Iron and Oak

Chapter Three

Esja's veil tinkled as a laugh escaped her, "Really, a company of dwarves, and a wizard, traveling the great East Road, in secret? You must be joking!"  

Hagny smiled at sparkling green eyes, "Esja," he said, gesturing to her veil, "you don't need to wear that in here! Come, let me see your smile and I will feed you and ply you with my best elvish wine! Come!" 

Esja straightened and pulled her hood up, automatically adjusting her veil. 

"I will not remove it, nor can I stay. I only came to see if it was true. I must start back.  Westhand is a small mining colony but there is rarely a day that some healing isn't needed. I've been gone too long as it is." 

Ejsa turned to leave and paused, "Hagny, please don't tell them I was here." 

"I won't, my girl." He stepped to the counter and pulled down a beautifully carved box, "Take this with. It's a wonderful collection of oils I've just received. They will serve you well in your vocation. Oh, and I remember how you love this one too." Hagny pulled a blown glass vial from the counter.  

"Yellow Jessamine Oil still reminds me of you to this very day! Doesn't smell right on anyone else." 

"Hagny, that is a valuable oil, don't waste it on me," she said. 

"Please, Esja, for me?" he held the bottle out to her. 

Esja sighed and accepted it, pulling the elegant crystal top from the bottle. The smell of sun and stone and springtime rain surrounded her. She dabbed a few precious drops at her wrist and neck. She handed the bottle back to Hagny, who tucked it into the carved box. 

"Hagny..," she began but stopped. Esja took the box and bent to brush her veiled cheek against Hagny's heavily bearded one.  

"I will put them to good use," she said. 

Hagny harrumphed as she moved to the door, "Meaning you won't be making them into love potions. Is that what you mean?"  

Esja glanced over her shoulder, "That is exactly what I mean. May your beard grow ever longer, Hagny." 

Hagny almost returned the departing compliment, but at the last moment remembered himself and smiled, "Goodbye, Esja."

As Esja stepped out of the heavy gates and onto the broad plain that ran along both sides of the river Carnen, a steady East wind pulled the hood from her head and tangled her hair in her veil. She pulled her hood up again, hardly pausing on her way to the stables. Reclaiming her pony, she tied the box behind her saddle and mounted. Hoping all would be well in Westhand for a bit longer, she turned south, planning to turn west once she was clear of the foothills and head directly toward the Lonely Mountain. She bent, checking the knives sheathed, one in each tall riding boot. Placing her right hand on the hilt of the dagger at her waist she urged her pony into a trot.

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Thorin gritted his teeth as he rolled to his back. Opening his eyes in the dark cell, he could easily see the chip marks made by shoddy workmen long ago. Elvish stonemasons, he sneered at the thought. A fresh breeze blew through the barred window of the cell door, and as Thorin closed his eyes, it ruffled through his hair and tickled his nose.  

"Jessamine," Thorin thought.

He sat up, rubbing his nose and face, looking around. He was sitting alone in a damp cell far beneath Thranduil's court. He stretched his neck from side to side, trying to banish her scent. He stood up and paced his cell from end to end. He pushed her face far away from him and focused on his company, picturing each of them, listing their skills, saying their names and lineage. He restated his quest to himself, pictured the halls of Erebor as he remembered them. He thought about the betrayal of Thranduil and his prancing court above. He thought about Bilbo. He raged at his helplessness. He swore in Khuzdul at the guard who brought him food, throwing the plate against the wall. He thought of his sister Dis and the Blue Mountains. He even tried to relive his visit to Rivendell, day by awful day. But In the end, his body, still not healed from the privations of Mirkwood, betrayed him, and he slept. And as every night since he had been thrown in this dungeon, she came and curled about him, stroking his beard and kissing his eyes closed until he belonged to her again.