Music Suggestion: The Last Debate By Howard Shore
The Call
-August 12, 3018-
"Odin, hurry up!" A gruff voice growled. Coruwen watched as her son appeared from the shadows of a corridor, walking over to a dwarf two or years younger than him with dark brown hair and dark grey eyes. His face was stern, and he was broad shouldered with a battle axe swung on his back. Behind the broad shouldered dwarf was his brother with the same eyes and dark hair but his face was one of boredom with twin daggers resting on his hips. He was built leaner than his brother as well, and he wore light leather armor colored dark brown.
"I was right here, you're the ones who were taking forever, Tyr," Odin scolded. His voice was becoming deeper as of late like his father's, but it held certain notes of the silvery voices belonging to her people. Odin had been gifted with a bit more height that most dwarves, in fact he was quite tall for being Half-Dwarven. His hair was dark and wavy, reminding her much of Thorin when he was young, but her son's eyes were intelligent and kind. His broadsword was strapped to his hip and dressed in a mixture of heavy and light armor.
Tyr scoffed, swatting Odin's arm. "Ok, ok, I get it; we're late, big deal. Balder was the one flirting with women." Balder paled, mouth agape as he stared up at his twin. Tyr kept his voice monotone with a small snide smirk creeping up on his lips. "And yes, Balder, I threw you under the wagon."
"I hate you," Balder growled.
"Come on, let's go before Brand chews us out," Odin ordered starting towards the main gate. Coruwen smile at her son's orders. Ever he was his father's son, she thought. She gripped the pommel of the Dragon Blade giving her enough leverage to stand to her full height. In her soul, she started feeling thin and spent. The herb that once cured her disease was beginning to no longer help her. When she had told Thorin, he seemed shocked for several days and wouldn't speak to her. It took all of her strength to help him through it, but Odin was still blind to her crumbling condition. She knew her son would worry, just as his father did.
"Lady Queen?" A voice peeped from behind a pillar. In her side vision, Coruwen saw bright gold hair and white. One of her handmaidens was a young woman by the name of Frigga, and had been with her for many years. When Merida had passed, Frigga took her stead. The woman was kind, but shy; and blessed with dark gold hair and green eyes. When Frigga came out of the shadows, Coruwen saw her worry. "Where is the prince running off to with Lord Balder and Tyr?"
"Dale, Frigga. Brand required Odin's aid for something," She replied. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"No, I just curious; that's all," Frigga laughed nervously. The queen eyed her handmaiden curiously, sensing Frigga to be slightly unnerved. Frigga's green eyes widened in shock and she stiffened. "Lady Queen, your son has long since been my friend. I only care about him as such."
"All right, I would not tell his cousins though," Coruwen stated in a slight bit of disbelief. "If you care for my son, I will not stop you. You are kind and just, a true mark of a queen."
Frigga shut her eyes playing with her dress's sleeves. The nervousness of the young dwarf woman was radiating off of her in waves. Coruwen had remembered being like her once; confused like this by love's constant prodding. Mirkwood had done that to her heart, or rather Thorin had done that to her. "My lady, your son will be quite old by the time he is given the writ of passage into kingship."
"Odin is Half-Elven," Frigga's eyes opened becoming quizzical as she followed Coruwen down the hall to reach the outside. The elleth gripped the iron knob of the door, pausing as her lungs threatened to send a cough forward. Frigga appeared in her peripheral vision, still rather curious. "He will live a long time, though not eternally like my people. Odin most likely will outlive all of the kings of the line of Durin." The queen breathed slowly, feeling her lungs shudder within her chest like someone was snapping small bits of twigs. "You care for him?"
"As a friend, yes," Frigga said shyly and Coruwen smiled knowingly. "Maybe more, if he would focus."
"Odin is his father's son, meaning he has odd ways of showing affection."
"But you and the king are very smitten with each other, aren't you?"
"My husband is strong and does not show weakness easily, however…" Frigga smiled at the ground and Coruwen merely chuckled. "He fears losing me, or my rejection; an example would have been when he courted me."
The handmaiden laughed a bit as Coruwen pushed open the door feeling the humid air slightly buffet her. The summer had been warm this year and ungodly humid; a strange weather condition for Erebor. Many men from Dale had begun patrolling the eastern borders and the dwarves watched the ridges for impeding forces. A Black Rider had been spotted on their borders nearly a month ago, riding with a strange swiftness towards the south. When Sauron had made himself known, the world's very core had shaken in anger of the deep sonorous voice of Sauron. Coruwen had remembered Odin when he was but a few years of age, shrieking at the top of his lungs at the pain of Sauron's voice. Her child fell ill after that excursion, and Odin hadn't quite been the same. His foresight became more controlled, for he began to see the future in snippets in flashes of fire and roars, or cracks of thunder. When Maugrim and Nyx had passed, Odin became filled with melancholy when he was fifteen moons old. He only began to change when he met Tyr and Balder, and Thorin had given him another hound named Fenrir.
"My lady?" Frigga's voice asked, her green eyes blinking up at her curiously. Coruwen's attention snapped down and she shook her head.
"My apologies, Frigga. I was lost in thought," The elleth said gently. "Thinking of the past, really."
"It is quite all right, my lady." Coruwen looked to the sky to see a silver and white hawk circling overhead with long tassels of light blue trailing behind it. "Is that a hawk?"
"It is, one from Imladris," Coruwen breathed as she started up the trail that led up to a high outcropping of rock. When the hawk landed, it stuck out its leg for the queen to remove a letter tied around its leg. When she removed the wax seal, she found Elrond's handwriting upon the parchment.
To the Free Folk of Middle-Earth,
The Ruling Ring has been found, with this knowledge I am calling a council to be held in Imladris to decide the ring's fate. Send whoever you deem worthy, but the council is to be held on October 25th.
-Elrond, Lord of Rivendell, son of Earendil.
"What is it, my queen? Who has called from the West?" Frigga inquired. Coruwen found it hard to believe that the Ring had been found after many, many years. Her mind began to piece together questions, but she stopped herself short. She whirled around, heading back inside searching for Thorin and Fili. She opened the door to the library to find Fili looking over old books making a mess of the library. If Ori were here, he would have skinned her nephew. Fili glanced up from his book, quickly shutting it and placing it on the table to reach her.
"What is wrong?" Fili asked concerned of his aunt's slightly unnerved expression.
She let out a short breath, "Where is your uncle?"
Fili looked at the door, and then at the ground, thinking. He tapped his fingers on his sleeve. "He said he was going to Dale," Fili paused, "Oh wait a minute that was Odin… How in the heavens do I get them confused?" His voice was quick and then he paused again, narrowing his eyes. "I have no idea."
"Well, my little lion, go with Frigga up to the main hall. I will find Thorin," She stated firmly, to which Fili bowed his head and left the library. Coruwen shut her eyes, searching for her husband's spirit within the halls of her kingdom. When she felt the slight pull of his spirit on hers, she found him in the lower levels of Erebor with Fenrir. She picked up her skirts and headed in the direction of the lower levels. The people of Erebor had thinned in the lower levels; most had begun to feel the threat of the world's impeding force and thus began to work in their forges again. She heard the bark of Fenrir and found Thorin rubbing Fenrir's grey head as he spoke with Gloín and Gimli. "Thorin," Her voice made the three dwarves shift their gazes to her. She unfolded the note from her hand, and Thorin stepped forward to take it. His blue eyes narrowed when he read the note over.
"The Ruling Ring has been found… So the appearance of the Nazgûl was not because they felt the need to rise then," Thorin said in a slightly dark tone. "Where is Odin?"
"Dale with Tyr and Balder; I was planning on calling him back." She replied. "You take Gloín and Gimli back up to the main hall and I will bring back Odin and the twins."
"Right, and if you find a raven outside send it to Dain; tell him we need to make for Rivendell."
"He is not going to like that," Gloín pointed out.
Coruwen felt something snap in her voice when she spoke, "He will, should he not want the world to come to an immediate halt. He will understand, trust me." Her voice became stern as she headed back towards the main gate. When she stepped foot outside she found Mora standing before her. This mighty black mare was a gift from Bain after he had passed. Faenaur had passed away when he was old and grey, but with Mora she found happiness again. She was quite tall for a mare with feathered feet and a single white blaze on her snout.
Coruwen mounted Mora and took one of her soft ears. "Ride to Dale, Mora. Show me how fast the wind carries you." The mare snorted and started off into a gallop down the hill towards Dale. Mora halted before the gates of Dale, and she saw the back of Brand's head. He was gifted with black hair like Iris, the first of his hair color in the line of Girion, and the long face of Bard along with the old Lord of Dale's height and jovial nature.
"I suspected as much, we never have been able to-"Tyr's voice dropped off when his grey eyes caught sight of Coruwen. "Balder, Odin, the queen is here."
Odin appeared at Tyr's side with Balder hanging back in the shadows. When she was seen by Brand he gave her a low bow to which she gave him a slight incline of her head. Odin spoke to her first in the language of her people, catching Tyr off guard and Balder arched one eyebrow. "What is wrong?" Odin asked.
"Elrond has called for a council; I need you to return to the throne room. We need to talk," Coruwen replied and then switched back to Common Tongue to speak to the twins and Brand. Odin slinked away and grabbed his horse to return back to Erebor. "I terribly hate to do this to you, Lord Brand. But, a matter of the utmost importance has come up; I hope you understand."
Brand chuckled. "Of course I understand, milady. I am rather curious about the name you spoke of, thus I am sending Bard with you."
"Understood; Tyr, Balder, follow Odin." The twins ran after their friend and the eldest son of Brand came running out of the shadows with a young girl behind him; most likely his sister. Brand and Bard appeared quite close in appearance; the only difference was Bard's grim features were far more prominent to that of Brand. "Come young Bard, follow me."
Upon returning, Coruwen found Odin, Tyr, and Balder in the throne room along with Kili and Sol, both whom managed the guards ever since the death of Grimbolt. She sat beside Thorin, who was pinching the space between his eyes in mild stress and she placed her hand on his wrist. The king glanced up, letting out a shaky breath.
"Mother, what in the world happened?" Odin asked, unnerved by the sudden turn of events. Coruwen looked at her son, unable to form words currently. "Mother…"
"The One Ring has been found," Thorin stated shocking everyone in the room. Fili blinked in shock, slightly tapping his fingers on the pommel of his sword. "We have been asked to send a few of you to Rivendell; far in the West to listen to the council Lord Elrond has proposed. I all ready have spoken with Dain, Gloín, and Gimli who plan on going."
"Well, Dain never agreed we volunteered him, dearest," Coruwen corrected.
"That we did," He agreed. The king peered up at Fili, who was under the slight shock of this whole situation. Coruwen gripped his wrist tighter and he slid his hand into hers. "We could send the princes. What do you think, my queen?"
"Odin is Half-Elven and would easily work for both races, and Fili is, of course, the Crowned Prince. I think it will be fine."
Fili and Odin nodded in agreement, and then Kili spoke up, "What do we need to do in the mean time?"
Coruwen shut her eyes while Thorin looked at his younger nephew. "We need to make sure that Khamûl does not strike again, or the Easterlings do not attack while our emissaries are away."
"We haven't seen the Easterlings in a long time, why did they not come back and strike again?"
"The first time was simply to deliver Khamûl to Dol Guldur, but with The Iron Hills and Erebor getting in their way; they had to attack to make enough leverage to get to the citadel." Coruwen said, her eyes opening to look at Kili and Sol. "That does not mean that they will not strike in other ways, they are similar to the people of Rohan. They ride cavalry that are unmatched by any breed of horses in Middle-Earth. They also believe in taking no male prisoners, even if they are a few days old."
Sol physically cringed, casting her emerald gaze to the floor. And she whispered under her breath, "Savages…"
"Odin, Fili, it will take you a couple of months to get to Rivendell in a timely manner. Find Gloín and Gimli and start heading preparing, quickly."
Fili started down the steps, but Odin lingered behind. Coruwen looked at her son; fearing something was terribly wrong. When he left, she cleared her throat feeling a cough creep up on her. She felt Thorin grab her arm, holding her still. When she inhaled again, her lungs released the terrible cough that had been plaguing her for many, many years. Her hand covered her mouth as she coughed, and pulling her hand away revealed dark red blood; it was getting worse.
"Coruwen," Thorin's voice whispered, his calloused hand gripping her shoulders. Kili and Sol both looked at her with sheer dread written across their faces. Kili ran up to her, kneeling before her with his gold eyes becoming greatly grieved. "It sounds it is getting worse…"
"It has, and will," She rasped. "I am dying…"
"No, you aren't," Kili snapped. "You cannot leave this world yet." His tone was firm, but in a way sounded like a child pleading for their mother to never leave. Her hand passed across Kili's face. Her little wolf had long since protected her just as his uncle had. His protection was a common thread amongst male dwarves; whereas Fili's protective nature was more silent and seen through small changes in his demeanor. "Please…"
"I am not gone yet, my little wolf…" She smiled softly. "I am ever so slowly crumbling; far from deaths grip. I have been this way for years, and if I planned on ever dying it would have been the day that I thought I lost you and your uncle to Bolg."
Kili stood, coming to stand beside her while she brushed off her husband's strong grip. His worry was only becoming greater with each outburst he saw. However, it could not be helped anymore. Nothing stopped it; even if something did work, it only worked for a few days. She hoped, prayed, and had faith that Odin would not fall into grief with her passing…. His calling was to become king, just like his cousin and forefathers. He and Fili were gifted with the call to protect their people until their days ended.
A/N: I know this WAY short, but I have writer's block... and my idea train is coming to an end again because guess what I got sucked into? I got sucked into Game of Thrones and lost all sense of thought. I started basing the Easterlings off of the Dothraki because of it. Also, i hate spell-check with great passion. I spelled elven last chapter, and it thought i spelled Eleven; stupid technology.
Anyway, give me ideas, pretty please! We are getting into the War of the Ring after all this time! :) Suggestions most welcome, so please review!