Authors Note: Hi again! This is a pretty short chapter compared to what I normally write. I have been attempting to not write a chapter that could be considered a book in itself, lol. Don't worry, I haven't completely got rid of the habit, lol. Besides, this is more of a filler chapter anyway. 😊
Hey Docnikki! I am definitely happy to receive hugs, even virtual ones :D. It is good to be back.
See you guys at the bottom!
Chapter Two
"They did what?!" Tauriel narrowed her eyes as she looked from Naufi to Orin. She slid from the bed, walking slowly to her sons who stood with their father's hands still on their shoulders. Her blazing green eyes bore into their matching green for several seconds before she sighed and closed her eyes. Truly, she was still feeling drained from her delivery not a day ago, and more than a bit sore. It was taking her longer and longer to recover with each child she has, which is something Naurfaer said she would have to accept since it was her choice to become a mortal.
So she was more than exhausted, and ordered by Oin to remain in bed for at least a few days. But a mother has no time to rest when her children need her.
Kili, feeling his wife's exhaustion and discomfort, stepped away from his boys and gently led Tauriel back to the bed. "Amralime, sit my love." He smiled at Kilion who was asleep on the bed with Ithtiri bundled and sleeping just beside him. The little dwarfling's arm was slung over her tiny sleeping form in a way Kili wished he had his sketching journal handy to freeze the endearing scene on paper. He shook his head and made a mental note to draw it later as he pulled the covers back for his one.
Considering Tauriel allowed Kili to help her into the bed without a single argument, meant she was feeling worse than she was allowing others to see. He brushed some hair from her face, and kissed her head, then turned back to his sons. "I told them they could not go to the bazaar."
Tauriel nodded. "A fitting punishment. Come here my loves." Patting the opposite side of the bed, Tauriel waited for her twin stars to come to her; which they did without hesitation, climbing up on Kili's side of the bed so they did not disturb their sleeping younger brother and infant sister. Finli had plopped down in one of the chairs and simply watched, though he did smile at his father who ruffled his hair as he pulled the seat up beside him, his dark eyes watching his wife.
Pulling her boys close in her arms, Tauriel sat back against the pillow as she pressed her face into Naufi's hair and tightened her hold on Orin. She waited for a few moments before lifting her head to look at them both. At the moment, each of her boys had their faces buried in her shoulder and it was impossible for her to not see them as her laughing little babies once again. "I cannot relay my disappointment in you both. With your great grandfather away in Mirkwood, I needed to trust you to go from your school lessons to the guards wing while I am unable to take you and your father is busy...but I see that trust was misplaced."
"I'm sorry mama." Orin wrapped his arms around her tightly.
"Me too." Naufi whispered.
Tauriel's emerald eyes flicked to Kili who gave her a look, then rolled his own chocolate orbs knowing exactly what was about to happen...she was going to give into them.
"I know you are my sweet ones. I know this may be a difficult time, with me not being able to walk you to training as I usually do. Truly, I believed you were able to go on your own. But you must know, now I cannot allow that to happen."
"I can get them mama." Finli sat up. "I will just have to make sure Master Balin lets me out from my own lessons early."
Tauriel smiled wide at her eldest, her miniature Kili. With every year that passed, Finli looked more and more like his father. Personality wise, however, Finli was a healthy mix between Kili's passionate nature, and Tauriel's passive personality. Though he did have Tauriel's drive to learn and with his place in line for the throne, Balin spoke to both Kili and Tauriel about tutoring Finli personally so he would be able to learn on a more one on one basis. Like Fili and Kili, Finli would also require additional lessons on politics as well.
Once the other children were older, they too would be put in a separate class for deeper lessons, but since Finli was a few years older than the others, he was the only one currently under Balin's instruction. Though, Dissah and Kilion had already both spoken to their parents about wanting lessons with Balin. They loved the older dwarf, and always sat listening raptly to his stories and lessons.
However, apart from Finli, they were all still too young for that kind of instruction, and both Tauriel and Viltarra wanted them to have at least a few years of normal classroom instruction before they moved to private lessons. Not that it was overly normal, considering Dis still taught the younger dwarflings...so once Kilion started classes he will join Dissah in being taught by their grandmother. But the point is, they would be instructed with others their age, and that is what Tauriel and Viltarra felt was most important...socialization; especially for the two members of the family who least liked to socialize.
The downside of Finli tutoring, however, is he tends to be in lessons for a bit longer than their school lessons. Though on some days, Balin excuses him so he can do some training, like he was supposed to do today.
Dis couldn't walk them either as she usually stays longer to help students needing further instruction in the lesson, or she has meetings with the other instructors. If Tauriel and Kili asked, the eleth has no doubts in her mind that Dis would accompany her grandchildren to training before returning back to the school...but that would take her away from her pupils who need her...and Tauriel trusted her children to go to the training halls on their own.
Not anymore though. Sighing again, Tauriel kissed Orin on the head, then Naufi, before nodding to Finli. "If you would not mind my star, just for a few days. I should be able to take over by weeks end." She looked down at her sons in her arms. "You two, will never do that again. That corridor is forbidden. Not even with an adult are you allowed to go in there. Do you understand?"
"Yes mama." Both answered at the same time.
There was a pause before Naufi leaned back and smiled. "Since we can't go to the bazaar...can we help gam Nya in the stables?"
"Ya, she is teaching Uri to fly." Orin excitedly proclaimed.
"Maybe she will let us have a ride!" Naufi's expression filled with hopeful excitement that had Tauriel rolling her eyes and glaring at her husband.
"That, comes from you." Tauriel grumbled as Kili chuckled.
"No…that comes from you." Kili smirked. "I'm not the one who runs gayly through the branches of trees, sometimes while pregnant, who decided to take on an entire colony of giant spiders…alone, and who left her forest to live with a bunch of dwarves. Not to mention, between the two of us, who has already flown on of auntie Nya's aelug? Also while pregnant might I add. It certainly wasn't' me who did those things."
Tauriel glared at her husband but chose not to correct him. She then looked down sternly at her twins. "A punishment is meant to teach a lesson, not give opportunities for more fun. Furthermore, there will be no riding of anything until you are older. Finli has just begun riding lessons, you will have to wait a few more years yet."
"But that's not fair; Karra gets to ride. Why can't we?" Naufi huffed.
"Karra has special permission because she saved her money for the last several years so she can purchase a pony. You, decided to spend your gold on sweets." Tauriel lifted a brow at her pouting sons. Of course, Fili did pay for the majority of Karra's animal, but she refused to spend even a copper coin on anything so she could have the agreed upon amount of money to buy the small, white pony. It was just a miniature horse, really, not even a true pony. Karra will outgrow her one day and need something larger, but for now, the small animal could more than bare the dwarflings weight.
Both Orin and Naufi were given the same opportunity, but being a bit irresponsible with their coins, they decided against saving in favor of spending it all on frivolous endeavors...as Karra likes to tease them about.
"You both will be spending the time with me, your younger brother, and your baby sister." Tauriel continued, running her fingers through the twin's dark, copper, locks. "We need to clean out the nursery anyway, and I could use your help."
"Chores?" Naufi complained and fell back dramatically onto the bed, disturbing Kilion who sat up and rubbed his eyes then looked to his brother with a severe expression on his face.
"Be quiet Nauf, you're going to wake Ithtiri." Kilion chastised. The nine-year-old's blue eyes glared at his brother even more when the infant beside him scrunched up her face and began to cry.
Kili was the one to stand and grab his daughter, humming softly as he walked the room with her until she settled.
While he did, Tauriel looked back down at her son. "Naufi, what you did was beyond punishment, beyond recklessness, and beyond words disappointing. Not going to the bazaar is truly not enough, you must learn from your mistakes. So yes, you will be helping me. Then, you will go to the kitchens, and help Bombur and his team with evening clean-up for an entire week."
"A WEEK! But...but..." Naufi complained while Orin sighed but kept his thoughts to himself, which Orin tended to do far more than his twin brother who didn't seem to be even capable of keeping his thoughts from escaping his mouth…whether they got him into trouble or not.
"I do not wish to hear complaints." Tauriel stiffened and gave her sons a hard look. "A week. Be grateful it is not more. Now, I want you both to go write me a report on what you learned today. At least, two pieces of parchment should suffice."
Naufi groaned again and moved to leave, but Tauriel caught his hand and pulled both he and Orin into her arms, tightening her grip on them. "I love you both, far more than you will ever be able to comprehend." She felt tears well in her eyes. "I cannot lose you my Naufi, my Orin. If I must, I will do anything to get it into your mind that what you chose to do today, could have cost this family greatly. We would never have recovered." She breathed her sons in, then slowly released them. Finally, Naufi nodded and pressed his lips to her cheek before wordlessly getting off the bed. Orin repeated the gesture, and followed his brother from the room.
Tauriel watched them go and shook her head.
"You should have put them in the dungeons." The eleth smirked and looked down at a scowling Kilion.
"Do you think so, my darling?" The eleth scooped her blue-eyed son into her arms, and smiled when he rested his head against her and nodded.
"I would have made them do all the dishes in the mountain for a month." Finli folded his arms, his chocolate eyes sparkling with mischief. "I doubt they would step out of line again. Naufi and Orin hate doing their dishes."
"I doubt we could come up with anything that would stop them from stepping out of line." Kili laughed. A crashing sound came from the twins room, and Kili rolled his eyes. "I better go see to that."
"Can I hold her?" Finli asked, standing to go to his father.
"Course Fin, go sit down and I will bring her to you." Kili followed his son back to the chair he was sitting in, then placed the infant not even a full day old, in her eldest brother's arms, then left the room to see to his troublemakers whose laughter was ringing through the entire suite. Life, was never anything but colorful in their household.
Down the hall, Fili sat back in his chair, waiting for his wife to come home. With everything going on between Karra and the news Naurfaer brought, the blonde heir to the throne was completely lost in thought. He rubbed his hands through his beard and leaned forward, staring again at the map on his sitting room table. Though he was still upset about what Karra, Orin, and Naufi got up do, Fili was more than disturbed by what was happening in Mirkwood...which was really not all that far from Erebor. Something seemed off, either they were missing information, or something was happening that just could not be explained. How are there teams of elves completely gone? No body, blood, or signs they were even there.
"Everything alright?" Viltarra walked in, pulling the tie from her hair as she sat beside Fili, eyeing the maps and Fili's pensive expression. Fili sighed again before eyeing his wife and Hiril who had plopped down at Viltarra's feet.
Fili got wind of the supposed gift his wife may be receiving for her birthday...and great mahal above, Fili prays it is just a rumor. He really does not want to deal with a pup. Though...if it makes his wife happy, Fili will endure it if he must.
Shaking his head, Fili thought about which news to give his wife first. "Do you want the bad news, or the terrible news?"
Lifting a brow, Viltarra folded her arms. "If one of those tales involves our eldest daughter, I have already been appraised by Dwalin. Is she alright?"
"She's watching Vilia, but she is fine. I haven't been able to think up an appropriate punishment though. Kili has the twins working in the kitchen, which Karra will be joining in on…but he also barred the twins from the winter bazaar for a more severe punishment, which Karra was not going to anyway."
"That is because you refused to even consider it." Viltarra smirked at her husband who was far more overprotective than Vin had ever been with her. Karra has been the only one of their daughters who has been able to step outside the mountain and that is during riding lessons only and with at least a dozen guards. Fili also requires that he be there as well.
"For good reason." Fili supplied to his wife. "They are too young to leave the mountain, and our world is not safe." He sat back and closed his eyes. "Especially with what is going on in Mirkwood."
Viltarra's brows lowered as she stared at her husband. "What is happening in Mirkwood?"
Before Fili could answer, the door to their suite opened. Both Fili and Viltarra smiled as Ori guided Dissah in, the young dam holding a book in her hands as she spoke almost excitedly about...well...Fili had no idea really. She was just, excited.
"Mama, da, Ori said I can keep this book." Dissah ran to her parents, her long blonde hair trailing behind her as she moved. "It's the one about the history of the lands. Did you know, Mirkwood used to be called Greenwood the Great? They only changed it in our age. Probably because of the spiders. They like mirky places."
Viltarra glared at Fili who cleared his throat. She told him he was not supposed to mention the spiders until they were older.
"I am going to ask aunty Tauri about it. I am going to go over and show this to Kilion. Bye." Before either Fili or Viltarra could say even a word to her, Dissah was turning from them and running out the door.
"No hello, no kiss, no hug...nothing." Fili lamented shaking his head as Viltarra chuckled.
"She's jus' excited." Ori laughed.
"How's Leori and Rori doing?" Viltarra asked when the room fell silent.
"They are doin' well, thank you for askin'." Ori smiled at the thought of his two sons. "Leotti has 'em helpin' her in the shop at the mo. I was goin' the see them bu' I wanted to look into a few things in the library while I was thinkin' about it, an' found somethin' I thought I would run by yeh and bring Dissah home at the same time."
"You haven't gone to see Little Otti yet? Didn't you just get home from Mirkwood?" Fili gaped at Ori who nodded a bit solemnly.
"I intend on going straight to see them, but..." Placing a book on the table, Ori pulled a scroll from under his arm.
"Da, Vilia wants a cookie. Can I go get one from the kitchen?" Karra came running from the room, Vilia's small hand held tightly in her sisters.
Fili narrowed his eyes at his eldest. "Vilia, wants a cookie?"
"Cookie!" Vilia chimed but Fili rolled his eyes. His youngest was not one for cookies, she much preferred cheese and bread over sweets...which was odd but you learn as a parent oddities are just part of life. But it was more likely Karra wants the cookie, than Vilia, and she is simply using her baby sister as a means to get what SHE wants.
"Nice try." Fili shook his head. "Take your sister next door please. Dissah is already over there. And do not disturb Ithtiri." Karra huffed but pulled Vilia behind her. "OH, tell your uncle to get over here." Karra sighed and wordlessly tugged her sister out the door.
There was no need to ask for permission for the girls to go to his brothers, there was an open door policy between all the family suites up here...including both Naurfaer's, and Dis, Thorin, and Nyaunni's rooms. Dwarven families are a unit. Though dwarflings are primarily raised by their parents, it is not uncommon for uncles, aunts, and grandparents living nearby to have heavy hands in their upbringing.
Viltarra jokes that Kili and Tauriel are Karra, Dissah, and Vilia's second parents...though both she and Fili have taken care of all four of their boys so often, she feels as if they were her children as well. She loved them all deeply, just as she loved her daughters. Kili dotes on the girls almost more than Fili, and Fili dotes on Kili's sons nearly as much.
Fili has also spent a lot of time with Fin, who is currently considered as Fili's heir, though they won't have an official declaration until Finli's fiftieth year. They do that to ensure no other heirs will be produced, but both Fili and Viltarra know they will be having no other children, so it is understood by the family that Finli, will be succeeding Fili on the throne.
What do his daughters have to say about that? Absolutely nothing. Karra loves her elder cousin and often makes fun of him about all the lessons Finli has to go to; though the smile gets wiped from her face when Finli reminds her the lessons he takes have nothing to do with being a king, and everything to do with the political and economical instruction required by anyone in a royal position, so even she will have to take the same lessons as him since she is part of the family and will have responsibilities in running Erebor like anyone of them.
Fili is not too worried about the look of horror on his daughters face when faced with the prospect of having to take lessons, he knows that though she is a bit on the dramatic side, when it comes down to it, she never fails to fulfill her responsibilities; even at her young age. She is simply, vocal, about her opinions. It will be a good trait for her, and one he will absolutely not have her bury. One day, Finli will be on the throne, and he will need Karra's outspoken thoughts in helping him make difficult decisions.
Kili is the outspoken one in their family, and though his baby brother can be trouble, more often than not Kili has helped the situation more than made it worse. Kili still speaks before he thinks, and Fili would not have him any other way.
Running his hand through his hair, Fili eyed Ori as he pushed his thoughts on his children away. Finli will not be taking the throne for several centuries, and he does not want to think about his little Karra growing up quite yet. "What news do you have Ori? Is this about Mirkwood?"
"I believe so. Or rather, it's borders. Do ya recall our first trip through the forest?"
Fili nodded. "How could I forget. We were lost, Bombur passed out, those massive spiders attacked, then we were stripped of our weapons and thrown into a cell in Mirkwood for a month nearly missing our opportunity to get into Erebor." The crowned prince huffed and folded his arms. "I still can't believe they took ALL of my blades."
"You are not still going on about that are you? You got them back." The door opened once again as Kili stepped in, a small bundle in his arms, and an amused expression on his face.
"Is that my niece?" Viltarra jumped up, stepping over Hiril, and going straight for the one day old. She immediately extracted the infant from Kili's arms and cooed at the bundle as she made her way back to her seat.
More than used to having his children taken out of his arms, Kili simply rolled his eyes as he took one of the chairs and pulled it close to the table filled with maps and books. "I was summoned by my niece...who Tauriel has writing a report with the twins...just so you know. How can I be of service?"
Fili blinked. "So, Tauri has Karra writing a report...?"
"Mhm. About what she did wrong and how it affected others...two pages I believe. Believe me, she will be checking it." Kili hummed as he leaned back, his fingers fiddling with the bead in his beard. It took him ten years to be comfortable with growing facial hair without having panic attacks whenever he looked in the mirror, and a further five to allow it to grow long enough for it to end in a braid at the base of his chin. It was not significantly long, but certainly long enough to be respectable. Tauriel loved running her fingers through it, which Kili certainly would never complain about.
Kili eyed his brother who was smiling wide. "Perfect." Fili clapped his hands. "Punishment is settled."
Viltarra huffed and narrowed her eyes at her husband. "No, it certainly is not. If the twins have to help in the kitchen, miss the bazaar, AND write a report, then for Karra in addition to helping in the kitchen, there will be no riding for a week, and she can help muck the stables until she can learn to think about what she does."
Sighing, Fili nodded. He hated punishing his children. "As you say nunguame." Fili glared at his brother who was snickering and rolling his eyes, before the blonde continued. "Ki, there's a problem in Mirkwood."
This got Kili's attention and he sat up straight. "What kind of problem?"
Fili looked to Ori who still stood, but immediately rolled the scroll out he had brought. It was a detailed map of the region, and showed everything perfectly to scale. "I 'ave been workin' on this, took it with me to Mirkwood so I could make it as accurate as possible." He smiled at Kili and Fili's impressed expressions.
Ori pointed to the city of Mirkwood. "As yeh know, the elven city takes up a good portion of the northern forest, bu' beyond their southern walls, lies the enchanted stream and a path that leads to the darker parts of the wood."
Kili's chocolate eyes scanned the map, missing what Ori was saying as his eyes fell on another ruin east of Mirkwood. He felt his mind fall into the depths of entrapment as something he could only describe as a deep coldness overtook him, a heavy ringing in his ears causing him to be deaf to the now muffled talking around him.
"Ki? You alright?" Kili shook the chill away and blinked at his brother. In his mind, an even deeper heat filled his soul as his wife engulfed every one of his senses. That extraordinary creature was a wonder.
"Yes, sorry. Go on." Kili hated the pitying looks Fili and Ori were giving him and wondered, not for the first time, if he will ever truly be rid of the horrors he endured in that now long gone ruin.
Ori innocently placed a parchment weight on the ruins Kili was previously staring at, and gestured again to the southern border of Mirkwood where there sat another illustration. Before he could say anything, however, the door opened once again, and Kili sighed as his wife stepped in.
"Is everything alright?" She eyed her husband whose cheeks warmed with a bit of embarrassment.
"I...yes amralime. Sorry. I got lost for a moment I am afraid. Who's watching the children?"
Tauriel smiled. "Finli is keeping an eye on them for me. He knows I am just next door and will send Kaw if something happens." The eleth stood before her sitting husband who scooted over a bit in the chair to make room for his smaller wife. She still had her baby weight from baring Ithtiri the day before, but she was still able to comfortably sit in the oversized chair beside him.
Palming his cheek, Tauriel pulled his head to her lips, pressing a kiss to his nose. "Are..."
Kili grasped her hand tightly and gave her a true smile. "Truly, Tauriel, I really am alright. But there is something you should know." Tauriel furrowed her brows as she waited patiently for the news, but gasped as Kili softly told her, "There's trouble in Mirkwood."
"What kind of trouble..." Tauriel looked around the room, her emerald eyes going from Kili, to Fili, then to Ori who had only recently returned from the elven city. It was Fili who spoke, however.
Taking a deep breath, the blonde prince leaned towards his sister. "Naurfaer returned, and came to see uncle. He claimed there are teams of elven guards who have vanished."
"Vanished? Wait...teams?" Tauriel stood, ignoring the pain and soreness that came from her still healing body. She saw Kili shift uncomfortably, sensing her pain, but continued her path. "Where, how, who?"
"We don't know the details." Fili confessed. He looked to Ori who nodded.
"I find it hard to believe they have no idea what is happening." Viltarra growled. "I imagine Thorin would have search parties scouring the lands if it was happening here."
The silence that filled the room buzzed, before Tauriel spoke again. "Do we know anything?"
Ori shook his head. "No' nothin' tha' is solid Tauri. Only speculation. With so many missin', Thranduil has the south gate sealed an' Galloron says they are puttin' a plan of wha' to do together."
"In the meantime, innocent souls are out there, somewhere, with nobody searching for them." Kili locked his jaw, glaring holes into the parchment. He didn't need to see the drawing of the ruins where they found him hidden under the paperweight, to know it was there. It was empty and burned to the ground, but it was just as much a scar on the land, as it was a scar on his very soul. And it was not one the elves were able to remove, nor does he think anyone could.
A cool hand entered his, twining their long slender fingers with his warmth. It was not Kili she addressed, however. "Do we know anything else Ori?"
Ori pulled another chair forward and pointed to the illustration. "Tauri, do yeh know this place?"
Tauriel's green eyes followed his finger, and she nodded. "Dol Guldur, the dark fortress. It means, hill of sorcery." She glared at the map then looked around the room. "It is believed the spiders came from Dol Guldur, and more than once, I petitioned Thranduil to clear the fortress. Each time, he denied me. Do you think that place has something to do with the missing elves?"
Again, silence filled the room. "I wish I could say. Galloron hinted at it, bu' with the gates sealed, he don' have permission to look into it. Bu' if I were to speculate...I think it might."
"Do you mind if I hang onto this?" Fili asked gesturing to the map.
"Aye, of course." Ori nodded and pushed a book forward. "I grabbed an atlas of the lands as well, jus' in case." He took a deep breath. "I wish I had more teh relay, bu' Thranduil assured us it was isolated, an' they are doin' wha' they can ta find the missin' without loosen more. My fear..."
"Is it will spread." Kili's eyes darkened as Ori nodded. "I assume uncle won't let this be swept away, Ori."
"Neither will my grandfather." Tauriel sat back, a pensive expression on her face. "I should have been there."
"Tauri..." Fili sighed.
"Please don't Fili." Tauriel's eyes softened as they fell on her daughter still sleeping in Viltarra's arms. Her bright star. "I in no way regret my daughter, but you all must understand, I was a part of that guard for longer than anyone in this room has been alive. I trained with them, I protected the city with them, and I fought alongside them when threats came to our borders...for five hundred years, I was a member of Thranduil's army. And now, I am hearing that those I spent centuries with are missing. Please, do not expect me to feel anything but worry, guilt, and a deep frustration with what is happening. My life was not easy in Mirkwood and in so many ways I was isolated, but they are not monsters. There are many good elves in the city, even among the guard."
"Course Tauri." Ori gave her a soft smile. "Can ya pass these to Thorin then, and tell 'im to call if 'e needs to see me. I will be writin' this in a report." He gave Tauriel a grin. The eleth was a stickler for reports, and has spent more than one council meeting drilling it into the company that detailed reports, are a necessary evil.
"I will make sure he gets it. Go see your family, Ori. Thank you for bringing them, and for your insight." Fili gave his friend a smile, though his eyes flicked to his sister who was scowling beside Kili, who ran his hand up and down her back in what seemed like a soothing gesture.
"Alright, missing elves." Fili sat back, taking his niece from his wife who shot him a look but remained silent.
"Please do not speak so casually about it. They are people, like you and me, Fili." Tauriel growled. "They have people who love and care for them, who are likely being told for their own safety, they could not go after their missing loved ones. Making light of a situation because you are not directly affected is both unkind and unwarranted."
Fili gave Tauriel an apologetic look. "I didn't mean it like that little sister. I am sorry if it sounded otherwise, that was not my intention." The eleth gave her brother a look, than nodded, so he continued. "Any idea what Thranduil would do in this scenario? I mean, it is his own people going missing."
Tauriel sat back against Kili, just thinking. "If he thought the risk was worth the sacrifice, he would go after them without hesitation. His people are everything to him, so his orders come from a place of what some may call, love. But if he even suspects leaving the city's borders would only cause more harm than good, he will wait to make a move until he has gathered more information if only to keep losses to a minimum. It is a difficult decision and one I do not envy."
"We would be out there, no questions asked, if our people went missing." Kili said.
Tauriel sighed. "Perhaps, meleth nin, or perhaps not. We have far more questions than answers right now, as we are not there." She let out a frustrated breath. "I do not like this."
Silence filled the room as they sat contemplating the situation. Nobody had anything to really say, because what could they say? At the moment, they knew little to nothing about the situation, which meant all they could do, was speculate.
However, Kili and Tauriel did not stay long. Since Tauriel was still in a good amount of pain and Ithtiri was beginning to fuss, it was only maybe a quarter hour later when Kili took his newborn daughter from his brother before he guided his wife straight back to their chambers and with his free arm, gently pushed her into bed and handed her their daughter to feed. They would get no answers that day anyway. In fact, they would get no answers for many days to come.
Yet the worry grew in Tauriel's heart. What was happening in Mirkwood? And how long do they have before whatever was inflicting the elven city, comes to their mountain.
Authors Note at the bottom: Remember, this is only the beginning. 'Taps fingers together' there is much more to come. ALSO I forgot to mention in the later chapters, there might be some trigger tags. I will add more warnings in as they come. I am working on chapter 25 right now, so this is another long one, but I don't think I will have more than one or two more chapters to write before this ACT is finished and I move on to ACT VI. Though honestly…I think I might do some one-shots between this ACT and the next. I think I probably should have done that between the last ACT and this one, now that I realized the time jump may have been too big of a shock. Lol. Remember, dwarves do not age the same as humans. So just because Finli is 19, the twins 16, and so on, it is not the same as if a human was that age. 16, I like to think, is like a 7-8 year old human equivalent, so Finli is more on parr for an 11 or 12 year old. The years just don't really match. It's a bit jarring though, since in the movie at 29, Thorin looks like he's full grown, but I like to think he was more like a 15 or 16 year old, maybe a bit younger.
Anyway, that's just me personally, I know different researchers say different things about how a dwarf ages in middle earth. From what I understand and have read, dwarves are not considered fully mature until 75, so it's a bit weird to figure out how to age them. I figured, when they reach 40 or 50, they are pretty close to full grown adulthood in the reforged universe at least. Others can interpret it as they will and incorporate their own belief system into their fics, but for me, this is my thinking on aging.
Anyway, I got to go to work, and I still have one last paper to write for a class before I can open my next class so I will try and get the next chapter out within a week or less. Also, I have a crochet project I took on making a Tauriel doll. I am so excited. 😊
Oh, and happy fathers day to all the amazing dads out there. That is Sunday so I thought I would put it in here so it is seen before the holiday. See you soon! HUGS!