Imladris, the last homely house east of the Sea, was in the realm of Eriador. It was a very peaceful, sheltered town at the edge of a narrow gorge of the river Bruinen. It was well hidden in the moorlands and foothills of the Misty Mountains and here ruled Lord Elrond, one of the wisest Elves left in Middle-earth, and the person whom Lady Míriel had grown to care for enough to consider a parent figure.
Rivendell was now her second home despite not being born nor raised there. Míriel's second family lived there though; her uncle Elrond, her cousins Arwen, Elladan and Elrohir. Arwen had grown to become the closest thing Míriel had to a sister, and even though they were not living with each other in Rivendell at the moment, it never felt as though they were apart. In their hearts they were connected like sisters were; they had so much in common even beyond the fact that both their mothers were gone.
"Did you hear?" Mirima suddenly entered the common room where Míriel usually spent her days with her closest friends. Mirima's young blue eyes shone with excitement as all the Elf-maidens turned their attention to her and started asking what had happened.
"Mithrandir has come! And you will never guess who is accompanying him."
It wasn't very strange that old Gandalf showed up in Rivendell without any notice for that was in a way what he did. Gandalf was a powerful Istari or a Wizard as most knew him as, but that was about all that was known about his story. Míriel and the rest of the Elves in Rivendell knew the Wizard well nonetheless for he had spent much time amongst them, ever since he first set foot in Middle-earth.
"The King of Mirkwood?" suggested Alya with a light chuckle and brought Míriel's attention back to her. Perhaps Gandalf had brought another Wizard or a gift.
"The Prince of Mirkwood," guessed Adanessa which made all the girls giggle since there was a rumour going around that the Prince of Mirkwood, son of Thranduíl the King, was a very handsome Elf. It was a rumour brought by the most untrustworthy of people, though.
It was a ridiculous guess of course because the Mirkwood Elves rarely left their land and none of the Elf-maidens had ever met one. They were quite isolated which was a shame since none of them would have minded glancing upon a handsome prince. It was not likely, though, for Míriel's grandmother had told her long ago that Galadriel and Celeborn had not been very popular with the King's father Oropher, who had not liked the Noldor Elves much.
"No, no it is none of those people," Mirima said and shook her head. Míriel glanced at Mirima and saw that her friend would soon burst if she couldn't tell them what she had seen. It truly had to be something out of the ordinary to make Mirima this excited.
"Dwarves."
"Dwarves?" Míriel repeated and stood up. "Is it true?"
Dwarves in Rivendell, that was not something any of them had expected. In fact, none of the Elf-maidens had ever met Dwarves before since they rarely ever visited Elf-lands. Elves and Dwarves did not go well together for they had a long history of quarrels and conflicts. Elves thought Dwarves to be very greedy and careless, while Dwarves thought Elves to be too full of themselves and disloyal. None of it was true of course but none had ever tried to resolve this issue. Therefore, it had to be a very rare occasion for Dwarves to enter Imladris.
"Oh..." Alya said with obvious disappointment in her voice. "What on earth are Dwarves doing here in Rivendell?"
"That is what I want to find out," Míriel said eagerly and started hurrying out of the room, hearing the others call after her that it was not a good idea, but then they merely snickered since they knew there was no use. Míriel was like that, and it was for that reason that they were so fond of her.
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.
"We heard you had crossed into the Valley," Lindir said in Sindarin.
Míriel, in her own opinion, found it a bit rude to speak in a language that not all could understand, especially since the Dwarves were their guests. She examined all of the Dwarves with eager eyes and found them all with different hair colours, eye colours, shapes and height. Some were younger and some were old - but there was only one with raven black hair amongst them. He was not the average round Dwarf with a long beard and big nose like the others, for he seemed different in a way. The way that he stood, his posture, made it evident that he was a leader. The question as to why the Dwarves were even there remained unanswered and Míriel expected that she would have to wait for Elrond to arrive to get her answers.
"I must speak with Lord Elrond," Gandalf said with a serious tone in his voice.
"Lord Elrond is not here," Míriel spoke up before Lindir could do so. Elrond had gone out at dawn, but why she did not know.
"Not here?" Gandalf said suspiciously. "Where is he?"
A horn of Rivendell was heard as soon as Gandalf had asked this question. Elrond and his riders had arrived and rode into the round Dwarf-filled courtyard in all haste. The Dwarves began bracing themselves for an attack as they were not sure the Elves would be friendly, yet the Elves merly began riding in circles around the Dwarves as there was not a lot of space in the courtyard.
"Gandalf!" Elrond said happily and smiled.
"Lord Elrond," Gandalf said, sounding light, and bowed his head in respect. "My friend. Where have you been?"
"We have been hunting a pack of Orcs that came up from the south," Elrond explained which was strange since Orcs rarely crossed their lands. "We slew a number near the Hidden Pass."
Elrond dismounted his horse to greet the old Wizard with an embrace. Another Elf quickly grabbed the reins of his lord's horse while Míriel approached her uncle to greet him as well. It was a relief to have him back home safely since Míriel could never help to worry a little bit every time he went out.
"Strange for Orcs to come so close to our borders. Something or someone has drawn them near." Elrond glanced at Míriel and smiled, he seemed happy to see her there.
"Ah, that may have been us," Gandalf admitted and made a gesture towards the Dwarves.
The black-haired Dwarf stepped forward toward Elrond, which confirmed Míriel's suspicions that he had been the leader of this company. He glanced up at Elrond with his blue eyes, and though he was calm there was still the sense that he was not comfortable being in the presence of Elves.
"Welcome Thorin, son of Thráin," Elrond greeted him kindly.
"I do not believe we have met," Thorin said and raised his eyebrows suspiciously as Elrond knew his name without an introduction.
"You have your grandfather's bearing," Elrond explained to him and smiled kindly. "I knew Thrór when he ruled under the mountain."
"Indeed?" Thorin said and chuckled. "He made no mention of you."
The Dwarf was indeed Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin, son of Thrór - King under the Mountain. At least Thrór had been king once many years ago before his realm Erebor was overtaken by a terrifying dragon from the North. Since then the Dwarves of Durin had been driven from their home and spread across Middle-earth. Thorin was the only heir to a throne that many had forgotten the very existence of.
"Light the fires, bring forth the wine," Elrond had said to his people while looking at their guests. "We must feed our guests."
"What is he saying?" said one of the Dwarves with red wild hair. "Does he offer us insult?!"
Míriel chuckled and shook her head, made eye contact with a younger-looking Dwarf by doing so. He was blonde and next to him stood another young Dwarf who was darker of hair. Both looked kind enough, but Míriel could never know for sure. What she did know, though, was that they did not seem pleased by what they thought Elrond said.
"No master Glóin," Gandalf said and shook his head with a small smile on his face. He, of course, knew all the languages of Middle-earth fluently. "He is offering you food."
The Dwarves turned to each other to discuss the offer for a moment, before Glóin, the one with wild red hair, turned to them again. He seemed to be a little suspicious still, but from the looks of the Dwarves, the Elves could assume that they were hungry. It did not seem like they were going to decline the offer.
"Well, in that case, lead on."
"Follow me," Míriel said and started walking up the steps, seeing that the Dwarves comfortably started following her.
All the events of the afternoon had made her very excited since it seemed that something new was finally going to happen in Rivendell. They could not know how long the Dwarves would stay, but it sure would be a memorable time.
Míriel glanced back at the Dwarves but this time she did not only see them but a little figure with a red coat on as well. This was a fourteenth member of the company of the Dwarves. He was shorter than the Dwarves and he had no beard whatsoever. He was a strange little creature, something very unlikely to be in this group of people. He was a Hobbit.
The Dwarves and Gandalf followed Míriel up the stairs and into the palace. She figured they would need to get cleaned and have somewhere to leave their things before dinner. It would not be pleasant to have their dirt stain their chairs and garment but Míriel, of course, did not say this. Gandalf was walking in the back, speaking to Thorin Oakenshield while Míriel tried to listen curiously.
"You can leave all your things here and get cleaned up," Míriel said and stopped.
"We're not very keen on leaving our weapons with you," said a white-haired Dwarf with a beard longer than any of the others. The others mumbled and nodded in agreement.
Míriel sighed and glanced at Gandalf who coughed slightly and shrugged toward her. They could of course not know that Míriel could be a little ill-tempered, but now they had made her frustrated since she had done nothing to earn mistrust. Míriel did not want to embarrass Elrond in front of guests, though, even if they were Dwarves.
"I can assure you that you are safe here," Míriel said and tried smiling. "My people do not come to this chamber often so no one will touch your things if you do not want us to. I know our peoples are not exactly on good terms, but Lord Elrond has been polite and kind enough to offer you a place to rest, eat and be safe in for a couple of days. I believe that is more than you would have done for him."
The Dwarves just stared at Míriel, shocked by her attitude. It had not been her intention to sound harsh, but at least she had spoken her mind. The Dwarves glanced at each other; some were muttering some insults, but some were also looking rather amused by what Míriel had said. Perhaps they had not expected an Elf to lose their temper as easily as Míriel had done.
"I think Lady Míriel is right," Gandalf said and broke the silence. "We are safe here."
"Just leave your things," said Thorin and sighed. He did not seem pleased with it, but he was tired and hungry, so he gave in. The Dwarves instantly did what their leader told them to do and piled up their weapons and packing in a corner.
Míriel moved toward Gandalf who smiled apologetically toward her. "They are a little rough around the edges at first, but when you get to know them-"
"I understand," Míriel said and smiled. She truly did, and she was not angry anymore. "Will you tell me their names? Not that I am sure that I will ever be able to memorise them all."
Gandalf quickly started pointing out which was who of all the Dwarves. There was Nori, Fili, Dori, Bofur, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin, Oin, Bombur, Kili, Bifur, Ori and of course Thorin Oakenshield. It was funny that they all had similar names, but none of them looked much alike. They made Míriel laugh as they were nagging at each other, trying to get to the clean water first. Then suddenly the little Hobbit made himself remembered, and Míriel glanced at him. His hair was brown and his eyes like so, and he could not be very old.
"What is his name?" Míriel asked Gandalf curiously and made a gesture towards the Hobbit.
"Bilbo Baggins of the Shire," Gandalf said and smiled. "An old friend of mine."
"Mr Baggins," Míriel called and made the Hobbit flinch. He turned around and hurried over toward her and Gandalf. He seemed to be a little jumpy, and he glanced up at Míriel quickly before bowing to her. Míriel smiled again. "Gandalf here tells me you are a friend of his. How come that you know him so well?"
"Gandalf has come to my home in Hobbiton since I was only a little Hobbit lad," said Bilbo and chuckled. "He is famous there for his fireworks. He came back and wanted to enlist me for this very uncomfortable journey. Gandalf here thinks I am in need of an adventure."
"And do you agree with him?" Míriel asked and chuckled.
From what he made it sound like, the Hobbit had not intended for this journey to happen, and not in this very harsh way. But Gandalf was quite persuasive, and he had somehow gotten Bilbo to leave his home and come with a whole troop of Dwarves on an adventure that remained unknown to the Elves.
"I think I do," Bilbo Baggins said with a smile, which only made Míriel more curious as to why her home had suddenly turned into an inn for Dwarves. She was about to find out.