31. Different Dams

Year 820 of the Second Age; Ost-in-Edhil:

Celebrimbor planned to travel to Khazad-dûm again this spring after feeling that it was high time for such a cultural exchange again, with the possible hope of making a trade agreement as well and his group of travellers intended to start the journey in seven days. This morning, however, a messenger raven had arrived, with a long letter bearing Narvi's handwriting, addressed to him.

Master Celebrimbor, you will have to forgive that this letter is less friendly talk and more of a rant in written form, but I need to let out some steam over a matter that is not annoying me alone, but several other friends of mine too.

I believe that you may be familiar with the Mannish term of "Old Maid"? A female well past the normal age of marriage, and growing less and less likely to ever attract a suitor because of various reasons? Well, the Dwarf that I am annoyed with, is such a Dam, I am afraid. In her youth, she was having a lot of marriage offers, and was famous for her beauty, I have heard from old Dwarves, yet she aimed to marry into the royal family, and could never accept that both our current King Vern and his twin brother Frerin ended up choosing a different Dam to call their beloved consort.

Oh dear. Celebrimbor could imagine how such a scenario would end with the passing of time; That the rejected Dwarrowdam were too proud to admit defeat, and not accepting the idea of marrying a husband below royal status. Perhaps she would, in her bitterness, even end up chasing away possible suitors, losing the chance of marriage altogether when her social reputation took a hit thanks to her personality and inability to let go of the past and what-ifs.

"With how rare Dwarrowdams are, I can imagine that she may be viewed as wasting away her life for something that is out of reach."

As he read further, Narvi revealed why this Dwarrowdam were not the most popular customer among the craft guilds; She would order dresses and jewelry that was pretty tasteless by normal standards, or better suited for the younger generation that Narvi, the future King Durin II and his two royal ladies belonged to. It was also not seen with kind eyes among the rest of society that she kept wasting away her inherited wealth, risking to enter poverty now in old age if she did not stop with those bad habits quickly.

"Oh, what a trouble indeed! Sounds like Men and Dwarves have something in common yet again without thinking of it; Wealthy fathers doting on their daughters and making them think that they are the center of the world…."

Celebrimbor hated such customers among the Men who would come to Ost-in-Edhil, spending a lot of money on items that may not be used many times, and how their pampered daughters clearly had no idea that wasting money on useless little things would become a path towards the risk of poverty at some point because they had never learned to balance their finances, which was something expected by married women if the husband was the breadwinner. It would also affect any possible offspring negatively, as an insignificant dowry made it harder for daughters to attract suitors even if they otherwise had a good social reputation and sons would worry about not being able to support a wife financially.

And he did not doubt for a moment that Narvi, as the daughter of a merchant, would also know how important money would be for getting your hands on food and other necessities of life.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

In fact, this very Dwarrowdam, named Hulda, was the latest talk in one of the workshops for the Sewing Guild where Ala worked. By being a Master seamstress in the same Guild of her birth clan the Blacklocks, when moving here to Khazad-dûm she had only needed to show her own ear cuffs with a sewing needle engraved and the written document with all the sigils of the current Guild Masters when she underwent the ceremony to become counted as Master.

"Really, she should start requesting her old dresses to be used in making new ones. Less expensive, less use of fabrics. That is what I was taught while learning the art of being a dancer."

Right now, Ala was finishing the final touches on a silk dress for formal events that princess consort Tora would wear after using her previous one for the past ten years. As Ala's deceased daughter Loki had been the soul of a Dwarrowdam born in a male body just like Tora, she was familiar with some of the more trickly details of making clothes fit.

"I agree. The sewing master in my heart cries whatever that Dam comes here and complaints about the dresses being too small or looks too plain to wear at court."

Even if not all Dwarves added weight as they aged, Tora kept herself in reasonable shape by dancing at least one hour per day as she always had done, even before her royal courtship and marriage. Dancing as a profession, both the more formal dance arts for the royal courts and folk dances for the rest of the population, was often an inherited family business, though it was not uncommon to teach apprentices as inheritors so the various dance arts did not die out along with the last family member who descended from the original performers.

"Really, just because I am unable to give birth to a child due to not being born with a womb, I still have the same right as every other Dam to find a life partner to share happiness with. I can still do charity work to make life better for those in need of help, and my background as a dancer is far from the lowest social status that a wife to a member to the Line of Durin has had in the past."

Indeed. With how rare Dwarrowdams was born and the importance of that the royal families did not die out without a side branch as back-up heirs, the records offered written proof of Dams born as commoners had married into the royal families, for those who doubted.

"How are the bodice feeling? Too tight or too loose?"

Tora tested to make a few movements with her upper body, like bending down to reach her shoes with her finger, to check.

"It fits perfectly now when the fabric has expanded. This is why it is so important to put on the new clothes and wear them for a little while before putting on the stays."

As someone who worked with making clothes, Ala knew a lot of tales where tight clothing could lead to fainting because the wearer could not breathe properly. It was even more true in the East and South, where the weather was warmer and you needed loose clothing of cotton or linen fabric covering your whole body from the unrelenting sun, blowing sand and dry air.

"I hope that the royal family shall not have to deal with Hulda again, my lady. It is high time that she stops fooling herself with the idea that Prince Frerin will grow tired of you or realize that he lost his chance of getting his own heirs by marrying you. She is in that age herself when the last chance for pregnancy is pretty much gone."

Being pregnant around their 200th year since birth was not recommended to even try for Dwarrowdams, such pregnancies held a lot of health risks for both mother and the unborn baby, and there was also the unspoken fear of that the offspring of a pregnancy so late in life could still be underage when the mother went to the Halls of the Forefathers.

"Could you pass on to your fellow garment-makers that my nieces-by-marriage and their sons intend to come here next week? That may cheer them up from whatever Hulda is demanding to be sewn for her."

Up in the royal apartments, the family of Durin had just suffered through a most unwelcome visit. While acting perfect in every manner, no one had noticed the hidden insults towards Tora that Hulda would mutter for herself when believing that no one would hear. Also, there had also been some narrow crossing over a thin line aimed towards Hinata too, since she was the shared lover of both Ragnhild and Durin, holding a very rare position as a royal concubine.

"I am having her name erased from the list of Dwarves allowed to be at the court from now on. She should have been kicked out from court gatherings a long time ago, we were too soft on her because we thought that she would fall for one of the nobles instead," Queen consort Skadi muttered under her breath, feeling very annoyed. Really, why had they not done so earlier, so the court ladies could have some peace at their social gatherings?

"Please do that, Lady Mother," Ragnhild said, addressing her mother-in-law formally since the court ladies was present, "that Dam has no right to insult either Tora or Hinata. Frerin have been happy married to Tora well past the first years of a century now, and neither Durin nor myself would allow Hinata to be removed from our lives."

Hinata tried to show that she did her best to not think of the veiled insults aimed towards herself, instead giving the two princes in the next generation a task that they would be happy to help with.

"Ingvar, Rurik, could you please help me choose cakes and buns to give to your father, grandfather and great-uncle? They are still sitting in that meeting and are probably hungry for something to put in their stomachs along with something to drink."

"Yes, amad."

There was generally no problem with both of them addressing her as amad, even if Ingvar was the son born from Ragnhild, Durin did try to encourage his two sons to think of Ragnhild and Hinata as a united image of a mother since the three parents did their best to not create some form of paternal favoritism, and that Rurik should not feel ashamed for being born to a concubine.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

While Narvi did not meet the royal ladies that often as she rarely was at court, she still had her own information contact in the form of some guards that often passed by her workshop on the way to their own work.

"Banned from court gatherings from now on? That...is going to displease Hulda as few other things in her life. My own amad have also heard that she threw her last savings on the distasteful dress she intended to wear for the summer festival."

Orvar, the guard who had worked the day shift today, drank some more from his canteen before he continued:

"Aye. With no money left, she will be unable to pay her servants their salary and I doubt that they will stay for long out of loyalty either. It is not like she is known for a gentle personality, exactly."

Mentally, Narvi began to imagine the most likely scenario to happen. Without money, Hulda would have to sell her infamous dresses, jewelry and other valuables to get her hands on food. Without servants, she would have to try to do all their tasks by herself, such as cleaning the home, cooking food and washing her own clothes. And even if there was someone who was willing to offer marriage to her, perhaps out of pity over how she had fallen from grace, said suitor would not be someone of the nobles or wealthy merchants who had wooed her before.

"I am only glad that my amad shall not need to do impossible designs for her again. The ability to mend your own clothing is not something to be ashamed of."

Thanking Orvar for the new information as he left, Narvi continued to work on the small boulder in front of her, a commission from Ragnhild as a secret gift to the coming birthday of Hinata. Maybe she would dare to try a design of beautiful jasmine flowers? Hinata was born in the Orocarni as well, but in the Stiffbeard Clan that lived in the northern part of that mountain range so she would have been surrounded by a different nature than Narvi while growing up.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Author note: Anyone who has read Pride and Prejudice will get why Celebrimbor dislikes mortals who have no sense of money. Historically, money paid a very big role in marriages and while marrying for love became more common around the late 18th century, love is not paying any bills or debts

I imagine that the Dwarven version of court dancers are more like those formal dances performed for the royal courts in Korea during the Joseon dynasty and the various Chinese Imperial dynasties

Narvi belongs to the Blacklocks Dwarven clan, which I headcanon as having a African appearance because they live in the most southern part of the Orocarni, while the Stiffbeards are intended to be Japanese, as Hinata's name means Sunflower in Japanese