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Chapter 27
~X~
Jade spent the rest of the day in the company of Lord Baldar, with him telling her tale after tale of her mother…and a few of her father as well. For it turned out that the dwarf who had stolen Lila's heart had lived in the Grey Mountains all his life. He of course was not of noble birth…in fact, he had been the stable master, caring for the royal ponies. Baldar truly lamented the part he played in forcing his only daughter to leave her home and family to follow her heart, repeatedly begging Jade's forgiveness.
"His name was Jarl, and he and his kin had been loyal members of my kingdom for generations," he explained to her. "I had no idea that Lila had fallen in love with him…until it was too late. Oh, if only I hadn't been so blinded by politics, things might have turned out so differently."
"If you allow it, regret will eat away at you until it destroys all your happiness," Jade told him soothingly. "It's time you forgave yourself, as I already have, and I'm sure my mother did many, many years prior. It's time to look to the future and be happy that we have found each other at last."
By the time the moon began to rise in the sky, the two of them had nearly talked themselves hoarse, each desperate to hear and tell all they knew. Jade found herself quite attached to the older dwarrow and marveled at how quickly she came to accept him as family. For Baldar it was the same, though he had to admit that Jade looking so much like his own daughter made it easy to not only accept her…but love her as well. To him, it was as if Mahal had forgiven his folly at last and granted him a second chance. Still, in regard to Thorin's command, he did not do or say anything to influence her to return with him to the Grey Mountains. Determined to let it be her choice alone where she wished to live. He would not make the same mistake twice.
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Fili was pacing back and forth in the gathering room in the royal wing, running his fingers through his blond hair in worry.
"What if she leaves with him?" he asked for the fifth time in as many minutes.
"Then it would be by her choice and you would have to respect that," Thorin informed his nephew.
"Are you just saying that because you believe it might gain you the alliance with the Grey Mountains?" Fili questioned, leveling his uncle with a narrow glare. "I mean, Thrór was willing to enter you into a betrothal for the rights to the coal…would you then urge me to let her go for that same reason?"
"NO! Of course not!" Thorin growled. "And you know that!"
"He's right, Fili," Dis interrupted. "Neither of us would ask that of you. But if Jade does wish to leave, well…" Here she left her words hanging, letting Fili fill in the blanks.
Fili returned to his pacing, but a sudden gasp from Kili pulled him up short.
"OH MAHAL!" the younger prince said in panic, slapping his palm over his forehead. "I just thought of something!"
"And did it hurt that much, little brother?" Fili asked, having no idea what had got his naddith so flustered.
"No! But you might be the one cringing when I tell you what just occurred to me." When Fili didn't seem willing to engage in a guessing game, he pressed on. "I was thinking…what if Uncle Thorin had married Jade's mother, Lila? That would have made Jade our cousin!"
The room went silent at this, with everyone present contemplating the ramifications of such a thing. In the end, everyone either grimaced in disgust, shook their heads, or in Fili's case turned white as a sheet and gave a visible shudder.
"Well, then it's a very good thing that the courtship was called off," Dis stated firmly, effectively ending that line of discussion.
"But what am I to do if Jade calls off our courtship?" Fili moaned, now back to his original thought.
"Something, if you recall," Thorin pointed out, "was a sham in the first place, and she was always meant to turn down your third courting gift."
"But it's not a sham anymore!" Fili objected, quite strongly. "Or at least it isn't for me!"
"Well, now," Dis said with a satisfied grin, setting her teacup down and staring at her son. "So…this has progressed into something more, has it? Might this have all begun over the kiss you two shared?"
"YOU KISSED JADE?" Kili gasped, nearly jumping to his feet from where he had been sitting next to Tauriel. "When? Where? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you would have reacted just like that," Fili explained with a roll of his eyes. "And I didn't exactly kiss her…" he hedged, knowing that in fact it was she who had kissed him.
"No indeed…it was Jade who kissed Fili," Dis said with a tickled grin.
"Yikes…good thing she isn't your cousin, right brother?" Kili grinned, loving the way once again Fili shuddered at the thought.
"Wait!" the blond prince said, turning to look at his mother in confusion. "How do you know all this?" For he was certain his mother had not been anywhere near when the kiss took place. "Did…did Jade tell you about it?"
"Of course, she did. Though she refused to give up any of the juicy details," Dis huffed.
"AMAD!" Fili balked.
"DIS!" Thorin chimed in.
"Eeeewww!" Kili added.
"What? Just because I'm your mother does not mean I don't enjoy a bit of gossip now and then," she protested. She then looked over at Tauriel who was also grinning, giving the elleth a wink. "See…Tauriel understands."
"Well I don't, so let's please cease talking about this!" Fili insisted. He then stopped and turned to his mother once more. "No, wait…what did Jade say about the kiss? Did she like it? Does she want to do it again? Should I kiss her the next time…or should there even be a next time?" He moaned in utter frustration. "I have no idea what I'm doing here! Are all courtships this complicated?"
"Mine seemed to go rather smoothly," Kili said, not at all being helpful.
"Ugggg!" Fili fumed, stomping towards the door. "I need to go for a walk!"
"If you see Jade along the way, mind what you say!" Thorin warned. "If Baldar cannot attempt to influence her decision, neither can you. Understand?"
This only seemed to upset the blond prince more, and if the force in which he slammed the door was any indication, he would not be simmering down any time soon.
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Fili did indeed wander the halls of Erebor for a while, doing his best to gather his thoughts and try to salvage what he could of this seemingly doomed situation. He had to convince her to stay…with him! But how? Now that she had a family to look after her, she might choose them over a life with him, and then where would he be? His heart hurt just to think about the possibility of losing her.
"I need to make her understand just what she means to me," Fili grumbled out loud, hoping that hearing his own words would help him decide what to do. It had taken drastic means to get her to speak with him in the first place, so perhaps it would take such measures again? But other than sneaking into her room a second time, what could he do? Then it came to him, the perfect plan! "I'll craft her a third courting gift…one that will make my feelings more than clear. And if she does not accept me then, well, I can't say I didn't give it my best shot."
And without another word spoken, he headed off for the forges, hoping that his wounded shoulder would not slow him down in his attempt to implement his plan.
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"So, Jade…" Baldar began, at last willing to broach the subject he had been avoiding all evening. "Tell me about you and Fili. Do you love him? Do you want to marry the prince?"
"I…I'm not sure how to answer that," she confessed, looking down at her hands as they twisted in her lap nervously.
"Truthfully, of course," he urged. "I promise that I will in no way try to stop you if marrying him is your true wish. I came here to Erebor to broker a trade agreement…if I deemed the King of Erebor worthy of such a thing. And while I have yet to hear his official proposal, I find myself leaning towards saying yes. The young king seems to have a good head on his shoulders, and I would be foolish not to strike a bargain with him. Still, you are my top priority on this trip now, and I only want you to be happy."
"And…and what if I do want to be with Fili?" Jade asked in a mournful tone. "The trouble is…I have yet to discover if he wants to be with me!"
"From the words he spoke earlier, I got the definite impression that he did," Baldar chuckled, doing his best not to laugh outright at his granddaughter's apparent blindness to the fact.
"Or, he could have simply been saying that to continue the ruse we began," Jade moaned, leaning forward as she buried her head in her hands. "You see…Fili and I were caught in an awkward position, and to salvage our reputations, we entered into a fake courtship, with the intention of calling things off before it became too late."
"An awkward position?" Baldar questioned, his expression and tone instantly shifting to one of anger. "Did this dwarrow compromise you in any way? I swear if he did, I will slit him from stem to stern!"
"NO! It was nothing like that, it was all an innocent mistake, I swear!" Jade was quick to assure him. "Nothing happened between us…honest!"
"I will take you at your word…for now, but I want to hear all the details on this matter later," Baldar insisted, yet schooled his temper for now and gave Jade his attention once more. "So, you have feelings for him, yet because of this ruse, you are unsure if he cares for you the same way…is that it?"
"Oh, it's such a disastrous situation! One I have no idea what to do about," Jade nodded. "I tried to keep my feelings for him in check, assuming I would never be good enough for a prince, what with being a lass without a name or family."
"Yet, now that is no longer the case," Baldar pointed out. "You are my granddaughter, the Lady of the Grey Mountains, and as near to royalty as they come. Any lad, be he prince or pauper, would be privileged to have the gift of your heart."
"But is this true with Fili?" she questioned. "Just because we found out I'm not some orphan lass, that doesn't mean he will automatically fall in love with me."
"He would be a fool not to!" Baldar huffed. "But are you saying that you do indeed love him?"
Jade stared up at the dwarf who she had just found out was her grandfather, and though they knew so very little about each other, she felt a bond with him she couldn't explain…nor did she want to. Thus, throwing her arms around his neck she sobbed into his shoulder.
"I do! I do love him, so very desperately," she confessed. "And I truly feel I will die if he doesn't love me back."
"If I ever had any doubt that you are my daughter's child, it has been set to rest with your words," he told her with a sad smile. "For my Lila too felt deeply about…well, everything! You take after her in that regards. But please, do not speak of death after I just found you, my new little jewel. Every time I look at you, it's as if my Lila has returned to me."
"I wish I had known her," Jade sniffed, wiping her eyes.
"I wish that as well," Baldar agreed. "And I don't want you to fret one more moment over this situation with the prince. Everything will work itself out in the end, this I can promise you."
"How do you know?" Jade questioned, still looking despondent.
"Because I've lived a lot longer than you, and I know a thing or two about love," he informed her. "And besides, I'm your grandfather, and for that reason alone you must trust me." The last part he had said with a touch of humor in his tone, causing Jade to give a reluctant smile.
"If you say so," she giggled. "I mean, you've never steered me wrong so far."
"Exactly," Baldar grinned. "Now, as much as I would love to keep talking with you all night, I think it best we both got some rest. I have meetings with Thorin in the morning and I need to be at my best if I'm going to engage in shrewd negotiations with the lad. I might admire him, but I don't plan on just giving away the Grey Mountain's resources for nothing. Not since I now have a granddaughter to spoil and dote upon!"
"All I have ever wanted was to know I had a family," Jade argued. "I don't need gifts."
"You let me worry about that, understand?" he fussed. "And let an old dwarf have his fun, will you?"
"Yes, Grandfather," Jade smiled, flinging her arms around him once more. They exchanged a long, warm embrace before the two of them tearfully parted for the night, with promises of seeing each other the following day.
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Fili worked late into the night, the project he envisioned was taking more time than he expected, what with his injured arm. He realized if his mother or uncle knew that he was down in the forges, and not in bed resting, they would have thrown a livid fit…but he didn't care. He was running out of time, and if he wanted to make certain that Jade knew how he felt before Lord Baldar convinced her to return to the Grey Mountains, this needed to be finished!
Dunking the mithril object into the bucket of water, and waiting for it to cool down, he held it up for inspection. Almost done. Yet, he realized that his tired eyes would not do for the delicate inscribing he had planned, so to bed he knew he must go. Still, he knew he would be back down first thing in the morning. He was pleased with how it looked, having turned out almost exactly as he had envisioned in his mind. It would speak not only of his love, but his acceptance of her new family and position as well. And as the final courting gift, it would seal their union and let all know that she too wanted to be his. Or at least he hoped she would be his. And as he set his work aside, and shut the forge door behind him, he sent a silent prayer to Mahal that she would be…and soon.
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The next morning, Dis, Jade and Tauriel met for breakfast, the three females wanting to get better acquainted with each other. And while Dis and Jade were already fast friends, the two wished to include Tauriel as well. After all, Dis had a feeling that both lasses would soon be her daughters by marriage, and having everyone on good terms would make life much easier. She was happy that Jade's background with the elves would be a help in this matter, seeing as how Dis knew next to nothing about the children of the Eldar.
"Is there anything you like to eat specifically…or don't eat, Tauriel?" Dis questioned as she watched the red-haired elleth sip at her tea and nibble on a piece of buttered toast. "I do not wish to offend you by serving something you are opposed to. You…you do eat meat, don't you?"
"Oh, yes," Tauriel nodded, touched by the dam's concern. "Elves eat most every kind of food, but we do prefer more greens than most." Here she gave a quizzical look. "Is there any reason why Kili seemed to think elves believe that dwarves do not partake of meat? I thought it a very odd question for him to ask."
"That would be the fault of a book given to me by Lord Elrond, long ago," Jade laughed. "It said that elves thought the way to keep a dwarf from becoming aggressive was to deprive them of meat. Foolish, I know…but that's what it said."
"Foolish is right," Dis chuckled. "The fastest way to get a dwarf's dander up is to deny them their favorite food!"
"I will remember that," Tauriel laughed.
"Oh, I think you could feed Kili roots and twigs for the rest of his days and he would smile up at you with all the love in his heart and thank you profusely," Jade assured the red-head. "He is quite smitten, to be sure, and in his eyes, you could do no wrong."
"I will keep that in mind as well," Tauriel blushed. "Still, I would not want to deprive my husband-to-be of anything his heart desires."
"Then it's a good thing that his heart seems to desire you, my dear," Dis grinned. "Now…how about you try some of these delicious sausages. They are Kili's favorite."
And so the meal continued, the three of them laughing and talking as if they were old friends.
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"Lord Baldar," Thorin greeted the elder dwarf as he and Hakim entered his council chambers. "I hope you slept well."
"Ahhh, yes," he replied, a wistful smile touching his lips. "Though I mourn the loss of my daughter, now knowing for certain that she is gone from this world, I rejoice in the fact that I have gained a granddaughter. Her presence tempers my grief somewhat and will undoubtedly bring me a whole new set of joys."
"Jade has been a ray of sunshine for Erebor as well," Kili spoke up, not wanting Lord Baldar to think they didn't appreciate having her around as well.
"I have no doubt," Baldar nodded, taking a seat at the table to Thorin's right. "But, enough with the pleasantries. Should we get down to business…or are we waiting for your nephew, Fili, to join us?"
"No, he has asked to be excused this morning," Thorin revealed. "I fear his wound is bothering him and he has chosen to remain in his chambers and rest."
"Probably best," Baldar nodded. "One does not want to push themselves too hard and run the risk of not healing properly."
"I thank you for your understanding in this matter," Thorin nodded. "Though Prince Kili has offered to stand in for him, if you agree."
"Of course," the Grey Mountain dwarf conceded. "I have no objections to this."
And so, with all in agreement, the talks began, with Balin outlining the treaty, and Hakim looking over the contract with a critical eye. There were concessions made here, and amendments made there, but after hours of deliberation, they came to an agreement that seemed to please everyone. Everyone but Baldar it would seem.
"King Thorin, before I agree to sign this…I would like to ask one final addendum," he spoke up, causing all eyes to turn towards him.
"Oh…and what might that be?" Thorin asked, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy over the determined look on the older Lord's face.
"I would prefer if you and I spoke about this alone," he pressed, turning to Hakim and nodding his head in a sign that he wanted his councilor to leave as well.
"Lord Baldar," Balin began in protest, not at all liking the idea of leaving his king alone to deal with some unexpected demand.
"Balin," Thorin said, halting his friend's objections. "I see no harm in hearing him out. You and Kili may wait outside."
Both Kili and Balin gave the king one last look of concern, but did as they were told, following Hakim to the door and exiting without another word, shutting the door firmly behind them.
"Well…we are alone," Thorin pointed out, leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers together as he waited for the dwarf to speak. "What is it you further desire."
"I desire a marriage alliance to seal this deal," Lord Baldar stated without hesitation. "One between my granddaughter and your nephew, Prince Fili."
"I see," Thorin said slowly, doing his best not to show any reaction to this news in his face or tone. "And what has brought this on? For if I recall, just last night you said that you regretted interfering in your daughter's life, and yet here you are, dictating whom your granddaughter must wed. Might I ask what changed your mind?"
"My Jade, and her wishes," he said, not giving an inch. "I did not listen to what my Lila wanted, ignoring her desires to marry the dwarf she loved. I will not do that with Jade. We spoke last night, and while her upbringing will not allow her the courage to speak up on her behalf, I have no such impediment. I will not see this union fail to come about if there is something I can do, nor will I let my granddaughter's wishes be left to chance. Thus, if you will agree to the marriage of Jade any your nephew, I will indeed sign the contract, giving you exclusive rights to the coal of the Grey Mountains at the very generous rate agreed upon."
"That is indeed something to consider," Thorin nodded, his expression still showing no sign of his feelings on the matter. "And what makes you believe I would agree to such a thing?"
"If the original betrothal had come to pass, my Jade would have been a princess of Erebor anyway," Baldar reasoned. "Why not grant her the title she should have had in the first place. And perhaps I am not so far off in believing that your nephew will not object to this stipulation?"
"You are not," Thorin nodded in agreement. "Still…I would need to speak with him about this before saying yes or no. I swore long ago that I would not force my heirs into a political marriage. It must be his choice…just as it is hers."
"And if he does agree, do you see any issue with the proposal?" Baldar questioned, wanting to know what Thorin though of his granddaughter.
"No, none in the least," the king informed him with a smile. "I have found Jade to be an exemplary dwarrowdam, one with plenty of spirit, bravery, and wisdom. I would count it a privilege to have her join my family, and one day be the one to rule at Fili's side. She is a wonderful lass, as I'm certain you will come to find out as you too get to know her."
"I need no such time…I am already convinced of this fact," Baldar said, his words full of pride. "It is giving her up after just finding her that will take some time to get used to, however. Still, I am willing to sacrifice anything for the happiness of my daughter's child. Anything."
"Which is something I admire in you, Lord Baldar," Thorin smiled. "I will speak with Fili as soon as possible and let you know his decision."
"Thank you, King Thorin." He then rose and reached across the table, shaking hands with the dwarf whom he had once thought to become his son-in-law. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you."
"And you," Thorin agreed.
Well now...it looks like things are going their way for once! With Baldar and Thorin in agreement, this might be easier than they thought...or will it?
I think Baldar is willing to do anything to make Jade happy...no more standing in the way of love for him!
And yes, Tauriel...do NOT deny Kili a thick juicy steak now and then. He's a carnivore. ha ha.
Guest Reviews:
Nala: Ch. 24 = Yipppee for less stress! Yep, Jade's skill with the daggers had to be shown, I mean what's the use of knowing how to use them and not getting to showcase them? I am NOT good at throwing anything...well except a fit. ha ha. Yes, Kili and Tauriel ARE a power couple, so cute! Ch. 25 = Yes, those Durins are cursed...cursed with bad timing! ha ha. Of course the guard lived, it would have been sad if he didn't! That and I would have had to delay the story more in order to have his funeral too. ha ha. Ch. 26 = Yep, you were right. Jade is Lila's daughter. And as you just read, yes, Baldar knew who her dad was. As you also saw, he is NOT about to stand in Jade's way of love, in fact, he is doing all he can to further it. Thanks for your continued support.
Travelbug: Oh good, I'm happy you liked it. And of course Fili is feeling worried that his time and chances for Jade's heart and hand are in jeopardy. But he has a plan...whether it's a good plan, that is yet to be seen. ha ha. Thanks.
lydo99: Your ability to allow private responses is apparently turned off, so I am responding to you this way. I agree, it would be good drama if Jade left, but I can't tell you if she will or won't...but I think you won't have to wait long to find out. ha ha. Thanks for the kind review.
Aranel Mereneth: Yep, you guessed right. As for how long will it take Fili to get the nerve to speak...sooooooon!
Guest: I do like spunky characters. They might start off wishy washy at times, but given enough chapters they seem to grow a backbone. ha ha. I do try NOT to make them Marry Sues, but I think we all want our heroins to be accomplished and able to take care of themselves...and even save their men now and then. ha ha. Now, since I don't know which guest you are, or if I have heard from you before, I am going to call you Guest S - for Spunky. OK? This way, if you review again, use that name and I will know it's you!