The rest of the day Elrond actually thinks about giving Emma swordfighting lessons. There is a chance she might actually talk to him if he does, but she might also get frustrated and upset. But then, teaching her would take more than two months, perhaps leading to an extended stay. He weighs his options, chosing one but then changing his mind and back. In the end, he decides to see what she can do before making a final decision.
"Elrohir, go to the armoury and ask for four bows and some arrows, we're going riding."
"I thought it was time for Emma's lesson."
"This is her lesson. I will see what she can do before actually asking her if she wants to practice with swords."
Elrohir crooks an eyebrow but says nothing and walks out to fetch bows, arrows and Emma. A couple of minutes later he returns with her, still dressed in her training clothes. Elronds calls for Elladan, telling him they will go to the edge of the forrest to practice their shooting while riding.
Emma squints her eyes and sighs deeply, deciding whether she should say anything or not.
After watching the elves pack up everything they need for a while, she says: "We can not shoot at the edge of the forrest. There are alotted times for bow practice, to prevent anyone from getting injured by a stray arrow and now is not an alotted time. It is only once a week."
Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir al look up at Emma, who has finally spoken to Elrond, but say nothing and act like it is the most normal thing in the world.
"You're the queen, make it an alotted time." Elladan says.
Emma shakes her head. "There are hunting parties going on, and I'm not going to be the one to scare away their prey."
"And when is the next alotted time?" Elrond asks
"In five days." She answers dryly. "If you want to go shooting, you'll have to go further, to the moorlands, and shoot at the bushes or put up some targets. Or the indoor range of course."
"The moorlands are more than half an hour away." Elrohir says tentatively.
Emma nods. "They are."
Elrond sees where the conversation is going, and he does not want her to back out. "Let us get the horses then." He says.
Together they walk to the stables, where the stablemaster hurries to get Emma's horse while his assistants get horses for Elrond, Elldan and Elrohir. When the animals are saddled up and every part is adjusted to the elves' height, they take off.
"Is that your own horse, Emma?" Elrond asks her when they are riding in a moderately fast pace to the moorlands.
"It is." She answers cautiously.
"I thought dwarves prefered ponies."
"Most do."
"But you don't?"
"No."
"Why?"
"They go too slow and are not suitable for battle. They are too meek and run off when confronted with too much noise or the smell of blood."
"And you need a battle horse?" Elrond asks, without a trace of sarcasm in his voice, only interest.
Emma looks at him, trying to find out if he is actually interested or making fun of her. But as his face matches his tone, she shrugs. "You can steer warhorses with just your legs, with ponies that would be impossible, so you can't shoot a bow while riding a pony. Melo got it for me, because of it's speed and stamina. And it came in handy on the journey and after."
"After?"
"The battle."
"You were at the battle against the orcs?"Elrond says with disbelief in his voice.
"Is that so hard to belief?" she says in a defensive tone.
"No, no! I just didn't see you coming out of Erebor with Thorin and the rest of the company."
"I was..eee…let's say undercover. But what were you doing there?"
"When we heard of Thorin's endeavour and your role in it, we expected to see you in Rivendell. But when you weren't there and everyone refused to answer our questions regarding your absense or said you hadn't even joined in the first place, we rode out to Erebor with a small army in the hopes of finding you there."
"To intercept me and drag me to Rivendell, no doubt." She says dryly.
"Yes." Elrond admits.
None of them says anything for a while, letting his words linger between them. But then Elrond looks at her again.
"What did you feel, at the battle I mean."
Emma has no idea how she got into this situation. She did not plan to talk to him, especially not about Thorin's journey, but something in him makes she can not be as cold as she normally is. She finds it both annoying and familiar. Talking to him is so easy.
"I wasn't with the main force, but it was both dark and liberating."
"Liberating?"
"I did what I promissed to do, and more than that, so I felt liberated."
"Everyone is very evasive regarding your role in the quest and the battle, and I have no idea why. Will you tell me?"
"It is a long story."
"On the way back then?"
"I am not a good storyteller. Someone else would be able to gve you much more interesting account."
"But they can not tell me what you did, what ou felt. Will you tell me?"
She rubs the nape of her neck and then look at him, almost taxating. "Perhaps."
A few moment later they arrive at the edges of the moorlands and Elladan and Elrohir look around. "We can make it work here. Emma, here's your bow." Elladan says while throwing the bow at her.
She catches it and asks him what the targets are.
"Why don't you shoot at that tree there."
"That tree is 50 foot away, Elladan."
"Is that too far?"
She squints her eyes. "If I wanted to stand still and shoot at objects that are 50 foot away, I could have stayed in Erebor and use the range."
"Alright, I will stack some stones along a course." He says with a grin and both him and Elrohir ride out, intermittantly stopping to stack some stones.
Emma and Elrond wait, her looking intendly how often Elladan and Elrohir stop and where, so she knows how many targets there are and where. After a quarter hour or so, Elladan and Elrohir seem to be satisfied with the course they have set and ride back to Elrond and Emma.
"Well go on then, show us what you got." Elladan says with a smug smile.
Emma ignores his arrogance and looks at the sky and the trees to see the direction and force of the wind. Then she says something to her horse and the animal galops off. She steers him with her legs and pulls an arrow out of the quiver on her back. She lies it on her bow, pulls back and aims at the first target, correcting for her movements. She shoots the stones off of eachother, and continues, doing the same for the next targets.
Elrond is observing her intendly. "Your smugness seems to have no foundation, son." He says to Elladan without taking his eyes off Emma.
"As if you believed she could actually shoot a bow, much less a pile of rocks while riding."
"I was polite enough to not show my doubt."
Elladan nods sourly, but says no more.
When she has hit all the targets, Emma rides back to the waiting elves, steering her horse next to them.
"I have nothing to add." Elrond says. "If there wasn't so much animosity between Thranduil and Thorin I would suggest you train with Legolas."
"Aaah, yes, that funny business with those jewels. But I actually like Thranduil, he's nice."
All three elves look at her in surpise. "Thranduil? Nice? How so?.
Emma shrugs."Just a feeling."
"So you would train with Legolas if he agrees?" Elrond says.
Emma's face hardens a bit. "Of course not, Thorin can't stand him and you know that very well."
The elves smile, thinking of the altercations between Thorin and Legolas and the remarks Legolas has made about Thorin. "Come on, let's ride some more." Elrond says, softly kicking his horse to get it moving.
With a small detour they start riding back to Erebor, Elrond riding next to Emma.
"So, the journey."
"One time, and no nagging about it afterwards and especially not telling it to Melo!" She warns him.
He nods, so she starts.
"I joined, amongst other reasons, to get away from home and see something of the world. But after a week Thorin and I got into an…eeeh….altrication, and I left. But I did sign a contract stating that I would help them get the Arkenstone."
"Arkenstone?"
"You know, that really shiny stone mounted into Thorin's throne. It signifies his right to rule and binds all other dwarf clans to him. Anyway, I basically promissed to do my utmost best to steal the thing for Thorin, but leaving the company would not be doing that. So instead of riding with them, I rode to Erebor by myself with my guard, actually making better time than the company. There, I sent the guard away and snuck in. The Arkenstone was easily found, but I accidentaly woke up the dragon."
"i would imagine it was accidental." Elrond mutters.
"Do you want to hear the rest or not?" Emma says sternly.
Taking his silence as a 'yes' she continues. "So then that hypocritical beast began moving around and screaming about theft and what not, chasing me through the corridors, ripping open my leg. Luckily he decided to take his vengeance out on Laketown, where Bard shot him down. But my leg was really hurting, and I could not ride back home. So I put the Arkenstone in the entrance hall and hid in a nearby tower. But then, two days later or something, orcs were moving into the tower, and I was effectively trapped in a small attick on top of the tower."
"Did they not smell you?" Elrohir asks curiously, not ashamed for evesdropping on the conversation.
"I traveled from a little before Rivendell to Erebor, I smelled like orc."Emma answers, annoyed by the interruption. " Anyway, where was I? O yes, so I was sitting in this attick, suddenly seeing Bard and Thranduil and their armies moving in on Erebor, where the company had already found the Arkenstone and blocked the entrance. Shortly after Dain's army came down from the hill, and I was secretly glad not to be in Erebor, but surrounded by orcs in an attick. But then the orcs started attacking from the mountains, and after a long while Thorin and his men also joined to fight, Thorin, Dwalin, Fili and Kili coming towards the tower I was in. I could not warn them, as I would give myself away, but then the big, pale one snatched Fili, whom was checking the tower, and held him up for Thorin to watch him die. They were standing right beneath me, the pale orc holding that ghastly knife that was attached to his arm against Fili's back. Of course I could not let him die, so I jumped out of the attick and, after killing his guards, killed the pale orc. And then, when I tried to get out of the tower, some more on the stairs. But Thorin, Dwalin, Fili and Kili helped with that."
She takes a deep breath, having been breathless by the long story.
"And then?" Elrond asks.
"Then I went home to get my leg stitched up." She simply says.
"Surely you did not kill Azog the Defiler by yourself." Elladan scoffs.
"Are you calling me a liar?!" Emma says sharply.
"I just mean that perhaps you have embellished your story a little bit." He says with a smug grin on his lips.
She clenches her jaw. "I did not embelish anything."
"So you say that you took something from a dragon and lived to tell the tale and then killed the mightiest orc leader we have seen in millenia?! You are not even of age yet, you did not do that by yourself!"
"You know what, I don't give a fuck if you believe me or not!" She hisses, and rides off, murmering under her breath.
Elrond and Elrohir look at Elladan with great annoyance at their faces and also ride off, trying to keep up with Emma. But her horse is used to her, and their horses are not, so they lose sight of her. They are relieved to find the stablemaster brushing off her horse when they arrive at Erebor, but do not see her anymore.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Stumping into her chambers, still terribly offended by Elladan, Emma is stopped by Thorin.
"Where have you been?!" he says angrily.
"Riding with Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir."
"You are not supposed to leave without taking guards!"
"You and Melo made me have these lessons, talk to yourself or my brother. Or Elrond for all I care, but don't annoy me with this!"
"So it did not go well?"
"They are annoying, arrogant and curious nitwits." She grunts, and walks off to the bathroom.
Five minutes later she steps into a deliciously hot bath and lets the water wash away all her irritation.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"I have never noticed the stone in your throne before walking through the throne room today, I do not recognize it as a specific type of stone, what is it?" Elladan asks Thorin.
They are sitting at the dinner table in one of the smaller halls, as very few others beside Thorin, Fili, Kili, Balin, Dwalin and Elrond and his sons are having dinner so late.
"What do you want with my Arkenstone?" Thorin replies, becoming very suspicious about the elf informing after his most prized possesion.
"Emma just told us about it being lost while we were riding. I was curious, that is all."
"Yes, without her I would not have it today." Thorin says with a satisfied smile.
"So she actually stole it from the dragon?" Elladan continues his questions, ignoring warning glances from his father and his brother.
"Aye, she did." Dwalin grinns. "Sending that nasty beast off to be shot by Bard."
"But surely she did not kill Azog?" Elladan asks, wincing when his brother kicks him under the table.
"I would not be sitting here if she didn't." Fili says, thankfullness audible in his voice.
"You mean to tell me she actually killed Azog by herself, without any help?" Elladan says in disbelief.
"She told you the story, didn't she? She told you the story and you didn't belief her! She tells you a story she hasn't even told anyone here, and you didn't belief her!" Everyone falls silent as Thorin speaks up in annoyance. "You are indeed a smug asshole!"
Thorin gets up and walks away from the dinner table in anger, ordering one of the servants to bring his dinner to his chambers.
"I warned you not to underestimate her." Dwalin says grumpily while everyone is looking reproachfull at the elves.
Balin scrapes his throat. "Around here, it is quite offensive to doubt a story one is telling about one's own actions. Especially if such a story is never told before." He says tentatively to the elves, suspecting cultural differences might cloud the matter a bit.
"We offer our sincere apologies." Elrond says with a small bow of his head, and he wants to continue eating.
But then Elladan speaks up again. "Come on! Who could believe that such a girl actually stole form a dragon and kill an orc leader?! I still think you're not telling the whole truth!"
The facial expressions of the dwarves present change from reproachfull to downright furious, but for once they do not immediately start a fight. Instead, they all get up and leave, whispering in Khuzdul to eachother.
~"Son, could you perhaps enlighten me as to why you seem to find it necessary to make enemies of our hosts, not to mention your sister?"~
Elladan lets out a mocking huff. ~"She is no elf, and therefore not my sister! You just refuse to see it. She is disrespectfull, proud and arrogant, nothing like us; nothing like me. Just an entitled, spoiled brat!"~
Elrond's hand twitches as his oldest son speaks, and he clenches his jaw in an attempts to compose himself. Slowly, he rises from his chair and walks away from his sons to refrain from saying anything he might regret later.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
When he walks into the royal chambers, a servant carrying his dinner following him and places the tray on the table in the antechamber before leaving the chambers, he finds Emma sitting in the dinning room. She is reading some book in Sindarin, a language he never took the trouble of remembering after his lessons when he was young so he does not have a single clue what is is about, and making notes in it. He stands in the doorway for a bit, watching her. Though she is normally always dressed well, even her training outfit is matched and flattering, now she only seems to wear a night gown and robe and red, thick woolen socks. He faintly smiles when she bites her lip, presumably thinking of something difficult. She looks like the young woman she is, and not the responsability laden queen she has to be.
But then she looks up and notices him watching her, and a blush creeps over her cheeks, which only reddens as she looks at her socks and quickly tries to take them off.
"If you are doing that for my sake, by all means: keep them on." He chuckles and he sees her struggling with the comfortable but perhaps not very flattering footwear.
She also smiles, though not as lighthearted as he did, but with a certain amusement nonetheless. "I thought you liked it when I take off my clothing?" she says seductively.
He steps closer, recognizing her tone as wanting, lustfull. "I do, but I do not wish for my wife to get cold."
They are standing in front of eachother now, though still about a meter apart. She pushes her robe and gown from her shoulders, and the flowy, souple material falls to the floor and pools around her feet, leaving nothing but bare skin. She steps back to the table and gracefully sits on it, her mouth opened a little bit and her breathing heavier than normal though not as heavy as his.
"Perhaps you can warm me then." She says, her dark eyes inviting him to come closer.
For a second he looks at her, admires her, and then he quickly turns around and locks the dinning room door and strides back to the table, taking his clothes of as he walks. He cups her face with both hands and kisses her passionately, a passion she matches, if not exceeds, when she softly bites his lower lip and runs her hands over his chest. He releases his grip on her jaw and cups her breasts with his hands, kneeding the soft but firm flesh and rolling her nipples between his thumb and index finger. Soft moans escape her and she wraps her legs around his waist. His member has already hardened to an almost painfull state, aroused by his wife's sudden initiative, but he needs to know if she is ready for him. He puts his hand on her sex and runs his middle finger down her slit, pressing it slowly but firmly inside of her when he reaches her entrance. She moans louder and her head falls back, giving him the exquisite opportunity to nibble at the sensitive skin of her neck while he trusts his finger in her.
"Thorin.." she pants. "please…"
That is all the encouragement he needs, and he pushes her down so that she is lying on her back on the table, her legs still wrapped around him. He pulls them from his waist and hold them up by her ankles, spreading them so that she is completely open for him. He lets go of her right leg to guide his member to her entrance, and then holds it again as he burries himself to the hilt inside of her. She moans and lifts her hips to meet his movement, and he starts thrusting in and out of her, leaving only his tip inside before slamming into her again. He pushes her legs back and apart even further, and thrusts harder, pounding into her, his rapidly tightening balls slamming against her flesh with a deliciously raunchy sound. He starts to groan as he feels her tightening around him, moaning everytime he hits that sensitive spot inside of her, louder and louder untill she almost cries out her orgasm. He lets go of her legs and bends over her, devouring her lips and holding her shoulders to push her closer everytime her pounds into her. Pleasure takes over, and his mind becomes completely consumed with the pleasure he is experiencing untill he releases himself with a loud groan, collapsing on top of her, unable to do anything but rest his head on her chest and try to regain his breath.
After several minutes he pushes himself up, kissing her swollen lips tenderly.
"I think you should wear woolen socks more often." He whispers
She laughs and runs her hands through his hair. "I should, shouldn't I?"
He stands up and pulls her in a sitting position. He picks up her night gown and gently puts it on her, followed by her dressing robe and then her socks. After that, he dresses himself again, observed by her.
"Let's eat a bit, love. I had it brought here."
"Why did you have your dinner brought here, did you know what I had in mind?"
He chuckles. "I would like to say I did, but I was completely annoyed by our elven guests, so I decided it would be much more enjoyable to share my dinner with you."
She raises an eyebrow. "What did they do?"
He stands in front of her and kisses her again. "It does not matter. Now let us enjoy dinner."
The rest of the evening they chat a bit, leaving heavier topics for what they are and just enjoy eachothers company without the usual disturbances.