Chapter 34
The events that followed passed in a blur for Annelise.
She was vaguely aware of a small hand gripping tightly to her own and leading her toward what remained of their Company.
Hours later she would recall Bilbo gently leading her to their companions and the sorrowful looks on their faces when they noticed her approaching. She would remember how each of the dwarves lowered their heads to her in solemn respect, acknowledging her position amongst them, as well as her loss. She would remember Balin coming up to her after a moment of silence and grabbing onto her other hand.
She would remember all of it, but in that moment all she could do was stare at the still form of the dwarf that had been at her side for nearly as long as she could remember.
That thought, along with the realization that she would no longer have her father or cousins beside her, caused whatever strength the young girl might have had left to leave her body.
She would have completely collapsed if not for Dwalin catching her, as he had moved toward her at the same time as his brother had.
She was pulled out of her daze by shock when Dwalin, quite uncharacteristically, pulled her into a very tight hug.
The rare show of affection from the normally stoic dwarf caused the tears that had been brimming along the rims of her eyes to overflow once more.
The rough dwarf continued to hold her through her sobs and somewhere in the back of Annelise's mind, she noticed that quite a few hands were placed on her shoulders and back as she cried. She knew her companions must have gathered around her to offer whatever comfort they could, no matter how small.
With their support Annelise knew that someday, in the distant future, she would be alright once more.
To Annelise, the aftermath of the battle was much more exhausting than the actual battle had been, especially emotionally.
As the adopted child of Thorin Oakenshield, and therefore the only present member of the royal family of Erebor, the line of command had fallen to her.
With Balin's help, she informed Dain of the passing of the King Under the Mountain and his heirs. Preparations were quickly made for the funerals of Thorin and his nephews, as well as for the coronation of a new king.
Dain and Annelise had argued for some time over Dain's desire to have a coronation for her as well as she was the daughter of Thorin, and therefore Princess of Erebor.
It was decided after some time that Annelise would be the one to crown Dain as king. She had consented to having a small ceremony for her own coronation before the King's coronation with only Dain, Gandalf and the remaining members of the Company in attendance.
Annelise had asked Bilbo to be the one that escorted her into the throne room where her ceremony was to take place.
The small Hobbit had blushed at her request, and his reaction had caused the first twitch of a grin to show on the young woman's face since the loss of her father and cousins.
But before they welcomed a new King, they needed to say goodbye to the previous one.
Annelise had been dreading this moment in the hours leading up to the time where she would say her final goodbyes to her family.
Annelise's own coronation was to take place just before the ceremony for her father and cousins and then finally would come the coronation of Dain.
With Bilbo's hand clasped tightly within her own, Annelise entered into the throne room.
Gandalf and Dain stood up on the dais where the King's throne sat, while the members of the Company stood below it forming an aisle for her to pass through.
Once they reached the others, Bilbo released her hand and Annelise continued the walk to the throne alone.
She was wearing a simple white dress that brushed the ground. She had chosen not to wear any adornments other than the necklace she had been given from Lord Elrond. She had braided all of her hair back into a single rope, except one section.
This was the braid that her father had given her before the battle. The bead that he had fastened to it glimmered in the torchlight that lit the room.
Dain reached his hand out to her as she neared and she took it as she walked up the steps toward the wizard before her.
Gandalf motioned to Dwalin who was standing next to his brother at the front and Annelise turned and saw that he was carrying a pillow with a gold circlet resting upon it.
"This was your father's crown when he came of age and was declared crown prince of Erebor. He would want you to wear it now," Dwalin said softly, tears building in both his and Annelise's eyes at his words.
Annelise then turned back to Gandalf as he grabbed the circlet from the pillow and held it before him. Dain then began to speak.
"Though you were not born of him, you have always been considered the child of Thorin to all dwarves. You are one of us and we are proud to call you our princess."
With these words, Annelise could hear hums of approval and agreement coming from the others behind her and she turned and shot them a small smile.
When she turned back, Gandalf was looking down at her with a proud look on his face.
"You have grown much, my child, and proven yourself worthy of this title," Annelise looked down, blushing at this comment. "In accordance with the wishes of your father and those present I crown you Annelise, Princess of Erebor."
With these words, the wizard gently placed the circlet on Annelise's head and shouts of joy came from the Company behind her. Dain placed a kiss of blessing upon her forehead before turning and presenting her to the others standing below.
She walked down to them and was instantly engulfed in the biggest group hug she had ever experienced. This was followed by her being passed around to each member of the Company and receiving individual hugs as well.
With the conclusion of her ceremony came the beginning of the next. With Annelise and Gandalf leading them, they all made their way to the gate.
There the survivors of Dain's army stood waiting for them. When the newly crowned princess came in sight, the dwarves all dropped to one knee in respect. Annelise nodded her head in acknowledgement of their gesture and took her place at the front of those assembled, her face turned toward Dale.
She could vaguely make out the shapes of the Lakemen standing on the city, looking toward them.
Suddenly the sound of horns began echoing through the valley. She knew this was Bard's doing as a sign of respect to her father. As the powerful but sad melody rang through the air, tears began filling her eyes once more.
As soon as the last echo faded into nothing Gandalf placed his hand on Annelise's shoulder, indicating to her that it was time for their final farewell.
Annelise squared her shoulders and led the Company of Thorin Oakenshield back into the mountain.
When she neared the opening to the chamber where her father and cousins laid, Annelise slowly came to a stop, unable to face what was before her.
She felt a rough hand enclose around her own and turned to see that Dwalin had moved to her side. This show of support gave her the last bit of courage she needed to continue on.
She passed under the doorway and saw the bodies of her father and cousins laying upon three stone platforms.
Releasing Dwalin's hand she moved to Kili's side first while the others began weaving their way between the three stones.
She looked down at her youngest cousin as tears began streaming down her face in earnest.
"I love you Kili," she whispered, unable to speak any louder. "I'll never be able to look at my reflection again without thinking of you and how you always bragged to Fili that we shared the same hair color. I'll never be able to shoot an arrow without remembering the hours that you spent teaching me everything you knew. I don't know what I'm going to do without you and Fili, my two big brothers, at my side always making me laugh-"
Here she broke down for a moment, before collecting herself once more. "I love you," she finished before moving to the other side of the room to her oldest cousin.
"Fili," she choked on his name as the tears came back in full force. "You were always there for me. Offering me advice or comforting me. You always seemed to know when I needed someone to talk to or just someone to listen. You always understood my desire to know where I came from and no matter what I said or did, you always loved me. Thank you for being the best older brother that Kili and I could have ever asked for. I'm going to miss you so much."
She stood by cousin's side for a few minutes letting the tears flow and remembering him, before finally moving to her father's side.
She looked at him and noticed the Archenstone resting in his hands. Her forehead wrinkled in confusion though when she noticed something missing.
"Where is his sword?," she asked softly, but in the quietness of the room her question was heard.
She looked up and noticed Dwalin nodding his head at Gandalf and she turned to look at the wizard.
Her eyes widened when she saw the wizard pull her father's sword out from within his robes and she moved toward him.
"Your father told Bilbo that he wanted you to have this," he said, presenting the sword to her.
Tears streamed down Annelise's face as she moved toward the wizard and, with shaking hands, grabbed ahold of her father's sword. She looked down at it for a moment before turning her face to Gandalf.
He looked down at her solemnly before nodding his head to her slightly.
With this gesture she slowly turned the sword and tied the belt attached to it around her waist, ignoring how strange it seemed to be wearing the sword with her dress. Once it was secure she moved back to her father's side and looked down at his peaceful face.
"I love you, Addâd," was all she could get out and she knew that, in some ways, that was all that needed to be said. She stood there for a few minutes, softly crying to herself as the others continued moving around her, paying their respects.
Suddenly a small hand grabbed tightly to hers and she turned to see Bilbo standing at her side, staring at Thorin.
Seeing the Hobbit's face quickly crumble into tears, she moved and wrapped an arm tightly around his shoulders. He wrapped an arm around her waist in comfort and together they stood, grieving the loss of a father and a friend.
In the days following the funeral of Thorin and his nephews, and subsequently the coronation of King Dain, Annelise struggled to pull herself out of her grief.
When she wasn't with Bilbo or the dwarves, she was in her father's old room that he had shown her not so long ago, though now it seemed like another lifetime. She had cleaned the dust from the room quickly and claimed it as her own.
She could not bring herself to get rid of the clothes that had still been in the wardrobe and, after cleaning them, had been wearing her father's old tunics under her jerkin instead of her own.
As the pants that had been in the wardrobe were too short for her long legs, she had taken to wearing them to sleep in at night.
She did not speak much in the days that followed and the others began to worry for her. She was constantly doing something, whether it was helping clean up after the dragon or assisting Dain in getting the kingdom running once more. Doing anything helped prevent her from thinking too much and most evenings she was forced to bed by Dain or a member of the Company before she collapsed.
The members of the Company knew the loss of her father and cousins would hit her hard, but they were at a loss of what to do to help her through her grief.
Bilbo tried his best to keep her company and would sit and tell her tales of his life in the Shire. Most of the time Annelise would not say anything, but Bilbo knew that she was at least listening to the stories.
Balin spent most of the time that he was with her either telling her stories of her father when he was younger and living in Erebor or helping her with the duties that had suddenly fallen upon her. She rarely said more than the bare minimum of what was required of her during those times, but Balin could tell from the looks she would give him on occasion that she was extremely grateful for his help.
The older dwarf was worried for her though. He had noticed that, with the exception of the Company, the young woman's interactions with the other dwarves in the mountain were concerning. While she was never cruel or cold, she always spoke in a detached tone and rarely showed any emotion on her straight face.
He knew she had not cried since the farewell for her father and cousins, as she had confided in him one evening when she was close to collapsing in exhaustion. He feared what would happen to her if she did not take the time to process her loss and grief.
The other members of the Company would stop by and visit her in her room or stop her in the hall and speak with her for a moment. They all jumped at the chance to help her in anyway and could often be seen bringing her tea or something light to eat if she hadn't had the chance yet.
Dwalin's behavior was the most surprising to the others, as they noticed that it seemed to help Annelise the most.
Every night, Dwalin would bring Annelise her dinner and sit with her in silence until she could barely stay awake before kissing her on the forehead and bidding her goodnight. The others were shocked when, after a few days of this routine, the young woman slowly began coming out of her grief and could be heard speaking softly with the hardened dwarf when he would come to visit her.
And finally, a week after the funeral, Annelise could once more be seen walking the halls of Erebor, sending slight grins to anyone she passed by. It was not her usual beaming smile but the members of the Company could see that her grief had changed her and were just glad to see that she seemed to be improving.
She was no longer as quick to laugh and joke around nor did she speak as much as she once had. But they could still see the spark that she had always carried, though slightly dimmed at the moment, and knew that in time it would build back into a flame.
Nine days after saying farewell to Thorin, Fili and Kili, Annelise and the Company found themselves faced with another goodbye. Bilbo would be returning to the Shire.
While the Hobbit had confessed to Annelise that he had originally planned to leave the day after the funeral, she was glad that he had decided to stay for a little longer. His excuse was that he wanted to make sure that she would be alright before he left too.
"And now I know you will be," he said, when he told her about his decision to leave.
This news saddened the young woman greatly but she knew that it was for the best and that her friend was missing home.
She did not have long to think on her disappointment at his leaving before she was pulled out of her thoughts by Bofur.
The dwarf had taken to spending much of his time at the front gate, when he wasn't busy helping to return the mountain to its former splendor, and had become the unofficial source of knowledge on everything occurring outside of Erebor.
"Annelise, there is a blonde elf outside the gates who wants to speak with you. I think it's the same one that captured us in Mirkwood," he told her with a little disdain in his voice at the last part.
Instantly she knew that it could only be Legolas at the gate and she hurried to follow after the dwarf. Annelise had assumed that Legolas would have already left to return with his father, but was overjoyed that she had an opportunity to see her friend again.
Once she passed through the opening in the mountain, she was surprised to see the elf alone. For some reason she had assumed that at least Tauriel, if not also King Thranduil, would be there to say goodbye to her.
"Legolas, I'm happy to see you," she greeted him, wrapping her arms tightly around him in a hug.
"And I you," he responded in kind, before releasing her.
"What brings you here? Are Tauriel and your father still in the city?"
"My father and Tauriel are already on their way back to Mirkwood," he responded and Annelise looked up at him in surprise.
"You did not go with them?"
"I cannot. Not now," the elf prince said softly, and Annelise realized that Tauriel's feelings for her cousin may have hurt Legolas more than she had previously assumed.
She nodded in sad understanding before speaking once more.
"Where will you go?," she asked softly.
"My father suggested that I travel north in search of the Dunedain," he admitted and Annelise's eyebrows raised in shock. "He wanted me to find someone there that goes by the name of Strider."
"Strider?," Annalise repeated under her breath.
"Annelise," Legolas said, and the young woman looked up at his serious tone. "Apparently this Strider is the son of Arathorn."
Annelise gasped loudly when she realized who Strider had to be.
"Estel?," she whispered softly, surprising herself when tears built up in her eyes.
"I believe so," Legolas confirmed with a small nod, knowing exactly what this all meant to the young woman standing in front of him.
"Annelise, I know that you have just lost your father but I have to ask this," Legolas said after a moment of silence passed between them. Annelise blinked quickly to get rid of the moisture in her eyes and met the prince's fervent gaze.
"Will you come with me?"