A Tale of Time

Chapter 6: Braids and Secrets

Chapter 6: Braids and Secrets

They work late into the night but eventually Thorin allows them to have a few hours rest to sleep and eat but he would wake them up to continue and finish the fortress before dawn. Their tools had practically dropped from their hands as Thorin gave the command. He held no sympathy for their tire, only muttering to himself as he goes back to pacing as he usually does for most of the nights. Only once has she ever seen him sleeping and even then, it was on the outskirts of the company's camp.

Gailien wanders back over to the brothers, handing them each a bowl of their midnight meal. They mutter their thanks, leaning against a thigh-high rock with a flat top. Gailien perches on top of the rock, crossing her legs. Her eyes are practically closed as she slurps the stew. Although Bombur usually cooks up a delicious meal, this one barely sparks any joy on her tongue.

It is an almost silent night, the only sound being small chatter made between a few members but even their topics are solemn. She hates it when it is like this. Their bowls lie astray nearby and Gailien lies across the rock, resting her head on a folded arm. Kili and Fili talk about things they've seen in Erebor, trying to imagine what it will look like when things are back in order.

She tries to sleep, even if for a few minutes but there is nothing in her mind or body that wills her into the peaceful serenity. To pass the time, she traces Elvish lettering onto Fili's neck where his hair has parted. He doesn't seem to mind. She spells his name, then Kili's and her own before moving onto random words that come to mind.

Eventually, the blond prince turns his head around with a small smile. "Go to sleep, Gailien."

"I have tried," she mumbles. "Move your head back, I wasn't finished with my word."

"You are going to put me to sleep if you keep doing that," he retorts but turns back around, nevertheless. Gailien parts his hair and finishes off her word.

"Is that not a good thing?"

Fili doesn't answer but she doesn't press him. He has his reason for doing things just as she does. Most of the Dwarves begin to find sleep. They are still near the fortress so their bedding is quite literally the softest part of the stones they can find. Which, as you could imagine, is a hard task. Bofur lies over a small stone, is back arching backwards but he seems in the deepest sleep of all of them. Dwalin seems to be able to sleep anywhere as well, just lying on the ground, facing the sky with his arms spread out on either side of him.

Her eyes drift over to Kili who has ended his conversation with Fili and is now invested in his hair. His arms are bent backwards, and it takes Gailien a good three minutes to even figure out what he is trying to do. The young prince has the top half of his hair in his grasp with three very uneven and wonky strands.

She doesn't do or say anything for a while, just continuing her tracing and watching Kili miserably fail at braiding. She always thought that he would be adept at it as are the rest of the company. He knows the concept of braiding, but he struggles with the execution which suggests that he is not used to actually doing it on himself.

Eventually, the Dwarf huffs to himself, letting his arms and hair fall limp.

"You were giving me a headache just watching you," she teases quietly. Fili it seems has actually fallen asleep. His head is tilted lopsided, lulled by the tracing. Kili glares at her.

"I've never done it before," he confesses. "At least not where I can't see."

Without much thought at what she is offering, Gailien says, "I can do it for you if you would like." As soon as it leaves her mouth, she realises how silly it is to offer. Her mouth opens to stutter an apology. "Oh, I'm-"