What the Heart Wants: Book 3

11

"Y/n! Y/n Baggins!" Gandalf rushed to me and pulled me up, "Oh thank goodness you're alright."

"What?" I uttered, holding onto Gandalf's arm as support.

"Let's find you something else to wear hm?" Gandalf told me, "Bilbo? Come along now."

Bilbo pulled his sword out of the orc's body and rushed to catch up with us. 

"Are you alright?" He asked, his legs working as hard as they could to keep up with Gandalf's pace.

"You saved my life."

"Of course I did. This adventure isn't over yet," He chuckled and I let myself smile. 

We rounded a corner and Gandalf led us into a small house-like building and, after doing a quick look for danger, closed the door behind us. I sat down on one of the chairs and looked down at my dress. The fabric was tattered and I didn't look like a princess anymore. Regardless of how much I hated being cooped up in Thorin's room, I found myself missing the clean and comforted feeling I had. Gandalf opened a couple of wardrobe doors and riffled through the clothes.

"Well, I think we're going to be out of luck here miss y/n," He told me.

"You could rip it, could you not?" Bilbo asked, looking between his sword and my dress.

"Bilbo might be onto something," Gandalf hummed, picking up a leather corset from the wardrobe he had open.

"But, it's Thorin's sister's dress," I said, looking down at the pretty stitching.

"It's already ripping. You can't run, you can't fight. You can't even duck out of the way with it. You need to prioritize yourself right now," Bilbo looked at me annoyed.

I sighed and squeezed my eyes closed for a brief moment. They were both right. My life was more important.

"Ok. Let's cut it."

Bilbo handed his sword to Gandalf and I stood up. Gandalf cut the fabric just above my knees and handed me the corset. 

"This is all I could find but it will keep the loose fabric from moving around a lot. We'll find you a weapon later," He told me as I got Bilbo to lace up the corset in the back.

I nodded and placed a hand on my neck, feeling for my mother's locket.

"No," I whispered, "No, no."

"What? Y/N, what's wrong?" Bilbo placed a hand on my arm.

"My necklace, it's not there. It's still with Thorin," My breath began to speed and my hands shook.

Gandalf pulled my hands away from my neck and lifted my head, "Thorin still has it, I am sure of that. For now, you need to be focused on your own survival."

I didn't respond but the panic ceased a bit.

"Come along now, the both of you," Gandalf opened the door and took a quick glance out before ushering the both of us back into the city's battlefield. 

We followed him closely and I did my best to ignore the fear that was building itself a home in my stomach. I had never been this scared of the fighting. I had also never been this far away from Thorin in almost a year. 

"Sigrid! Tilda! Bain!" We heard Bard's voice to our right.

"Bard!" I responded, running towards him.

"Y/n. You're alright," Bard said, his relief at my not being dead brought a small smile to my face.

"Have you seen the kids?" He asked me quietly.

I shook my head, another worry to add to my list.

"My children! Where are my children?" Bard yelled, hoping to gain anyone's attention.