Sulûn (The Falling) [Tolkien Dwarf FanFic - Third Age]

Mizimel

I made to close the door again, but all strength had left me and Nain pushed his way in. He took my face in his hands, I could feel the roughness of his callouses on the newly exposed flesh where my beard had once been. "Oh, what have I done?" he asked as he wiped away a tear cascading down my cheek.

I hated the way my heart skipped a beat at his touch. All I could choke out was, "Why?"

"My heart burns for you, it has since I saw you in the pools. Your hair floated freely around you like a halo, you looked so serene. And then I learned of the fire of your spirit, and I was drawn like moth to a flame. I cannot tell you how the heart works other than the fact that mine belonged to you before you ever opened your amber eyes or a single word escaped your lips, Eilíf." Nain moved closer to me to place a kiss on my forehead. I jerked away.

"It is not that easy! You knew you were betrothed! It is not fair to have pursued me knowing that it could never be. I am a ruined dwarf, now. I will never be able to love another, and I will spend the rest of my days seeing you rule with her by your side. I wish now that I would have been left to die upon the shores of Kheled-zarâm with my mother all those years ago, if my life is to be naught but heartache," I fell upon my bed sobbing, "Leave me be."

I felt Nain's weight upon my bed and his hands began combing through the back of my disheveled hair, smoothing it gently upon my heaving shoulders. I wanted this more than anything, and I also wanted him to stop and exit my life though it be in ruins. "You're right. I did know of my betrothal, but it is for diplomatic reasons. I do not love her. I love you. And I, too, am forever ruined if you spurn my love," his deft fingers had teased all the knots out of my hair. I felt him pick up a small amount of hair and begin to play with it. A soft, shuddering sigh escaped my lips as my body relaxed under his touch.

As he continued to toy with the tuft of hair, I grew suspicious. "Wait, what are you doing?" I asked, reaching up to feel his hands buried in my flaxen hair. I gasped and slapped them away, though it wounded me. "You can't braid my hair! I am not yours to claim, you have another." My brow set in a petulant scowl, desperately fighting falling underneath the spell of his nimble fingers and soft words.

He sighed and combed the braid from my hair. "You are a stubborn one," he said as he reached for the bead at the bottom of his beard. He pulled it out, laying it on the bed beside him and began unplaiting his beard and hair. I had seen him without his braids in the pools, but it was very uncommon for a dwarf to willfully unplait their hair unless they be grooming.

This grabbed my interest, "What are you doing?" I asked as I pushed myself up to sit on the bed. I felt my breath quicken, and hoped he did not notice the rapid rise and fall of my breast as I watched his large hands deftly loosen his braids.

Once again, he reached out and placed a finger to my lips to shush me. His fingers were rough and tickled my newly bared lips. My breath caught in my throat. "You will see," he answered as he removed the bead from the braid on the back of his head, placing it neatly beside his other bead, and unplaited it as well. He shook his head, creating a cloud of his raven tresses, still wavy from the plaits. I could not help myself, I soon had my fingers buried in his silken hair, smoothing it and gently scratching at the places which were braided, eliciting small groans from Nain. I could not shake the feeling that it was very wrong to have my fingers buried within my prince's hair, grooming him as a lover, but I could not find the will to stop. Nain's eyes drifted closed in bliss as I worked. When his hair was thoroughly smoothed and I was about to remove my fingers, I heard a whisper of "Braid my hair, please," startling me out of my reverie. More than a feeling, I knew this act to be wrong though the temptation proved too great. I began sectioning off his hair to replait it, and was stopped by Nain's hand reaching back to rest upon mine. "No, not like that. I want you to give me a new braid."