During the rest of the meal she entertained those sitting close to her with little party tricks, getting the candlesticks to levitate, changed the color of the flames and so on. "Can you make things disappear?" Bilbo asked.
"I haven't tried but my great-grandmother warned me about that. She said what has been done can't be undone; she somehow failed to clarify what would happen. Though I would never dare to try." She shook her head. In the corner of her eye she saw how Gandalf was looking very intense at her.
"Was she a sorceress too?" Someone asked.
"She was…' she trailed off, unsure of how to proceed that line of thought, her great-grandmother had been a powerful woman with a lot of knowledge about almost everything and anything but had never shown any powers of her own. Deidre picked up the sentence again; 'she was not like me, she was her own and I was too young when she passed on to remember if she ever showed any powers."
"And what about your parents?" Thorin asked, the king wanted to keep up his appearance but she could sense that he was just as eager to know more as the others were despite his un-fondness for her adoptive family. She smiled gently at him;
"My father can read minds and move things around, through him I've gotten the gene that makes it possible for me to communicate with animals, such as horses, birds and every other creature out there. My mother is a healer. She can actually feel what is wrong with a person the moment she touches him. We are all different and I think that has to do with the fact that we all think in different ways. But as I told Fili' she gave the man beside her a warm look which he replied; 'I am amazed that you are so comfortable regarding my interactions with animals. Where I'm from, that is unacceptable. If the wrong person had seen me use this gift out in the open, I could have been severely punished, thrown in jail or killed." The king gave her a long look with his piercing eyes.
"Lady Deidre, to be totally frank with you; the fact that you can communicate with animals isn't all that weird to us. Just ask Mr. Baggins. He is the one whom spoke to, and tricked Smaug. And we all spoke to the ravens upon the cliff when we waited for the foul beast that had taken our mountain for his own."
"But didn't both the dragon and the ravens speak our language?"
"That was very sharp of you, yes they do, but what I'm trying to say is that there are stranger things to be afraid of than some little girl speaking to the horses."
She was sure he had started out aiming of a compliment but failed completely. In the corner of her eye she saw Fili just bury his face in his palms and shake his head. How should she react to the poorly hidden insult about her being a little girl and only able to talk to house pets? He had seen some of what she could do but still she hadn't flaunted everything yet.

A hand fell on her shoulder and Dís voice was in her ear; "The room is getting darker again darling. Shake it off; he is just a bit drunk. There will come a time when you can really show him what you are capable of."
She shrugged, the other woman was right. There was a time and a place, so she quickly changed the subject; "So, my King Thorin; Fili told me you all play instruments?"
The king took a sip of his wine; "That we do."
"I have never heard dwarfish music before, what does it sound like?" She battered her eyelashes at the man and his strict face loosened up once again. He put his goblet down with a bang; "Lads, go get your instruments, the lady wants music!" Then he himself picked up a golden harp from behind his chair. There was some commotion when the rest of them followed. Fili and Kili pulled out small fiddles from underneath the table and down the table she saw Bofur give her a big smile and together with Bifur he picked up a clarinet. Then they all stood up and assembled by one of the big hearths and started playing a sad tune that almost broke her heart. Bilbo turned around in his seat and placed his feet up on an empty chair, lighting up a very long pipe, never taking his eyes of Thorin. Gandalf sat next to him and the odd couple looked very happy smoking their pipes and watching the dwarfs.

When they had finished the song, she applauded them; "That was beautiful! Truly!" All of them flashed big, happy grins looked at each other and then Bombur started banging on his drum and a much happier tune picked up, causing her to giggle. Then Fili put his fiddle down and went over to her; "May I have this dance Lady Deidre?"
"You can, but I am afraid that I don't know how to dance to this music." She bowed her head and took his outreached hand. He pulled her to her feet; "Don't worry, I'll show you."

The rest of the evening and almost 'til the break of dawn they danced, drank and at the end of it all, she was no longer a stranger amongst the dwarfs. She had found herself a home in this strange new world.

He had been a bit shocked the first time he had seen the young girl. She was a spot image of Camilla, his late wife. None of the dwarfs knew about the fact that he had previously been married to a human. He kept a close eye on her during the rest of the night, saw her dance with all of them but mostly with Fili and he smiled. She looked so happy. He knew that he needed to talk to her but that would have to wait. The tricks she had pulled off earlier was a clear sign of how powerful she really was. He smiled at her through the pipe smoke and she gave him a flashing smile back.