The Gathering Storm. The Hobbit fanfic. A Thorin Oakenshield love story.

Chapter 3: The Failed Distraction.

The photo is for Taryn's immortal horse Luna. Although she would be much whiter and prettier.

Same day as chapter 2, just around afternoon time.

Thorin's POV:

Thorin spent the rest of the day doing his Prince duties, as his grandfather would call it. Sitting in meetings with his father and grandfather, having more of his lessons/tutoring since he was still a young dwarf, visiting his dwarf subjects, and other boring stuff. But the whole day he could not constraint on anything. The only thing he could think of was Taryn. She was stuck in his head and wanted to know what she said to him.

He would ask her, but all day he was either busy or could not find her. The only fun part of the day was when he practiced sparring with his best friend/distant cousin Dwalin. But even then he was not paying much attention and Dwalin noticed it. Especially since Dwalin kept on winning all of their matches.

"What is wrong with you today?" Finally Dwalin spoke up to Thorin. For he never acted like this.

"It is that Elf princess visiting with her father King Thranduil. I can't seem to get her out of my head," Thorin said to him with a loud sigh.

Dwalin raised one eyebrow in a suspicious way, "really? An Elf maiden. Please do not tell me you are falling for an Elf?" He asked curiously, hoping the answer was no.

Thorin made a face at him and huffed, "what? No, no way. It's just that she said something to me in Sindarin earlier and I don't know what she said."

'For all He knew it could have been some kind of insult.' Thorin thought to himself.

But Dwalin gave him another look. This one like he was saying 'I don't believe you.'

"What!" Thorin almost yelled out at his friend.

"I don't believe you. Your lips say one thing, but the looks on your face say another." Dwalin said and it shocked Thorin.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thranduil's POV:

Thranduil had spent the whole day with his daughter in an attempt to distract her from seeing Thorin or wanting to spend time with him. He could see the way his daughter acted around the young Dwarf Prince and he did not like it. He had heard what she had told Thorin and he was not pleased. And he was not going to let her get away with it, even if Thorin couldn't understand what she said.

They were currently riding their horses (well for Thranduil his elk) outside of the mountain. He knew his daughter would enjoy this, because they no long could go for rides in their own kingdom. Sure they would ride to other places, but they never rode anymore just for fun. It was too dangerous with Greenwood now almost completely over taken by darkness and a shadow presence. So much so that no one called it Greenwood anymore, it was now Mirkwood. And the orcs were only part of their problem. It was the giant spiders that made it too dangerous to ride their horses or elks for fun.

Thranduil looked over at his daughter as she rode her pure white horse named Luna. Taryn was smiling and laughing as she looked over at her ada. Thranduil liked seeing his daughter happy, but he did not want to see her happy with an Dwarf. Besides he was way too young for her. Plus due to Taryn being immortal and Thorin being a mortal, it would only be tragic and cause heartbreak because he would die one day from old age and she wouldn't. She needed to marry a noble male Elf closer to her own age. But Thranduil knew that he could not force his daughter to marry. For Elves only married once, and out of free will and only for love.

"Ada race you to those trees," Taryn called out to her father as she gestured to a group of trees near the edge of the clearing. They were riding as far as they could without getting near the Elven Gate to Mirkwood.