Chapter 9

Thorins head was still heavy as he made his way to meet with the Lord of the Iron Hills, but no where near as heavy as when he had left his bed that morning. In turn had his heart gained weight, even though he had not thought it possible.

The meeting itself went smoothly, as the treaty had taken both sides into consideration and given both a fair deal. It was soon signed by both parties, after a few minor changes.

Thorin and Dain retreated to the kings study where they treated themselves to some mead. Soon the conversation flowed as easily as the beverage .

«I must say, this treaty you have had written up is one of the best I've seen in a long time. You must give my regards to the author.»

«Oh, aye! She is most fantastic with her words. I do not know how she does it…» Dain paused, deep in thought. «…T'is a shame that she and her brother moved to Erebor, they will both be greatly missed.» He said, mostly to himself.

Thorin's head jolted up as the Lord of the Iron Hills spoke. The feeling of something being off returned, only this time he knew what was off. His hands clenched around the armrests of the chair in which he sat as he came to the conclusion. Hertha. She had not meant to be his friend, she simply used him to gain information. She had betrayed him. His heart fluttered when he realised this, to think that she could do such thing, she who was so precious to him. His eyes grew dark with hatred. No one would betray him, Thorin, son of Thror, son of Thrain, and get away with it unharmed.

Thorin rose abruptly from his chair. The jolt startled the Lord of Iron Hills, making him spill his mead over himself.

«That nithing! She will pay!» He growled before he left the room with determined steps and clenched fists.

Hertha was sitting quietly before the fire, clenching a book when the door opened with such great noise one might think Smaug the terrible had entered her home. She quickly rose to her feet to see what or indeed who could have made this ruckus. The sight that met her was truly a frightening one. In mere seconds Thorin stood towering over her, his whole manner oozing of hatred. Hatred it seemed towards her.

"Thorin. What is the matter?" Hertha managed whilst taking a step back. The book landed on the floor with an unstifled ´thud´ as she raised her hand keeping the king at bay.

"You! I trusted you!" He spat, his voice dripping with bitterness and contempt.

"You veslingr"

"How dare you betray me like that? How dare you betray my trust? I am your king. Your friend! How could you?"

"You treacherous, thieving wench!"

Each word flew through the air, landing like a hard blow to her abdomen. From where did this sudden hatred come? Under his gaze she felt herself shrink, moving backwards from his foul words, his contempt-ridden voice, until the stone wall behind her stopped her, trapped her.

Trying to keep her voice level and calm she spoke, "Thorin, tell me. What have I done to deserve such insults?", she had failed, her voice cracked, despair and hurt seethed through her calm words.

No doubt it was her tone that made the king pause for a second. His crease ever slightly straightening out and cold withdrew from his gaze.

But as quickly as it had gone, the crease and the cold returned.

"Do not insult me by saying you do not know of what i speak! YOU have worked for Dain, Lord of the Iron Hills, whilst living under MY mountain. Whilst pretending to be MY friend."

The blood drained from her face as revelation rush over it. She withdrew her gaze just in time to see his face drenched in that of blazing fire and cold hatred.

"Kalkûna!" He spat, before he turned to leave.

"NO, Thorin, you misunderstand!" Hertha sprung forwards, taking hold of his left arm.

"Thorin, please, listen to me." She begged, holding onto him as hard as she could. Not hard enough it seemed for it was gone with little effort from the King.

Without turning he laid their friendships to ruin as he spoke the words Hertha feared most from him. "Get out of my sight. I will have nothing better than to never lay my eyes upon you again"

Tears began to fill her eyes and her heart cracked as she tried to the door in an effort to block it.

«Yes, I wrote that treaty. And I am sorry for that, a thousand times over, but most of it I wrote when I lived in the Iron Hills, when you were not my King. I only finished it here. I even made changes to far fair the deal and I was too proud to allow someone else take credit for it."

The words had hurried from her lips. She hoped that he would understand, that he would forgive. But he only pushed her aside. Slumping down on the ground she felt desperation take hold of her. He could not leave, what they had could not end.

She grabbed hold of his hand.

«Don't leave.» She whispered. The look she received made her let go of him. He hated her. That much was clear and he would never forgive her.

«Thorin, I'm SORRY!» She cried, as tears flowed down her face.


A fortnight had passed since Thorin had last seen Hertha. It had not fared well for his nature, he had grown even more short tempered, growling at everything that brought her to mind, which happened to be almost anything. He could not look at the books in his study, the pillars in the Hall of Kings nor paper and quill without growling at it, as if it had deceived him. It was this he was doing as he and Dwalin walked to oversee the training of the recruits. Entering the hall he immediately caught eye of her brother.

Haldor was walking from the back of the training area towards the King and the Captain when a young dwarf ran as fast as he could muster past the two and towards the great dwarf. Haldors face paled as the young dwarf spoke.

He soon ran towards the exit, only to stop in front of Thorin and Dwalin.

"Forgive me, but I can not attend this meeting as sudden private matters are of more importance."

Dwalin enquired as to the meaning of these matters, clearly shaken by the way Haldor meant to leave them.

"My sister."

Haldors gaze lingered on the king.

"She has been hurt." Without waiting for any approval of his departure, he left. Or rather, he ran.

Thorin's face had paled as Haldor spoke. He could not lie to himself and say he was not worried. Yet, the matter in which they last spoke made it quite difficult for him to go barging after her brother. He clenched his fists.

The mountain was fast asleep when Thorin entered the healing quarters. He had paced his study the width of the mountain before he finally ventured to see her. As he stepped over the threshold he now began to wonder if it was such a good idea.

Hertha had been lain in the last bed in the room. Standing there by the bed, Thorin could not hold back a faint smile, but as the curtain surrounding her was withdrawn every trace of happiness was stripped from his face. Hertha looked atrocious. Her face pale as the moon, eyes sunk in, even her curls seemed to have lost all life. Her left hand lay over the cover, bandaged from wrist to elbow, with bony fingers sticking out.

The back of his hand caressed her cheeks, the fingers intertwining with her locks.

"What happened to you?" He whispered, sad eyes gazing the unconscious maiden before him.

"She was cleaning our fathers weapons, when one fell from the mount on the wall." The voice came from behind. Thorin needed not turn, he knew who it was.

Haldor snorted. "You know what she did, after it had hit her? She bandaged herself, cleaned up the pool of blood, as well as the sword, and then she made her way here." Thorin stared at her, he was not surprised. Such an act was in her nature.

"Or, she tried to. She fainted, having lost too much blood. The healer says she will be quite alright, though. In time."

Thorin looked up at Haldor. He was met with eyes ladened with sorrow, contrasting to the thinly veiled hatred he had been met with till now. He walked to the other side of the bed, standing opposite the king.

"After your ... fight, she seemed to lose all will to live. She would not eat, only that which I all but forced down her throat, she barely slept and never ventured outside. She would sit and stare at the fire for hours, not saying a word. It was not till the fifth day that I learned what had happened."

Haldor moved a lock from her face.

"I know that her judgement was poor, and what she did was wrong. But if you put yourself in her shoes, you might understand why she did what she did.

Dain has always been like an uncle to us, and when word arrived that you would try and retake Erebor she immediately began to write the treaty. There were some things she could not foresee, the price of gold for example, so she could not complete the treaty before moving here. In her mind, she simply finished it, filled in the blanks…

When you came to her... She understands your anger, and she blames herself for destroying your friendship. It is this blame that has taken the life out of her, she cannot forgive herself for what she has done. I beg you, even if it is not true in your heart, pray say you forgive her. That way she might be able to forgive herself, and find the will to live, not simply be."

Thorin stared at Hertha. To think that she had faded away like this. Breathing was suddenly strenuous, as if there was not enough room in his chest. He sat down on the chair next to the bed, hoping this would ease the breathing.

As he looked up at her brother, he saw how tired he was, how the worry for his sister drained him.

"Haldor... Go home, get some sleep. I will stay."

It surprised him that Haldor complied. Thorin watched as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead, before bowing to him and leaving the room. Perhaps he thought not so badly of Thorin as he had made him believe.

Thorin looked at Hertha again. A mere ghost of the lady she had been with a fortnight ago. He settled into the chair as he tried to understand his own feelings, and decide what he would do.

He still felt betrayed, there was no way around it. She had betrayed him, and the fact that she never told him, the fact that she actually had worked for Dain, it hurt. But he could not turn his back to her, not after he had seen what had become of her. He still cared for her, deeply, and it broke his heart to even think of a life without her.

A question, that he had time and again pushed away, crept into his thoughts. Was it love?

Authors' note:

Yeah... We all know the answer to that, but for the time being, lets just pretend we don't. Meanwhile, please do not kill us. If you have been paying attention, you would have seen that we have sprinkled hints towards this reveal from the very beginning. Hope you amazing readers all have had(and are still having) a wonderful Easter.

Happy Easter, Sofie and Hanne.