Ch.3: Daughter of the Vividstone.
"That woman pretended to aide me, but was only interested in lining her pockets with my suffering. I knew that dwarf women seldom traveled, but I did not think us such a rarity as to be victimized by men."
The girl fumed, pulling the cloak Gandalf had purchased for her about her tightly. The thought of those people sickened her, but she was grateful that the wizard had been passing by, surveying the mountain to discern whether Smaug still lived.
"Unfortunately one does not need to be rare to be a target for wickedness… I am sorry for your troubles, but do not think all men are as such. Though I must wonder why a dwarf woman would be traveling alone in Dale, especially one with no beard?" Gandalf's eyebrow arched questioningly.
"I was sent by my mother the mountain to find my kin," she said, breathing deep the smell of the food Gandalf offered her and drinking liberally from the pint of ale he had purchased for her,
"As for the beard, it is a mark of my mother's shame. Mahal has marked me for my mother's betrayal, just as a dishonored dwarf must shave their face; I have been cursed with no beard."
"And who is your mother? Who are your kin?"
Gandalf was calmly smoking his pipe before a great roaring fire. He had relocated them to an inn, and the loud conversation around her seemed to grant a level of privacy all its own.
Knowing herself safe in the wizard's hands, she started into her strip of venison, having no reason for deception.
"My mother is the mountain kingdom of Erebor. She has dwelt there since the birth of the Seven Fathers. For some reason she slept when she should have awoken to her husband Durin I, and Mahal saw fit to grant her life enough to watch over her children. I am her daughter; the little life that remained in her heart was given to me."
"The Arkenstone…" Gandalf murmured, staring deeply into the flames.
The elves of the Greenwood had noticed the dimming of the life of The Lonely Mountain, and now this young dwarf woman appeared with a tale only one of great age and power could have known. Even Durin I himself had not known of his wife, only that he awoke with a chasm in his heart and sought to fill it. Now the appearance of a dwarf girl destined by birth for the line of Durin… sprung from the mountain under guard by the beast…
"As it is known, yes."
The girls comment broke Gandalf's reverie and he returned his attention to her face, though his eyes again glazed over in consideration beyond simply her as she spoke.
"My mother never awoke, and so never learned her true name, she is only Erebor now, The Lonely Mountain. But now even that life I fear has faded, I am what remains, the product of her knowledge and the last single thread of her strength. I must clear her halls of that reptilian filth and reinstate my kin. It is what she wished for more than anything. It is why she poured the last of her will into my creation ninety years ago. I believe she must have known you were nearby Gandalf, why else would she chose now to give me form?"
"Indeed…" Gandalf mused, seeming very far away.
Her eye's narrowed accusingly, "Mr. Gandalf? Mr. Gandalf?"
Gandalf jumped as though suddenly awakened from a light nap, and it peeved her greatly.
"Yes?" he choked out amidst the smoke of is pipe.
"Have you even been listening to a single word of my-"
"Indeed I have Lady… Lady… Harrumph." Gandalf stared at her for a moment, "What shall I call you?"
"As I said before, I have no name," she sighed flatly.
Gandalf considered this for a moment,
"It is not uncommon for dwarves to take names in the common tongue of their own choosing. Perhaps you should choose one until you can be properly named in Khazadian."
She paused. In theory there was nothing inherently wrong with Gandalf's proposal, but it somehow felt strange to name oneself when they had no intimate name. But there was nothing for it to go on being called simply 'dwarf girl.'
Her gaze shifted contentedly about the room, her mind wandering on the topic for a few moments.
"Eily," she stated soundly, for like most dwarves she was quick to make decisions and steadfast to them once made.
Gandalf smirked inwardly, "A very pleasant ring to that. Yes, Eily Vividstone I think… for the method of your birth. Well, we best adjourn to our room; we have a long road ahead. Don't worry; I've been assured they have a perfectly fine dwarf sized bed for you."
She nodded happily, the ale doing wonders to her temperament until she processed his words. She looked up from her pint abruptly, blonde hair tossing against her cheek.
"Road ahead? Where are we going?"