1. Son of Durin
"Zee...raik..."
"Pay attention!" Father snaps. "You know these runes! Begin again."
I sigh. "Zi...rak...zi...gil?"
"Acceptable. And the next?"
"Father, why must I learn to read? I want to be a master metalsmith like you, not a stonecarver!"
"You are a Dwarf of Durin's line! Gimli...," eyes closed, he exhales, unclenching his fists, "every smith needs to read, write, and figure, to trade our works for coin. Do you want corrupt Men to think they can cheat you? Or — Mahal forfend! — greedy Elves?"
"No, Father!"
"Do not try my patience further! Read the next."
"Ba...raz..."
This is a work of fan fiction, written because the author has an abiding love for the works of J R R Tolkien. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema, except for certain original characters who belong to the author of the said work. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. The work is the intellectual property of the author, is available solely for the enjoyment of Henneth Annûn Story Archive readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author.