"He's no good to ya dead, Thorin." Dwalin interrupted him in Khuzdul, placing a firm hand on Thorins shoulder. "And ye've beaten him to a pulp. His face is swollen - the bastard cannae even see ye, let alone speak now."
"The filth tried to rape her." Thorin barked back in Khuzdul. "He's not so bold now is he?"
Thorin, now stripped down to his tunic, stained with blood from his prisoner, and soaked with sweat, frowned at the man who lay hopelessly beaten and ready for death on the ground at his feet. He had initially put up a valiant effort, and Thorin, had given this man who had attempted the abduction and rape of his wife the chance to even fight back. Of course it would have been little consequence since he would have never been able to escape regardless, but taking a few heavy blows as self-punishment, had made Thorin feel better about leaving his consort so exposed.
"Aye, Thorin, but she was not touched. And she is much more capable of defending herself than we all give her credit for." Dwalin replied calmly attempting to reason with his friend. "In any case, he knows valuable information - which we must learn. Unless we do the attempts on the Princess will keep occurring - even if we kill this useless bastard."
Try as he might, he simply couldn't feel even the slightest pity for this pathetic creature who had taken it upon himself to not only try to abduct a woman, smaller than he, and one bearing no weapons.
"Pick him up onto his feet." He commanded the guards that stood nearby who complied out of fear for having never seen their king in such a state.
"Thorin, please, trust me." Dwalin repeated, pleading this time. "The lass is dear to me too. And I would rather just rid this retch of his miserable life. But he knows who paid him. And until he speaks ye must keep him alive..."
Thorin paused looking at his own knuckles which were bruised and swollen from how hard he had hit the man. Then he looked at Dwalin, still unable to see through his own anger to make sense of anything.
Finally after a long pause he took a step back from the man who was being held up by the guards like a scarecrow.
"Have a healer tend to his wounds," Thorin commanded his guards. "Once he is fully healed we will do this all over again...and again...and again until he speaks. Those who paid him a pittance to do their foul bidding will not suffer until he is ready to reveal all..."
The man who had collapsed on the ground looked up at him in desperation, but he had been beated to a pulp. It would take a few days at least before he could even speak properly now.
...
"How is she? What does Master Oin think?" Dis rested a hand on Thorins shoulder as she set a small plate on a side table. "You cannot carry on this way, doing everything. Let us take on some of your burden brother."
"I am fine. How are the boys and Saraeya?"
"All fast asleep. Lola and Fili are with them and there are double the guards in the corridor."
"The guard who accompanied her was badly injured too. He was well enough to tell us all that happened, but I think he only hung on for fear of leaving her unprotected. Oin believed he had been set upon by two men with two different weapons." Thorin explained. "But as for Shobha, she has lost a lot of blood. And it has only been just over a year since she gave birth to the babe. She lost much blood then too."
"She is still not conscious then?" Dis whispered attempting to hide her anxiety.
"At least her fever has broken now, perhaps that is a sign that she is fighting to return back to us." He looked down at his hands, which were bandaged over his bruised knuckles from where he had taken to punching her attackers with wild abandon.
"When were your bandages changed?"
"Not long ago, when Oin checked on her." Thorin looked over to her again.
She lay in a cot that had been placed in a separate part of the infirmary, screened and set aside from all the other patients under heavy guard.
While it may have looked as though she slept peacefully at first, her usually warm brown skin looked ashen and pale, and her breathing was shallow.
She looked so fragile and vulnerable as she lay there.
Dis silently slipped out, unable to bear seeing both her brother so broken, or the woman she had slowly grown begrudgingly fond of so unwell.
Realising he was alone once more, he learnt forward and stroked her face again.
"Come back to me, my love," he whispered. "I need you to come back to me, so that you might forgive me for how I have behaved. But I cannot live without you..."
He reached down then and took her hand, it felt so small and cold in his large hand.
"Do you hear me woman?" He whispered in her ear. "I know you are stubborn and determined. So I need you to fight. I need you, Shobha. Our babes need you, my wife. So fight with all you have..."
He brushed her cheek with a finger gently before leaning over to kiss her lips.
"Fight for me, fight for us - your family... And come back to me my love..."
...
She stood in a large corridor made entirely of white marble. It shone brightly although she couldn't see where the source of light was. Frankly, everything shone!
Standing still and holding her breath she strained her ears, certain she could hear Thorin. But the sound was so faint and distant it could have just as well been all in her head!
She listened again, and then ran down the corridor attempting to follow the sound.
But the corridor seemed to lead nowhere, it was endless. As she went further on a faint mist began gathering. It was as though there were small clouds hanging about. Unsure where she was, she carried on.
She must have carried on like this for what felt like hours, and then she saw the large set of double-doors also made of the same white marble ahead. They were huge doors as tall as the hallway but had no handle or knocker.
They would have been doors fit for some grand palace, but bore no carvings or ornate designs on their facade. Nonetheless, there was something divinely grand about them.
Slowly reaching up she ran her hand over the cool surface, which was polished so finely that it almost glittered!
Expecting them to be heavy, she pushed at them, leaning all her weight into it.
But the doors gave little resistance, gliding open as if they were made of feathers and not heavy marble.
She lost her footing, only just managing to keep herself from falling fully flat on her face.
Quickly straightening herself up, she looked around to find herself alone in a large rotund hall. Again with exception of the centre, the peripheries were surrounded by a strange cloud-like pale fog.
Slowly she turned on the spot taking in her light surroundings, with the large doors behind her.
The giant doors were shut again and as she carried on turning on the spot, she finally spotted what looked like a large stone throne far ahead of her. It was made of the same white marble, and despite being simple, it was clearly quite impressive.
"Finally you have made your way here." A deep voice came from somewhere in the fog off to one side. "Usually you are much less cautious, are you not?"
She looked around trying to locate where the voice came from.
"My children? Are they okay?" She asked realising the last memory she possessed was of being set upon by three men.
"You are indeed very reckless aren't you?" Suddenly a tall figure appeared from the mist to her far left and casually approached the throne. His silver hair fell in waves around his shoulders and he wore an armoured vest crafted of gold feathers that appeared to make up some sort of albourate chain-mail.
She blinked, her head still feeling rather fuzzy and spaced out. And slowly as he ascended the steps and sat on the throne lazily, his strange hawk-like brown eyes inspected her with part irritation and part amusement.
"Am I dead?" She asked again feeling a little more panicked. "Are my children safe?"
"Yes. Your children are safe." He replied calmly still watching her carefully. "But you are increasingly becoming a liability."
He sighed, his chiselled features revealing clear irritation.
She took a step closer, noticing the winged crown he wore on his head, and finally realising this was Manwe.
"Am I dead?"
"No." He confirmed smugly. "Let's just say... you are now in my debt."
"Oh. I see."
"But you are more reckless than we care for." He explained again calmly. "Particularly since your part in this story is not yet done."
"My part?"
"You are not so sharp today, are you." He stood from his throne and slowly made his way down to inspect her better as if she was something foul a stray dog had dragged in. "I imagine you were expecting my brother?"
She rubbed her head, finding a spot where it was sore. Perhaps she hit her head?
"Your brother...?"
"Yes well, you have made a mess of that too apparently..." He walked closer to her and looked down at her with narrowed eyes. "It appears he has grown some affection for you, and it is becoming clear to us that you are a most confused and frivolous child..."
"I...am..."
"He can see that all this is causing you considerable distress with regards to your marriage."
The King of the Valar was a behemouth compared to any of the other Valar she had ever come across. But it was hard to say how much of this was real or how much was a just a vivid hallunication, given that it often happened when she was unwell or injured or near death.
"You do realise that I am the greatest of the Ainur?" He uttered with disdain. "I know precisely what you are thinking: Your problem is your lack of faith."
"Of course; because my faith has led me to having a baby with a God who I have probably imagined in my head -"
"I know you do not believe that." He snapped back. "I have instructed that my brother is no longer to have contact with you regularly. I will check in on you. And should there be any need to intervene, then I shall do so in his stead. The distance will allow you both to focus on what is the right path for you both. I warned him that to have a mortal woman bear his child would come to no good, but he clearly had an early affinity for you even then..."
Suddenly her heart felt heavy with despair at the thought of not meeting Ulmo.
"My brother would like to offer that you may use his shore to your heart's desire when you dream. And he is not happy that you may lack counsel should you need it. For that reason, I will make myself available should you ever require urgent counsel." Manwe moved closer, watching her carefully, but this time his irate expression was replaced by a softer look. "I realise you shall miss his patience and sympathetic ear. But you will forget him in time. You mortals are fickle like that. And when my brother sees that you have returned fully to your marriage to the dwarven king, he too will be more prepared to let you go."
"How are you so certain I will forget?"
"Because you will be a good girl, put the past behind you and move on." He appeared to change his tone suddenly, attempting to sound familiar, as though they had known each other forever. "Oh come on! You didn't think you were special did you...? My brother is one of the few Ainur with no companion. Forever guiding and watching over Arda can be lonely work. You have not been the first little obsession he developed..."
"What?!" She gaffawed at what he believed was an attempt to put her off.
"Oh my dear, he wanted you from the moment he rescued you from that lake..." Manwe attempted to sound as though he were letting her in on a little secret. "Its just that you are the first to challenge him!"
He laughed watching her face attempt to hide her disgust.
"I know he regrets not being able to bed you. I mean truly bed you before you were married off to that brute of a husband of yours." He circled her smugly again watching her reactions closely. "Sadly, Mahal made you his One..."
She swallowed as she felt tears welling up in her eyes. All these months when Thorin had remained cold towards her, it was only the gentle kindness of Ulmo that had kept her strong. And now this felt as though the last of her hope was being ripped away from her.
"You must understand this is the best thing for you. You both have important roles to play in the fate of Arda, and even the Grey Pilgrim cannot control you." He genuinely appeared to feel sorry for her in that moment. "We cannot have either behaving neglectfully. Your children are crucial to the future of Arda also, and without you they will be vulnerable."
She looked away quickly as she wiped a few tears that had escaped. Yet again she was just as surprised at how much sadness had crept into her heart at the thought of never seeing Ulmo again.
Perhaps he meant more to her than she herself knew.
And perhaps she wasn't imagining all this after all.
"So what happens now?"
"Now you bear the protection of both the Vala of the waters and the King of the Valar." He boomed with the flourish of a hand. "So you return to life, to steer your path back to its rightful course, and all will be well..."
"So will I never see Ulmo again?" She asked struggling to gulp down the lump in her throat.
But the giant Vala chose to ignore her request, turning back towards his brilliant, marble throne.
"Focus yourself, for you and your young are in danger." He warned again barely looking back at her.
"But..." She pleased worried now about his warning. "I need more than that... What do you mean? What should I do..?"
She couldn't help but think that Ulmo would have much more of a warning than this! Perhaps if she could speak with him all this could be cleared up...?
"What do I do? How do you get hold of you-"
"Go, now, girl." He dismissed her again as he sat down heavily on his throne, as though he had just dealt with a terrible taxing task. "Heed my warning -"
"But -" she couldn't get any further words out as everything around her began to spin out of control...
...
Thorin woke with a jolt in his chair from where he sat beside the cot she lay in.
She lay there as still and pale as before. It was like a sleeping death.
"Laddie, you are still here," Oin spoke gently as he entered the screened area.
"She will need time to recover lad."
"Is there nothing more we can do?" Thorin asked attempting to tone down the agitation in his voice.
Oin walked over to her at first ignoring Thorin, and checked her pulse before gently placing his hand on her forehead.
"Well?" Thorin sat up in his chair.
"Now, I have told you already laddie; Even the healers from Greenwood have been to check on her. She needs time now." Oin spoke softly at first only to end with a stern warning. "And I will have the Queen's Guard remove you from my infirmary if you get worked up and start getting in the way of our work. Remember Thorin, the lass is our priority."
Thorin, who was on the edge of his seat, bubbling with rage and ready to fly into a temper, sat back down following the healers warning.
"Make yourself useful instead and help me check her dressings." Oin gently urged.
Together they gently moved down her blankets and lifted up her shift to check the bandages.
Thorin watched the healer anxiously. It was clear something was not right, from the way in which Oin moved, although he moved about calmly.
"What is it?" Thorin frowned. "Oin?"
"Hold up that light will ya..." Oin gently moved her to the side a bit more to expose her back on the side closest to him. "By Mahals very anvil..."
"What is it?" Thorin growled impatiently leaning over to take a better look himself.
There on her mid back were markings, large enough to occupy, what he imagined was almost all the left side of her back. Quickly he moved to stand beside Oin and gently lifted her tunic further, covering her with the blanket so that she wasn't completely exposed.
Her soft brown skin was covered right up to her shoulder, on one side, opposite the conch shell, in markings of gold feathers. The markings were so vivid and clear that it looked as though her smooth skin was indeed partly covered in real feathers, as though a single wing had grown on her back.
"What is this?" Thorin asked running his hand over the markings. "She bore no other inkings but the mark of Ulmo before."
"Aye well it seems she has now bears another mark of the Valar..."
…..
Dear All
thank you for patiently following 👍❤️
hope you enjoy this chapter too - a shorter one this time.
huge thank you to RORO1024C - just when i thought no one was really following, your review really help kickstart my writing again ❤️
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