Thorin goes for it in a rewritten chapter. Please review!
Chapter 37: A Pearl of Great Price
The morning after Balin pulled Thorin aside outside his council chambers and asked for a moment of his time. Thorin was surprised by his rather formal tone and waited while Balin tugged on his beard and ran his hands over his hair. With his white hair tufting in points, he looked like a hedgehog. Thorin stifled a grin.
"What are you doing?" but his doughty councilor said nothing. He paced back and forth in front, turning from time to time to wag a finger and open his mouth. After hesitating, he would shake his head and continue pacing. Thorin watched his odd behavior with raised eyebrows, and he crossed his arms and smirked at his mutterings.
"What is it, Balin?" he asked. "You've never had trouble speaking your mind before."
At that, Balin stopped and looked him dead in the eye.
"Why haven't you asked her yet?" he said. "You know she cares for you."
Thorin snorted and looked away. She cares for you. To his mind that sounded like the paltry excuse that women gave love-struck men when they were not interested, and he hugged himself in instinctive self-protection. The lines of his face tightened with frustration.
"Compassion is not enough to join with someone." His lips twisted, holding back emotions that he hid from others. Balin smiled at him with a cheerful twinkle in his eye.
"You think that's all she feels?" he asked. "Then why doesn't she kiss us the way she kisses you? The rest of us get a peck on the cheek, if that, eh? I've no doubt that she loves you, laddie."
"She loves everyone," Thorin said with his eyes closed. "but it is not the same as being in love with me."
Balin grimaced, exasperated that his king could not see what was so obvious to the rest of them. "You're making excuses now. Haven't you asked her?"
Thorin's jaw worked back and forth, and his piercing eyes fixed on the much shorter but wider dwarf.
"Would she even know what that means?" he said, "I tried to but, by Durin, if we don't get interrupted every time I try to spend time alone with her, and I'm not going to ask her in front of an audience."
"You can't do this any longer," Balin said. "She's kept her promise and you know it. As it, you've been inventing reasons to keep her here. Oh, no? Then why are you asking her to come up with designs for the gardens?"
Thorin opened his mouth to defend his actions, but Balin's raised brow told him that he would not get away with it. He had been waiting and hoping to see some sign of her desire to be his wife, and he was not willing to ask until he was sure of her response.
"I will soon," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "This is not your affair."
Balin shook his head and stood as tall as he could.
"I know that you're my king," he said, "but the lass has no father here and that being so, I'm acting as her father now, and a father trumps a king. You need to ask her and tonight."
Thorin matched Balin's posture and his scowl. He knew that Balin was right, but he was waiting for a sign that she was in love with him, something, anything. It was true that she favored him above all others, but as what? She said that he was her lover on several occasions, but he was sure that she meant that he loved her, so he was her love-er. Without a doubt, she had no idea how far that led, and he was not going to explain details to her. He remembered their conversation about having children, but he never did tell her how that was accomplished, and he had a sudden, bizzare thought.
Perhaps she thinks we would be planting children like seeds out in a garden, maybe one like Beorn's.
Balin's coughed cleared his mind.
"Or what?"
The two squared off with their fists clenched.
"Or I'll tell her the truth."
Later that afternoon, it was Thorin's turn to pace after he recognized that Balin was right. He walked back and forth in the outdoor rock gardens on the low hills of the mountain with his hands behind his back as the sun began to set. His face looked more fierce than usual for the worried frown upon it as he practiced what he would say to Grace.
"My heart, my love, you know how I feel. I ask you now if you feel the same … Ah! That sounds like a green youth. Grace, are your feelings compassion only or are you as much in love ... Mahal! How is this done?"
Muttering under his breath, he failed to see her standing in front of him. She wore a cream outfit of dwarvish design with a peasant blouse, laced waist and full skirt. The bell sleeves had lace ruffles falling to the wrists, and the square neckline was embroidered with gold thread. Her hair flowed over her her shoulders, and a moonstone necklace glowed around her neck.
She looks like a bride. Mahal, I want her to be mine.
"You wanted to see me, Thorin?" she asked. "Is all well?"
It may never be again after this day, and he motioned for her to sit down on a cushioned stone bench beside him.
"Are you happy here, Grace?" he asked while he tried to find what he wanted in her eyes. She was surprised by his tentative demeanor and rushed to reassure him.
"Yes, of course. Everyone has made me feel welcome, and I'm grateful that they didn't look on me differently after what had happened. You should be very proud of your people, Thorin."
"You've won their hearts," he said, "as I knew you would." He watched the sinking sun turn gold to red, gathered his courage, and turned to her again. "Grace, you have kept your promise and owe me nothing more."
"Oh, so it is done?" She glanced down at her hands in her lap, twisting them as he did his. "What happens now?" He looked out into the sky as he answered.
This is one of those moments when life stops and there is nothing else but now. How will I remember it when time moves on?
"That depends on what you want." He felt the throb of his heart against his tunic and wondered if she could see it pulse against the fabric.
"What if I want to stay here?" she asked. His breath made an eager sound, and he shifted to face her.
"Do you want to stay here?" he asked with hope in his voice and blue eyes gleaming.
"Yes," she said after a moment's hesitation. "I can still be of use here."
"Ah," he said, and the light in his eyes died. He turned away, dropped his head, and sighed. She tried to see his face, but his long hair kept it hidden.
"Thorin?" She plucked at his sleeve. "Did you want something of me, Thorin? You asked to see me."
He answered with a voice so quiet that she strained to hear him. "Is there no other reason why you might want to stay?"
She did not know how to answer. It was one thing to know what she felt and another to express it. Lacking experience in such a situation, she remembered Balin's words and kept quiet. He forced out his breath in a determined exhale and took her hands.
You have always known what I want. I've made it clear enough.
His face was somber, and he steeled himself for rejection. He knew that the rest of his life hinged on what she said, and he forced himself to finish his thought, not knowing how he would go on if she refused him.
"I want to join with you and love you as no one else can, so would you stay because I asked you to? Would you stay for me, to be my wife?"
She laughed and clapped her hands, delighted that he asked, but he misunderstood and took offense.
"Are you playing with me?" he asked with horror, but before he could turn away in despair, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him on his cheek.
"Don't toy with me, I beg you," he said with a helpless moan. He felt himself falling deeper when she kissed him on the corner of his mouth.
"Yes," she whispered into his ear. Stunned, he pushed her away and held her by her arms.
"Tell me what you want, Grace," he said. He faced her serious and unsmiling, seeking and demanding clear answers. "I need to know I'm not imagining this." Pulling away, she took one of his hands and kissed his knuckles. He gasped, and his hand tightened on hers. "Grace, my heart." He could not get out another word.
"I want you. I'm in love with you, Thorin Oakenshield, and my home is here with you."
Time suspended while they stared at each other, her face shining with love, and his rigid with shock.
She's staying here ... for me.
The thought trickled through his mind where it gained strength and flooded his senses. He picked her up in his arms and nearly devoured her with kisses, desperate to satisfy the ravenous hunger that had burned inside him since they first met. Throwing her arms around him, she returned his kisses with a fervor he had not felt before. She did love him. She was in love with him.
"Grace, my heart, you cannot understand what this means to me," he whispered, his words muffled by her hair. He captured her mouth again and, after savoring the sweetness of her lips, he broke away with a cry and buried his face in her neck.
"I can't believe this day has come!"
He breathed deep of her scent and gazed at her with wide-eyed joy. She nuzzled his nose and peppered his cheeks with kisses. Shaking his head, he chuckled and pushed his forehead against hers. He could not believe his good fortune.
"Please, my heart, I need you hear you say it again. Forgive me but I do."
With a nod, she cupped his face with her hands. Her eyes filled with tears at his almost childlike vulnerability. His eyes searched hers, both hopeful and the tiniest bit disbelieving. That would not do. Running her hands through his hair with infinite tenderness, she eased his head back, and he closed his eyes and lifted his chin, waiting for her caress.
"I'm in love with you, Thorin Oakenshield," she said with her hands on the sides of his face. "I'm in love with you, and you have won my heart forever."
At that, he threw back his head and laughed as he scooped her up and twirled her around in his arms. She pulled his head down to kiss him, and he was most happy to oblige. He marveled at the yearning that took him every time he touched her.
Each kiss is as the first. I'll never tire of them. I have loved you from the first moment I saw you, Grace. I did not know it at first, but it was not long before I knew that my heart was no longer my own.
Setting her back on the bench, he pulled out two gold beads inlaid with diamonds and attached them above the courting beads. He kissed each braid and dropped to his knees. Opening a tiny, silver box inlaid with diamonds, he lifted out a ring of a hummingbird landing on a flower. The delicate hummingbird was made of emeralds, amethysts, and diamonds with a ruby eye, and the flower was made of sapphires with emerald petals and stem.
"Grace, my heart, will you do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife?"
"I will, I promise," she said. He sat beside her and put the ring on her finger, taking care to turn the setting to its proper position.
"It is both of us," he said. "You are the hummingbird, and I am the flower. I cannot live without you."
Linking her hands in his, he fell silent. He needed her to know what it meant, what being a wife entailed, and he flushed and stumbled before getting the words out.
"My heart," he said, "do you understand what it means to be joined together as husband and wife?
She shook her head.
"I see," he said, his cheeks burning. "Perhaps you can seek advice from one of our womenfolk, but we would be together body and soul, and we would, we …."
Chewing on the tip of her finger, she watched his stumbling with puzzlement. He grew more incoherent, and she put her finger against his mouth.
"I trust you, Thorin," she said. "Whatever this means, I trust you. You do not need to say any more. I will ask what I need to know." She held out her hand and admired the ring, letting the light flash across the gems to see the play of colors.
"It's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," she said. "Who made it?"
The thick shrubs behind them rustled.
"We did," Balin said, and the dwarves stumbled out from behind large azalea bushes.
"Quit pushing," Dwalin said as the rest trooped out. Her eyes grew large.
Thorin whirled around. "How long have you all been here?"
"Long enough to see you put the ring on her finger," Balin said. "I'm so happy for you, Gracie. Thorin is a good dwarf. You won't find better, and he loves you true." He clapped Thorin on the shoulder. "And you too, laddie. You've done right by my girl."
Thorin rolled his eyes at their presence but nothing could dampen his mood for long, and he took Grace's hand in his own, squeezing it tight. The dwarves looked on in amazement at his transformation. He stood tall and proud but with a contented smile on his face and a new light in his eyes. While he would never be exuberant like Bofur, it was clear to them that he was happy, and they were both relieved and pleased for their comrade and king. Later that night, they surprised Thorin and Grace with a dinner in their honor.
"No doubt uncle's worked up an appetite since he was sweating it out all day," Fili said to Kili. They laughed and looked over at Thorin's smiling face.
"I've never seen him like this before," Ori said. "He looks less frightening."
"Ah yes, brother," Dori said. "Love will tame even the greatest of warriors, but mark my words, he'll be a terror to reckon with should anything ever happen to her. Now have you tried this fine cheese then?"
Kili bumped Fili, and they asked Grace what she knew about being married. They nudged each other and winked while they waited for her reply.
"Well," she said, "I think I know what happens between a husband and his wife when they're alone together."
Thorin grinned and asked her what she had heard. He, himself, was anticipating all manner of delightful pursuits. Taking a long, satisfied swig of ale, he leaned over to her while she whispered in his ear. With a sudden gurgle, he spewed his drink out across the table and looked at her aghast.
"Where in Durin's name did you hear that?"
The table fell silent.
"Pearl told me."
"And just who is Pearl?"
Grace looked with confusion at the curious faces around the table. There was no one else named Pearl that they knew of, and he did want her to seek advice after all.
"My pony, of course," she said. She had been working on understanding her, and on this occasion at least, the message came through loud and clear. No one moved. She straightened in her chair and set her face and mouth in grim lines.
"I am prepared."
Everyone turned to see Thorin with his mouth open in shock and erupted in laughter. Dori choked on the fine cheese he was eating while Bofur thumped Bombur on the back to dislodge a sausage in his throat. Ale came out of Nori's nose, and Gloin broke the back of his chair when he fell over. Thorin raked his hands through his hair.
"I think you've been misinformed."
She shook her head.
"Pearl was very specific."
The dinner ended shortly thereafter since all except Thorin and Grace were laughing too hard to eat anymore.