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One who wants to belong...
Eilin felt the swing going up. Her stomach dropped and a big smile covered her lips. The swing fell back and her beautiful red locks floated in front of her face making her giggle. She lifted her small legs up and almost reached the white clouds that were spread like snowdrops on the blue sky. It's colour reminded her of eyes she loved so much, but she didn't remember who they belonged to. Just that this colour was making her youthful heart beat harder. Was it the colour of her dad's eyes or maybe her mom's? She looked at the small farm house that was always present in her dreams. The house she had identified as her home, the one that belonged to her mom and dad who were not separated, but living together. They were there with her all the time in her dreams. Her mom inside their pretty little cosy home making some honey cakes for afternoon tea and her dad was somewhere in the forest hunting for dinner. She somehow knew that she had taken her mother's sweet and timid personality and her father's red hair and green eyes, even though she had never seen them. Even in dreams she couldn't see them, they were always two shadows standing at the door looking out at her. Her father shorter than her mom, but much wider. A strong fierce dwarf who was there to protect his family against all the enemies that were out to destroy it...and her mom...oh her mom was a tavern lady who fell in love with that dwarf. Was it just a dream that he overlooked her mom's low descent and married her? Was it just in her mind that he honoured their intimacy and remained to raise Eilin with this beautiful woman? A woman who always wanted to belong and that is why she named their daughter Eilin.
One who wants to belong...
Eilin giggled and kicked the ground fiercely in order to send her swing flying up to the clouds, needing to touch them. She knew that soon enough her parents would come to the door to call her in. She counted her swinging, one, two, three, four, waiting to see the shadows appear at the empty doorway. She didn't have to wait long, for indeed by the count of eleven she saw one shadow appearing on the doorway instead of two. She placed her small naked feet down and broke the force of her swing, raising a lot of dirt and leafs. Her eyes remained stuck on the door expecting to see the second shadow, but only one remained. What made her gasp though was the fact that it didn't remain a shadow as usual, but it was replaced by the most imposing man her young eyes had ever seen. She stopped her swing and cleared her long hair away from her face as she gazed at his azure eyes that resembled the sky so much and caused her heart to swell. The handsome man at the door crossed his arms and graced her with the most blinding smile she had ever witnessed and her soul got uplifted straight to the clouds without the help of the swing.
She run up to him. This couldn't be her daddy, he didn't have red hair, but instead they were black with silver tendrils. He didn't have green eyes, but he had seemingly borrowed the sky's gaze in order to steal her breath away. He was far taller than her father, possibly a trace taller than her mother, but a little on the short side for a man. This was a dwarf like her father, but in her eyes he looked like a giant. Who was he? When she reached him her heart was already thudding in her ears. She looked up to him and nibbled her bottom lip. "Where is my daddy mister?" she asked.
Another bright smile was painted on his lips and he came down to one knee in front of her. "He left little one."
She frowned. "My mommy?"
"She left too..." the handsome man replied quietly.
Her eyes teared up. "What am I going to do alone now?"
"You're not alone...I am here." He said and his huge palm landed on her small shoulder.
She felt a timid tremble of hope in her soul. "You are not a shadow..."
He shook his head. "No more shadows for you."
"Hey, did you know my mom?" Eilin asked with a reserved smile.
He shook his head.
"My dad perhaps!?" her eyes opened up wide.
The man hesitated and that gave her a glimmer of hope.
"You know my dad!?" she exclaimed in barely controlled enthusiasm.
The man's eyes looked at her kindly. "I don't know your father, yet."
Her face brightened up. "Yet?..." she was grasping at straws for anyone that could have known anything about her parents.
The man inclined his head thoughtfully. "I can try to find out for you if you wish me."
"Can you?!" she clapped her hands.
"I'll try," he smiled at her.
She felt happiness erupting in her heart and suddenly she didn't want to leave this man. "Can I stay with you now?" she asked humbly, half expecting him to deny.
He nodded. "Of course."
"But what is your name mister? I cannot stay with someone I don't know." She crossed her arms with a pout on her lips.
He gave her another sweet smile. "My name is promise."
"Hey that's not a name..." she pointed a finger at him.
"Isn't it?..." he raised his brows.
Eilin scrounged her lips suspiciously. "Why did you come to my home?"
"I was always here little one..."
"Why didn't I ever see you then?" she frowned.
"I was hiding behind the shadows..." he rejoined gently.
She opened her mouth as if that was enough to explain everything. "Oh!"
He smiled gently and looked straight into her eyes.
"So are we staying here?" she clasped her hands in front of her apron suddenly excited to follow this impressive man wherever he was ready to lead her.
"You will join me and my children on a journey. Do you want to?" he cupped her cheek in a loving fatherly manner.
"You have children!?" her eyes grew wide.
"Yes..." he beamed.
"How many!?" she clapped her hands.
"Two for now. A son and a daughter..." he rejoined calmly.
"Can I be their sister then!?" she cried and began jumping around happily.
He stood up then and almost hid the sun behind his tall frame. "You are the most important part of our family, my heart, but not their sister..."
Her heart palpitated when she saw two equally beautiful children coming out from behind this man. They took hold of his hands. They were both dark haired, but whilst the boy had azure eyes, the little girl had a beautiful warm green colour. When they looked at Eilin they smiled brightly. The little boy was strong and rather tall with a clever face that looked far too wise for his years. The little girl was much smaller and almost too thin, but her face was so pretty it looked almost unreal and her long black hair reached just below her waist in thick curls.
"Hi! Can I have some honey cakes please mom?" the little girl asked her.
Eilin cupped her cheeks and looked behind her almost expecting to see their mom standing there. "I am not your mom. Ask your father." She said feeling confused.
Then the boy spoke. "She's going to make us some Rhianaye, when they finish their discussion. How many times have I told you that you must learn not to interrupt!"
"Now you are interrupting you little know know it all!" the girl snapped at her brother.
"Well I do know more than you and you are in my care when dad and mom are not here." The boy rebuked calmly.
"I am old enough to care for myself!" Rhianaye's bottom lip pouted and her eyes filled with tears.
"No you are not. Dad said I am to take care of you in his absence. So I am responsible for you." -The boy replied with a raised brow- "Now calm down. This is inappropriate."
Rhianaye released a wail and grabbed her father's waist. "Dad tell him to stooooop, he's acting like a wiseass again!"
The handsome man picked her up and she wrapped her small legs around his waist and buried her face on his chest. Her small hand grasped the lapel of his tunic almost desperately. "Careful with your language." -He warned- "Your brother is older and you must listen to him. You must learn how to be patient and polite when I am having a discussion."
The beautiful young boy puffed up proudly and searched his father's eyes for the look of approval, which he got almost instantly. He reached up and clasped his father's large hand. "Told you..." he teased his little sister.
Rhianaye rubbed her face on her father's tunic and tried to avoid her brother's critical eye. She remained silent.
The man pulled the boy by the hand as a warning. "Now enough son. She has understood her mistake. As you command her to learn courtesy, so you must command yourself to do the same. Especially upon your little sister. You are setting an example for her."
The boy averted his eyes. "I am sorry father."
Eilin was nibbling her bottom lip and watching from one to the other truly bewitched. She wanted so much to belong to this family, but could that man handle three children? He had two already that seemed to be rather feisty. She approached the little girl and caressed her exposed shin until she looked down from her father's chest.
"Rhianaye. That's a beautiful name." She tried to make the little girl smile with that compliment.
The little girl sniffled and wiped her nose clean with her small hand. "Thank you."
"So what does it mean?" Eilin smiled brightly.
"Rebirth," it was the young boy who answered and Eilin turned to look at him. Her eyes were captured by his and she witnessed great sagacity behind their amazing colour. This man truly had his hands full with this young boy.
"Rebirth..." Eilin muttered.
The young boy squeezed his father's hand and looked searchingly once more for his silent approval. The man gave a gentle tilt of his head and smiled at the boy. "Rebirth for all...for them, for me, but also for their mother..." he said and after giving a soft kiss on Rhianaye's forehead, he smiled down at Eilin.
Eilin looked behind expecting to see their mom standing there again, but she saw no one. She looked around to the beautiful family and opened her mouth to ask them why the mother was not there with them...
... but suddenly a deep groan of surprise made her eyes fly open. She found herself buried in the arms of the gorgeous man she had seen in her dream, but that was as far as she remembered from the rest of it. Thorin's handsome face, his beloved eyes and a name.
" Rhianaye", she whispered.
He was looking shocked down at her stomach that was pressed against abdomen as they were embraced tightly in each other's arms during their sleep. On the sound of her voice he looked up. "What?" he asked confused.
"Rhianaye" -she repeated in a dream like state- "If we have a daughter I want her to be named Rhianaye."
He shook his head. "Alright men gehyith." Then his eyes fell down to her stomach again. "Did you feel that?"
"What?" she frowned and rubbed her face trying to wake up from that weird dream. How did she know that they would have a daughter anyway? Where did that name come from?
"It woke me up..." he said and looked apprehensively down at her bump that was pressing against the tight muscles of his stomach.
"What did?" she asked and stretched on him. She placed a soft kiss under his chin and snuggled against him. That is when she felt the soft bubbling sensation on the right side of her bump. Something that she had been feeling for several days now, but never mentioned it to him.
He felt it too for his eyes grew wide open and he pulled back away from her in shock. "This!" he cried and looked down.
She giggled and cupped his bearded cheek lovingly. "Oh Thorin..." she cooed.
He looked up at her confused with slightly parted lips. "What?"
"This is the baby..." she whispered.
His eyes grew even wider and he pulled further back.
"Don't look so shocked!" she chuckled and tried to bring him back into her arms, but he resisted.
"That's the Little Gem?" he spoke in a hushed voice.
She nodded and cuddled against the plush pillows as her fingers drew soft paths on his cheek and temple until they found the scar on his brow. One of the reminders that he had come back from the dead several months ago.
"How can it move like that?" he asked truly bewildered.
She bit her lower lip. "We are lucky it does move like that. That's normal. Your sister told me that I began feeling the baby exactly when I was supposed to." She reassured him.
"But I felt it too!" he frowned looking so much like a confused dwarfling and so far away from the stern King of the North, that Eilin's heart melted.
"Good, I suppose she wanted to say hello to her father..." she smiled sweetly at him and her forefinger traced his forehead scar until it found his nose and sailed down to his mouth.
He shook his head. "I don't believe this..."
When her finger traced his lip, she came up to peck him softly, delighting on how the roughness of his beard created such a sensual contrast to the softness of his mouth. "My love, you raised so many children, yet you have never felt your own flesh and blood moving inside your woman..." she whispered upon his half open mouth.
An exhalation of pain left him and he captured her lips firmly, "No...Mahal help me...I never thought I'd be blessed to feel something like this..."
She reached up and took his hand that was curled around her waist and brought it down to her bump. "Touch me..." she cooed him.
His large palm covered her belly and his tongue rolled into her mouth with an unhindered passion that instantly exploded a river of heat between her legs. She responded with the same passion until he left her mouth and allowed his face to get buried into the croon of her neck. He continued his sensual exploration of her skin with his fingers twisting around the only jewel she wore on her naked body, the diamond dove he had given her, until he felt the same bubbling sensation coming from her bump again. It brushed against the roughness of his palm. He inhaled sharply and drew back. She threw her head back and laughed heartily. "I won't ever get used to the idea of you looking so surprised!"
He swallowed heavily and pulled away from her respectfully, throwing the quilt around his midsection. "I won't ever get used to the idea that my erection was pressing our child above your stomach all this time."
She bit her lower lip and tunnelled her fingers through his thick mane. "I don't think our child would find this offensive. It was created by our intimacy, my love." She tried to reassure him.
He shook his head and kept his distance. "That doesn't mean I have to poke his head with my need right now!" He looked abhorred at the idea.
She raised a finger at him. "You said he!"
He reciprocated by raising his brow. "And you said she..."
She huffed. "Might be a girl!"
He pursed his lips. "Might be a boy!"
She exhaled in frustration. "Fine, might be either! Now can you come closer? I don't want to lose the warmth of your body."
"No, no way..." he looked truly uncomfortable.
Her lips twisted and her hands massaged his shoulders gently. "I am not asking you to make love to me..."
He looked up truly upset. "I'd never disrespect your pregnant body with my filthy ways..."
She groaned in frustration and rolled her eyes. "Your filthy ways turned my body pregnant!"
"Yes, but..."
She spoke over him. "Calm down we won't do anything to bother our Little Gem until Loa allows us, alright? Just so you'd know though when I enter the month I am suppose to give birth your sister told me that you can love me freely. It will help me deliver..."
He frowned. "It will?"
She nodded and cupped his cheeks adoringly. "Yes!"
He exhaled in relief. "I'll try..."
She raised her brows. "You will try to make love to me? Why do I find that disturbing?"
He cringed. "I cannot get used to the idea of bothering our child in this manner...it's making me upset."
She smiled sweetly at him. "Such a protective dad..."
He closed his eyes and huffed.
"Nevertheless your love will help our child come out..." she caressed his temple and pushed back several silver locks.
He nodded. "Alright..."
She pulled him down and her lips skimmed between his bearded chin and his bottom lip. "Besides, I'll have so much sexual tension gathered until then that I will suck you dry..."
His eyes flew open at that and his hand grabbed a handful of her firm hip and squeezed appreciatively. "I like the sound of that."
She swallowed heavily and took in his handsome face for a few moments before speaking again. "For now you can do something else that I know will make you feel better."
"Take care what you ask me!" He warned with a stern face.
She pushed him down gently. "Lay down to my stomach."
"What?" he whispered, but allowed her to lead his head to her bump.
"Do you think our child will care if you lay your head near it?" she said with a soft reassuring voice.
He laid on her gently and shook his head. "It won't, will it?" his voice was totally uncertain.
"I don't know which side of you I love the most...the almighty King of the North who belongs amongst the legends of Middle Earth, or this uncertain dwarfling that is laying upon my stomach?" she expressed her deepest thoughts.
His arms came around her buttocks and he placed a tender kiss on her hip bone. Then he relaxed upon her bump gently. "Why not both?"
She nodded and caressed his head with one hand and the stiff muscles of his back with the other. "I love you Thorin..."
He closed his eyes, then his sonorous voice reverberated into the walls of their rooms as he began singing to their child and suddenly tears she didn't know she had been holding began running down her cheeks. Tears of love, of promise, of hope, of release...
-My name is promise-
That stray sentence came to her mind and her fingers twisted through his hair as the richness of his melodic voice filled up the empty caverns of her soul in such totality that she felt them ready to erupt with bliss.
"Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon."
She tried hard not to alert Thorin of her emotional outburst as he continued to sing to their baby. Her eyes turned to the maroon curtains that were partly drawn. She looked at the bright rays of the sun that broke though the clouds and she shuddered. He felt it and pressed his hand on her waist keeping her to him as he continued his song.
"Roads go ever ever on
Under cloud and under star,
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green
And trees and hills they long have known."*
She leaned above him until her body had enfolded his and she kissed between his shoulder blades exactly under the crown of Durin. "That was beautiful. Our child will be musically inclined even before birth if you continue to sing to it with your mellisonant voice."
"Hmmmm..." his humming rumbled through her stomach and ended up in her lower spine as a ball of heat that oozed through to her core slowly. She smiled at the usual reaction of her body towards him.
It took her several moments to speak again. "So...have you my love?"
His fingers drew paths of tenderness on her waist and his lips were kissing her bump with such gentle protectiveness that her heart melted. "Have I what?" he rejoined quietly.
"Your eyes have seen fire and sword and horror..." she trailed off.
He kissed her stomach and closed his eyes. "They have."
"Have they finally looked upon meadows green and trees and hills they long have known?" she kissed his burning skin again and enclosed him to her possessively.
He nodded softly. "This is the first time in centuries that I am at peace with the world around me Eilin and it is all because of you..."
She bit her lower lip and buried her face on the thick black waves that covered his nape.
"Because of you and of our Little Gem..." he whispered and felt his tears soaking her skin.
She exhaled and allowed him to cry on her as she was crying on him, for these were tears of healing not of pain anymore and they both needed to empty them urgently. They remained long like that, twisted and bend around each other. Caressing, weeping silently, kissing and fondling gently until their feelings had finally settled down. That is when her stomach bubbled up again under Thorin's cheek. He tensed momentarily, but Eilin didn't even open her eyes. She was in heaven already.
"I will never get used to this..." he whispered.
"You deserve to get used to it and to relive this as many times as possible..." she said and her fingers traced down the side of his temple and lingered in a gentle caress on his bearded jawline.
"My heart..." he exhaled and closed his eyes wanting to allow himself to sleep right there in her arms, feeling the small movements of their child onto his cheek.
Eilin's eyes remained closed and behind them another flashing memory of her dream returned only this time it wasn't an image, but a voice. "I don't know your father, yet."
"Thorin, do you know who my father is?" she said in an afterthought, quietly.
He tensed upon her belly for a brief second and then settled down again. She half expected him to answer the same thing as in her dream, but he didn't. "Not your father, but I might know I few things about his family from the runes that were carved behind your baby belt."
She shuddered at the idea of him ever taking that belt into his hands again. "My baby belt...did you burn it?"
"No, but I will gladly do it if you wish me," he reassured her.
"Do it..." she frowned.
He nodded. "As you wish my heart."
"What do you know about my father's family then? I remembered you mentioned it briefly at Bagshot Row." She said quietly and her fingers found his warrior braid and began twisting it around thoughtfully.
"Assuming it was the family your father belonged to and he was not simply an admirer of Telchar, to which the runes belong to. He was one of the greatest smiths of all times along with Fëanor and Celebrimbor. None other comes close to the skill of these three. He forged many famous items, amongst them the knife Angrist which was given to the Elves, the sword Narsil which is in the keep of the Elves also, and the Dragon-helm of Dor-lómin that was forged for the Lord Azaghâl of the Broadbeams." He rejoined.
She sighed deeply. "So no clue who my father was...only that he probably admired Telchar."
Thorin pressed his lips gently on her bump. "Admired or belonged to his family. It's hard to tell, since Telchar's line has been lost through the centuries. No one knows any details of his family tree."
She squeezed her eyes tight. "So I can only assume that there is famous swordsmith blood in me...and that without any certainty..."
He cringed regretfully. "I can try to find out for you if you wish me."
She shuddered as those words, "I am not sure I do Thorin. He and my mother both abandoned me. I can maybe understand my father giving up on me, but the bond a mother has with her baby is sacred long before the baby is born. I can feel it in my womb right now. Nothing in the world would have made me abandon this child in a door somewhere to be raised by strangers, even when we were apart Thorin. I would have sacrificed everything to raise this child the best way I could." She felt hot tears trapped at the edge of her eyes.
Thorin sighed. "You must not judge superficially the decisions of your parents. You haven't walked in their shoes, nor have you lived their lives. Don't be so harsh." He responded with calm wisdom.
"I am hurt by their rejection. I know I would have never done the same to my child." she muttered.
"You are a different person than them. You have your own code of conduct. The wound of their rejection will hurt you forever, for it is not something my love can heal for you I am afraid. I haven't walked in your shoes Eilin and I mustn't judge you harshly either. Rejection can cause deep wounds to a child's heart that will turn to deep scars on the adult. I am here to help you any way I can, but maybe you could try to heal those wounds partly through you own devotion to our child." He said quietly and got up from her stomach. He laid down and enfolded her tenderly into his arms. She cuddled there with a sigh of relief and gave a lingering kiss on the side of his neck.
"That is what I want to do..." she murmured.
"I am still willing to search Telchar's line for you, I am just not sure I will manage to find anything." He rejoined and his fingers caressed her head gently.
She shook it. "No Thorin, it's useless. Why would I try to find people who didn't want anything to do with me?"
His arms pressed hard around her and he began rocking her gently in a need to soothe her.
Slowly his careful manners made her close her eyes and calmed down her teary heart. She exhaled hotly onto his chest and she pressed her sweaty skin on his, no minding how warm they both were at that moment. "Besides I belong to the family of another legendary swordsmith now, don't I?"
A doting smile came to his lips and he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "Yes, you do."
"I don't want to belong to any other family than ours. I want you to burn that belt and let me forget my need to find out who the people who abandoned me were. They didn't care if I grew up or died, did they?" She rubbed her face onto his chest wiping away her tears on his naked skin.
He pressed his lips and arms around her, but didn't reply.
"Did they care Thorin?" she frowned angrily.
He swallowed heavily.
"Don't fear to answer me." she insisted.
He shook his head. "They didn't care, no."
"Then why should I care who they were?" she shook her head and opened up her mouth to kiss the soft skin on the base of his neck.
He pressed his lips feeling her pain deep into his heart. His nose burrowed through her mane and he inhaled deeply.
"But I do care Thorin, I won't lie..." she said after several silent moments that he didn't speak, deciding that it was useless trying to deny the truth to him. His silence meant that he understood far more than he was saying.
"I know, my dove." He hushed her.
"Yet I will learn not to care anymore. I have a family of my own. I need nothing else and mostly my past overburdening me!" She said decisively.
He smiled on her hair. "I agree."
"I will do for our child exactly the opposite of what my parents did for me!" her hands became fists at his back.
He cradled her close to his heart. "I know my precious."
She nodded, reassured both by her own words and by his tender caress as he held her onto him through a nightmare that hadn't abandoned her since birth. "I will make this fade into darkness, I promise."
"I will be here to help you," he kissed her temple and his finger caressed her gently under her earlobe.
She sighed deeply and snuggled against him. "I love you Thorin."
"Me too...more than life." He felt his eyes tearing up as they remained embraced long after they stopped talking. Each one trying to settle down their thoughts. Eilin the phantoms of her parents that she wanted so desperately to send away back into the shadows of her dreams, or why not expel from her dreams completely, and Thorin the way his heart erupted in countless colours whenever he felt his child move under his palm. A feeling he had never believed himself worthy of experiencing. So they clutched each other, wanting to lock the world outside their small paradise, but Erebor had apparently other ideas.
When the door knocked neither him nor her made a move to dislodge. They remained patiently unmoving hoping that whoever knocked would go away, but soon enough the knocking resumed. "My King!" it was one of the guards outside.
"Don't answer..." she whispered and her fingers clawed his nape.
"I won't..." he smirked and kissed her sweaty skin.
She exhaled in relief and closed her eyes, but the knocking insisted. The voice that followed next made Thorin's teeth grit. "Cousin I need to have a word with you!" It was Dain.
He swallowed heavily and pushed slowly away from her with one last regretful kiss on her neck. She grabbed his forearm, not allowing him to stand up. She pulled him down until their lips brushed and her mouth opened up to allow her tongue to lick the suppleness of his lower lip. "Don't go..."
"I have to talk to him. It might be about his older niece..." he reciprocated her careful kiss.
She looked at his eyes lovingly. "So what am I supposed to do until you return?"
His lips formed a lopsided smile. "Why don't you train on acting like a Queen?" He found that opportunity to stand up and find his trousers, which he wore quickly.
She pushed up to her elbow and raised her brow. "Act like a Queen...What do Queens do apart from order everyone around?"
He wore his tunic and smiled back at her. "Do I sit around ordering people all that time? Is that all I do?"
She pursed her lips playfully. "Yes!"
"That's true" he snorted.
"Hey! You were supposed to be insulted now!" She pointed at him.
"Why would I get insulted when you are speaking of the truth..." he buckled his heavy belt with a teasing smile.
"That was not the truth! You don't just sit around ordering people. Actually you rarely rest and you are torn all over Erebor, which bothers me to no limit." She frowned.
"You will do the same then. Go to your people and tend to their needs. Ask Dis and she will tell you what you can do to make them feel that they also now have a Queen that is there for them, not only a King." he rejoined and wore his boots.
She smiled hesitantly. "I don't think it will be that easy for me to do that."
He raised his brow. "I think it's easier than you might expect. Everyone already sees you as their Queen..."
She inhaled patiently. "I will try...alright?"
He inclined his head. "Perfect my beauty."
She pinched her lower lip thoughtfully. "Can I use some of the wood carvers do you think?"
He walked back to the bed and leaned over until she grabbed the back of his head firmly. "Sure, but whatever for?"
"I want to order a new crib made..." she looked at his mouth longingly.
A bright smile appeared on his lips that reminded her vaguely of her forgotten dream and her heart skipped a beat. "Of course you can."
"Any requests for it?" she asked gently.
He leaned down and gave her a soft kiss as his thumb and forefinger pinched her cheek tenderly. "I leave everything to your capable hands, I have complete trust in you. Now am I allowed to look after matters of the state my Queen?" he whispered.
She shuddered and pulled him over for a last assertive kiss that made him heave before pushing him back. "Now you are..."
He humphed and raised his brow as he walked to the door. "Take time to enjoy your day. There is nothing that you must do, apart from rest and keep yourself and our child healthy."
She laid back down and covered herself up to her chin. Then she stretched provocatively and send him a flirtatious kiss. "Take care out there my brave warrior."
He shook his head and smiled as he opened the door. Dain was expecting him at the end of the corridor. He closed the door behind him and walked up to his cousin trying to push the feelings of wholesomeness that he had felt with his family away. The countenance of Dain was almost forbidding.
Thorin raised his brow as he approached his cousin knowing that this confrontation was not going to be easy.
Dain looked back at the guards and grabbed Thorin's arm pulling him further away. "Forgive me for bothering you in your private quarters."
"I was expecting you sooner or later," Thorin rejoined calmly.
"I just couldn't wait until my brother and sister in law arrived. They are going to take Erebor by storm and I wanted to discuss this mess with you beforehand." Dain said heavily.
"No one is going to storm Erebor cousin," Thorin raised his brow.
"I know you respect my brother, but you don't know him as a concerned father..." Dain interposed.
"You don't know me as a concerned father either," Thorin reciprocated coldly.
Dain sighed deeply. "Just give me a moment to understand what is going on I beg you."
Thorin inclined his head and gestured down the corridor where they could talk more privately.
"I came up from the dungeons. Karunn is in a terrible state. Her palms have deep cuts and she's barely speaking. She's hiding in the shadows."
"I am aware," Thorin crossed his arms behind his back.
"Who did that to her?" Dain frowned.
"I did," Thorin raised his brow stonily.
Dain cringed and placed his hand on Thorin's bicep. "Why?"
"She tried to kill Eilin..." Thorin felt his back crawling. "I found her with her hands around the throat of my beloved."
Dain paled and remained silent for a long time. When he finally spoke his voice was crawling with darkness. "I shouldn't have expected anything better from her. I know her only too well. She was an evil child. Always tormenting her poor sister and innocent animals. I shouldn't have expected anything better from her in adulthood. Nevertheless Thorin you owe me some answers, remember? Have you learned anything new about her connection with Nyrthrasir?"
Thorin inhaled deeply and crossed his arms. "I have yes, but allow me to refrain from relating it to you. It is something that will be revealed either in the trial or by her. It's not my place to discuss this with anyone."
Dain paled. "Tell me cousin, I need to protect my brother. I am afraid his heart will stop when he finds out what his daughter has done the line of Durin."
"Ask her, not me." Thorin said with simplicity.
"She's not answering me! She doesn't like me, because I was the only one who was trying to restrict her evil manners. I am afraid about my brother and my younger niece. Thorin please have mercy on all of them." Dain's deep voice pleaded.
"On all of them? Do you also mean Karunn?"
"Anything to spare my brother and Valdis from the pain..." Dain rejoined with sincerity.
"I know you are trying to do the best for your family Dain. Like you did when you refused to join my quest for the Lonely Mountain", Thorin rejoined calmly.
Dain paled.
"You remained impassive because you didn't want to endanger your people from Smaug's sleeping wrath. A fury you knew I'd awaken. I cannot blame you for that." Thorin smiled to him.
Dain closed his eyes.
"I am not accusing, I am understanding. Therefore you cannot blame me for wanting to protect my family and my people from a criminal. Erebor shall not rest as long as Karunn remains unpunished for her hideous crimes against the line of Durin and against our kin, for you cannot deny that such evil deeds can only surface through the most rotten souls. This woman lacks empathy, ethics and moral code. She's hateful, deceitful, murderous and unstoppable. She tried to strangulate my One down in the dungeons. Think about her audacity. She's lucky I didn't kill her on the spot Dain. I don't care about answering to Fain or the Ironhills at the end of the day about my actions against Karunn, nevertheless I will do the best I can to act through the law. When someone touches my One first they die and then I ask questions. I don't know what created this malevolence in your older niece, but the Necromancer did less of a better job in wiping out the line of Durin than she did." Thorin said firmly.
Dain crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall defeated.
"She almost destroyed my unborn child and Eilin. She almost destroyed me for her self-satisfaction, without stopping to think that she had already killed a baby and almost killed it's father. I will not have mercy on her cousin." Thorin frowned. "She almost killed my child!" he hissed.
Dain cupped his forehead.
Thorin raised his hand in authority. "You know how much I love and honour you and your brother. If it wasn't for your help Erebor would have never been reclaimed. I cannot place Karunn's nefarious plans in the same borders with your impeccable principles, just because you belong to the same family. That would be not only unfair of me, but evil on it's own rights. I refuse to put Fain's untouchable ethics and your younger niece exemplary demeanour in the same margins as your oldest niece criminal affairs. As far as I am concerned these are clearly separated. I shall not touch your younger niece in any manner whatsoever. My nephew is deeply fond of her and so am I. As for Fain you know I'd die for him, as I would for you."
Dain's eyes were swimming in tears. He approached quickly and drew Thorin in to his heavy arms. "As I would for you my bastard! As I would for you..."
Thorin patted his back firmly and pulled back. "Nevertheless my love for your family and my respect for the Ironhills will not stop me from punishing this fiend for her crimes cousin. Understand that."
Dain pulled back and wiped away his eyes. "I was not aware that your One's location was the Forsaken Inn. I was informed about it from the very beginning. Had I known I would have related everything to you, do you believe me?"
Thorin clasped Dain's shoulders. "I do."
"I tried to tell you back in Ered Mithrin, but you were not under the proper mental clarity to listen.." Dain continued.
Thorin closed his eyes. "I have never forgotten that forlorn day. Had I listened to you, many tragedies would have been avoided."
"I won't stand in your way for Karunn, but I cannot answer for my brother. As for my sister in law if she tries to intervene I will kill her along with my older niece!" Dain grumbled with suppressed fury.
Thorin pulled back and nodded. "I need nothing else than the assurance that the Ironhills will allow Erebor to deliver justice."
Dain punched his chest. "They will on my word of honour. You cannot imagine how hurt I am by the conduct of Karunn. That a member of my honourable family acted in this heinous manner towards you!"
Thorin shook his head with a frown. "As far as I am concerned you do not belong in the same family..."
Dain exhaled and lowered his head. "Thank you cousin for not dragging our name into the gutter."
Thorin's lips pressed tightly. "You do understand that this cannot end well for her, don't you?"
Dain gritted his teeth. "Then allow me to take care of her and restore my family's name in your eyes!" he spat.
Thorin shook his head. "No! We shall follow the Laws of the Elders!"
Dain's nose flared. "The Elder laws will take her through a trial won't they?"
Thorin's hesitation was obvious in the tone of his voice. "Admittedly that is the most usual course of action, but things are not as straightforward Dain..."
Dain's fists tightened. "If you take her through a trial I will kill her cousin, without your knowledge. I don't want my brother to learn her nauseating and infamous conduct. I don't want her sister's name to be branded because of her malevolent deeds. I want my family's name to be clear and this trial will slur it." Dain rejoined heavily.
Thorin's brows creased. "It will take place behind closed doors."
"Matters not! My brother shall listen to what she has done! My Valdis will learn everything! This trial will destroy my family!" Dain snapped.
Thorin's jawline flexed in silence. He knew Dain was right. No matter how much he would try to protect Dain's family, if this ended up in a trial their name would be irrevocably stained in the public eye. A closed trial was still a trial that Erebor would learn about finally.
Dain grabbed Thorin's arm and squeezed it painfully. "Keep my Valdis away from the dungeons. She kept asking to see her sister and I told her lies. Any lie I could to keep her safe. Please I beg you don't allow my little girl to visit that evil monster. Karunn will find a way to harm her, I know it."
Thorin's eyes clouded. "On my word of honour I will not allow her close to Karunn."
Dain closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Protect my pumpkin..."
Thorin swallowed heavily. "I shall, I promise."
Dain remained silent for several moments and his hand kept it's iron grip on Thorin. When he finally spoke his voice was deliberate. "Nyrthrasir...how did she use him against you cousin? I know you don't wish to reveal to me the truth. I know you are trying to protect me, but I will not rest until I know. She had to have a tight grip on that man. Correct?" Dain raised his brow slowly.
"Admittedly she had a very tight one." Thorin rejoined.
Dain swallowed heavily and it took him several moments to reveal his innermost thoughts. "She went to bed with him, didn't she?"
Thorin raised his brow, but remained impassively quiet.
Dain's lips curled up to reveal his teeth. "She went to bed with the man, didn't she?!" he cried furiously.
Thorin didn't reply.
"She went to bed with him and used him to deceive you! She killed that man's child, didn't she?" Dain's voice elevated.
Thorin sighed, but remained taciturn.
"I will slaughter her now!" Dain stormed down the corridor to the King's Halls, but Thorin's iron grip stalled him.
"Stop! Right now!" he commanded.
Dain looked back at him panting. "She bedded a married man! She's a bloody murderous whore! She's not my niece! I won't allow my brother to learn these things, it's going to kill him! She's not going to go through a trial. She will die by my hand! I will avenge the name of my family!"
Thorin exhaled roughly through his nose.
"Send the ravens now! Delay my family from arriving to Erebor! Did you tell my brother that you arrested Karunn? Does he know why he's been called to Erebor?"
Thorin shook his head. "No, I wanted him to travel with safety."
"Then I beg you send him a message and tell him to remain back home! He cannot come here and learn about all this! I prefer him to find out that his daughter died in the wilderness, not that she died as the worst criminal of Erebor! Like a whore!" Dain spat barely controlling his wrath.
"You don't want me to act through the laws of our Elders, you wish me to act dishonourably!" Thorin rebuked acutely.
"I want you to spare the pain from my family! Try to see things from my perspective! What would you have done to protect your One, your nephew and your sister?" Dain's eyes burned through Thorin's steely exterior.
He couldn't answer.
"As a favour to me, as a favour to our friendship, to our camaraderie, please my King, send the ravens to stall my brother. Send him back home...allow me to offer him an honourable conclusion to the most contemptible crimes of his daughter," Dain grasped Thorin's hands fiercely.
Seeing such a battle hardened warrior breaking down touched Thorin's heart.
"Will you do it? Will you help me?" Dain's voice turned beseeching. "Help my little pumpkin...please...she's the gentlest soul. She doesn't deserve to have her name stained because of her evil sister."
Thorin sighed deeply. "You are cornering me very hard Dain..."
"Please notify my brother to stay in the Ironhills and get rid of Karunn in some manner! Do it whatever way you feel suitable!" Dain gritted his teeth.
Thorin shook his head. It was clear that this was not easy on him.
"Will you end this in my stead? Do it!" Dain's brows rippled in wrath.
Thorin raised his brow contemplatively.
Dain removed his arm angrily. "Either you do it, or I will! I shall not allow her to go through a trial and traumatise my little pumpkin or kill my brother! As you do the best to protect your family, so will I! I will protect them against this fiend!" He warned.
Thorin's eyes thinned on his cousin, but he remained silent.
Dain's nose flared. "That's a warning! Either you end this or I will! Do you hear me?"
Thorin's brow rose slowly.
"No matter how much I appreciate that you want to keep this trial private you know very well that things will get out. If Karunn is condemned she's going to be executed, or she will be send in exile as a branded woman. No matter the result, the name of my family will be stained. I cannot have that Thorin. Forgive me..." Dain said solemnly.
Thorin's gaze remained fixed on his cousin.
"It's either me or you...", Dain spat and without anymore words he left. Thorin's eyes followed his cousin until his long red hair got lost behind the heavy curtains of the tall archway. When he was finally alone he crossed his arms and looked thoughtfully at his heavy boots. Many thoughts were twisting inside his mind, but one was prevailing to all the others. The final words of his formidable cousin.
Either you kill her or I will...
He walked thoughtfully out to the great entrance and made his way slowly up to the throne room. That is where he saw Balin dusting off the throne. He pursed his lips and crossed his arms. "Always lingering above this throne, aren't you my friend?"
Balin inhaled sharply and turned to see his King. "I will continue to do so, until you sit on it. I am keeping it in perfect condition for you." He smiled.
Thorin's lips curled up in a brooding smile. "Tell the Ravens to stall Fain. Send him back to the Ironhills." He said after a long pause where Balin resumed the cleaning of the throne.
At that Balin turned around with a deep frown. "What the hell? Where did that come from?! What about Karunn's trial?"
Thorin's lips twisted thoughtfully. "It's indefinitely postponed." He replied sturdily.
"What are you going to do about her then?" Balin frowned.
"Whatever is buried behind the stonewalls of Erebor remains there," Thorin said cryptically.
"What does that mean?" Balin rejoined.
"You'll know soon enough. Take care of the ravens and make sure the Ironhills are kept away from this. Send Valdis back home." Thorin rebuked and walked towards Thror's study.
Balin dropped the cloth he was using to wipe the Arkenstone clean and followed him. "Fili is going to be angry if I do such a thing."
Thorin paused with his hand on the door handle. "Will he?" A small smile appeared on his lips.
Balin huffed. "I think he's rather smitten with the girl. If it isn't necessary don't send her away. We can keep her shielded as long as I know what you plan to do." The subtle suggestion was not lost in Thorin.
"When I decide Karunn's fate you shall know. For now call me Fili and Dwalin," Thorin said and closed the door behind him, leaving a rather bewildered Balin staring down the corridor.
He remained under locks for a long time, long after his nephew and bodyguard arrived. He called Balin in and explained everything that had been spoken between him and Dain and that left them all numb and disconcert, but Thorin was composed and calm. As if all this hadn't touched him in the least. It was as if the wheels in his mind had already turned towards a specific direction long before his conversation with Dain, but his cousin's wrath had given him the blessings he needed to continue. So none of the concerns of his company that were being expressed at that moment truly bothered him, except from one. It was spoken by Fili and it was the only thing that made him remove his brooding gaze from the fire and throw it on his nephew.
"Valdis already knows uncle." Fili crossed his arms. "It's so noble of Dain to want to protect her, but she has seen the guards escorting Karunn away. It was not a public arrest, it happened very discreetly, I am aware. They could have very well been escorting her to you, but still Valdis suspects that she's in the dungeons. She hasn't seen her sister for a few days. She heard Dain's conversation with Karunn about that trek and she's not dumb. She's put everything together and knows that her sister has done something seriously wrong. She's short on the details, but we cannot hide from her what is bloody obvious. She's out to protect her mother and father likewise, just so you'd know, but she also wants to speak to her sister. She wanted to plead with you for an audience. I averted her. I told her that any plead for Karunn on you would fall into a dead end."
A dark shadow passed from Thorin's brow. "You did well. Valdis is not to be allowed close to Karunn." His voice was strict and everybody became instantly guarded.
"I knew you'd say that. I explained to Valdis that you wouldn't allow her to the dungeons, so she decided to plead her case to the next best person," Fili raised his brow.
Thorin frowned.
"The Queen..." Fili pursed his lips and crossed his arms.
Balin harked and rubbed his forehead. "That was unexpected."
Dwalin whistled and gazed at Thorin with a sly smile.
Thorin caressed his bearded chin. "Well..." he smirked.
Fili placed his hands on his wide belt and inhaled deeply. "If Eilin decides to plead Valdis' case to you, then you will come head to head with your One about all this."
Thorin's brow lifted up and his lips twisted appreciatively. "It won't be the first time. Let's see how the Queen is going to deal with this first serious request from one of her subjects."
Dwalin chuckled. "And how she will try to handle the King of the North."
Thorin covered his smiling mouth and inclined his head. "Indeed."
He found it rather interesting that Eilin's first obligation as the Queen of Erebor was to decide if she wanted to come head to head with him, especially in a case that had everything to do with her. He was truly interested to see how she would act on this rather serious first trial on her own rulership, even though his mind was mostly preoccupied with the new developments between him, Dain and Fain.
With that in mind he decided to keep silent on Eilin about everything until she decided to address him herself.
A/N:
* The Road Goes Ever On- Poem by J. R. R. Tolkien
-The name of the little girl belongs to the angel of this story StephCalvino and has a special meaning for her. Thank you my friend for pouring your soul into this story *.*
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