Queen Under The Mountain

Our Fight Begins

Bard walked out of the tent with me and got Alfrid's attention.
"Alfrid, take her to a place to sleep." Bard said.
"Um, I believe that won't be necessary, I know my way around Dale. I grew up here with my father." I said. "Also, I'm not very fond of Alfrid." I whispered.
"Then by all means go where you please, and no one blames you." He nodded towards Alfrid.
"I'll see you in the morning." I said to Bard before turning down a street.

The city of Dale was much more peaceful than before, people used to walk among the streets with smiles on their faces, now refugees sat around, trying their best to get sleep. The once thriving market place was now barren except for a few families taking shelter in crumbled, stone buildings.
I came to the charred remains of a wooden stand. It's frame was saved from the fire by a tall building behind it. The painted letters on the wood were chipped but still readable.
 
   Eisen's Weaponry
Swords and Daggers.

  I smiled at my father's old market stand where I'd spend most of my days with him, selling weapons and auctioneering.

•••

  I stood, leaning against the market stand, looking around at the people in the market, smiling to those who walked by, trying to get their attention, but they just kept walking.

  I had tried a lot of methods, putting the swords in different orders on the table, putting the nicest looking ones in front, and even putting the strongest swords on the table and keeping the others in the back. But no one stopped to look, only did they stop when I was sitting down and out of sight, but once I stood up and said hello, they'd be on their way.

  Soon enough I had gotten bored and I took a dagger from the table and stuck it in the small fire place at the back of the stand. Once the blade was red hot, I placed it on an anvil and began to hammer it down into a warped shape.

  "What are you doing?" I looked up to see a familiar face standing at the front table.
  "Oh, Thorin, didn't expect you to be around here." I said.
  "No, me neither, I was able to escape from the Mountain, I got bored." He glanced towards Erebor, then back at me.
  "Same here." I nodded towards the warped blade.
  "To be honest, I really escaped a shadow, being my sister." Thorin said.
  I laughed and stuck the dagger in a barrel of cold water. I pulled it back out to reveal the dagger, the blade shaped to turn left and right in a waved pattern.

  "That's interesting. Any good sales?" Thorin looked at the swords on the table.
   "No." I sighed.
"Really?" Thorin looked at me.
  "Yeah, I don't suppose anyone wants to buy a sword from a woman." I replied.

"Where's your father?" Thorin asked.
"Buying iron in a nearby village, with the shillings that we earned from your grandfather." I answered.
   "People don't bother to look at the swords?" Thorin looked around the market.
  "I mean they do, but once I come into view they walk away." I said.
  "They all have spears up their jack-side." Thorin scoffed.
  "Thorin!" I said in a hushed tone.
"They do, they are high minded, they don't care if it's a good sword or not, they won't buy anything because there is a woman selling them." Thorin replied. "It's disrespectful."
  "It's fine, once my father returns our sales will go up." I said, turning to put the curved dagger away.

  Thorin cleared his throat. "What a fine blade." He said aloud. I turned and looked at him, a few people stopped to see what the Prince of Erebor was talking about.
  "Who crafted this fine blade?" He looked at me.
  "What are you doing?" I mouthed to him.
  "Helping you." He mouthed back. "Did you fashion this sword?" He then asked aloud.
  "No, my father did." I replied.
Thorin looked at the sign on the market stand. "Ah, yes, Eisen. My grandfather has a sword that was fashioned by your father, he uses it almost everyday."
  It seemed that the entire market was listening.
  "I have plenty of swords in stock from his skill, and daggers." I said.
  "How much for this one?" Thorin picked up a sword and swung it, a satisfying whoosh came from it.
   "20 shillings." I said.
"I will give you 25." Thorin looked at me, a glint in his eyes.
  "30." I challenged.
"Done." He said.