Renacida || Fili x MGIME OC ||

La Boda

"Lady Valeria, I found that scroll you required upon!" Balin said cheerfully, waving the ancient, dust-covered cylinder in one hand.

"Ooh, awesome, thank you." I took the cylinder and blew off a puff of dust. Fili, who was beside me reading a report, exaggeratedly coughed.

"What does the scroll contain?" Thorin asked.

We were all in one of the king's studies, partially doing important stuff, partially hanging out, and partially hiding from Dis. Although she was occupied with overseeing initial reconstruction efforts for the east wing, I swore that dwarf was everywhere all at once. If she caught me, she'd ask me at least fifty questions about wedding ceremony shit that I had little to no idea how to answer. It was approaching, and yes, I had memorized all the names of the noble families that would be in attendance, but no, I still hadn't memorized each of their namedays and every personal squabble they had with the Durins yet.

"An account of Moria in the olden days," I replied. "I was missing information on how the dwarves coped after Beleriand was destroyed in the First Age. It was a powerful kingdom, and back then the dwarves helped both men and elves to secure the land. Since I can't hit up Galadriel and ask for a first-hand account, I thought a scroll would probably do. Are there more like this one?"

"Aye, I can fetch you more once you are done."

I smiled at Balin. "Thank you."

"Moria was mighty," he said, wandering around to the other side of the table. "There were gems and ore aplenty—not to mention mithril!—and the mountain itself was vastly fortified from any outside enemies."

Balin knowingly winked at me. "And one day soon, we shall reclaim it."

Thorin and Dwalin nodded in sure agreement.

"Erebor returns to her glory," said Dwalin, "and she'll certainly be even more than her past. We shall have enough willing dwarves who cannot settle knowing that more of their sacred homeland is still occupied by filth."

I paused unscrewing the cylinder. A film of dust coated my fingertips.

"That's...your next quest?" I asked, keeping my gaze locked on the scroll.

"Yes," Thorin replied. "After the wedding ceremony—"

Kili made a correcting noise.

"—ceremonies, we will begin early preparations to assault Moria and reclaim it once and for all. And this time, we shall see it to victory."

Both sets of brothers softly cheered.

"It will be a new age for our kin," said Balin. "Dwalin and I will make sure of it. Once we've vanquished the horde, we can reopen the mines. Then we can begin reestablishing the old trade routes all the way through Lorien, Rohan, and—" he let out a jovial chuckle, "to the Sea of Rhûn itself, now that the dear Chief Amelie has an orderly rule over the Easterling tribes. She even said that more of the eastern kingdoms beyond her realm would like to trade. Now what do you think of that, lassie?"

"You..."

My throat went dry, and I finally caved into the grimace I held in since talk of Moria began.

"You have no idea what's in Moria, do you?"

I lifted my gaze to Thorin. He removed the pipe from his mouth.

"Durin's Bane," he levelly said back. "A nameless terror, some say. But it is a myth. We were driven out by the hordes of orcs and goblins."

With a slow shake of my head, I whispered, "No."

"Ye know something, eh?" Dwalin asked, eyes narrowing a fraction. "Spit it out, then. We dinnae have all the time in the world for your mystics and prophecies."