Broken Memories - Prompt 2: Wedding
Mîm shifts nervously in his seat, his hands subconsciously tightening around the small, neatly-wrapped parcel he holds in his lap. A half-second later, he loosens his grip, silently scolding himself for being so nervous. She said yes months ago; this is just a formality, I have nothing to worry about! He shifts again, his heel quickly tapping the floor. ..But what if she refuses? ..What if she doesn't want to marry me anymore? What if she changed her-
The door opens, hinges creaking quietly, and he swiftly stands, his breath catching as Eri walks into the sitting room, her black hair shining in the torchlight. His eyes catch on the wedding braids freshly woven into her beard, mirroring those in his own, and his hands relax their hold on the gift. At his faint sigh of relief, Eri's lips quirk up at the corners, her hazel eyes sparkling with mischief. "You didn't think I would back out now of all times, did you?" she asks with a laugh, her gentle, understanding smile softening her words.
Mîm smiles in response, and Eri steps closer, her expression becoming serious as she nears him and holds out a rectangular wooden box. Holding his gaze, she pronounces formally, "Husband-to-be, I freely give to you my marriage promise-gift*, the work of my hands and symbol of my love." After she finishes, Mîm echoes her actions in response, presenting his parcel to her as he declares, "Wife-to-be, I freely give to you my marriage promise-gift, the work of my hands and symbol of my love." As Eri receives his gift, Mîm accepts hers, and at her prompting, he opens the gift. Sliding the lid off the box, he lifts a beautiful knife out, staring at it with reverent eyes, his gaze tracing the elegant shape of the knife and lingering on the black wavy lines in the dark blade.
"As usual, your work is magnificent," he breathes, looking up to meet her warm smile. He studies the knife's details, the tooth inlaid in the handle and the gold flecked across the handle like stars in the night sky, wonder written on his face. Tilting his head, he points to the blade and asks curiously, "What are these runes for?"
Eri grins. "I wondered how long it would take you would ask about them." Pointing to each rune carved into the gleaming black blade, she explains their meanings and how together, they create an enchantment. As she finishes, she clarifies seriously, "The enchantment making the blade poisonous is written so the poison won't affect you or anyone in your immediate family, but it is almost incurable for anyone outside of that protection. Be careful not to use it rashly, Mîm." He shakes his head with awe. "You are a wonder, my love."
Eri shrugs and smiles, her cheeks touched with rose from the praise. "It wasn't that hard once I figured out the principle." Focusing on his gift, which she still held in her hand, Eri carefully unwraps the parcel, smiling inquisitively at the intricately carved granite box she reveals. She lifts the lid, her breath catching as she sees the necklace nestled within. Carefully, she lifts it from the box, captivated by the silver and gold lily pendant and the jeweled dew cascading down the necklace and dripping off the delicately wrought petals. Eri stares at it, entranced, and looks closer as shifting light catches her eye. Suddenly, she gasps, her eyes snapping to Mîm's. "Is there...liquid in the dewdrops?!"
A smile quirks Mîm's lips and grows as he watches her reaction. "There is," he replies warmly. "It is water from Tarn Aeluin, collected the day I proposed to you."
"But how.." her voice trails off as she peers closely at the dewdrop, trying to determine their construction.
Mîm laughs, a low rumble deep in his chest. "It wasn't hard once I figured out the principle," he echos playfully. But seeing her disappointed expression, he relents with a warm smile. "I will tell you tomorrow, in exchange for a thorough explanation of the rune enchantments."
"Very well," she replies with a grin. "But you are going to regret the agreement once I'm three hours into an explanation on the intricacies of historic runic pairings. Oh, and I almost forgot; I brought a sheath for your knife. I didn't make it, so I wanted to give it to you separately." Pulling a tooled leather sheath from a pocket, Eri hands it to him.
Mîm smiles softly as he takes it, his hand catching hers as he does so. Her smile deepens, and as her fingers lace with his, she smiles joyfully. "I can hardly wait until tomorrow, my love," she says softly. "Neither can I," he whispers, drawing her closer and gently brushing a loose hair behind her ear.
"Tomorrow and forever."
*This phrase and the surrounding paragraph refers to a headcanon I have that Dwarves have a tradition that during their engagement, the husband and wife each craft an object to gift to the other the evening before they get married, typically using their specialized skills and knowledge. The gift-giving is a private, ceremony between the bride and groom, and the gifts were often present at the wedding the next day. In addition, the gifts illustrated their love and devotion to the other and were themselves a vow to remain faithful to one's spouse, a tangible representation of the oath they swear to each other before Aulë and to Eru during the wedding ceremony. Originally, this also served the purpose of showing one's skill and each could help provide for their new family, though that was never its primary purpose and became less important as time passed.
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I chose to use the name 'Eri' for Mîm's wife, choosing the name from the Poetic Edda mostly because I like the sound and the Poetic Edda was an inspiration for Tolkien, especially regarding Dwarf names.
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If anyone is curious, Mîm's knife was inspired by the knife in this story (https://www.theepochtimes.com/bright/bladesmith-forges-4-5-billion-year-old-meteorite-metal-into-extraterrestrial-knife-and-it-looks-unreal-4459148), though I made some changes, such as making the blade varying shades of black and removing the opals from the blade.
(Bonus points if you noticed the tie-in of the knife into one Tolkien's works!)
