Pronunciation guide for today:
Stala - with an awe sound, again. Like Stall-uh.
Ula and Una - with oo lips.
Ana practically ran home from the stables; she didn't even stop to catch her breath after ascending the stairs of doom, as Stala, her sister, liked to call the main staircase. She kept her head pointed to the ground, determined not to let anyone see the black eye. Those that knew her would understand without asking because of her job, but those who didn't would surely cause some sort of scene. And she avoided those like the plague.
Ever since she was little she remembered hating the spot light. Stala and her second oldest brother, Storlac, would always sing and dance for their friends and family. One night, they dragged Ana out onto the floor with them, and when she saw all those eyes upon her – well, she flat out froze and began to cry. Ever since, she never put herself in front of audiences.
Thankfully, no one paid notice to her, and she tumbled through the door of her home in a panting heap. Leaning up against the now closed door, she waited for a family member to call out to her, as one always did.
"Father? Is that you? Stormal? Storlac? Stala?" It was Stornic, her youngest brother and middle child of the five. He sounded like he was in his bedroom, shared with the other brothers.
She answered him before he could get to her name. "It's Ana, Stornic. Always the last one."
Stornic popped out of his room and into the small main one. He stood five inches taller than Ana at 4'6'', complete with a mane and mess of brown curls that would not be tamed and a midsized beard. He had three single braids hanging from his jawline and chin with silver beads intricately strung at the end, the beads of their family and ancestry. Similar to Ana, but not to the rest of the Hillins', Stornic had his mother's stormy blue eyes. Possibly because of that connecting trait, he'd always been Ana's favorite sibling.
He was dirty, as her brothers always were, from the mines. All the Hillins men worked in the mines, even her old father. Black and grey soot covered his sweaty skin, clothes, and hair. That didn't stop his signature smile from breaking out on his face when he saw his sister, though.
"Glad to see you got off early as well. I can see why, though. Who was it this time?" he asked in his soft voice, gesturing to her eye.
Ana moved from the door and fell into one of the arm chairs in front of the fire pit. "Ogri, the blasted devil. Got excited and decided to take it out on me."
Stornic heartily laughed, seeming to lighten up the whole room; he had that effect on others. Placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, he said, "You can't be blessed with your charming looks all the time, dear sister. You have to give others the chance as well."
Cheeks flushed, she shoved his hand away and crossed her arms underneath her chest. "Oh, sod off, Nic."
Her brother only chuckled more, and before long Ana cracked a smile herself. She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm guessing you just came back from the mines?"
"Yeah," Stornic nodded. "My crew finished early. I'm sure the others will be back soon. But I did hear that they were having some issues in the west wing, so Stormal and Father could be delayed."
"What kind of issues?"
"Oh, probably just some loading ones. That tends to be true in most cases. Nothing to fret over."
She still did. There hadn't been a mine collapse, at least a major one, in all their years in Erebor. It was still a possibility, though. And with having four of her family members working in the mines, luck wasn't quite on her side.
"Did you get to see Stala today? I didn't have time to get anything from her," Ana told her brother. Their sister loved working in the bakery, she never shut up about it, really. She and two other dwarrowdams ran a shop in the market tiers.
"I did," Stornic answered, "Actually, now that I think about it, you're probably going to want to clean up that eye as best you can. Remember that dwarf lad she kept going on and on about a while back?" Ana nodded. "Well, apparently he's joining us in the dining hall tonight, and Stala's worried we won't make a good impression on him. So she'll be a tad bit bossy on us tonight."
Ana groaned. Stala's been through a number of suitors – none of them turned out to be serious, of course – but her sister became quite eager when it came to the matter. She always required perfection out of her large family when a dwarf would come to eat with them, and more often than not it was Ana and Stornic who seemed to cause the event to go downhill. Now in Erebor, however, her youngest brother turned more serious and left the screwing up for Ana to do.
"Which number is this again?" she asked with a groan.
She could hear her brother in his room, now; mostly likely shedding his work attire for something more suited for supper. "Mahal, I've lost count," he called to her. "Maybe the fourth? Or is it five? She needs a whack in the face to set her straight. No offense, Ana."
She laughed lightly, running a hand down her face, careful not to touch her eye. Her bruise reminded her of something she was going to ask one of her brothers. "Hey, Nic?" she asked him.
"Yeah?" she heard him call from the other room.
She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to make sense of her thoughts and turn them into words. "Have you ever spoken to the princes?"
She heard Stornic stomp his way to the entrance of his door. "No," he said while straightening out an old yellow tunic. "Why?"
"Oh," she waved a hand, "Ula and Una were speaking of them this morning while I was walking to the stables. I just didn't know if what they were saying was true or not." She didn't feel like telling her brother what had happened this morning, even if he was her closest confident.
"What were they saying? How handsome they are?" he teased while sitting next to her in his own chair.
Ana gave him a small glare. "No. They said that they were quite...cheeky. Not all prim and proper as Stala's been telling me."
"Well, I'm sure when they're with King Thorin they have to be. But many forget that they're just young dwarves, and brothers at that. I can only imagine the sort of mischief they get themselves into. If I'm not mistaken, they should be right around your age, Ana."
She scoffed at him. "I'm 81, Nic, not 40. Tell me how much trouble I get myself into." Stornic opened his mouth but she cut him off. "Outside of our family."
A smug look settled on her face when her brother had to think. "Well," he said after a thoughtful pause, "I guess it's just a mindset one has to have. You've always been a by-the-book type of dwarf. But there's nothing wrong with that," he added.
"I wonder how they get away with that, with their uncle being the king and all," she spoke.
"They're royalty, Ana," her brother said while lifting himself up. "They can probably do whatever they want to. Unlike us. Now, you better clean yourself up. Stala will be down any moment and she might have a heart attack if she sees you like this."
"Nothing that I haven't handled before, brother."
Once in the security of her room, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She looked up to see her reflection in the small mirror on the wall. Her left eye was swollen, the area around it was black and purple, and there were even little trails off blood that ran down her cheek. Silently, she scolded her brother for not telling her how bad it actually looked, even though all she felt was a dull ache. Nevertheless, she'd have to deal with it one way or another. And so would Stala and her new suitor.
Grabbing a wooden bowl and cloth, she set out to the wash room. She had much work to do before supper if her sister wanted her looking remotely presentable.
"You can't sit with us."
"Excuse me?"
"I spoke perfectly clear. You're not to sit with us at supper tonight."
"I'm apart of this family! Don't you want this dwarf to meet all of us? Scars and all?"
"Yes, but you can only make first impressions once, Ana. I won't let you screw this one up. I'm very serious with him."
Ana threw her hands up in disbelief. "That's what you say to all of them."
Brushing her shiny curls for the umphundreth time, Stala was perched at the end of her bed, staring at herself intently at the mirror. Sighing, she placed her hands in her lap and stared at Ana with no sign of amusement on her long face.
"Faril is unlike any of the others, Ana. You'd know that if you would pay attention to what I've been saying about him." Stala had a deep, rich voice; opposite of Ana's lighter and softer one. The eldest sister could command the attention of all the dwarves in the dining hall if she wasn't careful with her volume.
"Does he even know about the others?" Ana asked speculatively. "And I do listen to you! Most of the time, at least."
Stala stood up and walked to her sister. She placed a hand on the younger dwarf's shoulder and squeezed. "I know you tried to look...nice," she glanced up at the black eye, now spotted with purple along with the previous dark colors. "But it would mean a lot to me if you met him later. After you're better."
Ana laughed. "I'm not ill, Stala. It's just a bruise. I'll look basically the same once it's gone. Besides, I'm not trying to impress anyone. He's not trying courting me."
"Yes, but," Stala dragged the last syllable on, "my family is a representation of me. And as the only other female, I need you looking nice. Please, Ana."
Stala looked down at her with her deep brown eyes wide and face pulled into a pout. Ana absolutely hated the puppy face, she was guilt tripped every time. With a loud breath, she pushed her sister away and rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll sit with Ula and Una. But you owe me for this, Stala. Especially because you're making this into a much bigger deal than it has to be."
The eldest sister simply said, "Good," before returning to her position on the bed and brushing her curls. She was still dressed in her baking dress, splashed with flour and icing. Ana knew she'd change into something more fancy for Faril tonight. It was their mother who taught them to always present themselves in a fine light for their suitor, or any dwarf in that case. It seemed that Stala was the only one to take that advice to heart. Maybe she would, eventually...when she had a suitor. Maybe. Right now it seemed silly to her to dress up for a dwarf when he should, more importantly, love you at your worst.
Stala had three dresses spread out between the two beds in the small room. She asked Ana, "Which one do you think I should wear? I'm leaning towards the green one. It's Faril's favorite color, and Father told me it brings out my eyes. Hit two birds with one stone, am I right?"
Ana sighed. "That sounds wonderful, I'm sure he'll love it."
"Thank you for your enthusiasm, Ana. I really do appreciate it."
She smirked at her sister. "Thank you for your acceptance to all of your family, Stala."
She sighed. "You'll get over it eventually. I'm sure he'll have supper with us again soon, then you can be there. Without a black eye." Stala paused for a moment. "How'd you get it, anyways? One of the horses?"
Passing up the chance for sarcasm, she answered, "Yeah, one of the hooves got me. His owner got him excited and I was on the receiving end of the kick."
"Sounds horrid," she said, "I hope he took you to a healer, it looks like a nasty blow."
Ana laughed, "Yeah, it was. Knocked me blind and deaf for a good minute or two. And he did try, almost dragged me to one if I would have let him. I told him no, though. Multiple times, actually. He was a stubborn lad, that one. But you know I come home with all sorts of bruises, this one just happened to get my eye."
"Did you know him at all?"
It was a simple question, but it still caught her off guard. Well, she knew of him. Did that count?
"Uh...no. Not at all. Seemed all right, if anything a little excited about the small stuff. Good intentions, though." That seemed like a proper fit to the prince. Hopefully. Maybe? "He said he'd check on me tomorrow."
"So he's coming back now, is he?" Ana could tell by the tone of her sister's voice that she was smirking. "Must've had quite the impact on him, even with that nasty eye."
"Oh, hush," she told her sister blushing. "Believe me when I say he has much better things to worry about than a stable girl."
"Even so, if he's going out of his way to see you – "
She cut Stala off before she could continue. "It was the right thing to do, especially because I refused a healer. Now let's drop it, please. I have to leave anyways. Ula and Una normally go to the hall earlier than most. Father and the others should be back soon to wash. Good luck tonight, I guess."
Without bothering to hear her sister's response, Ana fled through the door. She offered a slight wave to Stornic before slipping out into the hall and began walking to the dining hall. This black eye was causing her more trouble than she could have imagined. And that was definitely not a good thing.
"Mahal, Ana, did you run into an orc's fist?"
Ula and Una, both similarly dressed in brown dresses, were already eating quietly together before Ana took a seat opposite of them. They both looked up to see her arrive before their brown eyes went wide with shock. Una was the one who spoke to her. At least she thought. She was always getting the two of them mixed up.
"No," Ana said, "it happened to be a horse hoof. And now that that's out of the way, let's move onto another topic, shall we?"
"But it looks awf – "
"I'm fine, Ula, really."
The sisters looked at her with scowls on their faces, but eventually let the topic go. Ula and Una were practically identical, expect for the fact that they were born three years apart. Ula was older at 78 years old, even though it was Una who acted like the elder. Both were shy with soft blonde hair and brown eyes. They liked to keep to themselves out of the way, just like Ana.
"So how was the shop today?" Ana asked. The sisters worked in their mother's dress shop in the market.
"Just like always," Ula began. And Una finished with, "Boring and long." They giggled.
"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't that bad. At least you both can be scouting out which of these dwarrowdams will be getting the skankiest dresses." Ana gestured with her head to the cluster of female dwarves at one of the tables. They were of all ages, shapes, and sizes, but together they had one goal in common: get as much attention as possible, especially from higher class dwarves. If they weren't ogling over one of the nobles they were prancing around the mountain like a dog on show.
"We already know. It's Mari, the red head one over on the left. But, if she has the assets and money to do that, more power to her, I guess," Una said while chewing on a potato.
Ana rolled her eyes. "When I get a husband, he better get used to covered ankles and high collars. I don't want to show myself off in any way, shape or form in public."
"Oh, Ana, just because you don't like attention doesn't mean you can't let your skin show. Don't be such a stick in the mud," Ula told her.
"I just don't see why you'd show your body off to anyone but your suitor. Am I right?"
Una blushed at her words. "Well, I guess it can make you feel...empowering, you know? Glinten, well, he told me that whenever I wear something that makes me feel good I look more...comfortable." Glinten was a young dwarf a little older than Ana who had been following Una for a few months now. It was sweet because both of them were too hesitant to make anything out of what they had.
"Glinten told you that? First Stala now you..." Ana muttered to herself. "Is he going to formally court you anytime soon? Or are you two just going to keep at it?"
Una's cheeks blazed even more, but she still shrugged. "Whenever the time's right, I guess."
Ula's face hardened, and she immediately switched their conversation to something other than her sister's relationship. "Mahal, am I seeing right?" She was squinting above Ana's head.
"What are you talking about?" Una said.
"Up on the balcony," she pointed her finger at the high tier far away on the opposite side of the dining hall, "Is that one of the princes? Or is it Thorin? I can't see that far."
Ana swung her head around, ignoring the protest that her neck made. Sure enough, leaning against the railing was Prince Kili and one of his guards, a large bald man with tattoos across his head. The prince looked the same as earlier today, and it surprised her that he didn't have to dress more formally for supper wherever he ate it at. The men were both looking down at the hall beneath them, almost as if they were scanning it to look for some one. With a huff, she spun back around to eat the rest of her food. If they really wanted some one so bad, they would come down and get him.
"I wonder what he's doing out here," Una quietly said. "The king and princes rarely ever go up on the balcony."
"I'm sure it's something important," Ana told them. "Or at least relatively important. I don't think the princes keep as tight as a schedule or rulebook as their uncle does."
The sisters looked at Ana strangely. "What?" she asked. "Is it my eye again?"
They just shook their heads, returning to the food in front of them, and Ana was happy to follow suit. She had quite enough royal interruptions for one day.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! If you celebrate it, of course. New chapter here for you all, hope it was decent. I really enjoy the build up of stories and the small characters, you know? Anyways, please leave a review and let me know what ya'll think. I LOVE feedback and especially suggestions.
More Kili in the next chapter!
GD