I apologize for the delay on updating. Life took over my time again, and I have been sitting on this chapter for too long. It took me a bit on writing it, and then when I read it, I wasn't happy. So then I rewrote the chapter. Hopefully this will meet your expectations, my faithful readers.
Sindarin. Khuzdul.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit or its characters.
Remember that years are approximate and rounded to the nearest quarters.
Count down: 38 ¾ years till LOTR events. Roughly 11 more chapters to go till then.
Aliena- 24 ¼ years old.
Frerin & Durin- 18 years old, look 15 years old.
Kelda- 15 years old, looks like a 13 year old.
Balder- 13 ¾ years old, looks like an 11 year old.
Toril- 13 ¼ years old, looks like an 11 year old.
Freya- 12 ¼ years old, looks like a 10 year old.
Rìka (pronounced Reeka) & Kilian- 10 ½ years old, looks like 8 year olds.
Karys & Fergys- 8 ¼ years old, look like 6 year olds.
Vân (pronounced as Vaughn.)- 3 ½ years old, looks like a 2 year old.
Solen- 3 ½ years old, looks like a 2 year old.
Erebor, Hallway Outside of Library...
Kelda had been having a rough day in class. Since most of her schooling was now complete, it was coming up to the time when she would be assigned as an apprentice to her vocation. She was hoping to join Master Oin in the Healing Halls since she was well versed with most of the medicinal plants. However, her examinations also showed that she had a diplomatic nature when it came to resolving conflicts.
'I pray that I am not assigned to diplomacy.' Kelda thinks to herself as she sits on one of the long benches that sit in the hallway outside of the library. Her chin his perched on her hands, which are folded in a prayer like manner with her elbows on her knees. Half of her long, mid-back length, red hair is half pulled back with many braids, while the rest flows freely. Her ears, which are more like a dwarf's than an elf's, are in plain view due to her hair style. The outfit she is wearing is similar in style to her Naneths' old guard outfit from Mirkwood, but in shades of browns. It isn't that she dislikes dresses, but Kelda has discovered that she prefers not being hindered by the layers of the dwarven style dresses. To her right sits her bag that was given to her from her Adad many years ago.
The sound of the library door opening pulls Kelda out of her musings. She has been waiting only an hour or so for her siblings and cousins to finish their lessons so that she can take them home. Ever since the cave in a few years ago, her family has assigned different family members into making sure that the children return home safe. Not that she can blame her Naneth or Adad or even the other family members. That cave in scared all of the adults and the children.
"Kelda." Her honey-blond haired cousin calls to her.
Balder, just like Kelda, is taller than most of the other dwarflings that come to the library to receive their lessons. His tan and brown outfit almost matches what his Adad wears when he is not with the king in council. Balder's hair has some slight curls to it, similar to his grandfather Bard's hair. His personality is much like Sigrid's, but he loves to work with anything metal in his hands.
"Cousin." Kelda says as she stands from her seat as Balder approaches her.
"Have the others come out yet?" Balder asks as he tosses his bag onto the bench next to Kelda's bag.
"Not yet. How was your lessons?" Kelda asks as she motions for him to sit down onto the bench.
"Boring." Balder says as he flashes her a smile that looks so much like his Adad's before sitting down onto the bench. "There are times where I believe that Master Árni is a nutter. He keeps telling me that I should focus more on diplomacy than on numbers and forging. I only have a year till my examinations, and I really want to apprentice to a smithy. Yet, I am told over and over that I can't because of being a member of the royal family."
Kelda, who is sitting next to him, places a hand onto Balder's shoulder to try and comfort him.
"Frerin and Durin are only two years into their apprenticeships, which they didn't choose thanks to their status as royal heirs. But I am not an heir to the throne. So why can't I do what I want to do?"
"Balder. You are not alone in this. I wish to apprentice into the Halls of Healing, yet I don't believe that will happen. You can't blame our position as members of the royal family for it. If you wish to blame anyone, I would blame the old windbags and their need to control."
Both Kelda and Balder chuckle at Kelda's use of words to describe the council. The two of them sit in companionable silence while waiting for the rest of their families to be released from their lessons for the day.
Almost an hour of waiting, and the doors to the library open again with even more dwarflings leaving with their waiting siblings or parents.
Toril, Freya, Rìka, Kilian, Fergys, and Karys come walking out of the library together.
Toril is wearing a dark blue, dwarven style dress; and her wavy auburn hair is left loose. Like her Adad, Toril likes to leave her hair loose. However, her reason behind this is to hide her pointed, elf-like ears from the other dwarflings. It is bad enough that she has inherited the dwarven height and body build, but having elf-like ears is something that has driven Toril to hide them. Toril also seems to have inherited the famous temper of her uncle Thorin.
Behind Toril is Freya. Freya who looks like a miniature of her Amad, Sigrid, both in body and in facial features. However, her hair is the golden blonde comes from her Adad; as does her personality. The light blue skirt billows slightly as she walks towards her nadad. Her arms are crossed over her cream colored blouse and light blue tank vest.
Karys and Fergys are dressed in matching colors. Fergys has Dwalin's build and brown with cinnamon highlights hair color, and his eyes are the same color as Dwalin's. His burgundy shirt is half tucked into his dark brown trousers. On his shoulders he has both his and Karys' bags.
Karys is walking next to him in her burgundy dress, which had a dark brown belt at the waist. The belt has many pouches to it, which she uses to hide food, small throwing knives, and anything else that is small enough to fit in the pouches. Her hair is the same brown with cinnamon highlights color as Fergys, but her eyes are blue.
Finally there is Kilian and Rìka, who are holding hands as they walk. Kilian is the talkative of the two, and he looks just his Adad, Kili, which includes the messy dark hair. His blue shirt is fully untucked out of the black trousers that he is wearing. One wouldn't think that he was a royal child with how he behaves or dresses. Rìka, on the other hand, looks more refined and like the princess that she is. She has the high cheek bones and lips of Inara, but she has Thorin's nose and the shape of his mouth. However, unlike her parents, Rìka is very quiet. In class she only uses Iglishmêk when addressed by Master Ori.
"Ready to head home?" Balder asks Freya as he rises from his seat.
"We are." Toril says in a grumpy voice, which causes her cousins and siblings to give her a questioning look.
Yet before the royal children can leave the area, there is a small group of dwarflings walking towards them.
"Well if it isn't the half-breeds and tree shagging families." One of the older dwarflings, Melik, says as he looks towards Kelda.
"Leave us alone, Melik." Kelda says calmly as she moves to stand in front of her cousins and siblings. She knows that Melik is the same age as Frerin and Durin, and that he is here to pick up his younger siblings as well.
"Why should I? Everyone knows that is what you are. A filthy tree shagger." Melik says with a grin. The group of male dwarflings, who Melik hangs out with, starts to laugh as they see the royal children's irritation.
"Prince Kili must have inherited the insanity that plagues the family for him to turn his back on his people. Instead of keeping the line pure with a dam, the line is now muddled with a woodland sprite's blood." Nefer, a young dark-haired dwarrowdam who is Melik's namad, says with a smug smile.
"Our king married to a whore, and adopted the whore's child. His heir also married to a whore from the race of men. And the other prince married to a tree shagging sprite. All of them have inherited the insanity of Thror. It would have done Erebor better if all three had died on Ravenhill. At least Dain would have kept the line of Durin pure." Melik shouts at the royal children.
"Take that back." Balder growls out as he moves to stand next to Kelda. Hearing the things Melik had said about his Adad, and uncles caused anger to build inside of Balder, which asked to be released.
"Well. Well. Well. If it isn't the half-breed. Come to help your sprite of a cousin?" Hirik, a bright blonde-haired dwarfling, shouts to Balder while pointing at Kelda. "You are yet another example that the ruling line is indeed insane. No dwarf prince would ever wed a female from the race of men after bedding her. Even if she got with child. Nor would a dwarf prince even think about bedding a whore that is not a dam. For all we know, your sire might not even be the heir to Erebor."
Balder lets out a low, rumbling growl and both of his hands are now fists at his sides. His whole body is shaking after hearing Hirik dishonoring words about his Adad and Amad.
"Balder. Don't." Kelda says as she places a hand on his upper arm. "They aren't worth it."
"Yes. Listen to your unnatural cousin." Melik says with sadistic smile.
"Calling the kettle black aren't you, Melik." Toril says with a growl in her voice as she walks past Balder and Kelda. Her temper is close to exploding, and her blood is singing with unchecked rage. "Everyone knows that your Adad fucked his Namad and that you are the result from it."
With Toril's taunt, Melik lets out a yell and charges towards her to punch her in the jaw. Toril hits the floor from the hit, and this causes Balder to charge at Melik. He is able to knock Melik to the floor with a body hit, but Melik is quick to pull Balder down to the floor with him. The two males begin to wrestle the other while exchanging blows with their fists.
"Stop this. Balder. Stop it." Kelda shouts as she helps Toril up from the floor. She knows that this is what Melik and his group wants. Words of dishonor can easily be ignored, but that is not was Melik and his group wanted. They wanted a fight to occur, and Balder fell for it. Now it would be a dishonor, not only on Melik's part for hitting a female, but for Balder as well for hitting Melik in retaliation. As members of the royal family they were supposed to act better than the drunkards who brawl in the pubs.
Noticing Kelda's attention is elsewhere, Toril brushes off Kelda's help; and charges herself into the wrestling match. Knocking Melik off of Balder, Toril lands on top of Melik, with her skirt billowing out from the landing. She grabs the collar of his shirt with one hand, and using her free hand punches Melik across the nose. She can hear the cartilage snap from the force of her punch.
"Call me a tree shagger, you inbreed." Toril growls out as she keeps up her assault on Melik while still holding him by the collar of his shirt. However, Melik grabs her under her arms and tosses Toril up and over her head. This causes her to land on her back, and that is when Nefer charges into the fight.
Balder, jumps onto Melik before he can get up, and the two roll around on the floor trying to pin the other down in a show of dominance.
Hirik and a few others now join in the fight to help their fallen leader, which causes Karys, Fergys, and Kilian to join their cousins in the fighting. Both Karys and Fergys charge at Hirik, knocking the bigger dwarfling down onto the ground. Fergys is quick to land a blow to Hirik's face, while Karys hits below the belt.
While the twins are on Hirik, Kilian uses his young aunt and uncle as a launch pad to go after a dwarfling that was heading towards Kelda. As he steps onto his uncle's back, after already stepping onto his aunt's back, Fergys lifts his body a bit to give Kilian the height needed to jump at one of the taller dwarfling. Kilian lands on the red-haired dwarflings' upper back, and tries to wrap his legs around his prey's body. He grabs two fists full of the red hair to hold onto as he kicks at the sides of his target.
During this brawl, none of the fighters notice that Rìka has left the area in search of someone who will stop the fighting.
Thorin's Council room...
Thorin is sitting in the King's chair with his arms laying on the arm rests of the chair. The dark blue sleeves of his shirt are slightly billowed over the sides. His dark over-vest, trimmed in silver, is causing Thorin to sweat under it. 'When will Balin end his rambling? The heat from the mid-summer sun has all of Erebor wanting relief from the heat.' Thorin thinks to himself as he wants this meeting to end soon, so that he may cool down in a bath.
He continues listening to Balin speak to the council about the trading agreement that Gondor is proposing. Many of the older council members are showing their distrust about accepting yet another trade agreement with another city of men.
Sitting to Thorin's right is the empty chair of his queen. Inara had been called away earlier that day for a dwarrowdam who was starting her labors. To Thorin's left side, both Fili and Kili are seated in their chairs. Both of his nephews are paying close attention to Balin's argument for the ratification of the trade agreement. This trade agreement was their idea to bring to the council after they had met Gondor's ambassador while visiting Dale a few weeks ago. Thorin has to give his nephews credit for their luck on being able to deal with the race of men.
As Balin continues on with the argument the doors to the chambers open, which causes Balin to stop speaking. Thorin sits up immediately in his chair to see who has interrupted the meeting. Both Fili and Kili do the same in their chairs as well. However, Fili moves his hand to the hilt of his sword just in case of danger.
A young, out of breath Rìka walks into the room with Dwalin, who was standing guard outside of the door, following her. Seeing that her Adad is in session with the council, Rìka takes hold of the dark blue skirt of her dress and curtsies to the whole room while looking to the floor. She glances up to see all of the council members bow their heads to her in respect before she stands up straight. Moving quickly past all of the council members, Rìka makes it over to Thorin.
Thorin allows Rìka to climb up so that she is sitting in his lap. Some of the council members, who are fathers themselves, chuckle at the sight of the princess sitting with her father. The king motions for Balin to continue once Rìka has settled herself into a comfortable position. Thorin has his right arm curved around his nathith so that she doesn't fall from her spot.
As Balin starts to talk again, Thorin places a kiss in Rìka's hair before whispering in her ear.
"What has brought you here, Givashel?"
Rìka looks up at her Adad's face before whispering back, "There is a fight outside of the library. Some bad dwarflings insulted you and our family. Then one of them hit Toril, and Balder hit back."
Thorin's left hand grips the end of the arm rest tightly as he hears this information.
Fili, who is sitting closer to Thorin, barely overheard what Rìka has told Thorin. While Kili noticed that Thorin was now death gripping the arm rest of the chair. Kili looks to Fili and notices that his nadad's facial expression has charged to one of anger.
Leaning towards Fili, Kili asks "What is the matter with Thorin?" He doesn't get a verbal response from Fili but can see that his nadad is now breathing heavily.
Balin too has noticed the change in Thorin and in Fili. So he stops talking to the council and turns to where the King and his heirs are sitting.
"Is something a matter with the trade agreement?" Balin asks cautiously; then he glances to Dwalin who is also confused by the change in Thorin and Fili.
Thorin removes Rìka from his lap before answering Balin's question. "A personal matter has arisen. We will discuss this tomorrow." Is all that Thorin says before walking towards the door of the council room. Fili, Kili, Rìka, and Dwalin follow after Thorin.
Once they are out in the hallway, Thorin continues to walk calmly till he turns a corner. He stops walking, and waits only a few seconds before the other four join him.
"Thorin?" Dwalin asks as he looks behind himself to make sure that they aren't followed.
"We are going to the library. A fight has broken out." Thorin says with a slight growl.
"Who is involved?" Kili asks as he looks to Thorin then to Rìka.
"It would appear your children are involved." Thorin looks at Kili then at Fili. "You two will take Rìka to our halls, and wait for our return. Dwalin and I will see to the fight."
"But it is our children, Thorin." Kili says with a small hint of anger in his voice.
"Yes, and if you were to go there, what would it tell the other families?" Thorin says to Kili. He knows that both of his nephews are protective of their offspring, but it would cause more trouble if they were to be involved. Thorin thanks Mahal that Rìka didn't join in the fighting or it would be even more of a problem. He can only hope that Frerin and Durin are still with their apprenticing assignments.
"They are our children and we have the right to protect them." Fili growls out at Thorin as one of his hands turns into a fist at his side.
"Did ya not hear lads? If ya were to show up there it would cause more trouble for ya family. Let Thorin handle it. At least his lads and lass aren't involved." Dwalin growls out. He too is worried if his lad and lass are involved. All he can do is hope that they aren't, and if they are he hopes that they give the other side a good beating.
"Fine." Fili growls out before stomping away. Since the cave in, the blonde-haired heir has been a little more protective of his family.
"Wait up Fee!" Kili shouts at Fili. He too isn't happy about being sent home, but he will do as Thorin asked. Looking down at his brown-haired cousin, he gives her a cheeky grin. "Want a lift?"
Rìka looks to Thorin with a worried look.
"Go with Kili and Fili. They will see that you arrive home safely." Thorin says as he kneels down to her level. "I will be home shortly."
Rìka places her forehead against Thorin's and then throws herself into her Adad's arms.
"Be safe." She whispers to him before letting go of Thorin.
"I will watch over him lassie." Dwalin says to her as he pops his knuckles to show that he means business.
She gives Dwalin a nod before walking over to Kili. She takes his hand and turns to look back at Thorin.
"Bye." She says softly from her spot, which causes Kili and Dwalin to look at her with shock written on their faces. Rìka doesn't speak much in front of people, unless they happen to be Thorin, Inara, Dis, Kilian, or Durin. Sometimes, the others will overhear what she whispers, but for the most part she is a quiet child.
"Come on. Let's go catch up to Fee." Kili says to Rìka.
Thorin watches as Kili and Rìka walk back around the corner, and he lets out a sigh.
"That lass of yours is something else." Dwalin says with a chuckle.
"Aye. That she is." Thorin says before talking a deep breath. "Time for us to stop this fighting."
The two dwarves start to jog down the hallway and down a few stairs to make their way to the library.
In Bifur's Shop...
"Bofur. Stop." Aliena's giggles echoes down the small hallway from the back storage room.
Bifur rolls his eyes in annoyance and walks to the back store room. Thorin assigned Bifur as Bofur and Aliena's chaperone for their courtship. Bifur took the responsibility with honor, yet he was about ready to knock his cousin senseless.
As Bifur enters the storage room, he sees Bofur sitting on a crate, and holding Aliena close to his body while she stands. He can see that her purple skirt is still flowing to the ground, and that her cream colored, short sleeved, scoop neckline bodice was still closed and untouched. Bifur sends a silent prayer to Mahal that Bofur hasn't tried done anything to dishonor Aliena. Yet. However, Bifur is more than willing to give Bofur a beating if Bofur even tries to get all hanky-panky with the lass.
Bofur whispers something into Aliena's ear which causes Aliena to giggle and turn red faced. Neither one notices Bifur standing there, watching them. Seeing Aliena's face go red lets Bifur know that he needs to step in.
"Bofur." Bifur grunts out and is pleased to see both jump at the sound of his gruff voice.
"Ahh. Cousin. Ya shouldn't worry. We aren't doin' nothin'. I was just tellin' her a few jokes." Bofur says with a cheeky grin.
Bifur looks at Aliena, and can see that she isn't willing to look at him. He lets out a rough sounding sigh, and signs for Bofur that they need to escort Aliena home for the evening.
"Why? It isn't tha' late." Bofur says as he pulls Aliena closer to him while still giving Bifur a cheeky grin.
Bifur lets out a growl, and signs again to Bofur. This time Bifur threatens to cut off certain appendages of Bofur's if he doesn't comply.
"Alright." Bofur says in a defeated voice before looking at Aliena. "Time to take ya home, lass."
Aliena gives a small chuckle before placing a kiss to Bofur's cheek. This sends Bifur into a flurry of signs, and a few growls.
"Easy, Bifur. It was a simple goodbye kiss." Aliena says to Bifur with a soft smile. She walks over to him and bends down to place a kiss on his cheek too. "You see. You get one too."
Bifur rolls his eyes at Aliena's antics, and moves so that Aliena can pass by him in the doorway. He turns to watch Bofur hop down from the crate, and as his cousin goes to walk past him, Bifur punches Bofur in the upper arm.
"Owww. Wha' was that for?" Bofur asks as he rubs the now slightly, pain filled area.
Bifur growls out, "Know why." to Bofur before walking towards the front of the store where Aliena is waiting for the two dwarves. A few strands of her medium brown hair has fallen loose from the single, French style braid. Seeing those strands, causes Bifur to wonder if Thorin will think that he failed as their chaperone. However, she had come into the store with her hair like that two hours ago, and that was after Bofur had come to help with the crates.
She is standing there with her basket, full of treats for his younger siblings and cousins, hanging by its handle in the crook of her arm. Her shawl is folded over top of the goodies in the basket. She notices Bifur is giving her a questioning look, and she knows that it is most likely due to her hair.
"Are we ready to leave?" Aliena asks she brushes at her purple skirt.
Bifur walks over to Aliena and holds out an arm for her to hold onto. It has become customary for Bifur to have Aliena on his arm when walking back to the royal halls. The one time Bofur had her on his arm, Thorin and his nephews looked like they were going to skin Bofur alive. So Bifur told Bofur that from then on, that he would be the one to have her on his arm while going anywhere. Especially when taking Aliena home.
"Wait a minute, Bifur." Bofur says as he hurries towards them. He leans close to Bifur's ear and whispers a few words to him.
Aliena watches the two, and can hear the whispered words. However, she never did get the hang of understanding Khuzdul, so she has no idea what they are saying to each other. This causes her to become anxious.
Once the two dwarves finish their whispered conversation, Bifur gives Aliena a smile. Then he opens the door to his toy shop and the three of them walk out into the almost empty shopping hall.
Hallway outside of the Library...
Thorin and Dwalin arrive to the scene of the fight, and what they see appalls both dwarves. Not only are the dwarflings fighting, but some of the benches have been broken into pieces. Both of them see a dwarfling holding a leg to one of the benches in hand, and can see who the blow is intended for.
"SHAZARA!" Thorin shouts so loud that the echo from it causes all of the fighting dwarflings to stop their fighting and cover their ears.
All of them turn and see Thorin standing several feet away. Dwalin is standing next to Thorin with his arms crossed over his chest, and his face is set with a hard expression upon it.
Thorin marches his way towards the frozen group of dwarflings. He can see that Toril is sitting on the back of a dam, and holding the dam's arms back at a painful angle. As he approaches, Toril is quick to let go and get up off of the dam.
Thorin comes to a stop in front of Toril, and then looks towards the others. He notices that Balder is being held by two dwarflings while a third was preparing to hit him with the leg of a bench. The dwarfling holding the leg lets it drop to the floor after lowering his arm. Thorin keeps looking and notices that Karys and Fergys are sporting three black eyes between the both of them. Then he notices Kilian, who has a split lip and some blood dripping from his nose, standing a few feet away from the dwarfling that was about to hit Balder. His little arm is stopped in mid-swing with a stone in his hand, and it appears that he is aiming the stone at the dwarfling who was about to hit Balder. He too drops his arm to his side and then the stone to the floor after seeing Thorin looking at him. 'Just like Kili.' Thorin thinks to himself. He quickly notes that Freya isn't among the fighters, but he does notice a curled up Kelda laying on the floor. A male dwarfling is standing near her, which makes Thorin wonder if the lad had been kicking Kelda.
"What is the meaning to all of this?" Thorin says in a very low, menacing tone as he continues to look at each and every dwarfling. "Is this how the future generations of Erebor behave?!" he yells out and sees all of them wince.
"Answer your king." Dwalin shouts to the crowd. He is not too surprised that Fergys was among the fighters, but seeing Karys standing there too sets his blood afire.
A bunch of soft "No my king." Are said from the crowd. No one has moved from their spots.
"Each of you will give Dwalin your name and the names of your parents." Thorin says as he marches through the group, collecting Fili, Kili, and Dwalin's offspring from the group. "I will issue your punishments once I have spoken to your parents."
"My king." Melik says quickly. "Will you not allow us to give our testimony on what happened?"
Thorin turns to look at Melik. He knows that Melik is an apprentice to Council Member Silas. "You will give it after I have spoken with your parents."
Melik gives a small bow of his head at hearing this, and he knows that this will not look good for him.
"Dwalin get their names." Thorin says as he nudges the younger royals to walk down the hall. "Nori. Make sure none of them try to escape."
Hearing the spymaster's name being called out causes the dwarflings who are left behind to look about. At the other end of the hall, Nori and two of his fellow 'shadows' step out from their spots and help keep the group from leaving.
Thorin notices that none of the children are speaking as they walk through the hallways that lead to the Royal Family Halls. This doesn't surprise him much. He knows that none of them will speak unless told otherwise. He also feels a little sorry for them as they will have to face their parents once they get home.
The Royal Family Halls...
"Fili, will you stop your pacing. You are going to put a trench in the floor if you keep it up." Inara says with a small chuckle. She had come home about fifteen minutes ago to find both Fili and Kili pacing the main living room floor. When she asked them what was wrong, they told her about the fight; and how Thorin was down there to put a stop to it. Then she went up to her room to change out of her blood soaked dress, and into a sky blue dress that had no sleeves. Just two thick straps that sit on her shoulders. The neckline sits just below her collarbone, and the whole dress hangs loose all the way to the floor. It actually looks more like a long night gown than a dress. Her hair is pulled back into a low ponytail.
"He still at it?" Dis asks as she comes out from the kitchen with a small platter of fruits, cheese, and breads.
"He is." Inara says as she takes a sip of room temperature tea from the cup she is holding.
"Well now he shall know how I felt when he and Kili got into trouble." Dis says with a soft chuckle as she sets the small platter down onto the dining table. She walks to where Inara is standing in the lounge area between the living room area and the dining room.
Inara and Dis watch as Fili keeps pacing with his hands behind his back. Sitting on a chair, which is facing the main entry door, is Kili. He hasn't moved since he sat down in that chair to watch the door.
Both males had dismissed the attempts of their spouses to join the family for dinner. Tauriel had threatened Kili with dragging him to the table, but when she saw the worry on his face, she let it go. Now she is helping Sigrid, in the kitchen, with cleaning up the dishes from dinner.
"Should we take the wee ones up for their baths?" Dis asks Inara as she looks over to the rug that Vân and Solen are currently playing on. Solen is knocking down the wooden block tower that Vân had been trying to build. As the tower falls over, Vân gives Solen a scowl before starting to build the tower again.
"Not yet. If Vân is put to bed too early he will wake up before the sun rises." Inara says in a tired voice. Unlike her husband and their youngest son, Inara enjoys sleeping till mid-morning. And with the hard day she had, she plans on sleeping in late tomorrow.
"I heard Aeris went into labor today." Dis says as she looks at Inara. "From the dark circles under your eyes, I take it that the birth did not go well."
Inara looks down to her cup of tea before answering. "Aeris and her babe died today. There was nothing anyone could do."
Dis places a hand onto Inara's shoulder. "I am sure you did all you could."
"She was so young, Dis. She shouldn't have died." Inara says as her eyes begin to tear up.
The empathy that Inara has is just one of the qualities that has almost all the dwarves of Erebor thrilled about her being their queen. It is also another reason why Dis has come to love her nadad's yasith.
"I lit a candle in Mahal's temple and spent an hour in prayer for her and the child. I don't know if it will do any good, but it doesn't hurt to try." Inara says as she wipes a stray tear that has fallen from her eyes.
"I am sure that Mahal will hear your prayer and Aeris and her child will be at peace." Dis says softly.
"Thank you." Inara says as Dis puts a comforting arm around Inara's waist.
The sound of the main entry door opening pulls their attention to it. Then they see Balder, Kelda, Toril, Kilian, Fergys, and Karys enter the room followed by Thorin, who closes the door behind him.
Fili and Kili both move towards their children, but Thorin stops them with a hard glare. He then turns to face the group of beat up looking children.
"All of you are to sit apart from each other. There will be no talking, unless asked. Is this understood?" Thorin's voice booms through the halls.
All of the group nod at Thorin before walking to different areas of the living and lounge rooms. They sit in chairs or on settees so that none of them face one another and wait.
Fili and Kili walk up to Thorin, both with thunderous looks on their faces.
"This should be interesting." Dis says to Inara as she watches her sons face down Thorin.
"You have no right, Thorin." Fili growls out in a low voice as he approaches Thorin.
"I have to agree with Fili." Kili growls out as well as he comes to stand next to Fili.
"See to your offspring's' injuries." Thorin growls out to them with a hard look on his face. "Do not argue with me."
Thorin turns away from Fili and Kili and walks over to where Inara and Dis are standing.
"There is some food on the dining table if you are hungry." Dis says as passes Thorin to see to her injured twins.
Thorin walks up to Inara and takes hold of her hand before leading her towards the dining room. He knows that his nephews need space to cool down, and he need to cool down as well. As the two enter the kitchen, both Sigrid and Tauriel stop putting away the dishes.
"They have injuries that need tending." Is all Thorin says to them before walking over to the empty sink.
"I suggest you retrieve some bandages and medicinal herbs as well." Inara states as she watches Thorin splash some water from the sink pump onto his face.
Tauriel and Sigrid nod to Inara and quickly leave the kitchen to help tend to their children.
Inara watches as Thorin dries his face onto the dish towel used for drying dishes. While she waits for him to speak, she crosses her bare arms across her chest.
Thorin lets out a sigh before turning to look at Inara. The look on his face says enough for Inara read.
"How bad is it?" Inara asks as she approaches Thorin.
"I will have to open an inquiry about the incident. All of the parties involved will have to give testimony as to what happened. Then I will have to give out punishments." Thorin says softly.
"That bad?" Inara moves to stand next to Thorin as she asks.
"Yes. It will not surprise me if many of the families involved try to find ways to stop the inquiry."
"Do we know who is at fault?" Inara asks Thorin as both of them lean their lower backs against the counter top by the sink.
"Unknown for now. If it was one of ours, we will have to issue a formal apology and any punishment will have to be done before the whole kingdom."
"Let us hope that it isn't one of ours then." Inara says as she thinks about what Thorin has said. "What kind of punishment would be dealt out if it is one of ours?"
Thorin runs a hand down his face before answering. "During Thror's time, we had lashings if it was a first offense. Usually that was enough to scare the royal children straight. My brother Frerin was the only one that got past the first offense."
Inara's eyes widen at hearing about lashings. "No. You can't do that to them. It is abuse. Make them stay after lessons to help Ori in the library, or have them write lines in Khuzdul, Sindarin and Westron with Balin. Anything but physical harm."
Thorin chuckles at seeing Inara become flustered at the thought of lashings. "I am not my grandfather, Inara. I will not subject my family to that kind of humiliation. We will find a way to deal with this." He moves to stand in front of Inara, and places a hand on her cheek. "You have my promise."
Inara nods her head in agreement, and the two of them stay standing in the kitchen for a time.
Meanwhile in the living area, Fili is standing behind Sigrid as she cleans a cut that is above Balder's right eyebrow. He is livid that his son was a part of the fight. 'At least Freya had a good sense to head home instead of fighting.' He thinks to himself. He looks over towards where his brother, Kili, is kneeling in front of Kelda. The lass has a split lip and a cut on her cheek, but other than that she looks fine. It is the other two of his brother's children that surprised Fili.
Over by the fire place, Tauriel had both Toril and Kilian sitting across from one another as she cleans Toril's wounds. Tauriel has Kilian holding a wet cloth to his nose to slow down the blood flow, while she stitched up the skin over Toril's knuckles.
In the middle of the living room, near the staircase, Dis has her twins sitting in a similar fashion to how Tauriel has Toril and Kilian. Dis has Karys holding a folded, wet cloth over both of her black eyes, while Dis sees to Fergys and his busted up hand. Seeing the bones through the blood as she cleans the hand, she knows that this is out of her element.
"I am going to have to send for Master Oin to come take a look at your hand." Dis allows her disappointment to show in her voice. "You will be lucky if he can even fix it up."
Fergys doesn't say a word to his Amad, and just keeps looking down at his injured hand.
Dis gets up and walks away from her twins before looking over to Fili. She approaches him carefully before speaking.
"I am going to go fetch Master Oin. Fergys' hand needs better medical attention than I can give. Will you keep an eye on him for me?" Dis asks Fili.
Fili turns to look at Dis before nodding his head in agreement. His anger is still raging, so he keeps quiet so that he doesn't say anything that may hurt someone.
As Dis leaves the Royal Halls, Frerin and Durin arrive home from their apprenticeships.
"Woah." Frerin says as he not only sees the tension, but feels it also. "What do you think happened here?" He looks at his twin brother who just shrugs his shoulders.
Durin places his bags off to the side, away from the door and next to the wall. He sees that Tauriel might need some help so he walks over to offer her any assistance, which she accepts. He helps his younger cousin Kilian by cleaning some of the blood and dirt from the rest of the young boy's face.
Frerin, on the other hand, drops his bags near Durin's and proceeds to walk into the dining room. Seeing the platter of fruit, cheese, and bread on the table, he sits down in a chair near it, and starts to take a few pieces of cheese to eat. As he takes a bite from a bread roll, his parents enter the dining room and give him a look.
"What? I'm hungry." Frerin says with his mouth full of food.
Inara places a hand on Thorin's back before softly speaking into his ear, "Go. Eat with Frerin while I see to the injured."
Thorin turns his head to give Inara a quick kiss on the lips before joining his oldest son at the dining table.
It takes most of the evening for the children to get their injuries cleaned, stitched, and in Fergys case, bones popped back into place. Once their injuries are taken care of, they are allowed to eat soft, easy to digest foods under Tauriel, Sigrid, and Inara's watchful eyes.
Dis, on the other hand, is seeing to Solen and Vân's bathing; and that Freya and Rìka are getting ready for bed.
This leaves Thorin, Dwalin, Fili, and Kili to discuss what to do.
"I heard the lad Melik complaining that this is Balder's fault." Dwalin says in a gruff voice in Thorin's study, which is located off from the main living room area.
"Balder wouldn't fight unless provoked." Thorin says to Dwalin. "I have seen the boy at sparing. He is more of a defender than an instigator."
"Agreed. So which one of the lads or lasses started this brawl?" Dwalin says carefully.
"Kelda is a healer not a fighter." Kili says from his spot against the wall. He had been standing there with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Toril has the famous temper, and if provoked the lass has more than enough gumption to attack." Dwalin says, which causes Thorin, Kili, and himself to chuckle.
"That she does." Kili says trying to hold back a smirk. Tauriel had told Kili back when they were in Lothlorien while Toril was a babe, that their child was going to be a handful.
"That still doesn't explain why they were fighting." Fili says from his spot in front of the small fireplace. He hand griping the mantle like it is his last life line to this world. "Our dwarflings know better than to brawl."
"Aye. But if pushed hard enough, even the most gentle will fight back, or throw the first punch." Dwalin says to Fili. He remembers having to do that to Fili as a young lad to get him to fight. But it took Thorin having to explain to Fili that sometimes you have to attack first in order to protect those you love from harm.
"That doesn't excuse their behavior." Fili replies.
Kili snorts at his brother's comment. "That never stopped you, or me, or Thorin, or even Dwalin from having to fight. Yes, they are younger than we were for our first fight; but this was bound to happen, Fee. Just be glad it happened now instead of later. If they were older, I am sure there would be more hell to pay than what is owed now."
Thorin and Dwalin look at each other with raised eyebrows after hearing Kili talk. Both are surprised that he is calmer about all this than Fili.
A knock on the study's door gets everyone's attention. The door opens to reveal Inara and Kelda standing behind it.
"Kelda wishes to talk about what happened." Inara says as she ushers the young female into the room. "Why don't you sit down, Kelda."
Kelda looks at Inara before walking over to one of the chairs that sits near the fireplace. Inara closes the door and walks to stand behind the chair that Kelda is sitting in.
"Tell us what you witnessed." Thorin says softly as he moves to sit behind his desk. He picks up a quill and dips the tip into the ink jar. Waiting patiently for Kelda to speak, Thorin holds the quill above a piece of parchment paper.
Seeing that the king was ready to write down her account, Kelda begins to speak. She tells them about Melik and his groupies and what they had said about the royal family. When she tells them what Hirik had said, Inara takes a quick breath and looks over to Thorin. She sees that he is trying to keep his temper at bay, but the quill in his hand shakes.
Then Kelda tells them how Melik had struck Toril, and Dwalin has to hold Kili back from charging out of the room. Finally she tells how Balder had struck Melik in retaliation. It is at this point that Fili's head drops to look at his feet and he lets out a sigh.
"Thank you, Kelda, for telling us." Inara says softly as she helps the lass from the chair and escorts her out of the room.
"How dare they." Kili growls out as he pushes Dwalin's arms away from him.
"Kili." Thorin says to his nephew. "Calm yourself."
"So now we know." Fili says from his spot.
"Aye. We do." Dwalin says. "Balder was trying to protect Toril and the others. If he hadn't struck Melik, who knows what could have happened next."
"Oin told me what the list of injuries for our side." Thorin says as he moves to stand up. "I would like all of the parties involved in this to give their accounts as to what happened. Dwalin. Will you bring Balder in here?"
"Aye." Dwalin says as he looks over to Fili before leaving the room.
The three wait in silence till Dwalin returns with Balder. He guides Balder to the chair that Kelda has been sitting in earlier.
Thorin walks back over to his desk and begins to ask Balder for his account as to what took place. Balder gives the same story as Kelda did, but only he continues past where Kelda had left off. Once Balder finishes, all four males are in total shock. Not only did Melik go after them intentionally, but he and his group had targeted the others who were not fighting. Kelda had told Freya to run, and tried to stop Hirik from chasing after her.
Thorin sends Balder out as well as Fili and Kili. Only Dwalin stays with Thorin in the study.
"What should we do, Thorin?" Dwalin asks his king. "It is like the parents are teaching their young to behave like this."
Thorin lets out a sigh and runs a hand down his face. "Ask Nori if any of his men saw anything."
"Thorin!"
"Have them speak with Balin if they did. The council will appoint who will look into this matter. I have no doubt that the others involved will try to change their stories to keep their own from looking guilty." Thorin says as he leans back, into his chair. "We have the laws on our side as long as it is shown that Melik hit Toril first. If they spin it another way, Balder will be the one to receive punishment."
"What kind of punishment? You know Fili would fight to keep Balder from feeling any lashings." Dwalin says as he remembers Thorin's younger brother receiving lashings.
"I know. Let us hope that it will not come to that." Thorin says as he gets up from his seat. Without anyone telling him, Thorin knows it is late. "You should go to your family, Dwalin."
"Aye. Dis will most likely be babying Fergys with his broken hand." Dwalin says with a smile appearing on his face. "My lad must have gave them a good beating for to have broken his hand."
Thorin and Dwalin chuckle at Dwalin being proud that his son was injured at so young of age.
"You should go see to Inara. From what Dis told me, she lost a dam and babe today. You know how invested she gets with her patients." Dwalin says before heading off to the rooms he shares with Dis and their kids.
Thorin makes his way out of his study, and makes his way to his own rooms. He stumbles a bit up the stairs, but makes it up them without falling. He quickly checks Aliena's room and finds her fast asleep in her bed. Seeing her all grown up, makes Thorin wish that she could have stayed his little girl for a longer period of time. Now she was an adult and in a courtship with an older dwarf. He leaves her rooms, and continues walking down the hall till he comes to Frerin and Durin's door to their shared rooms. He enters, and checks on both of them. It doesn't surprise Thorin that Frerin and Durin are asleep in the same bed. Even though they both have their own bedroom and beds, one of them always manages to climb into bed with the other. Thorin won't admit it but it wasn't always Fili and Kili who used to do this. His younger brother, Frerin, and he would do the same thing as dwarflings. It wasn't till Thrain forced the two brothers to live on opposite sides of the royal halls that ended it.
Thorin leaves the twins' rooms and continues on his checking of his family. He stops at the joint nursery and enters. He notices Sigrid rocking Solen in a chair by the fireplace, and bows his head to her. She returns it with one of her own before continuing to get Solen to sleep. He opens the door that belongs to Rìka and Vân's bedroom, and looks inside. Both of them are fast asleep in their beds, but that doesn't stop Thorin from coming in fully to give each of them a kiss goodnight. Once he has done that, Thorin leaves their room and the nursery.
Finally he reaches his rooms, and enters. Thorin finds Inara in the bathing pool. Her head is laying on her folded arms, which are on the edge of the bathing pool. He isn't sure if she is asleep or just relaxed, but that won't deter him from joining her. He strips out of his clothes, and enter the bathing pool.
"About time you joined me." Inara says in a grumpy voice.
Thorin wades his way over to her, and wraps his arms around her body before placing a kiss to her shoulder.
"I apologize for making my queen wait." Thorin says softly before placing more kisses on her shoulder.
"Did you get all the information that you needed?" Inara asks without moving from her spot or even lifting her head.
"If Balder is the one to receive punishment, what would you recommend?" Thorin mumbles against her neck as he kisses his way up.
"Make him Balin's aide. I am sure that any apprentice Balin would be given will have a hard time dealing with his fussiness over paperwork." Inara giggles as Thorin nibbles at her neck.
"Deal." Thorin whispers in her ear seductively before giving Inara some very special attention.
Ok, for the record I am a "on the fence" kind of parent when it comes to spanking their child. To me, unless the situation actually calls for it, then I will consider it. The idea about the lashings was inspired by an Outlander episode. Don't ask me which one, because I never pay attention to episode titles anymore.
Also, I have been feeling like the kids don't get much time in the spotlight. So I wanted to give them some time to be seen and given a bit of taking on more of an active role in things.
Be on the look-out for another chapter in the next 10 days.
Reviews are always welcome. Even the negative ones.
Selene
P.S. I finally saw the extended edition of Battle of the Five Armies, and I wept hardcore at the each death scene for Fili, Kili, and Thorin. Then I wept hardcore, again, at the funeral scene. All of my friends and family think I am nuts, but I do get emotionally attached to the characters.