by my oath [oakenshield] [spin-off]

eleven

the queen is dead

Dwalin and Dain and the rest of the Dwarves arrived to Dale with huge smiles, Bolg's head on a spike. Yet when they received the news from a heavy-hearted Balin, their smiles crumbled.

Dwalin felt crushed inside, for he had failed to protect a fragment of his family, when in truth she protected the rest of them from harm. Dain felt full of regret and sadness, seeing as he barely knew her and he actually quite liked the Elf.

So out of a company of fifteen, only fourteen remained. But they would not let her memory die in any way shape or form.

After everyone was situated, there was a funeral. Everyone gathered at the mountain, the deep and mellow horns bellowing there sad but peaceful sound over the plains. Anne was there in her tomb, looking peaceful and at rest. She was wearing a short sleeved golden dress, her hair covered in simblenynë flowers, her flower crown consisting of different colored flowers. She was lying on top of layers of soft clovers instead of the hard and wooden base of the tomb, nature all around her. Her once bubbly blue eyes were closed, and her hands were folded across her chest. And just for the fun of it, she was barefoot.

Go figure.

Everyone was a mess, but no one missed her more than Thorin. At the moment, he needed her... bad. He needed her to hold him and tell him it was okay, he needed to hear her tell him that she loved him, and he needed her by his side.

But she couldn't. She was dead.

Balin stepped to the podium when the horns stopped sounding, looking at the crowd. His eyes were puffy from crying, and one could hear how much sorrow he felt in his voice. "Today, we lost many of all races. From fellow Dwarves, Men, and Elves, their lives were taken by the evil that tried to subdue this kingdom. But no loss will be greater to us than Anne Thranduileth."

Balin took a big breath as if trying to keep his emotions in check, looking at her casket. "She was more than just a friend," he croaked. "She was family. In the thirteen months that I had known her, I realized that no matter how many hardships you come by, there is always a way.

"Even if we only knew her for two minutes, she always had a way of capturing your attention, making you automatically fall for her." Balin chuckled quietly and looked at the crowd again. "But at first, that wasn't our case. I remember the first time we all met, half us wanted to strangle her. Although kind and graceful, she was snappy and very, very, very sarcastic."

The Dwarves plus Bilbo mumbled in agreement.

"Yet as time went on, we began to grow more towards this jumble of energy. She saved us more times than we could count, and she was wise. She stuck with us through our perils, and when we all thought hope was lost, Anne Thranduileth always found a way to make it better.

"She was the light of our lives. We all loved her, every single one of us." Balin bit back tears, his voice wavering. "But no one loved her more than the King Under the Mountain himself, Thorin Oakenshield."

After those words were said, Balin walked away from the podium. He stood next to his brother, Dwalin managing not to let one single tear slip even though he himself was crumbling. But he was a warrior, and he would stay strong. He had seen death before. Even if it was the death of someone close to him.

Thorin breathed deeply and stood on the podium, standing tall with his shoulders back and his chin high. "Anne Thranduileth..." He chuckled quietly to himself. "Where do I start?"

"Start with the time you threatened to kill her if she did something stupid, which was time and time again," Kili chimed.

That earned a small rumble of laughs from the crowd. Thorin exhaled shortly in slight amusement and looked to the ground. "I did want to kill her the first time I ever saw her, seeing as she was an Elf and I held everything against them at the time. But then... something changed." He smiled softly. "We grew to know each other fondly, and in the end of it all, I ended of falling in love with her."