TI- Imagine being Thranduil's young daughter and sneaking into...

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Imagine being Thranduil's young daughter and sneaking into his throne room to see a dwarf

You were ten years* old when you first saw a dwarf for the first time. You remembered your ada had been reading you a tale in his study when an elf barged in the room speaking in haste.

"My King, we have spotted a group of trespassers. Dwarves," he had said in a breathy voice. Your ears perked up at the word. You had never seen any dwarves. Of course, you would hear about them from your older brother sometimes, but you had never seen one. You had only painted a mental picture of what they might have looked like. You pictured short fat males with a scowl permanently etched on their faces.

"Dwarves?" your ada had asked in a voice that sounded as if he did not believe the elf. They began speaking words that you did not understand but you knew that at last, your father had believed him. The King called forth a maid and asked her to escort you to your room, but you did not want to go there. You wanted to see the group of dwarves.

The only possible way to see them was to sneak around. It was going to be impossible if the maid stayed with you at all times. By the time the maid brought you to your room and continued reading you the tale your father had begun, which was not as fun, you had forgotten all about the dwarves. It was not until the maid remembered to do something and walked out of the room, promising to return quickly, that you remembered your own plan. 

You were young then, but very wise for an elfling your age. You knew that when the maid came back and found you missing, she would not alert your ada. She would either be frightened of the consequences or scared to interrupt the King on such an important occurrence.

You walked as quickly and quietly as you could, hoping that no one would see you. If I were ada, where would I be, you thought. You walked toward your father's study. If he had made you leave, then just maybe he was there with the dwarves, but the study was not big enough to hold a group of short fat dwarves. Still, you hurried down the corridor to check if your father was there. Although if he was, you would not be able to sneak in there. Your father would certainly see the door open. At least you would be able to hear how they sounded. 

When you saw a male elf walking your way from a long distance ahead, you took a turn and waited until you heard him leave. You placed your ear on the door of your ada's study but heard no sound. Carefully, you opened the door to find it dark and empty.

You could not think of any other places until you were miraculously walking by your father's throne room and heard your father's voice telling whoever he was speaking to, that your ada offered his help. That's when you heard the second voice. A very throaty unamused voice, at that. You waited patiently to hear the responses of the other dwarves but they never came. You stealthily made your way down the steps and up some to get closer. Although you could walk, you crawled up the final steps.

You were baffled when your eyes fell on what you presumed was a dwarf. The dwarf was, in fact, short, taller than you but short nonetheless. He was not fat, but definitely not slimmer than your father. He was also...ugly, the word popped into your mind. You regretted the word instantly, but what you could not take back was that he very very hairy. 

You almost walked toward the dwarf to get a closer look until you remembered that you were not supposed to be there. Instead, you made your way toward the back of the steps leading to your ada's throne. You had no other way than to risk a few glances once in a while. You heard your ada give his word that he would release the dwarf and you smiled, you knew that your father never broke any promises that he made. When the dwarf replied that he did not trust your ada, you were entirely shocked. The dwarf's voice grew louder causing you to peek around the stairs once more. He looked at your father with a malice that made you cower with fear. You could not stand hearing him tell your ada such awful things, blaming your father for something bad that had happened to his kin.

Thorin was about to shout to the King to die in a fiery death, in his native tongue, when out from the back of the steps that led to Thranduil's throne stepped a small figure yelling 'ada.' The little critter ran to her father's side, all the while looking at Thorin as if the elfling was looking at an orc. Thranduil gave Thorin a warning look and stepped to grab your hand, placing himself protectively in front of you. Thorin's thought still lingered in his mind but he refused to speak it even if the elfling would not understand. It did not seem right to wish death upon the elfling's father in the presence of the child.

"Ada, what is he speaking of?" you asked him while peering at the scary dwarf from behind your father's back.

"You should not be here," he whispered calmly to you.

"Answer the elfling!" Thorin felt mad once more. A feeling of regret confused him when he noticed the elfling jump at the volume of his voice. Thranduil glared at Thorin, almost wanting to snarl. How dare he come into his Kingdom and raise his voice in front of his daughter. Thranduil placed you in front of him now and made you walk up the stairs to his throne, following you from behind. You heard him tell the dwarf that he had warned his grandfather of something, and that the dwarf was like his grandfather. When you sat on your ada's throne, the dwarf was being escorted by two guards.

"Do not let him frighten you, not all dwarves are like him," he said as he knelt in front of you, giving you a warm smile. However, Thranduil did not believe that. He stood and offered you his hand to take, leading you outside to supervise that everything was going accordingly for the feast later that day.

Throughout the day, your thoughts kept going back to the dwarves. Sure you had seen one, but you wanted to see the rest as well. You wanted to know if they were all similar looking or if they all looked entirely different. Were some less hairy? Tall like ada? By the time the Feast of Starlight was at full swing, everyone was distracted and having a good time that they did not pay any heed to you. It was the perfect time to sneak around again in search of the dwarves. This time you could only assume that they were being held in the dungeons. With most of the elves at the party, the chances of getting caught were slim.

Thorin was sitting on the floor, one leg lying flat and the other bent. His arm rested on his bent knee and his head was placed against the cold stone wall, eyes closed. One of his eyes opened instinctively when he heard a noise. It better not be another guard, he thought bitterly. When he realized the person was too small to be a grown elf, he opened both eyes. 

"Hey," he heard himself say before he could stop himself. 

You had not noticed that the cell was occupied, not least by the scary dwarf. You jumped at the sound of his gruff voice, staring up at him with wide eyes when he made his way to the front of the gate, clutching onto the cell bars. 

"You should not be here," he said, making you feel bad for doing something your ada would not approve of. You were going to reply to him until the dwarf interrupted by mumbling something you could not hear. He looked embarrassed.

"Pardon?" you asked in your squeaky voice. The dwarf stared at you, contemplating whether to repeat himself or not.

"I said I apologize—for scaring you earlier," he said, looking away. Your lips lifted on their corners. Everyone deserved a second chance, so you accepted his apology.

"What is your name?" you asked the dwarf, moving closer to the cell door and sitting with crossed legs on the floor. You placed your elbows on your legs and rested your head on the palms of your hands, peering up at the dwarf with a smile. The Dwarf looked at you from where he was standing and sat down on the other side.

"Thorin," he answered. You would not learn until years later that dwarves were not keen on sharing their names with others, but the dwarf had entrusted you with his then so you entrusted him with yours. 

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*Ten years in elven age 

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