoke his mind.
"I have great respect for your family and I can very well understand your concern, so I will not lie to you. I know for some time what has happened. But I am not allowed to talk about it", Dwin said softly.
Dan sighed heavily.
"My king", Alwa said suddenly.
Dan and Dwin looked up. Thorin stood in the door frowning.
Dan jumped to his feet and bowed deeply.
"Forgive me, Highness. I had no right to pressure Dwin with this question. I know that you have my father's consent and I am obliged to him and to King Dáin", he muttered guiltily.
"It is all right. You have every right in the world to ask this question. But ask me. Dwin, leave us alone", the king said.