~Chapter Six~
The Prince and the Paupers
I Don't Need A Husband; Don't Need No Wife
And I Don't Need the Day; I Don't Need the Night.
I Don't Want Your Future;
I Don't Need Your Past.
One Bright Moment
Is All I Ask.
I'm Gonna Leave My Body
I'm Gonna Lose My Mind…
History Keeps Pulling Me, Pulling Me Down.
~Leave My Body, by Florence and the Machine
Disclaimer: Me No Own; You No Sue.
Teeth glinted in the faint light of the moon, and the Dwarrow smiled handsomely down at me. I stared at him in surprise, honestly charmed by his rugged attractiveness. He was attractive, too, if I compared him to the qualities most Dwarrowdams wanted in their Dwarrows – strong facial features, with big nose, chin, and eyebrows, thick shoulders and hips, stocky build, and the stubbornness of a mule. All packed into one nice package. Hello, Mr. Handsome!
"You first, lass," The Dwarrow – the attractive Dwarrow, my mind piped in, to my annoyance – grunted the command down at me. He, like most thieves, was not overly trusting of others, not that I could really blame him for that trait.
"My name is Samantha, but I prefer Sammy," I finally introduced myself, albeit hesitantly, and then pointed to the gangly Ellon trotting along beside the two of us. "That's Elijah, and Eli for short. We're siblings."
My friend, Elijah, silently squinted – first, at my obvious hint to keep up the charades, and then, at the Dwarrow, using his index and middle fingers to make the universal sign for "Hey, I'm watching you!"
A surprised laugh whispered into the darkness, chasing the shadows away. Warmth surrounded the three of us, and the night didn't feel quite so cold and threatening. Elijah and I blinked, eagerly awaiting the name of the enigmatic stranger.
The Dwarrow smirked mischievously at us.
"Nori, at your service!"
From atop the building, and close to the ledge, I leaned back on nimble heels and observed the happenings of Laketown. Men and Women milled about in the town square as another morning began. Heads hidden beneath deep hoods, hands in the folds of cloaks, both to stave off the crisp chill and to keep hold of money or valuables. Many of them had just left their rickety, wooden houses, surreptitiously glancing about while securing the old buildings with various keys and locks.
Locks, Nori explained in his sly but informative way, came in different shapes and sizes. Apple locks, pull locks, chamber locks, bar beams, and everything in between. Some, like apple and pull locks, were more common and could be bypassed simply by inserting the point of a very sharp dagger, which moved aside the tumbler mechanisms coiled within the brass, "slipping" them from locked to open. There were others, however, such as a chamber lock, involved springs and bolts and therefore increased the difficulty of them being opened by other, uh, means.
Eli, being Eli, had cheerfully suggested dynamite as a means to get in. I had spent years with the boy and had become accustomed to his line of thinking, so my mouth twitched because I found his suggestion funny. And Nori? Well, Nori appeared to fight the desire to strangle the two of us…
After explaining better methods of getting in, Nori assigned the two of us our daily "chores," so to speak. Positions, I called them. Elijah and I were surprised by the knowledge required to be a pickpocket, thief, and all-around scoundrel. Thieving alone was a very difficult, time-consuming pursuit. It required patience, diligence, and keen eyes. Maybe insomnia, too. Because it was only five o' clock in the morning, and yet here I was, on watch. Yay…
Really, I shouldn't complain.
I should be pleased, ecstatic even!
An experienced thief thought me, a novice, capable of observing the Men and Women (the beardless, Nori spitefully called them in Khuzdul, though frequently with a wry glance at my own naked chin and cheeks) to determine our newest mark. Eli had offered to do it first – by excitedly shouting "shotgun," to the mild confusion of the Dwarrow – but I had been the one entrusted with this great responsibility. It could be because I was the older of his two, newly apprenticed thieves. Or because Eli had nearly tumbled off the ledge of the building I now staked out like a pigeon in NYC.
With this birds-eye view, I made the best of my situation and zeroed in on a tired and harried looking Woman that had chased two boys out of her house and into the streets. She dropped her keys and hissed out a curse as one of the boys bolted off without first telling her. Snapping at him, the Woman retrieved her keys from the ground, grabbed her youngest by the hand, and hurried after her wayward son. (…And. Forgot. To. Lock. The. Door…) Stared ahead with wary eyes –
Suspicious folk, I thought with some amusement, though I could understand first-hand why this might be the case. After all, Eli and I had been nicking the essentials, such as clothes and fresh loaves of bread, from their clotheslines and stalls for about two weeks. The Dwarrow was now instructing Eli in working crowds and helping others (namely, Nori and myself) steal multiple items while serving as a distraction, whereas I had recently graduated from Petty Thief to Cutpurse.
Eli, I remembered, had not been pleased.
"How come Sammy gets to do all the fun stuff?"
"There's nothin' fun 'bout learnin' to pick pockets, Half Pint," Nori said, the exasperation in his voice clear. The Dwarrow had been remarkably patient thus far, but with the fifth complaint from the hyperactive boy, Nori had resorted to derogatory nicknames and rude grunts.
"He has a point, Eli," I muttered in reply to the hopeful look sent my way. Eli scowled, the wind taken out of his sails, and huffed, the sound whistling through his braces. "It might be fun at the moment, but two weeks ago, we were starving – nearly half-dead! Not only that, but what happens if we get, ya know, caught?"
This last question easily wiped the scowl from his face and replaced it with a pinched look that I had learned to recognize as a sign of his fears. He said nothing else, but the question had been directed at Nori as well. The Dwarrow in question shifted his gaze, where it had followed the path of the shadows dancing by the alley entrance, and looked straight into mine.
"Depends…" Nori replied vaguely. He idly stroked at the bit of burnt orange-and-brown fuzz that covered the front of his neck, beneath the lower portion of his beard.
"On…?" I insistently prodded. Nori wouldn't always be around to answer our questions. Might as well ask them while the Dwarrow was still around, I figured. Unlike Eli, who adored Nori and would follow him to the ends of Earth (…Middle Earth?), I wasn't under the illusion that Nori would stick around forever. Didn't much seem the type.
"On how much the loot is worth," Nori deadpanned. He pulled out several coins from the purse at his belt and palmed them, then flipped the smallest between his fingers and thumb, sliding the coin in and out of the spaces in between them. "Anythin' worth less than this gets ya a small fine and a night in jail. This –" Another coin, though wider and with more markings, appeared. "– is worth much, much more and gets ya a good floggin', maybe the loss o' an ear."
"What about the biggest coin?" Eli piped and pointed to the coin in question, having noticed that the largest and shiniest of the lot still rested in the basin of his huge palm. The Ellon curiously tilted his head to the side, admiring its golden sheen.
Nori smiled at us. "Death."
Eli and I exchanged glances. "…Death?"
"Death. Execution. By hanging…!" Nori cheerfully clarified with a small nod of his huge head.
My best friend appeared doubtful, but I swallowed nervously upon processing the cold truth in his words. Nori stared deeper into my eyes. Grey clouds and blue skies. Subconsciously, I reached higher to brush trembling fingers over my neck where, I knew, the noose would be placed, tightened, and drawn until I was gone.
Dead.
Game Over.
Do Not Pass Go. Do Not Collect $200.
What kind of sick version of Monopoly is this world operating on?!
"Find anythin' worthwhile, Kidhuzurâl?" Nori interrupted these memories from his place topside of a wooden ladder; the Ellon at his side lost his grip and pinwheeled his arms in the attempt to regain his balance. He casually reached out, grasped the boy by his upper arm, and hauled him up. Eli pitched forward onto the rooftop and made a dramatic show of being alive by gasping loudly and clutching at his heart – "I'm alive!"
"…Um," I started, surprised by their early return but not as startled by his quiet footsteps as two weeks prior – Nori had taken great pleasure in teaching and had scared the wits out of Eli and I multiple times since then. "I think I see a couple of Men that might be good to pickpocket, and that house there is probably unlocked…"
"Ya think or ya actually know, Lass? 's important to know the difference," The Master Thief scolded, his thick brow quirked in speculation.
"Know," I confirmed and pointed to the Men that I had chosen as our next Mark. "See that Man right there, with the brown hair and the black coat? He's plain enough not to draw attention, with a common hair color, unlike mine. Couple of his colleagues –"
"– Shirimund –"
Blue eyes rolled in irritation. "– right, beardless colleagues –"
"Nay, Lass, you're a Dwarrowdam. 's not beardless. 's shirimund." He gently gripped the tip of my chin in his hand and lifted it to stare into my eyes, which I had lowered after rolling them at his interjection, wary of another rebuke. I flushed under his attention. And Nori sternly said, "Ya should be proud o' yer heritage."
Pulling out of his hold, I cleared the words from my throat and continued like I hadn't heard him, "House is unlocked. I noticed the lady down there dropped her keys and forgot to lock the door after picking them up." Eli followed light of sight and pointed to the middle-aged Woman I followed with my eyes. I absentmindedly pushed his hand down. "Pointing is rude, Elijah."
"Women," Nori derisively snorted beneath his breath, but I heard it all the same and I huffed at him, my smaller shoulder bumping against his in comradery. Whether the Dwarrow meant the absentminded human or myself, I still thought it an unnecessary comment. A handsome smirk curled his mouth up. "Good work, Kidhuzurâl."
While I positively glowed under his gruff but sincere praise, Eli pouted at him, tugged at the gray sleeve of his tunic, and pitifully whined, "What about me, Nori? I did good, too!" His button nose curled, and the Ellon muttered, "Well, I did bad, actually, but I was good at doing bad!"
Some distant part of me wilted at that declaration. However, I found that with each passing day that part – the righteous part of me screaming for manners and morals and let's all follow the law like good little boys and girls – grew smaller and smaller, until I feared that it might never return. I knew I would have to make a couple of sacrifices to keep Eli and I from biting the dust. But I was expecting things like convenience, and cleanliness, and…and other social niceties. I never once considered that I would have to give up on my morals, too!
Thou shalt not steal.
Good and bad, right and wrong – it had always been black and white, simple and clean-cut. Now, however, I found myself wondering if God might forgive me my sins. I wasn't being frivolous; I was stealing to survive. Surely there was a difference…?
"Bad people do bad things," Daddy used to lecture me, "and stealing is one of these bad things. Never steal from others, whether it be their money or their possessions." Wide lips, hidden beneath his neatly trimmed, salted-and-peppered beard, curled at the corners as a whimsical smile. "Even the heart is best is given freely, Samantha…"
My Mother, from what little I could actually remember of her, had always snorted derisively at his last comment, but then again, the tall and voluptuous blonde had been mostly human. She was more open to changing relationships and, in her words, "did not want to be tied down to a soul mate." A One.
Not like Daddy.
Or me…
"Here," Nori mumbled and curled his large hand curling over my shoulder, steering me over to the flattest part of the rooftop. He pushed at it, increasing the pressure until I dropped down, bottom plopping down. I was still irked that the older Dwarrow was so physical in his instructions, but I suspected it had something to do with his instincts; Daddy was so absentminded that I could wiggle out of his hold without being reprimanded.
Biting into the soft bread, I sagged in content and hummed around the mouthful. Beggars (and thieves) couldn't be choosers, but I was pretty damn tired of always eating stale bread. Seemed like Nori and Eli had managed to find better spoils this morning.
"'s good," I complimented Eli, the thief in charge of distracting the grocer as our mentor nicked the goods. My little friend beamed at me, even while being similarly manhandled into the spot beside me, and dug into his share of bread.
"Don't tell Nori," Eli whispered back, before pulling two plums out of the front pocket of his dirty trousers. The Ellon looked quite pleased with my awe, so I surmised that the little sneak had stolen these without his knowledge.
"You managed to steal these?" I asked, and although I wanted to keep him out of the worst of it, realistically I knew that Eli would have to learn, too. If something happened, like Eli and I got separated from each other or – God forbid – I died, then Eli would need to know how to take care of himself.
"Yep," Eli replied, mouth popping around the p. "I was only s'posed to distract today 'cause I'm not sneaky enough –" Cue finger quotes. "– to steal yet, but I was getting bored waiting for him to get the bread and cheese, so…" A shrug of the shoulders served to finish off his sentence.
I tried not to snatch it from his hand, but I hadn't had fresh fruit in what felt like forever, and the thought of biting into that plum, even a squished and bruised plum, made my manners vanish. I bit into the soft flesh and actually moaned, "Oh, God…"
"Shush, Sammy," Eli urged amidst giggles, though the boy looked pleased at my reaction, and glanced at Nori from beneath his curly black hair. Nervously brushed his fingers through it as our mentor lifted his left eyebrow in question.
I smiled to myself from within the safety of a curtain of fluffy (…okay, frizzy) blonde hair. It was…cute how quickly Eli had begun to value the opinion of the gruff Dwarrow. Admittedly, Nori paid far more attention to him than his father, so…yeah. My smile shifted to a scowl.
"Eli said there was cheese," I explained in Khuzdul, both to divert his attention from the younger pickpocket and to shamelessly beg for more to eat. It might work since I had used Khuzdul. Nori liked it when I spoke in "our" language.
"Aye," Nori drawled, "but ya need to work for that bit, Lass." The Dwarrow plucked his water skin from his belt and took a slow draw from the top. Eli pouted and made his grabby hands at him, clearly thirsty, and the older male passed him the water skin with a small grin. Then Eli drank his fill and, when finished, passed it to me.
After sipping slowly, having learned that guzzling water when dehydrated lead to vomiting, I wiped at my wet mouth and turned to the thief. "What am I going to learn today, Nori?" I queried.
Nori gave me a pleased look. With his ADHD, Eli might bounce around like a rabbit and irk the Dwarrow, but I had been the one to fight him tooth and nail at first, always the first to argue over the morality of the situation; it had made it quite difficult for us to get along at first. It had taken me seeing the benefits of thievery – and Nori threatening to paddle my rear – to get that attitude to deteriorate.
"How to pick pockets, o' course." He climbed to his feet and gestured that I follow behind him and, while his attention was on the ladder, I surveyed his taller form, searching for the pocket that contained the promised cheese. Eli and I exchanged glances, and while the boy lifted his shoulder in reply to the silent question, I refused to give up.
"'ere we are," Nori announced, after leading us over a small bridge, through several stacks of wooden crates, and down a street that had only walls, no windows, doors, or onlookers. In the furthermost corner was a pile of wood that had, I noticed dumbly, been arranged to look like a man – and it was wearing his cloak.
"What? No! This is ridiculous!" I exclaimed after his command to pick its pocket. Honestly, I was insulted by his latest training regime. How the fuck would I know if I had been successful? Not that I wanted anybody to catch me red-handed and yell, "THIEF!"
Jail would be kinda counterproductive to making it back home in one piece…
"It's a special cloak, Lass," Nori cheerfully offered his explanation as my expression soured and lips parted in protest.
Mischief glittered in his steely eyes, and though I eyed him with wariness, I settled down long enough to listen to his words. "Now, 'm not goin' to explain more than this: in the pocket is a small treat. If ya can get it without causin' any noise, then ya get to keep it. If I hear ya…" Nori leaned in closer and murmured, "Well, I'll think o' somethin', won't I?"
I sucked in a quiet breath because, while I might not have much experience with the opposite sex, even an idiot could hear the innuendo in his voice. I bit back a retort and instead settled for glaring darkly at him with red cheeks. Nori only chuckled and leaned back against the wall, with his back straight, arms crossed, and legs bent out at a relaxed angle. Eli glanced back and forth between the two of us, a small frown marring his otherwise childishly happy expression, but shrugged it off as an adult conversation.
…Thank you, Mrs. Hannah, I sent up a prayer of thanks that the Elf had at least taught her child that sometimes, it might just be best not to ask.
Breathing in, I stepped forward, feet parted enough to quiet the stockiness of my short frame, but not so much that somebody else could swipe them out from under me. I crept closer and with fingers straight, I dipped down into the pocket of the cloak, just barely brushing against the supposed treat when –
RING!
A yelp escaped from my mouth and I tumbled back into Eli, knocking the lanky preteen off his feet and onto his backside. He bared his teeth in irritation, braces glinting in the sunlight that leaked into the dark alleyway, and climbed back up, palms patting at his dirty rear. Dirt and debris puffed into the air and made him cough. I patted him lightly on the back to clear it, sending him a small, apologetic smile. The Ellon petulantly stuck his tongue out at me.
Eventually, Eli and I turned to Nori, the latter of whom had been observing our reactions with great glee. I eyed him with misgiving but asked, "What was the point of that little fiasco?"
Nori ignored the foreign word and filled in the missing word using basic context clues – like the annoyed gleam in my eyes and the burning red of my cheeks. "That, Lass, is an old trick, maybe the oldest of 'em. Me own master insisted that I be able to pick the pocket of a standing cloak without makin' a single sound from the bell. Wasn't allowed to try it for real without first mastering that skill." He smirked down at me. "'s harder than it looks, isn't it?"
"Damn straight," I grumbled, and only barely bit back the ruder comment of – "harder than a teenage boy at a wet t-shirt contest." Not only would the last bit be lost in translation, but the first would probably make him rethink his belief that I was a virgin – or rather, maiden.
…I was one. But it wasn't any of his business, was it?
"I wanna try!" Eli declared, and with permission from Nori, bolted forward to shove his hand in the pocket. There was no creeping or crouching – no finesse at all – and, of course, an abrupt chime of the bell signaled that the mannequin (if I could call it that) would have caught him. Typical Eli…
"Right," Nori drawled at him, hand ruffling the curls at the back of his head, where it would be hardest for the preteen to fix them, "that just proves ya need time to practice other skills 'fore this one." Crooked his finger at me. "C'mere, Lass."
Hesitantly, I eased closer to him, feeling suspicious of the gleam in his eyes. I immediately felt vindicated because the thief had snapped his hands out to clamp them around mine, and quicker than a rattlesnake, too. He yanked, pulling me even closer, and rotated the two of us to face the opposite direction, to the dummy. I tried to breathe normally, but all I could feel at the moment was warmth – the warmth of his breath on my ear, and the warmth of his stocky body pressed against mine. Never before had I been this close to a male of my own race.
Oh, God, I shakily thought to myself. He should not smell this good. Hell, I can't remember the last time the three of us managed to bathe! Scrubbing can only get rid of so much grime…
"Move yer arm over – aye, down like that – and straighten the fingers. Ya want to be as straight as an arrow –"
Believe me. I am so straight, Nori!
I mentally slapped myself – and the hormones – for even entertaining that thought.
"– and then, stiffen 'em up and curl them into the pocket o' the person. Trick is to pinch his goods –"
WHICH GOODS?! I inwardly screamed at him, somewhat hysterical at that point. His wallet or something else?!
"– while his leg is moving forward. Left pocket, left leg. Right pocket…" Nori trailed off and looked down at me expectantly, the right side of his face pressed against my right.
"…right leg," I finished for him, and if only I could get him to smile that easily all the time. It was a truly beautiful smile that made his eyes crinkle and his teeth show; the look made him appear gentler – happier – than the observant, stern, and calculating Dwarrow that Nori had proven himself to be over as we spent time together.
"Good girl," Nori mumbled in Khuzdul and patted his gloved hand down my arm. A shiver went down my spine, but the older male had thankfully turned his attention to the dummy and lifted his chin to point at it. He instructed, "Try again. This time, remember to stiffen and curl."
"Aye," I said with an answering grin and, although I started the same way, with careful and quiet steps, I finished by curling and stiffening the fingers instead of keeping them straight. This time, I managed to snag a corner of the object – cloth, I noted, probably a sack – before tricking the wire connecting it to the bell. "Damn…so close!"
"Close, but no cigar," Eli chirped from his place atop a nearby crate. He was nibbling at the rest of his bread from breakfast, obviously taking a quick lunch break, and grinned at me upon seeing the dry look I tossed in his direction. "Dad likes that one!"
"I'll be he does," I muttered, oblivious to the strange look that Nori gave us. Half-breeds, Nori had called the two of us. Were Eli and I really siblings or…? Those thoughts were running through his head, and if I had been aware of the sudden seeds of doubt, I would've tried to distract him. "Too bad Mr. Evans still orders those smelly things for him!"
"At least his teeth aren't yellow, like his!" The Ellon snickered, and I bit back a snort at the silly thought. Elijah was going to be lucky – Mrs. Hannah might not have liked to spend much time with him, but the Elf had insisted that her little boy know his math (…much to his chagrin) and that there be regular visits to the dentist. His teeth were super nice.
How we were going to fix his braces here, thought, was a mystery I had yet to attempt to think over…
"Focus," Nori suddenly grumbled, pushing his feet against mine to correct a slipping in stance. I was momentarily thankful that the older male had not been cruel enough to knock both feet out from under me. Because, you see, it was a possibility. Bastard had done it before. "Ya know better than to get distracted while workin'."
"Yes, Sir," I sarcastically said but, upon seeing that familiar flash in his blue-gray irises, I was quick to correct the tone of my voice and apologized, "Sorry, Nori. Force of habit. I'm kinda quick to anger when frustrated…"
"Aye, I noticed. Might want to fix that 'fore ya go and try to wrangle yourself a mate," Nori sniped. Ignored the tightening of my mouth and the clenching of my fists. Moved ahead to rearrange the wire and the bell.
"Again," Nori ordered.
So, I tried again. Again, and again, and again…
Eventually, I dropped to the ground, hands and knees stinging from the sudden contact with the gravelly dirt, and I sighed. Frustration and weariness colored the sound in shades of black. Eli gave me a sympathetic look from his place at the entrance, but I had to fight the urge to snarl at him because Nori at least had him running little operations. His success was slow at first, until the Dwarrow shared his advice, and then the preteen began bringing back loot – an apple, three wooden trinkets, and a small handful of rice. Nori and Eli made short work of the small apple and the rice; the latter offered to give me a slice, but the former refused to share, citing that I would be rewarded if – and not when – I could just get this skill down. I was mutinous.
In Khuzdul, Nori muttered, "Clumsy girl," and critically eyed the furious tears in my eyes as a sign of weakness.
"Let's take a break," Eli hastily suggested, intimately familiar with the fact that when my temper finally snapped –
It really snapped.
Huffing, I agreed and, without waiting for permission from Nori, stormed down the back street and backtracked until I had reemerged into the town square. It was more open now, with fewer people milling about than earlier, and had been bathed in the orange glow of late afternoon. It was around suppertime, and Nori decided to leave us near the orphanage while slipping inside the house I had pointed out earlier – that I had Marked. A couple of Women gave us sidelong glances, but I pretended to be playing with Eli. We had both grabbed think sticks and busied ourselves with drawing pictures in the dirt. I made a cat face. And Eli…drew a penis. Sigh.
About forty-five minutes later, Nori returned, having already lifted several items from the house of the middle-class family. He had also visited his fence (the Man that traded coins for the stolen goods that would be resold to others people in a distant town, to stave off unwanted attention). I was surprised to find that the Dwarrow tossed each of us a small satchel made of brown leather – and filled with little copper and silver coins. Eli nearly lost his, and Nori stepped forward to tie the satchel to the belt at his waist, before nearing me and doing the same, eyes meeting mine as we separated.
Nori pushed his hand into my shoulder, and Eli and I started forward. I stuck to the shadowed places, like the edges of buildings, and stayed just ahead of Nori. Eli loped forward to wind his long fingers in mine, and I squeezed them, sensing that the ten-year-old thought me angry with him.I wasn't. I wasn't even angry with Nori. But I was angry that I couldn't master basic pickpocketing skills. So really, I was angry at myself. What else is new?
My stomach grumbled, and I glowered down at it as my mentor slipped by in the thick darkness of night and continued to slink ahead of Eli and myself. I followed him, curious where the Dwarrow was going at this time of day (pickpocketing was more of an early morning/late evening occupation), but time and time again, my eyes drifted down to his pockets.
Cheese.
He had cheese.
Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. Just as our swarm, a term Nori explained meant small pack of thieves, moved into the seedier part of Laketown, I gently nudged Eli in the ribs and softly muttered into his ear, "Plan P," which basically meant – tell Nori that you need to relieve yourself.
"Nori! Hey, Nori! Nori, Nori, NORI!"
"What?" The Dwarrow in question glared back over a stocky shoulder to address the boy, brow furrowed in confusion as our youngest thief bounced around while holding his private areas. "Mahal, help me," He muttered to himself, knowing that the boy would pester him until he answered, and then – "What is it now, Half Pint?"
The Ellon bounced about some more and made a show of eyeing all of the closest hiding spots. "I gotta pee! Gotta pee, gotta pee, gotta pee! Like, seriously, if I don't go now, my poor penis is going to fall off!" Eli whined between his teeth, the sharp sound whistling through his braces, and glared at Nori, who had been drinking from his water skin. "…too much water…"
The Dwarrow gestured for the boy to lead the way and, after seeing that I thought myself to be staying, pointed his finger at me and then his side, clearly knowing better than to leave me alone and without his supervision. I pretended to grumble, even petulantly kicking at the pebbles by the soles of my dirty boots, and stomped after him with feigned irritation. Nori snorted at me, obviously buying the spoiled-brat-and-her-temper-tantrum routine, and tossed his ornately decorated head in self-pity.
"Quiet down," Nori hissed, irritated by my obnoxiously loud stomping and rightly worried that somebody untoward might come snooping around, "before ya attract the attention o' the guards. Lasses. Bleedin' trouble, the lot of ya…"
Taking this as an opportunity, I obliged by following his orders, quieting down, and slinking forward, hands inching closer and closer to his belt, until –
Bingo.
My fingers curled (just like Nori had instructed) around the medium-sized block of cheese hidden in his pocket. I nabbed it and quickly shoved it in my own, even as my mouth watered with desire and stomach softly grumbled with hunger. It would taste even sweeter after I split it with Eli, and if the two of us could eat it in front of Nori. Ha!
I ducked down to stare at my shoes, hiding the resulting grin. My best friend reappeared shortly thereafter and, the moment that the Dwarrow had turned to face forward again, I bent down and sneakily retrieved the cheese from my pocket. Eli cut through it with his Swiss Army Knife. I nudged him in the side, and the boy nudged back with his bonier elbow, making me wince, but still I smiled happily as we quietly followed behind the Dwarrow and settled down in the tiny hovel that Nori had made for us to sleep in. With Nori keeping watch to my right, I curled protectively to the left, around Elijah, and the three of us settled in for the night.
Eli and I stared at each other, arms and legs intertwined for warmth, but also for comfort. He pressed his hand against mine, and I passed him a couple of pieces of cheese. We quietly shoved the chunks into our mouths, and the two of us couldn't help but snicker in delight. It tasted like a job well-done! So, with bellies full, and hearts considerably lighter than in days past, Elijah and I drifted off to sleep, knowing that Nori would do his best to keep us all safe for the night.
It should not come as a surprise, therefore, that this was exactly how Nori found the two of us in the morning – asleep, faces peaceful (Eli drooling, me snoring occasionally), and with crumbs covering us.
Unbeknownst to either, Nori sighed in exasperation and reluctantly smiled down at his apprentices as a warm sun colored the morning in oranges, red, ands purples. He leaned back against the building, lit his pipe, and inhaled his first breath. It warmed his belly and relaxed him just enough that the tightness in his shoulders diminished somewhat. After a minute, Nori let his eyes wander.
"Guess I'm stuck with the two o' ya." The Dwarrow stared into the distance, towards the Lonely Mountain, and chuckled to himself, "'s going to be an adventure to remember…"
***Author's Note***
So! I have figured out that I am going to REALLY put some thought and research into this particular story because, hey, I like learning and writing, so why not combine the two? :) Joking aside, I had fun researching about locks and pickpockets and dear God, I hope that my browsing history doesn't implicate me in anything. Haha!
All of the stuff about locks, and that bit about the wire and bell routine with the cloak, is true and researched from the Internet. Try looking into Middle Age/Victorian stealing, if you're interested. It's pretty neat stuff!
As always...
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
P.S. IMPORTANT QUESTION - Which would be preferred in the next few chapters - Thorin immediately knowing that Sammy is his One and being sort of "protective" of her, or him being kind of "frosty" upon meeting her? Lemme know in your review, please - PROTECTIVE or FROSTY!
:D
