Tear Me Apart- A Middle Earth Story

You Do Not Command Me

"I want this fortress made safe by sunup. This mountain was hard won - I will not see it taken again." Thorin commanded. The company of dwarves (and hobbits and elves) were working hard to block the entrance to Erebor with the remains of the statue of Thror. Abbie was helping Fíli carry a big rock, but stopped and looked at her husband in despair. He was cold to the core when it came to defending his mountain. Nothing seemed to help, Thorin was as stubborn as he'd ever been. As Abbie started oicking up another one of the big rocks (Thror's right hand, it looked like) she heard a loud thud and looked at Kíli. He was standing in front of Thorin and looked tired.

"The people of Laketown have nothing. They came to us in need. They have lost everything." He argued with grief in his voice. Abigail knew that it wouldn't work. She had tried talking sense to her husband at least a hundred times, but nothing seemed to be working. There was nothing she could do.

"Do not tell me what they have lost. I know well enough their hardship. Those who have lived through dragonfire should rejoice. They have much to be grateful for." The king of Erebor shouted with a stressful voice. Abbie felt her heart tear up little by little, but swallowed her tears. She had to be there for him. Her husband turned to face the town of Dale outside, and her heart felt his anguish.

"More stone! BRING MORE STONE TO THE GATE!" Thorin commanded, and Abbie followed Oín towards the piles of stone.

"You should rest, Abbie." Her husband grabbed her hand and looked at her knowingly. He had seen her throw up that very morning. "You were not feeling well this morning."

"I feel fine now. And you know better than to expect me to stand and watch while all the others work. I may be the smallest one here, but I am not the weakest." She growled. She didn't know where the sudden burst of anger came from, but she released Thorin's hand to get more stone. As she walked away, she saw his hurt expression in her mind. She shook off the shame and continued helping Oín.

Abbie was resting her elbows against one of the borders above the entrance to the kingdom of Erebor the next morning. Her kingdom. It was very early in the morning, the sun had risen not that long ago. It had been one more night of bad sleep. Thorin had gone to bed very late, and the chilld of his absence made it impossible for her to sleep. Usually his snoring and steady heartbeat lulled her to sleep, but that night she hadn't slept well at all. Thorin, on the other side, had slept like a bear in hibernation when she had left the room. She was wearing one of the late Queen's robes, and her golden crown was resting on the top of her head. Even though it was a strange sensation for Abbie to feel so mighty, she had to admit that she liked it. Despite her complicated situation with her husband, she loved being in power. She would never admit it to anyone, however. She guessed it was because she had always felt oppressed in her youth. Now, she was a queen. No one dared to question her except her father and Thorin.

"What?!" Abbie exclaimed suddenly as she snapped out of her daze. Below her in the distance she saw a shimmer of gold. It was headed towards Dale, where the people of Laketown had taken refuge. When she noticed the shape leading the army she jumped up so abruptly that her crown fell off her head.

"Thranduil." Abbie gasped as she put her crown back on. Who else could be riding an elk? She sighed and leaned on the edge of the corridor. She was facing yet another big decision. She knew she should tell Thorin. He would find out anyway. But some part of her didn't want to believe that Thranduil was there. He knew a lot about her that she didn't want her husband to know. She was starting to regret the decision to tell the elf about her insecurities. Of course she had thought it would do no harm since he was in Mirkwood, but she hadn't anticipated that he was going to come to Erebor. Abbie stayed outside on the balcony for a few minutes until she saw the elven soldiers move out of Dale towards Erebor.