Chapter Two

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"So, I understand you made a new friend yesterday?"

Thorin grinned at his sister as Dís sank into a chair alongside him. "Ah, you mean Miss Heather?"

"I do. The ladies who saw you with her are still buzzing about how adorable you are holding a child. And I'm fairly certain maternal urges have been ignited."

He fought the urge to roll his eyes. "They may buzz as much as they wish, I have no desire to hold one of my own just yet."

Dís sighed softly, shaking her head. "You have to settle down sooner rather than later, you know."

"And I also need no nagging from my baby sister on the matter." He glanced down at the bread still on his plate. "I'm not going to finish this, would you like it?"

"Your leftovers? Thank you, but no, and don't try to change the subject."

"I'm not. But at the same time, you are Fíli and Kíli's mother, not mine." He wiped his mouth with his linen napkin and folded it to set across his plate. "I need no nagging, nor do I need prompting or reminding. I have my heir, thanks to the magic of elves and Narnerra's gifts, and there will be no queen of Erebor any time soon. As for the hopefuls, they are wasting their time. I have far too much to do now before I will even consider marrying."

"Thorin," Dís began softly, "may I be honest with you?"

"As opposed to lying to me?"

"Thorin?"

He sighed, bracing himself for what he was sure would be a laundry list of reasons as to why he should just suck it up and choose his bride and get on siring an heir who wasn't one of her sons. It was one of her favorite topics since Narnerra deemed him well enough to leave her infirmary, and one he'd long since grown tired of.

Still, he knew she wouldn't be dissuaded and so nodded, "Go on."

"I rather thought that what happened," a shadow fell over her Durin blue eyes, "that what you'd gone through, would have made you more open to the notion of taking a wife and starting a family of your own. And I don't mean to nag you, as you so succinctly phrase it, but I hate the thought of you being alone. You've been alone since Smaug—"

"I know how long it's been," he told her, rising from his chair and gathered up his dishes, "and to be honest with you, Dís, it really is none of your concern. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go find Balin, as we have an appointment with Bard in Dale and I just wish to get it over with and come back."

"Thorin—"

"Enough." He couldn't keep the irritation from his voice as he shook his head. "My love life, or lack thereof, is none of your concern and I'll kindly ask you to mind your own matters and leave me to mine."

He didn't wait for her response, nor did he feel the least bit guilty about the look of hurt that crept across her face. She meant well, but she overstepped on a regular basis and while most times he didn't mind, this was one subject he most definitely minded discussing.

Yes, he knew many of the dwarrowdams of Erebor harbored hopes of becoming queen, but he had no desire to make those hopes come to fruition. Not now, anyway. Erebor had come a long way since he'd first set foot in it not quite a year earlier, but there was still a long way to go and a lot of work that needed to be done.

He found Balin down in the gems room, where he was weighing out a pile of sparkling clear blue stones. "Are you just about ready to go?"

"A good morning to you as well, Thorin," Balin replied without looking up. "What happened, that you are in such a hurry to head out to Dale?"

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