Chapter 22 - Choice 12: Follow Thorin

Aghäte had been pulled by the wrist for a while and it was starting to hurt. Thorin knew where he was going because he walked with a determined step. Aghäte stopped dryly and she pulled her arm to her. The dwarf's gaze turned suddenly to her.

- "Can you let me go? You're hurting me!" she said, angry despite the irritation in Thorin's eyes.

- "Of course," he replied, letting go. "But follow me."

The dwarf's voice and gaze betrayed his regret for having rushed the half-human so far. He turned over and led her to a room full of treasures. Walls of gold bars, precious stones, jewelry, gold statues. The room shone brightly. Aghäte hadn't seen this room while visiting the premises. She was stunned. She looked at the room quickly then her eyes returned to Thorin. He was staring at her; surely waiting for a reaction from her. Her attention turned to a book on a table. It was richly decorated. Too much for a simple book. She walked over to the object and looked at Thorin to make sure she was allowed to touch it. With no reaction from him, she just took it for approval. She picked up the book, examined the cover, and then opened it. She was disappointed to see it wasn't written in the common language but in Khuzdul. She thought maybe it was time to learn the dwarf language.

- "With all the gems and gold in this room, you still find a way to find a book …"

Concentrating on the book, Aghäte jumped when he spoke. She put the book back where it was and she saw the multitude of gems beside it. She turned to Thorin, a little angry.

- "Is that a reproach? I told you I didn't care about your wealth. Why did you bring me here? Especially if I can't even touch this book," she said, grumbling at the last sentence.

- "Come over here," he ordered, sighing.

Aghäte sighed too but she joined him. Thorin stood behind her and took off her jacket. Embarrassed by his gesture, she couldn't help but turn and grab Fíli's jacket.

- "W-what's going on?"

- "Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything to you," he said, putting the jacket down on a chair.

Not much more reassured, Aghäte repositioned herself in front of the table where Thorin had placed her. She watched him approach and take a necklace among a mountain of transparent stones. This necklace was itself full of jewels. The torches in the room brought out its brilliance. Thorin lifted the half-human's hair and tied the necklace to her neck. She shivered as she felt the dwarf's fingers and breath on her neck.

Aghäte was no longer moving. After the necklace, Thorin placed a crown of gold and gemstones on her head. Then, he continued by putting rings on each of her fingers. She let him do it without knowing what is meant.

After a while, she had no more space on her to wear new jewelry. Thorin pulled back and looked at her intently.

- "Jewelry looks good on you. Are you still not attracted to gold and jewels now they're on you?"

Aghäte then understood what he was playing. He wanted to convince her of the importance of her wealth and she could be tempted by all these treasures. The dwarf's anger seemed to have calmed. Concentrating on dressing Aghäte, he had almost forgotten the rest. He led her to a large mirror, made like everything else: gold and gemstones. At the sight of her reflection, the half-human burst out laughing. Thorin, not understanding her reaction, stared at her surprised.

She was covered in jewelry. Nothing matched. Gold, silver, jewels of all colors, she shone more than ever. She turned to look at herself in the mirror and her laughter resumed even more. She ended up putting her right hand on Thorin's shoulder so she could stand up.

- "I-I look like a Yule tree! I shine brighter than any tree I've seen in my life! And with the colors on top of that!"

She caught her breath and patted Thorin's shoulder friendly. He let out a laugh. He looked at the half-human and smiled slightly.

- "It's true. I may have put too much jewelry on you …"

- "Take it all away from me before I damage them," she tried to say, laughing even more. "Such a pretty crown, it would be a shame. Who owns those jewelry?"

- "The crown was my mother's," he said, removing it.

He removed all the ornaments from her, explaining to her who they belonged to or if they were made here in the forges. Aghäte felt Thorin had regained his composure and she felt reassured. She only had one piece of jewelry left: the necklace.

- "Um, maybe I should leave the necklace with you," he said, pretending to think while holding his chin.

- "Sorry? Why? It doesn't suit me at all!"

- "On the contrary, I think it suits you very well."

Finding herself embarrassed by his remark, Aghäte preferred to take her gaze away from Thorin and turn it on the necklace. She watched it through the mirror in front of her. She also realized she was particularly close to the dwarf. Her cheeks were starting to heat up but she tried to hide it as she continued the discussion.

- "This is an important necklace, right? It's so detailed and fine. I don't know much about jewelry but this one looks visibly precious! Was this necklace made here?"

- "The necklace was made by Erebor's dwarves but the gems are from the elves. They are Lasgalen White Gems," he explained, approaching and touching the necklace with his fingertips.

- "Mirkwood elves?" she asked, touching the necklace and brushing against Thorin's hand.

- "It was a gift for the King of Traitors. For his wife, if I understood correctly. I would be tempted to give it to you to see its face when it sees it around your neck!," he smiled mischievously.

- "W-What?! But I don't want trouble with King Thranduil!"

Aghäte tried to remove the necklace in a rush as Thorin laughed heartily. She took offense at not knowing if he was laughing at his idea of hurting the Elven King or if he was laughing at her panic. Maybe even both!

- "Help me take it off!"

Seeing he wasn't reacting and he continued to laugh, she decided to use a solution which would work for sure, even if she was reluctant to use it.

- "Take that necklace off! You shouldn't give it to me, but to a female dwarf. A female dwarf who will become your Erebor Queen once you regain your throne!"

- "That's none of your business," he instantly got angry.

- "Then take this necklace off!"

Thorin stared her in the eye then resigned himself. He went behind her and began to take the jewel away from her at last.

- "Dwarves are not like humans, Lady Aghäte" he began with a sigh. "If they don't find the right person for them, they can stay single their entire lives without it bothering them."

When he said her name, Aghäte stiffened. She guessed he had felt it too since he was still holding her hair. Yet he continued.

- "They can be content with their work for the rest of their lives. And from what I saw with my grandfather, being a king is very time-consuming."

- "But you will need a queen. You will need an heir!"

- "Fíli and Kíli are my heirs," he said, unhooking the necklace and going to put it away.

- "You should have gotten married before you went to reclaim Erebor!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest without looking at him. "What if anything happened to you or your nephews, you've thought of Durin's lineage ... I wonder what your sister thinks about all of this. Leaving an heir to the Blue Mountains would have been wiser. You…"

Seeing Thorin was staring at her silently, Aghäte had ended up being quiet. She had told him what she was thinking out loud. She felt as ridiculous as when she met him at the Rivendell library. Cheeks flushed, she tried to apologize but the dwarf spoke up.

- "You're right," he whispered. "My sister thought as you did. Still, I couldn't find anyone who suited me in the Blue Mountains. Alright, it's late. I ask you to go to your room."

Aghäte nodded, not daring to speak. She noticed he wasn't looking at her so she excused herself, took Fíli's jacket back and left the room. Walking down the hall, she thought about what she had said. Then she remembered the painting in her bedroom. She thought maybe now was a good time to show it to Thorin. Maybe it will take his mind off things!

She turned around and inclined her head in the doorway to see if he was still inside.

- "I told you to go to sleep," she heard in a tired voice.

- "Yes, I know but, um, I was thinking you might want to come and see your sister's painting. It will clear your head.

Aghäte heard the dwarf sigh and put down what he had in his hand. As he walked out of the room and passed her, he blurted out "Let's go". She followed him smiling, amused by the exaggeration of his fatigue.

Shortly before going to the Aghäte's room, they met Balin. He was coming back from the bathroom. She invited him to join them to see the painting but he refused and continued on his way.

Once inside the room, Thorin came closer to the painting as Aghäte rekindled the fire in the fireplace. She let him look at the painting alone as she warmed up in front of the fire.

- "Don't you have any siblings?"

- "No. You know, elves take longer than humans to, um, conceive children. But I would have liked it, especially when I see Fíli and Kíli!," she laughed.

- "These two brothers have been terrible since they were children…," he sighed. "They just do what they want."

Aghäte walked over to the painting, and so to Thorin, laughing.

- "Your sister must have a hard time, if I may. When I see them, I tell myself I would never have the courage to have children. Which is ridiculous because, at my age, I would be more than a great-grandmother if I were just human!"

- "When their father died, she did her best to make sure they wanted for nothing. I helped her, of course, but I could never replace their father."

- "I'm not so sure."

She slowly turned her head to Thorin, smiling warmly at him. He looked at her for a few moments before continuing to stare at the painting.

- "Great-grandmother," he repeated, snorting discreetly.

- "Hey, it's not courteous to make fun of a woman's age!"

- "Excuse me," he smiled. "I thought, on the contrary, you would be a good mother when I see you with my nephews."

- "You're talking nonsense. Anyway, I'm not even sure I can have children, as I'm half elf and half human. Alright. Back to this painting. You were very young in this painting! You look a lot like Kíli!"

- "Now you say it," he continued, realizing she wanted to change the subject.

Aghäte's gaze moved from the painting to Thorin's face without stopping. She was looking for the similarities between his face before and now. She walked closer to him and shifted a few locks of his hair, staring at him.

- "Hmm, you have aged a lot, since you were painted. I wonder if you were as distracted as your nephews with your brother when you were younger. If I had walked into Erebor when I lived in Dale, I might have seen you messing around with him!"

Thorin had blushed as soon as she put her hand on his hair, but he let her speak. He waited for her to stop speaking to react.

- "At the time, you couldn't approach princes of Erebor so easily."

As if she had forgotten it, Aghäte remembered she had the future King of Erebor in front of her and she was still holding his hair. Instinctively, she stepped back and let go of the hair. Her cheeks suddenly flushed and her pulse quickened. Thorin caught Aghäte's hand before she fully took it back.

- "I was just saying that because I think we couldn't have chatted that way and-"

Thorin was cut off by someone softly knocking on Aghäte's bedroom door. She responded by asking who it was.

- "Excuse me for disturbing you at this late hour, Lady Aghäte. It's Balin. I saw light under your door and I would ask you if you haven't seen Thorin."

Aghäte turned her hesitant gaze to Thorin, leaving him the choice. He slowly let go of Aghäte's hand to walk towards the door. He opened it without hesitation and told Balin he was coming.

He returned to the half-human to wish her a good night. He took back Fíli's jacket to return to him later. She also wished him a good night before he left.

Once alone in the bedroom, her gaze returned to the painting a moment before she decided to go to bed.

.

Continued in chapter 23