Lady Red Cloak

Carrier Crows

The next morning

"This isn't a dwarrowdam's job" the man'a hand went to wrap under the corpse on my shoulder but I continued to walk a little faster than he'd expected. This wasn't a competiton, nor was it a show of strength - we were preparing for a burial if that was even possible with the amount of losses. Some volunteers from Dale had remained for the extra aid which I was ever grateful for even if their comments weren't so accepted

"It is now, so unless you wish to gawk from inside the gates instead of hauling the fallen out here – I'd suggest you don't let the king see you failing" the glance back at his comrades didn't go unnoticed as if what I said was so unbelievable, was it just dwarven women who stood up for themselves? If so, leaving the mountain for good seemed a dim lit idea...just as once before, I knew nothing of the world outside the mountain or within it

"They are right, you know" a fellow dwarrow with deep mousy hair appeared slightly behind me struggling with another body, the weight seemed to be a little much on his shoulders as he leant forward stumbling. His body trembled as it tried to match my unwavering pace across the battlefield towards the pile of abandoned husks souls once inhabited, something told me he should've stayed in the healer's care a little while longer

For awhile, I ignored him but he didn't seem quite like the normal volunteers - I could've sworn I'd seen him entering the war room with some other high standing members...such behaviour could result in punishment if I said nothing "I can carry a corpse just fine, although if you're struggling – I'm sure they'd allow you to continue your other duties" a small smirk played upon his lips, what was going through his mind?

"My brother seems to be very fond of you" my feet stopped in their tracks...now everything made sense. Come to think of it, he always entered the halls with Fili - this must've been 'Kili'? They only looked a little alike, with the same glint in their eye of playfulness resembling flint and stone when it first struck sparks  "He begs for the fair maiden's name" I'd forgotten our conversation was limited, but I owed him nothing except a tale

"Then your brother can heal and should the same request spill from his lips - I shall comply...maybe" the body flopped into the pile of corpses ready to be burned just as the other dwarf did. To think the amount of people who now were left without a brother, father, son or husband brought a great sense of darkness to my heart - very few prepared for their last goodbye which left many things unsaid and relentless regret to torture the mind

As I turned around, his eyes squinted slightly then Kili's gaze temporarily shifted back to Erebor  "If you don't mind me saying - you don't resemble other dwarrowdams" alarm bells rang through my head, no one in the blue mountains had ever figured it out...but our race were more compact now - it was like lining us up next to one another, all our differences on display. Truth be told, his feature's were smaller than other dwarves so 'genetics' could be used as a reason, it wasn't exactly false either

I forced my feet to keep moving through the battlefield as he hobbled behind me. No further words came to mind, was he calling me unattractive for a dwarf? Or that I simply seemed too different in structure to blend in...it was a foolish notion, but I wasn't ready to risk being ostracised by the only society I'd ever known - it had been a miracle to make it this far without being discovered "your brother will need his bandages changed before noon - there's also a maiden who is weak to Fili's charms...if he wants the tale - I'd suggest he makes well of himself"

And with that, my pure focus returned to assisting the other volunteers while turning a blind eye to the persistent messenger who refused to leave me alone for the rest of the evening. As far as I was concerend - when I wasn't his immediate carer, Fili was none of my concern, he was whomever was intrusted with his care and that had to be enough. The mountain still had many jobs that needed my attention...

And he wasn't one of them...