The Shadow Queen (A Rider novel)

Chapter Two: An Apology

"Kili." I whisper, trying to grab his attention without any of the other dwarves in the room hearing.  I must have been too quiet though, because he makes no motion to show that he's heard me.  I huff and move a bit closer, scooting with my back to the wall as quietly as possible.  "Kili." I try again.

This time his head turns to me, wearing a confused expression. Well this is going to be a bit awkward.

Ever since Del left, I had been avoiding him, avoiding everyone for that matter. I blamed myself for Del leaving the way she did, and blew up at anyone who tired to convince me otherwise.  Kili had been one of them.  Not once, but four times had he tried to talk to me, and each time I had yelled at him.  In all honesty I was suprised he even tried again after I snapped the first time.

Needless to say I am feeling extremely guilty for every untrue word I spoke to him.  

"I want to first apologize for how I've treated you these past few days.  I realize now that you were only trying to help, and I did nothing but push you away from me; I'm sorry." I almost choke on the words; apologizing has never been one of my strong suits.

Kili's reaction suprises me. "Everyone grieves in their own way, Pan.  You have nothing to be sorry for." He reaches for my hands and pulls me to him in a hug.

"Well still," I say redundantly, "I am sorry."

I can feel Kili nodding because his chin is rested against my shoulder. "It's already forgiven."

Slowly, I pull away from Kili again.

"There's another reason you came to talk to me though." Kili states, not even questioning it.

I nod. "I have a plan. Well," I correct myself, "I have a semblance of a plan."

"Is this another poorly thought out plan that may or may not end with you almost dying?" Kili asks, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Okay first off, that was the best I could come up with thinking on the spot. Secondly, this plan has been thought through more carefully."

"I'm interested now; what's this plan of yours?"

"Half of the riders are going with me to go scout around for Del's army, because we  need to know what we're up against.  The other half are going out in search of more riders.  We now have reason to believe some of them could be hidden in the caves below our homeland."

"It's definitely better than the first plan I heard from you." Kili jabs, smiling so I understand that he's joking.

I scowl at him, but it quickly turns into a grin. "Whatever." I bump his shoulder.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you didn't just tell me this as a nice story; how can I help with this plan of yours?"  Kili asks.

I smile. "I'm glad you asked.  We could use another bowman, and seeing as you're the only dwarf I know that can shoot, I automatically thought of you."

"Well I'm flattered." Kili says with sarcasm.

"You should be, you're better than I am." I think back to when Kili and I had an archery competition, a lifetime ago. "Although that may change; we'll see how good a shot you are when you're up  several hundred feet in the air and moving."

"Well I accept that challange, Duhului Drakai."

"Don't you start calling me that too.  The other riders do it too often as is."

"Why? Does it bother you, Duhului Drakai?" he asks, a childish grin on his face.

I'm about to shove Kili gently, when he takes off down the hall away from me. "You'll never catch me!" he yells, laughing like mad.

I can't help but laugh as well, running after him.  "You're such a child!" I shout.

"And you aren't?" he calls back.

I don't respond, because he has a fair point. Instead, I shift all of my focus into pushing myself faster, set on catching up to Kili.

Sorry for the wait! I was really focusing on another book.  I'll update this one more regularly for all of you. Thank you for staying with me!  Comments are always appreciated; I love to hear your thoughts on this story. :)