Heirs to the Throne ((Sequel to The Lionheart))

Chapter 4: As long as your with me

Ashe POV

"The person who tried to wipe out the line of Durin...Azog the Defiler." Lily said. My eyes widened and I looked at Talion and shook my head. "That doesn't make it Talion's fault! If he didn't do what Azog said he would have killed him!" I argued trying to defend my warg. "We agree with you...it's taad and maamr you have to be worried about. No doubt dad will wanna skin him and hand his head on a mantle." Phoenix said as her and Shaleh laid out their bed rolls. "D-do you really think dad will kill him? I mean...he's my spirit animal." I said scared. "That is true, I'll be damned if maamr lets him take him away from you." Damien said. "We will handle it tomorrow. One thing is we are all on Ashe's side right?" Allistor asked laying down. "Oh yeah! No matter what he's your spirit animal...it wouldn't be fair to you." Phoenix said. "Yeah, and I bet Talion there would protect you all day and night. Taad wouldn't need to worry as much." Scottie said. I nodded slowly and felt Talion nudge my shoulder. "It's late. We need rest. Everyone go to sleep." Allistor said. I nodded and rolled out my bedroom before Laying down looking at the fire. I then felt Talion lay down right behind me and slightly grinned. Though I couldn't get the thought of my dad killing Talion out of my head. 'Daddy wouldn't do that...would he?' I thought to myself.

*next morning*

The brightness of light shined upon us all. I peaked my eyes opened and saw the twins sitting up eating apples and chatting with each other. Scottie was carving into the stone with her dagger and Lily, Allistor and Damien where still asleep. I sat up and yawned. "Think fast!" I heard the twins voiced before an apple was tossed at me. I quickly caught it with a squeak. "T-thank you." I said before taking a bite. I looked and saw Talion eyeing me. "Do you have another one?" I asked. Shaleh tossed me another and I held it out to Talion. "It won't hurt you to eat fruit." I said with a grin. He lifted his head and sniffed it. He shot a glance up at me before eating it whole. "See? Not bad." I said scratching his back. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw his tail wagging. I giggled quietly and smiled at him before finishing my apple. "Awe~ cute" I heard Phoenix coo. I scowled and threw my apple core at her. She laughed and dodged it. "Feisty!" She laughed. I smiled and noticed Allistor and Damien beginning to stir. They sat up and yawned, when suddenly Allistor flicked Lily's forehead. "Ouch. Rude." She snapped flattening her white wolf ears and glaring at our older brother. I grinned and stood up and stretched, running my fingers through my bright red hair. "Well, are we ready to pack up?" Damien asked standing up. The twins stood and tossed their bags over their shoulders. I did the same as Talion stood and stretched. I looked at him then realized something. "How are we going to get Talion back to Erebor?" I asked. Allistor cleared his throat, "if he won't attack Sader then he can carry him in his claws." He said. My eyes widened, "will he cut Talion?" I asked concerned. "Of course not. As long as he doesn't bite him." Allistor laughed. I nodded and looked at Talion. "Please don't hurt him." I said to him, petting his head.

I held onto the handles of Allistor's saddle and kept and eye on Talion who was in Saders claws, I was to worried to tear my eyes away from him. "Are you still worried about taad?" Allistor asked me. I nodded, "extremely." I said. "Well...okay this is just a thought. How about you hide Talion in your room and wait until the time is right to tell him." He said. I looked back at my eldest brother surprised, he wasn't one to suggest this sort of thing...it was normally the twins. "Would you help me sneak him in?" I asked. Allistor grinned, "of course, we can use the secret passage Nix and Leh dug into you room." He said. "What?! They have a secret passage into my room?!" I asked. "They have one for all of us. They are for us so that we can get away with doing things with taad and maamr not knowing." He said with a smile. I giggled and turned back to see we where about three minutes away from the mountain. "What if maamr finds him?! Or someone sees him and tells taad?" I asked. "Well...I don't know. But until that happens we all keep quiet. You all hear that!" Allistor yelled. "Wha?" Phoenix asked. "What did he say? Shaleh asked. I heard an irritated groan from Allistor, "until further notice Talion will be hidden. None of us know anything about him alright?" Allistor yelled. "Just wait, I bet he's going to escape, someone is going to find him, tell dad then their immediately going to blame Shaleh and I." Phoenix said turning forward. "Probably, hehe that's what you two get for always causing trouble. First blame." Scottie snickered. I grinned and held onto the saddle as Allistor and Damien guided their dragons around the side of the mountain to their stable while the twins, Lily and Scottie went to theirs. Sader carefully set Talion down who huffed and walked to me as I got off. I looked up at him and grinned before scratching under his chin. "Good boy~" I said happily. Allistor snickered behind me. "What?" I asked. He shook his head and smiled, "nothing. It's just funny that you...you...the smallest and kindest out of all of us got a ferocious beast like that." He said. "And dragons aren't ferocious?" I asked. "Well yes they are, but wargs are more accustomed with orcs than...small girls." He said with a grin. I rolled my eyes and waited for him to finished untacking Sader before he clapped his hands and looked at me. "Alright, let's go." He said as we walked up the stairs. "Nix, sneak Ashe and Talion through the tunnel to her room." He said. Phoenix nodded and began to lead me. "Wait I'm coming too!" Shaleh said. "Oh, forgot you two are a package deal." Allistor laughed. I giggled and followed the twins through...a hidden door in the stable wall that I had no idea existed. "When did you guys put this here?!" I asked following them. "Oh we did this before you where born." Shaleh replied. "Hm...cool." I said. "Do we go left here?" Phoenix asked. "No...to get to Ashes room I think we keep going straight then take a right." Shaleh replied. "No that's how to get to Melody's room...I think we go left." Phoenix said before deciding to go left anyways. We followed Phoenix before she pushed open a door and looked in the room. I staid away, "o-oh hey taad! What heh...up?" She said nervously. "Phoenix? What on earth are you doing in the wall?!" I heard my father ask and heard his footsteps. Shaleh suddenly shoved me and Talion back, masking is in darkness. I saw my fathers head hardly peak through the door before Phoenix pushed him out along with herself. "We actually needed to talk to you!" She said distracting him and kicking the door shut with her foot. Shaleh turned back to me, "come on, we're near you bedroom." She whispered before continuing on with us on her tail. We passed a few doors until we finally stopped. "We should really label these doors...maybe Phoenix and I will do that later because we totally just almost led you right to the person we're trying to avoid." She said pushing the door open. "Yep! This is your room~" she said going through. I walked out as did Talion. "Huh...I'm shocked he fit through the tunnels." Shaleh said. "Their bigger than you think I guess. I didn't even have to crouch down or anything." I said with a smile before hugging my sister. "Thank you so much," I said. She hugged me tightly, "anytime, Talion seems cool." She said. I giggled, "you should probably go save Nix." I said. Her eyes widened, "oh mahal yeah I probably should! See you at dinner!!" She said before running into back into the tunnel. I turned and saw Talion sitting and staring at me. "How does your leg feel?" I asked. He sat and stared. "Oh mahal...I forgot...I can't speak with you without having a piece of you touching me." I muttered. I remembered how my mother has Echo's black scale as the centerpiece of her crown, the twins had anklets with a silver scale from each of their dragons. Liam has one of Ferni's feathers clipped into his hair. Damien actually has one of Saders baby teeth lodged into his right shoulder from his teething and vicious stage. Damien has one of Maleth's claws on a chain around his neck. I sat and huffed on the ground, "I can't talk to you until I have something like that." I muttered. Suddenly Talion pawed on my shoulder. I looked and saw he had my bag in his mouth. "You want me to change your bandages?" I asked. He nodded, 'oh...so he can understand me he just can't reply.' I thought as I stood and dug through my bag. "If you would let me i can stitch the gash. It will heal faster." I said. Talion nodded. I quickly got up and got my stitching items. My aunt Dis had taught me how to stitch a wound one day when Scottie had a sparring accident and cut her arm open. "Lay down, please." I said. Talion flopped onto his side so I could see the side of his leg where the injure was. I unwrapped the bandage and cringed. "I'm going to get something to clean it, hold on." I said before I ran into my bathroom grabbing a washcloth and a bucket of water. I dunked the cloth in water and begun cleaning around the wound before applying a painkilling ointment. "Alright...please don't move. This shouldn't hurt, you may feel a pinch though." I said before I began sowing up the gash. To my pleasure he only flinched his leg when I first poked the needle through. I focused intensely until I heard a knock at my door. "W-who is it?" I asked. "It's me!" I heard Scottie outside my door. "Oh, come in!" I said. She opened the door and quickly shut it. "Aw, did the poor guy get hurt?" She asked crouching down beside me as I continued stitching. "Yeah, I don't know how though. Can you finish this up? I need to find the bandages." I asked. Scottie nodded and finished sewing it for me as I rummaged through my dresser and pulled out bigger bandages. She moved and allowed me to wrap it properly. "You know, put aside the fact that it's a warg, maamr and taad would probably be proud of you caring for an animal and stitching its wounds. Well...at least Maamr would." She said. I smiled and nodded, "that would be nice. I really hope they don't take him away when they find out." I said. "At least you know they are going to find out. Anyways, I just came in to check and make sure Nix and Leh didn't get you lost in those damn tunnels." She said. I laughed. "Yeah I'm alright." I said. She nodded and went for the door, "okay good, ask me if you need anything. I'll see you at dinner." She said before closing the door. I nodded and looked at Talion...then managed to get a whif of him. I cringed. "You need a bath...for the love of Durin..." I said. I led him to the bathroom and into the tub, slightly thanking that we had large lavish tubs. I ran some water and wrapped some plastic around his bandage so it wouldn't get wet. I grabbed a small bucket and filled it with water before dunking it over his back multiple times soaking his fur. Suddenly she shook like a dog and I ducked down. I laughed and shot back up, "really?!" I laughed. He huffed. I took some soap in my hand and scrubbed his fur thoroughly as to get all the dirt and sweat away. It too quite a while but after a few rinse and repeats I finally got all the dirt out...leaving his fur whiter than before. It was beautiful. I grabbed some cotton out of my room and placed it carefully in his ears before washing his head so I wouldn't get water in them. After finishing washing him...he smelled like berries...really good berries. I dried him off with a towel and let him into my room. I looked around my room and saw an open corner next to my bed big enough for him. I grinned and hopped onto my bed and looked at my some thirty pillows. I saved two for myself and tossed all of them until they where a nice big plush pile before using one of my old, big blankets I pulled out of my closet to cover the top. I grinned and placed my hands on my hips before turning around to see Talion laying down in the corner on the stone floor. "Come here! You can sleep on these~" I said. He sat up and cocked his head. "Haven't you ever had a bed?" I asked walking to him. He shook his head. "...well...as long as your with me I want you to be happy and healthy and have a nice place to rest your head, okay?" I said petting the now silky soft fur on his head. He stood up, walking over to the corner and sniffed the blanket and pillows before stepping on and laying down. I smiled at him and sat on my own bed. I looked at him as he closed his eyes. 'I can't believe he never had a bed...and from how much dirt I got off him he obviously rarely bathed. Orcs should treat their wargs nicer and with more respect...they aren't the ones being ridden on.' I thought. I heard a light knock at my door and crept over and opened it, lily stood there. "Hey five minutes until dinner!" She said with a smile. I nodded and closed the door. I walked over to my closet and pulled out a nice baby blue dress with a black belt with silver buckle my dad had given me and put it on. I brushed through my hair and slipped on some shoes. I looked back at Talion who was now fast asleep. I grinned and walked over and kissed his head. "I don't know what your past is...but I know whatever you did wasn't your fault." I said quietly before standing and leaving the room. I locked the door and tucked the key into my dress. 'I hope he will be alright.' I thought as I made my way through Erebor towards the dining room. I thought it was odd...I had heard stories of wargs and how mean and vicious. However he hasn't exactly snapped at me, tried to hurt me once. Only listened and been nothing but sweet. "Huh...cool~" I said to myself as I descended the staircase that led to the doors which opened to the dinning room.