In Time

Chapter Thirty-Five

Over the next few weeks, great changes began taking place within Erebor's walls. The Iron Hill dwarves remained, working in tandem with Thorin and the Company to begin restoring Erebor to its former glory. And while that kept Thorin busy, Amara busied herself by working with Narnerra to choose which dwarves she felt would be suited as healers.

At first, she'd been convinced Narnerra disliked her. Intensely. Upon their first meeting, Amara had smiled as warmly as she knew how and said, "So, Thorin tells me you are interested in training to be a healer?"

To which Narnerra promptly responded, "Glóin has a big mouth and I told him not to say anything."

Which left Amara quite at a loss for words. Still, she managed to keep her smile in place as she'd asked, "Why?"

The dwarf then pulled at her long blonde curls and admitted, "Because I didn't think an elf would want to train any of us willingly, that Thorin must have put you up to it."

"Oh, no. Nothing could be further from the truth. Erebor needs healers now, and will especially need them when the forges are up and running and I daresay, I could certainly use your expertise in dwarves as a whole. The only time Rivendell saw dwarves come through our Healing Room was when Thorin and his nephews came to us after the Battle of the Five Armies."

Narnerra's blue eyes softened. "If you are willing to teach, I am willing to learn."

And with that, they were not only student and mentor, but they became friends. In many ways, Narnerra reminded her of Kenia (although she would rather stomp her tongue into the dirt than say so to Narnerra, who seemed to dislike all elves who were not Amara) with how quickly she learned as well as how curious she was to learn. She also had a wicked sharp sense of humor and a penchant for gossip and somehow seemed to know everything about everyone.

Not to mention, she also had the most adorable little boy—Gimli—who was a miniature of his father, with wild red hair and curious dark eyes. He was a bit too young to play with the other dwarf children who'd return to Erebor, and so often accompanied Narnerra to the flat Thorin had designated as the infirmary.

All in all, she'd settled in nicely, although she still wasn't quite used to going days without seeing the sun. She tried to get up to the ramparts or out onto the plains whenever possible, but as Erebor's population increased, as Dale's population did the same and more people traversed the plains, Thorin made it clear to her he was not comfortable with her venturing outside Erebor's walls without some sort of guard.

But he had no problem with her going up to the rampart, and so that's where she was, lifting her face to the sun and smiling at the gentle breeze ruffling through her hair. Each day grew warmer, bringing spring to Erebor at last.

She loved being up there, with that wind in her hair and the sun on her face. Dale rose in the distance and somewhere amongst those buildings, Thorin, Balin, and Dwalin dealt with merchants, carpenters, stonemasons.

The ravens that gave Ravenhill its name roosted atop those ramparts as well. She knew Thorin used them to communicate with the Iron Hill dwarves in the past, and it seemed to her that at first, the birds eyed her suspiciously. Then, she began bringing up gifts for them—usually vegetables she managed to convince Bombur to part with—and over the last week or so, it felt as if their suspicions were no more. She'd taken to talking to them when she saw them, wishing them a good morning or a good afternoon.

One swept by her, landing on the parapet alongside her and as he settled his wings back into place, she smiled over at him. "Well, good day, handsome. It's a lovely day, isn't it?"

Beady black eyes just stared and she shook her head. "I wish I knew if you understood me." She leaned her elbow against the parapet and gazed off in Dale's direction. "He's been working so hard since we arrived, I barely see him during daylight hours. And he is simply so worn out when he returns at night," she smiled over at the raven, which continued to stare as if paying rapt attention to her musings, "all he wishes to do is sleep."