A/N: Here is the penultimate chapter, my darlings! In the next one I'm planning to tell about Thorin and Werna's family; Kili and Fili, and what is to happen with them; there will be a visit to Bilbo. If there's anything else you would like to see wrapped up, let me know in the reviews!
Love you all ardently,
Katya
A knock came to Werna's door, and she allowed the visitor in. It was Braga, daughter of Tod, the seamstress from the Iron Hills Werna had met the day before. The Dwarf was a merry ambitious lass - and exactly what Werna needed at the moment.
"There is a feast in two hours, Mistress Braga," Werna said, after the woman sat on the crate that served as a chair in Werna's room. "And my betrothal to the King will be announced at it. If you make me a worthy bride for the King of the Longbeards before that, you have the position of the Queen's tailor reserved for you."
The woman's large brown eyes lit up.
"My sister is a hairmaster. Shall I make the same promise to her?" she asked cheekily, and Werna laughed and nodded.
The woman jumped up to her feet. "No time to sit. I shall send my sister to you right away. She will arrange a bath and some balms and creams, and I will be back with a dress." She stopped shortly by the door and gave Werna a look over. "Fern green?"
Werna nodded again gleefully. "I have a fire opal and pink diamonds necklace, and my old diamond earrings."
"Excellent," the woman answered and disappeared, muttering something under her nose, and making vague wide gestures in the air with her hands, probably planning some alterations in her head.
Werna closed her eyes and took a long calming breath in.
By the time the King came to her room to escort her to the Great Hall, she was so nervous that Thea, her new chamber maid jested that the pins would fall out of her hairdo. Werna seemed to have lost all sense of humour by then and rushed to the mirror to make sure the pins were indeed in place, causing the two other Dwarven ladies to burst into laughter.
The hairdo was in order and quite perfect to Werna's taste. It was simpler than many women wore, three braides went around her head, and a few plaits and strands were left out, curls dancing around her neck. Thea had made good use of the grey hair hiding under the copper mass of Werna's hair - and now, the lowest braid at the back of her head looked as if finished with mithril.
The cut of the dress was traditional, but again, rather simple. The necklace lay in the low cleavage, framed by soft white Gondorian lace.
"I am not always so disgustingly thin," Werna muttered, and patted her waist. "Later, Mistress Braga, you will be given a chance to make proper bodices, once I recover."
"I think my lady looks very appropriate," Braga stepped closer and looked at the mirror as well. The women had brought it with them. It was darkened and cracked, probably found among the debris in the Mountain. Werna tenderly stroked the elaborate frame. She loved how the new life in Erebor was growing on the ruins of the old, without tossing it aside - like fresh branches of an oak showing their green leaves on an old stump. "And you can always keep this dress for your daughter, for her first revels."
Werna gave out a small surprised laugh. Everything seemed to be in such a disarray - her whole association with the King, their whole story - that she seemed to have not a single moment to sit and think what her new life was to be. And indeed, she thought now, there would a wedding, and then… children, if Mahal be generous. And then her cheeks flamed up, at the thought of what was to transpire between the two events, following the first and causing the second.
"I will be needing my whole hope chest, to think of it," Werna told to Braga and Thea. "My sister will send my dowry and my possessions once she returns to the Iron Hills, but I have to say I have been quite neglectful towards my hope chest. In the latest years most of my gold was spent on axes and swords." Thea who was folding some gauzy undergarments on the bed chuckled.
"Braga here could help you with both, my lady. She had already acquainted most of the newly arrived smiths."
"What can I say? I love me a pair of good axes." Braga shrugged with a grin.
"I love me a pair of good smiths," Thea chimed in; and all three of them burst into giggles.
That was when the knock to the door came, and Braga rushed to open in.
Werna did not know herself why she suddenly could not find courage to turn away from the mirror and face the King.
"Thea, daughter of Tod, my lord," Thea introduced herself. "I am Lady Werna's new chambermaid and hairmaster."
Braga introduce herself as well, the King mannerly greeted them both - and Werna still stood her back to him, everything shaking inside her.
The women said their hasty goodbyes and left. Werna thought she heard excited murmuring and more giggles from the passage.
"My heart?" the King called to her softly, and she drew a shuddered breath and slowly turned. Her face felt flushed, and her hands trembled.
"I do not know why I am so anxious," she muttered, her eyes lowered to the floor. "I feel I could face a band of Orcs with much more ease than being in this dress, and going down to the Hall, and..." She finally lifted her face and looked at him.
"Bunmel..." Beauty. He smiled to her with warmth, and she bit into her bottom lip. She could see the love and admiration in his eyes - and how his gaze lingered at the Gondorian lace - and the suffocating shyness ebbed. "I doubt a band of Orcs would appreciate you as much as I do."
She gave out a small laugh.
"I am only grateful that one has to go through the whole betrothal announcement once. We will be done quick with it, and then dance, right?" she asked, and he nodded and opened his hand inviting her to step closer.
She took his hand and let him pull her into embrace.
"I am the younger daughter, Thorin," she drew out, and traced the embroidery on his doublet with her finger. "I am the plainer sister. I would rather spar in the training yard than withstand everyone's attention."
She peeked and saw him frown a bit. Of course, these worries of hers were hard to understand and even harder to sympathize for him; but she believed - or at least hoped - he wanted to succour her discomfort. And she knew just the remedy for her agitation, which he would surely approve of.
She wrapped one arm around his neck and pressed into him flush.
"I will need you to aid me, my lord," she whispered, and her lips hovered over his. "I will need busses…" One corner of his lips curled up, and Werna decided to raise the stakes. Her other hand snaked around his waist. "A touch of a knee under the table, perhaps..." The King raised one eyebrow, his eyes growing darker. "Just remember I do not need your crown. I am here sheerly for your physique..."
"Vixen," he whispered, and she lunged ahead and kissed him.
A few minutes later, it was the clank of a pin on the floor that made her wince away from him.
"Oh, you have destroyed Thea's efforts!" she exclaimed and dashed to the mirror.
"You cannot blame me!" he answered with a laugh. "You have been hinting on inappropriate behaviour; basically claimed to marry me for my body; and your hands wandered! I am an innocent victim of seduction here!"
"That you are," she murmured, throwing him a playful glance over the shoulder. "Your body and the chance to train with Orcrist are the two reasons I am here."
She was rearranging her braids, when he asked quietly, "How much of this is a jest, Werna?"
She turned and saw him sitting on her bed, his posture tense. She quickly came up to him and climbed on the bed, straddling him. She had to pull at the skirts, and jerk them couple times, which reminded her why she'd always preferred trousers.
She cupped his face and brushed her thumbs to the corner of his lips.
"All of it is a jest, Thorin," she said softly. "I just have not recovered from my injuries, and everything makes me uneasy. And I have always had the luxury of staying in Dania's shadow. But Erebor is my home now, it is my Kingdom, and these are my people. I am ready for the crown." She tenderly kissed him and smiled. "But I do expect many hours of sparring with you, Thorin."
He hummed, and she wondered whether he had heard an innuendo in her words. She could not say he would be wrong if he did.
The feast did not end in one night as it had been intended; and it did not end in three as Werna had expected it to; it lasted a week, and by the end of it even Dain finally claimed that was quite enough.
Werna had never drunk so much, danced so much, or laughed so much in her life.
She had been so exhausted by the time the guests were leaving that she did not get a chance to say her goodbyes. She was to visit the Iron Hills in four moons, for the last preparations to her wedding that was to take place in six months. She wanted to see her Mother before taking her permanent residence in Erebor. So, when she woke up late in the morning and Braga told her that the Iron Hills army had gone, she felt it was quite alright - she would see her Uncle and her sister soon.
"The Gondorian left with them," Braga shouted to Werna from the other room, over the sound of pouring water. Werna had been temporarily lodging with Braga, her husband, and her sister in their Halls. The rooms she had been given previously were to be renovated and were to become her study and parlour.
Werna closed her eyes with a groan. So, the rumours had spread. Amrod, son of Mablung had indeed been mostly seen near her sister, but Werna thought any sort of insinuations about the two of them absurd. Firstly, he was of Men. Secondly, Dania's view of any sort of association with men were well-known to Werna - for Dania romance was a ridiculous fairy tale; while marriage was just another form of a financial deal.
Werna - happily enamoured and enjoying her liaison with the King immensely - almost wished the rumours to be true, to be honest. She felt a healthy love affair with a male could enrich many women's lives, not that it would be a prerequisite for happiness for some. Werna herself was quite looking forward to when the King and she did not have to stop themselves every time their caresses were getting too heated - which would happen every time, thrice a day sometimes. Following the traditions of their people regarding intimacy was becoming quite taxing, to be honest.
Werna yawned and stretched on her bed. The injuries echoed dully; but to think of it even through days and nights of excessive drinking, eating, and dancing she had improved more than through months in the infirmary.
Braga showed up from the next chamber.
"Thea is probably still sleeping," the woman said with a chuckle. "She had overindulged last night, on ale… and on a certain Dwarf." Werna snorted into her pillow.
"Has she made up her mind yet?"
"I thought she had narrowed her choices down to Bofur or Bombur last night, but just before dawn I saw her dancing with Prince Kili, and she had that smile of hers..." Braga shook her head.
"He is just a boy." Werna sat up and started unbraiding her night plait. "He will not keep her interest for long."
"Is it true about him and an Elf?" Braga asked. "It all sounds quite impossible, but wars were known to bring most different peoples together."
"I doubt anything would come out of this childish infatuation. He has not even seen eighty springs. You are right, it was just the war, and the excitement of travel and the fight. She had saved his life, as well."
"Men are funny creatures sometimes." Braga shook her head again. Werna laughed and hopped off the bed.
"Well, it is time to get up and face some of them. I am to meet Master Dwalin to discuss the Erebor guard today." Werna picked up her clothes from a bench and headed to the bath chambers.
"That one is not funny," Braga joked, and Werna giggled.
"Have I ever told you how many years ago he caught me sneaking into the armoury and trying out Thorin's axe? It was dark, and he grabbed me..." Werna laughed at the memories and at Braga's shocked face. "We were just children then, just before the dragon attacked. He could not see who I was, and he lunged instinctively, and I punched him in the jaw." Braga made an astonished noise. "We made peace, shook hands, and I left for the feast… To think of it it was the day I met Thorin…" Werna shook her head chasing away maudlin thoughts, and chuckled slightly embarrassed. "Funny to think of it now..."
By the door, she turned to the woman again.
"Oh, that reminds me, you said your brother wanted to enlist. Send him to the training grounds closer to midday." Braga nodded and thanked Werna.
It was time to start the first day of Werna's new life.
