Thorin moved out into the larger room of the cabin with the others and sat down on his bench. He was exhausted and drained both physically and emotionally. He felt the weariness in his bones. He put his head in his hands and listened to the others talking around him.
"When will Asphodel and Ori be able to walk again?" Bilbo wanted to know as Brenna stood beside him.
"I can't say," Oin said explained, "I've never encountered this kind of venom before. Probably a few days for Ori. Less for Asphodel."
"Shouldn't Ori be more comfortable if we take him back to our own cabin?" Nori asked.
"I don't think it's a good idea for him or Asphodel to be exposed to the cold right now," Oin said, "Best he and Lady Asphodel stay here for the time being."
"Well I'll get his mattress then," Nori responded, "Can't have him laying on the floor, can we?"
"Stop by and get Asphodel's mattress too, will you?" Bilbo insisted as Nori and Dori headed back out into the storm.
The elves finished making the tea as Oin had ordered them to make and Oin took four mugs into the room. Thorin glanced up with eyes red with fatigue and emotion and watched the room around him.
The elves busied themselves with unloading the things they'd brought with them. Thorin watched as the Elves piled all the Dwarve's weapons in a corner. Axes, swords, knives, daggers. Thorin caught a sight of Kili's bow and he also knew that the majority of those daggers and knives belonged to Fili.
The Elves also unloaded more blankets, some iron tools and kitchenware, and some pottery, and pouched and satchels full of vegetables, mushrooms, and grain, "I know it isn't much," said Tauriel, noticing Thorin's eyes on them, "Little grows in Mirkwood these days for our forest is sick. But there were some things that we've kept in the store rooms."
"We ought to make a stew," Bilbo suggested, gathering up a few onions and potatoes. Thorin glanced at the piece of parchment paper on the table which contained the fish Bard had given him. He had been looking forward to sharing the meal with his nephews. Now, he would have to make it feed everyone.
"Alright, but it's a small fish," he said, "And the young ones should be fed first."
"Of course," Bilbo agreed, "Come Brenna, lets chop these vegetables. I'll show you how to make a fish soup." The two of them got busy with the food preparation.
"Ah my staff!" Oin exclaimed as he came back out into the room and noticed all the weapons.
"How are they?" Bilbo wanted to know, gesturing towards the room.
"They'll all be fast asleep soon enough," Oin said, "I put a bit of herb in that tea to help them all sleep. But they'll be needing to eat something when they wake up, its important that they keep their strength up."
Bilbo nodded and went back to preparing his soup. Thorin took note of the young gnome who was helping the hobbit dispatch the fish and he studied her a bit.
Brenna was shorter than the hobbits and had large Dwarf like ears. She was slender and quite beautiful. She looked about the same age as Asphodel and roughly the same age as his nephews. Thorin had never met a gnome before though he had heard rumors of the small folk that lived in the far north of Middle Earth where the world remained locked in ice most of the year. But if it weren't for the ears and the lack of hair on her feet, Thorin would have mistaken her for a short Hobbit.
Just then, there was a loud bang on the door. Thorin glanced over, thinking it was Dori and Nori returning.
"Come in," He called and was surprised when Bard came into the room, followed by Balin and Dwalin. Dori and Nori followed close behind them carrying two straw filled mattresses and a bag of supplies.
"I'm sorry to disturb you at such a late hour," Bard said, but as he looked around, he added, "Though it appears you are all awake."
"We have some disturbing news, Thorin," Balin said, "Tell him, Brother."
"I came across some bandits while I was doing my evening patrols," Dwalin explained, "Seems Lake-town has been plagued by some unsavory characters for quite sometime."
"I have told you that times are hard," Bard said, "Poverty breeds desperation and many have taken to acquiring things through less than ideal means."
"That is not the problem," Dwalin said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper and handed it to Thorin, "One of the bandits was carrying this."
The note was in common tongue. It had a small sketch of Thorin on it and as Thorin read it, he swallowed hard.
"It is a price for your head," Balin said, "A rather large price."
"You never bothered to mention to me that you were hunted," Bard said, raising a brow, "It would seem to be the reason we are having an orc problem now, after we have not seen a single orc in these parts in decades."
"Azog..." Thorin breathed. He knew the giant pale orc wanted him dead, and he knew there was a price on his head, but he didn't realize that word of Azog's hunt had spread to the world of men.
"Hunted..." Legolas said, crossing his arms across his chest, "We suspected as much. The orcs we killed were far more determined than they usually are."
Thorin took a slow breath as all eyes were suddenly on him, "Azog is an old enemy of mine," he said to Bard and to the elves, "It is not the concern of Elves or Men."
"It is if these orcs threaten our town," Bard pointed out, "And have you thought of what might happen if someone learns of this price on your head? There are plenty of people in this town that wouldn't hesitate to kill you if it meant they could get enough gold to feed their families."
"Then they are fools," Thorin responded, "Do you really think Azog would give anyone the prize he promises once he has what he wants?"
"What do we do now?" Dwalin wondered, "We can't stay here."
Thorin sighed. It seemed their options were running thin. Return to the blue mountains or stay here and face Azog, Bolg, or any mercenary who thought they could do him in.
"Returning to the Blue mountains would be difficult," Balin pointed out, as if reading Thorin's thoughts, "We have many months of winter yet to go and we haven't the coin to make the journey... besides, I'm sure Azog would expect us to return there if he knows our attempt to get into Erebor had failed. He'd be waiting for us."
"What about the Iron Mountains?" Nori piped up. He and Dori had come out of the bedroom after taking Ori his mattress, "Would Dain take us in?"
"I doubt it," Thorin said, "He didn't take us in when we came to him 171 years ago."
"The young ones are not in any condition to brave these frigid conditions," Oin pointed out, "A journey anywhere would surely be the death of them."
"What?" Bard asked, "I thought they had recovered, what's wrong with them now?"
"They went out to the forest and got caught in the storm," Thorin explained, "And they were attacked by some kind of beast."
"The forest?" Bard sighed, "Fools. They are lucky they encountered only one beast."
"They would have had no reason to go into the forest if they were not starving to death," Thorin growled, glaring at Bard.
"Well you have more problems here than just keeping well fed," Bard responded, "I have heard men talking."
Thorin shrugged. He knew the townsfolk did not all approve of him being in their midst. He had been the subject of more than a few insults and jeers when he was in town and they didn't bother to keep their cruel jibes from reaching his ears, "I do not care what they think of me," he said.
"You will soon," Bard said, "They are getting impatient. They think you are part of the prophecy and they don't understand why gold isn't flowing from the mountain yet. There are some who think you should take action against the master who is keeping us all in poverty. They will not tolerate your inaction forever. You are a king, they think that you should be able to save them."
"I am not here to involve myself in their affairs," Thorin said, "We will not intervene."
"You have no choice," Bard said hotly, "From what I've just heard, you have no where to go. You're stuck here with us. So you can either help us and help yourself, or you can continue to go on alone out here. Orcs and mercenaries are the least of your worries. Tell me, how long will you and your nephews survive on one small piece of bread a day?"
Thorin wanted to argue. But Bard was right, their options were limited. He hadn't recalled a time since they had arrived that he hadn't been nearly weakened with hunger and he had been spending all his strength and energy working on the forge trying to earn enough coin to feed himself and his kin. He knew the rest of the company had not fared better, even Bombur had lost a little weight.
"The winters here are very harsh, Your Majesty, as I am sure you remember," Bard continued, "I have seen it claim too many lives. You may have been the king of a mighty kingdom in the past and perhaps you shall be in the future. But for now, here in the present, you are on our terms. You may be hearty folk, but you are not immune to starvation and destitution."
"Very well," Thorin said with a sigh of defeat, "I will meet with your master in the morning and persuade him to be reasonable."
"And what of you pointy ears?" Dwalin asked, "Why have you been aiding us? What's in it for you?"
"My father is a wise elf, but he is wrong," Legolas said, stepping forward, "He cares more about protecting our kingdom than helping others."
"Evil is spreading over this world," Tauriel added, "We cannot remain blind to it any longer. And we can only defeat it if we stand united. Legolas and I will help you and your company if you will put your mistrusts aside and allow us to. And we will help the men of the lake, we can only hope that our king will see the wisdom of it."
Thorin nearly doubled over in shock. Did these elves just pledge themselves to his cause? He never thought he'd live to see the race he considered his enemies actively aid him. Yet they had. They had helped him ever since they had been captured together with him in the Orc caves. And as much as he hated to admit it, if it hadn't been for their presence, it is quite likely that Fili, Kili, Ori, and Asphodel would all be dead now. And they had defied their king, no less.
"Never thought I'd see the day," Balin muttered to Legolas and Tauriel, "Seems your race has some honor after all."
"We will see," Dwalin said suspiciously, not quite convinced.
"Thank you…" Thorin muttered sheepishly, glancing down at the ground.
They all sat in awkward silence for awhile. A lot had been said and a lot needed deep thought. Thorin listened to the crackle of the flames in the fireplace and the soft tapping as Bilbo placed an iron cauldron over the fire and began to stir the contents. The savory aroma of fish soup began to permeate through the room and Thorin could feel his mouth water.
"It's quite late," Balin said, sensing that there wasn't much left to say tonight, "Come, Brother. We'll return in the morning if you'd like us to accompany you to visit the Master, Thorin."
"Thank you, Balin," Thorin responded.
"I'll take my leave as well," Bard said, "But I'd like to be present when you speak to the master as well."
"We have an extra cabin if you pointy ears want to stay here," Oin said as he turned to Thorin, "I'll check on the Lads in the morning."
Dwalin, Balin, Bard, Legolas, Tauriel, and Oin headed out of the cabin together. Thorin glanced over at Nori and Dori.
"Thorin I've been thinking," Nori said, "Dain may not be willing to take us in but he could part with a few supplies. We are his kin after all."
"What are you suggesting?" Thorin asked, raising a brow.
"I could head out to the iron mountains on a trades mission," he said, "I'd probably take Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur with me."
"Alright, as soon as the storm lets up," Thorin said, "We haven't much to barter with, but do what you can."
"I'll be back in the morning to check on Ori," Dori added as the two headed out. Thorin was left with Bilbo and Brenna. Bilbo glanced up from the cauldron he was stirring,
"Where'd everyone go?" he asked, "It's just about ready."
"To bed, Master Baggins," Thorin responded, "Which is what I'd like to do myself, if you don't mind."
"We'll uh we'll check in on Asphodel in the morning then, I suppose," Bilbo said, getting the hint and setting the bowls of soup on the table, "I guess you'll just finish up with this, then. Come on, Brenna."
"Thank you, Master Baggins," Thorin said, "You needn't worry about your niece, I'll watch over her tonight, though I may need you to stay here tomorrow while I am in town."
Bilbo bid Thorin goodnight and Brenna out of the cabin. Thorin sighed with relief once he was finally alone. He brought the soup into the bedroom where the young ones received it eagerly, as hungry as they were, and then ate some himself before laying down on his bench for some much needed sleep.
