Chapter 19 - Choice n°9: I'll accompany you to Erebor

Knowing her answer already, Aghäte didn't need to think about it. She wanted more than anything to go to Erebor and get rid of this dragon. Without waiting, she answered him.

- "I'm accompanying you to Erebor, of course. My friend Tauriel will soon find out I ran away and she should be here in a few days. When she sees Kíli's condition, she will take care of him," she asserted.

Aghäte looked at the two dwarves who said nothing. Balin seemed to want to say something but he ducked her gaze. As for Thorin, he sighed before speaking.

- "You will stay here with Kíli."

- "I beg your pardon?" she said, thinking she hadn't heard correctly.

- "Lady Aghäte, we prefer you stay here," Balin said.

- "It's out of the question!" she said, staring at Thorin and trying to keep her cool. "Would you agree to give up what you have worked for for years ?!"

Aghäte didn't let them answer. She filled her glass with the bottle of wine in front of her and she went to sit at a table in the corner of the room. "At least the wine is good ..." she thought, looking out the window.

The dwarves continued to dance and sing without restraint. Bofur was already dancing on the table and Fíli had joined him. A few dwarves had already gone to bed. Aghäte saw Balin and Dwalin walking up the stairs to the bedrooms.

When she noticed her glass was empty, she heard the second and only other chair around her table being pulled out. The grumpy dwarf sat on it, but Aghäte ignored him. She continued to watch the laughing dwarves. Soon after, she heard Thorin fill her glass and then his. "At least he didn't come for nothing," she said to herself, still angry. Thorin took a sip before speaking.

- "I need you to take care of my nephew," he confesses so low that only the half-human could hear.

Aghäte turned her face to Thorin to answer him. She took a sip before then sighed.

- "I understood it. He can't be alone here in his condition… But I'm just so frustrated because I'm not able to come with you! You will find yourself in front of this dragon without me! I have nothing against Gandalf's idea of bringing a hobbit into your company, but I don't think Bilbo can handle it."

- "His goal is not to get rid of him but to get something back."

- "Yes, the Arkenstone. I understood it correctly. But Smaug isn't going to give it to you kindly. He's going to wake up and… Oh I get it. You don't care and you're going to let the humans here handle this. This is madness…"

Trying to stay calm, she forced herself to speak in a low voice. Thorin stared at her, seriously throughout the discussion.

- "And you? Did you think you could get rid of the dragon without hurting anyone?" he asked with a provocative smile.

- "No. I admit it. It's now that we talk about it that I realize it," she admitted, lowering her eyes.

- "And you have been looking for how to kill this dragon for years without thinking about it?" he still asked with his smile.

Aghäte had more than enough of his smirk. Her gaze shifted to the dwarves who still had the strength to have fun. Kíli and Fíli were always with them. She couldn't help but laugh when Bombur fell backwards and couldn't get up. Fíli a dû l'aider à le remettre sur pied.

- "We never get bored with all of you. Well, as much as they enjoy the evening since the future nights won't be so happy anymore…," she whispered as she finished her drink in one gulp.

After putting down her empty glass, Aghäte wanted to get up, but she felt a hand grab her. The heir of Erebor's grip was stronger than the half-human thought; especially since he just wanted to hold her back.

- "You're hurting me. What do you want?"

- "Oh excuse me," he said embarrassed, letting her go. "Come with me, I have something to give you."

Tired of his day, Thorin rose from his chair slowly; or was it maybe the alcohol?

He walked upstairs and Aghäte followed him. The town's Master had given Thorin a room for himself. In front of his room, he opened the door and let the half-human enter. He closed the door behind him and invited Aghäte to sit on one of the two armchairs by the fireplace. The heat of the fire felt good. She wasn't cold from the alcohol she drank, but the fire calmed her.

Alone with Thorin in the bedroom, she felt uncomfortable. Her heart was starting to pound as Thorin rummaged through his belongings for quite a while. She jumped when he resumed the conversation.

- "I know we don't give you a choice, but thank you for staying for Kíli. By the way, I also thank you for the help you gave me during the fight on the river."

- "Oh it's nothing! I wasn't going to let a future king die!" she joked.

- "A future king…," he whispered. "Raaah but where the hell did I put it?!"

Aghäte stood up and came closer to him to figure out what was causing him to be like this. Suddenly, he exclaimed he had found what he was looking for. He walked over to the half-human with a determined step. Aghäte took a few steps back, believing he wasn't going to stop. Once he was close to her, he handed her a letter. Trying to understand, she looked at the letter and then at Thorin.

- "Take this letter. You will give it to Kíli if something happens to me in Erebor."

Aghäte's eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat. She understood what this letter implied. She looked away from the dwarf and shook her head to signify her refusal. Thorin approached her more closely and took her right hand. He put the letter inside and closed Aghäte's hand around itself. He squeezed it tight so she couldn't open it.

Many feelings rose to the heart of Aghäte: the anger at asking her for such a task and the frustration at not being able to refuse. But above all, the fear that something really happened to the dwarf in front of her. Getting back her hand, she moved forward Thorin and pressed the letter to his chest. She was pushing with all her strength as if she wanted the letter to disappear inside him.

- "No! I'm fed up with obeying your orders! Everything will be fine and as soon as Kíli is treated we will meet you in the mountains!"

Thorin put his hand on Aghäte's, who continued to press the letter against his chest. She instantly looked up at him. His eyes were full of worry and sadness. They were closer than she had noticed. Her heart was pounding hard and she could feel Thorin's throbbing just as hard through his jacket.

- "I can only ask you. Please agree to do this for me."

- "No! I don't want to allow anything to happen to you! If something happened to you, I …"

Tears in her eyes, Aghäte couldn't finish her sentence. Her throat was blocked with the grief that she was having just at the thought she might lose him. She tried to pull herself together before her tears fell. "Excuse me. I should calm down," she said, wiping away the few tears she had left.

As she tried to step back, Aghäte felt Thorin pull her towards him and hug her. It wasn't just a hug like friends saying hello to each other. It was more like a hug from someone who needs reassurance.

When she wanted to close her arms around Thorin, he released her gently. Then, he rested his forehead on hers.

- "Everything will be fine," he whispered.

Not knowing if the message was to appease her or himself, she nodded briefly as she closed her eyes. Without seeing them coming, Aghäte felt Thorin's lips on hers. Even if her heart was going to explode, she let him. She was no longer thinking of anything. As if time had stopped, it was just her and Thorin. They stopped the kiss at the same time and assimilated what had just happened. They both stepped back in embarrassment.

- "I-I am sorry! I don't know what got into me," Thorin stammered with a hand covering the lower part of his face.

- "Same for me! Excuse me, I'm going back to my room immediately", she said, stepping back.

As they separated, the letter fell to the ground. They both looked at it. Aghäte bent down and picked it up slowly. Then, she left the room of the future king of Erebor without daring to look at him.

.

The next day was a day of celebration for the Lake-town's villagers. Many had come to encourage the dwarves for their quest. When Thorin forced Kíli to stay, he was distraught. Fortunately for him, his brother stayed with him. Even angry, Thorin couldn't change his decision. He glanced furtively at Aghäte then he got on board with the others.

When the company left, only Kíli, Fíli, Óin, Bofur and Aghäte remained in town. As soon as the boat was no longer visible, Kíli collapsed. Óin suggested taking him to the human who had helped them before. Fíli and Aghäte accepted. Bofur followed the group.

Arrived in front of the house, Aghäte recognized her without the slightest doubt. Bard's house. Anxious at first, she climbed the steps behind the dwarves who begged for hospitality. Bard eventually reluctantly agrees. They all went into his house and sat down. While Fíli supported his brother, Óin explained to Aghäte the treatment he had already given him. In a rush, she asked for a place where Kíli could lie down. Bard showed her his bedroom and she was able to apply basic treatment. Óin was preparing a drink to calm the young dwarf and put him to sleep.

.

Once the storm Kíli passed, calm could return. Bofur and Óin were talking on their own while Fíli was staying at his brother's bedside. As for Aghäte, she was sitting by the fire thanking Bard for his generosity under the circumstances. Tilda sat on her father's lap telling her everything she had missed after she left.

- "Tilda, can you let her breathe a little ?", her father asked. "Go back with your sister, please."

- "All right …" she agreed.

- "I'm sorry to impose all this on you Bard …"

- "Don't worry. You're not the biggest problem here," he smiled.

- "Yes, it's true", she laughed.

- "Do you know each other already?" A blond dwarf said, sitting next to her.

- "Yes. Even her daughter taught me how to cook stew!" she joked. "Is your brother better?"

- "His fever has dropped but his wound remains the same."

- "I see ... We just have to wait for Tauriel. She will know how to treat him; better than me. She should arrive by tomorrow."

.

The day passed without news from Tauriel. The next day, Aghäte waited until evening then she decided to go for a walk outside to find her friend. She left the dwarves at the Bard's house.

The full moon lit up the whole town. It was easy to get around. In the distance, she heard the sounds of weapons confronting each other. She ran over to the sounds and found the prince of Mirkwood fighting some orcs. Within seconds, she found herself surrounded by orcs. When she left Bard's house, she hadn't thought of taking her bow. She only had her usual little daggers.

She defended herself as best she could. His fights over, Legolas came to help her. Luckily, she had only taken a few hits. In contrast, Legolas seemed to be bleeding from his face.

- "Thank you for your help. Is Tauriel with you?"

- "No. She was looking for you and she stayed with the man who lodges the dwarves. We were attacked and we went our separate ways. You should go back there."

- "Alright. And you, where are you going?"

- "It doesn't concern you," he said coldly before running off in the opposite direction.

Running towards Bard's house, Aghäte had to fight against orcs; which considerably slowed her. Finally arrived, she discovered Kíli lying on the dining table, holding Tauriel's hand. The other three dwarfs and Bard's two daughters surrounded the table. Fili walked over to her.

- "Aghäte! Tauriel saved my brother! He's better," he said before realizing Aghäte's injuries. "Are you hurt?!"

- "Everything is fine. I met some orcs in the town. I don't know what they're looking for, but it's not a good sign. Tauriel, is Kíli safe and sound now ?", she asked, turning her gaze towards her friend.

- "Yes. He will live. We fought against orcs but I don't know if they will come back here."

- "I ran into Legolas on the way. He eliminated a lot of them. Where is your father?", she asked Bard's daughters.

- "He left with Bain but they didn't come back," Sigrid explained.

- "Are there still orcs out there?" Tilda asked.

No one dared to answer her. She was about to cry when the walls of the house began to shake with a distant thud. All looked around to see where he came from except one person. Aghäte. She knew that sound, she had heard it many, many years ago. She looked at the young blond dwarf gravely. He understood what it meant. The quakes started again. From one of the windows, they could all see the house across the road instantly catching fire. The flames were gigantic. There was no more a minute to lose. They needed to leave this town.

- "Tauriel!" she called out, taking her bow against the fireplace. "Take Sigrid and Tilda with you and run away from here right away. The others, follow her and help her find a boat."

- "What are you going to do?", Tauriel asked, helping Kíli to stand up.

- "I'll get Bard and Bain. Sigrid, where is the Black Arrow?"

Sigrid climbed into a chair, lifted the arrow off the ceiling and brought it to her. Óin and Bofur led the girls out of the house while Tauriel supported Kíli to follow them. Aghäte was checking her bow when Fíli approached her.

- "I'm coming with you," he asserted.

- "No. Stay with your brother," she said, picking up the Black Arrow and heading for the exit.

- "Wait", he said, grabbing her arm to stop her. "You can't kill Smaug!"

- "I don't. But Bard does."

Aghäte ran out of the house, Black Arrow in hand. It was very difficult for her to walk through the streets. There was a fire everywhere, and the wooden planks nearly crumbled with every step. The villagers would run in all directions to survive. No one would stop to help her find the man she was looking for. The dragon continued to spit its flames all the time.

Suddenly, she saw Bain far away. She ran to him. Fortunately, he wasn't injured. She asked him where her father was.

- "I ran into Tauriel and she told me you had the black arrow. I was looking for you! We have to join my father at the top of the tower over there," he explained, pointing to where they were supposed to go.

The half-human nodded. After a race strewn with pitfalls and flames, they reached the top of the tower. Bard had no more arrows and the dragon had noticed him. Aghäte gave him the Black Arrow.

Without waiting, he asked his son to put his back to the dragon. He used his left shoulder to aim at Smaug. The dragon was smiling and rushing towards them at full speed. Aghäte watched the whole scene without saying anything. When she saw the arrow go off and hit its target, she couldn't help but sigh in relief. The dragon fell, ravaging half of the town.

The tower gradually tilted. It was going to collapse anytime soon. Aghäte told Bain to come down quickly. Bard told her to follow his son. Unfortunately, they didn't have time to hit the ground as the tower collapsed. Aghäte swam to a boat. She saw Bain and rowed towards him. The young man begged her to look for his father, but Aghäte told him that the most important thing right now was to find safety.

They rowed to the beach where the living villagers had managed to escape. Barely on the ground, Sigrid ran over to Bain to hug him. Tilda did the same then ran towards Aghäte.

- "Where's my dad?" she asked, looking around.

Bain, Sigrid and Aghäte didn't know what to say to her when suddenly they heard their father calling them away. They called out to him and Bard came running to hug his children.

Observing the small family, Aghäte smiled. She was so happy they were all safe and sound. She turned to look at Lake-town still in flames. The dragon had once again ravaged the town, but he was definitely dead. Without seeing him, Bard walked over to her and hugged her.

- "Thank you, Aghäte! Thanks for bringing Bain back!"

- "Oh! Thank you for killing the dragon," she said, patting him gently on the back.

As Bard hugged her, she heard her name in the crowd. The man let go of her and she could see Tauriel, Kíli and Fíli coming towards her. The two dwarves came to hug her at the same time. "I'm choking!" she could barely say. Tauriel wanted to approach her too, but Legolas called to her. The Elf King was there and he wanted to talk to her. Aghäte saw him in the distance and hid discreetly behind the dwarves. If he saw her, her father would be in trouble.

Once Tauriel left, the young dwarves told Aghäte to follow them to find Óin and Bofur. They were in the process of consolidating their belongings.

- "Aghäte, you are alive!" Bofur exclaimed.

- "I'm relieved to see you again!" Óin said.

- "I'm glad to see you too. I can't imagine Thorin's face if there was one missing when you join him!" she laughed.

- "What are you going to do now?" Bofur asked, a little embarrassed.

They all knew she had joined them to kill the dragon. Now he was dead, what was she going to do?

She looked at Bard's family in the distance. They were all smiling alongside their father despite the disaster that had just happened. A dwarf interrupted his reflection.

- "Can I go with you?"

- "Of course!" Fíli smiled.

- "You're dying to see Erebor, aren't you?" Kíli said.

- "Yes! Obviously! I won't miss this opportunity!"

Motivated to continue the journey, Aghäte smiled. All the dwarves smiled back at her.

.

Once ready to leave, Aghäte went to say goodbye to Bard and his family. They had a long way to go before they got there. Before night fell, they encamped and resumed their journey at dawn.

At the foot of the entrance to Erebor, they all looked tiny. Taking the time to observe the smallest details, they walked inside the building. It was the hobbit who came to greet them. Standing aside behind them, Aghäte listened to him speak. He explained Thorin had changed and it was not good for them to stay here. Yet, Kíli still wanted to see his uncle.

The discussion ended, Bilbo led them to the hall where Thorin was. Aghäte had seen many dwarf buildings in her life, but this room was huge! And yet, all the gold accumulated must have concealed three-quarters of its space. When they walked over to their uncle, Thorin's face lit up.

- "My nephews! Look at the richness of Erebor! Your richness!"

- "It's amazing all this gold!" Kíli yelled, picking up some coins.

- "It's huge!" Fíli said, looking around him.

The half-human preferred to stay with the hobbit. He looked very tense and tired.

- "Everything is fine, Bilbo? Have you met the dragon?"

- "Hmm…," he hesitated. "I'm fine, but Thorin worries me. And regarding the dragon, it was the worst experience of my life! Come, follow me. We will join the others."

- "Thank you, but I have to talk to Thorin first. Go ahead, I'll join you after."

Bilbo took one last glance at the group of dwarves chatting near the gold. Aghäte watched them from afar. She preferred to wait until Thorin finished speaking with his nephews before going to talk to him. Seeing they were taking a long time, she walked into the hall while remaining visible to Thorin.

She knew dwarves didn't like people touching their treasure, so she didn't touch anything. Attentive to the decorations on a wall, she didn't hear Thorin approaching. She jumped when she saw he was next to her. Her cheeks flushed when she remembered the kiss from the night before.

- "Wow! You gave me such a fright!" she said, placing her hand on her rapidly pounding heart.

- "It was not my goal. Why did you come here? You could stay with the humans."

- "I had to give you something back …"

The half-human was searching in her bag. Thorin already knew what it was about but he let her do. Once she found the letter, she handed it to him. Seeming to think, Thorin didn't move.

- "Please, take it!", she said. "I give it back to you. I ended up in the water because of the dragon, so I'm not sure it's readable yet ... But take it back!"

- "Did you kill the dragon?" He said in surprise, picking up the letter.

- "No, it was Bard. There was indeed a missing scale! I was right !," she said proudly with her hands on her hips.

Aghäte thought he saw a smile on Thorin's face. He spun around, saying "Follow me, we'll join the others." She followed him while observing the architecture of the rooms in which she passed.

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Continued in chapter 20.