History Fanfic / TheSecret

** Thorin at one point suggests that [[spoiler: Leena's unborn child isn't his, due to the fact they only had sex once]]. She vehemently denies it. [[spoiler: In fact, she managed to [[WeddingEnhancedFertility conceive on their wedding night]] and actually remained faithful to him, so the child is his]].

* DarkSecret: Emma seems to regard her DarkAndTroubledPast as this; as she puts it, her mother is a prostitute, her father is a violent drunk [[spoiler: who murders her mother and ends up in jail]], she herself was married off against her will to a man who beat and raped her, which caused her to run away and attempt to drown herself in a fit of madness. She worries about what Thorin will think if/when finds out her secrets. [[spoiler: Fortunately, Thorin doesn't care about any of this and loves Emma for herself]].
* DamselInDistress: Emma when she is kidnapped [[spoiler: by Thranduil]], but she [[DefiantCaptive isn't a quiet prisoner]] [[spoiler: and he soon releases her]].
* DamselOutOfDistress: Emma, after being forced to marry Frederick and imprisoned in his house, escapes through a window and then manages to walk half way to Erebor.

* DefiantCaptive: When Emma is forced to marry Frederick, she tries to fight him off, at least until he beats her so badly she briefly loses consciousness, then escapes by climbing out of a window the moment she has an opportunity. Later, after being kidnapped by [[spoiler: Thranduil]], she attacks anyone who enters her room - including the servants sent to bring her food and clothing - and even attempts to pull a knife on [[spoiler: the Elfking himself]].

* DesignatedVictim: Emma is targeted by all the villains at one point or another.
* DespairEventHorizon: Subverted. Emma briefly crosses it early in the story, feeling trapped in her nightmarish situation, and impulsively attempts to drown herself. However, she gets better.

* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler: Frederick is killed around half way through the story, with Leena becoming the main antagonist for the rest of the fic]].

* GrewASpine: Emma develops into a more strong-willed and independent young woman over the course of the story, unafraid of standing up for herself (even to those she loves).
--> '''Emma:''' "Then do what you must because I intend to protect myself — whatever the cost. I've grown tired of people like you who push me around just because they think I am weak".

* InsecureLoveInterest: Emma struggles with this throughout the fic, thinking she is unworthy of Thorin and that they have no viable future together. [[spoiler: By the end, she overcomes this]].

* LineageComesFromTheFather: Inverted with Emma. She closely resembles her mother in appearance and demeanour, whilst inheriting virtually nothing from her father. She takes this even further later in the story, vowing never to speak to or even think of William again after he [[spoiler: murders Kate]] and, after [[spoiler: inheriting the winery once owned by her mother's family]], she changes it back to her mother's maiden name of Stanton, and [[ShedTheFamilyName changes her own surname to Stanton as well]].

* MalMariee: Emma. She's a beautiful and innocent twenty-one year old who is forced to marry Frederick Devlin, whose [[RichJerk wealth]] is matched by his {{Jerkass}}ery. His age is not clearly given but he's indicated to be much older than Emma (he reminds her of her father in some ways, so it can be inferred he's closer to his age than her's). He's ugly, sleazy and feels entitled to Emma. On the first day of their marriage, he rapes her and beats her into unconsciousness when she tries to fight back, then leaves her locked in her room. Luckily for Emma, he ''doesn't'' lock the window and underestimates Emma. After learning she's escaped, he decides that once he gets her back he'll drug her to keep her under control. Meanwhile, Emma finds shelter with Thorin, who is both much better looking and a ''much'' better person than Frederick (though he's technically [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld older]], seeing how dwarves live longer and age slower than humans), and ends up having a relationship with him. She never feels guilty about it for one second, save over the fact that Thorin is also supposed to be marrying someone else (though his betrothed isn't exactly the stuff of dreams either).

* NomDeMom: Emma eventually changes her surname from Caldwell to her mother's maiden name of Stanton, largely to dissociate herself with her father after his abysmal treatment of her [[spoiler: and especially because he murdered her mother]].

* PluckyGirl: Emma, particularly in [[CharacterDevelopment the second half of the story]]. No matter what life throws at her, she manages to soldier on and find solutions to her problems.

* PromotedToParent: Emma to Billy, after [[spoiler: their father is imprisoned for murdering their mother]].

* SelfMadeWoman: Emma becomes this in the second half of the story, after [[spoiler: inheriting her family's old winery from her late husband and restoring it to its former glory. Marrying Thorin and becoming queen of Erebor is just a bonus]].

* SoBeautifulItsACurse: Emma to a certain extent. It's part of the reason the vile Frederick forces her to marry him and earns her the ire of [[ClingyJealousGirl Leena]]. On a less serious note, it also results in [[spoiler: Thranduil]] making unwanted advances, though she easily brushes these off.

* TraumaCongaLine: Poor Emma. In one day alone, she finds out her mother is a prostitute (which is a big shock to her), is forced by her abusive father to marry a man she finds repulsive who beats and rapes her, has to flee from the house in the night and nearly drowns herself, after which she loses her memories. Upon finally regaining her memories, she learns [[spoiler: her father murdered her mother]], falls in love with a man she thinks she'll never be able to have, gets kidnapped, is rejected by her lover, nearly watches [[spoiler: her little brother die]], is nearly murdered in her own bed and suffers [[spoiler: a traumatic birth]].

* AlternateUniverseFic: Somewhat downplayed. The events of ''The Hobbit'' played out exactly the same, including poor [[DoomedByCanon Fili and Kili dying]], but one major divergence is that [[SparedByTheAdaptation Thorin survived and became King of Erebor]].

* AssholeVictim: Absolutely no one is sad when [[spoiler: Frederick]] falls from his horse and breaks his neck trying to escape from [[spoiler: Thranduil's guards]].

* BigBadEnsemble: Leena and Frederick, and to a lesser extent Clay, are the main antagonists of the fic.