Dornessiti (Hobbit Short Story)

Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry about the depressing last chapter, hopefully this one will cheer everyone up. I promised forager that I would dedicate the next cute chapter to them, so here we are. Enjoy!
P.S. Merry Christmas!
~<>~~~<>~
"Wh-Why do you h-have to g-go, daddy?" Hazel asked again. Thorin finished buckling his boots and looked back at his little girl.
"I need to go to work Hazel, Auntie Dis will look after you," he explained again.
"Wh-Why can't I-I c-come with y-you?" Hazel continued. Thorin couldn't help but smile a little at the girl's persistence.
"Because a forge is no place for a little girl, Hazel. It's dirty and smoky and dangerous, you'd get hurt. I'll be back at lunchtime for an hour."
"Wh-When's lunchtime?" She continued to ask. Thorin chuckled and took his pocket watch out of his coat, opening it and putting it in her hand.
"You see the two hands on the watch face?" He asked. Hazel nodded, listening intently.
"Well, when those two hands point at the little number twelve there, that's when lunchtime is. I'll be home then, okay?"
Hazel nodded again. Thorin carefully fastened the clasp on the end of the chain to Hazel's jumper, tucking the watch into her trouser pocket.
"Look after it princess, it belonged to my father," he said softly.
"I-I'll be c-careful, I-I promise d-daddy," Hazel smiled. Thorin stood, adjusting his coat around his shoulders and straightening his back. But as soon as he looked back down at Hazel, the serious look on his face gave way to a smile. He stroked his beard and wiggled his eyebrows comically at her.
"How do I look princess?"
Hazel giggled cutely.
"H-Handsome d-daddy," she grinned. Thorin scooped her up, pressing a kiss to her forehead and smiling.
"Love you princess."
Hazel kissed her daddy's cheek, not minding his bristly beard.
"L-Love you m-more d-daddy."
~<>~~~<>~
Dis found them in the living room, Hazel giggling adorably as Thorin tickled her. Her brother had become so much more happy since she'd arrived, his usual scowl now more often replaced by smiles and laughter. She watched for a moment before Thorin turned to her, putting Hazel down and striding over to Dis.
"Namad," he smiled, pulling his younger sister into a tight embrace. Dis chuckled, hugging back.
"Nice to see you too, you great teddy bear. Now let go of me before you crush me."
Letting go of his sister, Thorin turned back to Hazel, who was watching the exchange from the sofa. He went over and picked her up, kissing her forehead.
"Now, are you going to be a good girl for Auntie Dis?" He asked.
"Y-Yes daddy," replied Hazel timidly. Thorin gave her a reassuring smile and kissed her forehead again.
"See you later princess, love you."
Hazel gave him one last hug.
"L-Love you t-too daddy."
~<>~~~<>~
"So... Is there anything you'd like to do?" Asked Dis again after another awkward silence. Hazel was sat with Thorin's pocket watch in her hands, watching the hands go round intently.
"I-I'm o-okay, th-thank y-you," replied Hazel again. Dis sighed quietly, but persisted.
"We could do some colouring, we could go for a walk, we could play games, I could read you a story," she suggested.
"Daddy reads me stories," the four year old replied stubbornly.
Mahal, thought Dis She's as stubborn as her father.
"How about a walk then? We'd get some nice fresh air, see the pretty flowers and maybe even a few animals."
At the word 'animals', the tiny girls eyes were fixed on Dis.
"A walk it is then."
~<>~~~<>~
Thorin stayed silent as he worked, venting his unspoken anger on the metal he worked with. The image of Hazel's scars had scarcely left his mind since the night before. He was determined to find out who her parents were and bring them to justice for what they'd done to his little girl. Thorin was so engrossed in his work and his fury that he didn't notice a figure come over to him and stand beside the anvil.
"Well would you look at that face," rumbled a familiar voice "You could turn milk sour with that frown. Where have your eyes gone you grumpy bastard?"
Thorin looked up, raising an eyebrow at his old friend.
"Ah, well there's one of them," Dwalin chuckled. The dwarf king just grumbled under his breath and went back to work.
"What's got you in such a good mood?" Growled Thorin, plunging the hot metal into a bucket of water with a satisfying hiss.
"What's got you in such a bad one? You look like someone dragged you here by your pigtails."
"I don't have pigtails." Thorin deadpanned. Dwalin gestured to the ponytail at the back of the dwarf king's head.
"What in Mahal's name is that monstrosity then?" He asked. Thorin undid the strip of leather keeping his hair back from his face and shook his head.
"You know what that is, you stone brained imbecile."
"Still makes you look like a little lassie though," Dwalin smirked. Thorin rolled his eyes.
"I want the birth records from four to five years ago on my desk at the council hall by tomorrow morning," he grunted, continuing with his work.
"As you wish, your majesty," Dwalin responded mockingly, bowing like a pageboy. Thorin gave him a "don't you dare mess with me" glare.
"If you don't start lightening up soon, I'll introduce your face to my mattock. The lassies who come to watch you working won't be so keen then," Dwalin threatened playfully. He gave a sigh when Thorin didn't respond, going over and taking his hammer from his hand.
"Thorin," he said, his voice taking on a serious tone "What's got into you? You look like you don't want to be here at all."
"You know I don't want to be here," growled Thorin, still looking down at the anvil.
"If you dare go into another rant about Erebor..." Began Dwalin.
"This isn't about Erebor!" Snapped Thorin. Dwalin took his best friend by the shoulders, forcing him to look into his eyes.
"For Mahal's sake Thorin, talk to me. Both Dis and I have learnt over the last few years that getting you to talk is the best thing for you. Otherwise you bottle it up and you lose your temper, just like now. So start talking, Oakenshield, or I'm punching your lights out myself."
~<>~~~<>~
Thorin stayed silent for a moment before sighing softly, brushing Dwalin's hands off him and sitting down.
"C'mon then, what's on your mind?" His friend persisted, crossing his arms and glaring like a parent scolding a child.
"Do you remember after Azanulbizar, Dwalin? Twelve years ago." Thorin asked.
"Aye, I remember it, though I wish I couldn't," Dwalin nodded. He watched his friend, hunched over with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.
"Do you remember the village we came to afterwards? We went to them, pleading for aid. They accused us of trying to invade and bound me upon a scaffold."
Thorin recited the words almost unemotionally, his eyes focused on his wrists as if the rope they had been tied with was still there.
"Fifty lashes," remembered Dwalin. Thorin nodded.
"Do you remember the scars they left me with?" He continued. This time it was Dwalin's turn to nod.
"Imagine scars worse than that, overlapping one another in all different directions without stopping from shoulders to waist."
Thorin looked up at Dwalin, trying to read his friend's stony expression. The familiar face was etched with years of memories, much like his own. They had been through everything together, yet still his face was unreadable.
"Why are you telling me this Thorin?" Dwalin asked after a while.
"Can you imagine it?" Replied Thorin fixatedly.
"Yes, I can, but why?" His friend asked again, looking down at his king. Thorin stayed silent for a few moments, thinking over everything before meeting his friend's gaze once again.
~<>~~~<>~
"Because those are the kind of scars I saw on my daughters back last night. She'd been thrashed so many times I can't bear to think about it. Her back was covered in lashes and cuts and burns. A child Dwalin, a four year old little girl," Thorin finally admitted, his head in his hands.
Dwalin sat beside him, putting a hand upon his friend's shoulder.
"Has she seen a physician?" he asked.
"No," said Thorin "She'd be terrified. I patched her up with the salve Oin gave me."
"What's this got to do with the birth records?"
Thorin took his head out of his hands and met Dwalin's gaze. There was a fire in his icy eyes that his friend rarely saw, a fierce determination in his voice.
"Because I want to know who her parents are. They are the ones that did this to her, they are responsible. They hurt her, and they will pay for it."