The mud squished beneath her horse's shoes and the cold wind whipped hard against her face, but it was such a familiar atmosphere she was unbothered by it; in fact, not having to walk entirely on foot to your destination felt somewhat like a holiday to her.
Lady Sereda Aeducan trotted amongst the dwarves of Thorin's company, and with her fur cloak's hood pulled over her face, you could hardly tell the difference between her and the rest of them.
Unbeknownst to her, Balin had been making his way up to her, and she didn't notice his presence until he spoke, "you seem as though you've seen quite a bit of adventure in your time, if you don't mind me saying so, my lady. No grousing at all. Very unusual, my pardons of course."
Sereda smiled warmly at his observation and use of her formal title. "I am no lady, my friend. Not any longer."
"That sounds like a story waiting to be told."
"Perhaps I'll tell it to you one day."
"Although," Balin continued, "if I recall correctly, I remember Gandalf mentioning you were not just a noble, but a princess in fact?"
I was, once, was what she wanted to say, but instead she found herself curious by him mentioning it and asked instead, "what of it?"
"Well," she wasn't sure she liked that look in his eyes as the words came out of his mouth, filled to the brim with implications, "our esteemed king, Thorin, would potentially need a queen should we succeed in reclaiming Erebor."
Ah. It was a game dwarves played everywhere, it would seem.
"I see," Sereda said stiffly, trying hard to maintain her friendly demeanor. Unbidden, her eyes found Thorin at the head of the company, looking forwards, completely unaware that this conversation was taking place, "in that case, I wish him all the luck in the world with finding one, dear Balin."