Chapter 3: In Sickness and in Health
Kili stands on the lookout, watching the horizon for any sign of their two missing members. Thorin has been down in the treasury ever since they went back into the mountain and he couldn't bring himself to stay down there and watch him. Thorin seemed to completely forget about Bofur and Gailien and the other members aren't brave enough to mention it to him, not knowing if it would make his episode of madness worse.
They had all watched the dragon go down and he cheered loudly with Fili. They knew that Gailien had something to do with it – that it was the reason she stayed.
"Here." A bowl appears beside him, filled with a warm stew. Kili smiles tightly at his brother, taking the bowl and spoon. Fili sighs, leaning against the rocky outlook. "Any sign?" he asks.
Kili shakes his head. "No," he admits, scowling at the food. "Do you think we should go down?"
"Thorin said Gailien would be back with in the week, Kee. It's only what? Four, five days?"
"What is Thorin doing?"
"What do you think?"
The answer sends them both into silence. They have heard stories of Gold Sickness, cursed on their grandfather and now they are watching their own uncle succumb to the same disease and nobody knows how to help him out of it.
"Why do you think she didn't tell us?" Kili asks, breaking the silence. "That she knew Smaug was going to awaken?"
"I don't know," Fili answers honestly with a small shrug. "Maybe she tried to change something, or she couldn't tell us because it would affect things."
The brothers sit together for a little while longer, eating and looking out over the now smouldering town. Kili had found a hair bead the day before. Just a simple one but he fiddles with it, thinking about wearing it in honour of the Dwarf it used to belong to – whoever it was. For now though, he puts it back in his pocket.
He rests his heavy head on his palm, slowly gazing out onto the valley below. He almost glazes over it but his head slowly moves to look straight at it. His arm rises blindly, knocking Fili's shoulder. "Look!"
Fili jumps up, looking over the rocky wall for himself to where Kili points to below. Emerging from behind a small hill is a stout figure, stumbling along the rocky path. Even from the distance, they can spot his dual-pointed hat.
"That's Bofur," Kili gasps. He squints, leaning over the rock. "He's carrying something."
Fili mimics his brother's position, trying to get closer to see what Bofur has in his arms. "Durin's beard," he mumbles. "That's Gailien. I'll get Oin." Fili sprints back down the ledge, leaving Kili to comprehend that it is in fact Gailien.
His eyes widen and his palms smack the rocky surface of the wall before he his boots kick up dust as he runs to the main entrance. The whole kingdom is silent so each slap of his boots against the stone ground echoes through the halls and he hears the slight echo of his brother's running in the other direction.
The young prince runs out of the main entrance, which has no doors or blockage from where Smaug blasted through it. He keeps running down the path towards Bofur who appears after a minute of hard running.
Bofur's head tips back in relief as he sees Kili sprinting towards him. "Oh, laddie! You need to take her, my arms are 'bout to drop from my shoulders."
Although her eyes are closed, she is just coherent enough to hear him. "Are you calling me fat?" she mutters. Kili skids to a stop in front of them and Bofur gratefully passes the woman over to him. "I've missed you," she whispers, knowing exactly who it is.
"I've been rowing like mad all day," Bofur explains. "She got hurt pretty bad on her stomach. Is everyone else alive?"
"Everyone if alive," Kili confirms, choosing his words carefully. There is a difference between 'alive' and 'fine'. Because Thorin, is definitely, not fine. Gailien rests her head against his shoulder, feeling content enough to fall asleep. Everyone is alive. "Let's get you to Oin."
Kili spins back around, marching with a speedy pace back to the mountain.
"I'll catch up," Bofur huffs, breathing heavily as he walks slowly behind the prince.
"Do I want to ask what happened?" Kili questions, trying to keep her talking.
Gailien hums with a small breath of laughter. "Nothing fun, I can tell you that. I had to go back into the water," she snarls with humour. Her eyes look closed, but she is peeking through her lashes, watching the land move just past his shoulder.
"That doesn't sound appealing." In truth, he doesn't focus much on the conversation, his attention taken by manoeuvring his feet over the rocky slopes since Bofur had taken the river pass and not along the main road.
"I helped Bard," she continues, internally yawning. "He had a Black Arrow."
"Bard did?"
"Yep. We only had the one chance, but he did it. Stupid dragon knocked down the tower though."
"Is that how you got hurt?" Gailien mumbles a yes, holding her left hand to her stomach while her right reaches up to wrap around his shoulder. Kili glances down, noting her lack of answer. "You still with me, Elger Karr'a?"
By the spirits she is tired. And hungry. It probably doesn't show on the outside, but she can feel a smile at the thought of Bombur's warm broth sliding down her throat, complimented by a large campfire that she will sit so close to that the ends of her hair will begin to fry. Bofur's flute playing on the other side as she leans against Thorin, his fingers tracing her sides. Bilbo smiling joyfully as he and Balin enjoy a rowdy conversation.
Her hand slips from Kili's neck, dangling down her side limply.
Maybe she should grow her hair long – like Tauriel's. And take care of it more so it isn't such a bird's nest. Or maybe she should just cut it almost all off.
The quest has finished. Does this mean the company is no more? That her job is finished – and for the most part; successful? Gailien hopes her name makes it into whatever recounts and retellings her going to be written and told. Ori has been scribing their journey so she doesn't doubt that at least his retelling would include her.
But that also seems so unimportant now, not compared to the people themselves. The people she knows, the people that care about her. To others, she is just a name, but to the company she is a friend and that is where her pride comes from.
Disturbed from her fantasies by a prodding on her torso, she forces her eyes back open. "Fili?" she questions groggily.
"Hey lass," he greets softly. "You're in Erebor. Oin's just patching you up."
"Bofur?"
"He's around here somewhere. Probably trying to find something to drink," he snorts. "Thought you might actually have been dead for a moment there. Kili was certainly acting like you were…."
Gailien's ears drown him out once more as she succumbs to the call of sleep once more.
Xx
Awakening for the second time, Gailien can honestly say that she feels much better. Though her stomach still hurts, it has become a dull pain rather than the intense burning. Her upper body is propped up on something, or rather someone. Their hand runs softly over the crown of her head.
Though the top half of her lies on something warm and comfortable, her legs are stretched over something cold and hard. Her brows twitch as her eyes peel open. Breath catches in her throat as before her, instead of bleak stone that she has been imagining the inside of Erebor, her sight is filled with shimmering gold.
There are hills, literal hills of it before her. Never before have her eyes seen so much treasure in one place and she almost believes that she must still be in her mind, dreaming of riches. But her mind could never conjure this. It goes beyond her sight, the gold littered with other gems of every colour.
Her lips slowly open, lifting her head. The hand that has been brushing her head drifts down to her jaw. "Amrâlimê." Thorin tilts her head to the side as she lies across his lap, resting her head on his thigh.
Gailien's lips pull back as she looks up at Thorin. "Now I know how you feel when I speak Elvish to you," she teases in a raspy voice. Thorin laughs deeply, the sound resonating from his chest. Behind him lie the stairs out of the treasury and Thorin sits just below the bottom one, keeping her close as the Dwarves begin their search for the Arkenstone. Gailien grunts as she pulls herself up.
"Careful, amrâlimê," Thorin hums, supporting her back. "You have been through much. All this would not have been possible without you. Once we find the Arkenstone, our quest will be complete."
Gailien frowns, gazing out to the ocean of gold, spotting Dwarves walking over the hills. She thought the Bilbo would have found it by now or maybe he has… Her frown stays as she turns back to Thorin. His eyes are hungry, watching the Dwarves work and his lip curls slightly. "Are you feeling alright, Thorin?" she asks cautiously, gauging his expression.
"Everything will be fine once that Arkenstone is found," he responds, briefly glancing down at her but his attention stays focused on the gold. His answer sends a shiver down her spine and arms. "They tried to keep you from me."
Gailien blinks, perplexed. "Who?"
"The others," he answers. "They told me not to move you, like they know better than I do. They tried to keep you away from me." He looks down at her with feverish eyes, his pupils wide. "But I am the King, and they do not command me. Nobody does."
She can't stare into those eyes any longer and her while her face stays blank, there is no mistaking the horror inside of her. This is not her Thorin. "Should I go out and help?"
"No, no," Thorin hushes. "I want you by my side."
Xx
Gailien stands with Thorin on an overlook, watching as the Dwarves search for hours on end. Everything is so wrong, but she doesn't know how to stop it, how to help. She has heard stories of the sickness that gold brings and to see it affect Thorin like this makes her feel helpless.
His hands rest on her hips and he stands behind her, keeping her close to his chest as he watches the company over her shoulder. She keeps her eyes open for Bilbo, but he only made brief appearances and she has been too afraid to leave Thorin. She hasn't even been able to thank Bofur or see the brothers as they search a part of the large chambers, out of her sight.
Not to mention she is utterly starving, not having a proper meal since the morning of the dragon. She knows that if she told Thorin, he would see to it straight away but she feels guilty that she would be allowed to sit and eat while the rest are forced to continue looking for hours on end.
"Any sign of it?" Thorin calls out. Gailien barely holds herself from flinching as his mouth sits next to her ear.
"Nothing here," Nori answers, the closet Dwarf.
"Nothing here," Ori also answers. Although a magnificent gem, it is small, and it could take months to find if it is buried deep under one of the artificial mountains. But she knows that they won't find it there.
Bilbo has been quiet, more so than usual. He stays hidden in the shadows, not searching along with the other Dwarves. Thorin must be giving him leeway since he has done all that has been asked of him, just as he is doing for her.
"Keep searching!"
"The jewel could be anywhere," Dwalin exclaims.
"The Arkenstone is in these halls! Find it!"
"You heard him," Dwalin grows. "Keep looking."
"All of you. Nobody rests until it is found."
Out of the corner of her eye, she spies Bilbo small figure walking through the shadows, out of the treasury chambers. Gailien tries to take a step to the side. Thorin's hands tighten around her waist, pulling her flush against him, causing Gailien to take a sharp intake of air.
"Where are you going?" he asks in a soft growl. He leans forward, brushing his lips over the junction of her neck and shoulder.
"I just need to go get a drink," Gailien whispers. "Would you like me to bring you one back?"
Thorin turns her around on the spot. Her eyes flicker between his with uncertainty. Feeling odd with her arms by her side, she slowly folds them up and around his neck. Thorin takes her actions as an invitation as drops his head once more to her neck. Her stomach tightens as his hands raise slowly until they are under the junction of her arms and body, his palms rubbing forward. She is very aware of the possible eyes of thirteen Dwarves behind her.
For a moment she imagines that they are alone and that he is in his completely right mind. But he wants this; he wants her close, by his side. And while she knows this is what he wants and what she wants, this isn't the person she wants it with. She will not call this man by loving names, not until he is the one that has earned them from her lips.
"I'm getting a drink, Thorin," she says with a faux humours tone. Thorin lifts his head, giving her a dark smile as his hands teasingly keep in place. Her own hands raise, resting on his wrists. "Thorin," she warns.
"Come back to me."
"Always."
I'm uploading on my phone and can't do the usual editing so excuse any mistakes.