CHAPTER NINE.
At last, Rivendell towered before us, gleaming in the pure grandeur of the morning. Set in a valley with the backdrop of many flowing waterfalls, it proved to be one of the most beautiful sights in Middle Earth. The journey had not been much further from where we'd crossed paths with the trolls and my aching body was glad for it.
The company oozed tiredness and scorn; not even the excitement of their finds could keep them from scowling when we came into elven territory. Thorin was the worst, with his judging steel blue eyes and biting words of how the elves were traitors. It seemed that no matter how many times he expressed his hate for the elves, he felt that it was not quite enough nor often enough. It didn't help much that the other dwarves felt some of the same hatred for the elves as he did.
According to the story of Erebor with all that dragon business, I didn't blame Thranduil for not wanting his people to die.
When we had crossed over the thin, stone bridge leading into Rivendell, our presence certainly did not go unnoticed by the elves. Many of them stood around in the archways of the wooden structures they were housed in, whispering amongst themselves in a tongue that only Gandalf could understand. They watched us with weary eyes and especially pointed their long fingers in my direction, as if a female among a group of travelers was a rarity. They sure knew how to make a girl uncomfortable.
"Mithrandir." The voice of a man taller and fairer than any other I'd lain my eyes upon resounded over the whispers of his people. "What brings you so far into my lands with thirteen dwarves, a hobbit, and a taur-gwen? Not to mention Radagast not a mile behind."
Gandalf strode to the front of the company, and immediately I was pushed back by the dwarves as if they attempted to hide me from the man's eyes. My mind traveled to his speech and I knitted my eyebrows in confusion at his words. Taur-gwen? What the hell did that mean? Kili rested a strong hand on my shoulder and pulled me firmly to his side before he shot me a look of concern.
"Elrond, we were traveling on the eastern road when we met Radagast. He brought word of a necromancer and would not speak of it anywhere but here." The king of elves seemed to consider Gandalf's words before he nodded in our general direction. He spoke something in a foreign tongue that none of us except the old grey wizard could understand, and the dwarves instantly assumed his words were insults.
"Does mean he t'give us insult?" Gloin drew his axe from his back and began to shake it angrily before the rest of the company followed suit.
"Aye, he won't speak in our own tongue!" Dwalin roared. I was barely able to break away from Kili's grasp in order to tug on the fringe of Dwalin's overcoat to keep him from charging. I didn't have a mind to be taken in as a prisoner of these people for a stupid grudge. Heck, it wasn't even my grudge.
"Master Gloin, he is offering you dinner." Gandalf shot us all a stern look that sent the dwarves quiet in their own bafflement. I stifled a laugh into my hand while the rest of them nodded to each other with dazed looks still apparent on their faces. They didn't expect those who they assumed were their enemies to treat them with such hospitality and it had thrown them off guard. I was not surprised the elves had not held them with the same regard.
Once the company had settled from their fluster, we were lead up a great staircase to one of Elrond's chambers. Like the rest of the structures in Rivendell, it followed a very open-air concept, and the landscape could be seen for miles around from the great table resting upon the balcony. Elves rushed to and fro, bringing us all sorts of vegetables and wines (which did not please the company, of course) as we began to seat ourselves. I somehow ended up at the end of the table next to Kili and across from his brother, who would not take his smouldering blue eyes off of my face.
"Do you think they have any chips?" Ori whispered loudly across the table, clearly displeased with the lettuce on his plate.
"Where's the meat?" Bombur's eyes darted over the table.
"I don't think elves really eat meat." Balin frowned.
A final groan of dissatisfaction erupted from the dwarves before they attempted to tackle what had been given to them. I wasn't much of a salad kind of girl either, but it seemed much easier to put my leafy greens down than the entire group. I'd especially taken to the white wine they'd poured in all of our cups, and I began to become delightfully dizzy.
"You shouldn't really be drinking much of that Lizzie." Fili pulled my cup across the table. "Elvish wine will put a girl like you out."
I huffed and leaned straight over my plate of food to snatch it back from Fili's grasp. "Oh please."
This time it was Kili who took the cup from my hand as I struggled to retain my hold on it. He knitted his brows and sent me a sobering look.
"You two are just no fun." I scoffed as I took a bite of a carrot that had been softly steamed. It proved much more delicious than any meal cooked by Bombur, but maybe it was the cheer from the wine that spiked my appreciation for the food. With each passing day our food supply had ran thinner and thinner, and Bombur wasn't able to use the spices we carried as freely as he would have liked.
"Excuse me, Miss Lizzie?" A light touch rested on my shoulder and I turned around to greet an elf girl that I'd never seen before. Her hair flowed long and shined the color of the golden sun, and her eyes were as blue as the ocean. The sheer delicacy of her figure made her seem as if she would break if touched. "Elrond would like you to speak with him in the morning, if that pleases you."
It was more of a command given by Elrond, but her manners would not allow her to hint at the truth, and I only nodded in agreement.
"Wonder what the elf king wants with you." Fili eyed me skeptically.
The elf quickly responded to quell his suspicions. "Only to speak of her home."
She left as quickly as she appeared, and another moment later there was another cup of wine placed in front of me. Neither of the brothers took notice of this fact since they were too intrigued with the notion that Elrond wanted to speak with me, and I took the opportunity to take another huge gulp. The molten gold liquid washed down my throat, warming my insides. It only took one glance from Bofur for him to realize that he too had a responsibility to deprive me of anything that would hinder my thoughts.
"Lass, take it easy, okay?" Bofur smiled and slid a cup of water my way.
At that point, I didn't understand why they had made it such a big deal for me not to drink much wine, but my head swam in and out of thoughts so fast I did not linger on the idea. Everyone had already begun to finish their meal and shifted themselves to where their sleeping mats lay, but I remained at the table drowning in an abyss of memories from my past. My mind flashed back over the fuzzy picture of my mother my mind created, and then to the strange stories Bofur told me on our journey, and to the box still sitting safely amongst Kili's belongings. That box.
"Lizzie, we told you to watch yourself around that wine." Kili now sat alone with me as the others had left.
I ignored his reprimand and gazed up into his almond-shaped eyes. "That box I gave you, where is it?"
"Safe with the rest of my belongings-" He took my hand and pulled me from my seated position. I ended up stumbling into his chest and my breath hitched in the back of my throat. "-But really you need to get some rest. Don't worry about that silly thing."
I found myself nodding in agreement at his order, unable to focus on the thoughts that fluttered through my head. His hand clasped around mine as he led me to where the others were and I could not help but notice the roughness of his palm and fingers. I quite liked the feeling intertwined against my smooth skin. I hadn't felt it in a long time, but I enjoyed the feeling of a large hand engulfing my own.
When we reached where the others settled down for the night, thanks to Bilbo, my blankets and pillow had been neatly stacked in a corner away from the others. Kili was kind enough not to make me walk the distance by myself in my unsteadiness. He leaned down to help me with my blankets and to take my boots off, and turned his back to join the others at the fire burning in a pit near the edge of the open room.
A sudden fear washed over me- quite apparently caused by my tipsy state- and I did not want to be alone. It was bad enough that I could not join the rest of the dwarves around the fire because I'd had too much elven wine. The courage it gave me brought up my thoughts in my throat.
"Kili?" He turned around and looked at me with wondering eyes. "I-I- can you not leave me?"
Those words sent a blush over his cheeks I had not seen grace them before now and even with half my wits I could tell he quickly fought to hide it. He seemed to be shocked at my outburst, but nevertheless seated himself beside me.
"What am I going to do with you Lizzie?"
I surveyed him and felt a cheeky grin form across my face, glad that he didn't leave me by myself. Bofur and his brothers had begun humming by the fire before everyone else had joined in with their low, melodic voices, to a tune that I'd had the pleasure of hearing them sing before. I scooted closer to capture some of his body heat since the night air had not been too warm, but soon enough gave up and seated myself upright so I could lean into his side. He made no objection but only a small hesitation before resting his arm around my waist as it had done once before.
"You're going to start giving us all ideas that you've got a favorite." Fili's laughter caused my eyes to peel open and I did my best to send him a glare.
I was cold, a little tipsy off of elvish wine, and feeling so very alone in Middle Earth away from my family, so I didn't care. Maybe I did have a favorite. Or maybe that was just my head aflutter.
A/N: I just want to give a shout out to Jen for the review! Thank you so much for bringing my attention to Kili and Lizzie's relationship. It's been in the back of my mind that their development has been next to nonexistent and I haven't really addressed it. Trust me, I know this is a Kili/OC so naturally everyone expects just that. I had in mind a more slow-blossoming love. I purposely haven't had them fall in love just yet. Because I mean, they've been on their journey for a little over a week and real love sometimes takes time. I don't want them to be all over each other in just a few days! So I've dropped little hints but nothing major. But anywho, that is now in the forefront of my mind as we get deeper into the plot ;) I really appreciate your input!
If you guys have any questions that you want me to answer in a more in-depth manner please feel free to shoot me a message on my personal tumblr (nighttimegalaxies), which is linked in my profile. I love reviews, but sometimes I can't answer them or thank you properly if you're a guest and that grates at me a little. So if you'd like a direct response, don't hesitate to contact me over there! But by all means, do review. I just want to take this as a moment to express just how important those are to me. I take into account everything you guys say and I try to reflect what you want in my writing. So for all of you lovely little followers out there, WRITE ME! Because I love you. There are now over a hundred of you precious readers, and I am so excited to interact with you as I share my stories.
And as always, I hope you enjoyed!