Right at the crack of first light, I sprung from my chair. However, I saw nobody, and there were no signs of a large and hurried breakfast. But a faint smell of eggs and bacon? The fearful mess from the night before disappeared, with piles of washed crocks, pots, and pans in the kitchen. The washing-up was so real that I could've believed last night never occurred.
Opening the front door, the bright morning sun came burning down, blinding me. I held my hand up to aid my vision through the light. I stepped outside to admire a beautiful red rose, plucking it from a bush in the garden—the garden of Bilbo's house.
"Oh, it wasn't a dream," I frowned, forcing myself to enjoy the warm, peaceful breeze as I gently twirled the flower in my hand. I do love roses, especially ones grown by hobbits.
Gandalf appeared. "No, it was not, and it's about time for that quest. Are you ready?"
I remembered signing the contract, groaning slightly. "Certainly. Where are the others?"
"Oh, well, come along then. The dwarves all thought it was unnecessary to disturb your esteemed repose, so they went off in advance to prepare and get ponies and horses for everyone."
We walked down the path as I questioned him. "All the dwarves?"
"As far as I could tell, yes." That's a load of hogwash!
I worked to brush out my long hair, getting rid of the tangles. "You did tell them that I don't actually sleep, right?"
"And you did tell them that you're an elf, am I correct?" I'll shut my mouth now. The wizard continued speaking. "We're supposed to be meeting them at the Green Dragon Inn. If I recall, you do remember where it is?"
It was only a short walk down the lane, past the Mill. "Yes, of course, Gandalf, it's right down the road. I left my horse there—" My memory went back to the stallion I had left at the stables the previous night, and I panicked. "Gandalf! I already have a horse so—"
He cut me off. "Don't worry, I made sure to let them know. I saw the horse on my way in."
I gave a sigh of relief. "Bless me." Just as I finished my hair, we made it to the Green Dragon.
Just in time, too, for all the others came around the corner of the road. They were on ponies, and each was slung about with all kinds of bags, sacks, packages, parcels, and paraphernalia. Adding to the ponies, my fantastic grey horse rode alongside a chestnut-colored one.
However, I didn't see Bilbo among the riders. "Is Bilbo really not coming?" I looked at the wizard, who had a blank face.
I received a gruff answer from the leader of the company. "The hobbit has not decided to rise from his bed. I don't think he will be joining us on this quest," Thorin said. He then proceeded to help the other dwarves mount their ponies.
"Good morning to you too," I groaned under my breath.
"There's no need to be snappish, lass," Balin said in a very gentle tone, leading my horse straight to me. "He's not much of an early riser."
We both snickered, out of earshot of the grumpy dwarf, before Balin went off to help the others.
After securing my belongings to my horse's saddle, I rubbed his white nose. "My dear Arod, they didn't do anything to you, right?" He neighed back and brushed his muzzle against my forehead. "I'm glad." His speckled coat was beautiful, running my hands through his long, coal-colored mane. Seeing Thorin mounting his pony nearby, I grinned. "I wouldn't forgive those nasty dwarves if they treated you badly."
The dwarf shot me a look. "Enough babbling. Up you get, and off we go!"
Ignoring his rudeness, I mounted Arod and adjusted the placement of my weapons.
That's how we all came to start, jogging off from the inn one fine morning just before May, on laden ponies and horses. We had not been riding long, when I came across Nori smiling gleefully. Being naturally curious, I wanted to know why. "Why is it you smile, Nori?" I asked.
His grin grew so wide it touched both ears. "I believe I'm going to win my bet," Nori replied.
"And what bet is that?"
The dwarf leaned up to reach my height, though sadly he was still too short. "Well, the lads and I are betting on whether Master Baggins is going to follow and join up with us or not."
I nodded my head, feeling my eyebrows lift. "And which chance do you vote on?"
The dwarf laughed a little. "That he will not come and stay in his cozy little home worrying over his fancy dish set." It was a very understandable thought. On the basis of appearance alone, that hobbit wasn't an adventurer.
Thinking about the fun I could have with a bet, I grinned. "May I join in this bet as well?"
"Of course, you can, lass. What be the side you're betting on?" His whiskers formed into a smirk.
Pondering over the state of the hobbit in question, my lips spoke for me. "I wager he will catch up somehow and join the company." I placed ten coins in a pouch and held it to Nori. "Here you are."
He looked at me, surprised and confused, but accepted my bet nonetheless. "You're a special kind of lass, betting on something like that."
"Call it a gut feeling."
"Well, I hope that gut feeling will save you and the others."
"Who else is with me?"
"You got yourself the wizard, Oin, Balin, Kili, and my two brothers. Everyone else was smart."
I smirked. "Is that so? We'll see who's the smart one."
We were all shocked when a loud cry escaped from the silent forest behind us. "Wait! WAIT!"
I brought my horse to a halt beside the rest of the company. Turning on my saddle, I watched Bilbo Baggins run as fast as his hairy feet could carry him, a long parchment streaming and flapping in his hand, and a traveling pack on his shoulders.
Very puffed he was when he finally caught up to us, taking a moment to catch his breath. "I signed it!" Bilbo announced cheerfully before handing the contract over to Balin. The old, wise dwarf inspected the contract with an eyeglass.
Bilbo looked over at me, still looking weary and tired. I smiled and winked, absolutely thrilled to have him join us.
Balin stowed the contract away and looked at the hobbit. "Well, everything appears to be in order," he said. "Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield!"
Some of the dwarves cheered, others not so much.
Not preferring it one way or the other, Thorin began to ride off. "Give him a pony," he grunted.
I glanced over at Thorin's two nephews, who caught my gaze and nodded.
Bilbo looked quite fearful. "No, no, no! That won't be necessary. I'm sure I can keep up on foot here. I've done my fair share of walking. I even got as far as Frogmorton once—" Fili and Kili hoisted him up onto the small pony carrying the cooking supplies, despite the hobbit's squawking and protesting.
Seeing an uncomfortable Bilbo, I trotted over. His pony neighed and tossed her head up, happy to have a rider. Her excitement made Bilbo even more uncomfortable. He grinned in pain; I felt bad for laughing. "You'll get used to it," I assured, showing him how to properly sit on the pony's back and hold her reins.
"I just never imagined ever riding a pony," Bilbo mumbled.
"I can tell."
Abruptly, Oin yelled, "Come on, brother! Pay up!" Gloin tossed a sack of money his way.
"Here you are, lass!" Nori said as he chucked a sack of coin my way, a big frown on his face.
Bilbo observed several more sacks of money thrown about. "What's that about?"
"Oh, they took wages on whether you'd turn up," Gandalf replied, riding beside us.
"Most of them bet that you wouldn't," I grinned, happily stuffing the sack of coin into my satchel.
Bilbo turned to the wizard. "And what did you think?"
"Well..." Gandalf paused to catch a sack of coins, and chuckled. "My dear Bilbo, I never doubted you for a second."
Bilbo sneezed loudly. "Oh, excuse me. It's all this horse hair, I'm having a reaction." He shuffled through his many—many—pockets, and looked up in shock. "No, wait! Stop. Stop! We have to turn around!"
The entire company came to a halt. The dwarves immediately started objecting.
"What on earth is the matter?" Gandalf asked, clearly annoyed.
The hobbit was panicking at this point. "I forgot my handkerchief."
"Here." Bofur tore a strip of cloth from his outfit and threw it at Bilbo. "Use that." The hobbit stared at it in disgust while the dwarf and several others laughed.
"Move on!" Thorin barked from the front, and we all continued.
Feeling a bit sympathetic, I searched my pocket for a handkerchief. "Here you go, Bilbo. Just this once."
"You are truly a lifesaver," Bilbo smiled, accepting the cloth and wiping his nose.
"Savor it, there are no more pocket handkerchiefs after today. You'll have to manage without them, and a good many other things, before we reach our journey's end," I informed. "You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead."
So, after that the party went along very merrily. The day was long, going up and down steep hills, through forests, across rivers and streams. The dwarves told stories or sang songs as we rode forward all day, except of course when we stopped for meals or to let the horses drink. The meals didn't come quite as often as Bilbo would've liked, but still he began to feel that adventures were not so bad after all.
Most of the time, I conversed with Bilbo. He shared little bits and pieces of his life thus far, and I did the same, although I kept the more lucrative details to myself; I didn't want the dwarves to overhear anything accidentally. Speaking of the dwarves, many of them were more willing to talk to me than I initially thought, with the exception of their grumpy leader.
In fact, Thorin avoided me the entire day. He constantly maintained a position that put several other ponies between us. At one point, I tried speaking to him about changing our route to make the horses a bit more comfortable; he countered my suggestion with a simple grunt and maintained our current course.
Not letting Thorin's terrible attitude get to me, I resumed my conversations with Bilbo.
At first, we had passed through hobbit lands, a wide respectable country inhabited by many decent folk, with good roads, an inn or two, and now and then a dwarf or a farmer or both ambling by on business. Then we came to lands where people spoke strangely, and sang songs Bilbo had never heard before. Now we had gone on far into the Lone-lands, where there were no people left, no inns, and the roads grew steadily worse.
⛰
By nightfall, we had stopped on a stony hill. Thorin turned to everyone. "We've had enough riding for one day. This will be a good spot, high and away from any danger," Thorin said.
Everyone began dismounting and setting up camp for the night.
I brought Arod to a tree, beside Gandalf's horse, and gave him a carrot. "That's for a job well done," I said.
As I began to dismount my horse, Ori came running up holding his gloved hand for me to take. I couldn't argue with a young lad wanting to help a lady. "Thank you, Ori," I smiled after my feet hit the firm ground. "That's very sweet of you."
He began to blush, and stopped me just before I could walk off. "Rose, could I ask i-if you...you would l-like to, uh, sleep with me..." He instantly broke out in panic. "...or not sleep with me but sleep next to me, that's what I mean!" He got really embarrassed, where all he needed to cry was for me to laugh at him.
I quickly hushed the dwarf. "I would love to. Here. Why don't you set this up for me then?" I gave him my bed roll, to make lying on the ground slightly more comfortable. He nodded and walked away.
Walking over to help Bofur and Bombur set up the kitchenware, I walked past the others rolling out their bedrolls. I passed Dwalin as he frustratingly tried to unravel his, grunting, cursing and swearing in angered Khuzdul. I giggled to myself.
Of course, my thoughts of Dwalin were interrupted by the clanging of pans. I followed the loud noise to find Bofur struggling to untie a ladle from the rear of a pony. "Hey, hey, hey! Come back here you mongrel! Give me that damn spoon!" Bofur yelled, completely red-faced.
I couldn't help but laugh. My shrieking laughter must've startled him to death, making the floppy hat jump off his head.
"Sorry to scare you, but let's face it. You're not getting that spoon," I said before approaching the pony. I calmed the creature down by rubbing its nose. Then I moved my hand to its rump and quickly retrieved the ladle, handing it to the astonished dwarf.
"How'd you do that?" Bofur asked.
I shrugged. "Been dealing with horses since I could walk."
I wasn't surprised to come across Dwalin still fighting his bedroll. He had his back turned, swearing and cursing even louder than before. I hesitantly approached him. "Dwalin, would you like some help with that?"
"I-I, ah..." Dwalin grunted and handed the insufferable bag over. I worked to untie the rope that held the roll together. "Thanks, lass. If I may, did you hear any of what I was saying?"
"Oh, do speak up, Master Dwarf. I seem to have bad hearing at the moment." I winked at him and walked off.
Soon, I found myself at the top of the hill, scouting the area for any potential threats.
Absolutely nothing.
So, instead my gaze drifted to the moon above my head. The moonlight shone over the valley sitting far below us, and the twinkle of the stars made the view amazing. My hair billowed in the breeze like a flag. This was a moment I could never pass up, admiring the stars and moon, the cool breeze, and—
"Oi!"
A voice startled me out of my trance.
Without even looking, I knew it was Thorin.
"Don't stand too close to the ledge, stupid woman. You could fall off."
While I was close enough to the edge to be pushed off, I knew nobody here would do that. I spun around and glared at the dwarf. "Sorry, dwarf, but I'm not leaving the company that easily," I grinned before walking past him.
I stepped over to the group of dwarves all scattered on the ground. Dori, Nori, and Ori all sat huddled drinking tea together. Bilbo placed himself nearby. Ori patted my empty sleeping roll. "I saved your space, Rose," he chirped sweetly.
"Oh, please sit, Rose. Do try some of this tea. It is my mother's recipe and I believe you won't go disappointed," Dori said, slurping from a cup and handing me a second one.
The flavored water tasted surprisingly delicious. "I love it, Dori. It tastes sensational. I don't believe I've ever had tea this good," I said, finding the cup empty within a few short moments. Nori smirked at me and shook his head, leaving me very curious. "What's the matter?"
"You surprise me, Rose, because, well, I've never known a girl to win a bet against me."
I smiled to myself. "Well, dwarves are always such good sports at bets, so I have to step up my game quite often." He nodded his head, slightly blushing.
Soon after, the dwarf with an axe in his head, who I recall was Bifur, helped his two cousins hand out bowls of soup. He approached me and held out a bowl of steaming broth. "Lady Rosalia, please eat some," Bifur said. He spoke to me in Khuzdul.
Presuming he couldn't speak the Common Tongue, I talked back in his language. "Thank you!" I replied with a grateful nod, and after removing my gloves, accepted the bowl in my hands. I sipped from the chunky broth, finding it delicious and very warm. Too focused on the tasty soup, noticing the pack of dwarves staring in awe frightened me. "Something wrong?"
"You're just the first person outside of our kin to understand a word he's saying, miss," Bombur said.
"Oh, well that's good then, isn't it?" I smiled, slowly working on my soup.
After finishing my meal, I wiped my mouth clean with a sleeve and set my bowl to the side. Bofur, Fili, Kili, and Bifur talked quietly together, catching my attention when they kept sneaking quick glances my way. Eventually, Bofur and the two brothers cracked up a little. All I could do was look confused and wait for them to stop giggling.
Finally, Bofur looked over at me. "Lass, Bifur asked if you sing, and if you could, would you?" I gazed over at the axe-headed dwarf, putting his fingers to his lips and muttering in Khuzdul as he dragged them away. "He thinks you have a beautiful voice and that it would sound like angels."
Nothing could describe what I felt at that moment, a startling mix of fear, embarrassment, confusion, and anger. "Sing?!" The four dwarves nodded their heads. I panicked a little. "No, no, I don't sing."
"We're sure you'd sound pretty nice," Fili noted.
"Even a teensy few lines," Kili begged.
At this point, the company had their eyes fixed on me, their faces lit with excitement. I looked around at them all. "I haven't sung for a long time; not even quite sure how good I'd be. I am no lady after all."
Of course, the disappointed looks on the many dwarf faces convinced me otherwise.
I took a deep breath. "But that does not mean I would disappoint such a kind request. I will sing." I was surprised by the amount of cheering I received from the company, apart from Thorin, who had muttered something in Khuzdul I could not catch. I looked at Bilbo. "Do you all really want me to sing that badly?"
"A good idea. And how bad can you be?" Bilbo replied with a smile. I blushed.
Thinking about what to sing, I gazed at the many faces watching me. "Alright. I know a teensy bit of a song I think your smelly lot would like." There were no objections from the audience.
Staring at the fire, I cleared my throat and began to sing:
Oh, misty eye of the mountain below
Keep careful watch of my brothers' souls;
And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke
Keep watching over Durin's sons
I let my voice slow down into a mellow hum to end the song. Everyone sat silently, making me a bit scared. Not able to listen to myself, I wondered just how awful I was. "Was that good? I'm sorry it was so short—"
The company broke into sudden applause.
Bilbo spoke for them and said, "No, it was amazing."
I guess deep blushes and looks of shock all across their faces was a good thing.
Awkwardly grinning, I replied: "Thank you."
"Uh, lass?" Oin hummed.
"Yes?" I asked.
"I hope you don't mind me askin'." He adorably twiddled his thumbs. Everyone rolled their eyes and groaned, but I didn't take my eyes off the dwarf. "With, well, with a fine-looking maiden as yourself, why... why ain't cha' married to a fine lookin' lad?"
I tried hard not to choke. "What? Where'd that question come from?" I'm sure Gloin said something after our conversation the other night.
"Some of us were just a little curious," Nori said.
My eyes scanned the circle sitting around the campfire. Every pair of eyes locked onto me. I knew there was no refusing their curiosity.
So then, how was I supposed to answer?
When my eyes briefly fell on Gandalf, he gave me the tiniest nod, pushing me to answer the question—honestly.
Sorry Gandalf, but I can't do that.
I swallowed hard and returned my attention to the dwarves. "Well, you see, I am not married to a fine-looking lad, Oin, because I...don't have any interest in marriage. At least not now. And I haven't quite come across anyone worthy of my hand. I'm a little picky."
"As everyone should be," Gloin noted.
"No children neither?" Dori asked.
My heart throbbed. "Nope." I looked around at everyone. "Have any of you ever heard of Randiríel?"
"She's a maiden who is always traveling the world, exploring new places and taking down bandits and other evildoers," Balin replied.
"And her skill as a fighter is incredible," Fili added, getting excited. "The tales say she glitters under the natural lights as she faces down hordes of goblins, orcs, and bandits, moving and striking too fast for the eye to see her sword. It would take a fool to challenge her, no matter the number of enemies."
My face flushed. "Dear Mahal, the tales have gotten beyond stretched since last I heard."
"You mean to say that you're the Mithril Maiden?!" Dwalin asked, eyes wide.
"That's a name I haven't heard before, but yes, I suppose." The dwarves murmured amongst themselves, amazed at their discovery. "But don't think I always come out of fights unharmed." I slipped the glove off my right hand, revealing a scar going from the middle knuckle to my wrist. I held it to the fire for everyone to see. "I'm not invincible."
"How'd you get that?" Kili said.
"It was quite a while ago. When I was young, a group of orcs stole a very precious item and demanded a hefty sum in exchange for its return. Not wanting to pay the criminals of course, I went to retrieve the item. I got this scar, but I won."
"That's incredible," Dori said.
"Of course, I never forgot what the orcs had done, so I left home to get rid of them, along with bandits and the like, and help others get rid of them. I took on as many jobs as I could find, and at the end of the day, I always got the task done. Not only did I work to destroy my enemy, I frequently ventured to mountains and caves, where I encountered dwarves like yourselves."
"You really are fascinated with dwarves, aren't you?" Balin asked.
"I am, for as long as I can remember. You dwarves are just so incredibly different from anyone else I've met. Your culture, your language, your mountains and caves, your fascination with mining for precious gems, and your unmatched skills as blacksmiths. Loyalty. Honor. Willing hearts. It's all..." I paused and looked around at everyone. "Sorry, I tend to ramble."
They all nodded their heads, as though they enjoyed it. "Well, lass, at this point I think we deserve a life story from you," Nori smirked.
"Really?"
Everyone nodded all at once.
I looked around at the dwarves, even to Gandalf. His smile told me to continue. I took a deep breath and cleared my throat. "Very well."
To start, I spoke about my family: my mother, father, sister, and two brothers. My father trained me to fight with a variety of weapons from a very early age. Speaking of age, I had to lie when they asked me, and so I put myself at thirty years.
I spoke of my travels throughout Middle-Earth, my adventures, and my desires to explore the many mountains and caves the dwarves call home, including Erebor, and my extensive knowledge of several languages including Khuzdul, which was the reason I could speak to Bifur.
The company seemed very interested in many things about my life and kept throwing all sorts of questions my way. "How old were you when you left home?" Ori asked.
"I was twenty, if I recall," I replied.
"How did you learn Khuzdul?" Balin said.
"Lots of years of meeting dwarves, talking to them, and reading plenty of books. It's simpler than you think to learn."
"Do you know how to cook?" Bombur mumbled with a mouthful of stew.
I laughed. "Of course, I do. I may not be a proper maid, but everyone knows how to cook a bit of chunky soup." Everyone chuckled.
The laughter woke Thorin up, who I didn't even notice had fallen asleep.
Everyone went silent as he approached with an angry, bothered look. "Everyone should get some rest now. We've got a long day tomorrow," Thorin barked, shooting me a very quick but stern glare.
With that, everyone spread out to settle in for the night. "Fili, Kili, Master Baggins, and you, woman, you're getting the early morning watch. No questions, that's all you'll be hearing of it." His gaze fell upon me with lifted eyebrows, before slumping down in the same spot as before and falling back into his slumber, with light snores.
With everyone having gone off to bed, I made myself comfortable close to the fire. Bilbo settled a bit to my side. I watched him toss and turn, and felt like I had to do something. "Here," I whispered. I bundled up my cloak and handed it over. "Might make it a bit more comfortable."
"Thanks," Bilbo smiled and took the cloak, placing it under his head. He was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "Ah, Rose, may I ask one more question?"
I wrapped my arms around my knees and gazed over at him. "What is it?"
"Who do you look like most: your mother or father?"
"I've been told I look like my mother." I blushed a bit, thankful the shadows of the night hid my red cheeks. "Though I don't believe I'm nearly as pretty." I wrapped a strand of my hair around my finger, imagining my mother's sparkling white face and blonde hair. "Well, why don't you get some sleep? We'll need to get up early."
"Indeed," Bilbo muttered before flipping one more time and falling into a deep slumber.
Closing my eyes, I leaned my head against a rock and listened to the sounds around me. Crickets chirped and frogs croaked...and dwarves murmured amongst themselves. At first, I tuned out their conversation, until my name popped up.
"...hmm, and with Rose, it's no better for him when he is already blushing and having thoughts about her, I can just tell," Dwalin whispered.
My ears burned. Is he talking about one of the company members?
"Well, why wouldn't he?" Balin replied.
"Maybe because she's a human," Oin grunted.
I frowned. Not exactly...
"That's a load of nonsense, that really is. She could be an elf maid and it would make no difference." R-Really...? "She is beautiful, kind and smart, has the voice of an angel, and is a very capable warrior from the stories I've heard."
"Though hopefully she's not an elf," Dwalin chuckled.
It suddenly felt like I got shot by an arrow. Now I really hope they don't find out...
"They say she goes around slaying orcs and goblins beyond count, and that she moves so fast there's only a flash of silver before a head is severed clean off its body," Fili said, "That sounds like a warrior to me."
"Heck, if she had a beard, I'd fall for her," Dwalin muttered.
I couldn't stop my cheeks from turning red.
"I think she's pretty," Ori said making me grin.
"Of course you do," Kili chuckled alongside his brother.
"C'mon Ori, you think a toad is a masterpiece," Fili laughed. I frowned, but it was a bit humorous.
"Hey! That toad was the centerpiece of a beautiful painting, sitting on an upside-down mushroom surrounded by lilacs," Ori replied.
Then the old wizard chimed in. "Alright! Well whatever it was, we will get past it. For now, I'd like some silence for my rest!" Gandalf barked, and with that, everyone fell silent. I found myself entering a trance within minutes.
⛰
It didn't seem like a long time when I opened my eyes again.
I found Fili and Kili switching with Oin and Gloin to take over the watch. Gandalf sat up against a tree smoking his pipe. Bilbo woke up too, but upon closer inspection, it seemed he never went to sleep to begin with. He was focused on the cloud of flies being sucked into Bombur's mouth every time he inhaled.
"Looks like I'm up," I muttered.
I turned towards the embers of the fire and scooted close enough to feel its warmth. The two brothers sat by the fire as well, with Kili carving a piece of wood and Fili smoking his pipe. They both looked at me with grins stretching from ear to ear.
"Hello, Rose," Kili greeted.
"Sweet dreams, love?" Fili smirked, exhaling streams of grey air from his nose and lips.
"Oh yeah, loads," I laughed, whipping out my own pipe to smoke.
Tiny embers bounced off the burning wood like dancing fireflies. The warmth made my eyes droopy.
My eyes drifted to our leader. Thorin slept like a babe at rest from a mother's milk, dead to the rest of the world. I saw circles under his closed eyes; he seemed like one to get very little sleep, if at all. There were scars on his hands and wrists, and as he sleepily craned his head, I found another on his collarbone. It reminded me that he'd been through more trouble than I could ever imagine, and I shouldn't underestimate his character for it, even after how he treated me thus far.
Off to the side, Bilbo slowly rose to his feet and stepped over to Myrtle, his brown pony. His head turned this way and that, before handing the pony a bright red apple. He rubbed her nose as she enjoyed her sweet snack.
I laughed.
Suddenly, we all heard a loud screech that rang throughout the sky. Bilbo got spooked and hurried over to the fire, pointing a shaky finger at the wilderness. "What was that?"
Recognizing the screams, I sprung to my feet and stepped away from the fire to have a look at the valley below. "Orcs," I calmly replied, briefly scanning the shadows around us for any signs of a surprise attack.
His face turned white after hearing another scream. "Orcs?!"
"Throat cutters," Fili said, sounding far too calm. "There'll be dozens of them out there."
I glared at them. "Don't go saying anything scary! Besides, they're not nearly close enough."
"So they are out there?!" Bilbo timidly asked, eyes wide with fear.
"Yes," I admitted, "just not close."
"It's because we're up so high," Kili added. He looked over at the frightened hobbit as though he told a horror story. "They strike in the wee small hours of the night when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams. Just lots of blood."
Bilbo looked off into the distance, frightened, eyes darting around.
"Knock it off, you two!" I hissed.
The two brothers held back laughter, smiling and smirking with each other. I would've said something but someone else said it first.
"You think that's funny?" Thorin's voice rumbled deeply from behind me as he walked into our sight, alarming his nephews. He scowled at them for their terrible humor. "You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"
"We didn't mean anything by it." Kili looked down at the ground, shamefully.
"No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world." Thorin stalked over to the ridge and looked out over, back turned to the camp.
"I think you both deserved that," I softly noted, eyes still fixed on Thorin's back. He had been sitting alone to one side, braced against the cliff wall, brooding silently to himself as he did the majority of the evening. At first I thought he hadn't paid the slightest bit of attention to our conversation, but the second I mentioned the foul creatures, he was up and about.
"Don't mind him, laddie," Balin said reassuringly as he came over to join us. "Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs."
My eyes moved back to Thorin as he stared into the night.
"After Smaug took the Lonely Mountain," Balin began, "King Thror tried to retake the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria, but our enemy had gotten there first. Moria had been taken by legions of orcs led by the most vile of all their race."
I knew the name of that orc like the back of my hand. "Azog, the Defiler," I said.
Balin looked over at me, nodding his head with a frown. "The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began...by beheading the King. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us.
"That is when I saw him." Balin paused to look over at Thorin with a big smile on his face. "A young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armor rent, wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog the Defiler learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, no cheer or song that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived.
"And I thought to myself then, there is one I could follow. There is one I could call king." Thorin turned away from his view beyond the cliff. He found the entire company awake and standing in awe, staring at him.
It was strange but I had only just had the realization that the man in front of me staring out into the darkness, the man I had argued and disagreed with, had genuinely lived through these horrors that Balin described. He wasn't just a character with a complicated backstory; he had lost his family in that battle, being forced to become the leader of his people at a young age, and he was now dealing with the burden of that responsibility.
As I looked at him with that same admiration, Thorin slowly began back towards the fire.
"And the Pale Orc? What happened to him?" Bilbo asked.
"He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago," Thorin replied.
I stared at his back, wide-eyed, before staring at my two rings. I had hoped Azog's death was a sure thing, because it was the only thing able to quell the guilt inside me. Another truth that I feared telling the company, especially Thorin.
Gandalf surely would've told me to say something, sooner rather than later. But I swallowed hard and remained silent. Everyone returned to their slumber for the remaining few hours of darkness. I stayed awake—not that sleep really mattered to me anyways—and patrolled the campground to be totally sure we wouldn't be attacked.