Well, enough of my pessimism, as promised, here's the first of the flood of chapters I promised everyone. Though, please don't expect it all in one day. I still need to write it all out. But I am going to try to publish more chapters everyday (or every other day) instead of the once-a-week chapters I usually do.
Vacation was great, but cold. My first impression of Sweden was cold. Living in a temperate climate, I'm not used to 7 degrees Celsius. But we've been all around the city of Goteburg and its surrounding areas and it's especially cold by the sea. We even saw snow, even with my dad saying there was no chance of it!
Leona2016: I'm glad you liked my attempt of Dwalin's back story. Here's the first of the prompts you gave me! Hope ya like it!
Thilbo4Ever: Sorry for making you cry but at least you liked it. This might tug at your heartstrings too. But hey, *winks* at least you have great taste in men.
SlytherinBtch: Sorry for tearing out your heart, but that's how I roll sometimes. I try to keep stuff happy but the urge to write angst takes me by surprise.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit or its characters. If I did claim it, the great spirit of Tolkien will, er, spirit me off to the middle of a lake in Sweden. And damn, that'll be freezing!
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I.
Dís stared at her cousin – of sorts – in shock, fury, and disgust. He had the gall to ask her for her hand in marriage just a week after arriving in Erebor and learning about the deaths of her family! Who in Mahal's Halls would do that?!
She and the other dwarrows in the caravans had received no news from her brother about the quest aside from the short missive that said they claimed back the Lonely Mountain from Smaug. They had continued on, arriving in the spring, expecting the Company to welcome them. Oh, the Company were there, of course, save for three and Dain was there in their place instead.
It was then she found out that her brother and sons (her only family she had left) died in some battle against Azor the Defiler, that filthy orc.
The Princess wandered around Erebor, wallowing in her grief, for a week. It simply didn't register in her mind. It simply couldn't be possible.
(No, they had to be lying. Her sons couldn't be dead; they had so much to live for in life, they haven't even started living properly! They haven't experienced the real difficulties or sweet successes. Kíli, the dear baby of the family, haven't even have a proper beard yet!
And Thorin, he was too stubborn to die. He would have lived just to see his kin reclaim the Mountain. Thorin would have argued with death. Thorin, the one who was always strong, always thick headed, would have walk it off and survive just to spite death and Azog.
None of them should – could – be dead!)
That was then when Dain pounced, obviously thinking she was vulnerable. (How wrong the bullheaded idiot was. Even in her grief, she was still as sharp as ever. Sharper than Dain could ever hope to be.)
"I'm sorry, Dain, I can't. It's too soon." The dwarrowdam let the redhead down as gently as she could while still being firm in her decision. After all, Dain was her cousin and should be shown some courtesy.
The redhead nodded, but he was noticeably disappointed, and left Dís in her chambers.
II.
"No, Dain."
"Its been six months, Dís. This marriage will give you some closure," the warlord protested, one arm near waving in the air (it wasn't really waving, it was just vibrating violently halfway in the air, and that was a sight to behold), the other clenched around his axe.
"No, but thank you, Dain," Dís gingerly handed the huge bouquet of roses and lilies back to the redhead.
Dain scowled but conceded, leaving the grieving princess alone.
(Dís hoped this would be the last time. She really didn't want to make a commotion and an example out of him. She didn't want to lose her only (distant) family yet.)
III.
The ravenette growled as she teared the letter from her cousin apart. Just because he was courteous in a letter was not enough for her to marry him. Yes, it has been a year since her family's death, but Dís was not that desperate to marry her cousin.
(If the law wasn't the law, it would have been her who would rule Erebor, not Dain who should be in his own mountain in the East. It shouldn't matter if Dís was a female, she was suppose to be the next in line to the throne; she was as good as any other King! In fact, she would be better than any as she was also trained in the arts of acting as ruler of a kingdom with her siblings. Few could surpass her skill.)
She quickly fetched some parchment, a quill, and an ink bottle and penned a resounding 'NO' in the letter, as well as a few choice words.
Dís gave it to a passing runner before returning to her duties. After all, she was a princess, and a princess will always take care of her subjects. She wouldn't abandon her kin just because she was grieving.
(She didn't want to listen to the citizens' worries about her health, physical and otherwise. She was perfectly fine!)
IV.
She was this ready to kick Dain Ironfoot in the family jewels and the buffoon with the questionable intelligence seemed to know it as he eyed her and quickly retreated from her office, his personal advisors scrambling after the oaf (except Balin, he calmly walked out after giving her an approving wink).
Noises could be heard halls away from the princess' office and everyone save for the bravest (and possibly foolish) avoided the general area. It sounded very much like breaking glass and loud thuds – such as books hitting walls and the like – and any passerby listening carefully could hear the not-so-quiet crash of a flipping table. It carried on for a good half hour or so.
King or not, cousin or not, Dís was never marrying Dain. How dare he try to blackmail her into an arrangement! And if Dain even tried to order her, she was going to slit his neck in his sleep, making it look like an accident. She was very good at those.
V.
"HOW MANY BLOODY TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY NO TO GET IT IN YOUR THICK HEAD?!" Dís screamed, finally losing her composure. It didn't matter that it was in front of the entire court, she was going to get her point across even if it killed her. It didn't matter to her if Dain was embarrassed by the envoy of Mirkwood elves or Men of Dale; she welcomed it, in fact.
"Dís –"
"No means no, Dain bloody Ironfoot! I will never marry you!" the princess spat out. "Get it into your stupid head. If you ask me one more time, so help me, I will leave you for the orcs!"
The redhead gaped, as did the court and the Mirkwood elves (though Thranduil seemed to be fighting some of that smugness in his features). That was considered treason in the extreme cases. "Now see here –!"
"I rather marry Thranduil than you. Do not tempt me," Dís' stormy blue eyes clouded even further as she pointed at the Elvenking for further emphasis.
The blond king gave a smirk as he nodded thoughtfully, not taking offense from the rude gesture. "I wouldn't mind much if it annoys you dwarves. Princess Dís is a jewel among dwarves, even I have to admit that."
"You will lose the foothold you have over the people of Erebor if and when I leave, cousin. You know they care more for me than you."
With that threat in the air, the fiery dwarrowdam stormed from the courtroom with no one stopping her. It's not like anyone could actually stop her.
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Shadow: You go, Dís! Tell him what you think!Dís: You! Why did you kill my family, you witch?!
Shadow: Woah, don't shoot me! I'm not the one who wrote the story; ask Tolkien about it.
Dís: Tolkien, I'm going to kill you! *storms off to find the grave of Tolkien*
Shadow: Bye, Dís. *mutters* Damn, she's so much like Thorin.