A Place to Belong

Chapter 9: Holding Out

After Braerka had been taken to the healers, things had almost gotten a bit hairy for the remainder of the company. Elrond had again begun speaking in elvish again, which had caused Gloin to take offence at an invite to dinner, but it was quickly sorted.

They now sat with bowls of fruits and vegetables before them, Kili sat around the long table with the other dwarves and Bilbo.

Eleven musicians played peaceful melodies in the background, and in response Oin (the deafest) stuffed his hearing aid with a napkin to block the elven racket.

Dori and Ori sat near him. Ori was prodding at a leaf of lettuce screwing up his face in disgust.

"Just try it, go on!" Dori urged him, in response Ori only turned his nose up more before asking if they had chips.

Kili laughed and stuffed his face, he was glad there was food whether it be green vegetables or not, it had seemed to be ages since they last sat down to a good meal.

He looked down the table to Bilbo, the hobbit looked amazingly at home amongst the dwarves and elves, and he was recommending that they try anything and everything lay out before them, knowing rightly that dwarves don't eat many greens.

While most were happy, the oldest of the group were disappointed to say the least with the 'so-called' food, Dwalin began rummaging through the bowls in search of some form of meat as if it were hidden from view.

They believed this food to be for animals like rabbits and horses not for fully grown, battle-hardened dwarves.

Kili sat munching on a stick of carrot, when he heard talking in a nearby corridor. Elrond, Gandalf and Thorin walked in and were closely followed by young woman in green dress of silk that sparkled in the light of the dying sun.

It took him and the others more than a few seconds to register who she was, she looked so different in a dress; a little uncomfortable too. He started to get up when Fili beat him to it.

"Shepard!" he said loudly above the music, rising to his feet, "You're alive!"

The others looked in her direction hearing Fili's exclamation. Kili noticed her cheeks blush under their scrutiny; she was clearly embarrassed by all the attention.

"Of course I am, Fili! Why wouldn't I be?" she questioned him, trying to turn the attention away from her and not succeeding for their eyes were fixated on her.

He moved to make what would have been a snide comment about the elves when Kili kicked him in the shin, to remind him where he was. "No reason!" he squirmed, through gritted teeth stifling back a weak cry. She smiled in response and then took her seat at Elrond's table.

Kili sat staring at her in wonderment; she was so beautiful to him right now even if she did look uncomfortable in the attire.

He imagined she wished to be in her own clothes and not wrapped in the foreign silky material from the way she was constantly fixing herself and trying to pull the sleeves up closer to her neck.

He was forced to tear his eyes off her every now and then, when he would faintly hear his name mentioned in the conversation at his table. He would input the odd groan or mumbled phrase but his thoughts were still with her.

'The Mysterious Woman' as Fili had introduced her to him on the night they had run into trouble with the trolls. She really was a mystery; none of them knew anything about her bar her name, which in itself was slightly unbelievable; I mean who calls their kid 'Shepherd'? And Lindir had called her THE Shepherd, which only raised more questions.

The lack of information about her was daunting in ways especially since she seemed to know things she ought naught to know.

He pondered her existence and began to create his own past for her, 'maybe she's a lost princess from a distant land' or 'a goddess trapped in human form'? Kili even admitted to himself that these ideas where I little farfetched to say they least, she was, from her appearance, just a normal girl after all.