Daughter of a King

Chapter 2: The Years a Princess

(Arulla's P.O.V)

I grew up quite fast, faster than most dwarves. For example, when a dwarf reaches the age of 5 and 6, they are not ones to be as active as a young tween. No, not me, by the age of 5 1/2 I could run, jump, climb trees, and jump down without hurting myself. Even thought my father highly rebelled against it. He was always so careful and overprotective of me, but that's how fathers are. Anyway, by age 14, I had mastered the way of the sword. Most of the time, I almost caught my father on the ground, but he always found a way to beat me. By age 16, I could hit any moving target with every arrow I shot. Every target was struck right in the middle.

My father was always very proud of my improvements as a warrior and my battle strategies as well. You see, even at my very young age, I could create battle strategies that no one had ever heard of but they made complete sense. After awhile, my mother, and grandfather became very proud of my rapid increase in progress. My great-grandfather Thrór however, never showed his face to me. The only time I ever saw him was in the throne room where I always saw him converse with my father, grandfather, or even visitors. I am usually in the throne room with them, but I stay close to my mother and keep her close to me.

Every month we are visited by the ElvenKing Thranduil of the GreenWood. As the tall man walks across the path leading to the throne, I start to whimper. Being that of nearly 20 years old (12 years roughly in human years), I find elves terrifying by their enormous height. I huddle closely to my mother and hid my face in her dress. My father glances over to see if I was all right. Before I knew it, my father had grabbed my hand and quickly started to soothe me.

As the ElvenKing walks closer and stops just a few feet in front of me, I slowly look up, only to see him staring at me. I quickly hide behind my father's tunic.

"My my my, your daughter surely gets more beautiful every time I come here, Prince Thorin. And yet, she is still a little shy." Thranduil chuckled and reaches out to stroke my face.

My father clutched my hand and pushes me behind him. His eyes, glaring at Thranduil. Thranduil's hand retreats back to his side and nods to my father in respect.

After the very brief meeting, Thranduil began to storm out. I huddled closer to my father, scared that someone was going to take me away. I tightened my grip on his hand and he leaned down next to me and took me in his arms and embraced me. When he looked up, he saw Thranduil looking at me with an evil glare. Then Thranduil turned his gaze towards my father and he smiled a cold and evil smile and slammed the room door with a loud bang. My father's anger grew furious, and he wrapped his arms around me tighter. He was almost ready to storm after the king, but I would not let go of his tunic and kept begging him not to leave me

Since I was too tired to walk, my father decided to carry me to my chambers, my mother at his side. he had a slight grin on his face as I slowly brought my fingers up to his braided beard tugging on it gently.

"Adad?" He grunted in response, "Why did the ElvenKing get mad? Did we do something wrong?" His smile turned into a frown, "No Arulla, it's not your fault. You did nothing wrong."

I smiled and rested my head into the crook of his neck and he continued to walk.

He kissed my mother goodnight and told her, "I will be there in a moment."

She nodded and smiled at the small child still cradled in her husbands arm. Leaning down carefully and slowly she placed a soft kiss onto my sleeping forehead. My father carried me into my bedroom and laid my gently on the cott. He quickly untied my shoes, unlaced my corset, and slipped off my dress, until only the undergarments showed. He then carefully untucked the blankets, and slid my legs under them. He ruffled my hair and kissed me goodnight, and left. I was asleep before the door latched shut.

The next morning, I called my servant and most trusted friend to come and help me get ready for the day. Today I turn 20, and my father has organized a ball to celebrate this occasion. So, for this special occasion, I want to look my very best for my parents.

"Nylera!" I shouted.

Nylera ran through the door, "My lady. Please forgive my late tendencies I-"

"Please Nylera, you are my servant, but you are also my best friend. No need for apologies, but we must hurry, the ball starts in three hours."

Nylera nodded with a giggle and she quickly went to work on my dress. It was an aquamarine blue with a white under-dress and blue laces. On the shoulders of the sleeves were two stripes that showed complete white and the neckline was embroidered with white twine. My necklace was put on next. It was a double stringed line of pears and at the end held and diamond about the width of my thumb. My tiara, was the last thing to put on. It was a beautiful tiara with vines, decorated with small diamonds and leaf accents along the sides and edges.

Once Nylera said I could go, I ran out the door in a very childish manner and stopped at the door that led into the ballroom. Before they called my name, I had just enough time to pat my dress, adjust my tiara, let my hands loose at my sides and straighten my back. Once those ballroom doors opened, I gracefully entered the room, with a kind but shy smile on my face.

I saw my father waiting for me the end of the stairway. Oh! How I wanted to run down these stairs and jump into his arms. I did. When he caught me he laughed, I quickly tangled my fingers in his beard, and grinned.

When he set me down, I noticed something was in his hand. My eyes grew curious as he handed me a red velvet bag that was as soft as a kitten's fur.

"This is my gift to you, My beautiful Arulla."

My heart skipped a little when I opened the small bag and tipped it over. In the palm of my hand lay a ring with an aquamarine stone in the middle and a silver band that held it together. The ring was way too big for my fingers, but I didn't care.

"Adad, it's beautiful." My father chuckled at my words and carried me onto the dance floor.

"May I have this dance?" My father asked.

I grinned, "Of course My Lord." He always hated it when I called him that, but I did it anyway. We danced a perfect father-daughter dance and it was the happiest moment of my life.

Once the dance was over, I walked quietly to the royal table and sat on the end, next to my mother. I hugged her gently, trying not to ruffle her dress and sat down with a graceful and yet unladylike gesture.

The ball died down, and I grew restless. I was getting bored and I had nothing to do. So, I fiddled with my fingers, I twirled my hair, I even played footsie with my mother. We both laughed as i took the edge of my toes and tickled the back of her heel. Our outbursts were quiet enough that we didn't draw too much attention to ourselves but the one person who noticed, was my father.

His eyes glared at me, not with anger or frustration, but just a simple glare to say "Enough." I obeyed and tucked my feet behind my chair, being bored once again. I quickly looked over and saw my father chuckling and my mothers guilty grin. She was tickling him, and I got a lot of enjoyment out of that.

The party lasted until the evening, around the time when it was time for me to go to bed. Nylera was there awaiting my return. I smiled and embraced my friend tightly. As she began to undress me, I slowly told her everything about what happened that day. When she finished, I relieved her from my room, and I drifted off to sleep.

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Adad- Dwarvish meaning for "Father" or "Daddy"

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-TC