nothing but wine and tea | bagginshield

lunch time.

A slice of chocolate cake filled with almonds with a simple layer of powdered sugar.

The last thing he was expecting was for the King to have the palate of a small child.

Bilbo knows that Evrin is talking to him by the way she gestures with her hands and the unruly curls that fall on either side of her forehead sway from side to side because she usually speaks with her entire body, in the same way in which he knows that his mother would be very disappointed in him for not paying her even a little bit of attention.

But he is still processing the fact that all this time he has been in the presence of a princess– he had talked with her, drank tea with her and worst of all, he had given her endless reprimands for her lack of manners at eating time, he had even hit her hand once because of it! But he really didn't have the slightest idea of Evrin's lineage, until now.

And looking at the King—and of course Bilbo has been watching him constantly, anyone who had His Majesty in their range of vision would do the same—he can clearly see him in the shape of Evrin's chin, in her eyebrows, in the soft, slightly pronounced curve of her nose and in the blue of her eyes, although Evrin's eyes are more of a soft sky blue and the King's a striking storm blue.

"Mister Boggins?"

"Mhm?"

"Do I have something on my face?"

He blinks a couple of times, focusing better on Evrin's face who looks at him nervously and slightly avoids his gaze when he finally focuses fully on her. Bilbo tries not to blush at the little dissimulation that his curiosity allowed him to show. "No, of course not, I was just thinking."

"Oh," she says, smiling and sitting up straight once again, "in that case, as I was saying, my iraknadad Kíli is banned from the kitchens for a week for trying–"

"Why didn't you tell me you're a princess?" He cuts him off mid-sentence, making him nearly bite his tongue at the reprimand he knows his father would give him for the lack of manners he's shown in the last half hour.

When he is ready to apologize to her, Evrin interrupts him.

"Forgive me, Mister Boggins, it was never my intention not to tell you, it's just that everyone knows and–and you didn't and you treated me normal and I–and I–" Evrin stumbles over her last words and seriously, Bilbo isn't upset because of it, surprised? Of course he is, but he could never get angry over something like that, much less when all he should have done was pay more attention to the stories of the royal family of Erebor that his father told him.

"I'm not mad at you, Evrin," he says finally, placing another small cinnamon roll on her tray–which he's been filling with little sandwiches and pastries for a couple of minutes now because she had apparently skipped– "but a little warning wouldn't have been amiss."

Evrin blushes slightly which makes Bilbo chuckles.

"Mimel ûrzud"

They both turn to watch the King advance with calm steps towards where they are, that's when Bilbo notices how the golden and delicately decorated tiara that rests on Evrin's hair is a smaller version of the crown itself that rests on the King's head.

When he finds himself right next to Evrin, he speaks again, addressing to her entirely. "Could you help Dwalin, love? It seems like the cookie jar is winning in battle." A soft mocking smile curves on the King's lips, and looking a little to his left, Bilbo can notice how in fact the named Dwarf seems to have his fingers stuck in one of the cookie jars that he keeps for the children.