The Elf, the Hobbit and the Dwarf - Book 1 NEW VERSION

Dwarves

In the small group of friends, Mirima was the talented one with the beautiful singing voice, Alya was the responsible one, Adanessa was the shy one and Míriel was the more irresponsible and impulsive one. She was the Elf who did not always make the best decisions since she had a habit of doing exactly what she wanted without really thinking about it first. Míriel was very rash, but she had learned to control her eagerness as she had gotten older, but not quite as much as people would have expected. Her grandfather always said that Míriel had the spirit of a young Elf still, just like her father had been like.

Míriel hurried to the back of the castle where she assumed Gandalf would have had to come from, the way from the Misty Mountains. Lindir, Elrond's right hand, was walking over the stone flooring in the same direction that she had intended to go, which made her assume that she was right in suspecting where the Dwarves were. Lindir was presumably there to welcome the Wizard who was an old friend to them all and always deserved a nice reception.

Míriel carefully walked up behind Lindir and beamed widely at him to try to convince him to let her go with him.

"What are you doing here, my lady?" Lindir asked with a little sigh, but he smiled at her since he probably couldn't help it. "I thought Lord Elrond asked you to stay in the castle after your little incident last week?"

"I heard that Mithrandir was here," Míriel said and disregarded what Lindir had been talking about.

Míriel had been restless the previous week, so she thought it to be a good idea to go riding with the other guards on their weekly scout. The only issue was that she never asked Elrond first and let all the other guards think that he had given her permission. It had all ended quite well actually, only that Elrond had not been very pleased when she came back home. After all, he saw himself as Míriel's guardian and wanted to keep her as locked up and concealed just as her mother had wanted.

"Please let me see him," Míriel continued and gave Lindir a pleading gaze. "It has been years since I last saw him." She could see that Lindir was weakening under her, he did care for Míriel even if he pretended not to, before giving a nod to her.

"But behave yourself," he warned. "Be calm and remember to represent Rivendell well to these... people."

They started walking toward the staircase leading down to the courtyard where they could see old grey-haired Gandalf who resembled nothing short of a giant next to thirteen dirty and tired-looking Dwarves that barely reached the height of his waist. Míriel smiled widely, feeling as her excitement grew and then forgetting everything Lindir said about behaving.

"Mithrandir!" Míriel called loudly and waved as she got his attention. Lindir lamented and shook his head, she had already failed what he told her to do. Míriel hurried down the staircase before Lindir, held her dress up so she would not slip on it before placing her feet on the solid ground again. Lindir came right after her and sent her a glance that Míriel ignored.

"I am so glad to see you again."

"The honour is mine, my lady Míriel," Gandalf said and gave a fond smile to Míriel. She embraced him loosely and smiled as he greeted Lindir too.

Gandalf bowed his head slightly to them both and turned to the Dwarves who were looking either suspiciously or curiously at her. Some looked a little more astonished to see Elves since it was hard not to feel somewhat amazed as one saw an Elf, while some others were just glaring at them harshly.

"This is Lady Míriel of Lothlórien, niece of the Lord Elrond who rules here."

"And a very old friend of yours," Míriel added with a smile. She turned to the Dwarves and smiled with a slight bow, trying to send a message to Lindir that she could indeed behave like a lady if she just wanted to. It was important for the Dwarves to feel that they were safe in the city, and Elrond was not the kind of Elf who would want to treat them badly just because of the past.