A War Not Yet Won {Thorin Oakenshield Sequel to My Heart My Mountain My King}

Chapter 11 - A Word With The Wizard

"This is preposterous!" Thorin shouted.

"Thorin, will you please just calm down for a moment and be rational?" I quelled.

It was nighttime after our 3 month anniversary party, which wasn't much of a celebration anymore since most people were quite gloomy.

"Calm down?" he asked sarcastically. "Calm down?! What do you expect from me?"

"I expect you to be patient and listen to me."

He threw up his hands. "Fine." He sat down on the bed. "Fine."

"There aren't any more female Nymphs. I am the last one. Does that mean anything to you?"

"You mean something to me."

I shook my head. "Are you really so selfish as to let an entire species die?"

Taken aback, he furrowed his brows and stood up. "Are you so selfish as to pass over the fact that we're married and you want to have children with another man? Especially one that you're not married to?"

"It's not really a matter of being selfish. It's a matter of my entire species. I just want a part of my heritage to live on. Is that such a terrible thing?"

"See it how you wish."

He got up and walked behind me to take his celebration clothes off.

I left our bedroom and wandered the halls in hopes of finding Gandalf. Sure enough, I found him in the library reading some large book that I would never have the patience to sit through.

"Gandalf," I said to him. He looked up from his charge.

"Yes, Jaedda? What is it?"

"I have a problem."

He rolled his eyes. "Everybody has some sort of problem now a days."

"As you know, there were 3 nymphs that survived. My brother and fiancé being two of them."

He raised an eyebrow. "Your fiancé?"

"That's the problem."

"I can see why. What does Thorin think of all this?"

"He's being such a dwarf! I don't know what he wants me to do! I don't know what I want to do. I just..." I sat down and put my head in my hands. "I just don't know."

Gandalf rested a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, my dear. Everything will play out. Thorin will support you no matter what path you choose to take."

I looked up. "And what if he doesn't?"

"Then that would not make him a good husband. Which meant that you should not have married him."

I furrowed my brows. What would my life had been like if I hadn't married Thorin? Better? Worse? Less confusing?

"What should I do, Gandalf?"

"Do what your heart desires."

"My heart."

Either I follow my heart, or have my mountain and my king be ripped away from me.

"I understand why he is being angry," I said. "But I love him. And he loves me. I want to talk this through with him. Rationally."

Gandalf nodded. "I believe that would be wise," he said.

I nodded back. "Thank you, Gandalf."

"It is no problem, my friend," he returned. I smiled and left.

I ran into Kester on my way back.

"Kester," I said to him. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do."

"Teodric is a bit torn up himself," Kester admitted. "We just got out of a traumatizing situation only to be put in another."

I bowed my head. "I apologize. I must take some time to discuss this with my husband."

He nodded. "I actually wanted to come tell you something that I had heard rumor about."

I cocked my head, interested. "What might that be?"

"Remember the history lesson we learned about when Nymphs used to live with the River Folk?"

I nodded. "And what of it?"

"Remember that man, Smeagol? Who murdered his own friend?"

I nodded again. "They kicked him out of the villages. I'm sure he's been dead for hundreds of years."

Kester shook his head. "I hear that he's living in the Misty Mountains, in cave filled with bats and fish."

I wrinkled my nose. None of our people would ever want to live in things as damp and lonely as caves.

"What caused him to kill his friend, anyhow?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I can't quite remember. They were fighting about something, a gold coin, or a ring, or something."

A ring.

"A ring?" I asked. "What sort of ring?"

"I don't know!" he exclaimed. "I could barely remember the fact that they were fighting over a ring. But what made this ring so special? Was it really that precious?"

"I guess..." I raised an eyebrow. "Why did you tell me, anyway?"

His face lit up. "Because I hope so see to see him! I have been locked up for these past few decades and want to go on a journey. I want to know what Smeagol looks like after hundreds of years."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, we'll be going on an adventure really soon," I said as I patted his shoulder. I walked on to my room and spoke under my breath. "In fact, it has already begun."