Lake-Town

She was turned over and over, a few drops of icy water making contact with her skin. It wasn't too bad at first, but soon became intolerable. One particular spin made her hit her head against the wood of the barrel, and she bit her tongue. She sometimes tried to brace herself by pushing her arms out against the sides of the barrel. But she would either be knocked so hard that her arms would slip away, or would become unable to hold the position any longer. Thankfully after a while, her barrel took on a bit of water, and even though it made her cold and miserable, it weighed down the barrel and made its movements a little slower. She was still uncomfortable, and she felt sick. The lack of fresh air also got to her and she wished they would wash up somewhere, so that she could take a few breaths of clean air. It didn't happen, and she kept being shaken about. An itch developed on the bottom of her foot but she couldn't move to relieve it, and she was left with the irritable feeling for a while. And then her barrel suddenly lurched to one side and there was a loud crash as something hit her. She was thrown back a little and her head snapped back against the wood of the barrel. Then the world went dark and she lost consciousness.

When she woke there was water in her eye. She groaned and wiped it away, and then she realised she could move. Her limbs were stretched out and she way lying against a river bank. A dwarf stood over her, Kili, he said something and she responded,

"Five." A look of confusion crossed his face as she sat up and pulled wet hair away from her waterlogged ears, "Sorry, I thought you asked how many fingers you were holding up." He shook his head,

"How's your head?"

"Feels like it's been kicked by a horse. I'm never travelling by barrel again."

"Luckily, you won't have to. We're there." Standing up on her shaky feet, she was aware of the cold wind and water on her skin; her torn clothes didn't help either. She looked over her shoulder and saw it, The Lonely Mountain. A name had never been more apt. It stood alone, a single peak among the clouds on the edge of the world. A huge lake stood before it, and closer to them, out on the lake, was a town. The other dwarves were all out of the barrels by now, most bedraggled and weak, but some sounded as if they had colds or worse. Night was falling, and she wondered how many days she'd been in the barrel, floating down the river.

In any case, far too long.

Thorin, Bilbo, Fili and Kili went on ahead to speak with the people of Lake-Town, and she stayed behind with the others. Her hand went to her right hip, but her sword and belt were gone, taken by the elves. She wished she had some sort of weapon, or at least some warm clothes, but hopefully they would get some from the town.

Nearly an hour had passed before the two younger dwarves came for them, as well as men from the town. After a few words of greeting, they were led back towards the town. She marvelled at how it could remain standing in the lake. It must have been made very well to stand in the waters for years at a time, without collapsing. She expected to be taken to an inn, or perhaps a small house, but was surprised when they were taken to a large mansion. It belonged to the master of Lake-Town, and he had been partway through a feast when they arrived. It was warm inside the hall, the heat from both fires in the building and many people all packed in beneath its roof. She claimed an empty seat by Bilbo, who was sneezing loudly. Despite the warmth, she still felt a little cold. That was easily remedied, she was served a mug of ale, and though the taste was strong, it served to warm her chest. The food laid out was nothing special, but she was ravenous, leaving the thin broths and soups to eat a hearty amount of meat and warm bread. The men at the feast grew more wild as they drank more of the ale, they began to sing and joke. They were all merry, mostly discussing the riches that would be gifted to them if they helped the dwarves. Idria smiled and took a long drink. The feast lasted for a long while, and by the time mornings light touched the town, the hall rang with her laughter.

She slept a little the next day, her headache worsened by the alcohol. Even though there was no prophecy that alluded to either her or Bilbo, the men treated them well. Idria was gifted with clothes first, dresses and skirts even though she would have preferred a tunic and breeches. And then she was given a weapon, though it was only a knife. Some of the master's ladies spent a lot of time with her, shaking their heads at the faint scars on her knees and forearms, where the bark of a tree had torn away some skin. Then their eyes widened when they saw the small hold in her right hand. They weren't interested in her adventure, so she told them little about it. They insisted on teaching her how to be a lady whilst she was there, how to sit, talk, and act. They also put her in one of the dresses each day and did something different to her hair each day, arguing amongst themselves until they thought it was perfect. Idria didn't mind, it was nice to get a little attention, even though she felt a little strange in their clothes. And over the next couple of weeks, she accompanied the ladies, trained with the dwarves, and talked to men from the town. And finally, it was the day before they had to leave. After freeing herself from the women, she went walking through the mansion by herself. She wore a long dress that was a deep red, black roses embroidered onto the bodice. It was slightly too long for her, the skirts were full and made a faint rustling sound as they ran across the floor. Her hair had been pulled back into a plait that fell between her shoulder-blades, down to her waist. As she walked the corridors, a man stepped out in front of her. He was tall, and his brown hair was cut short. She'd seen him before; he was one of the servants. He nodded when he saw her,

"My lady, you look very nice." Before, she would have told him that she felt nothing like a lady, but she remembered what the women said was a proper response, so she smiled and said,

"Thank you, you are too kind." He smiled back and she noticed that his nose was crooked, as if it had been broken once.

"I was just on my way to the docks to deliver some letters, would you care to accompany me? There's a very good view of the mountain from there, if you're interested in that kind of thing." She was quiet as she tried to think of a polite way to refuse him,

"That's kind of you, but I'm looking for… the leader of my party. Do you happen to know where he is?" The man shook his head,

"I haven't seen him today, but if you want, we could go look for him." She wasn't truly looking for Thorin, but now she would have to invent another excuse to refuse this man. She opened her mouth to reply but her voice was lost in another,

"There will be no need for that." She turned, and was unable to control the grin that appeared on her face for a few seconds as he approached. Thorin walked to her side and nodded at the other man, "Don't you have things to do?" the man scowled for a moment, before inclining his head and walking away. One he'd gone, they turned to each other. A few weeks in the town had done some good for him, he walked and spoke as if he already ruled over the mountain. He looked… she guessed the only word that could describe him properly was… kingly. She smiled,

"Thank you."

"Did you need anything?" He paused for a second, and then said, "My lady." Idria felt her cheeks flame red,

"I just… I just wanted to know, when do we leave tomorrow?" He looked over at her, into her eyes,

"Idria, remember our deal when we first met?" She dropped her head and looked downwards,

"You said you would either free me or kill me." He put his hand on her shoulder, almost in a reassuring way,

"It was a stupid idea of mine, forgive me for it. You're free now, you could stay here, I'd see to it that you were rewarded for your efforts, once I hold the mountain." With her face downcast, he never noticed the glint in her eye that appeared for a second, and when she raised her face it was gone. She exhaled,

"Do you think I could come with you? I want to see how this quest ends… If you wanted me to." He smiled and withdrew his hand, leaving only the warmth of it on her shoulder,

"Of course, we leave at first light." She nodded,

"I'll be ready." And she turned and began to walk away,

"Idria." He called after her, she stopped and looked over her shoulder,

"Yes?" He looked as if he were deciding what to say, and how to put it, then,

"That dress suits you… You look very nice." Then he turned his head and walked in the opposite direction. Her cheeks went a deeper shade of red and she felt the tops of her ears tingle, she opened her mouth to reply, but didn't know what to say. So she started walking away again, each footstep emphasising the distance between them.