She stood on the hill and watched as one dwarf after another arrived at the home of the tiny little hobbit. Her red hair blew in the wind that swept over the shire. The same wind carried the voices from that hobbit hole. Bilbo… that was the name that Gandalf had told her. Bilbo was fussing over the mess that the dwarves were creating in his little home and she couldn't help but smile a little. He had spirit. That was for sure. He was going to need it for what awaited them. Singing began and she smiled again, it was good to see them so light hearted. As the song stopped, she saw the last of the dwarves arrive and the tone got more solemn. Thorin, King under the Mountain, had arrived…
A few months before-
She sat at a table at the Prancing Pony in Bree when he sat down across from her. "What do you want, Gandalf?"
The old wizard chuckled a little. "Can't an old man say hello to an old friend?"
She raised an eyebrow at him over her mug of ale. "You never do anything without a reason, wizard. So I ask again, what do you want?"
Gandalf studied her for a moment. "I want you to go on a quest. The time has come, Ksenia… for the Dwarves to return to Erebor."
Her head snapped up at his words. He had to be joking. There was no way. "What? Going up against Smaug is suicide. You cannot actually think they can achieve this?" Then the other part of his statement hit her. "You cannot expect me to go with them? Have you finally gone mad, old man?"
He leaned on the table a little. "You might be there only hope at achieving this. Your uniqueness could turn the tides."
She sighed. In all her many years, Ksenia had never been able to tell the old grey wizard no.
Finally, she decided it was time. She descended the hill and made her way over to the hobbit hole. Knocking softly, she waited for the poor little hobbit to answer the door. The poor frazzled man opened the door expecting another dwarf, but upon seeing her, thin and tall with her flame red hair, he starred with his mouth wide for a moment.
"Bilbo?" She heard Gandalf say right before the old wizard's face appeared from the other room. "Oh! Ksenia! You made it. I was beginning to believe you were going to stay up on that hill all night. Come! I'm sure there is more food somewhere."
Ksenia smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Baggins. You have a beautiful home." She strode into the hobbit hole, ducking her head, she stepped into the room where the dwarves were gathered around the table. "Evening."
"I would like to present, Ksenia." Gandalf looked at Thorin. "Her assistance will be invaluable to you on this quest."
The dark haired dwarven king-in-exile looked her over, taking in her red hair and stature. Not an elf, not of men. But what, she could tell he could not determine. His gaze turned back to Gandalf. "I will not be responsible for her fate, nor that of the hobbit." Gandalf nodded.
The company proceeded to torment the poor hobbit with stories of the Dragon Smaug. Ksenia settled herself into a corner and listened. A dark look in her eyes, that no one noticed. No one but Thorin, who sat on the other side of the room, listening. Finally, the hobbit declared that he would not be going and stormed off. The dwarves started to settle down for the evening, the morning would bring about the beginning of a long quest that none knew if they would survive. And Ksenia began to settle into her own corner of the little hobbit hole when two of the dwarves, the young ones, appeared quite suddenly in front of her.
"Kili." The dark one said. "And Fili." The lighter one echoed. "At your service." The said at once and she couldn't help but chuckle at them."
"Delighted." She replied, her green eyes sparkling up at them from where she sat on the floor.
"We were having an argument, you see. If it wouldn't offend." Kili started.
"We were trying to figure what you were, you see?" Fili finished and Ksenia couldn't stop her eyebrow from rising.
"You two are bold, are you not?" She smirked at them, deliberately not answering.
"Yes they are." The voice boomed behind them. The two younger dwarves jumped and turned to see their uncle standing, glowering at them. "Leave the woman be and go get some sleep. I'll not have your complaints tomorrow." The two boys smiled at her sheepishly before darting off to find their beds, leaving her alone with the dwarven king. She looked up at him from her spot on the floor, her back propped against the wall, her leg bent and her arm resting across it.
"Why did you agree to come on this quest?" He asked her, his dark eyes sizing her up. She could tell that he wondered the same question that his nephews had.
"Gandalf asked me to." She responded simply.
"That cannot be a reason to put yourself on what must seem like a suicide mission." He responded coldly.
She shrugged. "I have my reasons, I suppose. You can say that I wish to see you succeed more than many others would."
His stare seemed to bore through her as he tried to figure her out. "What are you?" He almost looked shocked that the question slipped through his lips and Ksenia laughed.
"Now, I can see where your nephews get it from."
He studied her for another couple moments before turning on his heel and joining the rest of his kinsmen in the other room. Ksenia smiled to herself and closed her eyes. It wasn't long before the humming began. She leaned her head back against the wall and listened as Thorin's voice rang out, the words, sad and mournful, went straight to her heart. They told of the Dragon Smaug's arrival at their beloved home. The other dwarves joined into the song and as the words drifted off into the night, she drifted off into sleep.
