The scene outside the western mine entrance had descended into chaos, between the men that ran in with hoses and fire equipment from the truck that had arrived, to the helpers driving the ambulances with the wounded from the tent set up to the hospital.

"Lass, I am going with this lad, back to the infirmary, to get things under control there – Elgar is struggling. Will you be alright?" Oin grasped her shoulder, to which she nodded. This was what she had been used to back home, to some extent. The trauma that had generally arrived in Erebors hospital tended to be minor, with exception to rare machinery related injuries. But even then it was never as bad as she had expected. The Durin Clan were apparently a very resilient bunch of men and women!

"I will join you after the last one is brought out of here –"

"No lass, you need to stay on site, until all the fire fighters have done their bit. Thorin will also be on his way." Oin added quickly as he moved away. "It's just in case any of them are injured while they work on the tunnels. Once they clear out, you go home and get some rest, you will have to take over from us, on shift."

"Okay. I'll see you a bit later then." She called out as he moved away fast with the last patient they had stabilised.

After watching them drive off, she slowly trudged over to the medical tent and surveyed the state of mess; there were dressings, packages, cut and torn clothing all over the floor and gurneys. Pulling on a pair of gloves, she quickly pottered about with a waste bag collecting all the bits and pieces, and then wiping the surfaces clean with cleansing wipes. Finally she looked through the equipment and set up the high powered floodlights for the working space, watching as the men carried on rushing in and out of the tunnel on that crisp evening.

"Lass! Where is Oin?" Bofur interrupted her, rushing over. His face was covered in soot and dirt and his paused to catch his breath looking around for the old healer.

"He has gone back to the hospital to sort out the other patients –"

"Oh. Then I will wait for Thorin –"

"No. Thorin isn't a doctor. What is it?" She urged him on sternly.

After briefly hesitating he looked at her worried.

"The tunnel that the fire happened in is an old one, we are going to seal it up in a bit, but we think he last two of our men are trapped down there…" he hesitated again. "But Thorin is on his way now with supplies to seal the tunnel, and more oxygen tanks to go in –"

"Come on. Lets go." She looked through the medical kit for a resuscitation bag and pulled it on, before finding the chief miner looking more nervous than ever. "Well? Give me a hat and a headlight –"

"Oh Miss… His Lordship was explicit in his instructions – if I take you in he will have me beard." Bofur shook his head regretfully. "And probably me bollocks too…"

"Okay. So when you say trapped. You mean they might be running out of air? Or have rocks fallen on them?"

"Aye…" he hesitated again, reluctant to admit the truth. "Maybe both."

"Then, it's a medical emergency – and it's my duty to help."

"But Thorin –"

"Thorin can go lump it, as far as I'm concerned. If they have trapped a limb, or the air is running out, then every minute we sit here debating it, they are at risk." She poked him in the chest firmly. "Now lets go."

Bofur paused a moment again, deliberating his decision, but he was clearly worried about his fellow miners from the expression he wore. And so, he nodded, pulling his lips into a tight line and sighing in defeat.

"Lads I need another suit, hat and light." He called out to the men that were gathering behind and waiting for their decision. "But we turn back at the first sign of the slightest thing out of place."

….

"Right, lass, we've only just propped up this part of the tunnel. It's not a sure hold, so if we tell you to leave, you run. No questions. Even if there are men left. Is that clear?" Bofur reiterated, having stopped her just before the entered the next section of tunnel. His blue eyes narrowed in her head light. "And the medical needs of others included."

She watched, as he frowned again – a sign of his disapproval of her capability to ignore their dear leader. Of course, her only intention was to help the poor souls that might be stuck in the tunnels, and so, she nodded.

"Come on then. Let's be quick."

Bofur led the way with another miner, and two more followed behind, carrying some further equipment including rope, and what looked like fuses for explosives. The tunnels looked old, and for the most part unused in recent times. There certainly appeared to be no gemstones or coloured minerals in the tunnel walls either side. In stead, the walls and ceiling appeared mostly black and dusty.

She followed Bofur, and the other miner ahead, urged on to keep pace by the two miners behind. They all wore face masks with filters under their hard hats, which compounded by the thick fire-retardant jacket she wore, and the resus-bag she carried started to make her feel tired. The air was hot and stuffy in the tunnels, and the residual stench of acrid smoke seeped into her nostrils even with the tightly fitted face mask.

Finally, just as she was beginning to regret not saving this journey for Thorin, they reached the caved in segment, where several miners from the rescuing team were struggling to move several large boulders and create an aperture for their entry to where the two men remained trapped.

"We've managed a fair sized hole. It'll get a gurney through, but we need to make it a bit wider still to get em out." One of the men spoke, turning towards Bofur, as they arrived.

"Aye. How long?" He asked urgently.

"Another thirty, maybe forty minutes, to test it's safe once we expose –"

"Is it safe now?" She cut in, plopping her medical bag down.

"Aye. But it's too small."

"Not for me." She moved a step closer, only to be pulled back by Bofur.

"Are ya mad lass?!"

"No! Maybe? I mean – just hear me out; I fit through, take some bits in, and patch the men in their up, while you get the opening wide enough for more people to pass. That will be the most efficient use of time…" she had considered her actions with more care this time. And it seemed the best option. "You said we have to be quick…"

Bofur frowned, before turning to the group of men that stood beside the opening. They all watched the exchange unblinking. There was no doubt the opening could have fit almost two of her through.

"It's strong enough. But of course, there are no guarantees." The other miner answered their question. "It's not such a mad idea, Master Bofur…"

After several long quiet exchanges tween the two, and a long pause for deliberation, Bofur turned to her, with a clearly pained look.

"Well then lass…" he almost half grumbled it. "Let's get you in. But you get out fast, if you can't do anything. And we will collect them soon as we are done."

They had to half lift her up to the aperture, but as soon as she got some purchase she was able to shuffled through it, landing with a hard thud on the floor behind.

"You land safely?" Bofur called out.

"Yeah…" she replied back quietly before scanning the space beyond.

Two miners sat slumped against a wall. They looked like they had no significant injuries, thankfully. She moved carefully towards them.

"I'm Shobha, one of the doctors at the infirmary –" she began as she reached them, when one grasped her hand, clearly relieved.

"Lass… I'm alright, just bruised and out of breath. He's not too good. Think he broke his leg." The man rasped.

She turned to his comrade who looked like he had passed out. Then the first miner gave him a sharp elbow.

"Eh! Magnus! Wake up ya clot-head!" He nudged, easily rousing his fellow miner, who startled and winced in pain.

"Ah! Ye hairy arsehole!" Magnus, a large man with a very sooty face grumbled, reaching down to clutch his left leg as a jolt of pain ran through him as a result of his sudden movement. "Me leg! Me leg!"

"Are you injured anywhere else?" She asked, quickly patting him down, feeling his racing pulse, and his clammy forehead. "Any pain –"

"Nooooooo! Aye!" He groaned as she cut his trouser leg to reveal his swollen, and severely bruised leg. "It fucking hurts there alright lass! Some doctor ye are! More like a 'Mistress of the dungeons'! Well… I like me pain served up when I pay fer it –"

"I have morphine!" She squeaked cutting him off mid sentence to avoid hearing anything more she had no intention of hearing. "Are you allergic to anything?"

"Just ye apparently! Ugh! Ow!" He chuckled wincing in pain again.

"Right, you've broken your leg. But I will need to splint it up here temporarily before we get you to the hospital and fix you up. I will need to stick a line in and give you some morphine here before we do…" she explained quietly as she rummaged through her bag. "And we soon as they can, they will get us out."

"We would have been dead for sure, if it wasn't for that other one who was down here…" the first miner spoke again. "He pulled us away from that there bit…"

He pointed at what was now the caved in rock with the small opening through which she came.

"WHAT other man?" She pulled back to look at his face better.

"Huge bloke. Not one of our lot… probably some loner or homeless fella, who has come to live out here… poor bastard"

"Why would someone be living –"

"Look, lady. These tunnels are hardly used. They lead to coal deposits. Not big amounts, but it was once enough to power all of Erebor… we haven't used coal for thirty years to power anything. We sometimes need coal to make steel. Then we come down in a small group mine the least we need and get the hell out –"

"Like today?"

"Aye." He nodded. "But we saw another…"

He hesitated trying to weigh something up in his own head. It was a look she had spotted amongst many Ereboreans when it came to discussing their clan secret. It made her feel very much like an outsider and she didn't like it one bit!

"I know about the lycanthropy." She added quickly to spare him the awkwardness as she bandaged up Magnus' splint. "You mean you saw another wolf?"

"… Aye." He slowly admitted. "Not one of our own clan. No markings we could recognise either… but then we didn't get too close. It was a wee one, not like our own. Had russet fur. It was outside the tunnels, but ran when it heard us."

"And what happened in here?" She asked, listening to his chest now.

"We were collecting a cart load of coal. It was already mined. But then there was a sudden explosion further down the tunnel. The blast of the fireball, caught a few of us. Came outa nowhere!" He gestured. "We all had to run in different directions to avoid the most of it – and then there were several rocks than cake down in various parts of the tunnels. We would have been under all that rubble if this big bloke didn't pull us back!"

"Aye! That's right, Doctor." Magnus chimed in out of nowhere. "Doctor… do ye do home visits too…?"

He smiled dozily at her, it made his wide, round sooty face look like a strange moon.

"I have done a few home visits – but I'm not a family physician… so it's not really –"

"Because ye can come to me house any day… and break me leg again…" Magnus gave her a crooked, toothy grin again. "Och Miss! D'ya know yer very pretty…"

"Okaaaay." She patted his hand as he reached out for her, appearing almost a little drunk. "I am afraid I had to give you a bit of morphine, that's all that is."

She turned back to the other miner, finishing her assessment.

"So what happened?"

"This bloke, pulls us out of the darkness. And then goes running off into them tunnels there." He leant his head over to indicate the dark tunnel that lay beyond.

Shobha looked over at the tunnel that led on, which stood in pitch black, except for the tiny light that came off her headlight.

"Hello?! …Is there anyone there?" She called out, but there was no reply. She called once more, but began to imagine she could see someone or something there.

Just then, she was joined by Bofur.

"Right lets get these two out and you!" Bofur hurried them all along.

"Wait - there's someone else down here; another man. He saved these two, he went in – maybe looking for another way out." Shobha explained quickly. "I have to see whether I can find him. He might be hurt."

"He isn't one of ours lass." Bofur frowned in her headlight.

"But we cant leave him in here – especially not if you're planning to seal this tunnel up!" She pleaded. "He SAVED these two chaps! They're lucky to have not ended up worse off!"

He sighed again, irritated, finally realising the constant pressure Thorin felt, for having to keep this girl out of trouble, when she chased it at every opportunity, like some sort of recovering addict!

"We owe this man!" She grasped his arm again. Then looking over at the aperture in the wall of rocky rubble she had an idea. "Please… look – it will take you at least twenty minutes to get these two men out through that opening. Because let's face it - it's not much bigger than the one I came out of – and Magnus has broken his leg, so you have to get him through on a stretcher. In the mean time I will go in by about ten or twenty feet and have a look whether I can spot anyone. Call out even. If there is no sign, I am out of here with you…. Otherwise, we might have just saved his life!"

He sighed again, and shut his eyes, making out to deliberate on what she had argued. But the truth was, she made complete sense in what she proposed. The only problem was, just like the last time she was abducted, while with him in the tunnels, he had a suspicion that her best laid plans (and very sensible ones they were too!), would be waylaid by some other occurrence.

"Very well, Miss." He attempted to crack a tiny smile, but it looked more like a twitch of his mouth. "But you come right back if you're worried, or in twenty minutes. And we leave with or without this mystery man. Is that clear Miss?!"

"Thank you so much!" She nodded, although he was clearly not happy, turning towards the two men and muttering angrily under his breath.

Quick not to waste any time, she continued cautiously into the tunnel leading away. The pitch black space was only barely illuminated by her small head light.

"Hello…?" She quietly called out, and then strained her hears to listen for anything back.

She carried on moving further in. The tunnel appeared endless, until she could hear some strange shuffling ahead. Stopping again to listen, she found it had stopped too.

The tunnel ahead appeared to have been caved off. She found herself face to face with yet another wall of rubble, but the tunnel had a turn off to the right, that led sharply away. It could have been easy to miss, if she hadn't moved further.

She stepped closer to the opening of the other tunnel that led away, and inspecting it she noticed thick cobwebs that decorated the upped reaches of the tunnel. Halting abruptly at the sight, she shuddered at the thought of spiders and dusted herself down in a subconscious reaction towards it.

It was unlikely anyone had gone down there for sometime! So why had she not seen this man already?!

She had no intention of exploring a spider infested tunnel!

With a sigh she prepared herself to return back, taking several steps back towards the wall of rubble again. Worried she might trip back, she quickly spun round to face the rock. In the illumination cast by her small headlight, the rock that had piled up in the collapse looked tightly packed. There was no way anyone could have escaped through that!

Suddenly worried about the time she had already taken, and not wishing to face an angry Bofur or worse still, a livid Thorin, she turned back. But before she could take another step, she found herself frozen with fear, for she was certain, the black wall of the tunnel to her right had moved!

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she slowly turned to face the wall, sure of what she had spotted in her peripheral vision, but could only see the black, dusty rock that formed the bed of this part of the mountain.

Rolling her eyes, she moved closer, reaching a hand out to inspect the walls.

"Shobha!" Bofur called out in the distance. "Magnus and Eran have been taken to the ambulance now; Thorin will be arriving soon, and the fuses are nearly all laid out! Better get yerself out now!"

"I'm coming!" She yelled back absently reaching out and touching the walls, only to find her hairs on the back of her neck stand on end at what she felt. The tunnel wall she currently touched was in no way hard, or 'rocky'. Instead it felt smooth, even soft, although it was a perfect match in colour, and appeared to look as the rest of the rock surface!

Heart racing she stepped closer still, despite her the voice in her head screaming at her to run, and ran her hand across the boundary of the two surfaces feeling the clear difference.

Then returning her hand to the soft surface, she spread her fingers and hand flat against it, and very slowly sunk her hand into what was almost clay like.

Suddenly, to her absolute shock, a strange pair of eyes, that appeared embedded in the wall opened up and looked straight at her!

Letting out a scream, she stepped back, tripping over some rubble, and lost her footing.

But as she fell back, a pair of enormous arms shot out of the wall and grasped her fire retardant jacket, suspending her mid-fall, and pulled her back to her feet.

"You live, my lady." The wall spoke, making her let out a scream again.

"What the –"

And there before her eyes the shape, which had perfectly blended into the rock wall of the tunnel, moved out into the open, to resume the shape of an enormous man!

She swallowed as her eyes drifted up his giant form to find his head, just touching the roof of the tunnel, his reddish-amber eyes burning into her.

"You have removed my masters rune, and replaced it with your print." He spoke in a strange voice, that sounded almost a little mechanical. He was probably at least eight feet tall, and stood stooped in the centre of the tunnel, where the ceiling was at its highest. "And so, by rights, I am now at your service..."

He suddenly moved again, carefully shifting in an almost fluid movement or such an enormous form, and coming to lower himself on bended knee before her.

….

"Please don't hurt him!" She pleaded with Thorin again, as the giant Golem stood bound by chains behind her.

"You realise, this thing attacked us! Broke in to the Manor, and the hotel in London –"

"Yes, but he hasn't hurt anyone now. And all he was doing was following his commands!" She argued, as Thorin huffed at her.

The Golem stood bound in several rounds of chains with his feet and wrists shackled, but was now at his full height of almost eight and a half feet tall! Even in the tunnel when he knelt down on one knee, he was still over six feet fall!

"Thorin, it does say here, that she is now his master, according to legend. And the Golem, has only ever waited for or obeyed her commands." Balin weighed in flicking through a thick old book, his glasses half slid down his nose, as he looked over the lenses at them in between reading. "In fact the act of pressing ones palm over the rune of the previous master is considered an act of freeing the Golem of service… So he has CHOSEN her as a master…"

"Very well then, she can command it to reveal what it was doing and who it was working for?" Thorin snarled angrily.

The Golem looked up at her suddenly, as if he wanted to say something but held his tongue.

"What is it? What were you going to say?" She stepped closer to it, only to be pulled back by THorin's firm hand. "Stop that! He isn't going to hurt me- or he would have done already."

"I don't trust it –"

"Go on. Say what you want." She urged the giant clay man, who had now changed its skin to look terracotta red, which she imagined was his normal appearance.

"I must be granted permission first, Mistress." He spoke again.

"Okay. You are granted permission to speak freely as you wish, and tell me everything you know."

"I can reveal what I have done. These actions, although commands, are mine to bear responsibility. But I may not reveal my previous masters names, nor what they had confided in me in the past: these are our laws." His words sounded final, like he was quoting his own version of the Ten Commandments!

"Right well, I want to do two things – first tell us everything you know, and then tell me how to set you free," she looked at the Golem, who nodded back slowly. "So then, I am responsible for him, Thorin. So I want him untied please…"

….

She sat in her clinic room finishing her dictation, when her phone rang. Frowning at it, she put her pen down and picked up the receiver with one hand and reached out to take a sip of her now lukewarm coffee.

"Hello…" she glanced at her notes again, expecting it to be someone who had dialled the wrong number.

"Shobha! How are you?! The reception out here is terrible, but I will be quick, 'cause I know you're still at work –"

Shobha slowly put her coffee down, still not quite fully registering the voice.

"Shobha! It's me! My goodness!"

"Myra?!" She finally recognised her caller, still a bit surprised by her. And suddenly her heart began to race as she wondered why her sister was calling her at work. Had someone fallen ill, or been hurt? "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah! Sorry to do this and call you out of the blue, but I kind of need your help…" Myra hesitated again. It was almost a pause weighted with guilt, which made her sound highly suspicious. "I'm kinda stuck, so I need you to come and get me."

"Oh dear God…" Shobha muttered.

"Look – Dev's got time off for Diwali. He's taking the kids over to his parents. So I thought, this would be a great time to spend the weekend with you! It'll be so much fun!"

Shobha groaned again. Her sister never did fun! At least not with her!

"Don't be such a sour puss! You told us about this whole Durins Day thing that they're having… I thought it might be nice to join you." She tried to sound innocently curious about the whole thing. "You know – spend the weekend together. I mean, how long has it been since we did that last –"

"Yeah. We NEVER did that." Shobha wasn't fooled. This was Myra feeling sorry for her. And despite her life unravelling down to its very core, she had no desire for any of Myra's sympathy friendship. Despite being sisters they were never really very close. But she couldn't turn her back. "You know this is like some sort of gated community, right?"

"So what?" Myra chuckled. "I mean, you're in bed with the 'Laird' of your land aren't you? He practically gets a semi at the mere sight of you! So he won't his lovers sister visiting –"

"We're not lovers!" Shobha corrected. In truth, Thorin had been in a real mood with her since she had, 'defied his explicit advice', as he had put it, and gone into the mines. So they hadn't exactly spent much time together let alone in bed since the day of the fire. And as she herself had been busy with work, she hadn't broached the subject with him either. "And he is going to flip about this…"

"Well, he certainly does seem really uptight…" Myra laughed this time. "So… are you going to come and get me or what? I took a taxi from Edinburgh -but he dropped me off here, saying he doesn't drive this far out! Can you believe it?!"

Shobha grimaced silently, wondering how Thorin would take this news, and then dismissed the worry. As far as she was concerned, she couldn't leave her sister stranded, or ask her to turn back, and if Thorin had a problem with that then she didn't care. Myra, after all, was family.

"Okay. Tell me where you are…"

…

It was well after supper by the time they had pulled in to Durin Manor. The whole town had been decorated with strings of bulb lights as if in welcome, and the Manor House itself stood imposing and grand carved into the rock, with its impressive façade, grand sweeping gravel driveway and pretty fountain. Myra has muffled a 'wow' as the car had pulled up in the Porte cochere, to find Helga and Gror waiting for their arrival.

Shobha, who had driven, stepped out to take Myra's bags, only to have Gror collect them from the boot, and greet Myra.

"I apologise, my lady, but it may take a few more minutes for me to get a guest room prepared for Ms Myra –"

"Oh no Helga! Myra can stay in my room. That bed is enormous. Plenty of space for us both." Shobha patted Helga on the arm gently before turning to Myra. "It will be like sharing a bed when we used to visit Daadee-mama Seth…"

It may have been a long time ago, but they had indeed shared a room and bed, whenever they visited their grandparents in India, right up until their grandmother had died.

Myra pulled her lips into a thin line in an attempt to force an agreeable smile, but it resembled neither a smile nor did it bear any semblance of agreeability!

"YOU surprise-visited ME, remember?!" Shobha chuckled. "Right, I had better go park my car –"

"No Miss, I will do that." Athol cut in quickly. He had spent much of the journey to the small town several hours from Dale nervously complaining about her speed, and worrying about what Thorin would say that he had agreed to let her drive, and travel to pick up Myra without letting him know. And then on the journey back he continued to grumble and worry, with the added complaint of having to eat a fast food burger, which he assumed was an offal patty. But he had fallen silent after tasting his first french fry!

"Aye, Miss Shobha, I will take your sister up to your room." Helga ushered Myra through, before leaning in to whisper to Shobha. "His Lordship wishes to have a word with you in his study."

"Right now?" She sighed.

But Helga could only afford a sympathetic nod in return.

…

"I think you just enjoy defying me. Repeatedly." He fumed, his teeth clenched.

"I couldn't leave my sister stranded somewhere random! You wouldn't do that to Dis! Besides she just wants to check on me." She argued back.

"But you take your tiny little car – "

"If I took yours it would rouse suspicion, and I don't even know whether I am insured in the real world –"

"You are. Next time you take my car!" He spat out angrily, taking a step closer to her, where his face suddenly softened, as he lifted a hand up to gently cup her chin. "What if you had been attacked…?"

"That's why I took Athol –"

"You travelled out without telling me! And you forced Athol to defy his instructions from me; to keep me informed!" His face hardened once more. "Do you not realise what danger you could have faced?!"

"It was all fine in the end. Relax!"

Those words seemed to have triggered something in him, because he stepped away, swearing under his breath and slammed his fist on his desk. The sudden change made her jump. He was livid!

"Relax!" He ground out through clenched teeth. "Do you not realise that by what you did, you put your sister and Athol in possible danger?! If you had been attacked, he would have risked his life for you! Both he and Myra have children! Had they died you would have let those children without a mother or father – simply because you didn't think for two minutes!"

Her mouth was open at first, ready to argue back, but hearing this, she fell completely silent.

"There is very poor cell phone signal around these parts. You would not have even got a message out in time to get help!" He continued angrily, moving over to her again, where he stood towering over her, piercing her to the core with his icy stare. He let those words hang in her mind for a bit, before his face softened a little finally. "And I could never forgive myself, if any harm had come to you… can you not see…?"

"I'm sorry…" the words came out in a whisper. "I didn't think it –"

"No." He stopped her, with a resigned sigh. "You didn't think at all. This is not the world you are used to. Life here, contrary to what it may appear as, is harsh. Brutal even, at times. You simply cannot go running off to do whatever you feel like."

She pressed her lips together in silence, letting his words sink in. It was nothing new, and she had known this all along, but this time it could have hurt others. She thought of her niece and nephew and Athols young baby. There was no smart comeback for that.

Thorin watched her carefully, wondering what it was that had rendered her so silent, and couldn't imagine her remaining this way for long. It made him want to kiss her, so desperately!

A quiet knock at the door interrupted them. Shutting his eyes briefly, and rubbing his furrowed forehead, he sighed again, watching her look towards the heavy wooden door to his study. At first he wanted to ignore the knocking and kiss her anyway, but seeing her so distracted, he accepted that he too would not be able to avoid this visitor, no doubt on Durins Day Business.

"You should return to your sister…" he concluded, moving towards the door. "I will have Dis arrange for your sister to be seated with us for the banquet…"

She nodded her agreement before leaving. It seemed neither of them had planned or expected an end to their private conversation quite so sour or abrupt as this.

…

"So you married with two rather grown up children? Really?!" Kili mused, smiling tipsily, resting his chin on his hand, and hanging onto each word Myra casually spoke, as if it was the most fascinating conversation. "I can barely believe that you are older than Shobha – it cannot be by much…"

Myra chuckled, only to receive a sharp nudge from Shobha, who sat to her other side.

"What on earth are you doing Myra?!" She whispered harshly, frowning at her sister.

"What?!" Myra narrowed her eyes back. "Oh relax! We're just having a little fun!"

Durins Day had turned out to be their grandest celebration in Erebor. A grand banquet had been prepared in a large marquee placed outdoors in the fields just outside of Durin Manor, that flanked its long driveway. It had been lit by rows and rows of bulb lights, and burners set at regular intervals to provide heat. The roof of the marquee itself was transparent, which had given something of an illusion of dining under the stars, with the moon being full and particularly large and low in the dark autumn sky. There was even a dance floor, and the evening was to culminate in a fireworks display.

Dis had seated them both with Kili, Fili, Dwalin and Bilbo, which had led to several hilarious or entertaining conversations so far. And with Myra there too, she had finally found that she was enjoying herself completely after so many weeks of having been tense since the wedding. In fact, one of the first things that Myra had done when she arrived had been to unpack the case she had taken to London for the wedding, such that when Shobha had finally arrived, she had found the suitcase and the contents gone! Myra had also quickly made friends with Dis, over the particularly enormous jar of Nutella she had found in that travel case, both chuckling over an embarrassing sibling-story from each other's childhood they had shared, it had all been quite entertaining to watch!

"Yes, of course. Except YOU have a husband and kids back home." Shobha reminded.

"Yes. Yes. Except Dev doesn't look like he could swing a broad-sword about with ease… or pull off a kilt! Jeez, Shobha! These two are the light and dark versions of YOUR Mr-Grumpy-Hunky – I mean why on earth are YOU not flirting with them?!" Myra joked. "I mean… what exactly IS the deal between you two? You've clearly been doing… stuff…"

"I don't know. I guess I am seeing how things go…" she replied back, allowing her eyes to wonder over to where Thorin sat, with Dain, Balin and another chestnut-haired man that has accompanied Dain. She had avoided gazing over in that direction all evening, in case Dain had looked back. But this time, she caught him watching her, curiously. "And we haven't been doing… stuff… in the way you think."

"I get it. You're being cautious. But maybe… a little too cautious…?" Myra admitted. She had never been one to beat about the bush when it came to speaking truths. "And before you say it – yes, I do think you have been particularly unlucky in love. Mike and everything that happened was… messy… and… frankly as awful as it comes. But, in my humble opinion, the best way to get over things is… well, is to move on."

Shobha held her sisters sharp gaze for a few moments, and sighed. Myra was right, of course. But things with Thorin had also become a bit messy.

"She's right, your sister." Bilbo whispered from beside her, after listening in.

"So how biblical have you got then?" Myra whispered.

"Er – lets talk about why you're actually HERE and not home for Diwali." Shobha snapped back.

"Can't a girl do something nice for her sister…?"

"Yeah. But no. This is us Myra." Shobha pointed out.

"Stop upsetting your sister. She's wonderful to leave her children at home, to come and see how you are doing." Kili cut in suddenly, vying for her attention. His chocolate eyes brightly watching the older of the sisters and his mouth ever so slightly down turned into the beginnings of a rather fetching pout.

"Save your come-hither looks for a woman who is able to reciprocate them!" Shobha warned the young councilman, who looked so genuinely deflated in return, that it made her feel a little guilty for chastising him.

"Why are you so grumpy today?!" Bilbo complained. "I mean if you and Thorin aren't involved, then you can at least flirt with me!"

"Exactly how biblical are you two –" Myra began once again.

"Oh pretty much the full works, I'd say –" Dwalin suddenly chipped in laughing at the conversation unfolding.

"Oh my God! Stop making this about me! One must never sex and tell!" Shobha snapped back irritated, attempting to stop the conversation. She could feel her cheeks flushing, and was unable to stop a quick glance towards the head of the table again, to find both Thorin and the younger man with chestnut hair watching them somewhat amused. Luckily few others seated close to them appeared to have been paying any attention. Feeling her face grow hotter still, she quickly looked away, taking a sip of her champagne and turning to her sister annoyed. "Spit it out Myra."

"Okay. Okay. I had to get away from it all. Mum and Dad are spending a week away in Italy. Dev has taken the kids to his parents… I didn't really fancy hanging out with them there –"

"But isn't this the big Diwali celebration weekend?" Shobha frowned again, but Myra merely looked away, subtly attempting to avoid the question, and took a sip of her own glass.

"Oh no! You mean – everyone is avoiding questions about me and Mike?!" Shobha gasped, realising how much it seemed to affect everyone.

Myra remained silent initially but replied soon after.

"It's less you. And more our delightful cousin that people are upset about. Everyone expresses how very sorry they are for us and YOU." Myra finally confessed. "But dad is always adamant – you would never want anyone's sympathy. It's just easier to be away for a bit."

Shobha sighed wondering whether she would ever be able to live events down again, even though she technically had nothing to do with all the mess that had transpired.

"The jilted fiancé and his family have a particular venom over the whole thing. They are the worst of the gossips. But you know; this will be yesterdays new soon enough, so relax." Myra smiled confidently. "Besides why bother with all that rubbish, when you're surrounded by all these hunks! I mean… Ding – Dong!"

Shobha who was mid mouthful of food, nearly choked at her older, more sensible sisters reaction to the admittedly broad chested and well built men or Erebor. Afterall, Myra had always been the sensible one! It all resulted in a round of raucous laughter at that end of the long table they all sat on, with Bilbo rushing to pat Shobha on the back, and Kili once again flirtatiously winking at Myra!

The lavish feast had carried on for a little while longer, after which the dance floor had been opened by Fili and Dis, to the sounds of a lively band playing a variety of songs, and couples had joined the dancing. Apparently, Ereboreans really knew how to party! This had also been the time that people had begun to stand and mingle, gathering in small groups chatting, while having a drink of stretching their legs.

Shobha had left Myra to chat with Oin, Aileen and Dwalin, who had also taken a quite a fancy to her sister, but gone about it in a more subtle way than Kili, while she and Bilbo had made their way to the rest rooms. She had feared running in to Dain for most of the evening and vowed not to be alone. Bilbo, had turned out to be quite the attentive escort. He had also been a brilliant dance partner for the few songs they had joined the crowds on the dance floor for, but had quickly moved off as they saw Dain join the floor with Dis!

"You know, Gandalf does the fireworks. I don't know how, but his fireworks are something else." Bilbo raised his eyebrows in awe. "I know because his estate is not far from me, and he agrees to do his fireworks whenever I have a bit of a bash myself! I'm a Baggins by name, but a Took from my mothers side – and there are a whole lot of Tooks on my mother's side. A bunch of mad, mouthy, silverware thieving fools, that also apparently breed like rabbits!"

Bilbo frowned at the thought before carrying on, while she tried to hide her chuckle at the description of his family.

"Yes, and if they don't get invited the whole lot of them, I get a load of vicious hate mail, soon after! Mad the lot of them! And will turn up for their own executions, if there's a free meal in it for em!" Bilbo shook his head. "Of course, the Bagginses are genteel and far more classy folk."

"Hang on – when you mean Gandalf does the fireworks, you mean he gets his best technician –"

"No! No! HE does it all himself. I guess he gets some help, setting it all up but they're not wired like the standard stuff, his ones are like giant rockets… I really don't know how he makes it so magical.." Bilbo admitted before whispering. "I sometimes think it's magic."

Shobha looked at him surprised at that.

"Yeah. But not the illusions they do in shows – I mean… REAL sorcery." He whispered again.

"So Gandalf is here again?" Shobha was suddenly excited. There were so many questions she wanted to ask him, particularly about the Golem, who was currently safely housed in one of the guest rooms of Durin Manor, and asked to remain there other than to watch the fireworks from one of the balconies.

"Yes – we had drinks with him earlier in Thorin's study." Bilbo confessed, before grimacing, as he realised it seemed to trouble her. "What really is going on between you two?"

"Honestly, Bilbo, I just want life to be a little uncomplicated right now." She took his arm, as soon as he offered it. It felt safe and devoid of expectation, other than true friendship. There was no sexual tension, or lust, just genuine warmth and care. She leant into him a little more. "It's all been a few tough weeks. And right now, I am not certain about my future. My contractual obligation comes to an end in four months, and Oin would keep me on, but the whole hospital board have to consider me, and confidentially, I am currently considering ALL my options, you know?"

It was something she hadn't admitted to anyone, but a confession that felt good to finally get out to someone. She sighed.

"You mean… leaving Erebor?" Bilbo turned to look at her better, his gentle hazel eyes scanning her face with surprise.

She nodded.

"But what about Thorin? He likes you – you just need to give him a little more time maybe." Bilbo stumbled on his owns thoughts.

Shobha shrugged. She had secretly hoped that Thorin would ask to escort her to this celebration, but despite his half admission that he wanted her some weeks ago, and the strange partially physical relationship they had developed, which had also waned over the last few weeks, there was no sign of anything from him. And in some ways she was okay with that. The whole saga with Mike and her cousin, had been terrible, and for the first time in a while, she felt completely over it all.

In the recent weeks she had even realised with greater clarity, that she deserved better than what she had allowed herself to accept in her life!

As for Thorin, if he had no intention of opening himself up to her wholly, then it was better that they didn't fool around either! There was no need to make things complicated, after she had finally rid herself of all her unwanted emotional baggage!

…

"Dr Seth, it is finally a pleasure to meet you again."

Myra turned from where she stood at the table where a bartender served drinks, to find the rather majestic looking Lord of Erebor offering out his hand.

"Lord Thorin. The pleasure is mine, once again." Without hesitating, she shook it. "I am sorry we met in such a rushed way last time."

"And I too apologise that we haven't welcomed you more here – normally we would have arranged a dinner and –"

"Oh goodness! There is no need for so much pomp in my honour." Myra held out her hand. "I am here for my sister, to see how she is. I think everyone is led to believe she is much tougher than she truly is because of how she comes across. And I think she does a great job to hide it too. But I am her sister – not her friend but her flesh and blood. So I know who she really is."

Thorin tilted his head conceding her point.

"So, what exactly IS going on between the two of you? When we met last, it seemed you were happy to share a room. But this evening you have hardly spoken to her." Myra looked him square in the eyes, as she spoke. When it came to family, or matters she particularly cared for, she approached them head on. It had been her thing since she asked her teacher why the children in class had been allowed to sit wherever they wanted, when they would all just gather as friends and spend their lessons talking, at the age of ten, in primary school!

Thorin remained silent, taken aback by what she had to say, and how fearless and straight talking this young woman had been. Even Shobha was a lot like her in many ways, but had never been this forward with regards to their relationship. And frankly, he wasn't sure how to answer her.

"I mean, I gather from others that you are having some sort of relationship with her, right?" She asked again.

But he remained silent.

"Oh I see. From your silence, I gather it's a friends with benefits type thing huh?" Myra narrowed her eyes at the older man. "Aren't you a bit old to playing around with younger women? And Shobha is particular? I mean she looks young enough to be your daughter!"

Thorin was unable to hide his surprise at this open comment. He had never considered his age in this, since pairing in their clans was treated differently to the rest of the world, clearly! And he had always considered himself rather handsome, his mother had always told him so – and all the women that had fallen at his feet so readily before… he was surprised his charm had not worked on either of these sisters!

"Oh dear. So you're not even friends… more like, colleagues with benefits?" Myra shook her head disapprovingly. "Well, that's not going to end well is it?"

"I care for your sister deeply. But I understand the trauma of her previous messy relationship and I am giving her the space she needs –"

"Oh? By doing… stuff… in bed with her?" Myra crossed her hands across her chest. "Well, that's definitely giving her space then."

"No. By being there for her as she needs me." He corrected feeling smugly satisfied with his response.

"And you sat her down and spoke to her about what her needs are did you?" Myra cut him down without hesitation.

Once again feeling entirely attacked, he remained silent.

"Because I know that she had terrible luck in meeting a worthless waste of space for a man once before. That's all it was. Messy? Well, I think you will find ALL relationships worth having are messy. If you are looking for uncomplicated. Then go pay for a decent whore right?" Myra laughed coquettishly at how tongue tied he was. "I suppose you are so old and so alone, after all there years, is because of that noble idiocy of yours!"

He finally gave in. He felt as though he had gone ten rounds at sparring with the heaviest broadsword against Dwalin!

"And what do you suggest, Dr Seth?"

"If you really LOVE her. And don't bother pursing her if it's anything less than that. Then you need to let her see who YOU are and get to KNOW her better." Myra concluded. "Do you know her favourite holiday destinations are beach ones? Not because she likes to tan. But because she likes walking by the shore at sunset and sunrise. And she loves to read fan fiction! So she goes crazy if she is cut off from the internet for more than forty eight hours!"

Myra chuckled to herself at that last point.

"Take your time… there's so much to learn about each other…" she softened initially. "But if you don't have time, or care for her like that, then don't bother. I cannot imagine, she hasn't got so many eligible men chasing her – even when she doesn't try in a secluded place like this! There will be a worthy suitor amongst them no doubt who WILL unreservedly LOVE her."

Thorin was unable to look away from Myra's feline eyes, which seemed to strip back all his armour, with nothing more than mere words. Words which lacked frills or ceremony. Words which spoke nothing more than the truth, for all its harsh clarity.

Bilbo and Shobha joined them, and he was unable to help himself sneaking a glance at her. But Shobha seemed strangely less interested in him and more interested in her own sister.

"Did I leave you for long?" Shobha assessed the look on both her sisters face and the deflated look which Thorin seemed unable to hide, and began to worry about what sort of well-intentioned but scary and harsh discussion the two of them might have had!

"Long enough." Myra replied flatly.

"Myra, lass!" Dwalin seemed to appear out of nowhere to break up their sombre gathering. "Ye promised a dance with me!"

…..

Shobha sat at their table laughing at Bilbo and Fili who had brought a pack of cards with them, and begun a game of poker. They were only into their second game, but already money had exchanged hands, with Bofur and Gloin pulling up chairs to watch, and clearly itching to join in.

"He has a good poker face." Fili narrowed his eyes at Bilbo and then back at his hand. "I will raise you another fiver."

"Well it's not hard to keep a poker face when your playing for pennies." Bilbo laughed. "I see your five and raise you fifty."

"You cleaned me out last round!" The blonde councilman complained.

"Can't pay – then don't play!" Bilbo teased.

"Woah – easy there tiger!" Shobha stepped in. "Let's keep it all friendly."

"Except he's more like a tiger-moth!" Fili laughed amidst his complaint. "He's all stripes and no teeth! He won the last round only because I folded!"

"I'll cover yer fifty lad!" Bofur stepped in, placing a note on top of the pile on the table and slapping Fili's shoulder.

"This is not going to end well." She muttered tapping the table. She had been roped into dealing. So she sat there watching each of the two men before looking over at Myra who stood by the bar now between Kili and Dwalin who were both taking turns to regale her with various stories in an attempt to best the other and win her attention. "No – this will not end well at all…"

"Excuse me lads but I have to take your beautiful dealer away."

A gentle hand placed on her back, made her turn around and interrupted them all.

"Maybe Glóin can take over?" Balin looked at the auburn bearded and rather rotund man, who nodded.

"Please don't let the gambling get out of hand…" she whispered to Glóin, who merely winked at her in assurance.

"I am not Thorin's treasurer for any old reason lassie."

Shobha stood up to leave, but looked back at her sister, laughing heartily, as she stood between Dwalin and Kili both leaning in closely!

"This is not going to end well…"

"Don't worry too much about them, lassie. They're respectful lads. They'll know their limits." Balin smiled sympathetically following her gaze to where they stood. "Come now, we cant keep Gandalf waiting."

He had led her back to Durin Manor and Thorin's study in no time, where they found Gandalf seated by the fireplace in an armchair, smoking his pipe, while the Golem stood at the back of the room by the window.

"Ah! My dear! It is wonderful to meet you once again – although, I am sorry we will not be able to spend very long…" Gandalf glanced at Thorin, who sat brooding at his desk, watching them, with his own pipe lit. "Well, our friend here will not speak unless you are present…"

Gandalf looked at the Golem, who was already standing to attention awaiting her command.

"His name is Cole." Shobha corrected quietly.

"Oh I see! Forgive me Master Cole –"

"He's Mr Cole Grey." Shobha added, making Thorin mutter under his breath. "Because I found him in the abandoned coal mines. Didn't Thorin tell you?"

"I cannot fully recall, my dear, perhaps he did… you know this evening has been so hectic, I have already forgotten many things..."

She knew he was only trying to keep the peace, when Thorin had hated that she had named the Golem, not to mention how she had discovered him!

"Well, Cole was originally tasked to abandon me in the boundaries of Greenwood; he was only awoken from a slumber at that point, but says he worked for Thror prior to that! So he knew his way around the mines and tunnels of Erebor."

"Which would explain why he was sought out." Gandalf nodded to himself thoughtfully.

"He was tasked with searching for the Arkenstone in the tunnels, and when he failed to find it, he was tasked with finding Thrain's diaries! But he didn't attack me at the pool, although he did try to enter the hotel room." Shobha summarised quickly aiming to bring Gandalf up to speed. "And then was tasked to look through the old coal mines when the miners from our works came unexpectedly, and so whoever was controlling him attempted to create a diversion while they escaped, but they left a set of clues…"

She turned to the tall terracotta coloured man that stood there, inhumanly immobile and still, as if awaiting her command. With exception to his eyes, Cole was like a primitive statue of a man, formed out of clay, but exceedingly tall and broad. There was something both terrifying and saddening about his form.

He stepped forward and pulled a parchment folded from within his clay form, as if reaching into a pocket, except it was actually the clay substance that formed his trunk! He then unfolded it and set it down on Thorin's desk.

Everyone had seen the parchment before, but Gandalf in particular stood up from his seat and took a good time to examine it. There was no doubt it was old, there was a schematic diagram of the lonely mountain, with several markings of hidden tunnels and shafts, that they had presumed were old and forgotten about over the centuries. One set had been highlighted in red ink, and a gemstone drawn there, which they imagined was the jewel, the Ereboreans had named the 'Heart of the Mountain'.

"There is one problem – those tunnels or at least their location, was destroyed during the cave in from the sinkhole." Thorin finally replied, his deep voice sounding final in his thoughts on the matter. "None of us are able to read the Runic text used on there, it was lost with my parents generation."

"I can read a few words, but will discern nothing intelligible from guesswork." Gandalf pondered again to himself. "And do you think your former master had this map themselves, Master Cole?"

The golem nodded slowly.

"I see." Gandalf brushed his beard again thoughtfully. "I suppose you are unable to share anything more about your former master?"

The Golem looked on unmoving.

"Did you find out who is making a legal challenge against you Gandalf?" Shobha had been curious to find out all the while.

"The petitioner of the complaint is listed as a Mr D. Iain..." Gandalf shook his head as if trying to shake a traumatic thought. "It's an alias, and worst of all, whoever he or she is keeps blocking every move we make to have the case thrown out –"

"But how is that even possible?"

"They have a few people high up in their pockets. The evidence is all sketchy and concocted at best, but it is all still being pushed through." Gandalf sat back in his chair and frowned as he contemplated. "They even have some animal welfare group outside protesting!"

"D. Iain… sounds like Dain to me." Shobha thought out loud.

"It's too obvious. In any case, I had some of my investigators follow the money trail, and it has no links to the Iron Hills." Gandalf shook his head.

"Dain, is many things, but not this conniving." Thorin stepped in at last. "What would be stand to gain?"

"Gandalf was helping you figure out the truth about the Arkenstone and what was written in your fathers journals when he was taken away from it all. Isn't that a bit too convenient for you?" She asked surprised that Thorin would still defend Dain after all this.

"Coincidences can happen…"

"Enough of this arguing, it will do neither of you any good. You must take this to Rivendell. Lord Elrond will know how to read the runes."

"More bloodsuckers?! No!"

"Where's Rivendell?"

Thorin and Shobha exclaimed almost concurrently.

"Rivendell, or Imladris as it is known there my dear, is the last homely house East of the Atlantic." Gandalf explained silencing a groan from Thorin. "It is a hidden city located in the heart of Fiji."

Thorin complained again, this time to be silenced by both Gandalf and Shobha.

"I like the sound of that..." she mused. Who wouldn't turn down the chance to visit a tropical island?

"This will need to be carried out with tact, however, so I think YOU will need to handle Lord Elrond. And of course, Mr Cole will need to take his parchment…" Gandalf viewed Thorin with suspicion again, before turning to Shobha. "Besides, it will do you both good to get out of Erebor… but you really will have to downplay the search for the Arkenstone… and Cole will have to travel separately, so as not to raise any suspicions."

…

Dear All,

thank you so much for following so far and I am so sorry for the long gap between updates. I am planning to post the next sooner than last time.

also i apologise in advance if i have more typos than usual - i proof read this one in a rush.

please do cont to post your thoughts - i am always grateful xx

special thank you to Luinwen for taking time to post your reviews and follow - fear not i am a lover of happy endings for these two, but the ride there may be bumpy lol 😈

As for the bad guy (or girl!)... there may be a few. not just the military guys but also those within the clan... unfortunately my plot became more complicated than i originally planned, so i am trying to untangle as i go. Hope you enjoy this chapter!