The tunnel was narrow and, as neither Bilba nor Kili was much inclined to go first with the other following behind, they ended up walking nearly shoulder to shoulder.
They got all of fifty or so feet in before the second guessing and self-doubt set in.
What had she been thinking after all, Bilba thought? She wasn't a warrior or a strategist. She was a hobbit for Valar's sake. She'd only been gone from the Shire once before and look how THAT had gone.
She felt cold, much colder than the air in the tunnel would warrant, and she was aware her eyes were wide open as if she was going to miss something important. She had one hand clasped around Thorin's ring at her throat, twisting and turning it anxiously.
Kili walked next to her in silence and guilt burned through her again. Fili and Thorin were going to kill her for dragging him into this. The youngest member of the Company, aside from her, though she was older than him maturity wise.
Was he even considered mature by dwarven standards? He had to be, right? Thorin wouldn't have taken a child on the quest.
He took you, her mind mutinously supplied, but she brushed it off. She was mature by the standards of any culture and, in her own, was close enough it was little more than a formality. Why, just a few months before she left she'd attended the wedding of Primula and Drogo and they were both younger than she was. Then of course there was Lily Bracegirdle. She was happily married and had two children already and was also a few years younger than Bilba. Hobbits her age, though technically still in their Tweens, were so close to the end of them that they were considered, and treated, as adults in most things. Which, now that she thought about it, meant her grandfather should have turned over her money to her years ago. Before she'd left she had simply accepted him holding onto it as a sign of him being overprotective. Now, however, looking at the few times he'd ever visited, and judging the harshness of the note he'd sent her in Rivendell, she was beginning to wonder if controlling her money hadn't been his way of controlling her, something he'd never been able to do with her mother. Quite, honestly, she was beginning to wonder about a lot of things, not the least of which was why she'd never wondered, or questioned, anything before.
Bilba frowned, she'd gone off on a tangent, why was she thinking about such things again? Oh, right, age. Kili was an adult by the standards of any other culture too, she conceded, and capable of making his own choices. Right?
"I broke one of your dishes and buried it in your yard when you were asleep," Kili said suddenly, breaking the silence.
Bilba twitched in surprise. After the total silence the sudden noise sounded unnaturally loud. She frowned, turning the words around in her mind and trying, unsuccessfully, to fit them into some sort of context. Finally, failing that, she simply asked, "What?"
Kili shrugged awkwardly, a rueful grin on his lips. "I was just thinking…if this all goes wrong and we…you know-"
"Die horribly?" Bilba said dryly.
He gave her a tight smile. "Yeah. Anyway, I just thought, might as well get it off my chest."
As he spoke, Bilba looked at him, really looked at him for the first time since they'd entered the tunnel. He had an almost white knuckle grip on his bow and his shoulders were rigid.
She'd put a lot of pressure on him. If he missed his shot they would all die and he'd probably watch, at least in her case.
"I think of you and Fili as the Pretty Twins."
He blinked, his turn to be confused. "What?"
Bilba nodded sagely. "When I saw you two, and then Thorin, it made me think you must have an unnaturally pretty bloodline. I tried to imagine what a family reunion would be like. Girls would probably plan holidays around when you were all expected to come to town."
Kili snorted, the corners of his lips twitching, and ducked his head, his face coloring slightly in embarrassment. "When I was small, my mother used to dress me as a girl."
"She didn't," Bilba whispered. "Really?"
Kili nodded, smiling in remembrance. "She really wanted a daughter. No one believed I was male until I was almost fifteen years old."
"How did they find out?"
"Uncle Thorin held a big banquet for something or another and I stripped down and streaked through it." He grinned in pride. "I was confined to my room for a month but at least no one called me a girl ever again."
Bilba laughed, fighting to keep it quiet. The last thing they wanted to do was alert the dragon before they ever arrived. Under her feet she could feel the floor dipping, leading them lower. The air had grown colder as well and the only sound was the occasional drip of water into some unseen pool.
"I once pushed a boy off the roof of Bag End and he broke his leg," she supplied. "He was convinced he could fly and had tied bed sheets to his arms and legs. I was giving him a helping hand."
Kili's smile widened, his teeth white in the dim light of the tunnel. "Well, that's his fault I should think." He gave her a conspiratorial wink, "I once dumped a bucket of water on Fili just as a girl he fancied walked by. She thought he'd had an 'accident'".
"Oh, that's awful," Bilba breathed, even as her sides hurt from laughing. "Poor Fili."
"He got me back," Kili said with a shrug, his tone affectionate. "He stole some of the dye Mom was using to color a dress she'd made and turned my hair an interesting shade of green, right before I was planning to offer a courtship bead to someone." He sighed theatrically. "As can be expected I was stubborn enough to try and go ahead with it anyway. It didn't go well."
"I once tried to spy on someone I had a crush on but ended up looking through his parent's window instead." Bilba shuddered. "They were both in there."
"I can beat you on that," Kili mused. "I once walked in on my parents."
"OH!" Bilba exclaimed in horror, "you poor thing! I think I would have been traumatized for life."
Kili nodded, turning his gaze to the floor and heaving a great sigh. "I doubt I shall ever overcome that particular shock."
They lapsed back into silence after that. Ahead, Bilba noticed the tunnel beginning to look lighter. She felt her anxiety rising once more, slowing her steps. Beside her, Kili's face began to look drawn again, his features tight.
He stopped suddenly in the middle of the tunnel, his eyes fixed on the floor. "What if I screw up?"
"You won't," Bilba reassured, lamely. "I have faith in you."
"It may be misplaced," Kili whispered. She could see him struggling to draw in enough air and had a sudden worry that he was on the edge of a full blown anxiety attack. "I'm not the fighter Fili is," Kili despaired, "or the leader Uncle is."
"I've seen you in battle," Bilba insisted, her own nerves ramping up as Kili started to panic. "You saved your uncle's life when that warg nearly attacked and you fought with bravery and courage against the trolls."
"Bravery and courage," Kili muttered, his eyes fixed ahead, "words always ascribed to Uncle and Fili. You know what words get assigned to me?" A hint of bitterness crept into his voice. "Reckless, naïve, too young, sheltered." He turned his eyes to her, pleading, "What if I'm about to prove them all correct?"
She needed to distract him, Bilba thought desperately. He was working himself into such a state they'd never be able to face Smaug.
Kili had looked away from her again, his eyes locked on the area of the tunnel where it was lighter. The walls curved at that point, creating a corner that blocked their view of what lay beyond but they both knew. His hand was so tight on his bow she could actually hear the wood creaking as he gripped it. His entire body was taut, like a bowstring ready to snap, and Bilba knew if she didn't do something RIGHT THEN all would be lost.
"I slept with Thorin." She blurted out, and then instantly gasped and slapped both hands over her mouth. That was NOT WHAT SHE HAD MEANT TO SAY. She'd wanted to distract him, shock him off the dark path he'd been treading in his mind but not by saying THAT.
Eru, what had she been thinking?
A tiny glimmer of hope sparked in her mind. Maybe Kili hadn't heard her. Maybe he'd been so caught up in his own thoughts he'd missed what she'd said and she could figure out something else to say. She risked a look and saw Kili staring at her, his eyes wide and his mouth actually gaping a few inches.
He had definitely heard.
"You," he said, finally, "and...WHEN? In Lake-town?"
"Of course not!" Bilba scoffed, wondering where he'd gotten THAT idea. "I was sick and there wasn't exactly a lot of privacy!" She waved a hand vaguely, "It was in the tunnels. Not THESE tunnels obviously, because that would be weird and kind of impossible, but you know that of course," she trailed off, before flapping her hand again, randomly. "You know, back when we were all separated." When Kili simply gave her an incredulous look she huffed and continued, "We weren't exactly thinking clearly all right? We thought everyone was dead and Thorin thought he was going to be exiled and then I said he could stay with me at Bag End and he started talking about...stuff...and I started...you know...talking and then..." her face went red hot and she waved her other hand as if Kili could interpret what she was saying somehow from their gestures. "Then we...started kissing and...and...it just got a little out of hand, all right?"
"A little out of hand," Kili repeated dumbly. He swore suddenly and Bilba flinched, her eyes going wide. Surely he wasn't UPSET, was he? Was there a dwarf taboo they'd broken?
Kili turned on her, "Do you have any idea what this means?" he asked, his voice aggrieved.
"No?" Bilba offered, slowly. "What does it mean?"
"It means," Kili sighed and dropped his head, his voice taking on a note of despair, "I have to sharpen all of Fili's weapons for the next two MONTHS. ALL. OF. THEM. Do you have ANY idea how many he has? And he's so PICKY about them. I'll sharpen them all and then he'll say I didn't do it well enough and make me do it all over again!"
Bilba stared at him, her own mouth gaping slightly as her mind worked through his words. "Are you...are you saying you BET on whether or not I'd slept with Thorin?"
"Of course we did!" Kili muttered, sounding quite put out. "Fili and Nori were convinced you had, though they wouldn't tell me why. I just thought they were both idiots."
"Fili," Bilba whispered in horror, "AND Nori?"
Kili nodded, still clearly annoyed though, Bilba noted vaguely, he no longer seemed on the edge of a full blown panic attack. "I'll have to help him cheat at cards the next four times we go to a tavern."
"You, Fili and Nori," Bilba repeated, "you were all betting on whether or not Thorin and I had slept together. Anyone else I should know about?"
He shrugged. "Just us."
"Just you," Bilba parroted. She turned and took a stop forward, toward the curve in the hall.
"Though I'd imagine Dwalin probably knows," Kili said from behind her. "He and Uncle have been best friends since forever so I wouldn't be surprised if he's guessed. Maybe Dori and Ori because Nori might have told them. It's possible Gloin and Bombur might know just because they're married and maybe there are signs or something they'd recognize. OH, and Balin, he was married too and he's Dwalin's brother so he may have known that way. And then Oin is Gloin's brother and they talk and Bombur is Bofur's brother and Bifur's cousin so…."
Bilba put her hands over her ears as he continued to talk and tried desperately to block him out.
She'd changed her mind. The dragon eating her had just become the BEST option. It was the only thing that could possibly save her from the humiliation of facing the rest of the Company later.
As it turned out the end of the tunnel was a bit farther than around the next corner. By the time they reached the actual end Kili had, thankfully, shut up about anything Bilba may or may not have said, though he still looked rather put out over having lost his precious bet. At least he was walking easier, however, and no longer had a death grip on his bow.
Without warning his hand shot out and grabbed her shoulder, pulling her down to a crouch next to him. Bilba obeyed, sending him a questioning look. He held a finger up to his lips, his face serious, and nodded around the corner they'd just come up to. Bilba leaned forward, nearly on her stomach, and peered around it. The tunnel continued on for another twenty or so feet before exiting into, from what she could see from her position, was a massive room. A massive room filled with gold as far as the eye could see and she could only see a little from that vantage point.
"Kili," she hissed, as low as she could, "does Thorin know how much gold is in the treasury?"
He nodded. "He lived here," he replied in an equally quiet voice, "he knew. Even if he hadn't, it's pretty legendary."
Bilba nodded. "How exactly did he expect anyone to find the Arkenstone then?"
Kili shook his head, his own eyes wide as he took in the sheer amount of gold they could see just from that small area.
Bilba sighed and pushed to her feet, trying to ignore how badly her legs were shaking.
"Won't he smell me?" Kili said suddenly. "When I sneak in?"
"I don't know," Bilba answered honestly. "I think he'll smell dwarf on me, certainly."
Kili raised an eyebrow and Bilba felt her entire face burn. "From spending so much time around you all!" she whispered furiously. "That's what I meant and you know it!"
He smiled, just slightly. "If you say so."
Bilba rolled her eyes. "ANYWAY, he'll smell that, not to mention Erebor is a dwarven kingdom, with or without dwarves, so I'm sure the smell of them must linger even now."
As she spoke an idea niggled at the back of her mind. She frowned, turning it over and over in her head before finally coming to a decision. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the ring she'd taken from the tunnels back under the goblin town.
"Kili," she said slowly, "you're the smallest one in the Company next to me, aren't you?"
His eyes narrowed, annoyed, but he nodded. "Yes."
Bilba nodded. Kili wasn't the smallest height wise, he had an inch or two on his brother, but he was the smallest in terms of his frame. And if that were the case…she held the ring out to him, trying to ignore the pit in her stomach at giving it to anyone. "Here, try this on your smallest finger and see if it fits."
Kili reached out for the ring and, for a moment, Bilba tightened her grip. The ring was hers after all, why should she hand it over to anyone?
The feeling passed almost as quickly and she mentally scolded herself over her own foolishness. She let go, biting back an almost irrational flash of jealousy at the sight of the ring in Kili's hands.
He studied it, frowning. "I don't think it'll fit."
"Just try," Bilba insisted, irritated.
He frowned but obeyed her, sliding the ring on his finger. Immediately he vanished, leaving the corridor seemingly empty but for her. A second later he was back, holding the ring and studying it with a confused look. "That's odd. I could have sworn it was too small to fit but it slid right on."
"Okay," Bilba whispered, "keep it on. You can sneak up on him easier and, even if he smells you, he won't see you."
His eyes narrowed. "What about you?"
"He'll know where I am," Bilba replied, "going invisible won't change anything."
"I don't like this."
"Neither do I," Bilba said, "but it's the only way. Come on; let's get it over with."
She turned her back on him and marched forward on legs that barely held her up, sheer force of will keeping her moving until she stood in the doorway leading into the treasury.
The doorway, despite being supposedly secret, opened onto a large landing at the top of a long flight of stairs that overlooked the entire treasury. The treasury literally stretched as far as she could see in every direction, the only breaks large pillars plunging down through a veritable ocean of gold.
Whoever had come up with the original plan must have never seen the treasury, or possibly been in their right mind.
She stepped forward carefully, shutting her eyes and squeezing her hands together in front of her chest. The air in the chamber was cold and the light was dim, casting strange shadows on the walls and preventing her from seeing everything as clearly as she would have wished. Every muscle in her body was screaming at her to turn tail and run as fast as possible and her breath was so short she felt lightheaded. She reached the edge of the landing, at the top of the first step and there she paused. She took several deep breaths, trying to calm the roiling of her stomach and her erratic heartbeat.
"Smaug." Her voice came out a bare whisper and she swallowed, her throat and mouth dry as dust. She tried again but her voice cracked and she took a few moments to try and ground herself. She heard nothing from Kili and hoped he'd already moved himself into a position.
He was counting on her not to mess up. She'd dragged him into it and he was doing his part, she needed to do hers.
She drew in a deep breath, clasped Thorin's ring in both her hands, and screamed at the top of her voice, "SMAUG!"
Her voice echoed through the chamber, bouncing off the walls and pillars and repeating through the depths. When it finally faded away there was silence. The air itself seemed to grow heavier, stilled as though waiting.
Maybe Smaug was dead? Or gone somewhere? Maybe she could go back and tell Thorin and the others that no one was home?
A low rumbling started. In the distance, near a pillar, a mountain of gold began to shift, cascading down in a wave. The movement revealed something red and reptilian underneath and Bilba let loose an involuntary whimper of fear. A massive head rose into view, squared off with a blunted nose and enormous teeth. The body came next and seemed to keep coming, longer and longer until finally, finally, it tapered off into a tail that, alone, was probably enough to kill hundreds with just one swipe. An eye bigger than she was focused on her and then the entire nightmare was headed in her direction, giant, leathery wings unfurled and talons, longer than spears, drove through the coins, sending them scattering in his wake.
Bilba's entire body froze, unable to move. She felt like a rabbit caught in the gaze of a hungry fox, or a mouse in the eyes of an eagle. Nothing she'd faced before compared to this, not the trolls, not the wargs or spiders, not even Azog the Defiler.
"Well," Smaug's voice rumbled, "it has been awhile since I have seen a thief in my domain."
His voice, smooth and oddly hypnotic, was enough to stop her heart, the sound waking an almost primal instinct in her that screamed at her to run.
Bilba forced her mouth to work. "If I were a thief," she gasped, "would I have announced myself?"
"Hmmmm," he leaned forward and she nearly passed out as his breath, hotter than her oven at home, blew over her and stole the air from her lungs. "Perhaps not. What, then, pray tell are you?"
He kept moving as he spoke, twining this way and that and Bilba desperately wanted to tell him to knock it off so Kili could shoot him.
"An admirer," she choked out, "one who has long read the tales of your kind and desired to see the truth for myself." She swallowed again, an enormous rock seeming lodged in her throat. "Ancalagon, Scatha, Smaug, how can anyone read the stories and NOT want to see for themselves?"
Smaug shifted, again, and studied her. "And, which, might I ask, of those so named do you think to be the greatest?"
"You," Bilba answered instantly, "for they are dead and you are not."
Smaug nearly purred in response. "You speak pretty words, for a LIAR."
Bilba shut her eyes a second, gasping as fear threatened to overtake her once more. "I speak the truth, Smaug, Greatest of Calamities. Surely there is no greater threat than you."
Without warning the dragon lunged forward, surging over the steps and coming to rest mere inches from her. Bilba bit her tongue to keep from screaming, so hard she tasted blood.
"And yet you seek to beard me in my own den," he growled. "Think you that I cannot smell the dwarves camped at the other end of the tunnel? That I cannot smell their reek on you? Or that I cannot smell the fear sweating from the one you brought with you?"
"Your nose deceives you," Bilba gritted out, her hands clenched into fists. "Look around you, Smaug the Tyrannical, and tell me where this dwarf you claim I brought in is. Because I, for one, see no one but the two of us."
Smaug growled, the sound causing her bones to vibrate and reared back, scanning the area around her. Bilba held still, struggling to resist the urge to turn and run. If she did she'd abandon Kili and she could never do that.
Smaug had paused and Bilba could swear there was a look of confusion on his face. No doubt he'd expected to find Kili instantly and now could not reconcile the fact that his nose told him there was a dwarf while his eyes provided him with none.
"What are you?" he hissed, turning back to her. "You travel with dwarves yet I have not smelled your like before. You carry the smell of others with you yet I see none here."
Bilba felt herself still. To directly answer a dragon's question was to risk falling under their spell but refusing to answer risked angering them.
"Come closer," Bilba challenged, mentally praying to every one of the Valar and Eru that Kili had gotten into place, "and I will tell you what I am."
Smaug studied her a moment and then leaned forward, his head sliding across the stone until it was, once again, inches from her.
Bilba leaned in, close enough she could have touched him had she so wanted. "I am she who is half of nothing," she whispered, "she who walks alone yet with company. I am she who lost my family to death and yet saved them."
She took a deep breath and dropped her voice lower, forcing the dragon to hold himself still for once, quieting his movements, in order to hear her.
"And I," Bilba whispered, "am the bringer of your death."
The lightest of breezes swished past her head, the barest flicker in the corner of her vision.
Kili didn't hit him with just one arrow.
He hit him with all three.
The action was so fast Bilba barely saw the fletchings of the last one as it vanished into the dragon's eye, though she did not miss the great gout of blood that spewed forth as the first two vanished into it.
Smaug shrieked, an unearthly sound that shook the very stones she stood on, and lunged back. His body crashed into a pillar and, with a sharp crack, it broke in two and crashed to the ground. Bilba stumbled as the impact reverberated, falling to her knees.
"BURN!" Smaug roared, his body flailing wildly, rolling about the gold in pain, "YOU SHALL BURN!"
His chest began to glow, white hot, and it was about then that Bilba saw the flaw in her plan. She was standing mere feet from a dragon that had just been shot in the eye with Morgul arrows. A dragon that could breathe fire. If she tried to run up the tunnel again he could simply blow fire up it behind her and incinerate her.
He roared again, so loud pain crashed through her ears and she clapped her hands over them. His maw opened and a great fount of fire exploded straight up, the light searing her eyes even as the heat from it dried her skin and heated the air. Bilba stared at it, dumbfounded, knowing full well that plume would turn toward her any second.
She would die and she wouldn't even know if her plan had worked.
The fire washed overhead and began to come down, a great wave overtaking everything in its path. For a second, just a second, Bilba felt the oddest sensation of déjà vu, as though she'd witnessed something like this before. An odd grief clogged her throat, she was about to lose something more than just her life, but she couldn't say what.
Arms closed around her waist and wrenched her to the side, over the edge of the landing, just as the fire was about to reach her. They hit the floor of the treasury hard, Bilba landing on armor and sending shockwaves up her nerves, a belt buckle digging into her spine. She had no time to react as she was shoved off. Hands grabbed her in a bruising grip and dragged her toward a door a few feet away. They made it through just as the fire reached the floor behind them and, even then, did not stop.
Bilba felt a hand slide down to intertwine with hers and looked to see not Kili, but THORIN running along beside her.
"Kili", she gasped, turning her head, "We have to go back!"
"Fili has him," Thorin said, his voice tight. "They ran through another door."
They reached the end of a long hall and rounded a corner, Thorin leading the way. Behind them the dragon was still shrieking and it occurred to Bilba his voice wasn't getting quieter.
"He's getting closer," Thorin growled. "Move."
She could only move so fast and already her lungs were burning and her legs staggering but she pressed on.
Thorin came to a stop suddenly in front of a section of blank wall. "What are you doing?" Bilba gasped out but he ignored her. His hands moved quickly and she heard him curse before, suddenly, he shouted in triumph and pushed against a portion of the wall.
As he did Bilba looked back the way they'd come. Smaug appeared, worming around the corner. One eye was ruined; blood and ichor dripping from it down his face. The other was intent on her, the look in it nearly insane with rage.
Bilba screamed, scrabbling at Thorin's back only for him to grab her and force her inside an opening that hadn't been there a moment earlier. As soon as they were inside he shoved the door closed behind them.
"That won't work!" Bilba shouted. "He saw us!"
The door closed, plunging the tunnel in darkness. Thorin grabbed her and physically picked her up, throwing her over one shoulder.
Then he ran.
Bilba tangled her hands in his coat, nearly hyperventilating from fear. She kept her eyes fixed behind them, even though she could see nothing in the darkness. They rounded a corner just as the way behind them exploded. Light struck her eyes, flooding the tunnel behind them. Thorin set her down. He ran his hands against the wall again and Bilba could see they were shaking. The light from down the corridor changed suddenly, going from white to orange. Bilba heard a roaring sound. "We're going to die," she whimpered.
"Not today," Thorin growled. He shoved, opening a door in the wall a brief crack. Grabbing her arm he lifted her and threw her inside before lunging in and throwing himself against the door. For a brief second a wash of heat rolled over them, and then it was gone as the door slammed shut, plunging them once more into darkness.
Bilba could hear the sound of Thorin breathing raggedly, it matched her own.
The air was cooling, Bilba noted vaguely, there must be vents of some sort cut into the room to allow air to circulate.
Slowly her eyes began to adjust as the Blessing of Mahal responded to Thorin's presence. A soft, white light started to rise up, seeming to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. Eventually it grew bright enough that she could see Thorin clearly, sitting against the door, his head thrown back as he struggled to catch his breath.
The rest of the room was empty, simply a small chamber cut from rock.
"Secret passages," Thorin said, guessing her thoughts. "The whole mountain is riddled with them." His eyes narrowed. "Want to tell me what, in the name of Mahal, you were thinking?"
Bilba flinced at the anger in his voice.
Thorin pushed to his feet, advancing a foot or two toward where she stood in the center of the room. "Do you have ANY idea how RECKLESS you were?"
Bilba flinched again. "I do," she whispered, "but I don't see any other way it could have been done."
"That's because you couldn't be bothered to ASK anyone," Thorin shot back, "you took it upon yourself to make the decision for the entire Company!"
Bilba felt guilt rise up, she hadn't thought of that. By going after Smaug the way she had it'd forced them all to adjust to what SHE'D done without her having given them any warning at all.
"What happened to everyone else?" She asked.
"Kili was thrown off the landing when the dragon fell and Fili jumped after him," Thorin stated flatly. "I saw them flee through a door so they are somewhere in Erebor. His eyes turned cold, "The rest were some distance behind me. The dragon turned his attention to us immediately so I imagine they were also able to make it inside, or at least back out of the mountain to safety. They're fortunate the dragon was so incensed he didn't stop to incinerate them inside the tunnel first." His eyes narrowed. "You should have told me."
"You would have said no," Bilba argued, wrapping her arms around her chest. "Your plan wouldn't work!"
"Do you think I didn't know that?" Thorin all but roared. "Do you think I didn't know how against us the odds were? The Treasury is enormous! I have not been gone so long I failed to remember that. The Arkenstone would not be found quickly."
"Then what did you plan to do?" Bilba replied sharply, her own voice rising. "Have me go in on a mission you knew would fail?"
"I HAD NOT PLANNED TO HAVE YOU GO IN AT ALL!" Thorin shouted. "I had thought to simply scout if the dragon were truly dead as rumors had claimed. If he were the mountain would be ours and we would have all the time we needed to find the Arkenstone."
"And if he were not?" Bilba asked, her voice tight.
"Then I would have seen it with my own eyes, "Thorin responded instantly. "I would carry the news back with my entire Company as witness and spread the word. Threats of anyone else coming upon the mountain would be waylaid and we would wait once more."
"Wait for what?" Bilba snapped. "For the threat Gandalf and Glorfindel and Radagast are so worried about to reveal itself? For Smaug to leave his mountain and become a greater threat?"
"What are you talking about?" Thorin growled.
Bilba told him. She explained everything she'd said to Nori and to Kili after him, the words Gandalf had spoken to her, and Glorfindel and Radagast after him. The threat the dragon might pose if left unchecked, not just to Erebor but all of Middle Earth.
When she was finished Thorin stood before her, his face unreadable. "And did you not think," he said finally, his voice flat and angry, "that, perhaps, had you laid all that out I might have agreed with you? Did it never occur to you that many of us in the Company have actually seen battle and might have experience to add to the areas where yours was lacking?"
"I was afraid you would say no," Bilba insisted, her argument sounding lame even to her own ears. She focused on her feet. Thorin's words were beginning to reach her and a small voice in the back of her mind was starting to suspect he was right.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I allowed myself to be blinded." Tears burned at the back of her eyes. She'd been so convinced the only possible outcome was Thorin telling her no that she'd never considered how lacking in experience she was. She'd never thought that, by telling the others her fears and plan, she might have avoided the very situation they were in now. Neither she nor Kili had ever even been INSIDE Erebor. If Thorin hadn't arrived and they'd tried to flee on their own they'd both have been caught just trying to figure out where to go. She'd managed to so thoroughly convince herself that the ONLY possible outcome was Thorin saying no she'd blinded herself to any possibility he might actually have agreed with her.
Thorin sighed. Footsteps sounded and the toes of his boots appeared in front of her feet. A moment later he slid a hand under her chin and lifted her face to meet his. "We are truly a matched set are we not?" He asked ruefully.
Bilba gave a hesitant smile. "I suppose. We both tend to act like reckless idiots on occasion."
Thorin gave a slight smile of his own. "We certainly both tend to yell at the wrong people."
"And rush headlong into situations without truly being prepared," Bilba agreed. "It's a wonder either of us have lived this long."
"I think you can thank Dwalin for that on my part," Thorin mused dryly. "Probably my sister as well."
Bilba could thank Priscilla and Seth for her part and fully planned to thank them in person the next time she saw them.
If she had a chance to see them again that is.
"Do you have any idea," Thorin whispered, "how I felt waking up to see you and Kili both gone?"
She had not. "I'm sorry."
"You didn't trust me," Thorin said quietly. "You should have."
"You're right," Bilba reached up and gripped the edges of his coat, tugging on them lightly. "You're absolutely right, Thorin, and I am sorry."
He smiled and a teasing look entered his eyes. "I'm sorry, what was that again? I was what?"
Bilba felt her own lips twitch, just slightly. A few more tears escaped and Thorin lifted his other hand so he was cupping her face, his thumbs idly wiping the tears off. "You're right," she sniffed, "but don't get too used to it. I'm sure it's bound to be a rare occurrence."
He grinned and bent his head to kiss her. They stayed together a long time before he finally pulled away. "I'm sure you're correct," he allowed with mock graciousness. He straightened and strode to another part of the room, quickly finding and opening another door. Once there he turned to face her again. "What do you say we figure out a way to get out of here and find the others?"
This time Bilba's smile was more than just a twitch. She nodded. "I would like that, very much."
He nodded and, a moment later, the two of them strode through the open doorway, side by side.
