Jeweled dolls of Durin

Mirkwood

The mid summer sun was barely rising upon the horizon, when the large caravan of travelers returning to Erebor slowly made their way through the Mirkwood Forest...their elvish guards leading the way safely through these treacherous woods. The creaking of wheels and stomping of hooves punctuated the eerie silence, setting many nerves on edge. One of the group rolled his wagon a bit closer to one of the elvens riders and he cleared his throat to get the mans attention...his lilting brogue low in a whisper.

"Hey." Bofur spoke..keeping his eyes on the path before him...hearing the elf grunt in his direction, giving him encouragement to continue. "I ...uhh..heard yeh talking last night about me boy." the elf's eyes flew over to look at the brown haired hatted dwarf in surprise...a bit of wariness in his eyes he made a sound in his throat. "So ..yeh think me boy, Griegur, could be yer sister's son? I wouldna be surprised. We didn't know the lady's name but she gave us this boy teh raise and care fer a little over a year ago. She said she wanted teh go back teh her family and this child wouldna be accepted, so we took him in as ours." Bofur knew he was making out the way the child came to be in his family sound better than the truth of it..he didn't want to make an enemy of the man by speaking ill of a loved one. "It was all in the best interest fer the child..we do love him very much." the elf rode a bit closer to Bofur and peered closer at the little dark haired boy sitting on the bench seat next to Bofur's wife, Tia...bright blue eyes peered back at him inquisitively ..jolting the elf at how much the child looked just like his sister, Korelia, his voice was thick as he spoke.

"He looks like her. Why would she think he wouldn't be accepted? And why dwarves?" his voice was musical, almost like a chirping of a bird...Bofur gave an abashed smile to the elven man. He thought about his words before he spoke...trying to word his answer in such a way that would be acceptable... but he was unable to figure out how. His eyes took in the long dark brown hair...the tall lithe frame covered in dark green woven cloth with oak brown leathers over laying it. As Bofur kept trying to figure out what to say to the man, Tia came to his rescue and spoke.

"How much did your sister tell you about what she did for a living?" she queried ...hoping he had some general idea...when he answered about her working in a tavern as a serving girl, she knew how she could tell him. "Well, Korelia was working as a serving lady in a tavern near Ered Luin. One evening a passing dwarf and her shared a night together before he moved on...unaware at the time he left her with child. Neither of us could find him, so for the safety of the child she left him with us. He is half dwarf and she figured he would be more accepted with the dwarves and I don't care about his being of two races...after all he is a child and they truly are such a blessings. " she saw the guard nod his head and she gave him a soft smile as she saw him mulling over what she said, in his mind.

"That explains why dwarves and it makes sense why she couldn't bring him here...to many individuals would be against him just because of some Del Naug (elvish- disgusting dwarf)...." suddenly he paused and glanced nervously over at the dwarves next to him as they raised their eyebrows at him...both not knowing what he said but understanding it wasn't a polite word. "...uhhmm...not meaning you all of course...just him." Bofur looked him in the eyes, trying to not laugh at watching the elf back peddling with his words...turning red in the face.

"Of course not. We understand what yeh meant. He got yer sister with child and left her all alone. We got it...Mr...?" Bofurs tone didn't seem mocking , but understanding, which eased the elf's embarrassment.

"Corudor...Corudor Shadowlight at your service Master Dwarf. And you are...?" he bowed over his horse as he gestured towards them.

"I'm Bofur Broadbeam, this is me wife Tia and our children Tali, Ravi, Kennan, and Griegur...at yurs." Corudor bowed his head a bit at the introductions...suddenly there was a snapping of limbs that could be heard coming closer...alerting all the guards to the impending danger coming for them. With bows ready and dwarven steel in hand they all waited for the appearance of doom to arrive.