This is a little idea I read on the Facebook page of BookBub. It came back in comments and quotes a few times, so I figured I could write something like it.

I will tell you what the prompt/idea was at the end of the chapter...

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He couldn't wait until his training was over for the day. All day long had he done what his grandfather wanted. 

Without complaining he went to all his lessons;

Fighting practice - Khuzdul lessons - Politics - Reading class and now, at the end of the day, he only had to sit through Courting classes. 

Not every dwarf had to take all of these lessons. In normal families they were taught to the dwarflings by their parents. Thorin' father was the prince, the first in line to the throne. There was nothing normal about that.

It gained his family many privileges. But on the other hand there were many responsibilities. Not every one of them were enjoyable.

For example, in the courting classes Thorin had to hear how he had to treat woman again and again. If you asked him he would say he already knew how to treat the other gender properly.

He had a sister he looked after. And he tried to help his mother out as often as he could.

According to his teacher, however, there was more to it. He needed to know the proper steps to take when wanting to court a woman. And don't forget about the magic that happened on the wedding night...

His lesson was over. Thorin didn't waste another minute to get out of the classroom. His teacher wanted to finish his lesson for the day but the young dwarf was already gone.

There was something waiting for him in his room that he couldn't go without for another hour.

No one knew what he did for hours on end when he was all alone in his room. They thought he was off somewhere else, learning more because he was curious in nature. But what they didn't know was that he was doing something not very 'man' like.

It was expected of the man among his kind that they were fierce warriors. Many spend their free hours practicing on the field. 

Others spend their nights at the local tavern to down as much ale as they physically could.

Thorin chose to read. 

A few weeks ago he had discovered a new looking book that he had never seen. It was hidden on a bookcase in the back of the library. Some dust covered the top, despite the book being new.

He grabbed it without hesitation, and after reading the first two pages he knew he had to have it. So Thorin brought it back to his room to read it in silence. He read it often, never skipping a single night so that he wouldn't miss out on his favorite characters' life.

Sometimes he would sneak the book in to his classes. There was something special about the book that wouldn't let him go.

If you would ask him to describe the feeling, he would say it came closest to love.

Love for a fictional character that he had never met, would never meet and had never seen. Yet he felt like he had a connection with them. One that he didn't have in real life.

Maybe one that he would never have in real life.

He read about how they went to school. Apparently children of different social classes were able to go there in that world. Thorin didn't exactly understand how that was possible but it was a fictional book, so he didn't think about it for too long.

Every now and then, after school, they would go to their job. Sometimes it was good, and sometimes it was boring, like every job could be.

They would read about different characters themselves on something that was called the 'internet'. You could get on the internet on something called a 'phone' or a 'laptop'. It was interesting to him to read about such a different life.

His favorite character was creative, kind and loving. By the stories they chose to read he knew that they were alike. 

Sometimes they would try to write something, erasing it and continuing to read instead. He rooted for them to continui writing since he loved every single draft.

At times he thought they were writing about him. About another life.

And he would try to do the same for them. After five weeks of just reading he decided he would be as brave as them. He picked up his quill and picked up his parchment... and he wrote.

Like them it was a way to create another world. A place to feel safe, a place that he could create himself. There was no one he had to look after when he was writing. No one for him to worry about. 

Just for that one person. That one person that he loved.

He couldn't stand the thought of having to marry someone else. Because what if the true love of his life would one day walk out of his favorite book? How could he face them, knowing that he loved only them but married another?

When darker times arrived he still read the book. No matter how old he got he always carried it with him. 

For some magical reason the book always continued on. There were other parts that appeared out of nowhere. Always for Thorin to find them when he wasn't looking for them. 

It was prove to him that they were real.

And that maybe one day he would meet his favorite fictional character. They could have the life he had dreamed of since reading the first pages. A life that was built by the two of them, without his subjects as pillars.

The life that they would write together.

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The prompt was; We read about our favorite characters in books and fall in love. But what if our lives are fictional to them? What if they read about us and we are nothing more than characters in a book?