Hello all,

Thank you for the lovely reviews. Here is the latest chapter which hopefully you will enjoy.

The next morning Veirra awoke with a groan and her hand sought out Thorin only to find herself alone. Sitting up she held the cover to her chest and looked around, but there was no sign of the dwarf lord. As she started to move more she winced and looked beneath the covers at the pained area. Her side was bruised from where Thorin had gripped her too tightly, sure he had left light bruises on her before, after all, dwarves were naturally very strong. However this bruise was worse, in fact Thorin's behaviour was slowly becoming worse and she wondered if she was imagining things. Then the previous night came back to her and she gripped the covers to herself horrified. The events of last night were consensual, but Thorin had seemed...different. It did not feel like Thorin, no it felt like a stranger. Immediately Veirra shook her head unwilling to believe where her thoughts were going. 'No I drank too much or I should not have pushed my requests so much. That explains why he acted the way he did. It was Thorin.' No matter how much she tried to convince herself of this it did not change the fact that Thorin was different with her and she awoke alone. Regardless of how she recalled the situation there was this tiny voice at the back of her mind saying Thorin was not himself and he acted like a stranger.

Shaking her head and fiercely pushing the voice away, Veirra got up and dressed. All the while she told herself that nothing was wrong. It was in that frame of mind that she went to find the others. She came down and could hear voices from the treasury and so headed for the entrance.

"Keep searching. The Arkenstone is in these halls I know it!" Thorin's voice was above her as he looked down on the treasure room.

"That stone could be anywhere." Gloin added.

"Keep searching! No one rests until the Arkenstone is found." Thorin ordered. Waiting a moment, Veirra got Balin's attention and so the white haired dwarf trudged over to speak to her.

"Lass I thought you and Oin were going to search for herbs in the stores. What are you doing here?"

"Wondering what has gotten into Thorin, or am I the only one that notices?" Veirra asked worried. So much for thinking everything was normal and fine. She would be deluding herself now to believe otherwise. However she then noticed the ashamed look on Balin's face. "Wait this has been going on now for a while hasn't it?"

The dwarf sighed and looked to the ground, he might as well have simply said 'yes.' "Balin! Why has no one said anything?!"

"We did not want to worry you lass. Look it will be fine. We will find the Arkenstone, now go on, you are going to have a lot of injured to deal with soon enough." Balin said patting Veirra's arm. As much as it worried her that Thorin was not himself, Balin had a point. She may not like it, but she had limited time before Bard and the survivors made it to Dale. Sighing Veirra turned and headed for the stores to meet up with Oin. However something told her finding the Arkenstone would not make things better, only worse. She was moving down a corridor towards a flight of stairs when she heard it.

"Veirra, I need to talk to you." Turning she saw Bilbo, "Please it is important."

The hobbit was hidden in a side passage and looking around nervously. Taking a quick look around herself she entered the side passage. "What is it Bilbo?"

"Veirra something is wrong. It is this place." Bilbo said pointed upward to mean the mountain. "The others, they did not want to worry you, but Thorin, he is changing. He barely eats or sleeps. When not with you he is down in the treasure room. He has the others looking for the Arkenstone night and day."

"When did this start Bilbo?"

"I first noticed a slight change when I was first sent in to find the Arkenstone when Smaug woke, but I thought he was fine afterwords. Because when Smaug attacked Lake-town he never even went near the treasure room. He wanted to find you and the others, so I thought Smaug had lied. Then the night he took you to the Queen's Garden and left you. Everything changed." Bilbo said.

"Wait what did Smaug say?" Veirra asked.

"That the Arkenstone would cause Thorin to suffer. It would destroy him, corrupt his heart, and drive him mad." Bilbo said recalling what the dragon said before he was forced to escape. Veirra felt a shiver run down her spine at those words.

"That stone is cursed..." She finally said, then nearly jumped at a noise behind her and she whirled around. The noise was from further away in the treasure room, so she relaxed only slightly then turned back to Bilbo. "Thank you for coming forward with this, my friend. Let us hope for the time being none of them find that cursed jewel. For now though we have an entire village of people coming to Dale. They will be injured and need our help."

Bilbo nodded completely understanding. "What do you need me to do?"

"Oin and I are searching the stores for preserved herbs that are still viable after all this time. Anything that can help or alleviate the pain. Do you want to help us?" Veirra asked looking back at the hobbit, who smiled up at her.

"Of course Veirra I would happy to help in any way I can." Together the pair left the side corridor and headed up stairs to join Oin who was already searching some jars.

"About time you showed up." Oin teased.

"Bilbo wishes to help us." Veirra replied.

"Ah good, an extra set of hands. Well be careful what you open, some of the herbs were preserved in water and oils to keep them; but after sixty years they rotted. Would not want you to throw up breakfast."

"Thank you Oin." Veirra said shaking her head then looked to Bilbo, "Just be careful what you open." Together the trio spent most of the day looking for the herbs that could be used to aid the people of Lake-town. Only breaking for lunch which Bofur and Bifur brought to them. When it was clear they would find no more dry preserved herbs, Oin showed them to a second storeroom deeper in the mountain. It was a long and tedious job especially when some of the labels were so worn it made identifying the herbs difficult. Sadly more then once poor Bilbo opened a jar and came to regret it. One jar sent him from the room in a rush as he lost the contents of his stomach in a side passage. It was then Veirra came out and gently patted the hobbit on the back.

"I am sorry, I will be fine in a moment." Bilbo said straightening.

"No Bilbo go, you do not need to do this. Go rest, Oin and I can finish up here." Veirra replied not wanting to cause the hobbit further trouble.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, go rest." Veirra encouraged smiling at her friend. With a nod Bilbo left her and Oin to continue searching the jars. Eventually the hour grew late and the pair called it a night and left to rest. Veirra considered seeking Thorin out, but after last night opted out and headed for the Queen's garden to sleep. No sooner did she rest her head then she was asleep and did not wake until dawn only to still find herself alone.

"Damn it! I should have sought him out." Veirra groaned, it was obvious Thorin had not slept last night. Rising to her feet she dressed and headed for the treasure room. However halfway there an out of breathe hobbit found her.

"Finally there you are," Bilbo said holding his knees and trying to catch his breathe, "I came to tell you, but you had already left the storeroom. The people of Lake-town arrived last night, they are in Dale." The hobbit managed between huffs of breathe.

"Really? Well then no time to lose. We need to go help them." Veirra said and headed off to get the herbs she and Oin had gathered.

"Uhh Veirra there is a problem..." Bilbo said rushing to keep up with her.

'A Stone wall?!' Veirra thought glaring at the entrance to Erebor, the pack holding the herbs still on her shoulder. Her hands balled into fists and behind her stood Bilbo, Oin, Fili, and Kili. The wall had been built last night when Thorin first got word that the people of Lake-town were in the ruins. Bilbo explained that afte he left, he had sat and rested. However Thorin came and was talking to the hobbit when Dwalin reported the new arrivals. He had called the company save for her to build a large stone wall during the night, and for the rest of the night Bilbo had been searching for her. Finally, Veirra set down the bags calmly and turned heading straight for the treasury to have words with a certain dwarf lord.

"Uh lass that is not a good idea-" Oin started to say as the group followed at a safe distance. As they neared the room they could hear some of the dwarves searching the gold and Thorin giving orders.

"THORIN!" Veirra yelled, even making Oin wince at the loud noise that came through his trumpet. Entering the chamber, some of the dwarves were a little nervous and were watching the events unfold. "A wall?!"

"I am protecting what is ours." Thorin said coldly, "I will not risk what was reclaimed!"

"Funny thing, my kin are a bit busy surviving after a dragon laid waste to their homes! Or have you forgotten that you are talking to a daughter of men?!" Veirra shot back as she glared up at him. He stood on a balcony overlooking the treasure room while she stood below.

"I have not forgotten, but you are going to be my queen and you will obey!"

"Oh will I? I am not your queen yet, and last I checked, I am still a ranger of the North and more importantly I am my father's daughter! So watch me disobey!" Veirra replied leaving a temporarily stunned Thorin gaping at her like a fish. Quick as a whip she whirled away leaving the treasure room, she did not stop or pause when Bilbo asked.

"Veirra? What are you going to do?"

Instead she again headed for the entrance snatching up a couple of the bags of herbs then some rope as she made it up the ramparts of the wall they had built. Tying one end of the rope to the battlements, and the bags of herbs to the other end she lowered the bags down to the ground outside. However it was then Thorin got to the entrance hall and called out to her with the company watching close by.

"VEIRRA!" Thorin yelled, moving quickly to stop her, it was her cue to leave and so she climbed over the side and was going down. "Pull her back up! NOW!"

A moment later she felt someone pulling her back up as she had started to quickly climb down. Fortunately at that point she was over half-way down and did not have a long drop to the ground. So instead she flicked her wrist drawing out a wrist dagger and cut the rope. The herb bag landed with a soft thud on the ground and she on her feet and hands nearby. She looked back up at the battlements to find the company looking down at her including a seething Thorin. Wiping her hands, she picked up the bags and cleared her throat. "Now then, I will be back when I have done all I can and not a moment before! Here is what I expect: I expect your attitude Thorin to improve, and I expect the company to get plenty of rest. Until then you know where I will be."

Author's Notes:

Well the last chapter's ending was a point of concern, but hopefully this cleared up the larger question some of you had. Also if it helps Veirra does kind of get her own back by directly disobeying Thorin at the end of this chapter.

Anyway hope you enjoy and please review away.

Lesliezin