The next morning, Emma gets up and changes into her training clothes. She puts on a soft, warm vest with a hood as she feels a cold wind coming from the windows. She takes her normal route and soon finds herself running up the mountain path again. She pulls the hood of her vest over her head and closes the vest, shivering in the cold wind despite of her physical exertions. As she arrives at the plateau where she normally takes a break before turning around, she is startled when she sees someone standing there. Surprise quickly turns into anger however as she sees it is Elrond again. He looks at her with a mix of hope, intrigue and vulnerability on his normally hard face, but she ignores it and just turns around, running down the path again. However, soon she finds him running next to her, though struggling to keep up and looking odd while running in his formal robes.
She does not pay attention to him, and when they reach Erebor, she continues to the training pits for her boxing lesson. But there she sees Eliana standing next to the practice ring. She quickly turns around and goes to the stables. The stable master saddles her horse for her, and she rides off. The wind in her face helps her to clear her thought. She feels even more animosity towards Eliana than towards Elrond, but she does not fully understand why. Perhaps because she had been there with her and her brother, and should have taken them with her. Or maybe it had something to do with the difference between the love a woman should have for her children and the love a man should have for his children.
That thought brings her back to Thorin telling her he was going to have a child with his former consort. She had not thought of it ever since they started courting. She explores her feelings on the subject, but finds very little, except for the definite thought that she is not going to take care of the child, especially as long as it was a baby. Which makes her think that she is probably not ready for children of her own, and that she should visit a healer to prevent such a thing from happening. Or maybe talk to Thorin about it first."
When she looks around, she sees she is already quite far from Erebor, and it is almost noon. She turns the horse around, but does not urge it to go fast, thankfull for some rest and peace to think. But then she sees Thorin, Fili, Kili, Dwalin and, to her surprise, Elrond riding up to her, looking very worried, and she stops. When they are almost next to her, Thorin jumps of his horse and runs to her.
"Where have you been?! Has anything happened?"
She looks surprised. "I was riding, why should anything have happened?"
Thorin sighs deeply in relief. "Thank Mahal! Eliana told me you ran away from the practice ring when you saw her, and we couldn't find you anywhere, untill the stablemaster told me that you took one of the horses but did not bring an escort."
"I did not run away." She sneers. "I just decided to go riding instead of boxing."
Thorin smirks a bit and gets on his pony. "Lead on then, show us what you got."
She looks back at him and smiles before softly kicking her horse in the flanks. The beast has gotten used to her over the years, and knows what is expected of him, and before long it is galopping onwards, leaving the others behind. An hour or so later they arrive at Erebor's stables, and she has to wait at least two minutes before the men arrive. As they do, she is standing there with a smug smile.
"Finally." Dwalin groans. "Something we don't have to hold back in."
She laughs out loud, knowing the joke to be a hidden compliment.
She walks to her room and draws a bath. She almost moans as she gets in, the warm water relaxing her overworked muscles. She lies still for about 15 minutes, but then realises she is quite hungry. She gets out of the bath and rings for her handmaidens to come and dress her. She picks a black dress with a tight bodess and a flaring skirt, not much unlike her other dresses, but with a little bigger clevage, only barely suitable for wearing during daytime. Her hair is done in a tight updo, but she leaves her make-up casual, not wanting to look as if she is going to a ball or something. Lastly, she puts her diamond earrings in and puts her ring on, and then she walks to the dining hall, accompanied by her handmaidens. They take a table together, as Emma is not sure if Thorin is coming, and are soon joined by Jeron. They talk about everything that has happened, causing the maidens and Jeron to gasp for air.
Their talk is interrupted as the food is served and Fili and Kili join their table.
"Well, auntie, that was some really fine riding this morning."
"Whatever you do, Kili, never, ever, call me auntie or anything in that direction."
He laughs as he stuffs a roll in his mouth.
"Is uncle not here?' Fili asks.
"I have no idea where he is. Did you need him for something special?"
"Not really, just some business."
"I have to see him myself later, I will tell him you were looking for him."
"Emma, does it bother you they are here?' Kili asks.
"Who?' Emma asks back to win time.
"Your, eeh, the elves."
"It is not my problem, they are Thorin's guests. I only have to see one of them for an hour per day, and he can not talk to me."
"But certainly you must have a feeling about it?" Jeron insists.
"Yes, lets make lunch a session in which we all share our feelings, would that not be really nice?" Emma says sarcastically.
"Come on, there has to be something of a feeling under that cold shell of yours." Jalila laughs.
Emma sighs. "I am being observed literally all day long. I can not do anything without someone looking what I do or what I am interested in. And then everyone starts to pretend they like what I like. This morning, Elrond ran with me, in his ceremonial robes. And then, Thorin pretended to like horse racing. He hates horses!"
They all laugh.
"Just stay in your rooms for a couple of days." Fili suggests.
"Besides that it would drive me crazy, I don't even get peace in there. There is either someone coming to visit to talk to me, or your uncle keeps staring at me and asking me how I'm doing."
"Ugh, I really don't want to know that about my uncle!" Kili says, pretending to vomit.
"That's not what I mean!" Emma squeeks out as her face turns red and the others laugh.
"You know what, let us take you out tonight. To an inn or something. It will take your mind of things."Fili says, while the others nod.
"That would be fun." Emma says hesitantly. "But how will you get your uncle to agree?"
"I won't, you will. Just ask him, he won't say no in fear of you getting upset again."
"Now you make me out to be a spoiled brat who gets temper tantrums every five minutes!"
"No, not tantrums. You just walk away from every coversation you don't like, and you did break lord Elrond's nose." Kili jokes.
Emma waves her hand. "All completely reasonable given the circumstances. I will go ask if my brother will also come. I have not seen him since yesterday. I don't even think he left his rooms."
"Tonight then, be ready at nine, and don't look too royal if you don't want to be observed al evening."
Emma laughs and walks to Melo's room. She knocks softly, and enters as she hears him.
**"Nadad, what are you doing, hiding in your rooms?"**
He gets up from the bed.** "I just don't feel like being stared at all the time, and I had to write to my generals."**
**"I have just the thing for you then! We're going to an inn tonight, just Fili, Kili, my handmaidens, Jeron, you and me."**
He smiles. **"You will never get Thorin to agree."**
**"If he does, will you come?"**
** "I will, of course. Someone has to look after my baby sister." **
She makes a face at him. ** "I will go and arrange it right now, be sure to be ready at nine." **
She almost runs to her rooms, hoping to find Thorin there. She walks into the bedroom and sees he is changing into some fresh clothes. She gives him a soft kiss on his cheek and sits on the bed, watching him take his clothes off.
"Thorin?' she says in her sweetest voice, playing with her hair.
"Yes?"
"Would you mind terribly if I go out with your nephews, my brother, my handmaidens and Jeron tonight?"
He swiftly turns around. "Go out where?"
"Just for a drink, to get away from everyone here."
"From me?"
"Of course not from you, you know what I mean."
"Then why exactly am I not invited?"
"You know what happens if you go somewhere, everyone just stares at you."
He grins, but then looks serious again.
"I would rather you not."
"Do you not trust me, or do you think I am still a little child?"
"Of course not!" he says, a little bit of panic in his voice. "On second thought, it might actually be a good idea. But take some protection with you."
"A knife or something, you mean?"
"No, a Dwalin."
Emma thinks about it. Dwalin is not too bad, more of an older brother than a guard.
"Sure, will you ask him for me?"
Thorin nods slowly, not sure how he actually said yes to her.
Emma smiles and gives him another kiss, before walking back to the dininghall where everyone is waiting for her. As they see her smug smile, they start cheering.
"We do have to take Dwalin though."
"Dwalin? I wonder if uncle is not in his right mind from riding that horse so fast or something! Dwalin drinks more than all of us together!"
"Where are you two taking us then?' Emma asks Fili and Kili.
They start explaining and making plans for the evening.
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In the meantime, Thorin walks over to the armoury to talk to Dwalin. As he explains the situation, Dwalin starts laughing. "Was she naked when she asked."
"No."
Was there a promiss of nakedness?"
"No."
"A hope for nakedness?"
"Not really."
"Then how did she get you to say yes?!" he is laughing quite hard now.
"I do not actually know." Thorin has to admit. "But now that I have said yes, I can not back down."
"Don't worry, I will accompany them."
"Without getting drunk yourself!"
"Aye, without me getting drunk."
"Alright then. Now come on, we have a counsel meeting."
Dwain sighs. Counsel meetings were the most boring aspect of his job and he had been working on a way to get out of them, with little luck so far.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Their planning for the evening is interrupted as Elrond comes to stand next to Emma. Fili, Kili, Jeron and her handmaidens look up to him, but Emma just look straight ahead, so Elrond turns to Jalila.
"My lady, could you inform her highness that it is time for her first Sindarin lesson?"
Jalila nods and looks at Emma, biting her lip not to laugh at the ridiculous situation. Emma gets up and tells Jalila to join her, and together they follow Elrond to the study in his wing. There the three of them take a seat and Elrond looks expectantly at Emma. With a sweet smile she puts an hourglass on the desk and then sits back in her chair.
"May I invite her highness to start the conversation?" Elrond asks Jalila, his patience wearing thin.
Jalila turns to Emma. **"Come on, you can't just let him sit like that without initiating the conversation, at some point you will have to talk to him!"**
**"I just have to remain quiet to him for two months, after that he will be gone. And besides, I find it quite amusing to see how he is trying to be patient. I would rather like to see him lose it, it was amusing when Galadriel did."**
**"I believe that served a purpose. What may this serve?"**
**"I don't know yet, but I think it will come in handy sometime."**
"Well?" Elrond asks Jalila.
"I don't think her highness will be inclined to do so today." She answers apologetically.
"Perhaps you could remind her an agreement was made."
"I have, but the terms clearly stated that royal etiquette is to be upheld."
Elrond nods and then also sits back in his chair, observing Emma. No matter how this situation annoys him, he feels the familiar sting to his heart of love a parent has for his child, mingled with regret for all that he has missed and the anger he has ignited in her.
**"He is going to beat you at your own game."** Jalila says with a small smile. **"He will just keep looking at you until you feel uncomfortably enough and you speak to him."**
Emma closes her eyes. **"Untill then, let me enjoy the peace and quiet, will you."**
Jalila and Elrond watch her slumber for 45 minutes, the former looking rather embarrased and apologetic at the latter, untill Emma opens her eyes and sees the hourglass ran out. She gets up, Jalila and Elrond doing the same, and walks out of the room.
"I am sorry, she will come around, I am sure." Jalila says softly before also leaving the room.
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Dinner is served early, as the chef has been made aware of Emma's plans, and all that are going out quickly go to their rooms afterwards to change. Emma'handmaidens quickly dress themselves as she takes a bath, and then start dressing her.
"I think I will keep this dress on, I don't have anything else that looks less royal."
They go through her wardrobe but have to admit she is right. "Just leave your hair and make-up plain then." Jalila says.
As they are almost ready, Thorin walks in and groans as he sees her. "Really? You're wearing that?"
"Why not?"
"Because, well, it does show a lot."
"A lot of what?" she asks, deliberately being coy.
"A lot of you!"
Emma nods at her handmaidens to leave, and then looks at her husband.
"You like it if I show a lot of me…"
"Yes. But for me, not for everyone else!"
"Then console yourself with the fact that you see a lot more of me than everyone else does."
"Hmmf."
"By the way, I had never thought of this before, but I actually don't have any money."
He sighs. "I already gave it to Fili."
She gets up and slowly kisses his neck and nibbling at his earlobe. He bites his lip and looks at her with lust in his eyes.
She smiles. "Not now, I have to leave, otherwise everyone will be waiting for me."
"You are the queen, they will wait."
She smiles again and then walks out of the door, casting a glace over her shoulder.
Everyone is indeed already waiting for her, and they quickly get into two carriages which take them to Dale. Emma has put on a cloak with a hood which she puts over her head as they enter the inn, not taking it off before they sit.
"Ale all around then?" Fili asks.
"Not us."Emma says, pointing at herself and her handmaidens. "We prefer mead."
"Told you, spoiled brat!" Kili says and everyone, including Emma, laughs.
She looks around to see where Dwalin is, and sees him standing a little away from the table, watching the other inn visitors.
"Dwalin." She calls. "Will you not join us?"
"Just the one then." He says, sitting down at the table.
But one turns into many as the night passes, as it does for all of them, and at about 1, the women start dancing. All goes well, untill one of the other inn guests gathers his courage and takes Emma's hand to ask her for a dance. Within seconds he finds five men surrounding him, three of which are waring the Durin sygil and one of them a foreign sygil.
"All right, all right, no harm intended." He quickly says, holding up his hands, especially looking at Dwalin.
They smile and return to their seats, telling the innkeeper to send some ales to the man's table.
An hour or two later, they are all completely drunk, except for Dwalin, who is only a little drunk, and everyone is ready to leave. As Fili stumbles to the bar to settle the bill, he finds out that his funds are a little short for the rather large bill.
"I will send someone tomorrow to settle the rest." He says.
"I don't think so." The innkeeper says. "I have no idea who you are and little trust that someone will actually turn up tomorrow.
"My good sir, I am Fili, heir to the throne of Erebor!"
The innkeeper starts laughing. "Sure, and I am the queen of Erebor!"
"You most certainly are not, she is sitting right there." Fili slurrishly replies indignantly, pointing at Emma.
"Queens of Erebor are marked, everyone here knows that. And I don't see a mark on her."
"Emma" Fili yells at her. "Come here, this man does not belief you are the queen of Erebor!"
They all laugh and Emma gets up and walks to Fili, a little unsteady on her legs. "What may be the problem here?" she asks
"This lad here says you are the queen of Erebor, and the remainder of the bill will be paid tomorrow, but I have little faith in it."
"And what can I do about that? I don't carry money with me." She says, trying to sound at least a bit royal, but failing quite miserably as her tongue seems to have gotten a mind of it's own.
"Show your mark, and all will be well."
"Then I shall." She turns around and lifts up her hair, showing the small tattoo Dwalin has done for her.
"It is rather small, isn't it?" the innkeper says with doubt in his voice.
"Have you heard that a lot?" Emma asks him with a small smirk, evoking a roaring laugh from him.
"I still have little faith" the innkeeper says as he stops laughing.
"What elso to do then? Look, I am queen Emma, this is prince Fili, that is prince Kili, there is prince Melo, but he is not from here, and the large guy standing there is Dwalin, armoury master of Erebor. How else can I prove it?"
But then two elves get up from a hidden corner table, and for a moment Emma thinks she really drank too much, but then she realises it is indeed Elladan and Elrohir, though she has forgotten their names.
"Let us settle this bill, innkeeper. They are who they say they are, but your lack of faith is understandable."
Emma and Fili look at them a little strange, but think no more of it, unable to do so by the inebriated state of their brains. They all stumble laughingly to the carriages and nearly fall out as they exit them when they arrive at Erebor. As they walk through the halls and corridors, they keep talking and laughing, only at such a volume that most inhabitants are woken, including Thorin, who sticks his head around the door as he hears the rambunctuous group approaching.
"What in Mahal's name are you doing?" he says in a sleepy voice.
"We, uncle, are doing exactly as you told us. We are delivering your wife safely back to you." Kili grabs Emma's shoulders and pushes her to Thorin. "Here you go." He says with a satisfied smile on his face.
"OUT!" Thorin bellowes, causing them all, except Emma, to run off, laughing.
She giggles as she walks into their bedroom, and lies down on the bed. "Do you know that elves actually paid our bill tonight?" she says in blurred speach.
"Why don't you get out of your dress first."
She tries, but ends up falling off the bed as she does. He looks at her wearily, but then picks her up, takes her dress off and puts her into bed. As he goes to lie next to her, he hears a really soft snoring noise, and can't help to laugh a little bit.
Fours hours later, Emma wakes up with a terrible headache and her hair sticking to her face. She groans as she gets up and stumbles to the batroom, splashing water in her face. She puts her hair up in a bun and gets in her training clothes, pulling the hood of her vest over her head, and taking a bottle of water with her.
She drags herself to the main entrance and slowly starts jogging, barely able to move forward. After three stops, having to throw up during two of them, she finally reaches the plateau, where the sight of three elves waiting for her worsens her headache. She closes her eyes for a moment and then takes another gulp of water, preparing to start running down again.
"She is quite rude, isn't she?" One of the younger elves says loudly.
"You are right, Elladan. A thank you would have been in order."
"After all, we settled her bill last night."
"A rather large one at that."
She hides a smile, knowing what they are doing, and knowing she is better at it, but turns back to them nonetheless.
"You are right, thank you, Elladan." She says with a smug smile at Elrohir and Elrond and then actually starts running down.
"Emma, wait!" She turns back with a pained look on her face and sees Elladan running after her, followed by Elrond and Elrohir. "Are you alright?" He asks.
"Quite well, thank you. Now, if there is nothing else, I have a full program today."
"As you wish. I will see you later."
She crooks an eyebrow. "On what occasion?"
"I will be helping father with your Sindarin lessons."
Inwardly she gritts her teeth, but she does not show them her irritation. "Untill then." She says with a small nod.
Elrond looks at Emma running in the distance a little longer, and then they also start their descend along the mountain path.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Back in her bedroom, Emma lies back on the bed, waking up Thorin.
"Did you actually go for a run?" he says with a voice still thick with sleep.
"Yes, and when I finally managed to reach the plateau after being sick twice on the way up, I found Elrond and his two sons there, whom coincidently settled part of our bill last night."
He starts laughing.
"Don't laugh, my morning really sucks. I had to thank Elladan, so I would not be rude, and now he will be helping with my Sindarin lessons." She moans.
"Why is that so bad?"
"Because I had planned to spend those hours in blissfull silence, as Elrond can not adress me yet, so not actual lessons are taking place."
"So you do not tell him you speak Sindarin so you do not have to do anything for the lessons and then you just sit there while he waits for you to speak to him?!"
"No, I don't just sit there. I slumber a bit."
"Emma, come on! Do you have any idea how rude that is?!"
"Talk quietly, I am tired and I have a headache."
He looks at his wife, inwardly grinning about her behavior. But he knows this sort of thing is hardly behavior worthy of a royal.
"Come have breakfast then, it will make you feel better, so we can talk afterwards."
She turns her head to him and looks taxating.
"Come my wayward wife, and join me for breakfast."he says laughingly as he pulls her up.
"Wait, I have to change and you have to close the dress. I do not think I can wake up my handmaidens yet." She pulls a dress out of her wardrobe and takes her other clothes off.
She steps into the dress and turns her back to Thorin.
"A zipper, thank Mahal for that."
She combs her hair and puts some powder on her face, a little black on her eyelashes and a little red on her lips. As she looks in the mirror, she actually thinks she looks somewhat presentable and she walks with Thorin to the dining hall. Arriving there, she sees it is quite empty to her relief, and she sloaches down in her chair and waves at the servant to bring her some tea with a lot of sugar.
"And please also bring her highness some bacon and smoked fish." Thorin adds before the servant walks away.
"Just hearing that actually makes me nauscious."
"Trust me if I say it will help, I've been through this."
"O yes, I forgot you are old."she laughs as he looks at her slightly offended.
The servant brings her her tea, and she puts both hands around the cup, slowly taking sips. "This actually does make me feel better. I don't think I will be needing your terrible solution."
He just smiles at her as the bacon and fish are being put in front of her. "Just eat one bite and tell me if you still think it does not help."
She does, and does feel better. He raises his eyebrow.
"Fine, you were right, are you happy now?"
"Yes, because now we can talk about what happened last night and during your lesson."
"Acting like a dad again, Thorin, and I already have enough of those."
"So now you are getting a sense of humor about this whole thing?! Seriously, tell me what happened, I am just interested."
"We drank, we talked, we laughed, we danced a bit and then we went home."
"But how come those elves needed to pay your bill?'
"Fili did not have enough money, and.."
"How did he not have enough money, I practically gave him enough to buy the whole inn?"
"Because women with taste don't drink ale, but mead."
"Right."
"And then the innkeeper did not believe we were royals of Erebor. I believe I even showed him my tattoo, so he wouldn't take our word that we would come back today to pay the rest."
"He what?!" Thorin almost yells out.
"He didn't believe us, but then Elrond's sons paid and there was no problem. By the way, can you give me some money, I will bring it to them later."
"I will, but first: he saw your mark and didn't want to let you pay later?"
"Yes, that's what I said, why is it such a problem?"
"Because that mark is supposed to get you anything you want, no questions asked and the bill sent to our treasury."
"It was late, we were drunk, who cares?"
"It is part of treaty made with Dale, I will talk to Bard about it."
"Don't make a big deal about it."
"And what about the next time you need something, are you supposed to walk around with a bag of money or something."
"Is something wrong with that?"
"Yes, it is beneath our dignity. Royal ladies don't carry money with them."
"Fine, next time I will let everyone know I am the queen of Erebor. Will that make you stop yelling now?"
"I will take that money to Elrond's sons."
"Don't bother, I will do it myself."
Thorin looks at her surprised, but does not say anything about it. "Pick it up with Balin from the treasury, and make sure you wear another dress, there's bacon on this one."
She looks down and sighs.
"This is actually nice, having breakfast together. We should do it more often." He says.
"We do it all the time, only other people are also present."
"I meant with the two of us."
"Then you should order it in bed and bolt the door. That is the only way to not be disturbed around here."
"That might actually be a good idea." He says with a lustfull look at her.
She laughs and gets up, stroking his cheek. "It is a good idea, we need to talk about some things."
He frowns. "Should I be worried?"
"Not at all."
When she enters her room, she rings for her handmaidens, but she needs to repeat it three more times before Shayna drags herself into the room.
**"I'm really sorry, my lady. I'm not feeling so well."**
**"Have some tea with a lot of sugar and some bacon then. But first, make me presentable, I have to pay back those elves."**
**"How did you find them so quickly."**
**"They are Elrond's sons, did you not notice that?"** Emma says with a sour face.
Shayna laughs, but then holds her head. **"When will this pounding stop?!"** She moans.
**"Once you have gotten me ready."** Emma says dryly, but also a bit impatiently.
Half an hour later, Emma walks out of the room and Shana goes back to bed.
Emma knocks on he door of Balin's study and enters.
"Aaaah, Emma, how surprising to see you in such a good condition."
"The story of my whereabouts last night has spread quickly, I hear."
"More like you and your friends announcing your whereabouts last night. To most of Erebor. As it was happening."
"I'm sorry Balin."
"Don't be, I never was when I was young."
She smiles.
"So you are here to pick up some gold, I have been informed."
"Yes."
"And how much?"
"Thirty, I think."
"Thirty?! What did you drink?!"
"A lot, as thirty is only about half of the bill."
Balin laughs. "Just wait here, I'll get it."
Five minutes later he returns and calls for a servant.
"Please carry that for her highness." Balin says as the servant enters, and he hands him the bag.
"I'm sure that won't be necessary, Balin."
"Remember dear, royalty, so no carrying money around."
She laughs and gets up.
"Are you going to bring it yourself?"
"Yes."
"To lord Elrond's chambers?"
"I believe that is where his sons are right now."
"That's nice."
"If you think it is so nice, you go bring it then."
"That would take the nice part away." He winks
"Thank you, Balin." She says sarcastically
"My pleasure, dear."
She slowly walks to Elrond's rooms, the servant following her. As she stands in front of the door, she takes a deep breath and knocks. Elladan opens the door.
"Goodmorning, I eeeh, came to pay you back for last night."
"Please, come in."
"I'm sure that is not necessary."
"By all means, do. We can start with your lesson."
"Right" she says with a sigh as she walks into the antechamber, the servant following her.
She looks around and sees the rooms have the same lay out as hers, only smaller. "Just put it there." She says to the servant and points to the table. "Thank you."
He bows and leaves the room.
"Come along then." He says, and she follows him into the sitting room, where Elrond and Elrohir are seated on the sofas and having tea. She also takes a seat and looks around to find a servant, but appearantely there are none, so she just leaves the tea for what it is and starts looking around. She sees the guest wing is better decorated than the royal chambers and makes a mental notice for herself to redecorate Thorin and hers chambers.
Her ponderings about wallcolors are disturbed by the elves talking in Sindarin together, thinking she does not understand them, about how to proceed from here. Consensus amongst them would be that Elladan just takes care of the lesson for today, and he walks over to her, handing her a book.
"Shall we start?"
"Start? With what?"
Elladan actually looks confused now. "Eeeeh, your lesson…"
She takes out the hourglass again and puts it on the small, elegant table standing next to the sofa she is sitting on. "O yes, my lesson. The same as yesterday, I presume?"
"We..eeeh…can build on that." Elladan says, helplessly looking back at his father and brother.
"Great!" Emma says, and she leans back on the sofa and closes her eyes.
"What are you doing?" Elladan says sharply.
"Building on the lesson of yesterday. The added comfort of the sofa brings a whole new dimension to it." She murmers.
Elladan fumes, but does not say anything. Instead, he walks back to his father and brother.
~" Is she always this disrespectfull?"~ He asks his father in an annoyed tone.
~" I think she might need to warm up to me a little more still. I can understand, given the circumstances, she might not feel very inclined to really commit to learning about the elven ways."~
~" You're just trying to find excuses for her inexcusable behavior! Just admit that she is being a spoiled brat!"~
But Elrond and Elrohir stand up for her, trying to come up with possible reasons and solutions for her behavior for the next 50 minutes, untill Elrohir says:
~"Perhaps she can not learn very well, or she can't read at all, and she is trying to hide it with a mask of indifference."~
This is too much for Emma, whom has been pretending to be asleep to listen to their conversation but now bursts out in laughter, startling the elves.
~" Really? You think I can not read and therefore I feign disinterest?! Would that be on the count that I am stupid or just that dwarves do not have enough interest in their daughters and wives to teach them anything?"~
~" You…eeeh…you speak Sindarin?!"~ Elladan utters with difficulty.
~"Then why did you not say anything, so we could do something more interesting?"~ Elrohir mutters.
~"Something more interesting? Read that poetry?" She says while pointing at a stack of books. ~"I have already read them all. Learn to shoot a bow? I can already do it. Elven war strategies? I already studied them. The only elven thing I might not be able to do is build a treehouse, but I have not enjoyed climbing trees since I was 25. Perhaps you can teach me how to gracefully pull off a perfect look of disdain and arrogance. You know, we could get out some mirrors and all stare at them untill I know the exact degree to which to crook my eyebrow."~ Sarcasm is dripping off her tone, and she is probably sporting the facial expression she just described, but she cares little.
~" We…eeeh…we're sorry. But you have been acting disrespectfull!"~ Elladan says.
Emma looks at the hourglass and sees that the hour has passed, so she gets up. ~"Please, allow me to teach you something. Respect is something you earn, not something that is just handed to you simply because you exist. And certainly not something you can get by blackmailing people into signing a contract."~
And with that, she leaves the sitting room, walking back to her chambers. She is fuming with rage, over the stupid assumptions they made regarding her and their conceided attitude. But she also feels something else, some form of regret or compasion, she can not quite make it out. Although his sons were rather annoying, Elrond did stand up for her, and he looked rather disappointed and rejected when she left his chambers after exactly an hour. Thinking of it only makes the feeling worse, makes it swell in her chest, and it causes her to feel overwhelmed and barely able to breath.
"Emma, are you alright?"
Thorin walks out of the bathroom and sees his wife standing in the middle of the room, breathing strangely and looking rather pale.
"No, just fine, I think I need to have a nap or something."she says, and lies down on the bed.
He lies next to her, looking at her closely. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Quite sure."
"Shall I get a healer?"
"If you do that everytime I'm tired, you will have to get him a room next to ours." She says sarcastically.
"Sleep then. I have a counsel meeting, I will check up on you after. Shall I have lunch send here?"
"I'm not hungry."
When Thorin leaves, she pulls the covers over herself and tries to sleep. But her thoughts are racing and Elrond's face keeps popping back up in her head. She tries to push it away, but as Elrond himself, it refuses to leave.
She finally falls asleep, but is awoken by a cold hand on her head. She opens her eyes and sees Thorin looking at her with worry in his eyes.
"How are you feeling?"
"Tired."
"I am going to get a healer, you have a raging fever!"
"I just drank too much."
"Drinking does not give you a fever. Don't move, I will be right back."
She wants to get up, but can't find the strength and falls into a slumber again. Not much later, Thorin comes back, accompanied by Oin.
Oin puts his hand on her head and nods."Yes, definitely a fever. How are you feeling, dear?"
"Tired."
"Right, I need to ask you some questions. Have you ever felt like this before?"
"Look, I just drank a little too much and didn't sleep enough. Everything is fine, really."
"Drinking does not cause a fever. So have you ever felt like this?"
"No."
"Were you sick a lot before you came here?"
"No, I am rarely sick."
"When did you last bleed?"
Emma feels her head turning bright red. "I hardly think…" She murmers.
"I am sorry if this embarasses you, but it is important."
She avoids looking at either Oin or Thorin. "two and a half weeks before the wedding." She whispers.
"And is your cycle regular?"
She almost can't breath anymore from shame, so she just nods, praying this is the last question regarding this subject. But no such luck.
"Would you say you bleed heavily?"
She shakes her head, looking out of the window now.
"And do your bleeds cause you pain or discomfort?"
She shakes her head again.
"Have you two layn together often?"
Thorin starts caughing. "What does that have to do anything with my wife having a fever?!"
"I am trying to determine the chance that she is pregnant."
Both Thorin and Emma jerk their heads to Oin. "Three times." Thorin says while Emma blushes heavily.
Oin feels Emma's throat and listens to her heart.
"I think it is some kind of a virus or something. Just rest and drink a lot, I will send something for the fever."
He gets up and leaves the room. Emma keeps staring out of the window and Thorin comes to sit next to her, pushing her down until she is lying on her back and then lies next to her.
"Did it really make you feel uncomfortable?" he asks.
"No, I think it is a rather delightful topic to discuss, but I prefer to keep it for agreement negotiations and such." She says sarcastically.
He chuckles and presses a kiss on her forehead. "Sleep now, you will feel better after."
When she wakes up, she finds Thorin sleeping next to her and the sun rising. She must have slept all afternoon and night. She gets up but feels her legs are weak. She drags herself to the bathroom and washes up, and puts her training clothes on.
When she starts her run, it feels like her legs are made of jelly and as heavy as stone, and she finds it extemely difficult to even put one foot in front of the other. After a mere 10 minutes she has to sit down, unable to go further or back. She sits next to the mountain path for a while, breathing heavily, and then sees Elladan and Elrohir walking up to her.
"We thought you were never coming, after…eeeh..well after yesterday."
She can only wave er hand in a –never-mind motion at them.
"Are you alright?" Elladan says worriedly while kneeling next to her.
"I will be, I just need to sit for a bit." She grunts at him, annoyed that they are there, again.
He puts his hand on her forehead, but she has no strength to move her head away from him.
"You have a fever, you should be in bed."
"And you should mind your own business."
He chuckles. "Come on, let me bring you back."
"I am not a child, I do not need someone to bring me back to my own rooms!"
"I know, just do it as a favor to us."
They both offer their arm and she reluctantly accepts, leaning heavily on them to get up. Slowly they walk back.
When they reach the royal chambers after quite some time and she opens the door she wants to say something, but is interrupted by Thorin.
"Please do not tell me you actually went for a run!?"
"I tried."
"Oin told you to rest!"
"I shall do so now. Thank you for your help." She says, turning back to Elladan and Elrohir.
As she walks to the bedroom, they look at her before nodding at Thorin and walking away.
Thorin goes to see how Emma is doing, and finds her asleep.
Throughout the whole day, people keep coming to her rooms to see how she is, the chef even stops by himself to bring soup, but Thorin has to disappoint them all because Emma is sleeping, and she continues to do so all day and all night.
The next morning Thorin wakes up and feels her forehead. The fever seems to have gone, and he smiles when he looks at his peacefully sleeping wife. She slowly opens her eyes and smiles back at him.
"What time is it?"
"Morning."
"That's strange, I feel like I have slept for hours."
"You did. You slept all day and all night."
"Really?'
"Yes. Are you feeling better?"
"I think I am."
"Would you like to have breakfast together?"
She smiles and nods, and he orders the servants to bring breakfast. They bring the trays a little later, and Emma and Thorin lie on the bed while eating.
'Thorin?"
"Hmm."
"How is your—your consort?"
His head jerks up. "Ahum, eeeh, fine."
"And the child?"
"Yes, yes, fine." He says, looking at the ceiling.
"You do know that I am trying to ask which arrangements you will make them, don't you? And that we will have to discuss the topic sometime?"
"You're right." He sighs. "I have given her an appartment here in Erebor and a monthly allowance. I would—I would…."
"You would like your child to be close?"
"Yes." He says, almost embarrased.
"I should hate for you to think I have a problem with that."
He looks at her. "You don't? Have a problem with it, I mean."
"No, I don't. As long as you manage to avoid embarrasing situations."
"I don't think they will be part of court life, unless she marries a noble or something and that will most likely not happen, so you will probably never see her."
"And do you want more children?"
"Of course!"
"You see, I don't think I want children right now. In a couple of years I would love to have children of course, just not yet."
He takes her jaw in his hand. "Then we will wait. The healer will have something for it, I will set up an appointment."
She smiles, happy to have cleared up everything with a lot less problems than she had expected.
"Was this what you wanted to talk to me about?"
She nods.
"Great then, shall we have a bath?"
She gets up and walks to the bathroom, taking her clothes of, as does he.
"How are things going with your lessons with Elrond?" he asks as she is lying with her back against his chest, softly stroking his muscular thigh with her thumb.
She shrugs. "I only had two."
"And is your Sindarin improving?"
"You know very well that I speak Sindarin already."
"So you just pretend to know nothing?"
"No. As he can't speak to me yet, the first lesson I said nothing and he spoke with Jalila. And the second lesson was mostly about Elrond, Elldan and Elrohir taking about why I would pretend not to be interested in learning, and them coming to the conclusion that I either can not learn or I can not read."
Thorin laugh roars through the bathroom, echooing of the walls.
"Please tell me you said something about it."
"Yes, it was quite funny actually. I have never seen elves so shocked."
"And now what?"
"No idea. I guess I will see later today."
"I mean about Elrond. Are you ever going to speak to him?"
"I don't know. I actually feel bad about disappointing him every time, but I could use it as a bargaining chip."
"You have to remember that he probably feels really different about this than you do, and it would be heartless to use his feelings."
Emma turns around. "I think leaving your child behind is heartless." She says with defiance in her voice.
Instead of argueing about this with her, he choses a much nicer way to spend his morning and pulls her on his lap and starts kissing her. After initial reluctance, she passionately kisses him back, moving softly in the rhytm of his gyrating hips, rubbing her sex against his member as she does. His fingers go to her clit and slowly start circling it. She moans and runs her hand over his chest, moving her hips faster. He stops her movements for a moment and slowly lowers her on to his member, letting him enter all the way. He groans and lies back a little bit, grasping her ass with one hand and circing her clit with the other. But it becomes clear she has no idea what to do, so he lifts her a little bit and starts thrusting upwards.
The water makes moving a lot easier, and before long she starts he hears her soft moans as her pleasure coming rises, so he leans her back, the water carrying her weight.
"Yes, faster!" She moans
He immediately does as she asks, water splashing over the sides of the bath. She moans harder and then reaches her peak, only held up by his arm around her. He keeps thrusting into her and then also comes, groaning out her name. She lies down on his chest, her fingers going through his chesthair.
"We have messed up the whole bathroom." She murmers.
"Thank Mahal we have servants." He agrees.
'" I don't think I got much cleaner."
"I love when you're dirty." He says with a little wink.
She laughs and gets of his lap, taking a spunge and washing herself while he watches. When she is done, he helps her out of the bath and they dry themselves off. She waits untill he is dressed and then rings for her handmaidens to dress her. She puts her leather pants and black woolen top on herself, but asks her maidens to do her hair and make up. As they do, Thorin is observing her, musing about the exotic yet familiar way she looks. But then she gets up and walks to the door.
"What are you going to do this morning?" he asks her.
"Watch the practice for a bit."
"Just watching?"
"Yes, I am not quite ready to take a blow to my head yet."
He walks her to the practice hall, but has to leave to attend counsel. Emma sits on one of the benches and looks around to see which warriors are training. To her surprise she sees Elrond and Dwalin training together, and she moves to a bench closer to the pit they are using. Even though they are just training, their fight is highly entertaining. Dwalin rarely finds an opponent in Erebor to match his skills, being the veteraned fighter he is and Thorin not practicing often anymore, but Elrond demands all of his skill. Looking at the elf lord, one might suspect him to be more of a politician than a warrior, but nothing is less true. He wields his sword in such a way Emma has never seen before, and for a while she can only look at the way he seems to effortlessly fly through the pit, attacking much more than he has to defend.
She has to tear her gaze away from the training when Elladan and Elrohir come to sit on either side of her.
"Feeling better?"
"Hmmm."
"Have you already thought of what you want to do in your next lesson?"
"If you are speaking about the lesson your father is forcing me to follow, I don't have to think of anything; I am perfectly content with catching up with a bit of sleep for an hour."
"It could be a lot more interesting for you if you told us what you like, instead of pretending you know nothing."
Emma grinns a bit, still amused with herself.
"Come on, there has to be something you like." Elladan presses.
Emma hesitates for a moment and looks at Elrond and Dwalin training. "I would like to learn that." She says a bit shyly.
Elladan and Elrohir turn their heads in the direction Emma is looking, and see their father and Dwalin. They start smirking. "You can't learn that! Father has tried to teach us for over 500 years, but we did not even get near his level of accomplishment! It is a gift, not something you learn." Elladan loudly exclaims laughingly.
"Fine. You think of something then." Emma says while she gets up and walks out, not listening to the twin's trying to call her back.
Elrond mindlessly blocked Dwalin's attack as he saw Emma walking out of the hall, looking rather crossed, and he beckoned his sons to come to him.
"What was that about?"
"We tried to find out what Emma would like to do for her lessons, and she said she wanted to learn to fight like you. But I am afraid she got upset when we told her she couldn't do it." Elrohir says.
Behind them, Dwalin bursts out in loud laughter and they turn to him.
"You actually said to Emma she can not do something?!" he laughs and shakes his head. "Big chance she will be able to do it tomorrow, and better than you!"
When they elves look at him a little reproachfull, he shrugs his shoulders. "What? Servants talk and I have heard what happened during her lessons. You underestimate her greatly, I mean thinking she can not read, seriously?! She might look like a naive, tiny girl, but she has wits, not to mention a lot of determination."
Elladan and Elrohir shift uncomfortably on their feet, but Elrond frowns at Dwalin.
"It wasn't an outrageous assumption, she actually refused to talk to me and then went to sleep."
This caused Dwalin to actually double over in laughter, but he quickly composes himself, biting his lip to hold back his laughter, when he sees Thorin standing next to the pit.
"Swordfighting like an elf?" Thorin asks to no one specific.
"Yes." Elrond says, with a really small, almost invisible, proud smile on his lips.
"And you told her she could not do it?" Thorin asks, now turning to Elladan.
"Yes."
"Well, this will be interesting." Thorin muses, and he walks away, back to the counselmeeting that was delayed.
Now that Thorin has left, Dwalin starts grinning again. "Please, let me be present for the first lesson, it will be priceless!" he laughingly begs Elrond.
"Why? Why would it be priceless?"
"The priceless part would be her being frustrated that she can not do so well as she wants and then taking it out on poor Jeron afterwards to get rid of her frustration."
The elves look at him confused, not knowing what exactly he is talking about.
"Jeron? Her boxingtrainer? She has been training with him for years, and he can not teach her anything more, so now it is just a way to work out her temper I guess."
"And the rest of her sports, also for anger management?" Elrond asks curiously.
"Nah. Running for condition, shooting for concentration and riding to clear her head."
"How do you know so much about her, you have not known her for very long, right?"
"I was there when she accompanied us for part of the quest, and I have known Thorin for a very long time, so I have heard enough about her. And of course we often see eachother here."
"Part of the quest?" Elrond asks.
Dwalin clears his throat, knowing he has said something he shouldn't have. "Yes..eeeh..ahum…eeeh…you should ask her about that, I…eeeh….have something to do now, bye." And he quickly walks out of the practice hall, leaving the puzzled elves before they can say anything else.