All I've ever known

65

Gandalf was growing immensely frustrated. He raised his voice at the bowman,"You! Do you agree with this? Is gold so important to you that you would buy it with the blood of dwarves?" Bard sighed in defeat,"If that is what it comes to." They had just been discussing the plan to get Thorin to cooperate. Gandalf pinched the bridge of his nose when a voice panted,"That won't stop them!" All eyes turned towards the voice and saw none other than Bilbo Baggins, panting as though he had been running fast.

Bilbo stepped forward,"You think the dwarves will surrender? They won't, they will fight to the death to defend their own." Gandalf was very pleased to see Bilbo, but Thranduil was rather annoyed,"If I am not mistaken, this is the halfling who stole the keys to my dungeons from under the nose of my guards." Bilbo replied with sarcasm,"Sorry about that." He then pulled the Arkenstone out of his pocket,"I came to give this to you." All of them stared in adoration and awe at the marvelous gem. Thranduil was the first to speak,"The kings jewel." Bard nodded,"And worth a kings ransom, how is this yours to give?" Bilbo shrugged,"Mivera told me to take it and bring it to you. She doesn't want a war to happen as much as any of us." Gandalf stood off and was looking at the stone warily, Bard was still questioning the hobbit,"Why would you two do this? You have no loyalty to us?" Bilbo rolled his eyes,"We are not doing it for you!"

Thranduil sighed,"He has grown found of the dwarves." Bilbo felt his face grow hot,"I know that dwarves can be obstinate and pigheaded and difficult with the worst manners you can possibly imagine. But yes, I have grown very fond of them and I would like to save them if I can. Mivera knows Thorin values this stone more than anything else. In exchange for its return, she believes he will give you what you want and there will be no need for a war."

Thranduil smiled,"I was always fonder of the queen, she has a much more sensible head than that of the king." The elven king then dismissed everyone from his tent. Bilbo walked next to Gandalf as the wizard said,"Rest up tonight. You must leave on the morrow." Bilbo then stopped dead in his tracks,"What?" Gandalf kept walking and Bilbo jogged to catch up. The wizard was adamant with his words,"Get as far away from here as you can." Bilbo went in front of Gandalf and stood his ground firmly,"I am not going anywhere!" When Gandalf sent him a quizzical look, Bilbo crossed his arms,"I was picked as the fourteenth member of this company and I am not about to abandon it now." Gandalf spoke with sadness in his voice,"I am afraid there is no company anymore." He turned and stared at Bilbo with a warning look,"And I do not like to think of what Thorin will do to you and Mivera once he finds out what you have done." Bilbo stood up straighter,"I am not scared of Thorin, and I doubt Mivera is either." Gandalf shook his head and called to some greasy servant man,"You there! Fill this hobbits belly up with hot food and find him a bed. He's earned it." The man pointed Bilbo towards the food and Gandalf made sure the servant was to keep a sharp eye on him.

After a sound night of plentiful food and sleep, Bilbo was back at the gate to Erebor. Luckily the rope was still there and he began climbing. He must have been making some noise because a head poked out over the edge, saw him, and began pulling the rope up. In no time at all Bilbo was climbing over the edge of the wall, and clumsily falling on his helper. He quickly dusted himself off when he got up and looked to the other person. Realizing it was Mivera a huge wave of relief rushed over him. Mivera smiled and hugged him,"Bilbo! I'm glad to see you!" Bilbo smiled and whispered,"I gave it to them." Mivera's face became laced with a mixture of concern, relief, and fear.

Bilbo then pointed towards Dale,"Bard and Thranduil are coming soon to negotiate." Mivera stared out at the barely risen sun,"Something tells me they won't come alone. Come, let's get Thorin." Bilbo suddenly became aware of them being the only people in the general area,"Wait, where is everybody?" Mivera gave an empty smirk,"Where do you think?" Sure enough, every me ever of the company down in the gold. All of them were shifting their feet monotonously through the treasure, no one actually looking anymore. Mivera whispered to Bilbo as they walked down the stone steps,"Thorin has become more erratic. He has not slept, he has not eaten, he has barely spoken a word."

It's surprising easy to find Thorin, he was sitting in the throne. Mivera signaled Bilbo to stay behind and she stepped forward. Mivera nodded her head,"Hail Thorin, son of Thrain son of Thror." Thorin bowed his head,"You do not have to address me so formally my queen." Mivera didn't answer, she didn't know how. Thorin rubbed his chin,"You know, a queen deserves a crown as much as a king." He rose from his throne and walked to her, pulling out a headpiece from the folds of his cloak. It was made of gold, obviously, and was laced with rubies. It had the same general shape as Thorin's, just softer. He gently placed it on Mivera's head,"There. Now we can rule side by side. What was it you needed to say?" Mivera felt strange with the crown, it was light, but the weight of the sickness urged at her mind. She shook it off and told Thorin,"Thranduil and his army are coming to the gate."

Thorin's eyes flashed with anger. He roughly pushed Mivera out of his way as he stormed to the gate. Mivera jogged after him, Bilbo at her heels. The entire company was already there, staring at the army. Thorin, now armed with a bow, made his way to the front. Without hesitation he fired an arrow, it landed just in front of the Elven king. He scowled and shouted down,"The next one will be between your eyes!" All of the company, except Mivera and Bilbo, began cheering. Mivera had a sick feeling something was going to go wrong.

Thranduil sat proud on his elk,"We come to tell you payment of your debt has been offered and accepted." Thorin furrowed his brow,"What payment?" Bard pulled out the Arkenstone and held it up for all to see,"We have this." Thorin's eyes were at first surprised, then they were flooded with anger. Kili was outraged,"That is the stone of our people! Thieves!" Bard put it back,"The king may have it, with our good will. But first he must honor his word."

Thorin sneered,"They take us for fools. It is a trick!" Bilbo stepped out from where he was standing,"It's no trick. The stone is real, I gave it to them." Thorin slowly looked at the hobbit with disgust,"You?" Mivera saw Thorin tense and she knew he was going to hurt Bilbo, so she stepped between them,"I gave Bilbo the stone Thorin." Thorin now was enraged,"You would steal from me!?" Mivera shook her head,"I didn't steal from you, I stole from your sickness. This is not you Thorin, I let the stone stand as my claim." Thorin shouted in her face,"Your claim!? You have no claim over me, you sewage rat!" Mivera cringed at the words,"I wanted to let you have it, but you are not the dwarf I fell in love with, and I don't trust you. You scare me. And if this is what happens under the strain of the crown, I don't want it!" Mivera ripped off her crown and threw it hard against the stone floor. So hard, in fact, that it shattered into little pieces. Thorin grimaced,"Throw her from the rampart!" Nobody moved they didn't know who to stand behind. Thorin sighed in agitation,"Fine I will do it myself!"

Thorin grabs Mivera by the shirt collar and alms her into the gate. She sees black coming into her vison. She was vaguely aware of people trying to pull him off, but they had a hard time. He hit her across the face, slammed her back into the wall, and held her there by the throat. She was gasping like a fish out of water, but she couldn't get out of his grasp. Thorin pushed her more and her body was halfway of the edge. Fili got to Thorin's side and shoved him down with all the force in his body, Kili grabbed Mivera and pulled her back over. Thorin pushed Fili off of him and glared at Mivera with fire in his eyes,"Cursed be your parents for bringing you into this world!" He then looked at Bilbo,"Cursed be the wizard who brought you to the company!" Down below Gandalf emerged from the crowd,"If you don't like my burglar then don't harm him! Send him back to me!" Bilbo didn't need to be told twice as he basically fell down the rope.

Mivera still lay on the floor, her forearms partly supporting her, with Bofur kneeling beside her. Kili had helped Fili up and they stood on either side of Thorin, in front of Mivera. Thranduil grimaced at Thorin,"Had it not been for our great distance apart, I would have cut off your head." Thorin squinted his eyes,"Beg pardon?" Thranduil sneered,"One husband should not harm his wife. No matter what she did. The love between that of two spouses is something to be treasured." Thorin laughed,"Don't tell me how to treat this hag. It is not like you have ever known love." Mivera cringed and Bofur gently rubbed her upper back.

Mivera heard Bards voice shout out,"Are we resolved? The return of the Arkenstone was promised." There was a moment of silence before Bard asked,"Will you have peace, or war?" Mivera shook her head and silent tears streamed down her face when Thorin answered,"I will have war."