A Stark Predicament

Chapter 87 Informing Bard and Getting Underway.

Thorin and the others had a wonderful lunch with Bard and his family. Once lunch was over they all proceed to gather in Bard's study. Bard goes and sits behind his desk, he motions for Thorin and Alina to sit opposite him. Servants come in with extra chairs for the others, Balin comes to sit on Thorin side while Tony sits next to Alina.

"Now let us get down to business, what is this proposal that you have to offer, Thorin?" Bard asks.

Thorin looks at his queen, who begins to explain their plans, Tony would add his input here and there. When Alina and Tony were finished with their plan, Bard sat back in his chair in silence for a while.

"I think it is a wonderful idea, the only problem I see is that most of my people are fishermen not farmers."

It was at this time that Thorin adds his input, "That is why we need the Hobbits, they are excellent farmers and can teach us everything we need to know. We will of course need Bilbo's help to convince the Hobbits, but I am sure he will help us."

Bard nods, "I do not see why this plan of your would not work, though I need to discuss this with my people. I have yet to set up a council of advisors, so I must bring this before all of Dale, though ultimately it is my choice."

Thorin and the other look at each other, then Thorin pulls Bard aside. "Choose your advisors wisely, my friend, if I would give you any advice on this matter it would be this. Choose your most loyal and trusted friends, those that are not going to be licking your boots for favors. And those that are not afraid to tell exactly how it is and what you are doing wrong, I had to learn that lesson the hard way."

Then Thorin goes on to explain what happened to him and that if it hadn't been for his love he would be dead right now, Bard scratches his beard in thought.

"I shall definitely do as you say, Thorin, thank you for the warning and advice."

"You are lucky though, Bard, you shall create your council from scratch, I inherited mine, and they had been planning this for some time. Either to manipulate me or remove me and place Fili on the throne who is far more malleable."

After their discussion, Thorin and the others make their way back to the mountain, leaving Bard to make ready to discuss with his people the plans that he  and Thorin had talked about. Before they leave, though, Bard informs Thorin that he will send a raven with his final decision.

Once they arrive at the mountain, Tony and Alina head for the kitchen to begin their work to make space for the industrial refrigerator and freezer. Tony takes out his Stark Pad and brings up the holographic schematics of the freezer and refrigerator. Expanding it, he measures it against the space they were looking at and confirms that they will fit. He also measures for a space for the Arc reactor that will be powering everything. Once Tony is satisfied, he turns to Alina and gives her the go ahead.

Alina takes a deep breath and concentrates. Placing her hands upon the wall, Alina shoves against it causing it to crack. Slowly she begins to walk forward causing the wall to crumble as she walks, making a hole the exact height and width needed for the refrigerator and freezer to go in side by side. Once she has created the space, she balls her hands together causing the rumble to turn into a fine powder. Which she then collects and dumps outside the mountain Once she has done that she goes back to the newly created space and makes holes for the cables and wiring to go through.

"Okay all done, now what?" Alina asks Tony.

"Now it's time for me to hook up the electrical and then we'll bring in the fridge and freezer. That should only take me a few hours since you already drilled the holes we need." Tony informs her.

"Do you need anymore help?"

"Nope, just need to go home and get the Arc Reactor, cables and wiring. So I'll be back in a few minutes maybe an hour."

"Okay, then, I'm going to go see what Thorin is doing."

"Alright, Honey Bunny."

With that, Tony goes to the teleporter and goes back to Stark Tower.

Meanwhile in Dale, Bard has called for the people to meet in the Great Hall in order for him to discuss Thorin's plan. Once everyone has gathered, Bard stands in front of everyone and addresses them.

"Alright everyone please settle down. I have called this meeting in order to discuss a proposal that Thorin, King Under the Mountain, has informed me about. As you all know after the burning of Lake Town, we were left with little supplies for the winter. We cannot fish the lake anymore now that Smaug's body pollutes it. And we cannot depend on the Elves to see us through the winter."

"What are we going to do then, Your Majesty?" Asks one of the townspeople.

"King Thorin, and his people are in the same situation as we are, but they have a plan. His queen and her brother will be bringing food supplies from their world to sustain not only the mountain, but Dale as well."

A murmur runs through the crowd.

"There is more." Bard informs the people of Dale.

Bard goes on to explain the rest of the plan to his people, explaining that hopefully with the help of the Hobbits they will learn to farm and begin to grow their own food which they will be able to trade with the mountain and others throughout Middle Earth.

"Now, the decision is ultimately mine to make as your king, but I wanted all of you to know what is going on and to hear your opinions." Bard says.

The people began to talk amongst themselves about what Bard had told them. After a while they all agreed that it was the best plan for everyone involved.

Once the meeting was adjourned, Bard went back to his home to write a letter to Thorin, letting him know that he and his people were on board with the plan. Once he had finished he noticed that the raven from earlier was still waiting the letter. Bard chuckled and called the raven.

"Come here my friend."

The raven flew down from its perch and landed in front of Bard. It bowed and waited for him to fold the letter and seal it with his seal. Bard handed the letter tied the letter to the raven's leg, making sure it was not too tight.

"Take this letter straight to the King Under the Mountain." Bard tells the raven.

The raven bows and flies out the window making its way towards the mountain.