Jasna was at the far end of the infirmary, sitting down with a red-haired dwarf from the Iron Hills who had one of the most colorful vocabularies she'd ever heard, and what looked to be a nasty infection in his right thumb. She peered down at that the swollen digit, with the bright red squiggles stretching down almost to the base of said thumb. "Wh-what did y-y-you do again?"
"I hit it with a blasted bloody hammer is what I did!" His voice rang across the infirmary, causing several of those still abed to look in their direction. "I do not recommend ye do it, lassie!"
"It l-looks to me like y-y-y-you might h-h-have done more th-than hit it with a hammer."
A heavy sigh sent his mustache fluttering almost perfectly straight out. "It's been botherin' me fer days, lass. I had a splinter tha' I thought I'd got out, but perhaps I didn't after all."
"I can look."
"Please. I canna stand it any longer." He added a few more colorful phrases when she gently probed at it, sucking in his breath as he growled, "Oh, jus' cut it off! It'd hurt less."
"I ap-ap-apologize," she replied, biting back a smile. "I th-think it will n-n-need to be lanced."
"So lance it."
"I need to sp-sp-speak with Óin first."
"Nae, ye don't. I trust ye. Ye've got good hands, lassie. Just lop off the tip, wrap it up, an' let me get back ta work!"
She shook her head. "I'm afraid I cannot d-do that. Óin will b-b-b-be furious, and he sc-scares me more th-than you d-d-do." She rose from her chair, patting him on the shoulder with one hand. "I won't be b-b-b-but a minute."
"If ye say so."
As she straightened, she caught sight of Dís making her way into the infirmary, looking back and forth amongst the beds—for her sons, no doubt. Jasna glanced back at the dwarf with the injured thumb, then ahead at Dís, and made her way over to the dwarf princess. "Lady Dís? Fíli and Kíli are over in the back corner. Come and I'll take you to them."
"Aren't you helping Dáin?"
"Dáin?"
Dís smiled and waved at the red-haired dwarf. "Dáin. He's my and Thorin's cousin. He isn't giving you any trouble, is he?"
"No. W-w-will he?"
"He might. He's... unique."
Jasna smiled. "I can see that."
"Go and tend to him. I can find my sons and sit with them until you're free and you can catch me up with them."
"Ca-catch you up?"
Dís nodded as she skirted a bed. "Go. Before Dáin starts yelling."
Jasna swallowed hard as she stood there for a moment, then remembered she was fetching Óin, who was at his desk. She approached him. "Do you have a moment?"
"I do, lassie." He lifted his head to meet her gaze. "What is it?"
"Dáin, I believe Lady Dís said his name is?"
"Dáin. He's of the Iron Hills. What brings him here?"
"He has a nasty infection in his thumb. I think it n-n-needs to be dr-dr-drained, but th-th-think you should look at it first."
"Of course." He pushed back from his desk and came around to follow her back to where Dáin sat. "Dáin Ironfoot! Ye aren't givin' my student a tough time, are ye?"
"She's only a student? I dinna believe that for a moment. She's doesna act like a student. She knows wha' she's doin'!"
Jasna's cheeks grew warm, and then went warmer still as Óin turned a proud smile in her direction. "She's one of the brightest I've ever taught. Yer in good hands, man."
"I knew it. She's the one what insisted on fetchin' ye."
"Miss Stoneham," Óin turned to her, "what should we do here?"
She swallowed hard, willing her words to come smoothly as she said, "Lance and drain, do a q-quick exam for any f-foreign b-bodies, flush it with kingsfoil and bind it with linen soaked in comfrey and give him instructions to k-keep it clean."
Óin bobbed his head. "Proceed. I'll look it over before ye bandage it."
"Th-thank you."
He went back to his desk and she turned to find Dáin grinning at her. "Why d-do you smile?" she asked, rising to go and gather the supplies she'd need.
"Ye knew what ta do the entire time, lassie. Ye need to believe in yerself more."
"I'm still q-quite new at this." She said this over her shoulder as she went to the cupboard. Her stomach rolled for a painful moment at the thought of lancing and draining the wound, as she still wasn't used to doing such things. Still, she swallowed hard and continued gathering everything up.
As she did, she glanced over at Dís, sitting between her sons, looking from one to the other as they slept, her left hand on Kili's forearm, her right on Fíli's. What would have happened, had she not come into the courtyard when she had? Jasna had the strangest feeling Thorin was on the verge of kissing her. When he leaned in, murmuring how she should use his given name, the air around them almost crackled with electricity.
What would kissing the King Under the Mountain be like? She'd never been kissed before, by anyone, and so had no idea what it felt like to have someone else's lips pressed to hers. She and Anissa used to talk about what such a thing might be like, as she'd never kissed anyone, either. They would whisper late into the night, their beds across from one another in the small dormitory, about what happened between men and women when they were alone together, what happened when one went beyond kissing? What would it be like? What did they think kissing Kieran Edwards would be like, as they both found him quite appealing?
Would either one of them ever find out?
She sighed softly as she brought everything back to where Dáin sat. Anissa would never know. She'd died when the burning dormitory roof caved in on her. Jasna tried to get to her, but the flames were too intense, choking the air from her lungs, threatening to scorch the skin from her bones. Kieran and the others all perished from the thick, black, acrid smoke that engulfed Esgaroth to choke out everyone and everything in its path.
Do not think about that.
She pushed the memories from her mind as she made her way back to where Dáin sat, and his eyes went wide at the sight of the implements she'd need to open his wound, his face going pale as he said, "Have ye any ale or rye, perhaps?"
"This shouldn't hurt m-m-much," she said. "It will probably f-f-feel better once the pressure is gone."
"I don't think it can feel worse," Dáin replied, looking down at the table now. He visibly swallowed and his, "Be quick, lassie. Please," was far softer than his speech up to that point.
She patted his hand. "I will. Close your eyes if it would help."
"Don't tell anyone."
"My lips are s-sealed."
He did and she went to work, fighting back biting nausea as she drained the wound. A low oath leaked through Dáin's teeth, but he remained perfectly still as she finished, then carefully probed about. Her eyes widened when she found the source of the infection, a small sliver of wood embedded deep in the pad of his thumb.
"Augh! Take care, lassie!" Dáin's voice rang out like a bell as she extracted the sliver.
"I b-b-beg your p-p-pardon, but it h-had to be d-d-done," she said, dropping the splinter into the basin. "If it's any consolation, we are f-f-finished."
"Thank Mahal," he breathed, his arm relaxing and his fingers splaying a bit wider now.
"I just n-n-need to flush it and bandage it."
He hissed again as she poured a solution of kingsfoil and purified water over the wound, then applied a small square of comfrey-soaked linen, saying, "Hold this here whilst I f-f-fetch Óin. He w-w-wanted to see it be-before I bandaged it."
"Again, lassie?"
"He said to do so." She rose and hurried to grab Óin and brought him back over to look over her work.
He bobbed his head. "Aye, ye did a fine job, Miss Stoneham. Bandage it and send the wee man on his way."
"Wee man?" Dáin's voice rang with disbelief. "Who are ye callin' a wee man, ye cantaloupe?"
"See?" Óin winked. "He's fine."
Jasna bit back a smile as Óin took himself off, and when she looked back at Dáin, he merely arched a rusty eyebrow and held out his still-bleeding thumb. She swapped out the bloodied linen for a fresh square, and wrapped clean linen about that, knotting it carefully. "Is that t-t-too tight?"
"Not at all, lassie." He bent his thumb. "How long until I can use it again?"
"It's hard to say." She looked up to see Thorin limp back into the infirmary, leaning heavily on the black ash cane. Her heart skipped beat, her belly did a strange little flutter, and when he looked over at her, heat climbed into her cheeks, and she had to look away.
"Lassie?"
"Uh... I b-b-beg your p-pardon."
"It's all right. Thorin turns heads. He always has."
"What? N-no, that n-n-not it." She looked up to find Dáin grinning at her. "What? It isn't."
"Of course not. Now," he held up his hand and wiggled his bandaged thumb, "when do I get this back?"
"Uh... right... come in for the next few d-d-days for a wound ch-check and we'll take it day b-b-by day." She pushed the cork stopper back into the bottle of comfrey extract. "Keep it as d-d-d-dry as possible. And please, do ba-ba-baby it. It will be sore for the n-n-n-next several days."
"Baby it? Have ye seen how much work this place needs? I canna take time off."
"You c-c-can if you w-w-w-want to have it heal pr-pr-properly."
He sighed softly. "Yer a hard woman, lassie."
"I have your best interests at heart, Mr. Dáin."
Dáin chuckled, then looked over her shoulder. "Ah, Thorin, how nice of ye to come visit!"
Jasna's stomach did a massive flip as Thorin replied, "I apologize, cousin. I was a bit occupied with trying not to die."
Dáin's grin grew wider. "Aye, I'm glad ye had yer priorities straight." He stood and came around to embrace Thorin. "And it's good ta see ye upright again."
"It's good to be upright again. Now, what did you do to yourself?"
"I got a splinter on somethin', it would seem. I thought I got it out, and didn't even realize I hadn't until my thumb blew up like mad and hurt like the fires of Mordor." He glanced down at Jasna. "Might I steal him away fer a bit? Or he is under house arrest?"
"Actually," Thorin said, "I came over to ask Miss Stoneham if she had a moment."
"Oh, I have to cl-cl-clean up and then round, Your Majesty." She stood and began gathering up all the used supplies and the basin that needed cleaning. "And no, Mr. Dáin, he is not under arrest of any sort. You are more than welcome t-t-to st-st-steal him for a bit."
"Wonderful!" Dáin clapped Thorin on the back. "Come along and let me catch ye up on what ye've missed, lyin' about here w'out a care in the world."
"It wasn't quite that carefree," Thorin said, allowing Dáin to steer him back toward the Great Hall, which lay between the infirmary and the kitchens.
Jasna watched them go and fought off the urge to sigh. They were nearly the same height, but Thorin wasn't quite as wide as his cousin, who was far more on the stout side. Thorin might not see himself that way, but he certainly carried himself as a king.
A king who was going to kiss her.
"So ye survived draining that?"
She looked over at Óin, who'd come up alongside her, and nodded. "It was a bit d-d-d-dicey, but yes."
"I knew ye would. He's right, ye know. Ye need only bait more confidence in yerself." He glanced over at Dís and his smile faded. "We need to tell her what happened to Fíli and Kíli."
"We?"
He nodded. "Ye've been with them since they came in."
"B-b-but I only h-h-h-helped with Kíli and for Fíli, I've but held his hands for him."
"You've done much more than that since they arrived. Come along now."
Reluctantly, she followed Óin across to where Dís sat. She looked up at them and offered up a slight smile. "I never thought I'd be sitting here," she said, "looking at my boys and wondering if they would ever stand on their own again."
Óin patted her shoulder. "I know it is rough to see them this way, my lady. But believe me when I tell ye, they were in far worse condition when they first came in."
Dís' eyes, almost the same shade of steel blue as her brother's, reddened. "But will they make full recoveries?"
Óin glanced down at the sleeping forms, then gestured for Dís to come with them. "Let's speak away from the lads."
"Oh, no..." Dís brought a hand to her mouth, her eyes beginning to shimmer now. "Óin, no..."
"They just don't need to hear how bad it was. Not yet."
Dís looked from him to Jasna. "Thorin wouldn't tell me what happened. Can either of you?"
Jasna shook her head. "I don't know wh-what happened. I w-w-w-was out in Dale. B-b-bard asked me to come here to h-h-h-help."
"Come, my lady," Óin held out a hand, "and we can talk somewhere a bit more private."
Fíli stirred then, a low moan rising to his lips. Dís' spine stiffened at the sound. "He—"
"Miss Stoneham, if ye would take Lady Dís into my office whilst I see what Fíli needs. Ye can explain to her what we know so far."
She nodded. "Of course."
"Wait, Óin, you're leaving me with a student to answer my questions?"
"She's one of the brightest students I've had, my lady. Yer in good hands, I promise."
Dís didn't look at all convinced, but she merely shrugged and followed Jasna away from the Durins' beds and back to Óin's office. Once they were inside and she'd closed the door, Dís said, "Please, tell me what happened to my sons."
"I honestly d-d-don't know." She motioned to the chairs in front of Óin's desk. "Please, s-s-sit and I'll t-t-t-tell you what I d-d-d-do know."
Dís didn't look entirely convinced, but she sank into one of the chairs. Jasna took the other one, shifting it slightly toward her, and without thinking, she took the lady's hands in hers. "I don't know h-h-h-how exactly they w-w-w-were wounded. It happened up at R-ravenhill.
"Fíli w-w-w-was run through by a double blade, j-j-just as Thor—His Majesty—w-w-was. By the s-s-same blade, I believe, but only the topmost one did any d-d-damage." She paused. "It was the longer bl-bl-blade."
"Oh, no..."
"I'm afraid there's more, my lady. He fell a gr-gr-great distance and su-sustained fractures in his l-l-legs—his femurs, up here," she gestured to her own thigh, "his tibia and fibulas, in the lower leg, and both ankles as well."
"Will he regain use of his legs?"
Jasna nodded slowly. "Óin be-be-be—thinks he should, yes. He has a very long r-r-road ahead of him, but in time, he should. He can feel them, and that's a good sign. A very good sign, indeed. But, he is only in the b-b-b-be-be-beginning stages of recovery, you know. And it will be months before he will be able to do much."
"Does he know?"
"Not yet. He's not been conscious long enough for either Narnerra or Óin to speak with him at length. He knows what happened. He is aware of everything around him. But we've not given him much more than b-b-basic information now. In t-t-time, Óin will, when h-h-he feels Fíli is st-st-strong enough to hear the truth."
"The truth?"
Jasna drew in a deep breath. "His injuries are very severe, my lady. He will re-recover, but he will n-n-not be the same. He may never h-h-have full use of his legs, may limp, may have stiff joints. We w-w-won't know until he is ready to be upright and m-m-moving. Then he can be assessed and w-w-we can go f-f-forward."
The shimmering in Dís' eyes grew brighter and she visibly swallowed, but then she nodded and said, "Thank you, Miss Stoneham. I appreciate your honesty."
"Of course. You're we-welcome."
Dís dug into her small bag and pulled out a lacy handkerchief, with which she dabbed at her eyes. Then, lowering it, she said, "And Kíli?"
"He was run through from the front. A s-s-single blade. It went through his chest," she put a hand to her own, just below her breasts, on the right side, "approximately here. It nicked both the inferior vena cava and the descending aorta, both of which run from the heart."
Dís' eyes went perfectly round "H-his heart was damaged?"
"The wounds w-w-were relatively small, and I assisted Narnerra in suturing them. He should be fine in time, my lady."
"Are you certain?"
"More or less," Jasna told her softly, instinctively reaching over to cover the lady's hands with her own. She gave them a gentle squeeze. "He was seriously wounded, b-b-but, I understand a she-elf was with him when he was felled. H-h-h-he had a bit of cloth wadded against his wounds, with enough p-p-p-pressure applied to slow the bleeding enough that he reached Erebor with a pulse, and I believe th-th-there might have been dried kings foil in the w-w-wound as well, which would have de-de-definitely helped with bleeding."
"A she-elf? Who?"
"I believe he said her name was Tauriel, my lady." She gave Dís' hands another squeeze. "But you'll be able to ask h-h-him yourself in a day or s-s-so to be certain."
Dís' eyes glimmered with those unshed tears, overflowing to sent them streaking over her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice cracking, "I just... this is not what I thought I'd find here. My brother, my sons, almost dying at the hands of orcs... it just—I don't know what to do with this... what to think."
Jasna withdrew her handkerchief from the pocket of her work dress and pressed it into the lady's hands. "It's quite all right, my lady. It's b-b-been a sh-sh-shock, no doubt."
"And Thorin, is he going to make a full recovery as well?"
Jasna nodded. "He will, yes."
"What happened to him?"
Jasna shifted slightly. "I really don't kn-kn-know, my lady. He has not spoken much about wh-wh-what happened to him and I do not feel comfortable sharing what I do know without first asking him permission."
"I thought of anyone, he would have told you."
"Why w-w-would you think that?"
A hint of a smile tugged at Dís' lips. "You looked very cozy with him out in the courtyard."
"No. I was b-b-but helping him. He began walking about earlier this week, but th-th-this was the first he's been out of doors since he arrived."
"I know my brother, Miss Stoneham. And if his is the heart you wish to win," she gave into her smile now, "I can help you with that."
Heat stung Jasna's cheeks even as she shook her head. "I thank you, but that won't b-b-b-be necessary."
"Are you certain?"
The door opened then, and Óin barreled in, greeting them with, "Was Miss Stoneham able to help you at all, my lady?"
Dís nodded, dabbing at her eyes with the handkerchief. "She was a great help, yes, Óin. May I go and sit with my boys?"
"Of course. Feel free to sit with them as long as you like. Miss Stoneham, will you escort the lady back to Fíli and Kíli?"
Jasna nodded. "Of course."
She waited for Dís to rise, and led her out into the infirmary, around the beds, to where she'd been sitting before. Thorin had returned to his bed, his eyes closed, his boots lying on the floor at the foot of his bed. Dís glanced over at him, then at her, and said, "If you change your mind, Miss Stoneham, just let me know."'
"I do appreciate it, but it really is n-n-n-not necessary."
"Very well." Dís settled herself back into her chair, and resumed her position of one hand on each of her sons.
"Might I f-f-f-fetch you anything?"
"I'll be fine, thank you."
"Very well. I'll be by again in a b-b-b-bit when we do rounds. Óin likes to stay at-at-atop things."
"I expect no less from him. I will see you later, Miss Stoneham."
Jasna bobbed her head and moved around to crouch and pick up Thorin's boots to move them before someone—namely her—tripped over them. As she straightened, he said, "Just toss them under the bed, if you'd not mind."
"Oh, I h-h-h-hadn't realized you were awake." She tucked the boots beneath his bed and straightened up once more. "Do you n-n-n-need anything for pain?"
"No. I can tolerate the twinges."
"If it worsens, let me kn-kn-know."
He nodded. "I will."
"Rest now."
As she made to move by him, he reached for her, catching her by the hand to halt her. "Miss Stoneham?"
"Y-y-yes?"
"Thank you."
"There is n-n-no need t-t-to thank me, Your Majesty."
"Thorin."
As he growled that one word, Jasna was convinced she could feel Dís' eyes on her, could feel the lady offering up a knowing smile. She was overly aware of how warm Thorin's hand felt, how those thick fingers wound entirely about her slender wrist. "Your Majesty..."
"I've told you, it's quite all right. I'd prefer it."
"Very well. If I call you by your given name, will you get some rest?"
His eyes met hers and he smiled. "I will, aye."
"Then get some rest," she paused, "Thorin."
He released her then, wincing as he shifted slightly. But before she could offer him pain relief again, he said, "I'm fine. Just a bit sore from moving."
"If you're certain."
"I am."
"I'll see you when we r-r-round. If you're sl-sleeping, I'll try not to wake you."
"I appreciate it."
For a moment, she wondered what he'd do, should she stroke his hair, as she'd done that first day he was with them. The urge to do just that coursed through her, and it was all she could do to resist giving in.
As she moved away from his bed, she glanced over at Lady Dís, and for one mad moment, almost went over to take her up on her offer.
But then she thought better of it. Yes, Thorin was handsome. He was kind. But he was also not only a dwarf, but their king. She was of Man, and a nobody, really. There could never be anything between them. And besides, just because she thought him handsome didn't mean he found her attractive at all. The notion that he was about to kiss her might be nothing more than her own imagination.
She went back to her room to do some studying before rounds, but as she stared down at the pages before her, all she could see was Thorin leaning in to her, and all she could think about was what it would feel like to be in his arms.