There and Back Again

Chapter Seven: On My Way

"My bum is sore," Samara whined when they had stopped for the night, it had been another long day's ride and the twins were exhausted; this was nothing like the camping trips that they had taken with their Uncle Percy. 

They had always looked forward to the days where they would spend the summer with their uncle and his friends, Percy had wanted them to experience what he and Thalia had not and give her a break. 

Thalia smiled gently brushing her fingers through Samara's hair, she would make sure tomorrow that she would tie it out of her face so that it would not be too much trouble in the wind. 

Things had been rather quiet since the trip had started and Thalia doubted that would last long, she lay awake some nights thinking about the orcs that could be around them. 

"Mama. Mister Dwarf says he knows my papa," Theo called making Samara look towards her brother with big eyes, she hurried away from her to see what was being said about her father. 

Thalia sighed, the twins were getting curious and she could see that Gloin looked rather apologetic for bringing this up; she slowly made her way over to them knowing that she could not keep things quiet forever. 

It was still a strange subject for Thalia and she was not entirely sure how to talk to the twins about Thorin; she still loved him even after all these years and she had no idea what would await them in the Lonely Mountain. 

"I'm sorry lass..." Gloin said shaking his head, he had not thought that his comment would attract that much attention and he had not even realised the young lad had been behind him. 

He had been speaking with one of their travel companions about the fact that they had not received any ravens from the mountain since they had left Rivendell and he was worried that something might have happened. 

Thalia shook her head and offered him a reassuring smile, the twins only knew the basics and she was sure that the idea of a father was rather exciting to them right now plus she would need to have this talk soon anyway. 

"How do you know papa?" Samara demanded staring up at Gloin, her hands resting on her hips and waited for the dwarf to answer; she did not know much about her father, other than his name and she wanted to know more. 

Theo nodded his head in agreement with his older twin sister, his blue eyes firmly on the dwarf that could answer all of his questions about him.

"I am a close friend and kin to him... we even made a rather unexpected journey together," Gloin replied carefully, he smiled a little at the end thinking about the journey that had brought them home; he peeked at Thalia knowing that he did not wish to upset her in anyway. 

This entire situation was a mess, something that could have been easily avoided if she had not so easily believed the lie that she had been told by Gandalf. 

Thalia had been greatly missed since she had left and Gloin knew that Thalia would be warmly welcomed back; they had all wondered for years what had become of her after she had disappeared. 

Gandalf had utterly refused to even consider bringing her back and Thorin had never forgiven him for that; something that he would not do when he learned that Thalia had been pregnant with twins when she had left. 

There would be no gaining back the six years for Thalia and the twins that Thorin had missed, he had missed out on important moments because of Gandalf's meddling. 

"I am sure they would like to hear the tale Gloin," Thalia encouraged him, she did not have the heart to tell such a tale and she knew that he would understand that she would want certain details left out.