What the Heart Wants: Book 3

3

"Good. You are all back. Now, get to work. Fine the stone," Thorin told us all, his voice booming off the walls.

The dwarves walked down the stairs looking defeated. Bilbo went to follow but I grabbed his arm.

"Not you. You have done more than enough to satisfy his greed. Stay here, I'll try and get him to remember," I told him.

He smiled at me, nodding and turning away to sit on a bench in a hallway that overlooked Dale. I took a deep breath and slowly walked down the steps towards Thorin. He was standing on a mound of gold overlooking the others as they searched for his jewel.

"Any sign of it?" Thorin shouted, not noticing me begin to walk towards him

"Nothing yet," Dwalin responded.

"Nothing here," Nori echoed, his voice coming from what seemed like miles away.

"Keep searching!" Thorin told them all, his voice growing more annoyed.

"That jewel could be anywhere!" Oin cried, sounding beyond frustrated.

"The Arkenstone is in these halls. Find it!" Thorin responded to Oin's frustration.

"You heard him, keep looking!" Dwalin tried to sound encouraging but it was clear to me how much he wanted to give up.

"All of you! No one rests until it's found," Thorin's voice grew dark.

"Well, that doesn't sound healthy," I told him, finally standing beside him.

"This jewel is the most important thing right now," He brushed me off, not looking at me.

"You're doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"Forgetting. You are forgetting why we are here, how we got here, and the sacrifices these dwarves have made for you."

"I never asked them to make those sacrifices. That was their own choice."

"You didn't need to ask them Thorin. They care about you, they want to see you succeed and you're treating them like slaves."

He turned to me, his eyes filled with anger and sickness. He grabbed my shoulders, digging his fingers into my skin. I widened my eyes at his actions and winced at the pain.

"I have spent decades waiting for this moment. I will not have you ruining my plans," He whispered angrily at me, his fingers digging harder into my shoulder.

I could only look at him in fear, unsure what to say. After a few seconds, the anger in his eyes faded and he quickly released me. He looked at his hands fearfully then back up at me. He looked devastated. I reached up to rub my shoulders, wanted to say something to him but was nervous he would lose control again.

"Y/n, I'm sorry I-" He took a step towards me and I instinctively stepped backwards. He paused and his face dropped but he continued speaking, "I'm so sorry amrâlimê. I would never hurt you, I don't know what came over me."

"Thorin," I whispered, "I love you. I love you more than anything in the world, but I cannot let you verbally degrade me because of some obsession."

His eyes welled with tears, "I'm trying."

I took a step towards him, feeling guilty for calling him out. Thorin fell to his knees and pulled me towards him. His arms wrapped around my waist and I couldn't stop myself my running my hands through his hair.

"Come on, let's go somewhere we can talk privately yeah?" I said, pulling him up.

Looking around I noticed all eyes were on us. Thorin didn't respond but he also didn't resist when I pulled on him. He walked beside me and held my hand, keeping his head hanging in shame. We walked down a hall, looking for an empty room. The mountain seemed to be just hallways and I felt my frustration grow. How could there not be one single room?