Chapter Thiry-Six: Bluebell
T.A. 2902 Bag End
Bluebell doesn't like her father. She loves him but that doesn't mean she has to like him. Bluebell is sure that if things had been different, had her Mama never left the Shire and fallen in love with Frerin, things would be better for all of them. Mama and Papa might still have married but without the desperate pull of the Life-bond between her mother and Frerin to cause this awful, constant tension between her parents.
Her parents aren't the only ones with marital problems. There are plenty of couples without the life-bond. Some marry because, like her father, their life-light is complete without the fraying edges that reach for another. Others do it because, like her mother, the other side of their bond is unattainable. The remainder do so simply because it's more proper and brings about fewer children. Life-bonded couples are rarely apart, frequently have larger families and are often poorer for it, although the Tooks and the Brandybucks are well enough off even though they're infamous for marrying only for the sake of their bond. Like so many of the second kind of marriage, however, her parents' marriage is cracking, and it won't take much to shatter it completely.
"For the Mother's sake, Bluebell," her father snaps. "I wonder, sometimes, if there is any Baggins in you at all! You're more of a dreamer than your mother has ever been."
Bluebell doesn't reply. She doesn't need to. Her father has said this so many times, but it doesn't hurt any less for having heard it more than once.
She hasn't just heard it from her father, although that's probably the worst, her Grandmother Baggins has said it more than once. She's heard it in all the rumours around the Shire too, and it makes Bluebell thankful for Lobelia Bracegirdle. They've been great friends all their lives and her mother, has been a good friend to Bluebell's mother since her parents married. The Bracegirdles are quick to defend Bluebell and Belladonna whenever they hear the tired old rumour surface. It isn't as common to hear anymore, now that Frerin only writes and doesn't visit, but every now and again it comes up. Bluebell will do something particularly Tookish or her mother will get a faraway look in her eyes and suddenly all the Shire can talk about is Belladonna's torrid affair with a dwarf.
When it happens Lobelia will point out the brilliant indigo of Bluebell's eyes or the fine points of her ears. Mrs Bracegirdle will make mention of her sturdy soles and the well cared for curls on her feet. It doesn't stop the rumours, of course, though her grandmother is dead and gone her aunts and uncles put voice to it often enough. With her lineage, however, the behaviour that sparks the rumours is bound to happen. Those of the Took and Brandybuck lines are always more powerfully Blessed than the other families and the more powerful the Blessing the less proper the behaviour.
Her father is still ranting away to himself, though he knows as well as anyone in the years between her marriage and Bluebell's birth Belladonna never laid eyes on Frerin. Bungo's bitterness, however, comes from his inability to accept that the life-bond between Belladonna and Frerin will always draw them together and drives their need to communicate however they can when apart. He often turns that bitterness onto his wife and daughter.
"Have you heard a word I've said?" Her father demands.
"Leave her alone, Bungo," Belladonna appears next to her daughter and Bluebell is startled by the tears on her cheeks. She flees, leaving her parents to run through the same argument once more.
She doesn't like her father, but she loves him all the same and that makes his words hurt all the more.
T.A. 2941 Erebor
Finding the small landing with the hidden door into the mountain turns out to be the easy part. They split into pairs and make quick work of it. Quick enough that they have time to spare after climbing to the top (minus Bombur and Legolas, who both opt to remain with the ponies). Erebor's song has calmed overnight, enough that Bluebell and Fili can exchange soft touches and brief kisses without their abilities shining around them. They didn't avoid one another over night because they dislike the feeling of the other's abilities, truth be told Bluebell loves the feeling of Fili's Stone Sense mixing with her Blessing and hearing the song of the mountain as he must do, rather they prefer that it happen because they want it to. Not because the magic seeped deep into the mountain (or Rivendell) has triggered it.
Thorin's impatience is infectious, although Bluebell is also inclined to think of him as desperate no matter how uncharitable both descriptions sound, and even though they have several hours until sunset most of the Company begin the search for the hidden door. Bluebell, Belladonna and Frerin find a corner and sit to wait. Bluebell is in no rush to face the dragon and her Mama and Adad are even less eager for her to enter the mountain. Fili, Kili, Bofur and Ori join them not long after. Fili and Bofur can read the stone well enough from beside her, and they know they aren't going to find anything anyway. Kili is happy to follow his brother's lead and Ori is seemingly content to write up an account of the last few days. Bluebell finds herself surrounded by family and friends.
The time spent waiting for the sun to set slowly turns into the Company sitting quietly together as they gradually conclude that nothing can be done until the last light. The closer it comes to sunset the more crushing Fili's grip on Bluebell's hand becomes and it's clear just how worried he is about her. She wants to tell him that it will all be well, that she'll walk into Erebor, grab the Arkenstone and walk out without disturbing the dragon. She doesn't even believe that herself, is terrified that she'll walk into the treasure chamber and find an angry dragon already awake and waiting. The mountain has been making enough noise after all.
Finally, the sun sets, and they all wait for the keyhole to be revealed. There's nothing, not even a hint, and Bluebell watches the hope drain out of Thorin to be replaced by bitter despair.
"We tried, nadad," Frerin says.
"What use is trying when we leave with less than we started with?" Thorin snarls. "We've failed and all the hopes of our people have failed with us."
"You would have us go through the front gate?" Frerin demands. "Guarantee that we would walk straight into the waiting jaws of the dragon?"
"Better death than to return a failure."
"Now that is ridiculous!" Frerin exclaims. "What of our sister? Would you rob her of all her family at once? You'd condemn our people altogether!"
The moon is rising behind them, casting king and prince in silvery light as it creeps up the wall that held so much hope and lending a sickly cast to their faces.
"Thorin?" Bluebell tries but he doesn't look at her. "Adad?" Frerin doesn't pause either. Belladonna rolls her eyes, places her fingers to her lips and whistles sharply. The arguing dwarves fall silent. "Look." Bluebell points and as one they turn. The moonlight shines clearly on the keyhole and Bluebell trembles under Thorin's grateful gaze, wishing she had remained silent.
They watch in wonder as the door is opened, but Bluebell wraps her arms around Fili and hides her face in his chest. The moment has come. Gandalf isn't here and she doesn't think she can do it. Her limbs are like lead and she shakes in Fili's arms even as, one by one, the others take tentative steps closer behind Thorin, Frerin and Balin as they go through the door.
"You don't have to do this," Fili tells her. "Now that we know where the door is, we can think of something else."
"But we can't," she breathes. "It won't take long for the dragon to realise that the door is open and however long that is won't be enough to think of something else."
"Then I'll do it," he insists, "or Frerin will, you know he would."
"Fili," she whispers. "I could no more ask you to go in than you could ask me. I have to do this, I won't allow anyone else to do it for me." She can feel tears forming as she looks up at him. "It's time, if I don't go now I never will."
"Then I'll come with you," he says firmly. "Erebor will guide us and I won't let you go alone, even if I can only come part of the way."
Kili and Thorin both object to Fili going in with her, even only a short way, though Bluebell can't blame them. She feels guilty for wanting him there, but she so badly needs his strength. Frerin and Belladonna object to it being either of them but there's nothing else for it. Someone has to go in and Bluebell is the only choice. They slip in together, while the others argue over whether they should, and Fili pauses just down the corridor. For a moment the song of the mountain fills her, though she has no idea what it means, and then he begins to walk again, his footsteps certain and his grip on her hard.
"Bluebell," he keeps his voice low," it's just around the corner. If- If the dragon is there, if it does live, forget about all of it. Forget the stone, the gold, all of it. Just come back out and we'll think of something else. Promise me."
"Without the Arkenstone you might never reclaim Erebor," she objects. He grabs her shoulders.
"If you get burnt to a cinder, I don't want it," he hisses. "It won't be worth it without you, so you promise me."
The tunnel is dimly lit and so she can hardly make out the expression on his face, but she can see the mithril glow of his eyes and she sees them flare into a flame. His grip is tight, though not painful, and she knows he's as frightened for her as she is. Beneath her feet the floor of the passageway seems to ripple with every breath, and she can't look away from him. Nor can she refuse him even though she knows that she may not have a choice.
"I promise to try," she replies. He crushes their lips together and she returns his desperate kiss with equal passion.
"Come back to me," he gasps.
Bluebell takes a shuddering breath as she nods, reaching for the earth through the stone and thrilled at how easily she finds it. The slopes of the mountain aren't as saturated with the remnants of the Blessing as the plains, but she finds a pocket of it quickly enough. Her voice is barely a breathless whisper as she chants, cloaking herself from view as best she can. Then she all but runs down the corridor, because if she doesn't leave now she never will, and all too soon she is looking down upon an ocean of gold.
Bluebell has heard stories of the treasure room of Thror. She has heard of it from Frerin, on the rare occasion he would discuss the subject, and from Thorin and Balin when explaining her task. She doubts they realise what a monumental task they have given her. Just looking over it she thinks she could be given a year and barely scratch the surface of the wealth stored in this cavernous room. Quite how Thorin ever thought she could find one jewel in all of this she doesn't know. Fili, she thinks, would have infinitely more luck if they could only get rid of the dragon.
Speaking of the dragon. There's no sign of Smaug, neither living or dead, and so she's careful as she picks her way over the rolling hills of gold and jewels. There's silver and a few other items mixed in as well and she only just avoids slicing the sole of her foot on a blade that looks decorative but that she knows will be as sharp as any other blade of dwarf make. The sapphires on the hilt make her think of Fili and she tucks it into her belt without a thought. She keeps moving, letting her feet guide her towards an area that pulses to a slow, but regular, beat. She can't see anything when she reaches it, but she's certain that she's in the right spot. She takes a moment to consider whether she should just dig or start to make her way back and, in that moment, she hears what can only be an avalanche of coins and feels the air stir.
Smaug is awake.
The gold under her feet shifts just enough to expose something that glows with an all too familiar light. Bright white silver, mithril, streaked with orange and green and indigo that swirls beneath the surface and holds the eye of the beholder almost hypnotically. The Arkenstone. The Heart of the Lonely Mountain. She manages to grab it as the shifting gold sends her tumbling, letting herself fall in the hope that the scattering of the treasure which covered the dragon will hide the roll of her body. When she comes to a stop she freezes, moving just enough to tuck the Arkenstone into her bodice, hidden beneath the swell of her breasts and held in place by the tight lacing.
"I smell you, Thief," Smaug purrs and Bluebell stumbles on her words, loses her connection to the earth and darts behind a pillar. "I hear your little prayer."
Tears prick at her eyes as she reaches for the earth and feels it skitter out of reach. Her thoughts turn to Fili and the promise that she won't be able to keep. She sends him a silent apology, nothing has gone as planned on this quest so she should have expected this part to go wrong too.
"I am no thief," she calls back, still trying to touch the earth and finding it impossible to grasp. The stone isn't the problem. The problem is the gold she stands on and the weird slickness that coats it. Refined metal, she realises, and it must turn the Blessing aside as surely as stone would for most other hobbits. "I merely came to gaze upon you, to see if the stories and tales of your magnificence were true." She shifts enough to check Smaug's location. The dragon hasn't found her hiding place yet but he's between her and the only way out.
"What do you think of them now?"
"That they didn't do you justice, great Smaug," she replies. "Truly, they failed to capture your magnitude." She darts to another pillar, closer to the dragon but she has to find a way past him, and she can't afford to go in the other direction and risk getting lost. She should have let Fili come with her, she thinks miserably. She's going to die and she's going to die alone.
"You seem familiar with me," Smaug draws closer and she holds her breath, "but I'm unfamiliar with your kind. What are you?"
She can't tell him what she is. She won't risk setting him on the Shire and he will go there if he thinks the hobbits pose any kind of threat to his hoard.
"I come from over hill and under hill. I'm the child of a prince, although I am not royalty. I'm the lucky number," she darts to another pillar. "Beloved of earth and stone, although I am no friend of water." She rests her hands on the pillar and uses it to help her reach for the earth outside. It's limited but she grabs for it all the same and races desperately through a prayer, hiding herself just long enough to enable her to get that little bit closer to the exit.
"Don't stop there, those are some interesting titles," Smaug draws closer. She stumbles behind another pillar. Nearly at the stairs now but no quite close enough.
"I would rather hear about you," she squeaks. "I've come all this way to meet you, through mountains and forests and lakes. What harm is there in telling me how you came to choose this mountain?"
"The mountain called me," Smaug chuckles. "All this marvellous gold for the taking and all offered to me by their greatest treasure. Now, little thief, let me see you." A head appears around her hiding place and Bluebell lets out a shrill scream as she topples away from him. "Would you take it for them, thief? Would you take the beating heart of the mountain for dwarves? It will never be theirs. It doesn't want them."
"No dwarves," Bluebell scrambles backwards and is relieved when her hand touches the first step back up to the entrance. "Just me, no one else," she lies breathlessly, hoping that no on heard her scream and comes to investigate.
"I smell them on you," the dragon roars. "Their scent is thick, and I know they await you outside. They have sent you to do what they are all too cowardly to attempt themselves. Do you think they will reward you? Do you think they will truly give you some share of my treasure? You will be fortunate if they let you leave with your life. They sent you for the Arkenstone and they sent you to die!"
The dragon rears back, his chest beginning to glow, and Bluebell abandons all attempts to hide herself in favour of simply scrambling up the stairs as fast as her feet can take her. Heat burns through her soles as the dragon roars and she cries out at the feel of it. Then Fili and Kili are there, skittering to a halt in the door as they come face to face with the beast that stole their ancestral home. They grab her, Kili hoisting her onto Fili's back, their longer legs managing to achieve greater speed and their greater strength meaning her additional weight makes little difference. There is another burst of heat and they dart down a side corridor to avoid flames that are hot enough to make the stone glow.
"Get Thorin and the others," Fili orders when it becomes clear that Smaug intends to find the hidden entrance and cut off their escape. "Tell them to forget the ponies and get into the mountain."
Kili nods and obeys, leaving Bluebell and Fili in what turns out to be a hidden guardroom. There are no bodies here, although Bluebell half expected to see them, but it has the stale and dusty smell of a room long unused.
"I'm sorry," she gasps as Fili sets her down and begins to run his hands over her. "I'm sorry. I tried, I really tried, but by the time he emerged I was already cut off and-"
He silences her with a kiss, hard and crushing, as though he is reassuring himself that she is alive. She clings to him, needing the reassurance herself. Then there is the clattering of feet and they part to the feel of arms wrapping around them, her Mama and Adad, and Bluebell sags into the three pairs of arms that hold her.
"There is no time for this," Thorin says and all eyes turn to him. "Do you have it?"
A.N: It's very hard to try and come up with something a little bit different for the Smaug encounter, even with all the changes I've made it didn't affect the part with Smaug as much as I had hoped it would. I got there in the end.