Getting lots of follows, which I do enjoy but not a whole lot of comments, which I enjoy much more!
If you really do like this fanfiction, please leave a review or comment to let me know people are still interested!
And I hope you all like Morcant!
Chapter Six; Morcant, Daughter of Brennus
I had hoped for a refreshing morning to begin my day off in a better mood in preparation for apologizing to Leith and confronting my sister, but Mahal above, I awoke the exact opposite.
Not only did my pounding skull keep me up half the night, I was also abruptly woken by the crashing of some dishes out side of my door by a servant. My splitting head ache would not allow me to fall back into a restless sleep, so instead I began my morning routine an hour early. All for the better, as my body was still sluggish from the drinking the night before. It wasn't until I began to leave I found a note just on the inside of my bedroom floor. I picked it up, expecting the nearly illegible scrawl of a servant or friend requesting an early meeting, or something of the likes, but was surprised to find the neat cursive of a woman's handwriting.
My Dearest Lord, King Thorin under the Mountain,
I would like to give you my deepest apologies for my rude and petty behavior yesterday night. You are right: I am not royalty, I do not understand such customs, and I fear I never will. I was simply looking out for the well being of a friend, your sister. If you will take my apology, I thank you. If not, that is your burden to bare.
~Leith
The formality of the short note was unsurprising, and most definitely written by Leith. She had a way slipping back and forth between friend and 'subject'.
With a sigh I slipped the folded note into my pocket and began my morning duties.
"Ah, Morcant. I was wondering when I would see you." I tried to sound as friendly as possible when I bowed to Fallon's younger sister, who stood waiting for me at the banquet doors, as stiff and foreboding as her sister. They shared many resemblances, including the animal hide pants, dark skin and light tattoos. Morcant's face, on the other hand, was littered with piercings, from nose to mouth. She also had much darker, messier hair, and a lack of eyebrows which was simply unnerving.
She bowed back, surprisingly enough, and took my arm when I extended it to begin our walk. Like her sister, she towered over me. Had it not been for their beards, I would have made the assumption they were women and not Dwarrowdams.
"Well, since I already know about your family and background, Morcant, tell me about yourself, and what you would do if you were queen." I began, already dreading the answers I was bound to receive.
"If you choose me queen, you come with family." She stated firmly, glancing around the columns curiously.
"I would come with you?" Just as I thought, "I must stay here and rule my kingdom, Morcant. I would not be able to come with you."
"Why stay?" She shot back, dark eyes narrowed, "Stay in one place, get attacked easily. On move, harder to be killed."
"Valid point." I agreed, "But Erebor is a mighty fortress. When you wander, you are limited on the things you must bring, including weapons, essentials, housing, resources."
"Yes." Morcant grunted, "But our way better."
"Mmm." I hummed, an uneasily feeling sinking into my heart. I could be apologizing to Leith by now.
"Thorin." I glanced up at Morcant who stared at me with intense eyes, "Why you make announcement? Why you not find queen in mountain?"
"I wanted to meet every eligible maiden." I stated, wondering why she was asking the questions and not I.
"Have you met one?" Morcant stopped in her tracks, releasing my arm and facing me.
"Met one what? An eligible maiden?" Morcant nodded at my words, not tearing her gaze from mine, "Well, yes. I suppose I have."
"Then why you meet others," The dark haired Dwarf insisted, "If you find her? Each day time get shorter with each maiden. I see. You no like others. Or my family."
"I never said I do not like your family." I insisted, "Your customs are very different from ours and I find it odd your family would come to such an offer bearing not one, but two daughters."
"Parents no like nomad life." Morcant admitted after a moments hesitation, "But that all we know, me and siblings. Father think this would stop wandering in our hearts."
"You have lived in solitude most of your life." I murmured, enjoying our chat quite well, "Adjusting would be difficult."
"Yes." Morcant sighed, eyes dropping to the ground, "But I try. I try to convince sister to stay, but she no like mountain. Like prison, she says. Trapped like hunted animal."
"You are welcomed to stay if you find the will to." I said with a smile. Perhaps I had misjudged this family.
"You never answer question." Morcant said suddenly, "Why you no choose first one?"
"My adviser pointed out it would not be fair to the rest of the families that traveled here." I insisted, leaning comfortably against a stone pillar.
"But you get hope up for failure." Morcant pointed out, "If you already chose."
"Well." I sighed, blinking slowly. I would rather discuss this with Balin, but Morcant was the only one thus far, other than Leith, who showed any interest in what I was saying, "I have upset her."
"Then why no go fix?" Morcant growled with a shake of her head, "All men same. No thoughts."
"I-I planned to!" I exclaimed, taken back at her sudden outburst.
"Then go." Morcant motioned down the hall with an extended hand, her eyebrow-less forehead raised.
"Thank you." I held a hand out to Morcant. Once she took it, I shook firmly, "And I am sorry to have wasted your time."
"No, no waste time. Morcant made friend." She said with a grin, "And give friend sense. Beside, I no make good wife, no make good queen."
"You would be a good adviser, nonetheless." I pointed out with a half smile, "You seem aware of the world in more ways than one. I hope you stay."
"We see." She gave a bark of laughter before exiting down the hall way in large strides.
With a deep breath, I turned and began my trek to Dís'.
I placed my hand on the door nob, turning it slowly as to make no noise. I had considered knocking, but she was my sister, after all. We did not need such formalities.
I shut the door behind me, listening closely for the sound of movement, unsure whether she was home or not. Instead, I heard two voices.
"You did not need to do that, Leith." Dís spoke from her bedroom, footsteps pacing around the room, "Now he is angry with me."
"If there is anyone he is angry with, it is me." I heard Leith sigh on the other side of wall, "What was I thinking? Of all the Dwarves, I though he at least would understand what I meant."
"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself." Dís snapped, stopping her pacing momentarily, "He is a male. They do not understand us much as we, even if he thinks he does."
I could feel my eyes begin to roll as I leaned against the wall. I should not be eavesdropping, but I had already heard too much to announce my presence.
"Do you think he will take my apology?" Leith asked quietly, voice quivering, "I feel awful about the things I said to him."
"From what I have heard him say about you, Leith, he already loves you too dearly to be angry for long." Dís insisted, her bed suddenly squeaking as if she were sitting down.
I felt a knot form in my throat. Did I love her in such a manner? True, I enjoyed her company, she always had an interesting word to put in, and she would make a good queen, wife and mother, but did that mean I love her? My father once said he grew to love my mother, as they had an arranged marriage by my grandfather. Would I grow to love Leith in the same way?
"Thorin!" I jumped in shock, Leith suddenly standing just outside of the doorway, her face flushed not in embarrassment, but anger, it seemed.
Dís' head was next to appear, equally annoyed as Leith.
Before I could even open my mouth, Leith had shoved by me and was out the door, not bothering to close it behind her.
"Now you've done it." Dís murmured, shutting the wooden door, arms crossing in disappointment, "Spying, are we?"
"I did not mean to." I insisted, taking a seat at the small table resting in the center of the room, "I was coming to check-"
"That I was not with Dwalin?" Dís finished bitterly, mouth a line.
"I overreacted." I sighed after a moment, "I did not mean what I said to Leith."
"You were drunk." She finished, sitting across from me, "You thought and said foolish things."
"Aye." I agreed, "My point exactly. And I came to make amends-"
"And only made things worse." She said rather matter-of-factually.
"I know my faults. You do not need to rub them in." I mumbled to the table, eyes averted.
"Sometimes I feel I better or you will go and make the same mistakes again, brother." Dís sighed, leaning her cheek against her palm, "I care for Dwalin, but we are merely friends. Honest. Leith realized what she had accidentally insinuated and came for my advice."
"I-... I didn't realize." I whispered after a few seconds of silence, "I came willing to let you have your way. I realized I cannot lose you as well."
"You thought my choosing Dwalin was a choice between life and death?" Her eyebrows shot up, sadness wrinkling her skin, "I could never leave you behind, Thorin, despite my loneliness."
"Then I have plagued my mind with wrong thoughts." I rubbed my fingers across the rough wooden table, "What about Leith?"
"What about her?" Dís questioned, standing to retrieve a mug of some sort from a counter.
"She is not happy with me."
"That much is obvious." She snorted, taking a sip from her mug.
"Dís, please." I hit the table lightly with my fist, tired of my sisters jests.
"There is nothing to say, Thorin. She may be sour with you now, but it will pass before the next day is up. Give her space and she will calm down. I will speak to her, if that makes you feel better." Dís continued on, talking as if there were nothing the matter.
"How can you be so sure?" I pondered, feeling my stomach sink with each passing second.
"How?" She chuckled, a smile on her face, "Airíli and I argued very much like the two of you, if not more fiercely. But each time passed, despite it all, and our love never changed. In fact, it became stronger with each apology."
"Do you think I love her?" I whispered, unable to answer my own questions.
"Now that is something I cannot say." Dís said seriously with a shake of her head, "That is a question you must answer for yourself."
"How did you know you loved your husband then?" I was becoming desperate. Love was not a necessity to have a queen and heirs, but I was confused.
"It is like the love you have for your kin, Thorin. For me. You would die for them, burden yourself to make them smile, do whatever favor they would ask of you. Sadden at their frown, rejoice at their laugh. Just as you would feel love for a brother or a father, you will love Leith or whomever you choose to spend your many years with."
Dís time, yay.
So yes, I hope you all enjoyed a character who wasn't extremely annoying. I know I did. Still not sure what kind of role Morcant is going to play later on, because I want to write more for her... Any ideas?
Don't forget to review!
~The Penned Tekrid