A Tale of Time

Chapter 4: The Arkenstone

Chapter 4: The Arkenstone

Gailien's hand presses against her side as she walks as fast as she can through the halls. She would prefer not to be walking around so much but times call for certain measures. She cannot spend too much time out there looking for the Hobbit as Thorin is expecting her back. Although, he is so engrossed in his search that he might not even be thinking about her when he cannot see her.

The halls are eerily quiet, long abandoned and with the entire population of Erebor in the treasury besides her and Bilbo, it is almost like walking through a gravesite. And in an even more morbid way, it is a gravesite.

She finally spots Bilbo sitting outside. Gailien almost walks past him, only briefly glancing to the small area. "Bilbo," she sighs with content. "I'm glad to see you're alright."

What she had hoped to be a happy reunion with the company turned into her having a quick exchange with the brothers before being kept at Thorin's side as the rest worked through the long day. She hasn't even had a chance to say hello to the rest of them.

"Gailien," Bilbo greets with what looks like a relieved smile. "I see you've escaped his clutches."

Gailien huffs, sitting down next to him on the stone. "I think this is what I was trying to warn you about, I just didn't know it myself at the time. I do that sometimes, it's that instinct I was talking about." She sighs again, resting her forehead in her clasped hands. "It's only going to get worse from here if we don't find a way to help him."

"Do you know how to help him?"

Gailien chews the inside of her bottom lip, looking past the boundaries of Erebor towards Dale. The people of Lake-town will no doubt take refuge there. "Do you have the Arkenstone?" she questions in place of an answer. Bilbo sits still for a moment, a little bit of fear settling into him, but he nods. She had seen him find it before he even did. "Then don't give it to him," she warns. "Don't let anybody but myself know that you have it. I fear that it will only worsen what has already begun."

"What do I do with it then?" Bilbo pulls it out of his pocket and Gailien lies her eyes on it for the first time in reality. It is ethereal, a white stone that is almost transparent and the inside glows with all the colours she saw inside the treasury. No wonder they call it the King's jewel.

"Keep it hidden. You can give it to me if you want," she offers. "If you get caught hiding it, you'll be considered a traitor."

"No. Thorin is around you more than me," he counters, pocketing the stone once more.

"You have a much more cunning brain than I, Bilbo. Trust in yourself and do with it what you see fit."

Bilbo shakes his head softly with a solemn expression. "So, we're just going to continue letting them look for a stone that isn't even there? How long, days? Weeks?"

"Until we can find an answer," she answers honestly. "I hate myself for it, but... I'm terrified of speaking against him. I know I shouldn't be, that I should stand up for what I believe in and even though it isn't really him I don't want to be cast out or have him look at me with hatred."

"I know how you feel," Bilbo responds immediately. Gailien looks at him with a regretful smile. "You want to help him, not make things worse and fighting him would seem like the latter. I couldn't imagine what he'd do if you spoke against him. When you were knocked out –" he shakes his head with wide eyes "- Fili tried to keep you in the room we've bunkered down in and Thorin just wouldn't have it."

Her stomach feels sick. "That's...awful to think about." Explains why she woke with Thorin while lying over the gold. "I haven't even been able to speak with them properly. Any of them. I told Thorin I was getting a drink to even come to speak to you."