Daughter of Beorn: The Hobbit Fanfiction

Welcome to Laketown

"Here we are. All in order." A voice said. I twitched my nose and shifted my weight uncomfortably.

Bard had gotten us through, however all of us were covered in fish- and it smelled horrendous. Mithren was somewhere else on the boat. I bet she was laughing to herself.

"Not so fast." Someone else said. I gasped at the sound of his voice. Was it really him?

"Consignment of empty barrels from the Woodland Realm. Only, they're not empty, are they Bard?" I peeked out of a crack in the barrel and spotted Alfrid talking to Bard.

Alfrid. The thought of his name sent shivers across my body. I had many unfortunate memories with this scum of the earth.

~ Flashback ~

"Can't you do any better?" He hissed, kicking over the bucket of water. "Oh, I'm sorry I knocked that over. It's now another mess you must clean up."

I bit my lip and continued to scrub the tiled floor. My belly had grown significantly over the past five months, and it was becoming more difficult to hide my unborn child.

"Well? Aren't you going to say something?" He sneered. I remained silent and dipped my rag in the water. "Answer me!"

Before I knew it Alfrid kicked me in the side. I scrambled away from him, which caused my belly to be revealed.

His eyes widened as his mouth twisted into an evil grin. "You whore." Alfrid spat. "Who's the father? Some drunk villager?"

"No." I whispered.

"Liar. It'll be the bastard child of two pathetic parents. You'll be lucky if it dies at birth." With that he left me alone.

Silently, I cleaned up the water Alfrid had spilled. "Do not worry little one." I told my child. "I would never take you back- even if it meant he wouldn't have done that to me."

~ End of Flashback ~

"It's a small town, Alfrid; everyone knows where everyone lives." Bard retorted. I snapped out of the trance I was in and listened closely.

All of a sudden the barrels jolted forward. I steadied myself as Bard directed his barge through the water.

Several minutes later the barge was stopped. Out of the blue my barrel was knocked over. With a groan, I crawled out of the enclosed space and wiped some excess fish slime off of my shoulders.

"Get your hands off me." Dwalin growled as he pulled himself out of his barrel. Chuckling softly, I walked over to Bilbo and smiled.

"Doing okay?" I asked. He nodded and raised his eyebrows sarcastically. Bard slipped a coin into the shocked dock keeper's hand.

"You didn't see them, they were never here. The fish you can have for nothing." He then led us away from the barge. "Follow me." He muttered.

Mithren spiraled around in the air; she probably was enjoying the open space.

As I walked through Laketown, I couldn't help but notice how poor everyone looked. The sky cast a murky gray shadow on the area, giving everything a gloomy appearance.

One old woman suddenly caught my eye. I only saw her for about ten seconds, but the word that came out of her mouth was undeniable.

"Ryovn?"

My breath quickened as I caught up with the others. Why did she say my mother's name? How did she know who she was?

A boy who looked to be around 13 or 14 ran up to Bard with a worried look on his face. "Da! Our house, it's being watched!" He exclaimed.