Thorin nodded politely to the elven twin and Lord Erestor when they trotted past his location on large warhorses to elven wagons lumbering at the rear of the caravan and he had a good idea it was the sick twin looking to lie down. His eyes spotted the other twin dropping Gimli to the ground, where the youth promptly darted away before his mother had need of him. He was riding his new stallion he named Kibil and beside him, Dis, rode their father's stallion.
Dis cast an admiring glance at his armor. "I haven't seen so much gold since the Durin's parted with what they wore so we could eat. I used to think father the handsomest dwarf ever when he dressed for war or sparred other warriors in the ring. Slowly I forgot we were ever that wealthy," she ended sadly.
"My first set was commissioned by father. It was tiny and I saw it in the armory; along with plainer sets for dwarflings."
"Will you keep it for your son?" She stared intently, looking for a sign he was actually considering matrimony with one of the gathering lass's.
"Did I tell you, Azie is expecting?" he deflected. "I'll gift it to Dáin. I'm sure it will be another son sired."
Dis felt a pang her boys were too old and big for it and they raised, like her; in poverty and in a foreign land. "You told me the elf said Azie is expecting. Tell me about the lasses already in the mountain seeking your charms and don't change the subject."
He snorted in disdain. "Three came from the Iron Hills. Lord Pýirt brought his daughter. And Lord Rádsvid has a daughter."
"Isn't he a distant cousin?" Dis remembered his name being cursed by Thorin for not helping retake the mountain and a tantrum about him being related through Dori's father's line.
Thorin grunted. "The Ri's third cousin. He is on the council of elders in the Iron Mountains. His lass was marrying age ten years ago. Dori mentioned Rádsvid was hoping to catch a Durin. Then Lord Lofar's daughter just reached her majority while at the mountain the day before I went east."
"Okay, you gave names, Thorin. I want to know them. What do they look like? Will they fit in with the Durin dams?"
"I will leave the pecking order of dams to you and those who flourished under great grandmother, Ziari."
"How old were you when she died?" Dis had no memories of the old dwarrowdam; just stories of her ruling the dams while Thrór ruled the mountain.
"You were a baby when she went to bed one night and didn't wake. That was the largest funeral I ever attended. Grór brought the family from the Iron Hills and we partied for a week. I remember father carrying you around and showing you off. He was as proud as if you were born a son."
"Back to the lasses," she prompted.
"If I must. The first is Lord Pýirt's brat. I say that because she is whiny. When I was first introduced, she complained about the trip and elves and cold. That was all before I got her name. She has pale yellow hair. Like Fili's only lighter and blue eyes. She is thin, like you and mother were at that age. I think her name is Byrta. I hope father has better sense than select her, or I'll run away to Mordor."
Dis laughed, but had a mental picture. "Does it get better?"
Lord Rádsvid's daughter makes three of you. Shade in the summer and heat in the winter. She is ginger with pudgy cheeks and toes and everything in between. She is about the size of Bombur, without his warm personality. I had the misfortune of sitting beside her during a feast to welcome the Iron Hill lords and their families. She kept leaning her assets on my arm trying to waken me. I finally muttered that I shoed horses that liked to lean on me and was used to it. Needless to say, she took offense and stated loudly she was a sturdy lass and would improve the Durin stock with robust sons. Dáin and father laughed heartily at my discomfort. I told father, I wasn't marrying a cow and she belonged in the barn with the rest of the heifers. Her father challenged me to a fight and when I stood to comply, father ordered us both to sit down."
"I'm looking forward to meeting all of them," Dis snickered.
"The most tolerable of the lot was Lord Lorfar's dwarfling. She was so shy, she wouldn't look me in the eye when introduced and Lofar made excuses of her being timid but healthy. He actually said in front of the lass she wouldn't have to live with me; just make a few babies to carry on the line and stay out of my way. I felt sorry for her." He remembered the rest. "She has non-descriptive brown hair and eyes. Her build is slightly stocky, but pleasant. She is on my list of maybe."
Dis absorbed this new tidbit and would watch them together and judge for herself. "Well, you've had the three coming from Ered Luin shoved at you for years. What do you think of them?"
Thorin mock shuddered and grinned at her. "Asutri's daughter, Asli, is spoiled. She is determined to wed any Durin, even a Ri if she can't land me or the boys. I told Fili and Kili to stay away from her."
"Oh you did?" Dis didn't know that and had hopes Asli would catch Fili's eye. "Maybe you should have mentioned that little fact. I told Asli, I would set her up with Fili."
Thorin's eyes widened. "I'll keep that in mind. I don't want her."
"Are you resigned to Gerti? She is closest to your age?"
Thorin sighed. "If I must, but father might think her too old to bear the number of dwarflings he thinks I need."
"What about Yurna? Her black hair and blue eyes are a match for you." She was the third traveling from Ered Luin and daughter of a lesser lord who fled Smaug and traveled with their father until settling in the Blue Mountains.
"Again, she is very young and I think she has her heart set on Kili."
Dis shook her head sadly. "That boy can get into more trouble. I doubt he will marry and settle down for a hundred years now."
"Lord Elrond told me he had a prognostication about Kili. He said the lad will travel these lands for a long time. I would keep him with me for a few years, but he is restless now. I'll ask father if a place for him can be arranged. Father wouldn't assign him a position, but at the time it was because of the elf."
"Enough heart wrenching detail. What about that lass from the White Mountains, Arli?"
"In her mind, we are already betrothed." Thorin looked disgusted. "I hope father doesn't have fond memories from the White Mountains. That one is capable of fooling him."
"But not you?"
"At first, I was intrigued she knew so much about our family. It is memorized and when I try and expound on them, she changes the subject to dwarrowdam prattle. Balin taught Dwalin and me when to pay attention to dams and when to just nod."
Dis laughed and several dwarves trailing the lead ponies looked surprised. Since her fading bond, she rarely smiled and never laughed. "I miss them so much." She sobered. "I suppose one will be chosen for Dwalin?"
Thorin shifted his eyes to her face while keeping his face pointed to the horses of elves, far enough ahead for them to have a private conversation. "Yes."
"I don't know why I'm going back to the mountain," she suddenly sounded angry. "With Fili taking over as ranking lord of Ered Luin and Kili in and out, I'll ask father to allow me to return."
"Do you feel Dwili at all now?"
"His sudden intrusion into her private pain caused her to gasp. "That is not a matter I'll discuss with a dwarrow, even you. Who told on me?" She confided in Meeli, Dwin and Dioari, the only dams to escape Smaug's wrath from the House of Durin. Those three raised her and imparted all they could remember of her mother, grandmother and the older dams who perished. Usually dams kept problems of that nature hidden from dwarrows and their shame.
"It doesn't matter how I learned. I will tell you this; it isn't secret and all Durin's are aware you are fading."
"My shame is on display," she whimpered causing Thorin to reach over and wrap a comforting arm across her shoulders for a brief moment. He pulled away when she wiped her eyes and compressed her trembling lips.
"Nay, sister. Father knows and it grieves him. He feels our mother with him to this day and it was their bond that helped him all those long, lonely years while captive."
"I feel like a virgin again," she whispered. "I long to feel arms on a cold night. For twenty years, Dwili was with me after I learned of his death. I started dreaming of him in the Halls of Waiting. He kept telling me he had to go. I would ask where and he would reply that Aulë chose him for a task and I couldn't follow. I dreamed that same dream off and on for a year. Each time, I would wake crying and reaching for him. That's when the bond started fading. After a year, I never had the dream again and Dwili was gone. It is the loneliest feeling ever. It took years, but my body forgot that of a dwarrow."
"The elves tell of fading. But with them, it is much worse. If a mate fades, they are lost forever and the survivor either sails or fades also." Thorin was shaken. "You aren't going to die, are you?"
"I don't think so. First, Dwili was just not part of me and then his bond started pulling away. I haven't felt him for years and as a result, I don't think about him like a bonded wife should."
"Your thoughts are of another?" Thorin wisely affirmed.
Her cheeks flamed and he smiled.
"I am not the one being grilled," she reminded him. "Did any lass come from Jötunheim?" she quickly turned the tide of questioning.
A lithe lass with light brown tresses that hinted of gold when in the sun and the bluest eyes, came to his mind. "There is one. She has spirit and fancies herself a warrior lass. She is the only one fighting a marriage, with anyone, and the title Durin doesn't faze her."
"Let me guess," Dis interrupted. "She is built like a warrior, stout with red hair and blue eyes and can beat any dwarrow. Thus with her accomplishments, she doesn't need to marry and become chattel to a dwarrow, let alone a prince."
Thorin grinned at her, his face losing age. "That would be too easy. Even you, a princess, didn't have an option to remain unwed. Lasses are too valuable for the dwarflings they produce. No, this lass isn't ready to settle down and growing up on stories of her mother wedding so the Longbeard clan wasn't kicked from the mountain left more than a passing amount of disdain, and that she must wed a lord and not beneath her station. She is Lord Nár's great granddaughter and daughter of the ranking lord."
"I didn't know that line produced a female beyond Lári," Dis commented.
"You got part of her appearance and mannerisms correct. She has blue eyes and can outfight most novice warriors. She has light brown hair and is skinny like you."
"Having two boys did fill me out some; although I've lost most of it on this trip," Dis retorted, slightly vain about her slimming figure which still possessed full breasts and a narrow waist. "It's these padded male threads we are forced to wear in public that makes me look like a well fed miner."
"Part of the plan, Sister. You are dressed down for your safety. You heard about the black mark against all dams in this caravan?"
"Garad told all everyone in both parties of the mark insuring reaching the mountain alive. He also said the mark on your head has tripled. Now you have to be extra careful."
"I'm not concerned with my head. I don't plan on losing any dams to witless orcs while I'm in charge," Thorin reinforced. He wondered how Gandalf was fairing with the Longbeards from Jötunheim and if they were at the mountain and was sorry to miss his father's first meeting with Fræg. He had his own score to settle for the idiot healer causing him harm.
A silence settled between Dis and Thorin and she contemplated which lass was best suited for her brother. She would do everything in her power to make sure he married for more than expectations of their father. She would have a dam he wanted to spend time with and would grow to love.
At the same time a very different conversation was taking place between Elrond and Elessar. "What exactly do you wish to know about Lady Celebrían?"
Elessar smirked, "Was she as beautiful as Lady Galadriel."
Elrond grinned. "Never tell Lord Celeborn, but his daughter shines brighter than her naneth ever dreamed. You've seen paintings of my wife and know I speak truth."
"I'm not sure which elleth on your walls is her," Elessar admitted. "You have quite a few different ones."
"You know the painting in my bedchamber of the beautiful elleth with silver hair?" Elrond asked and saw Glorfindel move his horse close and they rode at the head of the column with space to have a private talk; although Elrond was sure Galadriel, riding beside Arwen just behind knew of his impending conversation and would eavesdrop.
"The one without much clothing?" Elessar guessed and his face flushed. He liked to sneak into ada's room and stare at the risqué painting and hoped nobody ever caught him.
Elrond grinned broadly and winked at Glorfindel, who was silently laughing in his mind.
"Yes, that's the one and is Celebrían. I painted from memory what she was wearing and expression when imparting the most important news of my life. It was the morning she confirmed she was carrying Elladan and Elrohir." He glanced at his riding companion and knew Glorfindel was remembering that day as well, for he spoke in his mind.
'Celebrían couldn't hide her excitement from me. She glowed and you captured the moment perfectly.'
'Thank you for not ever telling Erestor when you figured it out. I'm sure he would have remained clueless until Celebrían's stomach was round as a melon and then would have inquired if she was hiding something.'
Glorfindel laughed softly.
Elrond spoke aloud to the boy. "Celebrían and I are mated for life and therefore I will never marry again."
"What exactly does mate mean?" Elessar didn't want to appear ignorant, but really didn't know all that was involved with mating. "Is it like when the dog mated and had puppies?"
Glorfindel burst out laughing, "We thought that's what it meant when Celebrían grew large as a wine barrel."
"Mate means marriage and commitment," Elrond patiently explained, throwing an exasperated glare to his right. "Lady Celebrían became my intended mate fifteen hundred years before we exchanged vows. You see, I had a big war to fight before willing to settle down and become an adar. I didn't want to leave abandoned elflings like my brother and I when our parents left us right before the War of the Wrath. Four hundred years ago, she sailed to the undying lands in the west." His mind quickly corrected; 'Four hundred thirty two years, two months and fifteen days and," he glanced at the faithless sky; 'five and a half hours give or take.'
"Why did she sail, adar?" Elessar asked in a mature voice.
"She went to visit her parents in Lothlórien and was attacked by orcs; very similar to when your parents were attacked and your father killed. They injured her gravely; even more than I was able to heal. She had to sail or die." Elrond let memories of that painful time flood over him. He could hear songs change from happy to somber to help sooth troubled thoughts of their lord. His subconscious picked up they were singing the songs when she was carried to the sea. Glorfindel's hand rested on his right shoulder and warmth flowed into his cold fëa. He gratefully nodded at the one who stood by his side since long before he ever met his wife.
"And you really can't marry again?"
He let the youthful question pull him from dark thoughts. "No; elves only marry once; nor do I ever wish to remarry."
"So marrying mother is out of the question?" Elessar had to hear a firm refusal because he really wanted his mother to marry his adar.
"Your naneth's heart is also taken. She loved your father very much and still grieves his loss."
"Gimli misses his father, but I have no memories of mine," Elessar replied quietly.
"I can't help with that," Elrond softly told him. "I will always be your adar and you will be my iôn until you die."
"Tell me more about Lady Celebrían," the boy requested.
"One story and maybe tonight you can ask Lady Galadriel to tell a tale of Celebrían when she was your age. Anything particular you wish to know about my wife?"
Elessar thought what he wanted to know. He remembered seeing several dwarves kissing, even though the women wore beards and thought it sick. He never saw his adar kissing his mother. He remembered last time he saw the painting in Adar's bedchamber what it would be like to kiss her. "Your first kiss. Tell me a story of your first kiss."
Elrond smiled down at the top of Elessar's head. "You want to know how it's done? Is there a girl you want to kiss? Maybe a dwarven lass?" He laughed when Elessar vehemently voiced his denial.
"I never see elves kissing. Is it something you even do?"
"Yes, elves, like men and dwarves find pleasure in kissing the one we love. Elves are usually more discrete than men or dwarves. It is done in privacy so we don't intrude into the fëas of those nearby. I was building Imladris during the last half of the second age. An ill-timed trip to the Havens took me from my summer of laying foundations. It was there I met Celeborn and Galadriel's only child, Celebrían. She was the fairest in the land and I fell under her spell when my eyes first saw her." He leaned over and whispered loudly in Elessar's ear, "Do you know who Celebrían was with when first I laid eyes on her?"
Elessar shook his head.
"Glorfindel was taking her to a dancing area."
"You took her from Glorfy?" Elessar quickly looked to his right and saw Glorfindel playing the part of an injured elf.
"He cruelly ripped my heart out when using all his charms to woo the lovely Celebrían from my side," Glorfindel embellished.
"Don't believe a word he says," Elrond stated. "Glorfindel's intended is waiting for him across the sea, although I don't know why."
"Anyway, I was invited by Celebrían that night at a feast to join her and her parents for breakfast. Celeborn and his family always stayed with Lord Círdan when they went to Mithlond. Of late, ellon took to invading the palace and searching for Celebrían, and Celeborn couldn't threaten enough to keep them away. I was the first she showed interest in and Lord Celeborn quickly told her I was dining with the king in the morning.
Glorfindel looked interested. "I didn't know Celeborn said that to you."
Elrond rolled his eyes, "Gil-galad came to my rescue with, 'I'm inviting myself also, Celeborn.' Next thing I knew, all at our table invited themselves to Celeborn's chambers to break the fast. I was the only one oblivious to their reasoning. They were quite hoping Celebrían and I would find fëas yearning and all were entertained by Celeborn's behavior."
"Did your fëas spark and that's when you kissed her?" Elessar asked.
"Yes and no. Fëas did spark and I didn't kiss her for several hundred years."
"Erak says elves are slow in matters of the heart. How many hundreds of years?"
"I couldn't stay away from Celebrían for more than a few decades at a time; although it was eighty years between our first and second visit. Celeborn was the main reason. After that, every twenty years or so, either she or I would find a reason to visit; either in Lothlórien or Imladris. It was April seventeenth, Second Age year two thousand, four hundred and sixty one at break of dawn when our lips first met." Elrond looked back through the centuries until it seemed as if that morning.
"Yes, Elrond kissed Celebrían goodbye on the landing in front of all the elves," Glorfindel picked up the story, seeing his friend reliving the memory. "Celeborn, Galadriel and Celebrían stayed the winter and were leaving for the Havens that warm spring morning. Elrond and Celebrían walked for hours after dark the prior evening, with me as chaperone of course. I did everything I could outside doing the deed myself. Elrond was just too shy…,"
"And afraid of Celeborn," Elrond added. "We actually discussed if we should start kissing and maybe a grope or two that night."
Glorfindel snickered, "That was one funny conversation. 'If I were to press my lips to yours, sweet Celebrían, would your adar depart my head from the rest of me with Faenrúth?'"
"You aren't supposed to be eavesdropping," Elrond complained. "Yes, you should talk about everything with one you plan on marrying. We discussed appropriateness of actions to be taken, as I would hope my children would do with their intended. She gave permission for our first kiss to be shared with our friends and family and that's what we did; on the landing; with every blasted elf clapping and catcalling."
"Celeborn didn't say a word," Glorfindel laughingly reminded.
Elrond groaned. "I handed Celebrían on her horse and braved a look at her adar. His face was unreadable. I hate that expression on him. It could mean welcome to the family or I'm never coming this way again and my realm is closed to you. Come to think of it, Celeborn just rode away." Elrond remembered being relieved Glorfindel didn't have to protect him that fateful morning.
'Celeborn didn't say a word all day,' came floating into their minds from the next horse back. 'That night, camped among the pines, Celebrían asked if he was mad at her. He stated, he wasn't prepared to see his only child treated as a desirable elleth and he would need time to adjust. I reminded him he got off lucky with my adar across the sea when we first kissed. The first kiss is always the best.'
"Remember my son; when you decide to pursue a wife, make the first kiss special and memorable," Elrond advised him. "And never kiss a lass just for the experience. Save yourself for the right one."
"I hope that is a long way off," Elessar didn't know any girls his age living among elves. "I've never seen a human girl," he just realized. "The dwarf girls are short and I don't have a clue how old they really are. Gimli is sixty and so is Erak. One is a grown man and other not even considered an adult."
"An elfling at sixty is very young," Elrond told him. "We haven't had an elfling born at Imladris for two hundred years. The only children have been among the Dúnedain."
"I understand now why you don't kiss mother now," Elessar told Elrond. "It wouldn't be right; not for you or her."
Elrond smiled down at him and gave him a hug. "I don't kiss you either because you're a stinky boy." He tickled Elessar and the boy laughed and wiggled off the horse and ran away.