Date: TA 2841
Thorin: 95 years old
Lina: 92 years old
A knock on the door startled Lina awake. A quick look over at Thorin showed he'd not heard it. With a soft sigh, Lina rose from their bed and pulled a robe around her naked body. Her bare feet made barely a sound as she crossed to the door. Pulling it open, Lina found Kira waiting outside. The other female motioned for her to come out into the hall for a moment when she caught sight of Thorin still asleep.
"What is it?" Lina asked, shutting the door softly behind her.
"They've returned," Kira informed her.
Lina caught her meaning. Thrain's group had returned, but why was Kira being so secretive about it?
"What has happened?" The worry and fear began to rise within her.
"Thrain has gone missing. Balin says they were taking shelter at the edge of Mirkwood when the king vanished from the midst of their camp. They've returned after nearly a week of searching did not turn up even a sign of him." Kira's voice was grim. Someone or something had stolen Thrain.
"Who else knows?" Lina asked quietly, wondering what the fallout from the king's disappearance would be like.
"No one yet. Balin thought it best to tell Thorin before anyone else knew. He wanted me to tell you. The thinking was that you could break the news to Thorin better than any of us." The swordswoman went silent. Lina pressed one finger against her temple as she took in the information.
"I will tell Thorin. You tell Balin and Dwalin they, and the rest of their group, had better be gathered in the audience chamber in one candlemark. Thorin will have many questions for them," Lina told her friend. Kira nodded and disappeared down the hall.
Thorin had been right. Something had gone wrong. Lina felt sick to her stomach as she slipped back into their bedroom. Her husband was still sleeping peacefully. For a moment she simply stood beside the bed, watching him sleep.
The covers had settled about his hips, leaving his bare torso exposed to her gaze. Years of martial training and work in a forge had honed and hardened his body. Every muscle was well defined. The skin was crisscrossed with wounds received in various fights and battles. Lina had intimate knowledge of each and knew how he'd received them. His long, shaggy mane lay all about his head, catching in his beard and splayed across the muscled planes of his back. One arm lay stretched out across the empty space where Lina's body had been only a few minutes earlier.
He looked peaceful. Lina had managed to soothe his fears last night, and he had been calmer than she'd seen him in days. Now she was supposed to shatter that peace with the news his father had gone missing?
As if sensing her presence, Thorin's eyes opened. His expression became concerned when he saw her standing beside the bed, her face grim.
"Something has happened to my father, hasn't it?" There was resignation in his voice.
"Balin brought back the rest of the company. They will be waiting in the audience chamber to brief you fully in about a candlemark," she answered. Thorin lifted himself up on his elbow and simply examined his wife for a long moment. There was a conflict in his eyes. He was relieved at least to have an answer to his fears, but he was upset and angry that his father was gone. Thrain's disappearance made Thorin the de facto leader of Belegost. That was a position Thorin had not wanted just yet.
Lina was surprised when Thorin patted the empty place in bed beside him. She had been certain he was going to begin preparing to meet with Balin and Dwalin.
"Join me," he said softly. Still surprised by his response to the situation, Lina did so, shedding her robe in the process. Once in the bed, Thorin draped the covers over her hips and pulled her close to him. He buried his nose in the hair at the base of her neck and inhaled deeply. The arm about her waist tightened as she shifted, pinning her tightly against his muscular chest.
"I'm not going anywhere," Lina murmured, wrapping her own arm around his waist. He said nothing, but kissed her neck tenderly. The grip he had on her body relaxed only marginally.
There was fear and vulnerability in Thorin at that moment. Lina saw that as he held her tightly. His life had been filled with betrayal and loss from the start. His mother had died when he was but a child. His city was destroyed, his grandfather murdered, and now his father was missing. The strength Lina had first noticed in him back in Erebor was still there. No one could deny that. Anyone who glimpsed him saw the power and strength he possessed. However, that strength could not hold off the hurt and the fear of so much loss.
The female warrior knew what it was to be betrayed and to lose everything. Yet she had started out as far down as a being could be. Her journey had led her ever upward. Thorin had only fallen. How must farther must Thorin fall before his fortunes changed?
The hand not holding her husband absently stroked the hair on his chest. Thorin drew his head back from her neck. Lina looked up at him and found he was watching her with a crooked smile.
"I love you," she told him, moving her hand up to grasp the back of his head.
The smile broadened and finally reached his eyes, adding back a bit of the light she had grown so used to seeing there. He shifted his body until he was leaning over her. His eyes roamed over her naked body, drinking her in. Lina blushed slightly at the intensity and heat in his gaze. She was still not used to the way he looked at her. Her natural inclination toward modesty made his admiration for her body embarrassing, but she did not attempt to hide herself. Her eyes fluttered closed as he dragged the tips of his fingers over her skin, sending a shiver up her spine.
"I love you," he answered, dipping his head to capture her mouth in his. There was urgency, desperation, in his kiss. Lina's hands ran up and down his back as he held his body above her. His hands grasped the sides of her face, his fingers tangled in her hair.
When he pulled back, they were both breathing hard. His large hands were surprisingly tender as they brushed strands of Lina's blonde hair from her face. For one long moment he simply rested above her, his body just brushing hers with each breath they took. Thorin seemed to be afraid of looking away from her for fear she'd disappear.
"I will be with you always," Lina murmured, repeating the same words Thorin had spoken to her many years before, "I will never leave you, no matter what happens to me."
"Good." He pressed his lips against hers once more before levering himself off of her and stepping on the floor. The pair dressed quickly in relative silence. Lina smiled to herself as her hands flew through Thorin's hair, braiding the strands at each temple. His eyes had closed as she performed the task. It was a simple task for Thorin to perform, but he always preferred her touch. He would never admit it, but Lina was willing to bet it was a comfort to him.
Once the pair had dressed and deemed themselves presentable, they left the room to meet with Balin and Dwalin. Other dwarves watched the two powerful figures moving past. Neither walked ahead of the other, but rather walked side-by-side. In any other instance, Lina or Thorin, when apart from their mate, took point. It was almost second nature to any dwarf near them to fall into step behind rather than beside them. Yet, in this one instance, neither Lina nor Thorin took the lead.
The doors of the audience chamber were already open when the couple reached them. Thrain's returned company stood waiting. Lina closed the doors behind them and rejoined her husband. Her eyes jumped from one member of the group to the next.
Some of the dwarves were unfamiliar to her, their names unknown. However each one of them looked particularly exhausted. Dark circles surrounded their eyes. Their beards and hair were unkempt. All still wore the garments they'd arrived in. They had been so exhausted by their search for Thrain they had not even taken the candlemark to clean themselves up. Lina felt a twinge of guilt at having kept them waiting.
Thorin waved them back into their chairs as they stood to greet him. With relief they obeyed.
"What happened?"
Balin began the tale, passing it around as was necessary. It took nearly two hours to tell the tale in full. By the end Lina was not so certain that the misfortunes which had befallen Thorin's father and grandfather were simply cruel twists of fate. It seemed there was so much more to the tale. Yet no one seemed to know what that more was.
Thrain's band had been hounded by trouble from the moment they left Belegost. Orcs attacked frequently. Wild beasts crossed their paths and caused chaos. No matter which path the dwarves determined best they found themselves beset by trouble. On the last night the group had seen Thrain, dark clouds had been gathering the entire previous day. These dark clouds suddenly unleashed black rain and forced the dwarves to take cover in the dark edges of Mirkwood. The two dwarves standing watch that night had seen nothing. Balin had been the last dwarf to see the king. He had been on guard. When he had patrolled through the camp, counting his companions, he remembered noticing that the king was holding tightly to some folded piece of parchment. Not an hour later he found the king had vanished from the midst of the company.
Lina's blood ran cold at this new bit of information. Balin had the sharpest eyes of any dwarf she knew. For his eyes to be blind to whatever happened to the king there had to be some other force at work than nature. Thrain could never have slipped out of the camp on his own without drawing Balin's eye. Someone or something had targeted the king. It was not likely that any one of them would ever see Thrain alive again.
That realization left a new set of questions in Lina's mind. Had this being gotten that which they desired from Thrain? Or would Thorin become the focus of the hunt now? If Thorin felt any of the same anxiety Lina did, then he gave no outward sign of it. His face was nearly devoid of emotion.
Balin gave Lina a look. He was having the same worries as she was. Whether Thorin saw what was happening or not, Balin had.
"I will keep a sharp eye out for trouble, Lady Firehammer," Balin whispered to Lina as the dwarves were dismissed. Lina squeezed his shoulder in thanks. There would be more than enough pressure on Thorin without him needing to constantly look over his shoulder for some unnamed evil.
A/N: I have a tumblr account started up for this story. I'll be posting little things that I found while writing this story there. So if you're curious about something, send me a note on the tumblr and I'll answer it there. It's easier than on here I've discovered. :P Put lady-firehammer at the front of the address to find it.