Eclipse of Hearts ✔

14. Possibilities [Alyssae]

"So Azog has a son," Alyssae mumbled, abhorred wondering  who would want to breed with such a disgusting creature. She put away her dagger. Maybe it had been unwise to challenge a Nirgoonva, but Eldinòr did not seem a vengeful type and she doubted he had really felt driven up the wall. 

"That's how it seems."

Alyssae looked thoughtfully at him. Many things seemed to be wrong with this elf. 
"How did you know I was here?"

He started to laugh. "That we don't feel connected with a kingdom, doesn't mean that we don't know what's going on in the world. You have been vanished, princess. Don't you think they asked us to keep an eye on things? You have done some incredible things and the dead of Smaug wasn't shoved under the rug. It's quite remarkable when an elf woman travels around with thirteen dwarfs."

His green eyes sparkled with every word he said and Alyssae noticed she liked to look at them. Those eyes that had seen so much of the world. That every day met the adventures she was missing so much. 

"Have you ever met Thorin?" Alyssae wanted to know. 

To her disappointment the man shook his head. "Unfortunately I have not, although that day will come now Erebor is flourishing again."

Alyssae couldn't help that she tried to sue the battle with the orcs as an excuse for not having received a message from him. Obviously he had been busy with other matters, but it didn't take very long to write down some hasty sentences. 

"I have sent him a letter," she admitted. "Months ago. You think the orcs might have intercepted it?"

"If that was true, they wouldn't have marched to Erebor."

Alyssae kept silent and stared the other way. Should she send the orcs a message that she was here? She would endanger the community and she was probably too late anyway. Azog had sworn to eliminate the line of Durin and his son probably took over this promise with pleasure. She thought about the child in her womb, that also belonged to that line now.

"So he does not know about your pregnancy?" Eldinòr asked with a smile around his lips that was a little too bold. 

"I have sent him a message, soon after my return. Apparently he doesn't care much."

Eldinòr stretched out his hand and touched her cheek. Alyssae was so stunned she didn't even bat away his arm. "I can't imagine someone will ever forget you, princess."

Alyssae looked uneasy at him, not knowing what to answer. "In case you meet him during one of your journeys; please tell him," she mumbled. "About the child."

Eldinòr kept looking at her so intensely that his glance reminded her of Thorin. "Why don't you come with me, after the confinement?"

"A ship is no place for a baby," she protested. 

He took his hand off her face. "Neither is this a place for a baby. Not without his father."

"Why would you help us?" Alyssae asked hesitating. 

He laughed. "I think you'll pay me well. See, I don't always have to accomplish sanctimonious tasks. Now and then I do something good for the people I know."

A careful smile appeared around Alyssae's lips. The first since a long, long time. Still the doubts kept gnawing. What if Thorin had read the letter, but did no longer care? What if he would smash the door in her face? She remembered the cold look in his eyes, when he raised his sword to cut her in two. It was a memory she wanted to hide away, but nobody could deny it had happened. She could better not be that naive to think he would still receive her with open arms after a year, not even when she showed him his son or daughter. Maybe he found it a monster. Maybe he had already found someone else who made him happy, for Alyssae knew for sure she wasn't the only one who longed for his touch.