Coming Of Age – Chapter 23
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The sun was almost setting when King Thrain, Balin and Dwalin rushed out of the Halls to the gardens, they stopped short of the steps leading down beyond the walls of the palace.
In the center where the flowers were still blooming, the scent lightly giving off its perfumed fragrance, stood ten wood elves, they were taller than the dwarves and dressed in brown and green to blend with the woods. Their eyes were green-brown in color and bright in the twilight.
They were holding a make-shift litter of large green leaves entwined with vines and ThoraLee was lying on her side in it. She was still clutching the broken oak limb in her arm, unconscious with the dagger still embedded in her shoulder.
An elf, presumably the leader stood in front of the litter spoke, "You are Thrain, King of Erebor and the city of Deol."
King Thrain nodded. "Aye."
"I am Eluin of the Anduin woods. We found ThoraLee in the river this eve, she was wounded. Why?" He tilted his head to a side in wonderment.
Thrain was not expecting this line of question as he glared at the elf, "What do you mean?"
"ThoraLee is elf-friend, anyone who harms one, will have to answer to all of us." The other elves standing behind him nodded.
It was then that Thrain noticed they had their thin swords drawn.
His own guards were drawing their swords partially but were not sure if they should do it all the way; they all thought they were still friends with the elves.
Eluin pointed at the dagger in her shoulder, "This dagger is dwarven-made, our friend was attacked by a dwarf?"
Thrain shook his head, "Yes, she was but I have dealt with them. They are in the dungeons as we speak."
Eluin nodded. "ThoraLee did not want our healers' assistances; she mentioned she must be home to her…Khazad-zukin ere dark. It was a promise she had made and she needed to make it and we are honoring it. She must be attended to immediately, this wound is deep. If we pull the dagger out, much of her life blood will flow out, she will lose a lot. Do you have a skilled healer? We have one, Thelen, is willing to stay and tend to her till she is well." Eluin turned to look at a female elf as she stepped out of the side of the litter and nodded, holding a cloth bag on her shoulder.
Thrain shook his head, "It is most kind of you to offer, Eluin, but we have a healer ourselves, he is my cousin, Oin, son of Groin. And he is most trusted too. I cannot thank you enough for bringing her home. We have been worried when she was gone. We thought she was lost when we heard that she was…" Thrain looked down his eyes closed.
"LEE!" They all turned at Thorin's voice and saw him rushing to them. His looks were wild.
"LEE! Is it true? Did the elves find my Lee?" He skidded to a stop before the litter and knelt before her.
"Is she..?" Thorin looked at Eluin. He gently touched her cheek, it was cold.
"She is alive…barely but she is strong. It was fortunate that we saw her when we came to collect berries by the river, or she certainly would have been lost beyond the river that flow out to the great sea." Eluin nodded at Thorin. "Are you her…Khazad-zukin?"
Thorin nodded, "Aye, I am"
"She kept asking for you, she would not let our healers treat her. She said she promised you that she would be …home to her Khazad-zukin. Most strange, she named you, heart of a Dwarf warrior. She knew you were the warrior." Eluin reached out and touched Thorin's forehead with his forefinger. "You have the sign. She saw the sign as well and the heart in you. Truly you are Khazad-zukin."
Then Eluin straightened and looked at Thrain and said, "Please take care of our Elf-friend, she is a special youngling. She and her twin, with their strange eyes were blessed by Eru Ilúvatar when they were born. The dwarf Erimm came to us and we helped raised them when they were younglings, we came to love them like our own. The twins were bright with their learnings; quick and swift as well as metal crafting. Erimm could not be more proud of them, as were we. But soon, it was time for them to leave the woods. They are dwarven after all and Erimm return to Deol with them. We have not seen her until now. We love her much, and it pained us that she denied our healers. Take care of our beloved elf-friend. " With that Thorin nodded and Eluin turned to join his people and walked out of the gardens and not a minute later they were gone, blending into the trees that were next to the palace.
"How did they do that?" One of the guards wondered out loud. "They just disappeared!"
Thorin removed the oak limb from her grasp then gently gathered her in his arms, so as he was careful to not jostle the dagger. He quickly ran into the palace and headed for his quarters, the other dwarves followed him.
Thrain did not follow his son. He was not needed anymore as he knew Oin was with them. He was weary and he knew Nur would be waiting anxiously for the latest news, he was very happy ThoraLee was back home alive. Then he realized he was still holding...
Thrain stop Dwalin for the moment as he handed him something… it was Lee's ring. Thrain knew Thorin would want to put her ring back in her finger as soon as possible. Dwalin looked at the ring and smiled happily, glad to be able to do something good for the couple.
…..
Thorin laid her gently on her stomach on his bed. Balin and Dwalin decided to wait for them in Thorin's living room quarters; Dwalin was still holding Lee's ring.
Oin immediately asked his brother Gloin to stoke the fire in the fireplace; he noticed her lips were turning a bluish tinge and her skin was cold. Oin realized her clothing was still damp.
"Thorin, she needs to be out of these clothes, I'm going to find blankets, plenty of blankets, if she doesn't catch a death of cold it will be a miracle…" And he was gone from the room.
Thorin nodded and saw that he didn't want to move her much so he bent down and retrieved his dagger he kept in his boot and sliced her shirt apart, being careful around the dagger wound and cried out loud; "Great Aulë! What the…!" Thorin almost shouted out loud. "Oh my poor Lee…my ThoraLee! What had they done to you?" he blinked his eyes as he removed her shirt from her back slowly with shaking hands.
But it was too much, Thorin dropped the dagger as he covered his face and cried, it clattered on the floor, drawing Gloin's attention who turned around and saw Lee's back and fell to his knees, "In the name of Mahal! This is too much!" Gloin cried out as he fell to his knees and wept.
Oin came running in with a handful of linens piled so high that it covered his face.
"Well, this will do for now! A maid will be here shortly with more linen and hot water and…Oh dear me!" Oin dropped the linens immediately as he ran before the bed, in front of Lee and shook his head.
"My goodness! My …" his mouth opened and closed several times but nothing came out as he was lost for words; tears seeped out of his eyes as he ran out again yelling for his hot water.
Her entire back was dark purple and red and swollen, the skin of her right shoulder blade was torn off and blood had dried off but it was a bloodied mess. Oin and Gloin remembered what little Bels had told them; Crudd, who weighed more than anyone of them, had punched her back for many minutes before he kicked her hard.
Taking a ragged breath, Oin turned back and walked to Thorin, touched his shoulders and said, "Come now cousin, you know we dwarves are hardy folks. She is a fighter. Look at it, she took on five big ones all by herself! Five! I may not know her at all but I am proud of her. She is not my kin and I am proud she is now one of us. Indeed, she is now my kin. I swear upon the great Aulë that I will protect her till my dying breath."
Gloin nodded as he wiped his tears from his eyes and stood up, "Oin is right, Thorin. She is one of us. And I too will protect her till my dying breath. Stay strong cousin. She needs your strength now. Come, let's get her better and you can introduce her to us properly."
Thorin nodded as he clutched Gloin's arm gratefully.
He stood up and turning back to her, began to remove her boots and her breeches with his dagger. Gloin handed him a blanket to cover her body, Thorin thanked him.
As soon as a maid came with a pan of hot water, Oin began to make his medicine from a bag he had brought with him. He also prepared a needle and a special thread.
"She will be in much pain when I pull the knife out, and bleed much. I will work as quickly as I can. I need you to hold her as still as possible."
Thorin and Gloin nodded.
Oin dug into his bag and took out a jug and took a deep drink than handed it to Gloin who did likewise and handed it to Thorin but he shook his head.
Oin set the jug down and took a deep breath and let it out and glanced at them, "Ready?"
Gloin and Thorin holding Lee's shoulders gently but firmly and nodded.
Oin held the handle of the dagger and began to pull outwards slowly. Lee began to jerk in pain, moaning at first but her moaning changed to screams as Oin continued.
"Lee, be brave. It's me, I'm right here with you, hang in there, it'll be out soon. I love you Lee!" Thorin kept talking to her as she screamed and tried to jerk from them but they held her down.
The guards and servants outside the quarters stared at each other nervously, each wondering about Lee, fearing the worse. They all knew she had been found by the wood elves, their happiness was short lived when they learned she was heavily wounded. Down in the dungeons, the prisoners were given water and one loaf of bread to be shared among six of them.
As soon as Oin pulled the dagger out completely, blood began to ooze out fast, Oin had a hard time trying to sew the wound shut. Lee's screaming didn't help either. It pained them all to hear her in so much pain. Thorin kept talking to her, hoping his voice penetrated through the pain.
"Hurry up Oin, how much more pain can you put her through?" Thorin glared at his cousin.
Oin did not look up as he answered as calmly as he could, "I am trying my best, Thorin. If I don't do it right the first time, she will bleed to death. Worry not cousin, she will be all right soon."
Thorin arched a look at him but he didn't argue as the linen began to fill with blood.
Ten minutes later, Oin cut the thread and nodded, "There, it is done. Now, I must make a poultice for her back. I need more linen."
Gloin nodded, "I'll get you more." He gathered the soiled ones and left.
Oin went to the pan of water which had cooled but he washed his hands in it.
Drying them, he said, "We will have to move her to another bed, Thorin. This bed is completely ruined."
Thorin saw her blood had spilled all around his bed. He nodded, "I'll move her to her bed. We can sleep in there till they replaced my bed."
Oin did not commented on his remarks. He began pulling bottles from his bag and began mixing for a poultice, a large amount.
When Gloin came back with more linen, Dwalin and Balin joined him.
Dwalin came over to Thorin and gave him Lee's ring. Thorin thanked him gratefully.
"Lee will be thrilled to see it again." He tucked it in his trousers pocket for safe keeping.
It was then Dwalin and Balin saw the horrific bruises on her back.
Both brothers paled at the sight of it as they cussed silently at Crudd who had inflicted them on her.
Oin grunted in agreement angrily as he said quietly, "That person ought to be flogged for what he had done to her! This is beyond anything I have seen in my life!"
As Oin came to her to spread the poultice on her back, Lee struggled again and cried in pain as the sting hit the raw wound. Thorin rushed to her immediately. But Lee reared up and in her delirium, she held the blanket up in front of her, found Thorin's dagger by the bed, picked it up and saw Oin standing in front of her, smacked the bowl away from his hand and before he realize what was happening, Lee gave his wrist a quick twist and turned it around to his back as she held the dagger to his neck from behind.
"Who are you? What are you doing here? Where are my clothes?" She exclaimed.
Thorin came into her view and held his hand out, "Lee, it's me Thorin, Khazad-zukin. You're in my room. See...remember that window where we made our vows?" He pointed the tall window. Lee hesitated then shook her head, "I'm not sure…who are they…why are they hurting me?" she cried in anger.
"No, you remember Balin and Dwalin, and these are my other cousins, Gloin…Oin, he is a healer. Lee, do you remember what happened this morn? You were on your way to Dale to see your father but you met those…Crudd, and Shia, and their friends. They tried to take Grakarbor..."
"Grakarbor!" Lee nodded. "Is he all right? They tried to take him, and...and I…couldn't protect him..."
Thorin nodded, "It's okay my dear, Grakarbor is fine, he is in the stables…sleeping no doubt, thanks to you. Do you remember what happened then? Crudd attacked you… and well, you fought back, very bravely my dear I'm so proud of you." The other dwarves were nodding in agreement. Oin dared not move as he felt the sharp weapon against his neck. His hand was held firm behind him; he marveled at her strength, despite her injuries.
Lee frowned, "They hit me…I...I...found the branch…the oak branch, it helped, I hit them but she…Shia …I...I...don't remember…" Lee faltered.
Thorin shook his head," It doesn't matter my love. We have them, we took care of them. They will not bother you or anyone anymore."
Lee frowned and shook her head, "No, they will be back and…and they will come and get me. I have to take care of them now. Let me go!" She tightened her grip on Oin.
"No! Lee! Listen rúzín, it's me! You're safe at home, here with me. They are in the dungeons. They won't bother anyone, all of them. Trust me, rúzín, please. Remember our vows? I will take care of you?"
"Thorin? Khazad-zukin?" She rasped as she winced, her head lowering with pain.
He nodded, "Yes my love, it's me."
Lee nodded. Suddenly, her adrenaline ebbed as the dagger clattered to the floor as she began to fall. Thorin rushed to catch her and picked her up, and held her close and fell unconscious.
Oin was rubbing his neck, "Well, I see what you meant, Thorin. She is a fireball! My goodness!"
Gloin nodded, "If I were not wedded myself, and if she is not, I would have wed her at once. She is a diamond! Thorin, you had better not lose that young lady of yours!"
Thorin nodded at them, "I know, she made a claim on me before I had a chance to do so."
Oin and Gloin exchanged glances and grinned, "Hmm…" Oin said. "Now, that is a story we would like to hear over a mug of beer, my young cousin."
Balin and Dwalin chimed in as well, "Wait a minute, we have not heard this story either."
Thorin gave them an arched look as he held her close to him. "Well not at the moment, first of all, I would like to see her well before I'm in the mood of telling stories."
Oin nodded as he bent to pick up the wooden bowl Lee had knocked out of his hand, thankful the thick poultice had not spilled. "Most definitely! Now, if you'll take her to a clean bed, I'll put this on her back and let her rest."
Thorin indicated the connecting door, "Balin, if you'll open this door."
Balin nodded and saw that it connected to another bedroom and realize it was ThoraLee's bedroom. He and Dwalin set about making a fire in the fireplace. Thorin came through and laid her on her bed, again on her stomach. Oin, immediately applied the poultice on her entire bruised back and with the strips of linen, he wrapped her in it.
"There. That's all I can do for now. I'll be back to change the linen and apply more poultice on her in the morn. Thorin, she lost much blood, she needs to drink through the night…will you be with her?"
Thorin nodded, "Aye cousin, I'll be here with her tonight...she is my wife, I…"
"Thorin, you don't have to explain, we all know and we understand. She is in excellent hands, then." Oin nodded.
The four dwarves bade Thorin a good night and left him with her and left the chambers.
When he was finally alone with her, Thorin saw that his shirt was soiled with her blood and he didn't want to leave her alone to fetch a fresh shirt, so he took off the soiled shirt and climbed into her bed and lay with her. Pulling the covers over the both of them, he gathered her gently to him and watched her as she slept.
Thank Aulë for keeping her safe and alive! I thought I had lost her today forever. She is my life and my world. She will never be apart from me again. No one will hurt my rúzín again. Dear Aulë, please help me protect her forever. You know I cannot live without her…
Thorin drifted away to sleep as he held her in his arms, a contented smile on his face.
…
End of Chapter 23