A Willing Heart

Twenty-three

CONTAINS MATURE CONTENT

I awoke to the sound of people talking, muffled as if they were whispering. I was lying on my side and as I rolled onto my back, flinging my arm out to Thorin's side of the bed, I discovered it was empty. The pillow felt cool against the back of my hand.

I frowned as I sat up, my head throbbing as I moved. I stifled a groan as the room spun around me. I was naked beneath the covers, my clothes folded neatly on the armchair by the fire that had long gone out, only embers left still glowing. In the receiving room beyond the bedchamber I could hear two people talking in low tones, and moving about the room.

Gathering the sheets about me, I got out of bed and walked towards the thick curtains that separated both rooms. Thorin had undone the ties to give me some privacy and as I brought my hand up to take a peek, someone spoke.

"It's the same dwarf, Dwalin," Thorin said gruffly, and I took a step back, hoping he hadn't heard my movements beyond the curtain. "Last night, she finally remembered how she'd been taken from Erebor, and it was the very same dwarf, just as we thought. She even called him by name for he'd found her in Greenbanü and struck an arrangement with Lialam."

"The same one we imprisoned in the dungeons years later?" Dwalin asked.

"The very same," Thorin replied grimly. "How he escaped the dungeons when Smaug came is something I cannot fathom. But he did escape, and now he's after her, though I do not know why."

"He could be after you," Dwalin said. "You were the one who sent him to the dungeons after all."

"After he killed the second girl years later, thinking we did not remember how he scarred and killed the first one - yes, I did," Thorin replied angrily. "And I don't regret it. I would have sentenced him to die if I could, but her father, Lord Migan, begged me for leniency. He said Rodrick offered to tell him where she really was in exchange for his life."

"I remember that. He sent us to Greenbanu," Dwalin said. "Yet we did not find her."

"Lialam sent them away for two months, waiting till the last of the dwarves we sent south finally returned to Erebor empty-handed," Thorin said. "Can you blame me for wanting to toss the dungeon key into the darkest pits of Erebor and let that scum rot where he was?"

"Yet now, he is here amongst us, Thorin," Dwalin said. "He escaped the dungeons of Erebor and now seeks vengeance on you and Lady Frigga."

I heard Thorin pacing the floor. "It had been so long, Dwalin," Thorin said and I could tell the frustration in his voice. "I'd forgotten what he looked like, but to have him right in front of her that night while I was with the king. He could have killed her."

"He could have, yes," Dwalin agreed. "He poisoned her food, Thorin. Master Renner found the dead cats outside the window the next morning."

"Don't you think I know it, too, Dwalin?" Thorin said irritably. "I was there with you when Master Renner told us."

I suddenly felt cold and I walked backwards till my legs met the side of the bed. So that was what Master Renner had talked about with Thorin yesterday when they returned from the forge, I thought as I returned to my side of the bed, my body trembling.

"We have over fifty dwarves traveling with us this morning, Thorin, although it seems that more will be joining us.  Their loyalty to the king still runs deep no matter how they may secretly fear the perils that come with being exiled," Dwalin said. "I will make sure that he is not among them. But I cannot guarantee I will find him, for at the same time, we cannot let it be known that we know who he is."

"I will kill him if he dares come near her again," Thorin growled as the door opened and slammed shut. Minutes later, Thorin pushed the curtains aside and looked in. His eyes widened as he saw me sitting up, the covers over my chest. As his expression softened, I pretended that I didn't hear what had just been discussed, rubbing my eyes sleepily and yawning.