The king and new queen of Erebor had been married for four days now and the honeymoon was still underway. Dwala had been trying in earnest to entertain herself while Ila was sequestered, but mostly she kept playing Dwalin's words over and over in her mind. She had never received any real attention, and honestly when she thought he might pursue her it frightened her, but now she did not know how she felt at all.
Was Dwalin right? Was she in fact a "rare jewel" as he had put it, or was he simply the only one who thought so? That anyone thought it at all mystified her, and she wondered that the king's nephews might think so too. She found that she was not terribly attracted to the either of them though. They were attractive of course, but they did not produce any real feelings in her. Not like Dwalin did. She was always highly aware of him when he was near. At first she had thought she felt so because he frightened her, and then when he seemed to be interested in her it frightened her even more. But now, strangely, since he had been candid with her at supper a few nights ago, she felt…..disappointed that he was not giving her any more attention.
She had seen him a few times in passing but they had not made eye contact, much less spoken. She was inexplicably saddened by this. Why was she being so fickle? She so wished she could talk to Ila about it all. Perhaps now that she was a wife she had discovered the great mysteries of males and could impart some much needed wisdom on her. She doubted it. Likely she was simply being kept on her back by their king and new husband.
That was a terrible thought, she knew. She hoped it wasn't true, but that he was truly treating her like a queen. She would ruin his laundry or cut his braids off while he slept, or something or other if was not, Dwala thought. She sighed, taking Sam's empty bowl breakfast and putting it away while he ran circles around her feet. She put him on his short leather leash and took out for his daily walk about the palace. Perhaps she would take a different route that day. She was getting rather bored of walking the same corridors.
Then a thought occurred to her. She could visit the practice arena. Perhaps the princes would be there….perhaps Dwalin would be there. She felt something strange as she thought about it…..were those…what did Ila call them….butterflies?
Surely not, she thought. You only feel that way because he flattered you, Dwala told herself and made her way towards the indoor arena, Sam leading the way.
She walked into the arena and looked down, as rows of seats led down to the dirt floor where several dwarves sparred. She instantly spotted Fili, his blonde hair always making him stand out in a crowd. He was sparing with a dwarf she had never seen before and Dwala searched the room for anyone else she recognized. On the other side of the arena she spotted Dwalin wrestling with Kili, who despite the size difference was doing rather well against the older, larger dwarf.
Dwala casually led Sam around that direction to get a better look. She tried to pretend to be disinterested, and when she got closer walked down a few rows of the seats to sit and pick Sam up to hold in her lap. There were actually a fair few spectators, mostly old dwarves who couldn't fight anymore and little dwarves too young to hold swords yet. There was a female here or there but not many, mothers mostly Dwala guessed. She sat there nonchalantly and scratched Sam behind his ears and he panted happily in reply.
Dwalin and Kili had finished their go at each other and stood up to knock the dirt off of themselves now. Dwala pretended to be looking elsewhere but watched from the corner of her eye whether or not he saw her.
Dwalin most certainly did notice her, sitting there in a dark red dress, her curly light brown hair freely spilling down almost to her elbows. Her brown eyes were looking elsewhere and he was thankful for it, not wanting her to think he was strange or leering at her. Was she taking his advice? It seemed so, and he assumed by her choosing to sit there that she had set her sights on Kili. He was very lucky if so, and Dwalin wished for a moment that he was a young dwarf again. For if he was, he would sweep her off her feet before she could know what hit her. He also wished for a moment that he was that puppy sitting in her lap….
Dwala looked straight at him and he nodded in return. Dwala smiled in return and Dwalin turned back to Kili, taking care not to stare too long. Dwala shifted a little and tossed her hair, finding that she wanted him to look at her again.
You're being ridiculous, she told herself. Still, she watched intently as Dwalin started sparring with Kili. She hadn't even noticed Kili look at her, and she barely registered the fact that Sam was trying to escape her grasp to venture into the arena himself. She tightened her grip on the puppy and tried to pretend to be interested in something other than Dwalin.
Was she really interested in Dwalin? She hadn't been before…..or perhaps she just hadn't known she was. Aggravated with herself, Dwala decided to rise and continue on with Sam's daily walk. Dwalin didn't seem to remember she was there, and Dwala didn't want to hang about appearing as if she were vying for attention.
Sam didn't want to leave and tugged on his leash but Dwala tugged him towards the exit. When Dwalin could spare a moment to look back to where she sat, Dwala was gone. Taking it easier on Kili now that he didn't have an audience that he was particularly trying to impress, Dwalin gave the young dwarf a break.
"Was that the queen's handmaiden?" Kili asked.
"Her name is Dwala." Dwalin answered.
"Aye, right." Kili replied.
"I imagine she is rather bored being absent her lady these few days." Dwalin said.
"What could she and uncle be doing anyway? They've been locked up this entire time." Kili said confusedly.
Dwalin huffed and gave the young dwarf a skeptic look.
"Surely that is not a serious question." Dwalin said.
Kili looked flustered for a moment. "Of course I know what they are doing, but how could they not be bored of it by now? Uncle hasn't exercised or practiced in days now…"
"Ha!" Dwalin practically cackled now.
"Your uncle is getting plenty of exercise, trust me. And as for being bored of it, clearly we need a maiden in your life." Dwalin answered.
Kili was embarrassed now. Of course he knew what his uncle was doing, and the thought made him sick to his stomach.
In all actually, the king and queen were not locked away in their chambers upstairs. They had snuck away to the baths deep within the mountain, where they had first seen each other in all their glory.
Well, where Thorin had first seen his beloved's face, and where she had beheld Mahal's most perfect creation- husband's body.
At that moment in particular, Ila was pressed against that perfect body, her legs around his waist and her hands buried in his mane. The water made her weightless and she was easily wrapped around him, just enjoying the contact at the moment. They were not coupling, only their mouths were embracing each other. Slow, languid kisses were all either of them had in mind at the moment, in the warm and relaxing water that they found themselves in.
"You still promise that you didn't see anything that day you found me here?" Ila asked.
"I promise love. But what does it matter now that I know your body like a map I drew myself?" He asked between kisses.
"Because we'd only just met!" She exclaimed. "I was mortified."
"Did you see anything?" Thorin asked.
Ila made a guilty face. "I saw everything." She said.
Thorin widened his eyes and let go of her bottom so that she almost fell away from him in the water.
"Oh please! As if you're embarrassed." She said.
"It's the principle, you little wench." He emphasized the last word.
That was his favorite word to get a rise out of her.
She splashed water in his face and he responded by grabbing her around the waist and falling backwards into the water with her.
Ila barely squealed in protest before she went under. He didn't keep them down long before he resurfaced, she spitting water and swatting at him.
Thorin laughed heartily and as she began to scold him silenced her with a hard kiss.
"You are terrible!" she said but she was smiling.
"You are no angel yourself my love." He said.
"Yes I am! And if not…" she began as she pushed his wet hair back away from his face.
"…it is because you corrupted me." She finished with a gentle bite to his earlobe.
He growled and pressed her into his body, molding her to him and biting her neck in return. Ila sighed and wrapped her legs around his waist again. Thorin clutched her bottom and walked out of the water holding her like that, her little body no challenge for him even soaking wet. She giggled and held tight, waiting for him to sit her down. As he did she picked up a towel to wrap around him before getting her own.
"Do you promise to still find time to take baths with me when the pressures of ruling return?" she asked.
"Of course, my love. Just because our honeymoon ends does not mean I will neglect you."
"I know, but I know how busy my father is at times and how my mother sees so little of him." Ila said.
"Life will be different, but you will always have me my love." He said as he kissed her forehead. "And when we have a little one," he said rubbing her belly, "you will barely have any free time at all."
Ila smiled and looked down at his hand on her stomach. "Do you think I am already with child?" she asked hopefully.
"You said yourself it is still too soon to tell. But it is certainly possible." He said smiling warmly.
Ila smiled back and it quickly turned mischievous. "Shall we go upstairs and continue trying my king?"
Thorin's eyes darkened and he grabbed at her, but she slipped away and threw her robe on, already running up the stairs and Thorin in full pursuit behind her.
AN: So, I was pleasantly surprised by the reviews I received this week. I had originally intended for Dwalin and Dwala to fancy each other, but after some negative reviews early on about the age gap between Ila and Thorin, it made me think more of that would be too undesirable and I decided to pair Dwala with Fili or Kili. BUT, after your reviews, I have decided to pursue my original idea. :)