Chapter Forty Five: The Durin Line

Notes: After this week we only have five chapters left! Ahh! So close to the end!

I stared at the huge statues that cut out of the face of the mountain, depicting dwarves with their axes and swords and hammers. I had never seen something so large in my entire life, and this was just the outside of the mountain!

We flew down to the front entrance of Erebor where a small party was there to greet us. I held onto Thorin's cloak tightly, my nerves getting the best of me as we started to descend. I held my breath as the eagles finally touched the ground.

We were instantly surrounded by dwarves that were clamoring for Thorin's attention, asking him how the trip went, but it only took them a moment to realize that he and Gandalf did not come back empty handed.

A large dwarf with no hair on top of his head but was covered in tattoos looked at me very perplexed. "Are you…you're not…"

"Her sister, Dwalin." Thorin gestured over to Gandalf. "But Lydia is alive as well, we found her in Hobbiton but she's very ill."

"Lydia has been alive this whole time," Dwalin said breathlessly. He looked at me again and Thorin went to go help Gandalf handle Lydia. "And you're her sister…the others are not going to believe this."

"Genevive Barclay." I slid off the eagle and held my hand out to him. "You were one of the dwarves that was on the journey with my sister?"

"Yes Lass." He hesitated then shook my hand. "Is she alright?"

"We're hoping she will be. Gandalf said he has more resources here to help her."

"She faced a damn dragon and fought in the Battle of Five Armies and lived to tell the tale, there's no way some illness will take her from this world."

"I don't think so either, thank you." I gave him a small smile and bowed my head. "I'm going to see what I can do to help."

He nodded back to me and I hurried to my sister's side. Gandalf was giving instructions on what he would need to make sure his spells were effective while Thorin gave orders on which room in the kingdom needed to be cleared and cleaned, apparently I was going to have my own room in Durin Hall. My heart pumped hard, not knowing where to go or where to be. I just stuck close to Lydia who was being carried by Thorin. I held her hand and waited to be directed.

Once everyone knew what they were supposed to do, Thorin nodded to me and told me to follow him. We were going to get Lydia settled in. I followed him like a lost puppy into the enormous kingdom of Erebor.

My eyes grew to the size of the moon as we walked through the unbelievably tall halls. Every inch was carved stone, some rooms even adorned with precious gems, rugs, tapestries and other luxuries. Despite being inside a mountain, everywhere we went it was warm and comfortable as well. I knew it would take forever for me to be able to know my way around, though in those moments it was impossible to imagine ever being able to navigate those halls and tunnels.

We eventually got to the 'royal quarters' where Thorin and his family had their rooms. It sounded like Thorin was going to have Lydia set up in his room while I would have a room a few doors down since any closer rooms were already taken up by his sister and nephews. I was still not going to be far away so that put my mind at ease.

Thorin laid her down on the bed and unwrapped her from the blanket, handing it off to me. I balled it up on my arms as I watched him tuck her into the bed. He moved some hair out of her pale face and he sighed deeply.

"This is where I need you to work your magic, Gandalf, do everything you need to, to bring her back to us," he said tiredly.

"I will do what I can," he said. "Both of you get settled in, I'll let you know when I'm done with my first round. It may be a while since I need to start by healing her insides, which is always the toughest part."

Thorin stood up from the bed then looked over to me. "I'll show you to your room then. I think I'm going to take a nap afterwards."

We both left Gandalf to do the task at hand and he brought me down the hall to the room that was quickly cleaned and set up for me. I walked inside and though it looked simple in comparison to the rest of what I had seen of Erebor, it was still the most elaborate room I had ever called mine. The huge bed had a stone frame that was also carved and the fireplace was decorated with depictions of the mountain. A fire was already going and I could easily picture myself sitting at one of those chairs, reading a book or conversing with someone.

I hoped beyond hope that I wasn't only ever going to only talk with Thorin and Gandalf, but I knew it was going to likely take time to get to know people.

"Will this suffice?" Thorin asked.

"Oh absolutely," I scoffed, dropping my bag onto the bed. "You saw what I grew up with, this is a palace in comparison."

"I had a feeling you'd say something like that. But if you need anything there's going to be guards out in the hall, don't be afraid to ask for anything. I have a few matters to attend to, then I'm going to get some sleep before having dinner."

"Sounds good, once I settle in I'll probably get some sleep in as well." As if I'd be able to sleep when I was in an entirely different part of the world for the first time in my life. "You go do what you have to do, I'll be totally fine for now."

"Well, Welcome to Erebor, Genevive."

"Thank you, your highness," I smirked, waving him out of my room.

He bowed to me and left, closing the door behind him. I released a concealed breath and sat down on my bed, closing my eyes for a moment to collect myself.

"I made it to Erebor," I whispered, trying to ground myself. "Gandalf is healing Lydia, she's going to be fine. She's going to wake up any time now and she'll…live."

I began taking off all my layers from the flight, removing my scarf and gloves as well as my coat. I pulled my black curls out of my face and imagined how amazing it would be to have a hot bath to warm myself and clean up.

I stood back up to go ask one of the guards where I could get myself cleaned up. I opened up the door and came face to face with a young, blonde dwarf with a dark haired one behind him. Their eyes widened as I jumped in surprise.

"Gracious! Who on earth are you two and why are you lingering at my door?" I asked, putting my hand over my heart. They gave me the same shocked expression that Dwalin did earlier so I assumed they were also dwarves that traveled with my sister during the big journey. "Come on, out with it. What are your names?"

"Fili," said the blonde one with the clear blue eyes.

"And Kili," said the other with the matching brown hair and eyes.

"Oh! Thorin's nephews. I'm Genevive Barclay, though from the looks of you, you may have already known that." I gave them a charming smile, the men in this family certainly were ruggedly handsome in a way hobbit men would never be. "Gandalf is with my sister now trying to heal her, she's very sick so it's best not to disturb them."

Fili cleared his throat. "Sorry for staring, when we heard that Lydia's sister was here we didn't know what to expect."

Kili added, "Obviously you know we all thought she had been dead this entire time so it's sort of insane for not only to have her return, but another hobbit to come with her as well. Especially one that looks so much like her."

"We're sort of in shock."

I said, "That has been the general consensus it seems like. It's nice to see so many people who obviously cared about my sister."

Fili took a step forward and put a hand on my shoulder. "She was like family to us much before we knew about our uncle's feelings for her. If she is family, then so are you. Whatever you need from us to feel at home here, please let us know."

"Thank you so much." They did seem friendly enough, I looked forward to getting to know them more. "I did have a question that's actually of great importance."

Fili raised his blonde eyebrows in interest and took his hand back. "Of course, Genevive. What can we do?"

"Okay, two things. One, it really doesn't sound right when you say my full name. Please call me Gen," I smiled softly. "Two, I am in desperate need of a boiling hot bath to get cleaned up. How do I go about doing that and getting a new set of clothes?"

They exchanged a look and said in unison, "Mom."

Meeting Dis, Thorin's sister and Fili and Kili's mother turned into quite an intimidating experience. I had it in my head that she was going to be this jolly dwarvish woman that was going to be warm and inviting, but as soon as I was put in front of her I understood that she was certainly the sister of Thorin. Though she smiled at me, it was not akin to a summer day. It was more like a bonfire in the middle of a snow storm.

She reminded me of my mother.

Dis was basically a twin of Thorin, dark raven hair and piercing blue eyes. When Fili and Kili brought me up to her in one of the grand halls she was wearing furs and gold and adornments in her hair and beard. I felt dramatically underdressed in my casual and slightly dirty clothes. I could feel my face heating as Fili and Kili brought me up to her.

Kili said, "Ma! We need you for a moment!"

She looked around and then her gaze landed on us. She rolled up the scroll she was reading through and said, "My boys have graced me with their presence." Her eyes lowered to me. "And brought me a hobbit, how nice."

Fili said, "This is Lydia's sister-"

"I could have guessed." She smiled at me and shook my hand. "I'm Dis, though I'm sure you already knew that."

"I gathered, yes," I responded.

"How can I help you, Genevive? I assume my boys brought you here because you need some sort of assistance?"

"Fili and Kili said you could probably help me with acquiring some new clothes? I was planning on getting cleaned up a bit."

"Ah yes, I can see why they couldn't help you with that." She put an arm around my shoulder and then waved down one of the guards. "Please grab one of my old dresses out of my closet, the navy one I think. Bring it to my bath for Miss Genevive." She turned to me and asked. "It is Miss Genevive, correct?"

I hesitated for a moment and then just nodded. Explaining the 'missus' would have been too complicated at that moment.

She looked back to the guard and waved him away. "Well Miss Genevieve, that should work while we get some new clothing made for you and your sister."

"Thank you Dis, I greatly appreciate it."

"Of course, Miss." She directed her sharp eyes back to her sons. "Boys, show her to my bath and then leave the poor thing alone. I'm sure she'd appreciate some time by herself to adjust. This has been a huge change and the dear has had to spend the last few days around my brother almost exclusively. She needs a break."

I couldn't help but smirk, her and Thorin were certainly siblings, there was no doubt about that. "Thank you for the concern Dis, I would love some time to decompress a little bit but I promise by dinner I will be ready to have a drink or two."

"Now you're speaking our language," Fili chuckled. "I can show you off to the bath, wouldn't want you to get lost."

"If I get lost here you'd never find me again," I laughed, looking around the huge halls. "Show me the way, Fili."

I bowed to Dis and Kili with a kind smile before following Fili back into the maze of Erebor. I stared at the tall ceilings then would look down as we crossed over bridges. I couldn't see my awe of that place going away anytime soon.

He turned to me and asked, "Gen, what in the world happened back in Hobbiton that made you want to come all the way out here?"

"Oh you're a forward one." I crossed my arms and looked at the beading in his blonde braids. "What makes you think I didn't travel out here just to help take care of my sister? I could be that selfless, don't you think?"

"Well now I don't. Don't get me wrong, I believe you care about your sister, I'm sure you do a lot. But I think there was something in Hobbiton you were looking to leave behind. There's a difference between a couple miles and a couple thousand miles. Call me nosey."

"I will call you Nosey. Didn't your mother tell you I needed some time to settle in?"

"Did I overstep?" he teased.

"Perhaps, though it doesn't seem like that bothers you."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I have a lot of practice being annoying to hobbits. If you don't want to answer my question yet, that's totally fine but you'll have to admit it at some point. Curiosity never kills dwarves."

"Oh you're trouble, aren't you?" I accused, a wicked grin playing at the corners of my mouth. I was entertained by him, I couldn't deny that.

"Funny, Lydia said the same thing the first time we met. She came around to trust me too though."

"Well I've always been a better judge of character than she has, so we will see." That fact was not true but he didn't need to know that.

I was mostly messing with him, I was sure Fili and I were going to get along well but it was fun to spar with him a bit since he hadn't earned to get to know those personal things about me yet. I looked forward to sharing some drinks with him to see if that was a facade or if that was truly who he was as a person.

From what I had witnessed of the Durin Line so far, I thought I was going to enjoy my time in Erebor. They were certainly entertaining and were very welcoming to a stranger into their home, which I appreciated as a complete outsider. I just needed to get Lydia back and I didn't know what I could do to help her but I knew I was going to be by her side if there was anything I could do. I was kind of excited for my life there, but I knew it wasn't going to be complete or right if she wasn't there enjoying it with me.