Thorin finished climbing the stairs to the guard room above the dungeons, Mary's scream still echoing behind him. The door to the guard room flew open before him and there stood Tauriel, his nephew Kili's wife, one of the captains of the city guard. An elf maid with red hair and green eyes, she was from Mirkwood and had fought by the dwarf's side during the Battle of the Five Armies.
"We heard a loud noise and some yelling," she said, "I was coming down to check," she paused then, noticing that Thorin had water dripping from his hair and face, down onto his shoulders. "What happened to you?" she asked, shocked.
"Our prisoner is going to need a new water cup," Thorin said simply, walking past her into the room. He then grabbed a nearby towel and began wiping the water from his face.
"She threw it at you?" Tauriel asked, aghast.
"To be fair, I may have egged her into it by purposefully antagonizing her," Thorin replied. A chuckle sounded from across the room. Dwalin, another captain of the city guard and Thorin's cousin, sat by the small fire place. A solid dwarf, almost as tall as Thorin, his head was bald on top but he had long, brown hair growing from the sides, a long, brown beard, and brown eyes.
"Balin-" Dwalin said, speaking of his older brother, "-warned you she was a spitfire." He continued to chuckle as Thorin dried off.
"Give her some time to calm down before you send anyone down there," Thorin told Tauriel. "She is terrified about something, but is trying to cover it up with anger. Her brother said that she was attacked three years ago in the Iron Hills, but she won't talk about it. Not even to save herself from a harsh punishment."
"The Iron Hills…" Tauriel said thoughtfully. She then turned to Dwalin and asked, "Did we not just have a couple and their young daughter move here from the Iron Hills last year? People of mixed race, like this family? He joined the city guard and she is a healer? I think he is one of your lieutenants."
Dwalin nodded, "You are thinking of Chase Willow and his wife Becky," he replied.
"Well, they did come from the Iron Hills. Maybe they know something about it," Tauriel suggested.
"The Iron Hills are a big place. But it is worth a shot and there is only one way to find out. Have them summoned here," Thorin ordered.
Chase and Becky were brought to the guard room above the dungeons. Chase was half dwarf and half elf; tall, but built like a dwarf with broad shoulders and had black hair and brown eyes. Becky was half human and half dwarf, she looked mainly like a dwarf woman, with black hair and green eyes, but lacking facial hair.
"My Lord," Chase said as both he and Becky bowed to Thorin, clearly confused about why they were there.
"I know it is odd to meet here, but I have some questions about the prisoner we brought in this morning, that I think you can answer," Thorin explained.
"Of course, we will help in any way we can," Chase said. "But what could we know about the thief?"
"Well the questions I have actually concern an incident that happened three years ago in the Iron Hills, involving a young woman of mixed race and a magistrate's son," Thorin explained.
The moment Thorin said that, Becky sat up straight and exclaimed, "Mary!"
"How do you know her? Or about the incident for that matter?" she asked, surprised.
"Well as it turns out, she is the thief," Thorin answered.
"Oh no!" Becky cried, "She would not do something like that without good reason. Where's her family? They can explain that."
"I have talked to them, but I need to know what happened and she will not talk about it," Thorin told them.
"I am not surprised, after what she went through," Chase said. "But we can only tell you what happened immediately after the attack."
"Actually…" Becky began. Chase looked at her surprised. "Becky?" he asked.
"Mary and I were good friends, it should not surprise you that we talked and that she told me things that she told no one else," she explained. Chase nodded and smiled at her. Becky then turned to Thorin and said, "I can give you some background that I think led up to the attack, but not what happened during it."
Chase then turned to Thorin and said, " What you need to understand is that the part of the Iron Hills where we lived was not exactly welcoming to our kind. We were not allowed to do certain jobs, like participate in the city guard."
Becky, picking up where her husband left off, said, " Mary and I were as close as sisters. She worked for a local Magistrate- one of the few that would hire someone like us- as a chaperon for his two daughters. I worked with her Mother, who is also a healer. It was while working for this magistrate that she had a number of run-ins with Don. Mary was never one to keep her head down and take abuse. She would let you have it if she thought you were out-of-line."
"So I have noticed" Thorin said drily.
Becky smiled sadly and continued, "It became so bad that anytime he saw her she had to endure nasty comments about half-breeds and how she needed to learn her place and some respect for her betters. She said she was able to ignore most of it, but one day he put his hands on her while he was over at her employer's house. She fought him off and told him that if he ever touched her again he would regret it. Her employer's eldest daughter saw the whole thing and he threw Don out and told him he was no longer welcome there.
"Two weeks later she was attacked and they called me to help her mother tend to her wounds. She was beaten pretty badly, but the wound on her back was the worst I have ever seen. Her back had been cut open with an axe, running from just below her left shoulder to just above her right hip. How she survived, I don't know. Just stubborn, I guess," Becky finished, tears in her eyes. Chase reached for her hand to comfort her.
"What surprised me, was the fact that she had no weapons on her that day," Chase said, " She usually, at least, had her boot daggers on her."
Thorin sat straight very quickly. "Boot daggers?!" he asked.
"Yes," Chase replied, "Four of them. Thorn, Briar, Nettle and Barb. Small and very sharp, like their names. She usually kept them coated with alder poison."
Thorin and Dwalin shared a worried look. "What happened after they called for your help?" Thorin asked Becky.
"Her Mother and I worked over her for a while, but we finally got the bleeding to stop and stitched up the wound on her back. A week later the magistrates called her to a hearing. They would not listen when we told them that she should not be up yet, that she was not strong enough. What's more they would not even let her family in with her. We don't know what happened in the hearing, only that Don and his friends got away with a slap on the wrists. The Magistrate that she worked for was not even allowed in the hearing, but we know that Don's father, Den, led it. Not long after that we started hearing rumors… Things were being said, such as- Mary was a thief and a liar and that she was just trying to get the boys in trouble. Her and her family left after that. They said they needed to find a better place for Mary to recuperate."
"That's really all we know," Chase said.
"Thank you." Thorin said.
As they got up to leave, Becky turned around and asked, "Can I see her? Maybe I could help."
"We will have to see, right now would not be a good time," Thorin answered. Becky nodded and left with Chase.
"Did we hear him right?" Dwalin asked, after they left. "I don't remember her surrendering any boot daggers."
"No, she did not," Thorin said, looking at the door leading to the dungeons, "She is still armed down there."
"What do you want to do?" Tauriel asked.
"Leave her be right now. Let no one down there. I need to talk to her family and then I will make my decision," Thorin said.
"One thing is for sure- if that is just the bare bones of what happened, I can understand why she is reluctant to talk about it," Tauriel said. Thorin nodded in agreement then turned and left the guard room.
oOo
"Donald, you know if Mary finds out you told him as much as you did, she is going to be very angry with you," Kaylah said.
"Donald never could keep his mouth shut!" Joseph growled, irritated at how much Donald had revealed.
"So what!" Donald exclaimed, "I don't like the idea of her in those dungeons! What if what I told him helps her? Besides, maybe if she talked to us, she would be able to put it behind her."
"There are some things that you just never get over," Mother said quietly.
"Very true," said Thorin coming through the door just then. "I have talked with your daughter and you were right. She won't talk about it, in fact she got very angry at the mention of it."
"Told you," Kaylah said to Donald.
"But there happens to be a couple here in Erebor that knew something about it. Chase and Becky Willow, I believe you know them," Thorin continued as if Kaylah had not spoken.
"Chase and Becky live here?" Kaylah asked, "Mary and Becky were very close."
Thorin nodded at this and said, "They were able to tell me what they knew, but I am sure there is more to it that only your daughter knows. And the fact remains that she did steal from here."
The family shared a worried look at this statement, but did not know what to say.
"But since most everything was returned, and I believe that the theft would not have occurred if your family were not in dire circumstances. So, in light of this, I have a proposition to offer," Thorin said and went on to outline his idea.
"I believe you are being more than generous. We will accept your offer whether or not Mary does, as we are not leaving here without her. Thank you," Father said, shaking Thorin's hand.
"It's settled then," Thorin agreed. He then walked to the door and signaled to someone outside. Two women who had been waiting, entered. One was Tauriel and the other a dwarf woman with brown hair and eyes.
"I will state the offer to your daughter, in the meantime. Molly," he said, gesturing to the dwarf woman, "Will show you to some rooms, so you can get cleaned up."
With that the family was led away. "They accepted your offer?" Tauriel asked.
"They did." Thorin answered, "Now for the hard part. I want you to bring the prisoner here. Hopefully, she is calmer and less combative with you," Tauriel looked surprised but understood.
Mary awoke with a start, but did not raise her head from her knees, nor did she move from the corner of the cell where she had sat since Thorin had left the dungeons. She heard a light step on the stairs and realized that the sound of the door closing above was what had woken her. As the steps drew nearer, Mary slid her hand into her right boot and closed her fingers around one of her daggers.
"Thorn," she thought, recognizing the rune under her fingers. She had no plan at the moment, she only knew she needed to get to Kaylee before that man followed through with his threat. She should have known better than to trust a dwarf man to keep his word! Hearing the cell door unlock, she tensed getting ready to fight her way out. As the door opened, she lifted her head and froze in surprise. An elf?! Mary was so shocked that she lost her grip on Thorn, which slid back down into its sheath.
"On your feet and come with me, the King wishes to speak with you," Tauriel said. Mary stared at her, unblinking. "Oh really," she said, settling herself back in the corner. "Well then, he can just walk himself down here for all I care!"
Mary and Tauriel stared at each other for a moment, then Tauriel sighed, "I don't want to fight you, but you are going up there whether you want to or not. Now, I can call a couple of men to help you or are you going to cooperate?" she said in a tone that told Mary that the elf was not joking around. Mary glared at her and thought for a moment, then, not liking her chances, got up and walked over to Tauriel. She would cooperate, for now, since she had lost the element of surprise. Tauriel put shackles back on her wrists and led her up the stairs to Thorin's study.
After the dimness of the dungeons, Mary found it very hard to see and stood blinking in the brighter light, not realizing Thorin was in the room.
"Thank you, Tauriel," Thorin said. Mary jumped when she realized he was there. "I think I can handle her from here," he said. Tauriel turned and left, leaving them alone.
"Sit," he ordered, not even looking at her. Mary simply glared at him and stood standing where she was. When he noticed she had not moved, he stared at her for a second then let out an exasperated sigh and asked, "Do you always have to do everything the hard way?"
"You threaten my niece, to my face, breaking your word, and you expect me to be cooperative," she answered sarcastically.
"I have kept my word," he insisted, "Your family is safe and I did not question your niece." Mary looked at him, the Intuition telling her that he was telling the truth and not liking it. It was easier to dislike him when she thought he was like other noblemen, not when he proved himself to be honorable.
"Fine," she said after a moment and sat down, "Happy?"
Thorin just shook his head and did not rise to the bait. "Let's talk about being truthful, now that you know I have been. You have not been truthful with me," he said going to sit at the desk.
"What are you talking about?" she asked indignantly, "I have kept my word and have caused no trouble."
Thorin smirked at her, "I seem to remember a certain cup being thrown at my head a little while ago," he reminded her. Mary just stared at him. If he was waiting for an apology, he was not going to get one.
"Also you were told to surrender ALL of your weapons, yet you kept four boot daggers," Thorin continued. Mary simply smirked and shrugged at him, unrepentant.
"Let's have them. Now!" he ordered. Mary glared at him, about to tell him no, when she noticed the look on his face and thought better of it. She needed to remember that she was at a grave disadvantage here, with the shackles still on her wrists. She bent down and pulled the small buckles loose on the straps that held the small sheaths in place, removed the daggers and placed them on his desk in front of her.
He picked them up and looked at them. Then putting them down he said, "You are correct in saying that you have kept your word. You came peacefully and caused no trouble that was not antagonized out of you."
Mary raised her eyebrows at that last part but he raised his hand to silence anything she would have said and continued, "And since most of what you stole has been returned I have a proposition for you."
Mary sat back and looked at him, "I am listening," she said. "You will live and work here in Erebor for one year. You will receive wages like every other citizen, but with restitution taken out. After the year is up, you will be free to go or stay, if you wish… And before you ask, your family has also been offered a home here and there will be jobs available for them. We make no discrimination on what jobs people can do here. If you are able to perform the duties, that will be your job," Thorin finished speaking and waited.
Mary stared at him in disbelief, all antagonism gone for the moment. "Why… why are you trying to help us?" she asked, confused. "I stole from you and yet you want to help us. I do not understand."
"I believe that you would not have stolen anything if your family had not been in dire need," Thorin answered. Mary continued to stare at him as if seeing him for the first time. She could not remember how long it had been since someone had tried to help them.
"What is your decision or do you need more time?" he asked seeing her great confusion.
"No, I… I accept your offer," Mary said quietly, still not believing this turn of events.
"Good," he said, getting up and walking around the desk to stand in front of her. "Now, let me see your hands."
"What?!" she asked, leaning away from him.
"Your hands, unless you want to keep the shackles," He said.
"Oh," she said and lifted her hands to him.
Thorin unlocked the shackles and took them from her wrists, as he did this he said, "You and your family will be given three months to regain your health, then your year starts."
Mary nodded, "I understand," she replied. Thorin continued to stare at her for a minute, but Mary did not notice, as she was trying to understand why he wanted to help her family and why he was being so compassionate.
Thorin turned and walked toward the door. "Come with me," he said. He led her through several passages and finally they stopped at a door. He knocked and the door opened and he motioned Mary in ahead of him. As soon as she stepped through the door, she was greeted by the happy cries of her family. Soon she was surrounded and she told them she had accepted the King's offer and watched Father shake Thorin's hand.
As she continued to watch them, she could not figure out Thorin Oakenshield. Was he like other noblemen or was he different? She was not sure if she completely trusted him. She had learned- very painfully- not to trust anyone outside her family, especially dwarf men, and to not let her guard down. But she would bide her time and see what happened. Who knew what the next year would hold?
