Coming Of Age – Chapter 34
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The next morning Thorin and ThoraLee were sitting with the King and the Queen in the Dining Halls breaking fast with them.
"Thorin, is something the matter with your mouth?" Nur was looking over at his son.
Thorin shook his head.
He was covering his right cheek with his palm as he was eating with his left hand.
Lee kept her head down cast but she was wearing a small grin.
"Thorin…?"
"I'm fine mother." He muttered shortly.
Nur looked at her son again, then at Lee but she didn't say anything else anymore as she began eating quietly.
It was a while Thrain noticed something was not right.
"Where is everyone? Where are those cousins of yours? It's not like them to miss breakfast and Frerin, where could that lazy bones be?"
Lee looked up and said, "Jor is usually an early riser, where is he?"
One of the servants who was standing near the dining table stepped forward and said with his head bowed, "Your Majesty, Your Highness…er…Prince Frerin and your brother..er..they are outside in the gardens asleep currently."
"WHAT?" Lee exclaimed as they all stood up suddenly.
The servant backed off hurriedly as he said, "They came back early this morn…and didn't make it to their rooms. So they slept off in the garden grounds."
They all began to hurry off out of the Dining Halls and to the gardens.
They found Frerin lying on his side over Nur's prized flowers which were all flattened without a single stitch of clothing on him.
Jor was stretched over the stone bench, missing both his boots and his pants but someone had the decency to cover his manhood with a lady's lacy kerchief.
Nur and Lee were blushing as they quickly averted their gazes. "My poor flowers! Completely ruined!" Nur kept muttering
Thrain was incensed when he saw his youngest son lying prone and bare of clothing.
Thorin was guffawing out loud, Thrain tried to glare at him but it was of no use.
Suddenly, they turned around when they heard a lot of running and saw their cousins coming down the stone steps from the palace.
As they stood in front of the angry king, they tried not to look guilty.
But Thrain knew better.
"Is this one of your pranks?" he pointed at the two young dwarves.
The cousins did not answer as they stood in a row. Thorin saw Oin holding someone's article of clothing and Balin was holding two pairs of boots.
"Lee, I think we shall let Thrain handle this…matter." Nur grabbed her arm as they hurriedly off inside the palace but she stopped in front of Thorin when she saw his face.
"Great Mahal! Did you wrestle with an orc…?"
"Let's go, Mother…" Lee's embarrassed face glanced laughingly at Thorin's surprised one before she ushered the queen quickly inside.
Nur looked at her daughter-in-law, "Lee, I do wonder about you sometimes…Were you really brought up by elves or by orcs?"
Lee laughed out loud, "Your Majesty! The wood elves had nothing to do with what Thorin brought the worse out of me! Come, I'm sure my little sister is awakening by now and needs her morning meal!"
….
"Wake them up and…get them dressed!" Thrain glared at Balin, as he was the oldest of the four.
They hurriedly went to the young men.
Oin was bending down on one knee by Frerin as he shook his shoulder, "Come on Frerin! Get up now!"
The lad moaned in his half-sleep as he smiled, "Hmm…Sunshine…that you? Are you back for more?" He giggled as he made to grab Oin. "You were so lovely last night, so beautiful…I think I'm in love...come on, give me a good morning kiss…mmm!" He leaned in as he pulled Oin towards him and kissed his cousin in his mouth hard!
Oin's eyes were wide opened as he struggled to pull away from Frerin!
Gloin and the rest were stunned and began to laugh hard, even Thrain! After he had recovered from his shock.
Frerin grinned as he continued to open his eyes, "I must say you seemed a little hairy this morn, I guess you must shave every…" that was when his eyes were fully opened now and he saw Oin's stunned face staring back at him
"Oh my! NO!" Frerin began to scoot away from Oin as he shook his head, one hand busily scrubbing his mouth, "I didn't kiss you, did I?"
Oin nodded his head, face reddened.
"This is not happening to me! Where is Sunshine?" He began to look around and stopped short when he saw his father's angry face.
"Oh! He…Hello…Hello father, tis a lovely sunshiny morn, isn't it?" He smiled nervously at him.
It was then he looked down and saw that he was without clothes, nary a stitch.
"Well, I seemed to have misplaced my clo…" Oin tossed them down to him. "Oh, here they are! Thank you cousin Oin." He stood up and began to put them on hastily.
As Frerin was putting his clothes on, Dwalin went over to the stone bench and tried to rouse JoraLee who was softly snoring.
"Jor! Wake up! Come on!" Dwalin knew not to lean too close to him, he did not want to be kissed by Jor, mistake or not!
"Not yet, Precious…give me five more minute…I'll be ready again." Jor muttered.
"Jor! Get up!" Dwalin touched his hand and shook it but Jor smiled widely and captured Dwalin's hand as he groaned!
"Precious…such strong hand you have. Come my dear show me how you did it, how you made me very happy…" Jor pulled Dwalin's hand down and guided it down to where his private area was and Dwalin squeaked out so loudly it woke the younger dwarf who looked at him in a puzzle as to why Dwalin had his hand on his private …
"Master Dwalin? I…You're not Precious?" He looked about him and saw Thorin, Balin who were on their knees laughing as they were holding onto each other, Gloin and Oin were banging their fists on the grass hard as they laughed. Thrain's face was so red that he turned away from all of them and bent over with his hands on his thighs as he let his laughter out.
Frerin didn't laugh as he was busily throwing up the contents of his stomach by his mother's flower beds.
Oin finally was able to pass Jor's pants and boots as he tried to take several breaths while he wiped his eyes.
When Jor was finally dressed and booted properly, he was having the most horrendous head sore, so was Frerin.
Thrain made the young sad looking dwarves sat on the stone bench while the cousins stood behind them.
"This is very unacceptable! I had thought you, Balin and Dwalin, that you had learned your lesson from years ago when you pulled this one on Thorin!" He glared at the cousins.
"Now you too, Oin and Gloin!" Thrain continued. "Frerin and JoraLee are simply too young …wait." He turned back to Balin and Dwalin and stood in front of them. "Tell me you didn't take them to that blasted tavern?"
Balin and Dwalin, their heads down, nodded.
"Confounded it, you two!" He yelled at them. "I have told you to stay away from that wretch place!" Then he looked at his son's fingers, "Great Mahal! Where is his ring? He didn't give it to that wench at that tavern?" and then Thrain glanced over to Jor as well and saw that his hands were bare as well.
Thrain's eyes were red with anger as he glared angrily at them, veins on his neck were throbbing visibly as he pointed at the cousins, "Where is his rings? It had better be in safe or you four will be very sorry you ever step foot in that damn evil foul …" he couldn't find any adjectives to curse at the tavern but luckily for the cousins, or Thrain, well, for all involve for the matter, depending how you looked at it. Balin quickly produced the rings from his pockets and showed Thrain.
"We kept them safe for the young fellas before we left for the tavern, your Majesty." Balin said quickly.
Thrain narrowed his eyes at him as Balin began to move and stood behind Dwalin but Thrain did not say anything anymore.
"From tomorrow morn till it is done, all of you, including you Frerin will be moving the gold from under the palace to up into the unused rooms on the second floor.
"Second floor! That's a long way from under the grounds to the palace and…!" Balin began to calculate the distance it would take each trip and he stared at Thrain with his mouth flapping opening and closing.
Thrain arched a brow at him, "Worry not, Balin Thorin will be assisting you too as well as a few of the guards."
Thorin who had been quiet and grinning all this time, feeling good as he, for once was not in trouble, snapped his head and turned to face his father, "Why?"
"I'm putting you in charge of them. You will be responsible for Balin, Dwalin, Oin, Gloin, and your brother Frerin."
Thorin glared at his father, "Fine! Hang on, what about him?" He pointed at Jor whose eyes were closed, as well as Frerin's as they were both slumped against each other.
"He and ThoraLee are to begin their lessons with me at the library, every morn."
"What lessons?" He asked.
"They shall learn the affairs of running a kingdom. In the afternoon, they shall learn weapons training."
"Weapons training? Why? We are not to war?"
"No, Nogrods might, amongst themselves. I want them to be ready." Thrain reasoned.
Thorin nodded.
…
"I hope they are all right." ThoraLee fretted as she paced along the tall windows in the queen's quarters.
"I do wish you'd stop pacing about, Lee." Nur shook her head as she watched Dis crawling about on the rug, trying to follow Lee.
"They have been out there for quite a while, you don't think his Majesty buried them in your flower beds, did he?" Lee asked as she suddenly stopped walking and stared at Nur.
"Great Mahal! Thrain would certainly do no such thing, my dear!"
Then they heard the doors opened, Thrain walked in alone as he greeted the ladies.
"Are they well, your Majesty?" Lee asked in a worried voice.
Thrain nodded, "Your brother went to the tavern outside of Dale last eve with the cousins and Frerin well…he had quite a bit to drink. He is in the guest quarters abed."
Lee and Nur nodded gratefully.
"Lee, I have decided that you and Jor should start, tomorrow morn, that it would be best if you two learn the matters of the kingdom from me in the morn, every day. And in the afternoons, weapons training."
"Weapons training?" Nur exclaimed. "Why ever for?"
"When you return to your Kingdom, there might be unrest. There might even be attempts or challenges. I don't know but I want you two to be ready. I offer you my army when you are ready. Just the talent of your daggers is simply not enough, Lee. I wish for you to learn to fight with all manner of weapons used in battle, even archery."
Lee was looking excited as she was vastly interested in all things that involved weapons and fighting.
"What have you done to Frerin then?" Nur asked.
Thrain explained to his wife the new task he had given to his sons and cousins.
"Well, that is certainly an excellent lesson for them." Nur nodded. "They will be too tired to visit that tavern."
Thrain nodded, "That's the idea, my dear. It will keep the lot of them out of trouble."
Nur reached up and stroke his face intimately, Lee averted her gaze, giving them privacy.
"You poor dear, they have been such a trail to you since they were young."
"Aye, and to you, too, my dear. Sometimes, I wish they were all girls, I would have you deal with them."He shook his head.
Lee giggled with her head down as she imagined them as girls.
"Go ahead and laugh, Lee. When you have children of your own, you will know the trails of raising them." Thrain grinned.
Lee smiled, "I would like to have children…later…much later, your Majesty."
They laughed at her.
"I am not ready to be a mother yet." She said shyly.
"True, at the moment, you have a kingdom to learn." Thrain nodded as he bent to pick up his daughter and kissed her forehead. "Your Majesty." He glanced at Lee and smiled.
Lee inclined her head at him, Thrain started; for a moment, he thought he saw a regal queen standing before him and he felt he should bowed low to her with respect as he would for a royal person.
Then she smiled impishly at him and that moment was disappeared.
Thrain blinked a few times as he looked at her again but she looked like…ThoraLee, no longer that regal queen he had seen…
Thrain swallowed hard and chalked that up to his old age.
"Dadada…" Dis was calling to him as she giggled.
Thrain smiled widely, "Well now, that is my smart daughter! That is right, I am your father!" he kissed Dis lovingly on her cheek, causing her to laugh more. Dis placed her chubby hands around her father's face as Nur stood close to them, smiling.
Lee watched them, feeling intrusive as she stepped back leaving the parents and child enjoying their moment.
She imagined that one day in the far future this scene would be enacted with her and Thorin holding their child in his arms. A son.
She tried to imagine Thorin holding his own son proudly, carrying on the Durin line… but all she saw was…nothing…it was a darkened vision before her.
Lee quickly turned around to face the tall windows and looked out the mountains beyond Erebor.
The sight of the mountains had always calmed her as it always represented Thorin. Thorin's mountains...The Lonely Mountains was Thorin's mountains, his mountains as well as hers. Theirs.
Lee could not see their children in them…yet.
She worried; why couldn't she see them? Was this an omen?
She shook her head, she never believed in omens. Just like the falling stars she had seen before.
In truth, they scared her. They were unseen elements of her future…
Nay, not hers, Thorin's and hers. Theirs.
Her fingers twitched and felt the ring…the green diamond ring and she felt comforted.
The green diamond ring she would always related it with Thorin because Thorin had made the ring with his own hands.
She held it up and looked at it, the green was so brilliant that it looked like the color of his eyes when he was very happy and …in love!
Lee smiled to herself as she looked up and watched the gentle clouds floating atop the tips of the Lonely Mountains.
Thorin's Mountains…
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End of Chapter 34