Chapter Nineteen

Nÿr stared at Dwalin, lying limp on the floor in the unused room in Erebor's infirmary. Her intended, Kili, held her back, having just disrupted the mithril spell known as the The Ward ofVustîn.

"Kili," she gasped. "His tumor!"

On the bare skin of Dwalin's abdomen, she could see a fading light, as if a glowing opal lay just under the skin, slowly extinguishing itself.

She broke free of Kili's arms.

"Nÿr," he cautioned, his voice rough.

She touched Dwalin's forehead, checked his pulse, and placed a hand on his chest to feel it rising and falling.

"He's breathing, good heartbeat…"

Then she checked the tumor…or the place where the tumor had been.

She looked up at Kili, eyes wide. "I think it worked…" she whispered.

He still looked distrustful of the whole process, but he gave her a quick nod. "Can we get him out of here?"

Ten minutes later they had Dwalin on a gurney, rolling him out of the maternity wing. Thank Mahal it was the wee hours of the morning and the passages were deserted.

"In here," Nÿr said, commandeering an alcove generally used for treating broken bones during the daytime hours. It had a curtain and she swooshed it closed for a bit of privacy. Quickly scanning the supply drawers, she opened one and pulled out a waxed paper packet, producing a skunk pod. With her other hand, she grabbed an empty vial.

"Hold your breath," she warned Kili. Then held it under Dwalin's nose and broke it open.

Predictably, he gasped and sat bolt upright.

"Mahal's axe," he sputtered, then said something in Khuzdul that must have been impolite. Kili's expression went blank as he rushed to support Dwalin with an arm around the old dwarf's back.

Nÿr slid the broken pod into the vial and capped it.

"Dwalin?" she was checking his pulse again. "Can you hear me?"

"Aye," he complained, shaking his head as if to clear cobwebs. "I can hear ye. I just can't get that stench out of my…"

"That stench woke you up," Kili said firmly. "Mahal, I thought we'd lost you."

Dwalin looked at his dark-haired cousin, then at Nÿr.

"Do you remember what happened?" Kili asked.

Dwalin stared at them. Slowly, his hand went to his side, his eyes wide at the realization that he could no longer feel the painful mass. It had vanished.

"How do you feel?" Nÿr asked, though she was not sure how she would answer that question herself.

Dwalin blinked. "Like I want to take my axe to a few goblin heads."

Kili raised his eyebrows, then looked at Nÿr, his expression rather sheepish.

Fili sat on one of the logs by his family's travel wagon, smoking his pipe and cleaning his spare boots when Nama approached, Beka just behind her.

Most of the camp was still asleep, and he recognized that Nama must have planned the visit for the quietest time of the morning.

Good lass, Fili thought, liking Nama more and more. She had a quiet way with Beka and the child was skittish.

Nama bowed formally to him. "Good morning, my Lord," she said. "Nama, at your service."

Fili set his boot and pipe aside, smiled, and stood, returning the bow.

"Fili, at yours and your family's."

Shyly, Beka stood next to Nama, not meeting his eyes. She sketched a quick bow of her own.

"Beka, at your service." She said it too quickly and too softly, but it would do.

"As I am at yours." He bowed, then waited a moment. The lassie fidgeted and glanced at Nama.

Fili decided to sit and make himself less threatening. "Have a seat. Sorry it's just a log." He shrugged.

"Thank you." Nama inclined her head. "A log will do." After taking a moment to settle with Beka beside her, she looked up at him. "My Lord, we have had trouble sleeping, and it comes down to a real question," she said.

Fili recognized that this was a prompt for Beka. "Shoot," he said. He waited.

"I want to ask," Beka said, looking at her hands. "Why you think I'm the person you're looking for. I mean, what…if I'm not? What if this is a mistake?"

Fili raised his eyebrows. "Well, first, there was a letter from the healer who attended your birth."

Beka nodded, but she was frowning. "Nama told me. But…" She looked at her boots, one toe rubbing the other. "How do you know it's me? I mean, almost no one knows my real name is Beka. My friends call me Keb. But that doesn't mean..." She shook her head.

Fili took a deep breath. He understood now. "Ah," he said. "Well. Your father is my cousin. Like me, he is of the line of Durin."

She looked up, almost making eye contact, and waited for more.

"There's something else special, Beka, about someone born with the blood of Durin in their veins." He stood. "I was about to go do this anyway…" he inclined his head, hand on heart. "I would be honored if you would join me?"

Beka looked at Nama, who smiled encouragingly. They stood.

Fili led the way through the woods toward a small clearing. As he went, he pulled his gauntlet from his belt and passed it to Beka.

"Put that on. It's a bit big, but you can tighten the straps."

She accepted it, but looked at it, brows drawn. "What's it for?"

"It'll protect your arm when I introduce you to one of my special friends." He looked up as he walked, scanning the overhead canopy of leaves for signs of Erebor ravens. Beka managed to slip the gauntlet over her forearm.

As they walked into the little clearing, Fili stopped, shading his eyes in the bright morning light. Nama helped the lass tighten up the leather straps.

"Stand here a moment," he said. Then walked a few feet away and held up his arm.

His invitation was answered by Huq. The large, jet black bird circled, then spread his wing feathers and swooped in for a landing, feet latching onto Fili's arm.

Beka stared with very wide eyes and bird ruffled his wings and settled.

"Well hello, friend," Fili said softly, hand on heart. "You're a long way from home."

Huq bowed and quorked loudly, pinning Fili with a beady eye. "King on road. Good. Gooood."

Fili smiled. "Thank you for your approval," he said.

Huq bowed again.

"I have someone for you to meet," Fili said. "She's never talked to a raven before, but I think she heard Kaia speaking once. Would you talk to her? The little one. Over there."

Fili watched as Huq eyed Beka, first with his left eye, then with his right. He quorked, then rattled.

Fili carried the large raven closer to Beka and Nama, stepping carefully.

"This is Huq," he said to them. "He's an Erebor raven. Chief of the Erebor Ravens, in fact. So we're quite honored to have his attention."

Huq crouched and ducked his head at Beka.

"Can you repeat what you told me?" He asked the raven.

Huq minced his feet. "King," he said loudly. "King on road. Good. Goooood."

Beka looked stunned, Nama perplexed.

"Beka just heard what he said," Fili looked at her. "But I think Nama did not."

The two lasses looked at each other.

"What did he say?" Nama asked Beka.

"King on road," Beka stammered. "Good."

Fili smiled. "Exactly. You're a Ravenspeaker, Beka. You can hear what he's saying…and he can hear you. Go ahead and introduce yourself."

She blinked. "Like…formal?"

"Just like you did with me this morning. Bow deeply, though—they're a bit sensitive to respect, especially Huq, here."

Huq stood tall now, imperious bird that he was, as if waiting for her compliance.

Fili grinned at him.

Beka nodded to herself, then took a half step forward. "Beka," she said to the Chief Raven, with a little more confidence than earlier. She bowed acceptably low, rose, and said. "At your service."

Fili smiled and looked at Huq.

"Daughter-hen Durin-child." The raven bowed in return.

Fili chuckled. "Very good," he said to Huq. "See," he said to Beka. "The ravens know. They have their own bird-logic though. Let's see if he'll give you a raven name."

Beka looked puzzled.

"Hold up your arm," Fili said quietly.

She did.

Fili brought Huq close enough to get the hint, and Huq made a short jump to the lassie's arm. The bird ducked his head and made rattling noises.

Fili barked a laugh. "He's an old flirt, I think."

Huq poked his beak at Fili's gauntlet on her arm, considered it, then looked back at Beka with a steady eye.

"Mountain Lassie. Come home now," he eyed her. "Mountain Lassie."

Fili smiled. "There it is. He's just named you! Congratulations."

"Mountain Lassie?" she looked at Huq. "But I've never even seen the Mountain."

"Home. Hoooome."

Fili shrugged at her. "He thinks you belong in Erebor."

Beka could only blink. Nama stared at the large bird, eyes wide.

"No worries. She's on her way, Huq." Fili said, then he changed the subject. "What's on the road this morning?"

Huq looked back at Fili. "Guards. On the road. In the woods. No men, no goblins, no orcs, no elves."

"Good bird," Fili said. "Those are my guards. Thank you."

"No men, no goblins, no orcs, no elves," the bird repeated. Then he looked ready to take flight, but looked confused.

"He's used to a boost," Fili said. "I'll do it." Huq looked at Beka, then puffed his chest feathers.

Fili held up his arm. "Here you go. No need to get fussy."

Huq's feathers went flat again and he jumped back, greeting Fili with a head-bob and a quick rub of his large beak on Fili's sleeve.

"Good flying, Huq," Fili said. "Come talk to Mountain Lassie any time you want. Are you ready?"

The raven crouched and pointed his beak up. Fili lowered his arm a bit, then flung the bird skyward.

Huq flapped, gained altitude, and shot away.

"That," he looked back at Beka, who stood wide-eyed, her arm still in raven position. "Is how I know who you are." He grinned widely. "Only someone with the blood of Durin in their veins can talk to a Raven."

Beka, unaccountably, was shaking, her eyes full of unshed tears.

Fili thought he understood. Awe, the shock of it, the affirmation that she was who he said…it had to be a lot to take in for a lass who'd spent months hiding her identity, her very gender.

And he was done with treading lightly around her. The child needed love, damn it. He scooped her into a hug and held tight. "Lassie, you're ours. The ravens prove it. You have a family, and we will always defend you and always love you…and we will listen to you when you tell us what you want to do. Do you hear me?"

Stiff at first, she finally melted into him and nodded, pent up tears releasing in sobs. Her arms, when they came around him, clutched hard, as if holding tight meant she couldn't lose him. Feeling a bit teary himself, he looked at Nama, who had covered her mouth with her hand.

"Just let it out, lass," he murmured to his young cousin. He rubbed her back and rocked her, just as he would one of his own children. She was entitled, he figured. Nama came closer, offering her support with a hand on Beka's arm.

"Tell you what," Fili said after a while, soothing her. "Come out with me every morning and I'll teach you all about ravenspeaking. Would you like that?"

She nodded, unable to speak though her tears.

Nama offered a hankie. Fili relaxed his embrace, pulling back to look at her and push the stray hair off her forehead.

"Did you mean it?" Beka asked him.

"All of it," he said. "But which part in particular?"

"Listening to what I want?" There. She finally looked him in the eye.

Fili cupped the girl's face and kissed her forehead very gently. "Always, love. So tell me what you want, young Mountain Lassie..."

She seemed to brace herself.

"I want an axe, and I want to learn to fight with it."

He grinned. "Axe, sword, staff, mace, bow…I expect you to try your hand at all of them," he said firmly. "And I am not surprised in the slightest. You are Dwalin's daughter, and he is the best axe warrior there ever was."

Two mornings later, Fili and his caravan were much closer to Erebor. He was up before sunrise and Beka was waiting for him, eager to practice ravenspeaking again. He'd seen to it that she'd been given a new gauntlet of her own, sized for a young lass, and she wore it with the first touch of real self-confidence he'd seen.

"Good morning, Mountain Lassie," Fili greeted her, hand on heart. He got a shy hand on heart and a smile in return. When he put his arm out, she came to him willingly. She even leaned into him a bit as they walked together.

"There's a good clearing on the river bank, just up there," he said. "You up for it?"

She nodded.

Good, he thought. His little plan for the morning might just work. He'd been up during the night, responding to a message from the nightwatch. Now, he was rather looking forward to the result.

Fili took her hand and led her down a narrow, overgrown path, the soft dirt of the trail turning to rocky gravel.

"Ravenspeakers are essential in Erebor," he told her as they went. "It's a big mountain. We rely on the ravens to fly reconnaissance and alert us to trouble." He explained the three tasks an apprentice Ravenspeaker must master and the tradition of the confirmation. "And since there aren't very many sons and daughters of Durin, there aren't many Ravenspeakers to share the duties. We'll need you in the rotation, if you're willing."

She nodded. "I can do that. How many others are there?"

"In Erebor? Ten. You make eleven."

"Are there any other lassies?"

"Iri, but she's too young to be Ravenspeaking. And just one other. Lady Nÿr is a distant cousin healer trainee. You'll meet her."

And then they came to a river bank in the early morning sun. Several ravens greeted them, circling and calling out.

And there, on a large, sunbleached fallen log, another warrior sat in the morning light with a raven on his arm, having a quiet conversation with the bird.

To Fili, Dwalin looked much as he always did, even if his illness had sapped his strength. In his fur-lined cloak and boots, he looked as imposing as ever, scarred, tattooed, and fierce.

The trick was for Fili to reveal him to Beka as the soft-hearted bear that he really was. First off, introductions would take place while Dwalin was sitting down, relaxed, with a raven as the go-between.

So Fili waved a friendly greeting as they approached. At the same time, he squeezed Beka's hand, reassuring her.

"Any word from Erebor this morning?" Fili called as they approached.

"Aye. They say no more thunder at the gate," Dwalin answered. Fili detected a bit of humor in his cousin's tone. That would help.

"I take it," Fili said as they walked up to him. "This means the snowmelt problem is about over?"

Dwalin nodded.

The raven on the warrior's arm quorked and bowed at Beka as they came close.

"Mountain Lassie. Durin-child," it announced.

"Who's this?" Fili asked, peering at the bird.

"Corax," Dwalin murmured, holding him up. "Fine young fellow, this one is. Have you met him yet?" He said gently to Beka, who stood very close to Fili. She shook her head.

"I see you have a gauntlet," Dwalin observed. He lifted his chin to indicate that she should raise her arm.

She did.

Corax hopped over, bowed, and rattled.

Fili smiled. "They do that with their young," he said to her. "He's honoring you as a newcomer to the flock."

"Thank you, Corax," she said.

Then Corax looked at her. "Mountain Lassie. Fledge." Then he took wing, leaping into the sky.

Beka looked at Fili for approval, and he smiled. "Good job," he said. Then he waited.

She looked at Dwalin now, and she stood very still. Fili could only wonder what the gruff old warrior looked like to the young lass.

"Are you Dwalin?" her voice was small, her eyes round.

"I am." He sat calmly, a gentle smile, a little proud. Eyes moist.

Fili put a careful arm around the lass, assuring her of his protection and support. "This is your father, Beka," he murmured. He took her hand and helped her reach across the space between them.

Dwalin offered his, palm open.

When Beka took it, Fili slowly stood back.

She didn't immediately fling herself into his arms, there were no sobs or declarations. But she did look at Dwalin as if she couldn't quite take in the sight of the fearsome dwarf warrior who was her father. Fili watched. There was apprehension on her face, but it was mixed with some hope and a little admiration.

Fili backed further away, hearing them exchange small talk. He was superfluous now, he knew.

And he was glad.

He spotted the tall, dark haired, grinning form of his brother nearby. They went to each other and embraced.

Mahal, he missed Kili. He had been so relieved to see him when he'd arrived in the middle of the night.

"Thanks for getting him here," he murmured. He knew full well that Dwalin couldn't have made it to their camp alone or even walked to the clearing by himself. And there was the other reason they had him sitting on that log.

"He's getting stronger every day," Kili said. "Nÿr says he'll be back to his usual grousy self in a few weeks."

"What I want to know is how she did it."

"Don't," Kili said, "Even ask me that for another month, at least."

Fili grinned at him. "Had an interesting time while I was away?"

Kili rolled his eyes.

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Thank you for reading! As always, drop a note and say hi-and if you're one of the readers who first saw this story when I wrote it back in 2014 (OMG!) welcome back to the re-posting. I can never re-read this chapter without getting a little teary-eyed. *sniff*. Hand on heart to you all...

- Summer