The Hobbit: The desolation of Smaug
Disclaimer: I don't own The Hobbit, I only own Nàin.
Chapter 25
Sighing a content sigh, Thorin sat down in his favorite chair in front of the fireplace. Muffled voices and laughing were heard from Fili and Kili's room while the clashing sound of dishes being washed could be heard from the kitchen where Dis was.
A knock on the door made the sounds from the kitchen stop. Thorin turned his head towards the hall and listened to Dis' footsteps as she hurried towards the door.
As the door opened, Dis let out a surprised "hello" making Thorin straighten up slightly. The door closed again and multiple footsteps could be heard walking towards the room in which Thorin was sitting.
Dis came into Thorin's vision with a small girl in front of her. The girl had dark, long hair that looked slightly more tousled than usual. The clothes that the girl, Nàin, was wearing were the exact same clothes that she had been wearing the day before when she had come over to play with the boys. A white shirt and dark trousers. She was old enough to wear dresses, though Thorin knew that she would need someone to buy her dresses in order for her to actually be able to wear them.
"Nàin?" asked Thorin, raising his eyebrows slightly while standing up from his chair.
"She said she was scared," said Dis as she put her hands on Nàin's shoulders.
The girl looked down at the floor with eyes that had seen far too much violence than a young Dwarf should have seen at that age. Her left cheek was a bright red color while her right cheek had the normal color that it usually had.
Realization washed over Thorin and his expression softened.
"You may stay here this night, Nàin. If you help dear Dis with the dishes," said Thorin and smiled a soft smile at the child as she looked up at him.
"Thank you, my lord," said Nàin before she was lead to the kitchen by Dis.
Another sigh escaped Thorin, though this time it was an exaggerated sigh. He put his fingers on the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. Soon, he would have to talk to Nàin's father about this again. Though, he knew it was useless.
..::**::..
With quick footsteps, the company rushed through the town towards the city armory. The darkness of the nightfall kept them quite well hidden along with the fact that they barely made any sound. No one of the towns people were outside of their houses except for the few guards that could be spotted here and there, patrolling the town.
"As soon as we get the weapons, we leave for the mountain," whispered Kili and got several hushed grunts of approval back as an answer.
A few minutes later, some of the company were standing with their backs pressed against a house that was located next to the city armory. The rest of the company had already run over to the armory and stacked themselves underneath the open window like a staircase.
"Go, go, go!" whispered Thorin to the part of the company that was waiting to run up the Dwarven-staircase and climb in through the window of the city armory.
Nori was the first one to run up and enter the armory and as soon as he was inside, Bilbo was being pushed towards the armory as well. After him came Bofur, Kili, Nàin and then Thorin.
As soon as everyone was inside, Bofur made a gesture to the weapons with a happy smile on his face, making Nàin smile as well before they both started picking out weapons for the company to use. Bilbo and Thorin did the same while Kili stood and watched.
Soon, Kili had loads of weapons in his arms and was about to walk towards the stairs and bring them out to the rest of the company when Nàin stopped him by placing a hand on his arm.
"Are you sure you're alright?" whispered Nàin, indicating towards the struggle he was making to carry all the weapons.
"I'm fine," whispered Kili back and offered Nàin a struggled smile before walking past Thorin who gave Nàin a worried look before continuing picking out weapons.
Everything was going just as they had planned. They were moving fast and soon they would be on their way towards Erebor. However, something happened.
Almost as soon as Kili started walking down the stairs, he lost his footing and fell down half the stairs, dropping the weapons he was holding in his arms and making a lot of noise.
Nàin's eyes widened as everyone stopped moving. A small light of hope was lit in Nàin as she heard no indications of that the guards had heard them. Though that light was soon blown out by the yelling of guards.
Everyone picked up a weapon and turned around but they were immediately overtaken by guards pointing their swords straight at the Dwarves and Bilbo's throat. Thorin let his weapon drop and the others followed his lead.
..::**::..
With rough hands, the guards pushed the company towards one of the larger houses. It didn't look grander or much nicer than the other houses in Lake Town, however the Dwarves did recognize it as a house that belonged to someone important.
As the guards kept pushing them towards the house, people started gathering around the scene, whispering to each other as they looked at the Dwarves and Bilbo with wide and amazed eyes.
At one point, Nàin could have sworn she heard one of the younger boys whisper the name Durin. However, the boy was hushed by his parents almost as soon as he had said the name and therefore Nàin wasn't quite sure if she had heard him correctly.
As the guards halted the company, one of the guards pushed forwards to stand in front of them. The doors to the house opened swiftly and a man walked out of the house followed by a quite creepy looking man who held his head low.
"What is the meaning of this?" asked the man as he stopped on his veranda, looking rather annoyed.
His head held only a small amount of hair which in turn was utterly greasy. His fat belly could be seen moving as he walked and the clothes he was wearing indicated that he, indeed, was someone important.
The man that was standing behind him had dark hair and an odd pair of eyebrows that formed a single line on his forehead. He kept his head low which resulted in Nàin barely seeing his face at all. Something about him made Nàin not like him.
"We caught them stealing weapons, sire," said the guard that had placed himself in front of the company.
Nàin moved her head slightly in order to see what happened in front of her better. Though, this only resulted in the guard that was keeping her at bay to, with force, grab her hair and move her back in line.
With a swift move she took a hold of the guards hand and used all the force she had in her hand to try and crush his hand. After all, he was holding her by her hair, a part of her which she treasured dearly and did not want others to touch.
The man hissed and moved his hand away from her with a swift move, making Nàin stumble slightly. As she did, the guard took a hold of her oversized blouse and held her in place against his waist. He had a sword attached to his belt at the exact spot where Nàin had been placed and so, the end of the sword stuck right into her lower back, making her grit her teeth.
"Enemies of the state, then?" said the man with the greasy hair which Nàin figured was the master of Lake Town.
"A desperate bunch of mercenaries if ever there was, sire," said the man with the odd looking eyebrows, finally stepping forward and lifting his head up slightly. Nàin immediately recognized his voice as the voice of Alfred which she had heard while they were being smuggled into the town.
"Hold your tongue!" hissed Dwalin before stepping forward. "You do not know to whom you speak. This is no common criminal. This is Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror."
At this, the people around the company started talking again in hushed voices. The master of Lake Town straightened his back and raised his eyebrows slightly. Apparently, they knew that name.
Thorin stepped forward, putting a hand on Dwalin's arm as to make him calm down slightly.
"We are the dwarves of Erebor," said Thorin.
The guard that had been holding Nàin loosened his grip slightly and Nàin pushed herself away from him, glaring up at the surprised looking guard before shifting so that she was standing next to Bilbo.
"We have come to reclaim our homeland," said Thorin.
As he said this, Nàin put her hand on Bilbo's arm. The air suddenly became slightly colder and a small snowflake fell on top of Bilbo's nose. Another look was shared between Bilbo and Nàin before they glanced up at the sky.
It was snowing.
"I remember this town in the great days of old," said Thorin as he took another few steps forward, gaining the attention of Bilbo and Nàin again. "Fleets of boats lay at harbor, filled with silks and fine gems. This was not a forsake town on a lake! This was the center of all trade in the north!"
Thorin turned around to look the people in the eyes as they all began to agree on what Thorin said about what the town used to be. Thorin locked eyes with Nàin for a moment in where Nàin smiled and nodded her head signaling for him to continue.
"I would see those days return. Or do we light the great forges of the dwarves and send wealth and riches once more from the halls of Erebor!" exclaimed Thorin as he turned to the master of Lake Town while the people all cheered.
"Death!" exclaimed a man, making the crowd go quiet and Thorin to turn around again. "That is what you will bring upon us."
Bard pushed his way through the guards and the company and walked up to Thorin.
"Dragon-fire and ruin. If you awaken that beast it will destroy us all," said Bard.
"You can listen to this naysayer, but I promise you this," said Thorin, now speaking to the people again. "If we succeed, all will share in the wealth of the mountain. You will have enough gold to rebuild Esgaroth ten times over!"
At this, the people all cheered again. However, there was something in Thorin's words that made Nàin feel a slight feeling of doubt. Though, she soon pushed that feeling away and smiled.
"All of you! Listen to me! You must listen!" said Bard, now turning to the people as well. "Have you forgotten what happened to Dale!? Have you forgotten those who died in the firestorm? And for what purpose? The blind ambition of a mountain king."
Thorin glared up at Bard as he continued talking.
"So riven by greed, he could not see beyond his own desire!"
Nàin felt anger take over her body as Bard spoke about Thorin in this way. She started walking towards Bard with anger filled steps, but was stopped by Balin and Bilbo's hands holding her back.
"No! No! We must not, any of us, be too quick to lay blame," said the master of Lake Town, making everyone look up at him again. "Let us not forget that it was Girion, lord of Dale, your ancestor, who failed to kill the beast!"
As the master of Lake Town pointed towards Bard while saying this, Nàin along with many others from the company looked up at him with confused and wide eyes. He was the ancestor of Girion!?
"It's true, sire. We all know the story," said Alfred. "Arrow after arrow, he shot. Each one, missing its mark."
Bard took a few steps towards Thorin, his brow furrowed as he looked down at the king. "You have no right… no right to enter that mountain."
"I have the only right," replied Thorin before turning towards the master of Lake Town. "I speak to the master of the men of the lake. Will you see the prophecy fulfilled? Will you share in the great wealth of our people?"
There was a long silence in which Nàin watched with wide eyes as the master of Lake Town looked from Bard to Thorin and then out over the people.
"What say you?" pressed Thorin.
"I say to you… welcome!" he exclaimed and threw open his arms to the sides as the people all cheered. "Welcome and thrice welcome! King under the mountain!"
Nàin let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and looked at Bilbo who looked just as relieved as she felt.
..::**::..
"Here you go, my lady," said Teresa, the woman that had offered herself to help Nàin to get cleaned and attended to.
She held up a beautiful dress made out of a dark red color. This time it was at least made for a Dwarf and not an Elf so, Nàin smiled and took the dress from Teresa.
Teresa turned around and let Nàin change into the dress. "You're companions are already feasting quite loudly downstairs."
"That does not surprise me," said Nàin as she straightened her skirts and looked at herself in the mirror.
She looked beautiful in the dress as it made all the curves show even more than usually. She double checked if Maybeline's bracelet was still around her wrist before taking a step closer to the mirror.
Her hair was not as much as a mess as before and all the dirt had been scrubbed of her entire body. As she looked at her reflection, she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed over the cut that was still very visible next to her left eye. She traced her fingers over it and noticed that the upper part of the cut already was forming a white scar.
"I'm afraid it won't ever heal properly. It is quite a deep cut and the infection that it had made it even worse," said Teresa as she looked at Nàin.
"I know… I'll have to live with it, I suppose," said Nàin with a sigh.
"Though, we can help you with your wrist," said Teresa, ushering Nàin towards one of the tables and placing her on one of the wooden chairs.
With careful yet swift movements, she placed Nàin's arm on the table and started rubbing in a pure white ointment on top of her discolored wrist's skin.
"I do believe you've had a minor inner bleeding in your wrist, my lady," said Teresa while rubbing the ointment into her skin with circular movements. "This ointment will help it heel faster."
"Thank you," said Nàin, smiling at Teresa as she looked up at Nàin.
"You are welcome, my lady. It is the least I can do for the company that will bring back the golden years to Lake Town," said Teresa, looking back down at Nàin's wrist as she started to bandage it.
"Yes… of course," said Nàin, watching Teresa bandage her wrist in silence.
..::**::..
The sounds of the company talking and laughing could be heard through the halls of the inn that the master of Lake Town had given to them so that they could rest before their departure early the next morning. The inn was small yet much more comfortable than sleeping on the ground. And yes, he had given the entire inn to them in order to make them feel more safe and relaxed. Normally, other men would be there as well, now it was just the company which Nàin preferred greatly.
There weren't enough rooms for everyone to get their own, though the Dwarves didn't care. They had given both Thorin and Nàin their own room each while the other rooms were to be shared by the rest.
Nàin fumbled nervously with her skirts as she walked into the room where everybody was sitting, eating and smoking their pipes. Bilbo was the first one to notice Nàin and he raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise, though soon replaced his surprised look with a warm smile. Nàin returned the smile and let out a small giggle as she all of a sudden felt very flustered by showing herself in a beautiful dress after they'd seen her wear dirty clothes for so long.
She remembered when she had to join the company in Rivendell under the same circumstances. However, she knew the company better now and was therefore not as flustered as last time.
Thorin was the second person to notice Nàin standing in the doorway, searching with her eyes for a place to sit at. He had been in a conversation with Dwalin and Balin and so they also noticed her. Balin pointed towards a chair next to Fili and Nàin smiled at him as a thanks.
As Nàin placed her hands on the chair, Fili turned his head to look at who was standing next to him. His eyes widened as he saw Nàin standing there looking more beautiful than he had even seen here before. Yes, it was just an ordinary dress and she had seen her wear dresses before, but there was something that made Fili's heart jump more than usually at the sight of her. Probably the fact that she was, indeed, betrothed to him now.
Causing everyone to go quiet, Fili stood up abruptly, staring at Nàin. Nàin jumped slightly at Fili's quick movement but soon smiled at him as they locked eyes with each other.
Everyone around the table looked at Fili and Nàin as they simply stared into each other's eyes. Almost everyone around the table was smiling widely. Except for Thorin.
Balin noticed this and his smile faltered slightly.
"I'll pour you a drink…" mumbled Fili after a while as he noticed the way everyone was quietly watching them.
Nàin smiled and nodded her head. "Thank you."
Fili quickly walked away while Nàin sat down.
"Here, Nàin," said Bombur who was sitting on her right, offering her a bowl of sausages with a smile while everyone continued with their eating and laughing.
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