Shayla felt as though she was moving in slow motion, and the words being spoken all around her seemed incomprehensible to her ears.
The reason for her mild delirium was because the Mother of the King was walking towards her, all power and strength, asking to meet Riley.
The same Riley who had almost bitten the head off anyone who tried to speak to her while she was here, including Shayla herself.
Shayla gulped as Dis met her and nodded to the younger, though taller girl, in expectation.
"Oh, okay. Yep." Shayla made out once more, leading Dis through into the corridor and slowly towards the bedroom, hoping to buy herself a little more time.
"Why does your friend not join my kin? There is a great spread of foods that has been prepared this night." Shayla didn't just hear the undertones of Dis' words, she seemed to feel them within her bones, rattling her to her core.
"I think… She might be sleeping… She was injured…" Shayla glanced back at Dis as she reached the door, her wide eyes meeting Dis' knowing ones.
Gulping once more, Shayla knocked and opened the door slowly. Unfortunately, Riley's snark had not faltered in the two days since Shayla had seen her.
"I already told Bofur I wasn't hungry, and if that's you again Bofur, I already told you my stash is fine, thank y- ". Riley was curled up in her blankets, staring at the door with eyes slit in annoyance. When she saw Shayla, her eyes widened and all the emotions of her guilty conscience washed across those bright blue eyes. When she saw Dis, however, her eyes widened with shock instead.
Dis walked several paces into the room and bowed slightly before Riley, setting her piercing gaze directly on Riley's own dumbstruck expression.
"I am Dis, Mother of Fili and Kili. It is a pleasure to meet another Human whom has travelled so far. Now, tell me child. Why are you not feasting with your hosts? There are platters and platters of food that has come from the richest fields." Riley balked, the aura of Dis almost too much for her.
Almost.
"I would rather stay by myself, thank you." Riley replied curtly, though nowhere near as forcefully as she had spoken to anyone else.
"Why?" Dis responded bluntly. Riley frowned and seemed to be lost for words.
"Why what?"
"Why," Dis drawled slightly, her gaze unnerving Riley's composure, "would you rather stay by yourself? To what avail?"
"Because I don't have to be around other people. Why else?"
"Why?" Again, Dis prodded Riley until she huffed and threw her arms across her chest in frustration.
"Because people are shit! Why should I be forced to be around people who make me feel fucking worse?" Dis mulled over her words and considered them carefully.
"You mean other Humans?" Several moments of silence.
"Well, yeah, I guess." Riley spat out.
"Well, my child. You should count your lucky stars, because most of your company are not Human, and those that are, are more Dwarvish in character. The Race of Men are liars and thieves; dishonest and untrustworthy. Dwarves are loyal, fiercely so. We protect our own; whether they be our kin, or those who come to be our kin." Dis' eyes never faltered and never left Riley's. She did not yell or grow angry, but the bluntness of her words left Riley utterly speechless.
Shayla had never seen anything like it.
Dis nodded at Riley, then at Shayla, and left the room to re-join the feasting company. Riley stared after her, emotions flitting across her eyes, disappearing as quickly as they arose. Something seemed to change in Riley's demeanour then, and after a little while she turned her guilty eyes to Shayla.
"Shayla, I… I am… You know how shit I am at this, but I am sorry... This isn't your fault…" Shayla's jaw almost fell agape, and while the apology was sincere, Shayla felt that Riley didn't completely believe it wasn't her fault for this situation. Taking in a deep breath, she knew what she could do.
"Do you want to make it up to me?" Riley's eyes narrowed slightly, her lips pursed as she nodded hesitantly, visibly untrusting of Shayla's request.
"Come and have dinner with us tonight. I won't make you any other night, just as long as you come and eat with us tonight," Shayla pleaded. Riley sat for a long time, her vision trained on the opposite wall, considering the proposal and more than likely listing every disadvantage to this request.
"Fine." Shayla broke out into a huge smile, bouncing towards Riley and giving her a tight hug through her cocooned position on the bed.
"But!" Riley continued, pushing Shayla softly away from her. "I'm only going to be out there for five minutes, no more! And only because I lied before and my food stash is completely dry." Riley rolled her eyes and unwillingly unwrapped herself from the blankets, showing the filthy and tattered pink pyjamas that she refused to remove.
The smile didn't leave Shayla's face the entire time, and Riley whispered her annoyances to the girl as they came close to rounding the door to meet the others.
"Shayla, stop smiling like that or I'll hit you." It was Shayla that rolled her eyes then, taking Riley's stiff hand and quickly giving it a squeeze.
Riley took a deep breath, swatted Shayla's hand away from hers, and followed the shorter girl into the large dining space. All eyes moved to them both; Shayla with her now small, shy smile, and Riley with a grimace.
Riley's eyes darted to the annoying Dwarf in the beanie that had become insistent on making sure she was receiving all the delicious foods that were apparently hidden away from anyone else but her. He was watching them both, smirking behind a pipe that dangled from his lips.
There was a prolonged period of silence, until Dis once more motioned for them to join her down the other end, in between Kili and another Dwarf that sat a little further down.
Riley followed Shayla, her nose turned up at everyone that sat at the huge dining table. She did recognise several faces that sat there, but pointedly ignored them. Riley huffed again as soon as she saw Shayla move to sit next to the scarred brunette Dwarf, his mouth set in a wide grin as she begun talking to him.
Disgusting, Riley thought with a grimace.
Carefully so as not to hit her still-healing leg, Riley sat herself in between Shayla and a small Dwarf, whom she noted she had not met yet. The only faces she recognised were the ones who had basically kidnapped them from the forest, as well as Amelia, Bilbo and Dis. Riley thought that she would have been more shocked at the beard that she sported, but she was more shocked by the words that she had spoken in the room.
Those sharp eyes seemed to cut straight through her exterior and to the core of her being; the words that she had said with so much conviction rung within Riley's mind.
The Race of Men are liars and thieves; dishonest and untrustworthy.
Well, she was damn right about that. Riley's mind briefly flittered back to Brax and she internally reprimanded herself.
No. No one will see you breaking. Not here.
Riley was pulled from the internal struggle with her demons and back to reality by a light tapping at her right forearm. Turning her head so fast it almost gave her whiplash, her guarded expression melted slightly when she considered the eyes of the Dwarf that she sat next to.
Usually a horrible comment would have already flown from her tongue as quickly as she had felt someone invade her personal space, but the Dwarf looked as though he was only a child, with eyes so full of an innocence she had never seen before.
His hair was cut like a bowl cut with cute little braids poking out underneath. He had a notebook clutched within one arm and a pencil in the other; Riley glanced at the scribbles on the visible page to see that they were less of scribbles, and more of incredible portraits.
Riley's attention focused back on the shy-smiling face that was waiting expectantly.
"Sorry. What?" Riley said eloquently, as he smiled softly and asked his question again.
"Ori, at your service. Is your leg still troubling you?"
"Oh. It's fine now, I suppose. I'm lucky I didn't lose my leg though." Riley sniffed delicately, knowing just how dramatic she sounded.
"I'm quite glad. Everyone was so worried, especially Miss Shayla." Ori begun to flip carefully through his notebook and Riley watched him with only a touch of curiosity, more concerned about the unsettled feeling that she was being watched.
"I sketched Miss Shayla one afternoon while you were still ill." Ori had come to a page in which Shayla was drawn with incredible detail. Riley could see within the sad, charcoal eyes and hunched shoulders that her friend must have gone through hell while she was sick.
That makes her and Shayla both, Riley thought idly.
Riley smiled a little at Ori and he nodded, ducking his head and turning the pages of his notebook to a blank page to continue drawing.
The smell of food became too much for Riley and she begun to pick away at the platters that were strewn before them, gravitating to what she had found to be her favourites; the wide array of delicious cheeses.
Once again, the feeling of someone watching her roused Riley from her contentment to ignore the conversations and laughter around her. Looking across the table, her glare landed on Bofur who was watching her with a lazy smile across his face.
Riley quirked an eyebrow pointedly. Bofur responded by sliding a plate across the table, one which had been piled with what looked to be the closest thing to sweets that Riley had seen in the past two weeks.
Without hesitation, Riley grabbed the plate and begun to sample the little pastries, the sweet taste on her tongue almost too much for her to conceal her happiness. She could hide her gratified smile behind her hand, but she couldn't hide the way her eyes lit up. The taste of the sweet food was nostalgic, taking her back to when she lived with Olive. Olive always had a sweet tooth.
It didn't take long after for Riley to pick up the bricks that had been knocked down over the short period of time she had been sitting at the table. Building that wall back up, she swiftly hid several handfuls of food within her torn pyjama pants and quietly removed herself from the table to make her way back to the room.
It was there that she curled herself amongst her blankets, finishing the sweets that Bofur had given her and wondering for the millionth time how they had come to find themselves in such a place.
Another short chapter, but I think that each chapter will be around 2,000 words unless something major happens. Thanks for the review pallysdeeks, and I hope everyone is having a great week! xx