Mermaids Curse

Numla

Over the next week Thorin found Amara's presence intoxicating and refreshing. Every evening before supper she would disappear, and then reappear by knocking on his door a few hours after supper. The young Mer had no idea what personal boundaries were, but for some reason Thorin didn't seem to mind. When she would around nothing seemed to bother him, it was like he was in some sort of bubble and the pair of them were the only ones allowed in.

But then their class would end and they would go their separate ways, and Thorin would most likely not see the girl until she came knocking the following day.

However, today she hadn't come knocking and it was driving Thorin insane. He was pacing up and down in his chambers, stewing over the situation. He was annoyed that she was wasting his time, but also concerned and worried about what it was that was keeping her.

His haughty temperament was getting the best of him, repeating to himself how dare she keep him waiting? He was offering her his help, a favour, and this is what she does? How rude of her, how inconsiderate and ungrateful of her.

Eventually he decided to go and find the girl himself. He turned on his heel and with a final grunt he stomped from his chambers, slamming the door unnecessarily hard.

Amara had spent her evening with Lindir, as she usually did whilst the rest of the Dwarves had supper, but today she was in the zone. She had been reading aloud a particularly interesting book and had continued to read even after Lindir had departed. She'd become so engrossed with her improving reading that time had simply slipped away from her and it wasn't until Amara's ears picked up on a familiar thudding of boots that she remembered and she looked up just as Thorin came into view. Noticing his expression and feeling his temper she quickly scrambled up, quickly grabbing her book and hiding it behind her back in an attempt to hide it from the Dwarf, but she hadn't been quick enough.

At first Thorin was taken aback, seeing her panic like that was not something he was used to, and it was not something he liked. The look of alarm didn't suit her, and it displeased him to think that he was the reason behind it. Her wide eyes and pursed lips was enough to make his fury drain a little, but he was still annoyed. Clearly she wasn't tied up in anything particularly taxing, so she had no excuse to why she couldn't have come to at least tell him she wouldn't be available this evening.

Amara stood awkwardly before him, a variety of strange noises sprouting from her.

"You're late." His baritone voice echoed through the room and Amara instantly fell silent.

She paused and then whistled lowly, her head hanging. Thorin recognised this as her feeling guilty, she'd done it only two nights ago when she ate Kili's sticky bun and was later confronted about it by the young Dwarf.

"What are you hiding?" He asked, he'd seen her hide a book behind her back and he took a few strides towards her.

"Nothing." She mumbled, feeling acutely embarrassed.

Thorin's temper rose a notched at her lying to him. He was already annoyed due to her wasting his time and he certainly didn't appreciate being lied to.

"Don't lie. What is that?" He continued to close the distance and stopped about a metre from her.

She finally looked up at him, her large golden eyes searching his face. She looked worried.

"Promise you won't tell?" She fumbled with something behind her back and Thorin nodded. Although he'd reluctantly grown to care for the female, Lord Elrond's words hung over him like a storm cloud. Despite this though he watched with keen interested as she slowly revealed to him what she was hiding.