The Dwarf Prince

Chapter 9: Rivendell at Night

The dwarves were all feasting again as they roasted sausages over a fireplace made by burning some elvish furniture, all having a good time and eating real food instead of the rabbit food the elves ate.

Fili was sitting beside Kili, as per usual, at the corner of the quarters they were at and both were tending to their own tankards of mead that the elves provided them. A small movement from his right caught his eye and he turned to see Alithia approaching them. His mouth fell open slightly at the sight before him.

The elf princess was as beautiful as she had always been but instead of her usual traveling clothes, she wore a simple elven dress that hugged at her body, emphasizing all her curves. Her long silky hair was let down, moving gracefully in sync with her movements. She was stunning. Alithia's eyes locked with Fili's and she gave him a shy wave as she approached. Fili quickly closed his mouth and smiled back at her, beckoning for her to join them.

"The princess has arrived!" Gloin shouted and the dwarves cheered and some made trumpet sounds to imitate a grand entrance. Alithia's face turned slightly pink and she waved them off, embarrassed. They all laughed merrily and continued with their food.

"Here, lass, there's enough to go around," Bofur said, handing her a tankard of mead. Alithia thanked him and went to sit beside Fili. Fili smiled when she came nearer and scooted over to his left to make room for her.

"You look beautiful, Thia," he said.

Alithia was taken aback and turned to look into his eyes, searching for any kind of jest. When she found none, she dropped her head shyly with a slight blush.

"Thank you, Fee," she replied. "You're not doing too bad yourself," she added with a teasing grin.

Fili stared back at her, feeling happier than he had been just minutes ago. Did she just call him Fee? It was weird to hear someone call him that but hearing her nickname for him come out of her mouth was definitely something he never expected to enjoy so much.

Alithia on the other hand was freaking out. Why was she suddenly feeling so shy around him? She had been completely fine with him this whole time but now, she felt like a giggling youngling!

"So, you've fallen in love with a dwarf?"  Elrond's voice repeated in her head and she bit her lip, hoping her feelings for Fili were not that obvious.

"Bombur!" Bofur suddenly shouted and said dwarf looked up from his perch on top of a wooden bench, a bowl of food in hand. Bofur threw a sausage at Bombur and the dwarf caught it before the bench, finally having reached its limit of weight, broke, causing Bombur to fall to the ground along with his food. The dwarves laughed with an uproar.

From the corner of her eye, Alithia saw Elrond walking with Gandalf. Elrond's eyes locked with hers before trailing to Fili beside her. He looked back at her with a knowing nod, a small smirk tugging at his lips before disappearing out of sight with Gandalf.

"So, Alithia, what is there to do here anyway? Everything's so quiet," Kili asked suddenly. Alithia switched her attention to Kili.

"Oh...umm, well, I guess you could read...?" she replied, her answer sounding more like a question. Kili made a noise of disgust.

"We don't do reading," he stated. "Is there a nice place we could go to? Like one with stunning scenery or maybe a gazebo?"

Alithia nodded with a small smile.

"There's this small waterfall that I've always swam in when I was younger. I could show it to you. It's really beautiful and it's a nice place, especially at night," she answered, grinning at the memories.