For WritersMonth 2021

Prompt 4: Play

Princess Freya finds a bit more excitement than she bargained for when exploring the old tunnels of Erebor.

Freya flattened herself against the stone, willing the guards not to see her. She breathed a sigh of relief as they turned into the other corridor. Now her way was clear, she sprinted down the hall, under the carved archway that led to the mines and into a little-used side tunnel. Her mother was away in Dale, and her father had a day full of meetings. She could play explorer for hours before anyone missed her. It was one of her favorite games, to picture herself as Kaylea Wolf, her father's Woman, the golden-haired warrior, setting off on an adventure. Wearing clothes borrowed from her brother, carrying her little pack of supplies, she headed deeper into the mountain.

She paused to put on Thorin's magic glasses, a gift from Kaylea's land. They were special spectacles, feather-light with wide, curved lenses. When you put them on everything was bright as day, even in the deepest shafts. Thorin guarded them closely, she knew she was not supposed to take them without permission, but she planned to have them back before the King noticed they were missing. She would only need them for a few hours.

Freya picked her way through the old tunnels. The rock was solid, but there was a lot of old equipment and debris in this part of the mines. She loved to examine the rusty machines and wonder what they were once used for. As the princess of Erebor she had learned a bit about the business of mining, but her tutors were always more interested in teaching her the latest dance steps. She had persuaded her father to take her on a tour, but that had been in the working mines. Techniques had changed since her great-grandfather's time.

She found a wide tunnel that led steadily downward, found herself imagining she was traveling through the great mines of Moria. She had once heard Kaylea describe a journey through those mines, it had sent shivers up her spine. To think of traveling under the Misty Mountains, with dangers on every side! She knew there were no orcs or goblins here, even in the deepest parts of the mines, but she could pretend. Freya came to a place where a shaft had been sunk right across the tunnel. It looked deep, but narrow. She was confident she could jump the gap. Freya backed up to get a running start and leaped across. She easily made the distance, but landed on a loose stone. The floor gave out from under her, she grabbed for anything to hold onto, felt herself falling.

Freya awoke, aware some time had passed. She had lost the magic glasses in the fall and all around her was pitch black. She felt panic rising in her chest, and tried to calm herself as Kaylea had taught her. Three short breaths, three long ones. She felt her body, bruised but nothing broken. She folded her legs and closed her eyes, concentrating. No one knew where she was, it might be days before any search party came this way. She had a miner's helmet in her bag, the light should last ten hours, but she would have to be careful only to use it if she heard searchers nearby. She had some apples and a bit of bread, enough to last a few days. Freya opened her eyes, now adjusted to the dark, she could just see the walls of the shaft stretching up to the tunnel, about thirty meters away. The walls were smooth and damp, a current of air caught her hair, she could hear dripping water. Moving carefully, Freya started to feel the stone around her, she found she had landed on a ledge in the shaft, maybe four meters square, past that was open space. Something moved under her hand and she jerked back, then realized it was her father's glasses. Gratefully, she put them on, looking around curiously. The shaft continued on past the ledge, she could not see the bottom. She had hoped to find a way to climb out, but there were no handholds in the stone. She started to feel panic again, but told herself that her father would come. Once he found she was missing, Thorin would tear Erebor apart to find her, of that she was certain.

Freya knew she could do nothing now but wait. She moved close to the wall, away from the open shaft and tried to make herself comfortable. She chided herself for not bringing more supplies, for not telling her handmaids what she was doing. Her mother would never let her hear the end of this. She rummaged in her bag, rechecking her supplies and realized she had her dice with her. Hoping it would pass the time, she brought them out and played a game with herself. That one where you shook them in a cup and then tried to guess what you had rolled. Her father had told her there was a pattern to it, but she had never been able to find one. She had been playing for awhile before she suddenly realized she was not alone, something was watching her. She took her hand off the cup, reaching for her knife as she looked up.

There was a little creature sitting at the edge of the ledge watching her. He wasn't a goblin, or an orc, in fact he didn't feel threatening at all. He was about half her size, dressed like a miner, with pointed ears and sharp features. His skin was the color of the stone.

"What is this game you are playing?" The strange creature asked. "Can you teach me?"

"Who are you?" Freya asked, curious despite her fears. "Where did you come from?"

"This is my home." He moved closer, Freya drew back. "We have lived here longer than your people."

"Why didn't the dragon eat you?" Freya asked, without thinking. She scolded herself, hoping she hadn't offended the stranger. He didn't seem dangerous, but she did not want to provoke him.

"Dragons don't bother with us," the creature chuckled. "And we don't bother them." He put his hand on the dice cup. "How do you play this game?"

Freya swallowed hard. "If I tell you, will you show me the way out?" Her hand tightened on her knife.

"Ah, a bargain!" He smiled, showing pointed teeth. "Very well. But I will have to take you, the way we travel you cannot follow."

"Maybe I should wait for my father."

"It will be days before he finds you down here, your highness."

Freya gasped. He knew who she was, but how? "You know who I am."

"Of course, everyone knows the King's daughter. The one so careful to follow the old ways." The little creature smiled again. "It has been a very long time since I learned a new game. Shall we play?"

Freya was afraid, but she did not feel that he meant her any harm. And he knew a path to the ledge. She nodded. "Yes, let's play."

For long hours they sat in the dark, the princess of Erebor and the strange grey-skinned creature, playing dice. They traded wins, using little bits of stone to place their bets. Freya had accumulated quite a little pile before she found herself becoming very sleepy.

"I'm sorry," she said, yawning. "I'm suddenly so very tired. I can't play anymore."

The creature stood up and bowed. "I think you know that I will not harm you if you sleep, princess. I have enjoyed our game very much."

"I had fun, too," Freya told him. "You may keep my dice. You can teach the game to your friends." Her eyes were so heavy. "Remember your promise to take me away from here."

The last thing Freya saw was the little creature giving her a look filled with compassion, a smile of his pointy face, she felt the touch of his hand on her arm. It was cold, like stone. Then she had the strangest dream. She was moving through the stone, she could feel it around her, the ores, the layers. It was flowing around her like water. And then all was dark and quiet.

When Freya woke, the first thing she felt was hard stone. She was no longer on the ledge, but in one of the mine tunnels, close to the active works. She could hear the hammers, the rumble of the ore carts. She barely had time to get to her feet before she heard shouts, iron-shod boots running toward her.

"Princess! Thank Mahal, you have been found!" The miner was staring at her wide-eyed, he moved to help her but then drew back, remembering he should not touch her. "Are you in need of a Healer, your highness?"

"No, thank you," Freya drew herself up. "But if you could show me the way out, I would be grateful."

"Of course, of course," the miner bowed. "At your service! The King will be very relieved to see you, we have all been searching high and low."

Freya felt embarrassed. "I'm sorry to have caused such a fuss. I was only gone a few hours."

"A few hours?" The miner turned to stare at her. "Your highness, you have been missing for three days!"

As they came closer to the palace, Freya screwed up her courage to face her parents. She knew the trouble she was in. And she really didn't have a good explanation for where she had been. Playing dice with a strange creature in an abandoned mine shaft! Her mother was going to tear her to shreds.

The miner turned her over to the palace guard. As they led the way to her father's office she regretted not asking the man's name, he was certainly due some kind of reward. Freya took a deep breath before opening the door, hoping she only had to face her father. Thorin was standing at the hearth, hands behind his back. When he heard the door open he turned, then rushed forward to fold his daughter into his arms.

"My girl, you will be the death of me!" He told her, hugging her close. "Where have you been? We have been searching everywhere!"

"You wouldn't believe it," Freya answered, pressing her head against his chest. Her father always smelled so good, she always felt so safe when he put his arms around her.

"Let me decide what to believe, daughter."

Slowly, Freya told him all that had happened. Thorin listened intently, asking many questions about the creature she had encountered. He nodded when she told him of her dream about traveling through the stone of the mountain.

"I didn't know there were any of those left here," the King smiled, at some old memory.

"Of what?"

"They have a lot of names. Kobolds, nisse. Men call them tommyknockers," Thorin said. "They're a kind of spirit, harmless most of the time, but they can be nasty if they are wronged."

"I would still be in that shaft, if not for him."

Thorin nodded. "Yes, you did very well!" He held out his hand. Freya stared at it for a moment before reaching into her tunic to hand him the glasses. "You are not to take these again, not ever. And you are not to be exploring without telling someone where you are going." He frowned at her. "Am I understood?"

Freya gulped. "Yes, father," she managed to answer in a small voice. "I am sorry I worried you." She curtsied low. "May I be excused now?"

"Yes," Thorin couldn't keep himself from pulling her into another hug. "Go get cleaned up before you see your mother."

Freya quickly hurried away to her apartments, already planning her next adventure.