The Three Women Of Durin

The King Under The Mountain

"So, what do you think happened," Cece said from where she sat on Bilbo's wooden table, legs folded neatly underneath her, blowing on a cup of tea. Her matted hair now tied back off her face drawing even more attention to her vivid green eyes.

"Honestly, I don't know, this still doesn't feel real to me," Rosie muttered from where she leaned near the sink.

"This can't be real, can it?" Frankie joined in, "I mean, whatever...this is...it's not real,"

"I don't know," Breathed Cece, "If this isn't real..." Cece trailed off, Rosie felt something run the length of her spine. The girls sat in silence for a while, none of them able to come up with a new topic to talk about.

"Well..." Frankie began looking at her friends, "Even if this...isn't real. It very much feels like it. And we can debate over what happened for as long as we want, but at the end of the day, we don't know, do we?" Rosie and Cece shook their heads, "So..." Frankie said, in a shaky breath, "What do we do next?" They shared a look.

"Well, to decide, we kinda need to know what's going to happen," Rosie said looking at Frankie, then both of them turned to Cece.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"You know the most," Frankie said obviously, "Shouldn't you make the decision on what we do since you do know what will happen next"

"Oh right, yeah totally," Cece said with a touch of offence, "Well, it seems to me...that next they...go on a fucking quest to Erebor,"

"That's not what we meant Ce," Rosie said softly.

"I don't care if it's what you meant...I am not taking responsibility for what we do as a group," Cece replied. Rosie and Frankie muttered their apologies before moving the conversation forward.

"All I – I mean we – meant was...what happens right now? Like, right this very second?" Frankie asked.

"Umm," Cece sipped on her tea, "They have a discussion on whether Bilbo will be going on the quest," A pause.

"So...if we want to go on this quest...we should probably be in there right now?" Frankie asked, glancing at her two friends. A few seconds went by of no one doing anything, then all at once the three girls raised to their feet and tripped out into the hallway. Leaving behind cold tea.

The three girls sneaked into the dining room, unnoticed by the dwarves and took refuge against the walls. They pushed themselves into the shadows and watched as the dwarves and the wizard discussed the news that the dwarves of the Iornhills would not be joining them on this quest. Soft groans and mummers echoed around the room.

"They say this quest is ours, and ours alone," Thorin said, slowly bringing his glass to his lips and sipping his wine.

"You're going on a quest?" The voice of Bilbo came from the hallway. Rosie felt herself smile without thinking, the innocence of the hobbit warmed her heart, a comforting familiarity in this story. Cece was watching with steady eyes, gripping onto each word that was spoken, waiting for a chance to drop their presence on the quest. The story continued to unfold before the three girls, the revealing of the map, the story of the dragon who took rest under the mountain and more.

"I'm not afraid, I'm up for it, I'll give him a taste of dwarfish iron right up his jack sit," Ori suddenly said, obviously wanting to prove himself being one of the youngest. The three girls couldn't help but smile at the dwarf throughout the chaos that this caused, and even though the lighting was low, the dwarf noticed this and his cheeks pulsed red.

"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us, but we number just 13, and not thirteen of the best, or brightest," Balin said, staring at Thorin.