The Undecided Title Of Sara Miller *Hobbit Fanfiction* (Thorin/OC)

Chapter 63: Rescue and Revenge

"You ate them whole?" asked Sara. Smaug grinned widely, his teeth glistening in the low light.

"Saddles and all, vanished in a single gulp just as I will devour you."

Smaug scooped her closer and pinned her against his chest with a claw as he laid his head down, one gold eye still watching her imperiously. Her heart kicked up a notch again and it was hard to think straight with his claws around her already bruised belly.

"What... what are you doing?" she asked with a tremor.

"I find myself unusually tired after chasing ponies and dwarves all day. I would not want you trying to escape while I slept."

"Wasn't your 50-year nap enough?" The light in Smaug's mouth was fading again.

"I sleep when it pleases me to do so."

"But aren't you afraid of the others attacking you in your sleep?" Smaug snorted dismissively, small flames shooting from his nostrils.

"I do not fear that rabble you call companions. Even if they were a threat a dragon is never truly asleep." He closed his golden eyes and the room faded to black once again. She sat there debating for a tense moment. She wanted to stall his nap as long as she could.

"You're not at all like the other dragons I've heard about," she said into the dark. One golden eye opened.

"I should wonder if you had heard of any dragon other than me. You are far too young to have known another."

"Are you the last in this world?"

"Perhaps," he said. "It matters little. I have this gold and that is all I care for." His eyes closed.

How could she keep his attention, keep him awake so the herbs had more time to truly put him under. Something was poking the back of her neck. Her searching fingers found something sharp stuck under one of Smaug's belly scales. She pried the thing loose with a tug.

"What is that in your hand?" came the invisible voice. "Do you also intend to attempt burglary right under my nose?"

"No," she said, letting the object fall to the coins below with a clatter. "It was stuck under your scale and bruising my neck." She paused an idea according to her. "Do...do you want me to pull out any of the other things that have been caught under your scales? I imagine it can't be comfortable to have it jammed in there?"

"Why would you offer or care?"

"After your trick at the chasm, I don't like the dark at the moment. I would need light to work by. Besides, it would not be the first time a princess served a dragon." A mix of truth, fib, and intrigue.

"I have heard of no such practice," said Smaug skeptically.

"Kazul the king of dragons kept a princess, so why can't you, at least for a little while."

"I know nothing of this pretended King Kazul and you are hardly a princess." But despite his words, there was a glow building in his mouth again. "If you have nothing better to do as you wait for your end you may remove the treasure from beneath my scales."

He freed her and Sara turned to face his belly running her hands over his scales until she found one that was displaced. How long could she drag out this conversation and delay his nap? Where were the others? She had to keep Smaug occupied. The book said dragons, in particular Smaug, could not resist a good riddle. Unfortunately, she didn't know many but a mystery might do the trick just the same. If she could keep him asking questions she might just have a chance. She scoured her mind for dragon references, anything to keep Smaug's attention.