The Dwarf Prince

Chapter 6: The Journey Begins

"Alithia," Gandalf called out and the elf princess turned to face him.

"Yes, Mithrandir?" She asked and he took his fair share of the coins from the bag and threw the remainder at her to catch. She caught it instantly, thanks to her elf reflexes and winked at Bilbo.

"To you, Bilbo Baggins," she nodded and lifted the bag in a form of a toast.

Bilbo would have replied but his nose started to feel all fuzzy and then he sneezed. "These ponies. I think I'm allergic. I'm getting a reaction," he said and felt around his waist coat pockets for his handkerchief.

"Wait...wait... Stop! Stop! We have to turn around," he shouted, still feeling around for his hanky. The company stopped and turned around, looking confused and annoyed.

"What on earth is the matter?" Gandalf asked.

"I forgot my handkerchief," Bilbo stated. The dwarves laughed at his excuse. Bofur ripped a piece of cloth from his garments and threw it at Bilbo. "Here! Use this!" he said. Bilbo looked at the cloth in slight disgust and tucked it into his pocket, slightly upset.

"Move on!" Thorin shouted and the company continued with their journey.

"You'll have to manage without pocket handkerchiefs and a good many other things, Bilbo Baggins, before we reach our journey's end. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire. But home is now behind you. The world is ahead," Gandalf said wisely.

Alithia had continued talking to Fili after the brief interruption from Gandalf and he started to tell her about stories from when he and Kili were younger. He spoke of the time when Kili had first started archery and had accidentally shot a bird out of the sky. "And we ate it after that too," Kili added with a grin. The smile on Alithia's face slowly dropped but Fili whacked his brother's arm and turned back to the elf princess.

"He's only joking," he reassured her and Alithia let out a breath of relief.

"Or am I?" Kili smirked, lifting his eyebrows.

"Come off it, Kili," Fili chided and Kili laughed. "Alright, alright. We didn't eat it,"

The rest of the journey was very enjoyable for their group of three as they shared funny stories about their childhood. Evidently, Kili was always the troublemaker and Fili would often get dragged into trouble unwillingly and Fili would have to talk their way out.

"How about you? Were you the reckless one or the more responsible one?" Fili asked, turning to Alithia. She paused to think.

"Well... I was both actually. Sometimes I would come up with something really stupid and drag my brother into trouble along with me but there are times when I find myself being the pillar of reason," she shrugged. "We couldn't do much anyway. Since we're of royal blood, we had to be on our best behaviour at all times, especially in the eyes of the public," she added.

"Right, I keep forgetting you're a princess. You seem too..." Kili trailed off. Alithia's eyebrow rose.

"Too what?"

Kili's eyes widened.

"Nothing, nothing," he replied hastily.

"Kili, tell me," she insisted.

"Nope, nevermind. Forget I ever said anything," Kili replied. "You go on ahead and ride with her, Fili," Kili said and used the reigns to speed up his pony so he put a distance between the two of them.

"Or better yet, ride her," Kili added with a wink and Fili's eyes widened.
"Kili!" He scolded but his little brother merely laughed cheekily and after giving the elf princess a wink, he rode onwards to be beside Thorin.