Chapter 6 guys! Thanks for the reviews, they keep me writing!
For Disclaimer; see chapter 1!
And on we go...
Chapter 6
Kilieth arrived not long after I had finished getting dressed, knocking on the door lightly and coming in when I called out for her to enter. She smiled when she saw me sitting on the bed, her eyes taking in my clothing.
"You look much better, was your bath to your liking?" She asked.
"Yes, thank you it was lovely; I had forgotten what bathing was like." I joked with her. She smiled again at my jovial humour before telling me that supper was being held and that we should hurry along. I took in the glorious halls on my way through, having not paid attention on my way to my room earlier. Kilieth pointed out certain pieces of art on the walls. They didn't quite seem to fit in, the halls of Rivendell being quiet and serene; whereas the paintings were rough and gruesome, dictating wars and death.
Kilieth led me through the halls and into a room with a large table. Around the table sat the Company, along with Lord Elrond whom I had met earlier. There were several types of food on the table and my stomach reminded me I hadn't eaten anything since that morning. Gandalf looked up, as if hearing my demanding stomach, and smiled at me as I walked further into the open room and he gestured to the one empty seat at the table, to the left of Thorin. I nodded at him and went over to the seat.
Thorin stood up as I got closer to the table and pulled the chair out, and slipped the seat back in again when I went to sit. I could feel my face burn red and I hoped my hair would cover it. Thorin sat down again on my right and returned to his meal. Fili was to the right of Thorin with Kili sat next to him, and they both smiled at me when I sat down.
I looked in front of me and noticed that there were a lot of dishes, though none of them were meat. There were a lot of greens and some fruit, so I took a piece of fruit and some flat, pale bread. Ori was grumbling about the lack of meat at the table and I couldn't help but smile. These Dwarves were used to having good hearty meals but I was just happy there was at least bread; I had consumed far too much vegetation to last me a life time!
I had long since forgotten any table manners that had been drilled into me by my mother; it was just as well I was eating with a bunch of hungry Dwarves, who; with little regard for mannerisms were digging into their food with as much enthusiasm as a meal without meat could offer them. To the right of me, Thorin was a little more reserved in his eating habits; eating only when the conversation did not involve him. Looking around the table Gandalf and Lord Elrond at the head of the table were talking quietly among themselves, neither of them indulging in the gracious feast laid out before them.
As I ate slowly, I noticed the Dwarves also seemed cleaner, their beards no longer matted with dirt and dust and their clothes seemed less filthy as well, although that could have been the river from earlier as they were still all dressed in the same clothes. I had no doubt they had declined any help from the Elves about the mending of their clothes. Thorin almost looked pained to be eating food provided by the Elves.
I looked towards Gandalf and Lord Elrond as they began talking about weaponry. I wondered if they had talked about me yet and if I were to stay in Rivendell. It was no secret that the plan was to leave me in the hands of the elves while the rest of them went off gallivanting around Middle Earth. I had questioned Bilbo once, about what they were doing in the middle of nowhere in such a large crowd, but he had been reluctant to tell me anything. I was of course curious but I didn't say anything more about the subject.
When the food was all but gone, Gandalf stood, stating he had to go to an important meeting. "We shall stay for no more than one month" He said, he eyes meeting Thorin's, and I suspected that had already been discussed before I arrived at the table.
The stay at Rivendell was supposed to enable the Dwarves to gain their strength back after being on the road for so long. Again I had no idea how long they had been on the road for even where they had ventured from. No one had bothered to mention it to me so I hadn't bothered asking. Whatever they were doing, it was seemingly supposed to be private and was not to be discussed in front of Elves or Mortals.
My clothes had been returned to me on only the third day of our stay at Rivendell, as clean as they had been when they were new and without the holes they once had. Thorin's coat had also been returned to me, as it had been in my possession when they had collected it. Kilieth looked at me with a questioning gaze when she handed it to me, but I made no comment as I placed it with my other clothes. While the Elvish clothes I had been provided with were lovely and very pretty, there was nothing like being in your own clothes, and dresses were impractical- I do not know how the elleth could stand to wear dresses all day every day, even when I was living with my parents I wore leggings and tunics although my mother was always trying to get me into a dress. I was supposed to be a lady.
As far I could tell, the Elves were being especially kind and welcoming, considering I had heard Elves did not like mortals and did especially not like Dwarves.
The Dwarves, particularly Thorin, tended to stay out of the way of the Elves from what I saw, preferring to go to the training area with the rest of the group to train. Bilbo and I spent much of our time in the glorious library, and while most of the texts were in Elvish, I was happy to find that there were a few written in Westron. Bilbo busied himself with attempting to learn Elvish whilst I busied myself looking through books about tales and legends.
We all met around the table for meals, although Gandalf tended to be missing and Thorin tended to be miserable. I knew he was uncomfortable in the house of the Elves, from the way his eyes darted around and he sat with his shoulders up and straight. The younger Dwarves, Kili and Fili seemed to be having a lot more fun in the beautiful surroundings of Rivendell and I often heard them out when they were training, loudly clashing weapons and arguing about who was winning. I could hear the joviality of the other dwarves who were enjoying watching the young brothers.
The room I had been provided with was beautiful, with high ceilings and large wooden doors. There was another chamber separated by an archway that was a washroom. There was a balcony attached to the room, with a gorgeous view of the opposite cliffs and mountain tops.
Kilieth took it upon herself to show me around Rivendell, whether she had been told to look after me or not I didn't know, but she did a good job of keeping me busy. She showed me the gallery, where there were splendid paintings on the wall and told me of the history of Isildur and the broken sword which was now on show in the centre of the room, looking as clean and as unused as the day it was created. We strolled out to a small courtyard which had a breath taking view of the rivers below, making the view we saw on the way into Rivendell pale in comparison.
Kilieth had become my constant companion and was with me all the time when she didn't have any other duties; even going as far as to trying to teach me a little Sindarin, and I do say trying because I wasn't very good at it.
So far I had been able to remember sleep well; Losto vae, since Kilieth said it every night and thank you; le hannon. The language was no doubt beautiful and when I heard the elves speaking it to each other I was envious because it sounded so musical and natural. I have to try very hard not to trip over my words and the pronunciation was very difficult coming from a human mouth.
I stayed in my glorious routine for nearly three whole weeks before the surprise announcement came.
"You must come with us," Thorin stated, his head high and his shoulders back. He was trying to be intimidating, I imagined but I was too annoyed to care. I made to argue, but his hand came up and he stopped me before I could protest.
"Ori came to speak to me," He said, his voice was hard and cold. I frowned as I tried to understand the significance of that sentence.
Ori?
Ori came to speak to me.
Oh.
2 nights earlier
The group was loudly making merry in the open dining room, and I could all but smell the ale. I had no doubt the elves, with their superior hearing were having trouble sleeping, because I knew I was. I could even hear Dwalin, the most uptight of the group singing merrily among them, so there must have been no small amount of ale consumed.
The sun had already set and candles had been lit for the benefit of me, I am sure elves had no problem seeing in the pitch black of the night. After a long time of listening to the loud talking and singing, I got out of bed. I wore a long nightdress to bed, much less extravagant than the dresses I wore throughout the daytime. I slipped the night robe over the top for modesty, not that I expected to see anyone at this time of night, and left the room.
I had no intention of joining the rest of the dwarves in their party, and instead headed in the direction of the library. I had grabbed the partly melted candlestick from the table beside my bed and held it in front of me as it lit the corridors a pleasant orange.
On the way to the library I neither saw nor heard another, as you might expect at such a time of night, and the only sounds made were the voices of the lively group, and underneath that loud noise, my bare footfalls on the floor. I hadn't bothered wearing shoes.
Since it was so late, or so early; you would expect my surprise when I entered the library and saw another figure sitting in a seat and huddled over a book.
The person looked up, jumping slightly.
Ori's brown eyes widened as he noticed who it was and smiled slightly, before offering the seat next to him. My candle lit a small bubble of light around the two of us as I sat down and I noticed Ori wasn't reading, rather he was writing, or he had been before I interrupted him.
I frowned as he closed the leather bound book, keeping whatever he was writing away from my eyes.
"It's my Journal, I write everything in it. Everything." He states in his quiet voice. It is no secret that Ori is the quietest and the shyest of the rowdy group of dwarves I was travelling with. He seems almost withdrawn, especially around his brothers whom both take the upmost care to protect him from anything that might be considered harmful. His hand is now pressed protectively against the leather book and he looks almost nervous.
"Everything?" I ask. I am prying, I know I am, but I can't help myself. These dwarves are annoyingly secretive and there is a book right In front of me that can tell me everything.
"Everything I do, everything I see, everyone I meet..." He explains and he has a small smile on his face as though he is remembering his memories.
"How did you meet Bilbo?" I ask, because I have never heard of the two being particularly friendly. I hadn't heard of Halflings at all before I met the Company, but the two companions seem slightly odd friends. Ori smiles, a wide open mouth smile as he recalls the memory and begins to chatter, his eyes going wide with excitement when he tells me of the quiet Shire, and the meal the company shared right at the beginning of their journey. They hadn't expected Bilbo to accompany them; he tells me. He didn't seem the adventurous type with his homely home and his overstuffed armchair and perfectly manicured gardens.
He stops talking about the Shire and throws himself into the description of Erebor; opening his fiercely protected Journal to show me beautiful drawings of mountains and the large caverns inside the mountains. The lonely mountains, some call it because of its distance to the other mountains in the East, but it is far the most beautiful. His face then falls in sorrow as he repeats the history of the Lonely Mountain, and how it fell into the clutches of a Dragon, Smaug, through the greed of the King. He points to another brilliant drawing of a large dragon on a separate page of his Journal and his finger trails across the ink of the flames which engulf the Lonely Mountain.
I don't ask any more questions. He closed his journal and tied the leather binding around it tightly, before nodding in my direction and standing up. We leave the dark library and he bows quickly in my direction before turning and walking quickly towards where I assume he sleeps. I walk back to my own room and quickly slide into bed, which much more knowledge about the secrecy of the group of Dwarves than I had intended to gain.
Thorin's hand on my arm brings me back to the present moment.
"You know too much, I cannot have you gossiping our secrets away to everyone you meet!" I must have looked indignant because he sighed and placed a large hand on my shoulder. "We hold our secrets to the utmost importance. You must come with us, you have no choice."
"We leave before the next moon."
He strided out of the room and the fur cloak he was wearing billowed behind him in a way that made him look very important and regal and I had no doubt he intended for his orders to be followed with no questions asked.