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"Did you hear?" Dís asked nonchalantly, nibbling on her breakfast.

Thorin looked up from his own food but resisted her attempts to draw him into gossip.

"I would think you would want to know that your Royal Historian has run away."

Thorin paused, frowning at his sister. "Run away where?"

Dís smiled down at her plate. "Apparently he is making his way to the…oh dear, we stopped there on the way here and Dwalin stayed…the Village?"

"Shire," Thorin corrected immediately knowing that he had played his hand. "I do not see why Ori would travel to the Shire alone."

"Not alone, he took one of the healers, Maklon with him. Left at dawn over a full week ago. His mother has been hiding his departure since he left. Apparently Dori and Nori are now planning to follow him."

"A healer?" Thorin asked, sitting up straighter. He had been worried when Dwalin had not returned but Balin had reassured him that the dwarf only stopped in the Shire for some rest now that the mountain was safe. Thorin had been surprised as Dwalin had volunteered to journey to the Shire and he had talked as though he would be coming back with Dís and the rest of Thorin's dwarves.

"Yes," Dís picked up her bread again, obviously finished with the conversation now.

Thorin could not return his concentration to his meal – his appetite lost as he thought about the only reason any of his dwarves would travel to the Shire. They would only go for Bilbo. Dwalin could be excused, Thorin knew that the warrior had developed feelings for Ori but the younger dwarf had shown little evidence of returning the affection. Even if he did he was too meek to seek Dwalin out and too well protected by his brothers for Dwalin to get to him which would have annoyed the proactive dwarf. Thorin had understood his desire to escape the mountain for a short time. He had thought he would be back by now though. Dwalin did not normally like to be away from his King, his home, or his training for long. Perhaps Balin had misled Thorin. For Ori to leave…no, it would be something else if Bofur left. Bilbo and Bofur had had a greater friendship than the hobbit did with Ori. Though they had bonded over books and history and Ori would be a better choice if Bilbo were unwell…. Maklon was one of Ori's contemporaries, both born close in age. Ori may have been the choice to ride with the healer because they would know one another and it would be too suspicious if Bofur missed his next journey to the Grey Mountains without a suitable excuse and Bofur. Perhaps sending Ori was the next best thing to Bofur going himself without informing everyone that Bilbo was ill.

Thorin pushed his plate away and shook his head. There were healers in the Shire who would know more about hobbit wellbeing that any dwarf. Thorin was decided – it had nothing to do with Bilbo. Perhaps Dwalin was unwell and the King was wrong about the affection between the two dwarves so Ori had rushed to help him. Thorin knew that had to be the reason. He pulled his breakfast back towards him and was about to take another mouthful when something occurred to him – what if the need for a dwarf healer was because Bilbo had caught something from the dwarves, or from Dwalin, something that the hobbits had no knowledge of, something they did not know how to treat.

Thorin pushed his breakfast away from him again knowing that no one would have told him if something was wrong with Bilbo. It was well known that they had parted on terrible terms and the hobbit had not given Thorin a chance to retract his words, or to apologise. Thorin had known that Bilbo ran away because he was hurt over what Thorin had said but the hobbit should have never offered to give away his family's legacy. Or at least, what Thorin had believed was his family's legacy. When he had recovered enough from his injuries in that final battle, once he had realised he had lost Bilbo forever, he had dispatched Kíli to the elves of Rivendell – he hated elves but his mother had once told him that if ever there was an elf to trust it would be Elrond. Thorin himself was not awed by having met the Elfish Lord but he had trusted his mother. Elrond had agreed to safeguard the stone and it had taken Thorin a long time to stop wishing that he could ride to Rivendell and collect the Arkenstone.

He stood up from the table, forgetting about his breakfast. "I am going to speak to Balin."

Dís smiled at him. "Not hungry?"

Thorin shook his head. "I will see you later in the council meeting."

Thorin left the breakfast room that was shared by all of the royal family, passing Kíli as he walked in to eat his own breakfast.

"What is wrong with Uncle Thorin?" Thorin heard his nephew ask but he was out of ear shot before his sister replied.

Thorin had planned to talk to Balin and find out everything he knew about his brother but as he was walking down the corridor he realised that Balin would never have allowed Ori or a healer to go to the Shire without him if there was something wrong with Dwalin. Dwalin and Balin, like all dwarfish siblings, were very close and Balin would have travelled day and night to get to his brother if he needed a dwarfish healer. That meant that the only possibility was that Bilbo, not Dwalin, had required the knowledge that could only be known by a dwarfish healer.

Thorin changed direction, heading to Bofur and his workroom instead.

The tinker and his brother both looked up when he walked into the room.

"Good morning, Sire," Bofur said.

Bifur muttered something in Khuzdul that Thorin could not quite catch before the other dwarf returned to the gold trinket he was making.

"Bofur, have you heard about Ori leaving?"

"Yes, he and Maklon left for the Shire over a week ago."

"Do you know why?"

"No."

"Really? You have had no word from the Shire?"

Bofur frowned at Thorin. "Why would I have had word from the Shire?"

"You and Bilbo were close."

Bofur froze and stared at Thorin. "You believe that Maklon travelled with Ori because Bilbo is sick?"

"I am simply making sure that my dwarves are not running around Middle Earth for no reason."

Bofur's mouth quirked. "I have not heard from Bilbo since the night that he left, after you banished him from this mountain."

Thorin's face tightened as he looked at the other dwarf. "You have not heard from him at all?"

"No, though Dwalin is still in the Shire, is he not? Perhaps Balin will know more."

Bifur stopped what he was doing to gesture at Thorin, bark out some words in Khuzdul and then slam his hand onto the table and then return to his work as though that was all that there was to say. Thorin frowned at him and then turned back to Bofur and nodded before he turned around leaving the Ur brothers behind to find Balin and find out what was going on between his mountain and the Shire.

Balin smiled at him when he opened the door. "What are you doing here, Thorin? The council meeting is not for hours."

"I heard that Ori had left for the Shire with a healer. Is something wrong with Dwalin?"

Balin's face grew very dire. "Not as far as I know. Why do you believe that something may be wrong?"

"Ori went with a healer; there are very few reasons that he would need a healer."

Balin relaxed and smiled at Thorin. "Ori and Maklon have been friends since they were only dwarflings. I believe that he is simply Ori's companion on the long journey."

"Why would Ori travel all of the way to the Shire if there was nothing wrong with Dwalin…or Bilbo?"

"I see," Balin said, "you are worried that Bilbo is unwell?"

Thorin stood up and folded his arms as he paced to the wall and back. "There must be a reason that one of our healers would leave when we have only just settled the new arrivals into their chambers and the eldest of our dwarves are still vulnerable."

"Glona and Gluna are still in the mountain and they are both more than capable of caring for every dwarf here," Balin pointed out. "You should have more faith in them."

Thorin narrowed his eyes at Balin and then sighed. "I have complete faith in them."

"Good, then Maklon leaving is not a problem. I am sure that we will not miss him too desperately. I know that Ori is alone in the library but I am sure he will make up any work he has missed when he returns."

"I am not worried about the work being done in the library. I know that Ori will make the library even greater than it once was – we have had meetings about his grand plans and I support him in them. I want to know why my dwarves are fleeing Erebor for the Shire."

Balin smiled but Thorin could tell that he was hiding something. "There is something that you are not telling me."

"If I were to be hiding something I would be doing so only to uphold my brother's confidence."

"Then Maklon did not go for Bilbo but for your brother."

"Maklon went with Ori; I do not believe that it has anything to do with either Dwalin or Bilbo."

Thorin smiled, believing Balin this time. "Very well, I will see you at the council meeting."

Balin nodded and stood. "After all, there is nothing in the Shire that you need to worry about anymore, is there?"

Thorin froze on the other side of Balin's chamber door, wondering at Balin's words – was there something that Balin knew that he believed Thorin would not be interested in because of his last conversation with the hobbit. He shook his head, Balin was simply still annoyed at Thorin for not taking his advice and going with him to collect Dís and speak to Bilbo. Bilbo would have always returned to the Shire and while Thorin was regretful that they had parted on bad terms he had always known that no matter what he had offered the hobbit Bilbo would leave eventually anyway.

Thorin made his way around the mountain, checking on the repairs occurring in a number of different areas of the mountain.

It was not until he saw Dori when he was getting some lunch that he allowed the doubts that were still in his mind to come to the top. He believed Balin would not lie to him but he would avoid telling Thorin something if he had a truly good reason for it. There had been something unsettling about the conversations he had had with Balin since Dwalin had decided to stay in the Shire. Thorin could not ignore his instincts anymore. He left the line for food and walked over to Dori, sitting down across from the grey-haired dwarf.

"King Thorin."

"Dori, I heard that your brother had left for the Shire."

Dori looked suddenly, overwhelmingly tired. "He has. Nori and I are going to go and collect him."

"Collect him?" Thorin asked, surprised by the phrase – as though Ori were not an adult dwarf. "Is there reason to collect him?"

"He…is not thinking sensibly," Dori said slowly.

Thorin wondered what could possibly be making a dwarf like Ori do something rash enough that his brother would feel he had to chase after him.

It offered him a perfect opportunity though.

Later that day, after the council meeting, while Thorin was going over a number of reports in his private chamber near the council room his sister burst through the door without knocking.

"Balin informed me of something very interesting," Dís said, striding to stand in front of Thorin.

"Did he?" Thorin asked, already knowing exactly what his sister was talking about.

"Apparently you are going to travel to the Shire with Ori's brothers to bring him home. That is awfully kind of you, so caring for your subjects."

"They assisted me in reclaiming this mountain. I think it is the least I can do in helping them reclaim their brother."

"Ori is older than Fíli, more than old enough to make his own decisions and more sensible than many a dwarf decades older than he is. He does not need to be reclaimed."

"His brothers are worried about him," Thorin explained.

Dís looked at him sceptically. "You could at least tell me the truth."

"What truth?"

"You are going for Bilbo. Honestly, you are much too stubborn for your own good. You should have gone to the Shire as soon as you were well enough to travel."

"Bilbo had always talked of nothing but returning to the Shire since he joined our company. He would have left regardless."

Dís folded her arms over her chest, glared at him, and waited silently. Thorin hated that look, it was the same one that his mother had given him when he had been a dwarfling and she knew he had done something wrong. Thorin refused to break under the look though, folding his own arms and glaring back at her.

"I know that you were scared to ask him to stay but he may have surprised you. At the very least then you could stop moping around this mountain wishing he were still here."

"I am not moping."

"You have been in a terrible mood since I arrived."

"I have been in a bad mood since Erebor fell."

"I am aware," Dís said, sighing, "and now you have it back and you are just as bad, if not worse when you should be happy...or at least happier."

"I reclaimed Erebor in the name of our line. I have been working towards that my entire life. I could not be more pleased with the achievement of my company of dwarves."

"And the hobbit, you cannot forget your fourteenth member."

Thorin glared at his sister. "I trust you will be happy to rule in my place while I am away. I will be taking Fíli with me and no doubt Kíli will decide to come too."

"No doubt," Dís agreed. "And I could rule as Queen of Erebor for the rest of my days, as you well know."

Thorin laughed, knowing that she could and that she would not want to. She enjoyed her role in the mountain too much to take on the role he had. He knew he could not rule without her and he never had to fear her attempting to steal his throne.

"I shall return before the Winter solstice," Thorin said.

"Try to return with a hobbit," Dís threw over her shoulder before she left the room.

Thorin hated it when she had the last word and it was his never ending bane that she often had the last word.

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