The King, The Burglar and The Guardian

Chapter 6

Word count - (2,625)

Thorin Oakenshield. She'd recognize him anywhere. He had very dark hair with silver strands peaking through. A few strands of hair were kept in small silver beads that had different carvings in them. Adelaide was somewhat familiar with the beads and the significance a dwarfs hair holds, however her knowledge was shallow. His beard was kept short and neat. His voice was deep like Filis, but it held much more power. His blue eyes peered into the hole as he stepped in to remove his cloak.

"You said this place would be easy to find, I lost my way, twice. I wouldn't have found it at all, had it not been for that mark on the door."

He turned and handed his cloak to his nephews giving them a smile. Adelaide had been squashed into a corner hidden from his view.

Bilbo was immediately involved in the situation as soon as his property was claimed to be damaged. "Mark? There's no mark on that door, it was painted a week ago!"

Gandalf huffs, "There is a mark, I've put it there myself." he took a  breath to calm himself. "Bilbo Baggins, allow me to introduce the leader of our company,Thorin Oakenshiled."

Thoring steps in closer to Bilbo and starts circling him.

"So this is the Hobbit. Tell me master Baggins, Have you done much fighting?"

Bilbo blinks once and hesitates, clearly confused, "Pardon me?"

"Axe or sword, what's your weapon of choice?"

Bilbo seemed very confused and intimidated by the intruder, still circling him. Adelaide thought the king was a very uptight dwarf.

"I happen to have some skill at conkers but I fail to see why that's relevant." Adelaide had to fight to keep her little grin down.

Thorin stopped and looked to the company behind him.

"Just as I thought. He's more of a grocer than a burglar."

The dwarves chuckled slightly as Thorin began to walk into the dining room but halted when something caught his eye. Staring at her for a moment, she felt like she was frozen to the spot. She refused to break the stare though, she was familiar with the act of dominance.

"Who are you? Gandalf made no mention of a woman."

Thorin stepped closer to the girl as the dwarves parted to give him access. Pushing away from the wall, she stood to her full height. Thorin just came up past her elbow. Looking down at him she introduced herself.

"Adelaide, at your service Master Oakenshield."

She didn't bow. She didn't break eye contact. Thorin bristled, seemingly slightly intimidated.

"This, Thorin, is the extra protection I mentioned. You will need as much strength as possible for this quest and so I've put my trust into my old friend."

Gandalf stood between the two, feeling the immediate tension. Thorin seemed to recognize the girl but he didnt know why. He's never seen the girl before, but her presence seems all too familiar. Thorin didn't like the idea of a woman, a human for that matter, joining on his quest. He opened his mouth to speak, before he took notice of the scar splitting her face. It looked very painful, the space in her eyebrow still not filled in. It dragged down her entire face, just barely missing her eyeball. She couldn't have gotten that from anything but a sharp edge. No rock, stick, or pick would make a clean cut like that. It had some ragged edges to it, but it was relatively straight, like the skin tore away at the great force of the slash.

Fighter or not, women are to be protected. They are sacred to his race and he was raised to treat all women the same. Though he's taken an exception to the elves.