All's Far in Love and War

Chapter 15: An Announcement Made to the King

Dwalin's POV:

Meanwhile, in Erebor, Thorin is merely sitting on the throne. I approach him.

"Since when do we forsake our own people? Thorin, they are dying out there." I urged.

"There are halls beneath halls within this mountain - places we can fortify." Thorin whispered, clearly not listening to a word I have to say. I look disappointed and angry. "Shore up, make safe. Yes......Yes - that is it. We must move the gold further underground - to safety!"

Thorin begins walking away, but I angrily calls out to him. "Did you not hear me?! Dain is surrounded! They're being slaughtered, Thorin."

"Many die in war. Life is cheap. But a treasure such as this cannot be counted in lives lost. It is worth all the blood we can spend!" Thorin retorted.

"You sit here in these vast halls, with a crown upon your head, and yet you are lesser now than you have ever been." I sighed.

"Do not speak to me as if I was some lowly dwarf lord..." Thorin hissed. As he speaks, Thorin is clearly mentally affected. "As-As if I were still...Thorin...Oakenshield. I AM YOUR KING!" Thorin roars and pulls out his sword; however, he is so unbalanced that he almost falls over.

"You were always my king. You used to know that once." I bow my head in sorrow. "You cannot see that you have become. By the way I asked Flora to marry me and she agreed."

"Go! Get out...before I kill you." Thorin hissed.

Thorin's POV:

After looking at each other for a while, Dwalin turns and leaves.

I walk through the hall in which he tried to drown Smaug; the entire floor is covered in gold a few feet deep. In my head, I hear many of the words that I spoke or were spoken to me earlier.

DIALOG-FLASHBACK - START

Dwalin: "You sit here...with a crown upon your head...you are lesser now than you have ever been..."

Thorin: "...but a treasure such as this cannot be counted in lives lost..."

Balin: "...a sickness lies upon that treasure..."

Bard: "...the blind ambition of a mountain-king..."

Thorin: "...AM I NOT THE KING..."

Thorin: "...this gold...is ours...and ours alone..."

Balin: "...treasure..."

Thorin: "...I will not part with a single coin..."

Bard: "...he could not see beyond his own desire..."

Thorin: "...as if I was some lowly dwarf lord..."

Thorin: "...Oakenshield..."

Balin: "...a sickness that drove your grandfather mad..."

Thorin: "...Oakenshield..."

Dwalin: "...this is Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror..."

Thorin: "...I am not my grandfather...my grandfather."

Gandalf: "...you are the heir to the throne of Durin..."

Dwalin: "...they are dying out there."

Gandalf: "...take back...take Erebor..."