A sharp whistle pierced the library's silence. "Ori!" The librarian started, dropping the books he had been shelving. "Shhh!" He whispered, a finger pressed against his lips fiercely. "This is a library, not a coal mine!" He picked up the books that had fallen in a haphazard pile, wincing as he carefully unfolded some of the creased pages. There was a moment of silence, and then several books from a nearby shelf flew out of place. "Ori!" Bofur whispered, sticking his head through the now-vacated bit of shelving, his hat knocking a few more books off the shelf. "Bofur!" The normally mild mannered dwarf grabbed the other's head, shoving it back through the shelves, then walked around to talk face to face. "You had better have a good reason for destroying my library." Bofur grinned. "The best." _ "Bahih gugûn Armukhakkar!" Shouted Bifur, looking around desperately to once again make sure they were alone. "What's that lad? Speak up!" Shouted Óin in return, holding up his ear trumpet. "Blasted thing doesn't work nearly as well after Gloin's boy stuffed that chicken in last month!" "Melekinh!" Dayum! Nalim 'Bag End'!" Both dwarves had sent themselves in such states, shouting back and forth, that neither noticed another dwarf approaching. "Here now!" Came a slightly uppity voice. The two turned to face the oldest of the Brothers Ri. "There's no need for all this shouting, we can hear you all the way down in the tea- what's this about the hobbit?" Later that evening Eight of their members huddled around Bombur's table, doors locked and lights low. The children had been put to bed while the dam of the house sat, presumably knitting, while in reality watching the front door quite unwanted visitors. "We can't tell Balin or his brother." Argued Bofur. "No one can doubt anyone dwarf in this room of being anything but stupidly loyal to our king, but they're on a whole different level. They'll tell him, and he'll either try to put an end to it, or go down there himself and put an end to whatever poor soul dared try to marry Bilbo." "But isn't that what we're trying to do?" Ori asked. "Not at all. We're just paying our respects to our dear friend, and making sure this 'L.' fellow is worthy of her. Not that he likely will be, what sort of ridiculous name is Bracegirdle? Sounds more like something you'd wear." Glóin replied. "And if he's not, then we'll put an end to hi- It. The wedding." "So we ruin her life again, is that is?" Nori said sarcastically. "She doesn't want us there, can't we leave the poor girl alone?" "She invited us." Dori pointed to the letter. "We should bring her a nice gift, perhaps some of the tea leaves I just bought, all the way from Rohan." "And her share of the treasure!" Ori added. "She didn't get any of what was due her." "That's the odd bit, though, isn't it? Why did she invite us? After five years, she lets us know she's alive by way of a marriage announcement?" "We won't know until we ask her, will we lads? We need to leave now." Bofur said. "The question is, 'Do we tell the others before we go?'" "I don't feel right about not telling the princes." Glóin said, banging a fist down. "Nor Dwalin and Balin. They were members of the company, same as any of us." "They'll tell Thorin, though. Kíli, maybe, we can trust, but he'll tell Fíli, and we can't risk him talking to Thorin." Bofur said, standing up. Glóin stood up to meet his gaze. "Maybe he deserves to be told! She was his, after all, and he was her's. He has more right than any of us here to know she's alive, let alone someone else's intended!" "More right? He nearly through her from that wall! Over a rock! After everything she had done for us! For him! Or did you forget about that?" The dwarf, so seldom seen without a smile, was at the angriest most had seen him "He has no right, none!" "You were always jealous of him! You wanted it to be yourself she had feelings for!" "She made her choice and I accepted it! He was the one who took away her choices, banishing her because of his own madness! He would have killed her if Gandalf hadn't been there below us!" "Well, you weren't stopping him!" Yelled Óin, joining the fight. "None of us did a thing! We should leave the poor lass alone, let her live her life out peaceful like!" "Enough!" Shouted Bombur, speaking up at last. "I feel we have no right to keep this from any dwarf in The Company. We all have connections to our Burglar." He held up a hand to stop Bofur, who opened his mouth to respond. "However. We will vote on the remaining members. None of us are true leaders, and as such, none of us will decide solely on this decision. "All those who vote to tell Kíli and Fíli." Nearly all the hands went up, only Nori and Bofur keeping their hands down, Bofur's firmly so. "And Dwalin and Balin?" This time, four hands stayed down. Bombur inhaled deeply. "And our King?" Bombur's and Glóin's hands stayed up, while the others looked at each other uncomfortably, some of them fidgeting with whatever they held. He sighed. "Very well. We will tell the young princes, and no one else." He stood, dimming the lights. "We leave in two days."