1 | dark pasts [oakenshield]

Forty-nine

Anne's eyes slowly fluttered open, the sound of birds tweeting filling her ears. She stifled a groan, sitting up and ruffling her hair. Her head hurt like crazy, and she had barely any memory of the night before. The last thing she remembered was... punching someone?

Uh-oh.

"How are you feeling?" Sigrid asked as she walked in the room with a glass in her hands.

"Terrible," Anne mumbled in response, rubbing the back of her neck. "What happened?"

Sigrid tried not to laugh as she sat down on the bed, handing her the glass. She jugged it down and handed it back to Sigrid. "Well..." Sigrid started, snorting quietly, "you were drunk."

"That explains my head," she said before grimacing and rubbing her throat. "What did you just give me?"

"Something to help with your head," she said. "Anyways, after you decided to have yet another competition and won that again, I think it was Roderick—who was also in his drunken state—started to talk about the Dwarf King in a not-so-nice way. So then you went ahead and tapped him on the shoulder, and when he turned around, punched him square in nose. He crumpled to the ground with a bloody and now broken nose, and then a fight broke out. You handled yourself pretty well, even when a rather large man in size grabbed you from behind."

"Lemme guess: I kicked him straight in the crotch and then headbutted him?"

"Yes. Then when that was all over, you ran straight outside and started puking everywhere right when Da showed up. But don't feel bad, because that's what everyone else was doing, too. Then you passed out and Da carried you home and the maids dressed you. I think you awoke in your bed and just stared at the ceiling for a while before finally falling asleep."

Anne frowned. "Your father carried me?"

"Yes. And let me say this, Anne: You're as light as a feather," Bard said as he walked inside the room, Bain and Tilda following.

Anne blushed a deep red color. "Sorry about that," she murmured.

Bard laughed. "Don't be, because you weren't the only person to be carried home. After about eleven at night, the taverns were out of control. Half of the men either ended up in a room or in the streets or home. It was crazy."

"Hilarious, no less," Bain said. "The Dwarves were having the time of their lives."

Anne tilted her head to the side and hugged her knees. "You took a visit?"

"Nope, they're just loud," he explained. "It doesn't take too much to hear the voices of the terrible singing of the Princes' echoing across the plains from Erebor."

Anne cracked a smile and shrugged. "Fili and Kili were meant for screaming in a band, not singing in a choir."

Tilda started to laugh loudly, covering her mouth with her palm to settle herself down. Sigrid and Bain were chuckling, while Bard was smiling. "You certainly seemed to enjoy yourself yesterday," he mused.

"Well, I guess I have to thank Tilda for dragging me out to a dance," she said, winking at the girl.

Tilda beamed. "It was my pleasure!"

Anne chuckled, bobbing her head up at Bard. "What's on the agenda today?"

"What, besides lunch?"

"Lunch?" Anne repeated. "What time is it?"

"Around 12:30 in the afternoon, I think," Bard answered.

Anne groaned, rubbing her face with her palms. "Great."