~Into Lake-Town~
Between the realms of elves and dwarves lies a city made by Men
Upon the surface of the lake, where the dwarves will sail again
Beneath the shadow of the mountain where the dragon hoards his gold
Resides the people who descended from the Men of Old
"Watch out!" Bofur shouted when the barge came dangerously close to colliding with a large bunch of rock formations which turned out to be some ancient ruins. Thankfully, Bard was an expert at steering the vessel and he maneuvered it to go in between the ruins without even nicking it.
"What are you trying to do, drown us?" Thorin growled at Bard.
"I was born and bred on these waters, Master Dwarf." Bard responded. "If I wanted to drown you, I would not do it here."
Edlyn wasn't sure whether to be amused by that comeback, or scared by the threat that was possibly hidden within it.
"Oh, I've had enough of this lippy lake man." Dwalin said indignantly. "I say we throw him over the side and be done with him."
"Bard." Both Edlyn and Bilbo said in unison. Everyone looked at them both and they looked at each other.
"His name is Bard." Edlyn said.
"How do you know?" Bofur asked.
"Uh, we asked him." Bilbo said.
"Actually, you asked him." Edlyn corrected.
"I don't care what he calls himself, I don't like him." Dwalin said.
"We don't have to like him, we simply have to pay him." Balin replied. "Come on now lads, and lass, turn out your pockets."
They all started emptying their pockets and offering all their money and valuables. They didn't really have a whole lot to give since the elves had pretty much taken everything on then. Thankfully, Balin didn't ask Edlyn to give up her moonstone necklace since he knew how much it meant to her. While he counted the money, the healer couldn't help but overhear Dwalin whispering to Thorin and questioning whether Bard was trustworthy.
"There's, um, just one problem." Balin said when he was done counting the money. "We're ten coins short."
"Gloin. Come on." Thorin said. "Give us what you have."
"Don't look at me." Gloin said defensively. "I have been bled dry by this venture!"
He then proceeded to rant on and on about all the grief and misery this quest had put him through. However, he cut off and everyone fell silent when they all looked in the distance and saw the dark outline of a mountain through the fog. They were all so distracted by the sight of it that none of them paid any mind to Gloin as he started unloading all the valuables he had hidden on himself, which was way more than ten coins.
Edlyn stared up at the shadowy mountain in awe and wonder. It was obvious to her what it was she was looking at; Erebor. She had heard many tales of this mountain and remembered seeing it from far away while on the Carrock with Faen.
Her heartbeat quickened as she gazed at the peak, feeling a mixture of excitement and dread. It was thrilling to finally see the mountain this near after such a long journey and being so close to the end. But, there was also something very ominous about it as well. She felt a feeling of foreboding in her chest. But, was it because she knew that within those walls lay a fire-breathing dragon? Or was it...something else? She was not sure. However, she was pulled out of her trance when she turned and saw Bard approaching the company from the other end.
"The money, quick, give it to me." Bard demanded.
"We'll pay you when we get our provisions, not before." Thorin replied.
"If you value your freedom, you will do as I say." Bard said. "There are guards ahead."
They all looked ahead and saw the rooftops of Lake-town in the distance and heard the chattering of male voices which they knew were the guards. The dwarves started to get frantic and Edlyn looked at Bard.
"What are you going to do?" She asked.
"Don't worry." Bard replied. "I have a plan. Everyone, get in the barrels, quick!" All the dwarves started protesting and questioning Bard's motives. But Bard insisted. "Trust me. I have it all figured out." The dwarves continued to protest.
"Oh, for crying out loud! Just do as the man says!" Edlyn snapped.
Everyone paused at her sudden outburst, then they all started climbing into the barrels. Everyone, this is, except the young healer. As it turned out, there was one less barrel than what they needed.
"What about me?" She asked. "There isn't a barrel for me and I was barely able to fit into one of them by myself. I would never fit in with another person."
Bard paused for a moment as if he was thinking as everyone else looked at him expectantly. "That's because..." He said. "...you won't be hiding in a barrel. You'll be right here on the deck with me. Not hidden, but in plain sight."
All the dwarves started to protest again and Edlyn looked at Bard in disbelief. "Are you mad?" She said. "I'll be caught!"
"Unlike your short friends." Bard said. "You're more likely to get away with hiding in plain sight since you are of the race of Men also."
"Well yes, but don't you think that the guards will get suspicious if you bring a strange woman into town with you that you did not have with you before?" She asked.
"Ah, but see, I've already got that one figured out as well." Bard replied. "But, you have to do everything I say. Understand?"
Edlyn nodded, because honestly, she did trust him.
"First." Bard said. "Put this on over your clothes."
He handed her an old, raggedy looking dress. She shrugged and slipped the dress on over her head and over her clothes, not even questioning Bard or the reason why he had a dress on his boat.
"One more thing." Bard said. "How good are you at acting?"
Edlyn frowned slightly. "Um, pretty good, I guess. Why?"
Bard smiled as he explained to her his plan.
First, the barge stopped at a dock just outside the city. Bard started talking to another man there while Edlyn stood there in the old dress Bard made her wear, telling the rest of the company everything that Bard was doing. She relayed the information to them when she saw Bard point at them all and shake the man's hand. All the dwarves started to get upset, saying that Bard had sold them out. But they soon found out that wasn't the case when tons of fish were poured into the barrels that they were in, serving as their covers. Edlyn was glad that she was not in one of those barrels and covered in fish. Of course, she felt sorry for her friends and she knew that they were going to stink a fish for a while once they got out.
The next stop was at the toll gate. The man at the toll gate, whose name was Percy, as Edlyn found out by listening to him and Bard talk, inspected the goods on the barge. Him and Bard talked small talk as Bard handed his papers to hin, neither of them making any mention to her presence. Percy was about to give Bard's papers back to him when suddenly, an impish little man with a uni-brow stepped out of the shadows and snatched them from him.
"Not so fast." The little man said. He read the papers then looked at Bard's load. "Consignment of empty barrels from the Woodland Realm. Only, they're not empty, are they, Bard?" He threw the papers to the wind then he and the Laketown soldiers approached Bard. "If I recall correctly, you're licensed as a bargeman, not a fisherman." He grabbed one of the fish from one of the barrels and held it up in front of Bard's face.
"That's none of your business." Bard said.
"Wrong." The little man replied. "It's the Master's business, which makes it my business."
"Oh come on, Alfrid." Bard said. "Have a heart. People need to eat!"
"These fish are illegal." The little man, whom Edlyn guessed was called Alfrid, said, tossing the fish he was holding into the water.
Suddenly, he paused when he looked up and saw Edlyn standing there on the barge, obviously just becoming aware that she was there. She knew he had seen her, but she ignored him and gazed off into the distance, pretending to be captivated by the city itself.
"Bard, who's that?" Alfrid asked.
"Hm?" Bard said. He looked over and saw that Alfrid was looking at Edlyn. "Oh, uh, I don't know her name. I found her wandering by the riverbank; an obvious runaway. But from where, I do not know."
"Always the do gooder doing good, aren't you, Bard?" Alfrid said, still looking at her. "Bring her over here."
Bard sighed then whistled at Edlyn. She immediately turned and looked at him and Alfrid. "Come." Bard said, motioning to her to come. She picked up the act and hesitated, giving Bard an unsure look. "Don't be afraid." Bard said softly. "It's alright. I'm right here."
Very slowly, she walked forward and grabbed Bard's arm, clinging to him like a frightened child.
"What's your name?" Alfrid asked her.
Edlyn said nothing.
"She can't speak, Alfrid." Bard said. "She's a mute. Hence the reason why I haven't learned her name yet."
"Huh." Alfrid said, gazing at her with a repulsively fascinated look on his face.
Edlyn didn't care for the way he was looking at her at all and it took every ounce of her strength for her not to slap him in the face for the thoughts that she knew were in his head right now.
"Tell you what." Alfrid said to Bard. "I'll pardon you for the fish and let you through with your cargo. All you have to do is leave this lovely little thing here with me." He kept looking at Edlyn with that same look in his eyes.
She wanted to slap him. She wanted to slap him so badly.
Bard looked at her then at Alfrid. "Um, that's not really a good idea, Alfrid."
"Why not?" Alfrid said, moving closer. "You already have two daughters in your home. I don't see why you need another beautiful woman there also. Let me take her off your hands."
Alfrid reached forward like he was about to touch the healer in some way. If she was behaving like herself, she would have slapped his hand and called him a pig. But, instead, in accordance to the act, she frantically jumped away from him and hid behind Bard, making Alfrid pull back.
"Shh, shh. Easy." Bard said, pretending to calm her. He then turned to Alfrid. "She doesn't like being touched. I think she was abused in the home she was in before, which explains why she ran away in the first place. Anyway, it took me a long time to win her trust and right now, I'm the only person that she'll let near her."
"Very well." Alfrid said. "You can keep her. But these fish are still illegal. Empty the barrels over the side." He ordered the soldiers.
The soldiers started to do as they were told and Edlyn looked at Bard worriedly. Bard tried to reason with Alfrid, pleading for the people's poor, hungry state, but Alfrid was indifferent. However, it wasn't until Bard mentioned the possible threat of rioting among the people of Lake-town upon hearing of their food getting dumped into the water that Alfrid finally caved. He ordered the soldiers to stop and they did, and just in time, too. Alfrid reluctantly let them go through.
"The Master has his eye on you." Alfrid said to Bard as he sailed through. "You'd do well to remember. We know where you live."
"It's a small town, Alfrid." Bard replied. "Everyone knows where everyone lives."
Edlyn smirked slightly at that, all the while trying to ignore Alfrid who was eyeing her as they sailed off. It wasn't until they were long out of his sight that she finally was able to drop the act.
"Wow." She said, staring off in the direction from which they came.
"I know." Bard said. "He's a real piece of work, isn't he?"
"Indeed." She said. "Who is he again?"
"Alfrid. The Master of Lake-town's right hand man." Bard said. "A real slimy character."
"I noticed." Edlyn said, making Bard smile.
Once they were inside the city, Bard docked his barge at a dock and started dumping the fish... and the dwarves out of the barrels. Edlyn helped him, but she was more careful as to not hurt her friends. They let her help them, but they wouldn't let Bard touch them at all, which made her chuckle. After that, Bard gave the dock keeper a coin and all the fish in exchange for his silence. With Bard's help, and the help of the citizens of Lake-town, they were able to sneak through the winding maze of alleyways of the city without being seen by the guards.
Suddenly, they were approached by a young man, no more than 14 years of age, whom they soon learned was Bard's son, Bain. He told them that their house was being watched so they had to sneak in another way. Edlyn, herself, was able to enter Bard's house without trouble, but the dwarves and Bilbo had to climb in through the toilets. Needless to say, they all reeked afterwards. Edlyn felt bad for them, but she was still thankful that she didn't have to sneak in the same manner that they did.
Once inside, they met Bard's other children, Tilda and Sigrid, his daughters. They gave them all warm blankets and drinks to take the chill off. While they all warmed themselves up, Thorin was staring out the window at a large Wind-Lance across town in shock. When Bilbo asked what was wrong, Balin explained that that same Wind-Lance that Girion, Lord of Dale, used to fire black arrows at Smaug to kill him, which he failed to do.
"Had the aim of Men been true that day, much would have been different." Thorin said.
Edlyn scoffed. "Oh yes! Because firing an arrow at a moving target is so easy, isn't it?" She said sarcastically.
Everyone paused and looked her, and she realized what she had just said.
"Sorry." She said. "That wasn't supposed to leave my head."
She looked up and was surprised to see Bard looking at her with a grateful smile before he turned to Thorin.
"You speak as if you were there." He said.
"All dwarves know the tale." Thorin replied. Nice save!
"Then you would know that Girion hit the dragon." Bain said. "He loosened a scale under the left wing. One more shot and he would have killed the beast."
Dwalin chuckled. "That's a fairy story, lad. Nothing more."
Edlyn looked down at the ground and thought about what Bain had just said. It might have been just a fairy story. But, even some fairytales are based off of reality.
"You took our money." Thorin said to Bard. "Where are the weapons?"
"Wait here." Bard said.
A/N: Raise your hand if, like Edlyn, you wanted to slap Alfrid across the face for being a creeper. *raises hand* Believe it or not, this is just the start of the creepshow that is Alfrid. In my story, Alfrid is even worse than he is in the movies, although significantly less useless. It will get clearer in Book III. In the meantime, Alfrid will just continue to be a creep. Thankfully, if we all know Edlyn well enough by now, she won't let Alfrid anywhere near her and if he's smart, he won't even try to. Honestly though, what Alfrid does here is nothing compared to the scene with the Goblin King. *shudders*
Also, Edlyn's comment about the wind-lance was something I wanted to talk about. Everyone keeps blaming Girion for not killing Smaug, when anyone who has any kind of experience or knowledge of archery (like me) knows that firing arrows at a moving target is incredibly hard. It's hard enough with a hand-held bow or even a compact bow, so obviously trying to do it with a big, bulky, cumbersome wind-lance was no doubt freaking impossible! I fully realized this after watching CinemaSins video for Desolation of Smaug.
Also also, I'm not sure why Bard had an old dress on his barge. Maybe it belonged to his daughter or even his wife. I honestly didn't come up with an answer. I also had a few people comment about how they thought Edlyn could get along well with Bard's daughters. However, I honestly didn't write that into the story much, at least not in Book II. But the story is still in progress so maybe it will come up later.
