Disclaimer: The Hobbit does not belong to me, but to Professor Tolkien, Peter Jackson, and his Company.

Gem of His Heart

Drifa sank back against the pillows, her stomach twisting in dread. She had told Thorin about the child and now she was trapped here in Erebor until she was well enough to travel. A moan escaped her lips and she turned to bury her face in the pillow. All she wanted to do was escape and run as far from Erebor and Thorin as possible. She could not face Thorin, she absolutely could not. The thought made her feel faint. What if he asked about their child – her child? Nausea twisted sourly in her stomach and Oin held a pot before her as she retched helplessly into its depths.

Chapter 11

Thorin's first realization was that his leg ached and he was hot under a pile of blankets. He could hear the crackle of a fire in the fireplace and the deep, even breathing of someone else in the room over to his right. It seemed as if it took every ounce of strength he had, but Thorin managed to open his eyes. He found himself staring up at a stone ceiling. Erebor. He was back in Erebor.

Thorin frowned as he turned his head slowly to the right. A groan escaped his lips. His body ached all over. Kili was slumped in an uncomfortable chair by the bed, his lead leaning awkwardly to one side. His chest rose and fell rhythmically as he slept.

Confusion muddled the dwarf king's thoughts. Why was he in pain? What had happened to his leg and why was Kili sitting by his bed as if watching over him?

Thorin sucked in a deep breath and winced as his ribs ached painfully. He closed his eyes and allowed his mind to drift back, trying to think of the last event he could remember. He had taken Dain, Nal, Drifa, and some others out on a tour of the countryside. There had been a storm and mud, lots of mud. Slowly, it all flooded back to him – the mudslide, his broken leg, Drifa.

Thorin frowned. What was it Drifa had said? A child? There had been a child? He needed to speak with her. How could she have carried his child and not said a word? Anger surged through him. He attempted to push himself up to a sitting position, but collapsed with a cry of frustration. His injuries along with fever and illness left him too weak.

A coughing spasm seized him, and he grasped his ribs painfully as tears formed in his eyes. Thorin felt a warm hand on his back and then a glass of water was held to his lips.

"Perhaps a sip of water will soothe your throat, Uncle," Kili encouraged. He placed a hand behind Thorin's head and lifted just enough so that the dwarf king could swallow the cool water.

It did seem to help, and Thorin was slowly able to relax against the pillow. A sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead. He nearly sighed with relief when Kili placed a cool cloth there.

"Shall I get Oin, Uncle? He can make some tea to help you sleep."

"No," Thorin rasped. "I need to see Drifa."

Kili settled himself in the chair beside the bed, but leaned forward to speak to his uncle. "She has been ill as well."

Thorin frowned. "Was she injured?"

Kili shook his head. "No, just ill from being wet and muddy in the cool temperatures. She has been battling a high fever. Oin brought word earlier that she has slept most of the day."

Thorin shifted in his bed and winced from the pain it caused. "I need to speak with her."

Kili shook his head. "Not today, Uncle. Neither one of you are up to it. She will be here tomorrow. Dain and Nal have returned to the Iron Hills. Fili assured them that he would see that Drifa reached home safely once she recovered."

Before Thorin could reply, the door opened to admit Oin. "Ah, Thorin! Good to see you awake. How do you feel?"

Thorin nearly growled at him in reply. "I hurt all over."

Oin nodded. "That's to be expected."

"I want to get up," Thorin insisted.

"Get up?" Oin asked as he positioned his ear trumpet in an attempt to be sure he was hearing Thorin correctly. "You are not well enough to be up and about."

"There is someone I need to speak to," Thorin insisted.

"And that someone will have to wait," Oin informed him before turning to Kili. "See to it that he does not leave this bed."

Kili smirked. "You do realize I will probably have to hold him down."

Oin sighed. "I will send your brother in to assist you." He glared at Thorin. "Stay in this bed and rest. You will only do yourself more harm if you get up too quickly. Bifur and Bofur are working on something to help you traverse the city as your leg heals, but it is not ready yet."

Thorin glared pointedly at Oin. "I am getting up."

"And I say you are not. I will tie you to the bed if I have to!" Oin retorted. He mixed something that smelled foul in a mug and moved to Thorin's bedside.

Kili wrinkled his nose. "Oi, what is that?"

"Hold him down," the healer nodded at Thorin.

Kili did as he asked although his uncle fought him feebly while Oin poured the mixture down his throat. He choked a bit, but swallowed enough to send him into a deep slumber.

"That should help," the healer sighed, "but you are going to have your hands full when he wakes up. I'll send for Fili."

"Thank you, Oin," Kili replied as he gently tucked the blankets around Thorin's shoulders. "What are Bifur and Bofur making?'

"Some odd contraption Bofur thought up," Oin sighed. "We'll see if it works. Bofur promises that it will be done tomorrow; if Thorin is feeling well enough he can try it out."

Kili nodded and flopped back into his chair before running a hand over his face. Thorin was not going to be an easy patient. He knew why his uncle wanted to speak with Drifa, and that was going to be an emotional confrontation. Thorin would need to regain at least some of his strength before he was allowed to see her.

"Don't forget to send for Fili!" he called after Oin as the healer left the room.

The hours passed slowly, and eventually Thorin's sleeping draught began to wear off. The dwarf king's eyes fluttered open and he turned his head slowly to the right to see Fili and Kili sitting in chairs by the bed and conversing quietly while Soren cuddled in Fili's lap and played with some sort of wooden toy.

"Fili, your Uncle Da is awake," the boy announced.

Thorin frowned. Who on Third Earth was Uncle Da?

Fili grinned down at Thorin. "Are you feeling better, Uncle?" he asked as he shifted the small child into a more comfortable position in his lap.

Thorin took stock of his aches and pains. His chest did not feel quite as tight and the irksome tickle was gone from the back of his throat. "A small bit," he answered honestly. He tried to push up to a sitting position and muttered a curse when his ribs pained him.

Soren stared, wide-eyed, at the dwarf king. "Ma never lets me say those words, Uncle Da," he told Thorin in a matter of fact tone.

Kili quickly disguised a laugh as a cough.

Thorin shot him a pointed gaze and then asked Fili, "Why is the child calling me Uncle Da?"

"He knows you're my uncle, but he has also heard me comment on how you've been like a father to me. While you were missing, he came up with the name Uncle Da when he saw how worried we were for your safety." Fili's cheeks colored a bit when he mentioned that Thorin was like a father to him. Thorin kept himself closed off emotionally these days; he and his sister-sons usually did not speak of such feelings. Things were understood, but never spoken of.

Thorin's eyes slipped from Fili over to Kili and then to little Soren who was snuggled up against Fili. He gave a curt nod, but his blue eyes had softened and his mouth was no longer held in a taut line.

Fili stood. "Let me take Soren back to Sigrid, and I will tell Bofur that you are awake."

"Why Bofur?" Thorin asked in confusion.

"Bofur and Bifur have been creating something to help you move around with your broken leg, Uncle," Kili explained.

Thorin raised an eyebrow. "Ah, yes, that is right; what have they come up with?" he asked curiously.

Kili shrugged. "We do not know. They have not let us see it yet."

"And then I insist you take me to see Drifa." Thorin's tone left no room for argument.

Kili knew they would not be able to deter him today. "Aye, Uncle," he agreed. "Oin said that her fever is down a bit today."

Thorin nodded and leaned his head back against his pillow as his thoughts drifted to his former lover. He remembered the lass she'd been a long time ago with an easy laugh and sparkling green eyes. She had treated him as a normal person and not just as a prince; she had seen the man beneath the title. That had intrigued him and drawn him to her like a moth to a flame.

Their love making had been sweet, but passionate. If Thorin concentrated hard enough, he could still taste Drifa's lips against his own and feel the warmth of her skin pressed against his body. Now, many years later, to learn of a child being born of their unmarried union sucked the air from Thorin's lungs.

The child would be grown now, older than Fili and Kili. Thorin blew an angry breath from between his lips. His nephews had become his reason for living when they were small; he had been there for them once their father had died and had witnessed many of the important moments in their lives. To have missed this with his own child made him angry yet sad at the same time.

The door opened once again to admit Fili and Bifur. Bofur followed behind pushing a chair on wheels.

Thorin's eyes widened. "What in Durin's beard is that?"

"This is your transportation around the mountain while your leg is healing," Bofur grinned widely. "Bifur helped me with it. Now you can attend your meetings or see to things all over the mountain."

Thorin looked at the chair a bit dubiously, but finally glanced up at Bifur and Bofur. "Thank you, my friends, for crafting this chair for me."

"No need for thanks," Bofur grinned. "Do you feel up to trying it out?"

Fili and Kili had already stepped forward to assist their uncle. They knew what his answer was going to be.

"Slowly now, Uncle," Fili cautioned.

There was a lot of cursing and grunting, but Thorin was finally settled in the wheeled chair. His face was pale and he was sweating from the exertion of moving.

"Have a sip of water, Uncle," Kili told him softly as he handed him a mug.

Thorin drank gratefully before handing the empty mug back to his sister-son.

"Once your ribs heal, you will be able to push the chair for yourself," Bofu pointed out as he showed Thorin the clever design of the wheels.

Thorin grunted. As much as he wanted to be independent, his sore ribs would not allow him to turn the wheels himself and he knew it.

Fili took the handles behind the chair and give it an experimental push. "This is great!" he enthused. "We will have to hide this chair from Arne and Soren when Uncle is finished with it."

Kili chuckled. "I can imagine the mischief they could get into with the wheeled chair."

Thorin emitted a low chuckle, surprising both boys. "I know the trouble the two of you would have gotten into with this chair."

Both of his sister-sons laughed gleefully. "Aye, you are right, Uncle," Fili agreed. "Let us hope my boys aren't as adventurous and daring."

Thorin's face became serious once again as the boys' laughter died away. "Take me to Drifa," he ordered. "The two of us have business to discuss."

Bofur seemed to sense the heaviness in Thorin's voice and led Bifur down the hall toward the dining chamber. Fili pushed Thorin's chair toward Drifa's room in the healer's wing while Kili walked along beside them.

When they reached her room, Kili knocked quietly. When there was no answer, he opened the door and peeked inside. Drifa was sleeping. He pushed the door open slowly and stepped into the room, closing it behind Thorin and Fili.

Fili settled Thorin's chair next to Drifa's bed.

"Leave us," Thorin ordered his nephews.

Fili and Kili exchanged concerned glances. Fili was the one who spoke. "We will not go far, Uncle. Call out if you need us."

Thorin nodded, but said nothing.

Fili and Kili slipped out of the room quietly, both of them casting glances back over their shoulders at their pensive uncle.

Thorin shifted uncomfortably in his chair and fidgeted with his hands in his lap. Drifa slept deeply, her rosy lips parted in slumber. Her blonde hair had come loose from its braid and fanned out across the pillow.

Thorin swallowed hard and remembered the first time he'd ever awakened with her held tightly in his arms. He shook his head as if clearing away the memory. As soon as Drifa woke, he would have the answers he sought.

To Be Continued…