Someone to Watch Over Me

Chapter Fifteen

Thorin rose with a grunt and shifted to sit beside her. Glancing at the others, he said, "They are all fond of you, Seren. Every man in this company sees you as one of us."

"But I'm not one of you. Even more so now."

"You are. You just haven't realized it yet."

Without thinking, she let her head come to rest against his shoulder. It just felt natural, and he didn't seem to mind it, either. Across from them, Gloín argued over giving up ten more coins, and she smiled as the others tried to convince him it would be in his best interest to do so.

Her eyes closed as Thorin eased an arm about her and pressed a kiss into the top of her head. "Your hair is frosty."

"I'm turning into an icicle."

"We're almost there."

She managed a smile, then lifted her head at the sudden tension in his shoulder. He abruptly stood, but said nothing and as her curiosity got the better of her, she also rose.

In the distance, shrouded in mist, stood the Lonely Mountain. It was serene and majestic and she could feel what it meant to the dwarves around her as they all, one by one, caught sight of it and went silent. Gloín, without a word, handed over the rest of his money to Balin.

Seren glanced up at Thorin. His expression was unreadable, and for the first time, he looked like a king to her as the lake breeze wafted across the water to lift his dark hair away from his face as he simply gazed toward the mountain.

Her hand found its way into his, and she smiled as he linked his fingers with hers and gave a gentle squeeze. As his thumb grazed hers, she wished she could forget her secret and trust in what Amara had told her. But she couldn't. If she confessed her true feelings for him, she would only hurt him when the time came to spill her secret. No, it was better this way. This way, the only one who ran the risk of getting hurt was her, and she was more comfortable with that than with being the one who hurt him.

Bard broke the heavy silence. "We are almost at the gate. Into the barrels with you."

She bit back a sigh as Thorin's hand slipped from hers, and one by one, they all did as they were told. As the barge glided to a halt before the checkpoint, Seren fought the urge to poke her head up and see what was going on.

Not that it mattered. The answer to her question came in the form of hundreds of slimy, stinky codfish seemingly falling from the sky to fill each one of the barrels. She gagged at the stink and tried to ignore the slippery scales pasted up against her hands, her face, stuck in her hair. She closed her eyes and tried to will away the rising nausea. It's only for a few minutes.

Above, through the fish, came the sound of Bard arguing with someone. Then, someone shouted, "Dump the barrels!" and her heart skipped a beat. Any moment, and they'd all be exposed and arrested and that meant another cell. Of course, if she was tossed into one with Bofur, he wouldn't have to worry about Smaug.

No, that wasn't true. She wasn't really angry with him. It was almost a relief, actually, not having to pretend any longer. And perhaps Dwalin was right and her voice gave her away before Bofur did. To her, her voice sounded throaty and almost husky, like a boy's before it changed. But it was entirely possible what she heard and what others heard were not the same voice.

Either way, it was moot. They all knew.

"Never mind," came the same voice who'd ordered the barrels dumped, and Seren breathed a sigh of relief as she closed her eyes and let her forehead come to rest against the inside of her barrel. It stunk of fish. She would be eternally grateful to never, ever see the inside of another barrel ever again or to get anywhere near fish.