So sorry to everyone for getting this out late. I try to get my chapters posted shortly after midnight because I like to wake up to a review or two, but this morning I was preparing for bed when I realized I'd forgotten today was Monday! So hopefully I'll get a review or two before bed today, lol!

As always, I give humongoid thanks to my Rockstar Reviewers. For chapter 51 they are: ThatOtherWriterGirl, readergirl4985, Robinbird79, yshxf, ValarenofGondor, readpink, gginsc, Guest 1, Guest 2, Guest 3, and Aashi. Thanks also to those of you reading along on the silent side.

gginsc - Thorin acted like there was no danger mostly because he thought Rejna and her bodyguard were overreacting. And I imagine he wanted to get to know Hagen a little better himself before casting judgment on the man, though he certainly had already gotten a negative impression of him. Now he knows the warnings about him were not without merit and he will be keeping his eyes peeled around that dwarf.

Guest 1 - I can imagine that it's not hard to get a couple of stories mixed up in your head if you're reading a bunch of them at the same time. No worries there. Also, thank you so very much for the compliments. As I've surely said before, I had already established in the first story of my series, The Journey of Hearts, that Thorin and the boys were dead, but I also knew I wanted to do something with them in it. However, I didn't want to do the same as other writers who had them just survive, and I couldn't anyway if I wanted to make it a part of the Forgotten Tales AU. So I had to figure out not only how to bring them back, but give them a purpose for coming back. There will be sequels - yes, more than one - because I've a whole bunch of stories planned involving many famous characters (and some of my own!). And yes, there will be some carryover into the LotR years. As for folks dying, that's a sad fact of life. Obviously a few of them will have to be sent on their way at some point.

Guest 2 - I cannot divulge Hagen's plans, that would ruin the story!

Guest 3 - Don't be sad about their being two olyphants killed. Besides the dwarves using everything they possibly could from the animals (including bones and internal organs), they were both adolescents. Not too old, not too young. Also, I do imagine it was a sizable herd, so losing two males won't hurt the group in the long run. I don't think I said how many they typically hunt a year, only that the hunt takes place every year. I don't imagine that they take more than two at a time, so as not to adversely affect the growth rate of the herd. Yep, the hunt went smoothly, but not without more drama from everyone's least favorite dwarf. The wedding is coming, I promise you.

Aashi - Yes, it was a mighty good thing Dwalin was there to knock Thorin down! Hagen is exactly that, and he will definitely get his comeuppance before the story is over! And I had the guildmaster say they should thank Yavanna because she is usually associated with plants and animals and the like. I nearly went with Oromë, the Vala most often associated with hunting, but I figure the dwarves don't know much about him as they prefer to focus their worship on their maker and his bride.

And now to Thorin having to go home and tell his lady that the bad guy tried to kill him...


52. Home Again


The rest of the trip passed uneventfully.

This was not to say there was no tension, for Thorin, Dwalin, and Kíli were fully aware of Lord Hagen's hateful glares. The dwarf was quick to hide his loathing behind a smile if any of the others glanced his way, but from behind them he would shoot a withering stare.

Thorin knew this was mostly because the elder dwarf had not achieved his goal of killing him, and because he appeared to have won their fellow hunters' favor—nearly every member of the hunting party had approached one, two, or three at a time to ask how he and the princess had met, and to rib him a little about not knowing what he was getting into. More than one of the dwarves had said Rejna was "a dam as fierce as an angry grizzly when crossed."

He found it amusing that none seemed to believe him when he would reply that he was certain he could handle her. If only they had known you, Dís, he found himself thinking more than once. Thorin would smile when he recalled his sister and her force-of-nature personality, thinking that she had prepared him without even knowing it for life with a spouse. Rejna's forcefulness, like Larkspur's, never failed to bring forth fond memories.

Kíli and Dwalin were both wary of Hagen's every move following the arrow incident—which is what he had chosen to call it, though his cousin claimed he was not taking the matter seriously enough. "Call it what it was, Thorin—an attempt on your life," the younger dwarrow had hissed one night on the trip back to Dwarrowvale.

He was no fool. Thorin knew Hagen had proved Rejna's fears were well-founded. He knew he would have to be more aware of his surroundings and everyone who was near him at all times. But he saw little point in drawing attention to his awareness of Hagen's duplicity when it could not be proven beyond a doubt in the eyes of the people that the dwarrow was a criminal.

The only fear he had was telling Rejna. He had no wish to add to her concern for him, but knew there was no way to avoid telling her—if he didn't do it himself, someone else surely would. Thorin just hoped that Lord Eirik had found something in the archives that could be of use to them, as he knew without a doubt he was going to need the distraction.

By the time the party of dwarves were before the east entrance of the capital once more, a crowd of their loved ones had gathered. Larkspur ran to Dwalin as soon as she saw him while Thorin looked around for his beloved princess and Kíli searched for his brother. The hobbit's embrace of her husband was fierce—this trip was the first time since they'd met that the two had been apart for longer than a night. When Dwalin had finished kissing her thoroughly, she took one of his hands and placed it over her belly.

"Do you feel that?" she asked.

He started to shake his head then paused, his eyes suddenly going wide. "Is…is that our wee babe?" he queried, his voice filled with awe.

Larkspur nodded as tears filled her eyes. "I felt the baby move for the first time yesterday, and I've felt it a few times since. I was so hoping the little one would move for you so you could feel yourself. There's life in here, Dwalin—the life we made together. Our promise. And you can see now when my blouse is off that my womb is growing, which means our child is growing, for I've gotten a bit rounder."

Dwalin grinned, then said, "I have no doubt that as our child grows you will only grow more beautiful, Kardûna."

"Sorry to interrupt your joyful reunion, but where's Fíli? And the wolves?" Kíli asked.

His cousin frowned as he looked around, then cast his gaze at Larkspur. "Yes, where is that boy? He is supposed to be looking after you."

"And though I regret pressing further upon you, have you any idea where Rejna might be?" Thorin put in. "For I much desire to speak with her."

Larkspur huffed out a breath. "First, Fíli has been looking after me, to the point of sleeping in one of the spare bedrooms at the house rather than in his own bed. But he's been working on fixing up Melindë's house for her as you know, and wanted to get it finished as she's due back in about a week. So I said if he did not wish a distraction, I'd visit with Sindri today—the wolves are with him."

She turned then to Thorin as she said, "And that is where Rejna is, Thorin—with Sindri. She went into labor last night. I was with them until a messenger came to the palace to inform us the hunters had returned. Sindri insisted I come out here to greet my husband—not that I needed too much prodding."

The hobbit grinned up at Dwalin, who put an arm around her shoulders and drew her close. He placed a kiss to her temple before saying, "I should hope not, Kardûna. And though I'm sure you'd like to return to your friend as she labors to birth her child, I am hoping that I might persuade you to go home with me, that we might celebrate the successful hunt."

Larkspur giggled and blushed as she put her arm about his waist. Dwalin took the reins of his pony in his free hand and guided her away.

Thorin watched them until they had rounded the side of the mountain, then he turned to Kíli. "Take our ponies to the stable and our packs to the apartment if you will. I desire to see Rejna straight away and tell her of what happened before she hears it from someone else."

"Don't forget the bracelet you carved her," Kíli said. "Might help soften the blow."

"Good point, though I still wish to add gemstones to it," he replied, turning to reach into one of his packs for the circle of ivory. When he had been presented with his piece of olyphant tusk, Thorin had been delighted that there was more than enough for the grip of the sword he was to make. After judging how much he would need for it, he'd cut a section from the wider end, and over the last four days had stayed up long into the night turning the cut piece into a gift for his One. There were two smooth sides into which he had carved Khuzdul runes, and equidistant between them were two circles where he had thought to place a couple of gemstones.

Rubies, I think, he mused as he turned and headed toward the palace. At the gate he nodded to the guards as he passed through, and walked up the steps with resolute purpose. He would present the facts, firmly remind her that he was well and that Dwalin's subsequent injury was minor, and then show her the bracelet. Hopefully before she had chance to tell him "I told you so."

Inside the palace he paused, not certain where he should go. A maid passed through the entry way and stopped on seeing him.

"May I help you, my Lord?"

Thorin looked to the Edain girl with a smile. "I am come to see Princess Rejna. I was told she was with Madam Sindri, but I do not know where to find them."

The girl smiled. "Captain Árni and his wife are so excited to meet their little one. I believe Madam Sindri elected to bear her child in her own suite rather than go to the Hall of Medicine in the mountain. I'll take you there."

"Thank you," he replied with a nod. The maid curtsied and turned down a hallway; he followed her as she turned into another and then led him up a short flight of stairs. After turning down yet another hall, they came at last to a set of doors on which the maid knocked.

The door was opened by Solveg, and in silence the maid curtsied again and left.

"Ah, Master Thorin, you have returned! I trust the hunt was successful?" said the King's Guard as he stepped aside, inviting him into a well-appointed sitting room. At the same time a muffled scream was heard, and he turned toward a closed door outside of which stood Solveg and Sindri's younger brother. Árni, who'd been sitting on a sofa next to Dag, jumped to his feet at the sound.

"Something's wrong, she's screaming!" he said, taking a step toward the door.

Jormun held up his hand. "Brother, you know you cannot go in there."

A chuckle sounded from across the room, and Thorin turned again to look upon an older dwarf whose hair was almost as white as the prematurely aged Balin's. He held in his hand a glass of what looked to be brandy or whiskey, and paused with it halfway to his lips.

"Son, I've already told you, the screaming is natural," he said. "It's just her way of dealing with the pain."

Another scream rang out. Árni pushed his hands into his hair and started pacing. "I hate this waiting. I hate the thought of my One in pain—why cannot birthing be easy on a female?"

"My sister once told me, when I asked much the same question, that birthing is often difficult so as to remind us of the struggle our Maker endured when he thought he would have to smite down his original creations," Thorin said. "It is a reminder to appreciate the gift we have been given—our very lives, and the lives of our children. Our females experience the physical pain and we males the emotional pain of Mahal's choice, before Sulladad declared he would grant the Seven Fathers sentience."

Árni turned to him, his eyes widening as if just realizing he was there. "Thorin—you're back!"

"Your sister sounds like a very wise lady, sir," said the older dwarf.

Thorin looked to him. "Indeed she was," he said with a nod.

"Where are my manners?" said Solveg, then gestured toward the white-haired dwarf. "May I introduce you to Jorveg, son of Bregg. My father. Adad, this fellow is Thorin, son of Targo."

"Here to serve you, sir," Thorin said with a bow of his head.

Jorveg stood and crossed the room. "At last I meet the dwarrow who has stolen the heart of our princess."

A chuckle escaped him. "I would apologize, Master Jorveg, but I am not in the least sorry," Thorin quipped with a smile.

Jorveg laughed. "I should hope not, for Rejna would be in quite a temper if you regretted Mahal's choice."

"I may have questioned it at one time, given my age, but I have come to understand that what matters most is that I have met my One at all."

"And so you will greatly appreciate all the time you have with her, and your children when they come," Jorveg observed. "Perhaps more than most dwarrow would."

Thorin swallowed. He was not even properly engaged to the princess, and already there was talk of their having children. Every time his becoming a father was mentioned by someone, or it crossed his mind, he felt a nervousness slithering down his spine. His getting married he was slowly becoming accustomed to, even with the added pressure of Hagen's motion to dismiss Rejna's inheritance.

Fatherhood he was still completely unprepared for.

Well, not entirely, he supposed. He had helped rear Fíli and Kíli to adulthood, after all. Thorin surmised it was the fact that he might within a year have a child of his own that had him feeling so stunned at the prospect.

At that moment there was another long, loud scream from behind the door. Árni rushed toward it, a look of anguish on his face, only to be stopped by Jormun. Sindri's scream was followed by the distinct, lusty wail of a newborn baby.

A huge smile appeared on Árni's face, and those of his brothers by law. Jorveg grinned hugely as well. "I am a grandfather!" he said, then downed the rest of his drink in one swallow.

"I'm an adad. I'm an adad!" cried Árni, who threw his arms around Jormun and embraced him tightly, then he stood back and they head-butted each other. Árni then proceeded to do the same with Solveg, Jorveg, Dag, and even Thorin.

"Congratulations, bahûnê," Thorin told him.

The door opened a few minutes later to reveal a white-haired dwarrow dam wearing a brilliant smile, whose eyes were shiny with unshed tears. "Agnât'dashat, there is someone who is eager to meet you."

Árni stepped past her and into the room, which Thorin assumed was his and Sindri's bedroom. The others followed and Thorin brought up the rear, coming to a stop in the doorway so as not to be too intrusive on this special family moment. Rejna saw him and grinned, wordlessly moving away from the far side of the bed where a clearly tired Sindri lay with a swaddled bundle in her arms. The princess came to stand beside him as Árni bent and kissed his wife's brow.

"How are you, my dear?" he asked her in Khuzdul.

"I am quite tired, to be honest. I did not imagine the labor would be this hard or take so long," she replied. "But it is worth it to see our child in the flesh."

She moved aside a bit of the white blanket the baby was wrapped in so her husband could see more of the face. "Say hello to your son, my love."

"Álfir, son of Árni, son of Arnór, I greet you in the name of our Maker," Árni said softly in Westron, before slipping back into Khuzdul to begin bestowing on the boy the traditional blessings a father gave to a son.

"We should go," Rejna whispered. "Give them all some time alone."

Thorin looked down at her. "Indeed, Princess," he replied softly.

Both of them offering nods to those standing near, they turned and quietly left the suite, Dag following closely on their heels. Out in the hall Thorin looked to the soldier and said, "I assume you are standing in for Árni as Rejna's bodyguard?"

Dag nodded. "Yes, my Lord. I swear to you I will give my life for hers," he said solemnly.

"But let us hope you never have to," Rejna quickly added.

The soldier inclined his head again, then they made their way toward the royal quarters. When they reached her suite, they found her maid embroidering in a corner chair; Rejna ordered her to deliver a message to the king that the hunters had returned and she wished to see him. Dag stood unobtrusively at the door once Telka had gone while Thorin and Rejna took a seat on the sofa.

"What happened?"

Thorin looked to her with one eyebrow raised. "Why do you assume something has?" he asked, hoping his voice sounded as casual to her as it did to him.

Rejna copied his lifted brow. "Thorin, I know you well enough to discern when you are tense. Unburden your conscience and tell me."

"You are too observant for your own good, I think," Thorin told her as he tapped her nose with a finger.

She smirked in return. "Being possessed of keen observational skills is a trait that will serve me well as queen. Now spill."

Stifling a sigh, Thorin told her everything—the conversation with Hagen the first night of the trip as well as the apparent attempt on his life that Dwalin had thwarted. Her expression shifted from horrified to insulted to fearful and ultimately outraged as he spoke, to the point that she shot to her feet and began pacing, muttering angrily under her breath. Then a scream suddenly escaped her and she pulled a vase off the mantle over the fireplace; she was about to throw it across the room when the king entered.

"Nâtha, that vase is three times as old as I am—I will tan your bottom if you break it," Ragin declared.

It was enough to make her pause and scowl at him. "You would not dare—I am too old for that nonsense."

Her father snorted. "Test me, girl, and see that I don't turn you over my knee like a naughty dwarfling."

Though her eyes narrowed, Rejna nonetheless complied with her father's order and returned the vase to the mantle. Thorin had to turn his eyes away from them for a moment, for an image of turning her over his own knee to spank her for an entirely different reason had come to his mind. He swallowed heavily and said a prayer of thanks that he was still seated, for surely his desire would have been noted.

"Adad, Hagen tried to kill him!" she shouted. "And that was after he suggested I marry Halvar and keep Thorin as my lover—he actually said I should commit amralbinakrâg!"

Ragin turned to Thorin. "Is this true?"

He nodded. "Though I cannot be fully certain of the former, the latter is most ridiculously true."

"Why do you say you cannot be certain?" the king pressed.

"Because honestly, my Lord, neither Dwalin nor I saw who actually fired the arrow that would indeed have killed me had my kinsman not shoved me out of harm's way," Thorin replied. "Considering the way the hunters were arrayed, it could have been fired by any one of them." Except for Kíli, he added silently. His nephew never missed.

"But Dwalin doesn't think so, you said it yourself!" Rejna cried.

She then crossed back over to him and sat beside him, taking his hand in hers. "Thorin please, I beg you—consent to having a guardian. I shall go mad with worry if you don't!"

"Under the circumstances, son, I'd say having a bodyguard is a good idea," Ragin said then as he moved at last to an adjacent armchair and dropped his bulk into it. "Besides, you will soon be a prince, at which time you'd be assigned one anyway. Best you get used to the idea now."

"As you wish, though it shall be a dwarf of my own choosing," Thorin conceded. "And with all due respect to the soldiers of Dwarrowvale's army, there is no dwarf I trust more with my life than my own kin. I shall speak to Dwalin, Fíli, and Kíli as soon as I am able."

He looked to Rejna then. "You are, of course, one of those I consider my kin, Amrâlimê. But I cannot have my bride as my guardian when she requires one herself."

Ragin cleared his throat. "There is also the matter of your having a manservant. As a prince of the realm, it is custom to have an attendant to aid you in dressing, bathing, and to perform menial tasks such as running small errands and the like. Him you can send to deliver messages so that your guard does not need to be dismissed."

Thorin's eyes widened a fraction. It had not even occurred to him that he would have a manservant as Rejna's husband, even though he knew that had he survived to be Erebor's king he'd have taken one on at some point. He knew also that like he'd been for Dáin, Dwalin would have been the head of his personal security and would have gone everywhere he did.

But Dwalin had a wife now. He would in about half a year's time, more or less, have a child to care for. Thorin felt it would be wrong to ask him to give up so much time with his family as would be required of his guardian. He would have considered Fíli but he had met his One also, and the same applied to him—he could not bring himself to ask his nephew to give up time with Melindë, not when their relationship was so new and the girl still so emotionally fragile.

Kíli was the only choice then, he mused. He hoped that the younger dwarrow would be willing, considering how much he was looking forward to joining the Hunter's Guild.

After clearing his throat, Thorin said at last, "I suppose now is as good a time as any to begin that selection process as well—though tomorrow I intend to begin working on your sword, Majesty, that it will soon be finished and Rejna and I may become officially betrothed."

Ragin smiled. "Speaking of that, we may have a way of thwarting Lord Hagen's master plan."

Thorin sat straighter. "Please, my Lord, do tell."

Rejna grinned. "Oh yes, I was going to tell you myself, but your… news…threw me off," she said. "It would seem that Hagen did not thoroughly read the subsets of the marriage law he hopes will get him what he desires."

"Indeed, Nâtha. While you were away on the hunt, Master Thorin, Lord Eirik's research found that if a female inheritor produces a male heir within the first year of marriage—regardless of her mate's lineage—the line is secured through him."

He felt his eyes widen again as he looked between his One and her father. "Truly regardless of her mate's bloodline?" he asked; they both nodded. "What you are saying then is that I ought hurry and finish the sword so Rejna and I may complete our bond?"

"And hope that I conceive quickly," Rejna added, "and hope that our first child is a son."

Thorin looked to her. "With as many sons as are conceived between a dwarrow couple, I doubt we will have much difficulty in that regard. I am the eldest of two sons, my sister bore two sons, and my grandfather was one of three sons."

"So, my boy… Finish the sword quickly, and pray to Mahal your firstborn is male. Otherwise we've a hell of a fight on our hands," Ragin said as he stood.

Thorin and Rejna stood as well and walked with him to the door; as he was stepping through it, they heard Telka quietly re-enter the room behind them. When the king had gone, Thorin glanced sideways at the maid, who had taken up her embroidery again, and whispered to Rejna, "I do not suppose there is a chance she will give us privacy?"

The princess grinned. "Oh, how I wish—but Telka takes her duties far too seriously. And while I would very much enjoy being naughty, Amrâlumê, I'd rather not give Hagen any means to deny me my right. Another of the subsets Lord Eirik found said that a female inheritor will be automatically dismissed from the line of succession if she conceives out of wedlock."

The conversation with Dwalin and Kíli that Hagen's preposterous proposal had influenced came to his mind then. Thorin leaned his head a fraction closer and lowered his voice even more. "Forgive my forwardness, Princess, but is there any sub-law which states the inheriting female must be a virgin? Must we have a witness to our union or inspection of the marriage bed after?"

She surprised him by chuckling. "Is that your way of asking if you'll be my first?"

"Partially, I admit, but also because we had those laws in the north and even I found them utterly ridiculous and insulting," Thorin replied. "I do hope they've been abolished since the retaking of Erebor. In exile they were not so strictly enforced, but with the kingdom rising again…" He shuddered when thinking of the embarrassment he knew he would have endured to have his sheets inspected the morning after his union, not to mention the humiliation his bride would have felt.

Rejna slipped her arms about his waist and looked up at him. "Thankfully no such law is written, though it has long been a custom of the royal house to have the sheets viewed by the council after a royal marriage. I shall have to find a blood substitute if I cannot convince Adad and the other lords to pass on that particular tradition, because the answer to your unasked question is no."

Thorin let out the breath he just realized he'd been holding. He also noted that though he felt mild disappointment he would not be her first, he was not entirely surprised that Rejna had experimented with sex. She was such a vibrant, outgoing female that it was only natural she'd have wanted to get the awkwardness of a first time out of the way.

She stood up on her toes as he had these thoughts and whispered in his ear, "How do you think I discovered Halvar doesn't like girls?"


Khuzdul:

amralruki (from chapter 51) – to spoon (lit. show affection in an openly sentimental manner)

amralbinakrâg – adultery