I know, this update is really late and it's a bit short and a filler, and I'm really sorry. I'm departing for Ireland in four days, which makes everything a bit more hectic than usual :D So, just to warn you, the next update will probably take a while, too, because I will be in Ireland by then and I'll have to get my stuff working and settle in first. But it will come and it will be longer again, don't worry :D
BooksEqualsLife: I'm glad you liked the last chapter! :D And aah, she might be inspiring some people to move their lives forward or in a different direction, as well, we'll see :D And I put her little hangover in here, especially for you :D
Nimtheriel: I'm glad you liked the coronation and Tarya's speech! Though I would like to say that she wasn't that drunk yet at the time she was giving it :D She'd had enough to give her a bit more courage to speak in front of all the people, but the big drinking came afterwards :D
Midnight Cold Dragon: Oh my, thank you! :D
Thank you for your lovely reviews to Akilah Swiftblade, mh21, Eruwaedhiel95, luvgirl101, Angel of the Night Watchers, RellaRose100, MrsGooglyBear, MaxRideandPercyJackson4ever, Teshka, randomkitty101and both Guests!
And thanks to those who favourited and followed, as always!
Now, I'll leave you to this little chapter that I hope you'll enjoy until the next big one comes :D
Tarya awoke the next morning enveloped in pleasant warmth and with a pounding headache behind her closed eyes. She growled quietly, unused to the strange sharp pain in her head as she opened her eyes and the dim light of the room blinded her slightly. Another low grumble left her as she turned around, away from the light, and buried her head in the warmth next to her. It was only after a few moments that she realized that her face was buried against a slowly moving chest and that it were Kili's arms around her body that were giving her this warmth that she enjoyed so much in the early morning hours. Tarya shifted against the soft cushions, growling again at the sharp pain that ran through her head at her movement.
"If you don't stop grumbling, I'm going to push you off the bed soon." Kili's words were laced with sleep as he spoke softly against the top of her head, his nose buried in her hair as his arms tightened slightly around her form. Tarya just shifted against him in reply, only slowly opening her eyes and blinking up at the brunet dwarf tiredly. Kili returned her gaze out of sleepy brown eyes, one eyebrow cocked slightly at her.
"Don't threaten me when I have just woken up," Tarya yawned against Kili's collarbone and heard him snort quietly in reply. The small sound made her temples throb with pain and she clenched her eyes shut, sighing deeply. "I think now I know what Bofur complains about when he's had a few drinks too many…"
"Headache?" Kili asked as he shifted beside her, positioning himself so that he could bury his face in the crook of her neck. Tarya just nodded silently, keeping her eyes closed as one of her hands came up to tangle in Kili's dark mane of hair. Despite her headache, Tarya couldn't imagine a better way to wake up than this. It was quiet and peaceful, just the two of them. The Amarok could only imagine how it would be when they would wake up in the same bed every morning without it being considered improper as it was now. It wasn't as if either of them cared much about propriety anyway, but it would be different to know that they officially belonged to each other as husband and wife, Tarya was sure. But there was still a long way to go until that day would come, and though Tarya knew that Kili couldn't wait for it to happen, she didn't feel herself quite ready for it yet. She felt like she still had to learn much before she could marry the Prince of Erebor. But she wasn't in a hurry, anyway. They had time and Kili wouldn't rush her, Tarya knew as much. She also knew that Kili wanted to wait with any preparations or announcements until his mother arrived in Erebor and until then a few months surely were still to pass.
"I think it's time we get up," Kili eventually murmured against her neck, his stubble scratching lightly over her soft skin. Tarya just sighed, moving her hand from his hair down to his shoulder lazily. Neither of them was very keen on moving from their position. "I need to go to council," Kili sighed, though he still didn't make any move to get off the bed. "And you need to learn your vocabulary. Which is it today? Honeybee? Troll hoard?"
Tarya chuckled slightly at the brunet's words as he pushed himself up on his elbows so that he could look down at her. She just smiled up at him, not bothering to give an answer. Kili hadn't seen any of her writings yet, neither had he heard or seen her read, even though he was curious. But councils took much time out of Kili's days at the moment and he hadn't managed to come see her in the library before her lessons had finished since she'd started her classes with Ori a few days ago. Kili stared at her for a moment, slightly drawing his mouth askew when she didn't answer him. He sighed again before he leaned down and pressed a short but sweet kiss to her mouth.
"I ought to go," he murmured against her lips as he slightly pulled back to look at her. Tarya just nodded, trailing her hand from his shoulder over his neck and down to his chest gently. The brunet dwarf exhaled deeply through his nose, shortly closing his eyes at her touch before he leaned in again and kissed her once more, his lips lingering longer and more intensely on hers this time. It was Tarya who ended the kiss after a few moments as she lightly pushed on Kili's chest. He gave her a slightly disappointed look. "I really ought to go now, don't I?"
"If you don't want to miss Fili's first council as King under the Mountain, you should," Tarya smiled softly at the dwarf before her who sighed quietly before he nodded and sat up in the bed. Tarya's hand fell from his chest as she kept her lying position on the warm furs but Kili caught it before it could reach the mattress. He brought her hand up to his mouth and pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles before he finally let go of her and rose from the bed completely. Tarya watched him as he gathered his fur vest from the chair where he had put it the night before and put it on along with his boots. Kili turned around to look at her once more as he reached the door and he paused for a moment, his hand already having pushed the door handle halfway down. The dwarf slightly tilted his head, a happy smile spreading on his lips as he looked at her still lying on the bed. Tarya just smiled back before she waved her hand toward the door and motioned him to go.
"You are running late, your highness," she said teasingly and Kili scrunched up his nose at the title. It made Tarya laugh quietly, which in turn made the smile reappear on Kili's face before he turned away from her and opened the door. Tarya gave him a little wave as he shot a last glance over his shoulder before the heavy door fell closed behind him.
The Amarok kept lying on the bed for a little while longer, not doing anything but revelling in her own thoughts. More than an hour had passed since Kili's departure when she finally got out of bed, as well. Tarya made a short deal of getting a quick wash before she put on a set of fresh comfortable clothes and set out of her chamber to meet with Ori in the library.
A few dwarves passed by her on her way and it wasn't until four of them had greeted her cordially in a row that Tarya started to realize that something was different today. Usually, she received nothing more than curt nods at the most from anyone that walked by her in the corridors but today, everyone she met gave her the courtesy of a 'good morning' at least. By the time she reached the library, three of them had actually wished her a good day. It was strange to the Amarok as she wasn't used to their sudden friendly behaviour, but she wasn't complaining. On the contrary, she had a smile to offer for anyone who showed her the same courtesy.
"You are in a good mood today," Ori observed a few minutes after they had started their lesson and Tarya had not shown any sign of frustration even after not getting the word 'butterfly' right for the third time. Tarya wasn't the most patient of students, she knew that herself, and so she could understand that Ori was a bit surprised at least to see her so unfazed by her little mistakes today.
"I am," Tarya confirmed with a smile as she made her fourth try at the word that was causing her trouble. She wrote it twice before she was happy with it and looked up at her teacher again. "I think I'm finally starting to feel at home, Ori."
The scribe brightly smiled back at her upon her words, as he pulled the parchment over to draw a little butterfly next to the Amarok's writing. She watched his fingers move the quill with fascination. "That's good to hear," Ori said as he drew, a small crease appearing on his forehead as he concentrated on the picture. "Though after your speech yesterday I wasn't having any doubts, really. I think you made everyone feel at home."
He looked up at her when she didn't reply, pausing shortly before he pushed the parchment back over towards her. Tarya was biting her lip lightly, not quite sure how to respond to Ori's words. Obviously, her words from the coronation feast had made a difference, but Tarya couldn't quite understand why. What she had said had been her opinion the whole time she had been living in this mountain. It was strange that she'd had to say them in front of a whole crowd for them to realize it and accept that she was searching a home here just as much as they were.
"Is everything all right?" Ori asked after a little while of silence, pulling Tarya out of her thoughts. She gave the scribe a small smile and nodded quickly, picking up her quill from the table again to continue her writing. Ori gave her a small look, but didn't say anything else on the topic for the remainder of their lesson. A good two hours were spent with Tarya's writing and Ori's drawing until the scribe decided that it was enough for the day.
As Tarya was putting the parchments and quills back where they belonged, she heard Ori's footsteps walking down a line of bookshelves somewhere behind her and as she turned around to leave him for the rest of the days, he was holding out a thin book to her, a big smile on his face.
"I thought a few poems might help you practice your reading until our next lesson," he said and Tarya smiled happily in reply, taking the thin book from him carefully. Until now, the only reading she had done were the sentences and phrases that Ori had written for her on paper. A book, for Tarya, was something completely different. Something more precious. The Amarok let her fingers trail lightly over the cover before she wrapped her arms around the thin object and pressed it to her chest.
"Thank you," she said to Ori who was merely smiling proudly at her. Quite obviously, he was happy to have found someone who shared his love for books even if it was her first one. "I promise, I'll take good care of it."
When Kili left the council chamber that evening, he didn't think that his mood could drop any lower. He had spent the whole day discussing matters of more or less importance with a bunch of ancient dwarves and his brother without in the end getting too much out of it. Many of the dwarves were still reluctant to form alliances with the men of the Lake and those who were making plans to rebuild Dale in a matter of a few years. Bard, as lord of Dale by heritage, was their leader and though Fili was eager to support the Bowman in his plans, many of his counsellors were against it still. It would need some time and much patience to convince them, a fact that had become quite clear today. Kili had not only been frustrated but also bored by the time the final matter had been discussed and he had only paid little attention as they talked about the caravans coming from the Blue Mountains. Only when his own mother was mentioned did Kili perk his ears up to hear that she was among the first that would reach the mountain in a matter of a few months.
Despite the good news of their mother arriving soon in Erebor, both Fili and Kili were not very happy with the result of the day as they walked along the corridors together towards the royal wing of the mountain.
"I have to say, I expected today to go a bit smoother than this," Fili admitted as they rounded a corner, greeting a passing dwarf coming from the mines. Kili just nodded tiredly in reply.
"Pardon me for saying this but some of them are quite stuck up," he muttered and Fili chuckled quietly, shaking his head at his little brother.
"They're just proud and admittedly a bit antiquated in their ways, at least some of them. Old Master Gabron for example, he'll be stubborn about the matter of Dale."
"Yes, he will. Because he doesn't see why we would give our gold to Men when we reclaimed it only a few months ago. 'It's dwarf gold, your grace, it must stay in the mountain!'… What a load of rubbish."
Fili just tilted his head in agreement as he listened to his brother recite the old dwarf's words quite precisely. He understood that the treasure of Erebor was important to all the dwarves in the mountain, because it was the kingdom's heritage of old, their fortune. But then, none of them truly realized how much Bard and his men had done for them before and during the Battle of Five Armies. Bard had been a friend long before he had become an ally. Fili sighed quietly as they reached the royal chambers, dragging one of his hands over his face. He was tired and frustrated, now was not the time to be thinking about such matters any longer. After his coronation the day before and the seemingly endless discussions of today, all he really wanted now was a good night's sleep. He would see to the problems at hand tomorrow. Fili gave Kili a small smile as he bid him goodnight, though as the blond dwarf entered his room and shortly looked over his shoulder before he closed the door, he saw the brunet walking further down the corridor instead of entering his own chamber. Fili smiled quietly to himself, shaking his head knowingly before he turned and closed the heavy door behind him, heading straight for the large bed that was waiting for him.
Kili, however, had other plans. Though he was tired as well and probably would have fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, he didn't want to go to bed right yet. He at least wanted to say goodnight to Tarya, for he hadn't seen her all day since the morning. And he wanted to make sure that her headache hadn't lasted the whole day because even though she had not been in a very bad mood in the morning, she had looked rather pale. And Kili knew how bad hangovers could get. He half expected her to be asleep already when he opened the door to her chamber as quietly as possible. But as he entered the Amarok's chamber, his eyebrows rose slightly upon the dim firelight that still illuminated the room and made the shadows dance silently on the wall. The large bed was empty when Kili looked at it, the furs unused and Tarya nowhere to be seen. The young dwarf frowned for a short moment as he looked around the room and couldn't find her right away. It was a moment before he noticed that the large armchair that was normally standing by the table had been dragged right next to the fireplace. Curiously, he crossed the room on quiet feet and as he glanced over the backrest of the chair, his gaze met a familiar shock of black hair.
Kili smiled as he put his arms on the backrest, not saying anything as he watched Tarya's fingers turn the page of her book slowly. He waited for her to say something, to greet him as she almost always did when she heard him approach, but her reaction didn't come this time. Kili frowned in slight confusion. Her hearing was much better than that of any dwarf, and Kili knew that it allowed her to hear his heavy footsteps approaching her long before he even reached her. But this time she didn't show any sign that she knew he was there, even though he was standing right behind her. Slowly, Kili leaned forward to glance over her shoulder and catch a glimpse of the page she was reading. He had never seen her read before and guessed that it was a new development, for she had never told him of any books Ori had given her before. The brunet dwarf glanced down at the gilded page of the book.
"Again she fled, but swift he came. Tinúviel! Tinúviel! He called her by her elvish name; And there she halted listening," Kili read out loud quietly as he looked at the poem in the thin book Tarya was holding. His eyebrows rose as the Amarok flinched suddenly, the book almost falling from her hands before she clutched it to her chest and jerked her head around to look up at him with wide eyes. Kili gave her an amused grin upon seeing the surprise in her golden eyes.
"How long have you been standing there?" Tarya asked with a deep frown, obviously surprised that she hadn't heard him coming herself, but Kili just kept grinning as he lifted his arms off the backrest and rounded the armchair to sit on the armrest instead. He looked down at Tarya who had her legs folded beneath her on the soft cushion, the thin book still held firmly to her chest.
"A little while," Kili said with a smile as he reached his hand out and gently pried the book from her fingers to look at it. Tarya let him take it reluctantly and Kili smiled slightly as he read the title of the poem she had been reading. "The tale of Beren and Lùthien, hm?"
Tarya leaned forward and took back the book from him, putting it carefully in her lap as she tilted her head. "Ori gave it to me this morning," she answered quietly. "To practice. It's good."
"Certainly had you engrossed enough for me to sneak up on you, that's never happened before," Kili grinned and slowly slid down the armrest to squeeze into the chair next to her. The Amarok protested quietly, but shifted nonetheless as he put his arm around her and Kili moved to make her more comfortable as she settled on his lap instead of the chair, her legs dangling lazily over the armrest now. He watched as her fingers trailed lightly over the book cover.
"It's a beautiful story," she muttered, as she looked back at him, resting her head lightly on his shoulder. Kili sighed contentedly, his mood already much better than it had been when he had entered her chamber. He wrapped his arm a bit tighter around her form, pulling her more firmly against him to feel the warmth of her body in comparison to the firelight.
"You didn't know it?" he asked quietly and Tarya shook her head in reply, a small smile coming to play on her lips.
"Wolves don't really care about the love stories of men or elves, Kili," she chuckled and the brunet dwarf grinned along with her, nodding. They sat in silence then for a moment and Kili merely enjoyed his betrothed's presence and closeness as Tarya reopened the thin book and started rereading the tale of the two star-crossed lovers. It took a while before she raised her gaze from the letters again and Kili had leaned his head back against the chair and closed his eyes for a moment when he felt Tarya wiggle slightly on his legs. When he opened his eyes again, he found her glimmering golden gaze fixed on him, a curious look on her face.
"What is it?" the young dwarf asked, his voice quiet as tiredness was pulling at his mind. Tarya shortly glanced at the book again before she looked back at him with a small frown.
"Why is it that there are no poems about dwarves?" she asked and Kili hesitated shortly upon her question before he smiled faintly.
"Dwarves do not have such glamorous love stories as elves, I'm afraid," he muttered, his hand stroking absently up and down her spine. "Our love stories are ordinary but no less true and deeply felt. It's my mother and my father who found each other after one of them was forced into exile. It's Bombur and Delifra who found each other through their shared love for fine food. It's…"
"It's what?" Tarya asked quietly when Kili hesitated and didn't continue. The dwarf blinked shortly, as his gaze had gotten caught up in the warm flames of the fire before them. The brunet quietly cleared his throat, unable to keep a faint blush from creeping up his cheeks. Tarya's eyebrows rose curiously as he looked back at her and it was only when he still didn't answer that she realized what he had meant to say. Kili watched as her bright eyes filled with warmth and she leaned forward to plant a small kiss to his cheek.
"None of those stories are ordinary," she murmured as she leaned her head back against his shoulder and Kili just smiled to himself and nodded, shifting slightly so they were both more comfortable on the chair. It was true, just because there were no poems or songs written on the love of dwarves did not mean that they were any less beautiful than those of Men and Elves. His own love story certainly was something rather curious, Kili thought with a small smile as he stared into the fire, curious and more beautiful than he would have ever imagined. If someone had told him at the beginning of this journey that he would find his One in the most surprising of ways and the most unexpected of people possible, he would have shaken his head with a laugh, probably even responded with a blunt phrase. But now here he was, sitting in an armchair with Tarya in his arms while she was reading stories of love-stricken elves. The Amarok seemed to be in a rather bright mood tonight and for Kili, this was enough to brighten his own mood as well, and calm his troubled mind. Being with his beloved, with Tarya who was there for him and listened to him, who knew when to speak and when to let silence speak for her – being with her let him forget the stubbornness of the council members for a while at least. What Kili didn't forget, however, was that his mother would be arriving at the mountain within a few months. And that he had not told her a word of his rather quick betrothal with the Amarok in any of his few letters yet, never having known how to phrase it properly.
The young dwarf doubted that she would be pleased to know it last.