Coming Of Age – Chapter 18
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Despite being snugly wrapped within Thorin's arms, ThoraLee slept fitfully. She awoke early and saw that he was awaken too.
"I'm sorry," she apologized to him when she saw him watching her.
He shook his head, "I couldn't sleep either." He reached out to stroke her cheek.
She smiled sadly, "I didn't like to upset your mother, I have come to like her very much."
He nodded at her, "She likes you a lot too." Then he sat up and said. "I guess I will go up and talk to her," he moved to get off the bed when she held his hand, Thorin glanced at her in askance.
"May I come too?" She asked.
He smiled as he nodded, "Certainly, I should have asked you." He held his hand to her.
Smiling widely, she grabbed it and together they left the room and made their way up.
As they reached near the Queen's chambers, they saw the maid carrying a tray of breakfast food.
Thorin asked her if it was for the Queen, the maid nodded. Thorin smiled as he reached for it, he offered to take the tray for his mother.
Laughing delightfully, they knocked on her chamber doors and were bidden to enter, Lee opened the door for Thorin who carried the tray through.
The queen was pleasantly surprised to see the two walk in smiling together.
"Well, this is a delightful morning gift, to what do I owe such a visit?"
Thorin glanced at Lee who nodded shyly at him, "We wished to offer our apologies to you, last eve when we caused you much grief. It was not our intention to do so, mother. Please accept our apologies." He knelt down to her, Lee also came near her and sat by her, her head was down.
Nur was emotional as some tear leaked down, "Oh my dears," as she lay her hands on their heads. "There is nothing to…I…very well, I accept your apologies. Now, get up, both of you."
Lee looked up and smiled happily at the queen, "Thank you, your Majesty. I was feeling so horrible all night."
Thorin nodded, "Yes mother, we didn't sleep well at all." He was exchanging looks with Lee.
Thorin didn't realize his gaffe when he said 'we' but Nur caught it as she watched his son closely and then Lee. And was startled when she caught them their exchange.
Nur wanted to cry at the moment, cry of joy; indeed, her son was truly in love.
And the young lady reciprocated his love. She loved him in return very much.
Dis decided to choose the moment to break the spell as she awakened.
Lee blinked and smiled as she stood up, "Your Majesty, if you'll permit me, I'll see to Dis while you have your meal before it gets cold." Nur nodded happily as Lee went to the cradle and scooped up the baby who instantly stopped crying as she became entranced with Lee's happy face.
"Hello, little Princess, you are the most adorable baby in the kingdom! The most beautiful little lady of them all! Look at your beautiful blue eyes, yes, pretty princess, you have your brother's eyes. You are going to charm a lot of men when you grow up! Your brothers are going to take up arms to defend you! Then again, we are going to teach you to fight. Yes…" Lee continued to talk to Dis as she walked around the chamber.
Thorin sat with Nur as he watched Lee with Dis who was smiling back and gurgling delightfully at her voice.
Nur smiled and said, "ThoraLee is really delightful, isn't she?"
Thorin nodded happily, "Yes she is, mother. And remarkable."
Nur nodded agreeably.
Lee had stopped before a big wall, she was still talking to Dis as she pointed to a large Dwarven runic word carved into the wall, "Look Dis, your first Cirth word 'Durin', yes, this is the word of your ancestor…Durin." Dis gurgled more as she flailed her hands about happily while Lee stared at the big word, and all around on the border of the wall was the name used repeatedly as a motif along the edges but in much smaller prints. Lee ran her hand along the border and found upon closer inspection that the smaller prints were carved into the wall except for one in the far right corner, this one was raised outward. How peculiar.
Dis decided to pull her hair at the moment and yanked it hard as she squealed with laughter.
"Ow! You have some strength, little one…Thorin, my Khazad-zukȉn, a hand?" Lee was laughing hard as she approached to where Thorin and the Queen where sitting.
Nur's eye brow shot up at the endearment. Lee didn't realize the slip as Thorin went to her as he helped her extricate from her entanglement.
Thorin stayed with them as he blocked their view from his mother, he bent to lay his head on Lee's bosom while he stared at Dis, stroking her baby soft cheeks. Dis was mesmerized at the closeness of her older brother's face. She reached up and squeezed his nose as she laughed.
"This child certainly has a strong grasped. "That hurts, Dis." Thorin was wrinkling his nose the baby squeezed his nose hard but he was grinning at her.
Nur could not help as she observed the little scene before her; even though Lee was holding her child, she could see them holding her own baby, Lee's and Thorin's child. She could picture their future as they stood under the name of Durin but their back was to her and she didn't like the image. She wanted to tell them to turn around, that it would be much more portentous to see them facing her.
But the moment was gone when the nurse came to take Dis for her morning meal.
After Dis had left the room, Thorin and ThoraLee decided that they too had better made their way back to the basement.
Nur thanked them happily and bade them to return whenever they like, and with a nod, they left.
Queen Nur smiled as they left her chambers holding hands.
Ah, yes, I wonder last eve was even a ruse they played on Thrain and I? Nur smiled to herself as she tried to recall last eve's events. With a shrug, she stood up and went to dress, smiling as she ready her day with her husband; she had much to tell him about the two.
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The Arkenstone as it was now commonly called, was proudly displayed above the throne of Durin IV in the Receiving Halls of Erebor. Gul Morel IV seething in anger came to see the Stone, tried to obtain it by offering Durin IV an alliance by means of an union. Durin IV refused his offer, he had just wedded and his wife was with child.
Gul Morel IV died a mad man, he was so obsessed with the need to possess the Arkenstone that it ate at his heart that he died despondent. His son Gul Rugor I took over the clan of Nogrods. He was a fearsome dwarf, unlike his forefathers. He was more of the strategist. Once again, he tried to gather the House of Iron Hills and Firebeards. But the Firebeards did not want a civil war; they were still licking their wounds from the last one. The Iron Hills, stronger and bigger, agreed to invade the Lonely Mountains, also hoped to reap the now famous Durin gold, and the Arkenstone that proudly dwelled in the Halls of Erebor.
Durin V was the new King now. He knew the Nogrods and Iron Hills were coming with a bigger army. The elves, allied with Men, were busy with their own battle with Sauron and his evil army had no time for Durin.
Durin V had no choice but to destroy the passages to the Western Gate and Khazad-dûm. He sealed all the entrances so the enemies could not find their way from underground. The Lonely Mountains was cut off from anywhere.
"So, that is why we can't find the passage ways anymore." Lee uttered.
With the sounds of drums the third civil war began. It went on for many years. Many dwarves from both sides lost their lives defending their House. The Arkenstone was taken down by Durin V while the battle ensued. Durin V had hidden the Stone in a chamber where only a true Durin was able to retrieve it.
The civil war of the dwarves ended when Gul Rugor II was mortally wounded. Before his death, he called for the end of the war. Durin VI agreed to the truce but never trusted the Nogrods, made Gul Mon signed a treaty, that the Nogrods would never claim anything belonging to the Durins or Erebor again. The treaty was carved into a wall for all to see in case the descendants of Nogrods tried to rescind the treaty to the descendents of Durins.
End.
Lee flipped to the next page of the script text and saw that it was the last page.
"Well, that does not do us any good. I still need the location of the Stone!"
Thorin looked up from where he was sitting, "Something the matter, rúzín?"
Lee shook her head as she turned to him and gave him the translated parchment papers. Thorin began to read.
He smiled when he reached the end of the translation.
"So we have solid proof that the Nogrods have no claim to our gold? Great, now we have another piece of the puzzle to find."
Lee was frustrated, "Thorin! There is no indication of the location of the Stone!"She almost cried.
She stared at the script as she laid on the side of her cheek on the table, staring at the text in an angle in anguish.
Thorin feeling bad for her stood up and moved over to her and rub her back, easing her tension, he picked up her hand and kissed it, to cheer her up but as he moved her hand, her green diamond ring, reflected by the flame from the lamp near the table cast its brilliance also made a multitude of rainbow on the page of the text and Lee caught something reflected on the last page of the text script.
She snapped her head upright, waved her finger again, causing Thorin to look at her with concern, "Lee? Are you all right? Do you need to lie down?"
Lee shook her head as she tilted her head to the left and then to the right so that her cheek was almost touching the text, her ring finger still in the air in front of the light.
Thorin was beginning to be overly concern with her well being.
"Lee?" He called to her again.
"Shh…in a moment, Thorin…I think we have something…" she looked for a parchment sheet and began to draw a…circle?
Thorin was quiet as he watched her drew something from the last page of the text script which when he looked at it was completely blank.
What was she seeing?
She was using her green diamond as some sort a reflection, as she moved it slightly around, she began to write something, it was not in Cirth but of Elvish writing.
When she was done, she smiled as she turned to him and said, "We have the location, Khazad-zukȉn."
The heir may only enter with the key of Durin under Ekhëbûr and Deol. The Heart is home of the heir.
Thorin repeated the word under his breath but it didn't make any sense to him as he shook his head. He stared at the parchment as it was written in a language Thorin had never seen before so he asked her.
Lee explained, "This is called Silvan, it is an ancient language learned and used by the woodland elves that lived in the Vale of Anduin, where I spent my young life my father brought Jor and I to live."
Then she continued, "You know Ekhëbûr is the ancient name of Erebor and Deol is Dale."
Thorin stared at her in disbelief, "You mean whatever we are suppose to find is between Erebor and Dale? But that is about more than a day's journey in between the palace and Dale!"
Lee nodded in amazement, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"And the key? I have never heard of a key belonging to the house of Durin. Lee, we must see my father and tell him about this."
Then he gathered her in his arms, "You did it. You completed the entire text script, my rúzín."
Lee smiled happily, "We did it. Come; let's not keep your father in suspense."
He nodded as he released her and gathering all the parchment papers and holding her hand, he led her up.
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They were in Thrain's private quarters; all his guards and servants were dismissed.
"A key?" Thrain puzzled. "I'm afraid I don't know what this means." He looked up from the parchment paper.
Nur had just finished reading the text.
"What carving? I have never seen any carvings and I would love to show those insufferable Nogrods the carvings, that will shut them up." Nur said imperiously.
Thorin and Lee were sitting together as they barely listened to the King and Queen, their hands entwined, eyes gazing at each other.
Nur noticed they were quiet, she nudged at her husband who frowned at his wife at first, then when she pointed at them, he shook his head and whispered, "At least they are not tearing each other's head off."
Nur nodded.
While Lee was staring at Thorin, she saw behind him, the same large wall that was in the queen's room. Lee stood up and went over to the wall for a closer inspection. Thorin followed her, "What is it?"
"This wall…the border…it just doesn't look right."
Thorin raised his hand felt the border and saw that the carving was also carved inwards until he came to the far right corner, the carving that was raised up and was sharp that it cut his finger.
"Thorin!" She held his hand.
He smiled at her, "It's just a slight cut, my dear."
He saw the chain on her neck; attached to it was the Durin ring; he frowned and wondered. The Durin ring had been with the family around the time of the civil war with the other clans.
"Lee, may I see the ring, the Durin ring."
She nodded as she removed from her neck; he removed it from the chain and examined it. The Durin runic carving on the ring was indented…Thorin held it against the carving; the size of the indent of the ring matched with the raised print on the wall. He wondered as he turned he ring around to fit the ring into the raised carving and it fit into it perfectly!
"Father!"Thorin was yelling for him excitedly. "Mother!"
Thrain and Nur hurriedly moved to Thorin's side as they watched their son pushed the ring in, at the same time, the entire wall panel began to move in, the King, Queen and Lee moved back, they did not know what to expect from the wall.
As the wall came to a stop, Thorin slid to the right but it didn't move, so he tried the left and it began to slide. The panel soon opened to a set of stairs down wards.
It was dark and musky from years of unused. Thorin unhooked a torch and stood looking at his father, "Father, shall we?"
Thrain looked at his wife who shook her head, "I think you two should go, the parchment said, only the heir of Durin may enter. The key has been the ring all this time. I hope you find what you seek, husband. My son, keep your father safe."
Lee ran to Thorin and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard, "Your mother is right, only the heir of Durin will finish the rest of this journey onwards. I wish you success, my Khazad-zukȉn." She pressed her lips to his hard before releasing him. She then stepped back and stood next to the queen.
Thorin nodded as he stared longingly at her but eager to enter the dark chasm and beyond.
Thrain nodded at his wife as he stepped within, a torch in his hand. Thorin giving Lee a final look followed his sire and the two men disappeared thereafter.
Nur turned to Lee and smiled encouragingly at her and said, "What say we have something to drink, my dear?"
Lee nodded as Nur led her couches.
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End of Chapter 18
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