A.N: This is start of the big timeline changes that I've made (aside from the obvious with Belladonna and Frerin), I'm well aware of how long the hobbits were in the Shire according to canon but it didn't work with my crazy plan. Also, totally manufactured customs are made mention of in this chapter, again they're deliberate. I really recommend looking up Victorian hair/mourning jewellery, it's spectacular stuff, and the wedding biscuits are actually an adaptation of funeral biscuits that were once very common in the UK.
Chapter Seven: Belladonna
T.A 2846 The Prancing Pony, Bree
Belladonna Took sips her ale and waits, trying not to tap her foot under the table as she looks at the door. Frerin is late. He should have arrived before her as her departure had been delayed by a funeral. She scratches at the braided ring of hair around her left middle finger irritably, at least Frerin's return home had been for a joyous occasion. The sooner she can put the Shire behind her for a few years the better. She wants to get back on the road and get back out into the world, she wasn't made for sitting still and the Blessing makes her feet itch constantly in the peaceful Shire with the need to explore and know and learn.
It has been seven months since she parted ways with her dwarf. Frerin for the Blue Mountains and Belladonna for Tookborough. She would have preferred to go to his sister's wedding with him, but dwarf weddings are not like hobbit weddings. Hobbits tend to invite everyone they know, the air around a smial is usually rich with the spicy scent of the wedding biscuits for weeks in the run up to the event and some families even go so far as to have their own stamp carved for the event. Hobbit weddings are all about who can put on the best spread, the most delicious food and strongest ale, the lace on the bride's gown and how striking the design of the woven wedding jewellery is. A hobbit wedding is noisy, as close to riotous as her people get, there was little privacy during the Wandering years, and it shows in many of their important ceremonies.
Dwarves, she has been told, are completely different. Their wedding ceremonies only rarely involve more than the couple in question, perhaps with the presence of a witness. At the most their immediate kin (parents and any siblings) are in attendance even with the wealthiest of families. A wealthy family might throw a large feast after for extended family and any others they might wish to invite but the ceremony itself is never attended by outsiders, not even the spouses of siblings. It had been disappointing information, she's never been as far into the mountains as New Belegost and she would have liked to see it. Winter prevented them from meeting any sooner and then the funeral of an uncle had delayed Belladonna as much as the unusually wet weather that spring had. Now she's in Bree, at their usual inn and normal room, and she's already been approached by more than one hobbit lad in search of a tumble. A dwarf and, disturbingly, a Man too have also approached her. The dwarf had been the easiest of all of them to send on his way but that has always been the case. Men and hobbits seem less inclined to accept the word 'no' as a response to such offers.
She is almost ready to go to her room (after another approach and poorly received refusal) when Frerin finally sits in front of her. He has a pint in hand already and his expression is apologetic.
"There was a bridge out," he says by way of explanation. She sighs, but nods since it isn't something he can help and asks him about the wedding.
He regales her with a wonderful story of a nervous, hungover, groom and excited bride. Too much beer and his older brother actually sobbing in his cups over 'the beauty of true love'. He remembers to describe the clothes, not just the jewels and the weapons, in detail for her. They share a meal as they talk, touching hands and trading smiles. The touches linger longer and longer, the smiles grow more flirtatious and finally they abandon the table and retire to the room Belladonna has taken for the night.
She is still fumbling behind her for the lock when Frerin takes her face between his large, rough, palms and kisses her. She's missed this, the way his beard tickles and scratches, the weight of him against her and the strength of him around her. The way their hands tremble and fumble with too many laces and awkward clothes. The way they fit together just right even though he's a dwarf and she's a hobbit and it just shouldn't work as well as it does.
One day, maybe, they'll decide to stop wandering and build a home together. Perhaps she'll stop taking her herbs and they can have a family. Maybe they'll have the quiet little dwarf ceremony and she'll wear braids for him and he for her and they'll live in the mountains, away from the hobbits who live such brief lives and don't understand her. She barely has any immediate family left alive to miss her anyway.
T.A. 2941 The Prancing Pony
Belladonna sighs in bliss as the warm water of her bath envelopes her. She had forgotten how sore riding makes her. Coming to Bree hadn't been part of Thorin's plan, she knows, but she's almost glad that they have. This place has memories that she needs to confront but beyond that she and her daughter need a day to adjust to the earth outside the Shire. The earth in the Shire is drenched with the magic of the Mother, the Blessing vibrant and rich after ten centuries of hobbit occupation and application. A cart would have been easier, the life force of another being moving beneath them interferes far more with their feel for the earth than the dead wood of a cart, but Belladonna has done this before and she will do it again. In a way it will be better when they reach the mountains if they have already become accustomed to a disconnect between their Blessing and the earth they rely upon.
Poor Bluebell, of course, is suffering terribly. Her connection to the earth is stronger than Belladonna's has ever been and the resulting nausea from moving over it without being connected to it has been terrible. Belladonna once told Frerin it was much like seasickness (something they both suffered with the only time they decided to use a boat on the sea as transport). The need to share ponies has helped, allowing Bluebell to concentrate on learning to feel through the pony rather than having to try and do it while also concentrating on keeping up with the others. Her growing friendship with Fili and Kili while riding with them has also helped and Belladonna would be lying if she said she was surprised that the trio are becoming close. With Ori added to the mix, when he can escape his older brothers, they are the youngest members of the company and it certainly shows in the young princes. Bluebell needs that, the liveliness of the two boys, Belladonna is aware that her daughter has been lonely for some time. There are draw backs to being one of the Lady's Chosen and carrying her Blessing so strongly, to live so long when even the strongest of hobbits rarely get beyond their eleventies (and without the Blessing probably wouldn't live much longer than Men), to be looked upon as a holy figure on one hand and an adventurous oddity on the other. Bluebell's childhood friends are almost all married with children of their own now. They've withdrawn from her as they've aged and she's retained the bloom of youth, moved on with their lives while Bluebell has cared for Belladonna and becoming seemingly stuck in an endless cycle of identical seasons.
Perhaps she and Frerin should have taken to the road again years ago. While her days haven't been easy Belladonna is adapting far more rapidly than her daughter and with every passing mile she can feel her own burdens lifting. The pain and the ghosts that linger in her mind are drastically lessened and without the reminders of Bungo around every corner she is able to relax more in the wilds than she has been able to at home for nearly forty years. This doesn't mean she's cured or that there aren't other fears to consider. She has Frerin and Bluebell, however, and she knows that they understand what she did and why.
It is how the rest of the Company would react if they found out that she fears. It would have to change the way that they would behave around her, and she knows it will hurt to have them withdraw from her. They will learn about it, something will happen to make certain of that, and her own kind keep a good distance from her even now in the hopes of avoiding her notice lest she do the same thing to them. Something like her actions on the day Bungo was killed can't possibly remain a secret forever and even now she can feel the ripples in the earth beneath her that warn of something big coming. Something life changing, or ending, and part of her had felt it even before Gandalf turned up at her door. Whatever it is, life altering events have a habit of bringing out dark secrets. She's amazed Bluebell hasn't noticed, but then her daughter has never had reason to learn to read the earth this way.
Bluebell can reach deeper into the earth than Belladonna ever could, draws from it with far more ease too. Frerin has even helped Bluebell experiment with drawing through stone, something this trip will give them more opportunities to work at, and she can do it (with difficulty) where Belladonna is cut off from the earth by even a thin layer of slate these days. Her daughter is destined for something great, Belladonna knows even though every parent likes to think it. It's a terrifying thought but it brings comfort too. Bluebell is strong and a gifted healer in her own right, Belladonna can't heal anymore but she can guide her daughter through the new injuries they are bound to encounter on this quest. With her own experience and research into the uses of the Blessing they might just make it through this mad adventure.
A knock at the door brings her out of her thoughts, the water has cooled in the time she has been wool gathering and washing. Her stomach informs her that it is time for dinner, and she dresses quickly behind the screen while calling for the person on the other side of the door to enter. It can only be one of two people anyway. It is Frerin and she sighs as she remembers the reasons for his withdrawal over the last couple of days. They have spoken about it, of course, because they have made the mistake in the past of letting secrets and the differences in their cultures come between them. They both have a lot of regrets on that score and so she understands that he feels he needs to ease the rest of the Company into the reality of their situation, that they are more than lovers and Bluebell is more than just the daughter of the woman he lives with. It's a complicated mess built around different ideals and beliefs. It doesn't stop them huddling together at night, or Bluebell from treating Frerin as the father he has become, nor does it stop Belladonna from taking his arm as they leave her room (where she will be sleeping alone for the first time in years) and make their way to the tap room for dinner. Belladonna is hungry and she is not going to let her discontent with the situation delay her from finding food.
She finds her daughter almost immediately upon her entrance to the tap room. The old inn hasn't changed, even though the last time she was here was seventy years ago, and it seems Bluebell isn't so different to her mother either. She is sat between Fili and Kili, an arrangement which she seems to prefer even over sitting beside Frerin. Belladonna doesn't blame her in the slightest, both of the boys are handsome, and the younger hobbit deserves the attention they pay her. Belladonna does wonder if the attentions of one might be that much more serious than those of the other, but it is a problem for another time and place. It will either resolve itself or it will be dealt with. There is no need to cause an awkward situation this early in their journey.
She would like to say that she spots the trio easily because the room is relatively empty. It's partially true, it's the middle of the week and early in the evening. Unfortunately, she also spots them due to the group of Men stood menacingly by the table. Belladonna knows from experience that dwarves aren't always welcome wherever they go, especially in large groups, and Fili and Kili's obvious youth makes them a prime target for Men who might normally avoid the older dwarves because they assume the younger are less able to take care of themselves. It's a foolish assumption, one that she has seen end badly for more than one Man during her time, but a common one. The boys are obviously bristling as Belladonna and her companion draw near, and she can see that her daughter's colour is high, furious and embarrassed so she can imagine with some accuracy what the Men have insinuated. She glances up at Frerin, feeling the tension in his arm and hoping she won't have to try and talk him down. He's glaring, but she can see the muscle in his cheek twitching as he keeps control of his anger. They don't need a fight, no matter who starts it the Company will come off worse. They can't afford to be thrown out of town when they need to gather more supplies and the extra ponies.
"Is there a problem?" Frerin asks when they get close enough.
The boys are on their feet, now, standing shoulder to shoulder and shielding Bluebell from whatever has been said or threatened. To her relief neither are visibly armed but, if either one is like their uncle, they will have more than one blade squirrelled away somewhere. Hobbits are not good at fighting as a rule, they lack the instincts for it even with training such as Bluebell and Belladonna both have. They are a dead shot with a thrown stone or knife and good with bows when they can find one small enough and light enough to use, but for the most part their first instinct is always to run and hide. They are dedicated to life and growth, they are too small to be fighters and weaker than dwarves as well. Even those touched as strongly with the Blessing as Bluebell and Belladonna can't fight or defend themselves with it. They can use it to hide and to heal, to enhance their sight and hearing, to keep themselves warm or cool and to find sources of clean water but it has no truly offensive properties.
"No problem," one of the Men sneers, apparently deciding that Frerin is the greater threat. An erroneous assumption. No dwarf leaves their settlements unless battle ready or without any other choice.
"Then you'll have no trouble leaving my family in peace so that we can enjoy our dinner," Belladonna says to them before Frerin can speak again. The Men exchange glances but depart with a grumble when Frerin rests his hand on the dagger at his hip. "Are you alright, sweetling?" She asks Bluebell as Fili and Kili sink back into their seats.
"Thanks to these two," she says in a quiet voice. If not for hobbit hearing Belladonna may not have caught it. Both boys hear her, Fili wraps an arm around her shoulders and leans in to whisper something. Bluebell flares red as the braids of the young blond's moustache brush the point of her ear and Belladonna makes a mental note to have Frerin discuss hobbit ears with his nephews. Kili mumbles something else to her that brings a grin to her lips and for the moment the mother will allow the subject to drop while they get drinks and order meals.
"Did you bring them?" She asks Frerin once all five of them are settled. The others still haven't come down, though perhaps that's for the best. He nods and hands her a pouch which she passes on to her daughter. Bluebell's eyes take on an understanding gleam when she empties the contents into her palm. Fourteen roughly shaped wooden tokens land there. On one side is a simple carving of a bluebell and on the other nightshade. Frerin has been working hard on these during the evenings and unlike his nephews he isn't wearing any layers over his shirt. His sleeves are rolled up to the elbows and this leaves the two small tattoos of the same simple flowers on his left forearm exposed. Mother and daughter have the same tattoos, although theirs are on their shoulder where they are less likely to be seen.
"Will these really be able to do the job?" Bluebell asks sceptically.
"It's how they did it in the Wandering Days," she shrugs in reply. "And there were a lot more than seventeen hobbits for each cleric to hide."
"It worked for us," Frerin adds, "when we needed it and until we got something more permanent sorted." He gestures to the tattoos. "I don't think we want to take that route with the Company."
Bluebell hums, her eyes glowing as she uses the Blessing to feel out the carvings and recognise them. Belladonna has already done it herself, the carving of the nightshade infused with a hint of midnight in the same way that the bluebells begin to turn indigo. Their ancestors would have done the same. She lingers a little bit longer over the final three, two of which she passes to Fili and Kili. Belladonna presumes the other is for Ori who will likely have all manner of questions. Both of the young princes have been admirably silent, even though it's obvious they have a number of questions, and they accept the tokens gravely as Bluebell closes their hands tightly over them before muttering a brief prayer to Yavanna in the ancient hobbit tongue. The prayer isn't necessary, Belladonna has never done it and she certainly won't with the rest, but Bluebell is more superstitious than her mother. It comes as a surprise to see a flicker of indigo race up the skin of both young dwarves and burn in their eyes for a second. She's never heard of that happening before.
"Keep them next to your skin," Belladonna instructs. "Don't take them off and don't let anyone else touch them." Frerin hands them a long leather cord each.
"This is more of that hobbity Blessing stuff, isn't it?" Kili asks. "Like you did when we left."
Belladonna hadn't been watching her daughter as closely as she probably should have the night the dwarves arrived, nor the morning after for that matter, but she knows that both of the princes had more than their share of her best ale. They would have been feeling it in the morning and Bluebell has always been too soft hearted. The mother simply settles for raising her eyebrow at her daughter.
"You weren't supposed to mention that," the younger hisses.
"Oops," Kili grins, completely unrepentant. Both boys do as she asks, however, threading the tokens onto the leather cords and tucking them under their shirts before the others arrive.
"I'll handle the rest, sweetling," she says, scooping the other eleven tokens back into the pouch.
"As long as I can give Ori his," Bluebell closes her hand around the one she still holds and Belladonna nods.
Getting the other dwarves to carry and wear the tokens won't be easy. She's half tempted to sew them into their coats without the stubborn creatures knowing about it. That, however, would lead to too many questions and it would probably be easier to pass it off as a hobbit custom for luck and the blessing of their creator rather than anything else. The rest will come as it comes, she finds she's looking forward to the challenge.