Disclaimer: The Hobbit and its characters do not belong to me.
AN: More actors cast in the notes at the bottom.
The Trouble with Soulmate Marks: a Hobbit fanfic
By Indygodusk
Chapter 4: Are We Not Merciful?
After almost a week of sneaking around the elven kingdom of Thranduil, Billa had come to a few conclusions. These conclusions had made her feel very discouraged, an unusual state she didn't like feeling, not one bit. The Elves of the Mirkwood did not seem anywhere near as friendly as those in Rivendell. In some ways, they looked and acted altogether more wild.
She hadn't found a way to rescue her dwarves, her wonder at the elves had been tarnished, she smelled like a pigsty, and she still wasn't eating seven meals a day. Oh, and Thorin held her against his half-naked body, braided her hair, and caressed her hips. Then he'd basically told her he was waiting for his soulmate and not to get her hopes up because only a dwarf could read or solve the riddle of his soulmark.
Life just wasn't fair sometimes.
On the positive side, last night the week of harvest celebrations had kicked off with the elven Feast of Starlight. The beauty of the songs and dances had lifted Billa's heart. It had also been so refreshing to sneak outside with the elves to breathe in the night air again and enjoy the wheeling stars. It had blown away some of the cobwebs from her heart, even if not from her hair and clothing.
After a good night's sleep in an old nursery with perfectly sized beds, Billa went down to visit the company again. This time she paused by Gloin's and Oin's cell. Taking the ring off a few paces away, as had become her habit, Billa pocketed it before allowing herself to be seen by stepping up to the bars.
"Hello, Gloin. How are you doing today?" Billa asked. "Any changes with the company?
Gloin looked up from desultorily cleaning bits of gunk from his armor and gave her a gruff nod. "Good Day, Billa." He shuffled over to the bars. "They did start feeding us better yesterday, with larger plates filled with fresh bread, vegetables, and even bits of meat. I don't know why, but that was a welcome change. However, I'm sorry to say that otherwise I'm not doing as well as I'd like."
His mouth drooped sadly. "Poor Oin has been feeling poorly ever since we were captured. It's finally turned into a cough and fever. Last night, he actually thought I was my Da and tried to beg my forgiveness for some small offense from our childhood. I can only hope that sleep and better food will cure him quickly." He tugged on his shaggy beard morosely. As if to punctuate his words, a deep cough rattled from the shadows at the back of the cell before transitioning into a snore.
Dismay filled Billa. "Oh no, I'm so sorry."
Shrugging, he leaned heavily against the wall and sighed. "Then when I finally fell asleep, I dream-shared with my wife Tosi and she confronted me about the fact that I've been lying to her." Gloin looked up at Billa and grimaced. "I hadn't wanted her to know we were in prison, you see. I thought it would just worry her and make her feel even more powerless. But Tosi figured it out using her woman's wit and raked me over the coals for concealing it. I will not repeat the things she said. Just know that I'd fear for my beard if she were here in person."
Billa patted his arm consolingly. "I'm sorry, Gloin."
He gave a sad laugh, "I should have known better than to try to deceive the woman living within my heart. Of course, once she stopped yelling, Tosi offered to gather up Gimli, Dis, and Dis's husband Haeth and set off to break us out. Dis is supposed to be running things in the Blue Mountains, with Haeth acting as a roving enforcer, but Tosi didn't care and said Dis wouldn't either. I told her to wait at least until Durin's Day had passed, since if we miss that, there won't be any rush on the rescue attempt."
Looking up at Billa again, he suddenly coughed into his hand sheepishly. "M'wife and Dis have been discussing you and have a particular request. She made me promise to deliver it, else I wouldn't bother you with it. I'm sorry."
"Oh," Billa said with surprise. "I didn't realize they knew about me."
Gloin gave her a chastising look. "Of course they do. As my soulmate, I've told my treasured Tosi all about you and how you keep saving us. She keeps Dis up to date. They were very impressed that you'd managed to evade capture from the leaf eaters for so long. Dis in particular wanted to thank you for saving Thorin's life from Azog." Billa blushed, still too embarrassed to take much credit for doing something instinctual instead of thought out.
With a gentle smile he continued. "They want you to know that as the only female in our company, they have complete confidence," his lips twisted sardonically beneath his mustache as he quoted, "'in your feminine wisdom and superiority,' and that they know you will do your best to find a way to get us out. Dis in particular asked you to look after her boys and her brother, and to try to make sure they don't do anything stupid, though she admits that it's an unreasonable request." He scratched his neck and added, "My wife said to tell you that when she has too many problems, she starts at the bottom of the list and works her way up. Tosi thought that might help." Then he gave Billa a shrug. "I hope that's alright. I don't mean to overwhelm you."
"Of course," Billa assured him automatically. "It was, er, nice of them to think of me. I look forward to meeting them all one day."
Gloin looked pleased. "They are wondrous ladies without equal, it is true. Especially my sublime Tosi. You will have solid female allies in them when we reunite in the mountain one day. Haeth can take a while to warm up, and he butts heads with Thorin a lot, which is why he stayed home, but he spoils Dis rotten and would carve out his own eye before plucking a single hair from the beard of someone he calls family. I suspect he'll take you under his wing within a week. You'll see." Then he harrumphed, "You just need to get us out of here first."
"Yes, well, I'm working quite hard on that," Billa assured him grumpily, not appreciating the reminder.
They talked for a bit longer before Billa left to continue her explorations. She'd searched the upper levels quite thoroughly in the last few days without much success. All of the doors to the outside were large and heavily guarded. She couldn't see any way to get her dwarves to them and out without being slaughtered.
Going to the staircase, she went down one level from what she'd mapped so far. It looked like living quarters. As before, she searched room by room. However, after almost waking up a napping elf, she had to run back out to the stairwell to hide.
It took her a minute to catch her breath and slow her galloping heart. For some reason, the words of Gloin's wife popped into her head, "start at the bottom of the list and work your way up." Perhaps she should give up on this level and search the basement instead. There would probably be fewer people down there. It couldn't hurt.
Within the hour, Billa found herself praising Tosi as highly as Gloin did at his most besotted. The bottom level had a way to escape! There was a river dock in the basement with no guards, only a couple of servers moving around wine barrels. Eight empty barrels sat against the wall, and Billa overheard that as soon as the number reached fifteen, they were to be pushed into the river to float back down to Laketown. That was the exact direction they needed to go to get closer to the Lonely Mountain!
It was perfect! Billa just had to wait a couple of days for more empty wine barrels, which shouldn't take long considering how the Mirkwood elves drank during their feasts. Then she could load the dwarves up in the barrels and escape downstream. Of course, she still had to steal the keys to their cells and get them down here, but that seemed such a small thing compared to getting them away from the elves without immediately getting shot full of arrows.
Quite pleased with herself, Billa made her way to the kitchen for a celebratory snack. Food had become plentiful now that the elves were having daily feasts for their harvest festival. No one noticed the platters getting lighter anymore. Billa snagged a vegetable pie and a sausage from two different trays and then sat down on an empty bench along the back wall.
As Billa ate, she listened idly to the gossip. When she heard the word dwarf, her ears perked up and she leaned forward. The elves Asindar and Mírdan were assembling a set of trays as they argued.
"I don't see why we need to feed them so well. They are just dwarves," Asindar whined.
Mírdan tossed her red hair back and sent him a scathing look. "Golweneth told us to make them standard trays. Don't try to get out of it just because you don't like dwarves."
He placed a roll on each plate and then crossed his arms mulishly. "Why can't we just give them a box of waybread? Then we wouldn't have to visit their cells so often."
"We need to keep the rest of our food storage for winter emergencies," Mírdan scolded. "We already used up all of the old and expired waybread on the dwarves already. The worst bits left have been reserved for the dwarf King by order of my Lord Thranduil." She looked vaguely uncomfortable at that. "Besides, it's a waste of time to make inferior meals specifically for the prisoners when the kitchen is already overburdened with supplying all of the parties and increased guard patrols. This is easier and more logical."
Asindar looked away, tucked a lock of blond hair behind one pointed ear, and grumbled something under his breath. Billa had to restrain herself from smacking him between the eyes with the last bit of her vegetable pie. Just in case, she removed temptation by plopping it into her mouth and chewing vigorously.
Seeing him grumble, the scarlet-haired Mírdan placed a hand on her hip and said, "If you don't like following orders, then you can mítho orch," Billa didn't entirely understand what the female elf had said. However, she could tell it was an insult because Asindar turned bright red and all the nearest elves burst out in shocked giggles. Billa would have to remember to look it up later. Asindar then did something rude with his hand that made his audience snort and Mírdan wrinkle her nose at him. Suddenly everyone started gossiping like they were in the market square in Hobbiton.
Billa couldn't help but lament how elves like Asindar could simultaneously be as beautiful and ethereal as the stars, while simultaneously as petty and self-important as that toad back home, Otho. He'd tried to court her once upon a time, despite their being close cousins. Such things happened occasionally. She'd been so lonely at the time that she'd briefly considered it.
But in the end, he'd hurt and disappointed her. It turned out that he only wanted her to ensure that he could take control of her money and estate. They'd been friends as tweens, so she'd trusted him at first. But he'd treated the Gamgees cruelly, flirted with Lobelia behind her back, and bragged about how he'd spend her money while getting drunk at the Green Dragon. Then he'd had the audacity to think her too stupid to see through his lies when she'd confronted him about it. Billa had publically rejected his suit and he'd resented and bad-mouthed her ever since. Some had turned against her because of it, but she had never regretted it.
The elves here had deeply disappointed her too. Hidden by her little magic ring, she'd watched them imprison her friends, feed them poor food, and cast racial slurs. Of course, the dwarves were always insulting the elves too, but for some reason she'd expected the elves to be better than that. Billa was disheartened.
Now it was up to her, again, to save her dwarves. Funny how that kept happening. Billa would have to add that to her resume when she got home: grower of prize-winning tomatoes, spinner of stories, and saver of dwarrows. Maybe her new friends Dis and Tosi could help her get it engraved on one of the mathoms she was taking back to the Shire when this was all over.
Half of the elves in the kitchen had stopped working to giggle, gossip, and take sides about how they should be treating the dwarves. A sly looking male leaned towards Mírdan and asked, "Is it true that one of the dwarves is in love with Tauriel? Which cell is he in so I can see what he looks like?"
Asindar, who already seemed to be over his spat with Mírdan, was now placing steamed asparagus on the trays and gossiping with the others. He was one of the few still working. Billa felt her mouth begin to water when she smelled the asparagus. Perhaps she wasn't full quite yet. Asindar arched his eyebrow at Mírdan and prompted, "You did tell us you saw them flirting."
Shrugging uncomfortably, Mírdan placed down a handful of wooden utensils on a tray. She opened her mouth to reply, but before she could a clarion voice rang through the kitchen, "What is the meaning of this racket?"
All sound and movement stopped, like a lid snuffing out a fire when placed on a flaming pot. "I smell something burning. Fix it. Now," the woman snapped out. Several elves jumped as if pinched and scurried over to check the roasting pits and the food in the massive ovens.
The woman was short for an elf, but had a regal bearing. Her dark brown hair was kept out of her face by a circlet of carved bone. Everyone in the kitchen deferred to her. Billa couldn't help but feel impressed. "Well?" she asked again sternly with an imperiously raised eyebrow.
"I am sorry, my Lady Golweneth." A pale Mírdan stepped forward and bowed her head. "I lost my temper, descended into gossip, and thus lost control of the work here in the kitchen. I should have been a better deputy in your absence."
To Billa's surprise, Asindar stepped forward as well until he stood at Mírdan's side. "Some of the fault is also mine. I let my distaste for the dwarves slow the work," he admitted humbly. Mírdan sent him a gratified look and a slight smile.
Billa was impressed. Her cousin Otho would never have done something like that. Maybe she was too hasty in her judgement of Asindar, though he had been mean about her dwarves. She would have to watch and see.
Instead of more yelling, Golweneth looked at them both with disappointment. "I expect more of the two of you. I know you can do better." They both seemed to shrink at her words. Billa suspected they'd have preferred the yelling.
Then Golweneth swept the entire kitchen with a chastising look. "We have much to do to prepare for the grand feast tonight. Everyone please return to their duties." Noise slowly returned to the room, but it was all very purposeful and orderly now.
Walking over to inspect the trays, Golweneth beckoned Asindar and Mírdan to follow. "These are fine," she said, "but you two have just volunteered to take over delivery for the rest of the day. Your other duties will not be removed, so make sure you organize your time accordingly. I will go along this once to supervise the delivery."
Both elves looked dismayed. They sly elf who'd asked about Kili, however, suddenly looked immensely cheered. He patted Asindar consolingly on the back as he walked by and tried to disappear to the other side of the kitchen.
Before he could, however, he was stopped by Golweneth. "Penchanar, I'd still like you to help with the delivery. I may need an assistant to take notes if it takes longer than I expect or something down there needs changing. I haven't had a chance to visit the prison cells yet when they actually hold prisoners."
"Of course, Lady Golweneth," he said after a slight hesitation. "My time is yours to command." Asindar sent him a smirk from behind her back.
Gathering up the trays full of plates, the four elves left the kitchen. Billa hopped down from her bench and followed. For such lithe beings, each elf could carry a lot of weight. They floated down the corridor ahead of her, despite the heavy trays they carried. It impressed Billa, but also reminded her to be wary. Even the weakest of them would probably have no problem capturing a hobbit.
They passed the flame-haired Lifar and his friend cleaning another alcove as they walked. "Have you discovered the source of the smell yet?" Golweneth asked.
"Not yet, my lady, but I am doing my best. I have scrubbed through three cloths already in cleaning this old place. Hopefully the stench will stop lingering in the halls soon." Lifar held up a threadbare cloth covered in soap. Golweneth gave him an approving nod and they moved on.
Billa stuck her tongue out at them all as she passed, just because she could. As they neared the prison cells holding most of the dwarrows, Billa heard a worrisome cough rattle out from Oin. It worried her heart. She hoped he started to improve soon.
Several guards stepped forward to assist in handing out the food. Billa was relieved to see that each cell received a generous portion. She'd feared they might make some of the dwarves share. Despite having just eaten, her stomach let out a loud betraying grumble.
One of the guards looked up suspiciously and began moving in her direction. Shrinking back against the wall, Billa held her breath in fright. After a moment of searching the shadows to her right, he sniffed and wrinkled his nose. Then he turned and went back to his duties. Very slowly she let out her breath in relief.
Oin coughed again.
"Is your companion sick?" Golweneth asked Gloin in the common tongue. It was the first hint of sympathy for a dwarf that Billa had heard from an elf since coming to this place. Usually their mutual dislike permeated every conversation.
It also felt strange to hear an elf speak common. She'd become so used to the elves speaking in Sindarin all of the time. This experience had made her extremely grateful that her mother had taught her the language and that the elves in Rivendell had helped her to practice and improve. The lady Arwen had even gifted her with a small book of poetry to stay in practice during her travels.
Gloin stepped up to the bars, "Aye, m'brother's come down with a chill of some sort," he answered suspiciously. "He's usually the one healing others, but you've cruelly taken all our supplies, so I've naught to give him."
"As prisoners, it is only logical that the guards would remove your weapons and belongings," Mirdan answered quickly with elvish hauteur. She did not seem to take any criticism of Golweneth well, imagined or otherwise. In reply, Gloin growled in frustration and what must be worry. Billa felt worried too.
Golweneth glanced at her companions with consideration and then at Tauriel and her guards. Then she said something quickly in either highly accented Sindarin or in Quenya. Billa couldn't quite catch the meaning except for the word mercy. They seemed surprised. Asindar answered negatively in a dismissive tone of voice. Waving away his words, Golweneth turned to Tauriel with a look of great expectation. "Captain?"
What was going on? Billa wondered.
Gesturing to the side, Tauriel took Golweneth over to stand against the wall near Billa to talk. Luckily the conversation switched back to Sindarin, so she could understand.
Golweneth gestured to the dwarves, who'd all come to the front of their cells to warily watch the unfolding drama, even if they couldn't understand the language. "I've bit my tongue long enough," the short elf said with a slash of her hand. "This is not the elven way. These dwarves are at our mercy," her voice rose with emotion, "locked up with no way out, not even a window to bring the light of the stars to give them comfort."
She pointed at the dwarves. "If they are at our mercy, then I must ask, are we not merciful?"
Touching the center of her chest, her voice resonated passionately. "I say that we the Eldar, made glorious by our maker Ilúvatar, and no matter who or what resides in those cells or in the forest beyond our walls, it behooves us to brighten like evening stars to become our best selves and bestow on them that mercy and light. We must remember that we are all star stuff. Mayhap they will see our light and find their hearts softened towards us and all elves, or mayhap they will misunderstand and choke on our kindness. But their response is not what's important. That we are true to ourselves is." A soft glow shone almost imperceptibly from her skin as she spoke, fading gently once she ended her appeal.
A ringing silence hung in the corridor after her words, like the pure tone of a trumpet echoing off the hillsides. The dwarves looked about in confusion. They hadn't understood the liquid Sindarin syllables or what had just been said.
As for Billa, she felt inspired and renewed. The beauty of Golweneth's words and the sentiment within nestled into Billa's heart. She would not forget them. No matter what happened next, her faith in the wonder of the elves was restored. As with all people, no matter the race, some were good, some bad, and some absolutely glorious.
As if rehearsed, the elves in the corridor all simultaneously placed their hands on their hearts and bowed their heads in respect. Tauriel stepped forward and performed a complicated gesture, touching her mouth, head, heart, and belly. Then she kissed her fingertips, performed a flowing bow, and touched her fingers to Golweneth's feet. "Thy words are both wise and timely, Lady Golweneth, and do us well to hear them. Though these are dark times, we are not degraded nor defined by them. We are and ever will be Children of Ilúvatar. Let us all remember to temper our sometimes fearsome duty with justice and mercy."
Visibly shaken, Asindar turned to Gloin and asked in common, "What are your brother's symptoms? We will go to the healers and return speedily with medicine for him."
Penchanar stepped forward. "No, I'll go. You have too much to do already. I will take up this task."
Surprise and hope suffused Gloin's face as he looked back and forth between them. "M' brother, Oin, he's got fevers and chills by turns, and a deep cough. He's been feeling poorly since getting bit by those big evil spiders in the forest."
Understanding lit the elves' faces. "They are truly evil creatures," Golweneth said. "Their venom is foul and occasionally causes further illness. Our healers will know what to do. Penchanar will return shortly with medicine for your brother."
The elves from the kitchen packed up the now empty trays efficiently. Golweneth added, "We will also bring a special herb for you all to eat with your next few meals. It will help purge any remaining venom. Despite it being green, you must all eat it if you wish to avoid further complications."
Turning, she skewered Ori with a look. "Do you understand? You must eat it if you wish to recover quickly down here in your cells. I noticed that you left most of your vegetables uneaten and that your movements seem more sluggish than your companions. Are you also ill? Or are you merely critical of the food prepared by me and my staff? It is the same that we eat, and I assure you that it both tastes good and keeps one healthy."
Ori flushed, "I am well, Mistress. I will eat the herbs."
"If you don't, I'll make sure you regret it," Dori threatened his little brother with barely concealed worry.
The elves then dispersed except for the guards walking by on patrol. Billa desperately wanted to talk to her friends, but she'd have to wait. She couldn't risk getting caught by Penchanar or any other elves returning with Oin's medicine. At least she felt better knowing that someone like Golweneth was around to look after her friends.
Filled with hope, she pushed off the wall to go searching for the warden in charge of the keys. The sooner she figured out how to get his keys, the sooner they would be floating free down the river towards Laketown. Tugging on her braid with determination, she padded softly off in search.
TO BE CONTINUED
AN: Thank you for the positive response so far! Next chapter stars Thorin getting put into a very bad situation where he is forced to strip himself of pride for the sake of his kin. Stay tuned! Also FYI, this entire fic is going to be from Billa's POV, so everything will be biased towards her narration. I am also changing canon so everyone survives the battle of the five armies. Happy Ending for the WIN!
'Mítho orch' is an insult meaning "kiss an orc" in Sindarin, the most common elven language.
Here are the actors cast in the story (see tumblr for photos):
Thorin = Richard Armitage
Billa (hobbit) = Minnie Driver
Dis (Thorin's sister) = Lucy Lawless
Haeth (Dis's husband) = Vin Diesel
Tosi (Gloin's wife) = Emily Blunt
Golweneth (means wise female, elf in charge of the kitchens) = Mira Furlan
Mírdan (means jewel smith, elf kitchen assistant) = Jewel Staite
Asindar (elf in kitchen) = Tom Felton
Penchanar (means tale brother, elf in kitchen) = Tom Hiddleston
Lifar (Janitor elf) = Bartek Borowiec (male model)
