'Sorry, I just don't understand. I'm supposed to stay in this room for the next two days?' I had leaned forward, attempting to keep my face neutral rather than horrified. 'Just eating and bathing and...talking?'

Giva's blonde beard twitched with a laugh. 'My Lady, the tradition states that the woman will bathe and prepare herself for her Lord husband, cleansing herself of any bad spirits and evil. If I may be so bold, you have encountered a fair amount of bad spirits in your months away'. She smiled, thick, curved brow cocking. 'This wedding will cleanse you of those'.

Huh. Kili didn't really seem to mind my evil spirits. Anyway, he was so gross compared to me, he should be the one bathing and cleansing himself. And learning proper table manners, too.

'I guess that makes sense...' It didn't, but it was tradition. Anyway, I couldn't really complain about two whole days of being pampered by my seamstress and the other ladies who seemed to have dedicated the next few days to finding out every detail about myself and Kili.

Tomorrow and the day after that, I would not see Kili or any other man at all. The day after that, I would be married.

'The Lady Dis will be arriving tomorrow, my Lady,' said Giva, who'd handed me three golden headpieces, allowing me to decide which one I liked best. In the end, I had decided on a piece that wove three chains - one going down the centre of my head, the other two around each side. Meeting in the middle, they hung a small, blue little gem to the centre of my forehead. 'She will also be arriving with my mother'.

I handed the headpiece back to Giva. 'Do you know Lady Dis well?' I laughed sheepishly. 'I'm kinda nervous about meeting her, if I'm honest'.

Giva let the golden piece fall into her satchel. Over the past few weeks, she would arrive to my room with different materials and accessories, allowing me to choose the smaller parts of my wedding get-up.

'She is a strong woman, my Lady. A vaen Dwarf, in body and in soul. After Thorin Oakenshield and his company left Ered Luin, mother and I would visit Lady Dis in her home. She fretted for her sons - for your Prince Kili. I came to know her well, and I was with her when Prince Kili wrote to her, and spoke of you. She had not heard from him, but only of the death of her brother'. Giva looked up from her hands, and smiled past her soft beard. 'That letter made her happy, I remember, to know her son had found someone who was the reason he was alive at all'.

Emotions. Everywhere.

'Oh...well...thanks, Giva. That's actually pretty helpful. Thanks'.

'That is quite alright, Lady Millie'. There was a pause, in which Giva shuffled her bag around and I yawned, propping my legs onto the bed. 'I was wondering, my Lady...I have spoken to Mister Ori only briefly, and he is a very good story teller, but...would you tell me of your journey to the Mountain? I am sure it was a very different experience for you, and I cannot imagine what it must have been like, travelling with all of those men-'

'They stank'.

Giva laughed out loud. 'Edra and Edolin will not be here for at least another hour. Would you mind sharing your tale? It is such a treasured story already'. Edra and Edolin were two sisters and cousins to Dori, Nori and Ori. Two of the women who would be arriving to rid me of my evil spirits, apparently.

'Of course I wouldn't. Go on, sit down'.

I woke up in the middle of the night, panting and sweating and my yelp dying in my throat. The darkness seemed to linger for a moment, but then the candle light flickered and the shadows and objects dropped into reality.

I was in my room in Erebor. There was no arrow in my stomach.

I had to remind myself such things whenever I woke from a nightmare - a memory - with my hands shaking and my throat dry. Only this...this nightmare sung of not only the Battle, but of the spiders in Mirkwood, the trolls in that stinky cave, the Orcs that chased us across that vast, rocky field.

And Smaug...Smaug the Stupendous, Smaug the Great. Breathing fire on Laketown once again...only we were there this time, all of us. Bilbo and Gandalf burned first, then the others, then me, left alone, trying to find solace in the water-

I had pushed myself up against the headboard, drawing my legs out flat in front of me and my hand travelling up my nightdress, revealing three white scars on my thighs, and then the ugly, bumpy scar across my abdomen. It would have healed properly, Oin had told me, had it not been for the poison in the arrow.

Breathing out a tired sigh, I rubbed the area, feeling nothing. I think the nerves had died there, because even when I pinched the raised skin, I felt nothing.

Tomorrow (or today) Dis would be arriving. Giva, Edra and Edolin had warned me to get as much sleep as I could, but I just couldn't. Memories of being chased across Middle Earth by a hulking white Orc with serious anger issues seemed to plague me every time I closed my eyes. Tends to leave some pretty bad memories.

Only this time, I couldn't quietly creep to Kili's room.

I missed Gandalf. I'd hoped and hoped that he would suddenly appear out of nowhere, there to smile that old persons smile and wish me well on my wedding day. And the wedding...the day that would bring hope and happiness to the Dwarves of Erebor who were trying so hard to rebuild their home.

Bofur and Bombur said that many of the women folk were rallying the men into remembering that this was a time of celebration. Apparently the male Dwarves were more concerned with fixing the halls and spying out the mithril that had been lost in the caverns of Erebor.

I missed Bilbo too. He had us hoping and turning toward the right answer. I needed help with that right now.

Moments into falling back to sleep, I suddenly realised that I had not considered wanting the company of my mother, as I had done so many times before.

I was forgetting to remember her.

'You look tired,' observed Edra, grabbing my chin to rub a thumb across the darkness under my eyes. 'You are not traipsing through wilderness now, my Lady. Now, you must look beautiful, strong - like Dwarven Royalty'.

I yawned, sinking lower into the tub. It had taken a lot for them to get me in here, now Edra and Edolin seemed intent on letting me know every single thing that needed changing for today and tomorrow. Today, I was to be bathed (I was going to be bathed tomorrow too, but that meant extra cleanliness).

'No yawning,' snapped Edolin. 'You will meet Lady Dis today'.

Giva rolled her eyes from the doorway. 'Do you honestly think that Lady Dis will care about Lady Millie's yawning? After the journey we know very well, I think we can assume our Lady Dis will be yawning a lot too, don't you?' Edra and Edolin suddenly looked very dark and moody.

They thought their journey was bad? Please.

'Today, you will prepare for the meeting of Prince Kili's mother. That will give us a good excuse to talk through the traditions met with a Royal exchanging of vows. We can even practice!' Edra beamed down at me, and I sunk lower into the bubbles. I hadn't let them see me naked, and I think they'd understood. Edra and Edolin, despite their bossiness, had been understanding about my scars.

'I know a lot of it,' I defended, poking my tongue out at the bubbles. 'I know I have to walk in alone, to show that I am strong or whatever-'

'Or whatever,' tsked Edolin, who had always the snapper of the two. I miss her now, though. Her sarcastic comments were a breath of fresh air to me. 'The walk of the Dwarven bride is strong-'

'You must hold your chin high, clasp your hands in front of you-'

Giva smiled, touching her beard. 'Let your braids fall over you shoulders, like a lions mane. You will look beautiful. Your dress is my best work yet'.

'She does beautiful dresses, don't you worry lass. Giva's mother made my wedding dress you know, in the early days, when I married my dear Bombur,' mused Edra. I blinked, nearly slipping beneath the bubbles. 'Didn't you know? Well, if you were not cooped up inside your room or with your Prince Kili so often, then maybe you would know such things,' she had snipped, smiling all the same. 'My Bombur has lovely things to say about you, although he does feel bad about landing on top of you - when you were taken by those nasty trolls'.

I grimaced at the memory.

Edolin scoffed. 'Trolls. Honestly. You will be the oddest Princess Erebor will have ever had, and Lady Dis was a rebel, let me tell you. I remember when she married, though I think we were too young to remember when she began courting the brave man, may he rest in peace with our ancestors'.

'Well Edolin,' came a husky, yet oddly feminine voice. 'I'm glad you approved of my late husband, so'. Mahal above, I swear that in that split second, I saw Thorin standing in that doorway, just behind the startled looking Giva. But no, Thorin didn't have such feminine lining to his face. And Thorin wouldn't have been so calm about catching me taking a bath, that's for sure.

She was tall for a female Dwarf, with the dark hair of both Thorin and Kili and a beard that would make any Dwarf swoon. Beneath that beard, there was a smile. 'You must be Millie. I am Dis'.

And I am naked. So, so naked.

'Oh-!' I slipped in the bath in my haste to duck lower into the water, and bubbles sloshed over the side of the tub. 'Er, hello, my- my lady. Sorry about my, er...-' Boobs? '-nakedness'.

Giva, the shit, had bitten back a smile and started to explain to Dis how we weren't expecting her arrival for a few more hours. Edolin had looked quite put out at being caught, though I couldn't blame her for wanting to fill me in on Dis's background.

Dis waved a hand, a few of her fingers littered with pretty rings. Her blue eyes were kind, I remember. That was a relief to me. But still, I was naked. 'Don't worry, berch, it is nothing that I have not seen before'. Her voice had rumbled with a deep chuckle. 'I was eager to meet my sons betrothed, you see. You are on your first day of the separation I see,' she winked. 'Don't worry, we will make you ravishing for my son'.

I'd blinked, fighting the urge to choke on my saliva. '...Righto'.

'Edolin, fetch a towel, will you? You'll turn the poor girl into a prune if you are not careful,' Dis ordered, with the voice of royalty. She looked around as Edolin bowed a little and went to her work. 'Giva, you may go if you wish - I know your mother is eager to see you -, and you Edra. It would be beneficial if you would come back within the hour, though. I'm sure we have much to talk about with Lady Millie here'. Dis smiled beneath her beard, and the two Dwarven women nodded.

'It is lovely to see you again, Lady Dis. I hope your journey went well,' bowed Giva, smiling a little before she left the room with Edolin.

Don't leave me, I had wanted to mouth desperately.

Edolin handed Dis the towel with a little bow and, soon, she was also gone from the room. 'I remember those two days of not seeing my husband,' Dis mused. 'With all of those little hens clucking around you, so eager to please you and make the day so special for you. Sometimes, I know, it is nice to have a moment to yourself'.

Thorin, I had thought. You look so much like Thorin.

I'd coughed, drawing the bubbles closer to myself as Dis had settled her curvy bottom onto the side of the tub. Lady Dis was exactly what every Lady Dwarf wanted to look like, I'm sure. Strong, beautiful, bearded and dark. 'Forget about me. Shouldn't you be resting and looking at your home and seeing your sons? You can see me later, Lady-'

'It is just Dis, as I shall call you Millie, yes?' Dis smiled. 'You look as if you have seen a ghost'.

I swallowed. 'You look a lot like him'.

Dis breathed out, tugging thoughtfully at her beard. 'My brother and I did always share such a resemblance. Frerin, on the other hand, did not. He was my second eldest brother, younger than Thorin. Kili or Fili may have mentioned him. I sometimes think he looks like Fili'. She breathed out. 'I have not seen my sons yet, no. They were conversing with Balin in the Royal Chamber, the last I heard whence I arrived. I had a feeling I should see you first though'.

She looked at me, eyes blue like Thorin's.

'I need to thank you, Millie Forunier,' she said, voice like ale and whiskey and chocolate. 'Songs will be sung of Thorin, I know. They already do sing of the King who finally saved the Mountain. But of you, there are stories. Stories that came with the Iron Dwarves to Ered Luin, stories of the brave, beardless Dwarven lass who saved the Durin Princes'. I hardly cared that the bubbles were popping any more. 'My sons. It is because of you that I still have sons'.

And then I was crying and I was in the bath. It reminded me oddly of High School exam stress. 'You don't have to thank me-'

Dis shook her head. 'Because of you, I am still a mother. My son is blessed to be marrying one such as you'.

'You're making me cry,' I accused, sniffling. 'You're making me cry whilst naked - this is really not how I wanted to meet you'. Kili's going to have a field day about this, the pint sized asshole.

Dis laughed. 'Come on. Let's get you out of this water and into something less regal than what they have been making you wear. We have a wedding to prepare for'. She peered at me, handing me the rough towel that had been stitched together by the materials brought to Erebor. 'I know of Royal Wedding vows and what they bring'.

Foreboding, much?

'The walk is one of the most traditional parts of the ceremony, isn't it, Lady Dis?' said Giva, holding up her skirts as she walked toward me. I watched her; her chin had been firm, her eyebrows arched, her face a blank canvas of superiority. I remember how she had stopped and grinned, how easily she could change from Dwarven steel to a kind faced Lady.

Jesus, how could I ever do that? I'd trip and fall and ruin the regal-ness of it all.

'It is,' agreed Dis, sitting on the edge of my bed. I had stood before her, entirely unsure of myself and wishing that Kili was there to make me braver. 'Is it the moment where the husband-to-be sees his wife for the first time in two days, where she wears her traditional, blue paint and the gold and, above all, the dress'.

Giva shuffled excitedly.

'Edra and I have walked toward our husbands before. We will teach you, do not fret,' said Dis. She crossed her legs, her heavy dress swishing, her gold clanking. 'Once you reach your husband, you do this'. She reached up, swiping her hand vertically down my left cheek, below my eye. 'There, the blue paint will smudge, and you will have the essence of the other on each of your skins. It signifies that you will only see him now, and he will only see you'.

They continued to tell me of the wedding traditions, but I don't want to spoil you yet. You can see when I tell you of the wedding, and let me tell you, the wedding was a hoot. A terrifying, exhilarating hoot.

'Dis,' I insisted, an hour later. 'You have to see Fili and Kili - please-'

She had waved a hand, a common motion with her. 'I was planning to leave, fretful girl. I have seen the inside of my home on the way to these rooms, but I do yearn to see my sons now. I have missed them. I will tell Prince Kili that you miss and that you are doing well'.

Edra, Edolin and Giva each bowed at Dis's departure. Before the Dwarven Princess left, she turned to look over her shoulder. 'Do practice that walk with her, Giva. We don't want the smooth faced lass falling in front of the whole Kingdom, yes?'

Giva bit her tongue. 'Yes, my Lady'.

'You know,' said Dis. 'This was my room when I was a young girl. How odd'. I blinked. The stone door shut behind her, and I wailed.

'The first time I meet Kili's mother and I'm naked. Do you know how many months I have been nervous about that? Do you?'

Edolin just rolled her eyes at me and pushed me onto the bed, planting me firmly down and holding me by my shoulders.'You have nothing to hide that she has not seen before, aside from that little frame of yours. It is a shame that we do not have time to pile some meat onto you before the exchange of vows'.

Edra shook her head, eyeing me as I sat in a red, cotton dress. 'No sense in making her ill before the day, sister'.

Giva had nodded in agreement. 'You did very well, my Lady. Lady Dis seemed to like you quite a lot. We do not have the false courtesy of Elves within our culture, as you probably know. Be yourself, and people will like you'.

Edolin had wrinkled her nose. 'All of those Elves seem so fake all of the time-'

'Shush! We have finally made some kind of peace with those tree elves from Mirkwood, there is no sense in stirring up bad memories now, sister. This is a time for happiness, not for remembering bad things done to us'.

'I'm with Edra on this one,' I agreed, jutting a thumb to the more reasonable sister. 'You know, I met quite a nice Elf when I was a prisoner in Mirkwood. She seemed to dislike me, but I kinda liked her. I can't remember her full name, so I just called her Shi'. I blinked, wondering if the Elf was alive, or if she too had died in the Battle. Maybe she hadn't been there at all. 'I wonder if she's okay...'

'No bad thoughts!' admonished Giva. 'Think about the exchange of vows, the food, your Prince...the dress!'

'Just think, Lady Millie,' said Edra, taking my still damp towel from the floor and tidying it away. 'Not tomorrow, but the next day, you will be a Princess. A deserved title, I must say'.

'Despite how smooth your face is,' muttered Edola, earning a sharp look from her sister. 'I jest!' She looked to me. 'Although, both you and Prince Kili are rather hairless around the jaw. I wonder if your children will be the same. An honest observation,' she had insisted. 'Not unkind'.

I had tried not to freeze, instead opting to smile easily. 'I wonder too'.

Wedding prep and Dis. I hope Dis is written okay - it was the only way I could imagine her being. Laid back, but with a fierce love for her sons. We'll see that worrisome side of her next chapter, I promise. I'm considering making the second day of 'separation' shorter and having the wedding next chapter, making it a slightly longer chapter, what do you think?

Thank you for the bountiful reviews! I was very happy with the replies to my very late update, so here's another surprising one. If I don't update before Christmas, Merry Christmas, my lovely readers!

Three more things. I did a little Thorin/Bilbo piece, have a look on my ff page. Also, I'm back to kiliyousosilly on tumblr. Also, anyone get the DanRad reference?

Merry Christmas!