The Commoner and the King

Chapter Seven

Later that night, Annetta had spoken with Barliman Butterman, informing him of her retirement. "You are surely going to be missed,Annetta. You are truly loved around here, you know that?" said the Inn Keeper. "I'm sorry, but my loyalty and love is with my people! My place is with them! Don't worry! I will drop by from time to time!" said Annetta. After that, Annetta was about to go to her room when Thorin stopped her. "You don't mind if I joined you in your room tonight?" asked Thorin. "I don't mind at all!" said Annetta, smiling at the Dwarf Prince-in Exile. And Thorin follows Annetta to her room, and they entered. Annetta walked towards her changing curtain to change into her night clothes,as Thorin removed his clothing and boots. Once Annetta came back out from the changing curtain, she gasped once she looked at Thorin, whom was now only wearing his trousers,and no shirt. 

This was Annetta's first time looking at the Dwarf without a shirt on,and she couldn't help but stare at Thorin's strong musculine chest. "Do you like what you see?" beamed Thorin with a slight chuckle as he noticed Annetta's reaction. "Y-Yes?" stammered Annetta. Thorin continued to laugh, as he walked towards her wrapping his arm around her shoulder."Come to bed, we need our rest before we head for home tomorrow morning!" said Thorin, as he guided her into the bed.After climbing into the bed, Thorin held Annetta close to him, with her back pressed against Thorin's broad chest. Annetta sighed,as she realized she could not sleep, feeling excited about going with the Dwarves to Ered Luin. "What's wrong, Annetta?" asked Thorin, when he heard Annetta sigh in exasperation. "I can't sleep." Annetta replied. "Hmmm--I have a way that can change that." said Thorin. "Oh, is that so?" said Annetta, her voice in a challenging tone. "Just rest upon me and listen!" Thorin whispered. 

Annetta nodded as she rolled over to face the Dwarf, pressing her head against his chest. To Annetta's surprise, Thorin started to sing in his native language, an old dwarven lullaby that his mother had sung to him. Annetta smiled as she closed her eyes--she loved it when Thorin sang, and she enjoyed listening to his beautiful, deep baritone voice rumbling from his chest to her ears. Between listening to Thorin's singing and hearing his steady heart beat, it didn't take long for Annetta to fall asleep. Works every time! thought Thorin, as he kissed Annetta on the cheek. "Good night imur! See you in the morning!" Thorin whispered to Annetta.

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Ered Luin,

Spring 2823

Several years passed as Annetta moved in with Thorin and Dis. And she thoroughly enjoyed her new life with the people she loved, especially with Thorin. And as promised, Thorin opened up a forge for Annetta, in which was a dream come true for Annetta, as she always had wanted, and not only that, she wanted to continue her father's legacy. And even much to Annetta's delight, there will be some occasions where Thorin will be joining her, to help her out. One evening, as everyone gathered around the dining room table, Dis made an announcement that she has met a dwarf, named Vili, and he asked her hand in courtship, and she accepted. When Dis made the announcement,the room fell completely silent,on the exception of Dwalin, whom was chuckling softly to himself. As for Thorin,hegrowled,and glared angrily at his sister.

"Dis,we need to discuss about Vili in the parlor, please!" said Thorin, stiffly. Dis and Annetta exchanged looks in confusion, wondering why Thorin didn't seem to happy about the news. Dis followed her brother into the parlor. "Have you lost your mind, sister? Vili is known to cause trouble, alongside with the rogue dwarves he is associating with! I'm not going to have you court him!" snapped Thorin. When Dis heard this, she became angry. "How dare you? How dare you tell me who I can or cannot court? I'm a grown woman now, I have every right to make my own decisions! And second of Vili has given up that lifestyle! And he promised me that two weeks ago! You haven't even met the dwarf yet, and you're judging him!!" Dis shouted at her brother. "I'm saying this, not to be a jerk, Dis--I'm only looking after you, that's all!" said Thorin. "Well you're being a jerk now!" Dis yelled at Thorin, and she ran into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.Thorin closed his eyes and sighed, as he walked back into the dining room.

"What in the hell just happened? What did you say to her?" said Dwalin, sharply. "I told her she shouldn't be courting Vili." grumbled the Dwarf. "Thorin, you should give Vili a chance-- you haven't even met him yet! Besides that,he can't really be all that bad! You should stop listening to gossip and pay more attention to the facts." said Balin. "Balin is right,Thorin. Maybe we should schedule at time for all of us to meet him!" said Annetta. Thorin sighed. "And you are right. We'll do That!" said Thorin. After supper, Thorin went to speak with Dis, as he apologized to her about his reaction towards her earlier. "And we will meet Vili, if of course, you don't mind!" said Thorin. "I don't mind at all, Thorin!" said Dis, smiling at her brother. Several weeks went by, everyone met Vili, and everyone liked him, including Thorin. They held a small party at a local pub, where they drank a lot of ale and sang and danced. 

Three more weeks went by, Annetta went to work in the forge, and she hoped Thorin would arrive as he promised he would help her that day. Two hours had went by Thorin hardly showed up. Where in the hell is Thorin? He should have been here hours ago! thought Annetta. Breaking for lunch, Annetta closed down her little shop and her forge to go home to have lunch. By the time she arrived at home, she only saw Dis and Vili in the home. "Dis, where is Thorin? He was supposed to be helping me today!" asked Annetta. "I don't know, Ann--he's been acting very off this week--it seems he has a lot on his mind. I tried asking him about it, but he keeps changing the subject." said Dis, sadly. "Maybe I should go and ask Balin and Dwalin! Maybe they should know!" said Annetta. Dis nodded. Annetta walked over to Balin and Dwalin's home and she asked them if knew of Thorin's where abouts. 

"I'm sorry lassie, we haven't seen Thorin all day!" said Balin. Dwalin looked at Annetta."You and Dis will be the first to know if we see him, and we'll bring him home!" said Dwalin. "Thank you!" said Annetta, as she left the Fundin Brother's home. Instead of going straight home, she returned to her forge to continue working, so she can keep busy. Once evening came, she returned home, and she find Dis pacing back and forth in the living room. "Annetta, have you seen my brother?" asked Dis. "No, Balin and Dwalin told me they haven't seen him either! What is going on here, Dis?" asked Annetta. "I don't know. If he doesn't show up soon, I have to send Dwalin out to find him." said Dis. And I will go with Dwalin to help him find Thorin, thought Annetta.