A/N
Dear Followers,
Having writer's block regarding my other two stories; between nursing school and working as a dental assistant, and then the added work of moving into a new apartment, I haven't had much time for writing of any kind. Hopefully this will help me get out of my slump.
Shout out to my best friend, I called her at 1:30 in the morning because I couldn't sleep and knocked a few ideas around with her, and thus this story took flight.
As always, please review, as your comments help more than I can say.
Regards,
Jane Martin
-Prologue-
"Here it is, Thorin, I've written it up nice and legal. All I need is for you to sign it."
Thorin took the parchment from Balin's hand and glanced at it, his eyes skimming the words on the page without reading all of them. Down at the bottom, however, he noticed something peculiar. "You've signed your name next to 'companion' and not 'witnessed'."
Balin snorted, looking at his lord archly. "O' course I did, and we'll just have t' find another dwarf to witness it for us. You think I'm not going with you, then?" Sighing he continued. "Well, do you agree to the terms of the contract?"
Thorin looked at it once more, smiling to himself. Of course Balin would be the first one to sign himself up for this quest. "The terms seem fair enough," he said, grabbing a pen to sign.
"O' course, Dwalin will sign one as well, so there's two of us with ye; he's away, I'll have t' send a messenger t' take it. How many more do you think will come?"
"I honestly could not tell you," Thorin mused, stroking his beard in thought. "Write ten more, for now."
"Oh, no, I can't do that!" Balin said quickly. "If we only take ten more, that'll make thirteen! There's no telling what kind of bad luck we'll encounter on the road then!"
Thorin nodded. "Thank you, I missed that. Write an eleventh one, then. The extra one will be for the burglar that Gandalf told me he's off to find.
Balin shook his head and muttered, "How that wizard ever talked ye into this fool's errand is beyond me."
"What was that?" Thorin asked, although he heard his friend perfectly well.
"I didn't say anything."