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Five- Clovers and Berries

The Kingdom of the Golden-bearded Trolls, the City within the Golden Woods…was nothing that Bilbo had ever seen before. Buildings that seemed a mix of rock and tree, of plant and earth lay in organized, sprawling patterns. Cloves grew everywhere. Streets of beaten, warm soil were wide and full of crowds.

And the people.

Or "fair folk".

Were the greatest wonder of all.

Bilbo could not help but stare. Beings Bilbo had only heard tales about walked and talked amicably with one another, even those not known to get along. He saw beings of Ice and Snow talking with those of the Sea, or Summer. Wizards and dwarves and elves conversed or strolled about. There were goblins and orcs, and even a few cave trolls, wrapped in heavy cloaks.

All hummed with the magic of the world, it overloaded his senses. He had to pull his hood down a bit more to try and block some of it out.

But, despite this, the ones who grabbed his attention the most were the citizens of the city. Bilbo saw that Bard shared many traits with those of her race. Those of the Golden-bearded trolls all stood at heights equivalent to dwarfs- though some could be as short as gnomes or as tall as humans, he saw- and had long, flowing hair on head and tail ranging from platinum blonde to reddish-gold like his friend.

But there were two differences that made Bilbo keep his attention to them, despite Bard's rather rapid pace, for they caused him to search each new individual he saw for a similarity. But try as he might, he never saw another with skin like Bard's, all were of the palest peachy-grey color; and he never saw another with her eye color. A kaleidoscope of hues from purple to the deepest ruby red, but Bard was the only one with he saw brown eyes.

They had eventually made their way to the Queen's Palace, a large sprawling masterpiece covered in vines and clovers. And bathed in bright, golden light. The large doors were open and allowed one to see into the structure of the main audience hall, large benches filled the sides of the main floor-and they themselves were filled with people-and lines of individuals were grouped together before the throne. Those speaking would be presented on the main floor, a slightly raised platform of stone covered in clovers, and a large branch or gathering of flowers was presented over them as they stood in the center. Different for each race of speaker.

This cast the individual into slight shadow, for light shone brightly from the clear roof. At first Bilbo thought it was glass but the more he looked at the shine the more it looked to be some sort of crystal or clear rock. Currently a pixie spoke, her voice squeaky and tinkling like a bell, above her was raised a mass of lovely pink flowers.

Bilbo witnessed this all from the corner of the room, Bard had told him to wait there as she went to talk to some guards not too far away. The female troll had been secretive their entire time in the Kingdom. Despite removing her human disguise she had lifted her hood and made to swiftly move through the crowds while attracting as little attention as possible. Even so, one individual-what looked like a wizard in grey clothes- seemed to recognize Bard and gave her a subtle greeting, which she had returned.

Bilbo returned his attention to the open court, and finally set his eyes upon the ruler of the land. Across the room, upon a thrown of stone and clovers sat the Good Queen Ruet. An array of Comet Orchids adorned the top of her throne, as well as her long, light gold hair. She was slim and held herself with poise and elegance. Her skin was of the palest of pale peach- grey and her eyes a light lilac color. Her clothes were of flowing gold and greens, the details of which were lost to him due to his distance. He could see that she wore a crown of what appeared to be interwoven thistles and a short scepter of a dark wood.

Her voice was melodic when she spoke, and held benign power. This was not a woman to be trifled with. He watched as a messenger slid his way to her side and waited for her to finish with the pixie girl, when she left the platform the Queen held a hand to hold the next speaker while her attendant spoke into her ear. Her slightly smiling face did not change expression as she listened, but those close enough could see her brows furrow slightly. But that was the only indication of her inner thoughts. The troll-Queen nodded her head when all was said and gave a silent command with the flick of her wrist. The attendant bowed and made his way away.

Bilbo ran his eyes over the crowd again marveling at the vast array of races there. It was then something caught his eye, off to the side… a furry hat. It seemed familiar, he tried to focus on it. Could it be? Was it-

A hand clamped upon his shoulder, startling him a bit. He looked over to see Bard, her expression serious. She motioned for him to follow and soon they were walking down a side hall with an attendant leading the way. Eventually they were showed into a room and told to wait there, for the Queen would be with them in a little while.

That…was unexpected.

"I thought we were going to speak in the audience hall?" Asked Bilbo as he removed his hood and placed his things upon a long bench. He looked about the simple yet still lovely meeting room.

His response was a long sigh as Bard practically draped herself on a chair and removed her hood. Her bag and weapons rested up against it. She straightened after a moment and looked at him.

"It was. But my efforts to try to get us to the front of the crowd faster ended up "winning" us an audience with my Queen alone. Although the rules of Open Court will still apply, and if she knows of others who could help us she will have to tell me of them."

Taking her cue Bilbo sat upon a seat next to Bard.

"Why the rush? I know of what…you're supposed to be doing today…at noon. But that's not going to happen?" His last statement ended up sounding more like a question than he meant it to. The hour in question was fast approaching.

It was minutes away, actually. He was unsure of how he knew, but he did.

Bard turned to him, a frown upon her face.

"No, I will not take your heart Bilbo. But I had hoped…I had hoped to have things settled at least somewhat before noon. So we both could be aware but…" She trailed off, biting her lip.

Bilbo straightened in his chair, worry visible on his face.

"Bard, what exactly do you mean?"

Bard knelt toward her bag and pulled a small drawstring pouch out, it was small and purple in color. She opened it and withdrew what looked like a berry, it was bright red and perfectly round. She quickly closed the bag and just seemed to stare at the small fruit in her hand a moment. Saying nothing.

Then she spoke, "Bilbo. Do you trust me?"

"What? I, well…yes. I do."

She looked at him then, her eyes searching.

"Truly?"

"Yes." He made sure to sound firm.

She held out the berry to him.

"Then eat this, and whatever happens try not to panic. It'll only make it worse."

His brows rose to nearly his hair line. "Bard?! What is going on? I won't take that until you tell me what it does!" He had slowly inched away as he spoke, and now he was pressed up against the back of his chair. It wasn't that he didn't trust her…it just sounded suspicious.

Without changing expression Bard said, "This will momentarily stop you're heart and knock you unconscious for a small while. Please Bilbo, we don't have time. The mirror is watching. She cannot tell of where you are or what you are doing precisely but she can tell when you are alive or dead. And I know Jarogniew is watching. Waiting."

She held out the berry, both pleading, apologetic and impatient. She was desperate.

"Please!"

Slowly Bilbo held out a hand and watched as the berry was dropped into his palm. He brought it close to his face and became aware of a lovely smell, lovelier than any berry had a right to smell.

"This is enchanted."

"Yes, but only slightly so."

He looked over at Bard, uncertain. He looked at the woman who was both unfamiliar and familiar for so many reasons, she looked in turn. He came to a decision. With a gulp and breath for courage Bilbo tossed the berry into his mouth and swallowed it whole. A moment later he gave a wheeze, his breath seemingly caught in his throat.

A pain began in his chest, his tongue felt thick, his mouth was dry. He doubled over in the chair. Bard came forward and rested him upon her chest. He gripped at the front of her clothes and tried to focus on her face, his vision was fuzzy. Darkness began to creep along the edges of his vision. He tried to speak but could not, his lungs constricted, deprived of air.

A warmth, both numbing and slightly painful suddenly blossomed within his chest. He let out a gasp.

And then everything went black.

8888

Jarogniew sat at his desk, idly looking out the window as his slave within the mirror spoke to him about the growing plans of locals to overthrow the Kingdom. He smirked, he might decide to "help" after he got his own kingdom back.

Suddenly the spirit stopped mid-sentence. And then, emotionlessly, she said

"The heart of Bilbo Baggins has ceased to beat. Right upon the Mid-Day Hour."

As she spoke the lone clock within the room had begun to tell the time, the simple mechanism clanking softly. The disguised troll grinned, the look quite devilish.

"Excellent. All according to plan."

Ugh! Short chapter! But the next is already in the works of being written so never fear dear reader!

Okay! Comet orchids and Thistles are supposed to mean Nobility and Royalty. Clovers are meant for prosperity and luck and all that good stuff.

Can I just say that uploading has begun kind of a bitch lately? I have to jump through a few hoops to make sure my formatting comes out right when I upload. Like what the hell man, for both this site AND Archive Of Our Own. Anyone else having a problem? ugh!