Chapter Thirty-Nine: Parasites

Fili watched Emelia as she walked away with Ori, although for her it was more akin to stomping than anything, before he turned to look at Kili. He cuffed him over the head once he was sure Emelia wouldn't be able to hear them, earning a scowl for his efforts, which he responded to with an equally intense glare at his younger brother.

"What in the name of Mahal is wrong with you?"

"Why did you hit me?" Kili rubbed the back of his head, leaning back against the building with a sour look on his face. He folded his arms over his chest and looked at the ground moodily, ignoring Fili the best he could.

"I'm your older brother. I don't need an excuse. Now, answer the question." Fili shoved his shoulder, which caused Kili to slip. "Sorry." Fili said quickly, eyes flashing down to Kili's leg when he realized that he might have shoved him too hard.

"I'm really not in the mood for this right now." Kili dropped his hands down to his sides and slid down to the ground, letting out a small groan of pain when he moved his injured leg too much. Fili made the decision not to comment on it, for the time being, and followed his action. He folded his legs up underneath him and looked at the building in front of him, deciding that he would wait for Kili to answer in his own time.

"Sounds like quite the party in there." Fili said after a long silence during which Kili didn't make any sounds of answering his questions. "I'm sure Emelia will enjoy herself. Lots of blokes to dance with, plenty of handsome…"

"Are you trying to make me angrier?"

"Perhaps." Fili glanced at Kili, aware that he had been right to bring up Emelia. Kili's hands were drawn up into fists and his jaw was clenched so tightly the muscles were showing through. Fili had noticed that over the last couple of months his hands tended to do that after he and Emelia had had a row. "Are you well, brother? You look like you're about to hit something."

"You, probably."

"Kee, I'm curious about something."

"You're always curious about something."

"What's the situation with Emmy?" Fili looked at his brother, hoping that he would finally find out the answer to the question that had been bothering him for weeks on end. His curiosity had intensified, naturally, once Emelia decided to plant one on Kili in front of them all. While he considered himself to be very observant when it came to his little brother, he wanted to hear exactly how he felt before jumping to conclusions. That way when he bothered them both he would have actual evidence to levy against them when they tried to deny it.

"Nothing." Kili said quickly, looking away from Fili.

"So all the snogging?"

"Purely platonic." Fili couldn't help but laugh. He nudged his brother's shoulder, guffaws coming out louder and louder. Kili didn't seem nearly as amused. He shoved Fili back, only to cause him to laugh even more robustly. His sides were starting to hurt by the time he managed to quiet himself down enough to speak to his younger brother again. When Kili glanced back at him a fresh wave of chuckles washed over him. He reached up a hand to wipe away the moisture from his eyes, forcing himself to look away from Kili so he wouldn't have the desire the laugh again. "Alright, enough."

"Uncle said it was enough with Emelia earlier but that didn't seem to stop you." Fili said, snorting when Kili full out punched him in the shoulder.

"You're insufferable."

Fili waggled his eyebrows at him. When Kili didn't show any signs of cracking a smile Fili deiced to switch tactics. He reached into the folds of his clothes, digging around until he found the pipe he had filched off Bard. It was cracked and just about useless so he didn't feel overly horrible about stealing. Besides, Bard was a bit of a foul bastard, even as helpful as he had been, and had at least five other pipes that Fili had seen. He found the little pinch of tobacco he kept squirreled away in his boot and stuffed it into the end of the pipe. "Fancy a smoke then, little brother?"

"Where did you get that?" Kili cracked a smile for the first time. He grabbed the pipe out of Fili's hand and brought it up to his mouth. He smelled the tobacco for a moment, taking in long, deep breaths. "How are we going to light it?"

"So little faith." Fili swiped a lighter along his boot, feeling a small amount of triumph when it caught flame. He had thought they might be ruined after spending so long in the water, but he was wrong, thankfully. Kili took a long drag from the pipe, a look of relaxation spreading across his face. He settled back against the building, stretching his legs out in front of him. He blew a few smoke rings before he passed the pipe back to Fili.

"She kept saying she's coming with us tomorrow." Kili said after a long amount of time spent smoking in silence. Fili thought it might have been the longest time they had spent together without either of them uttering a word. It almost startled him when Kili broke it, drawing him back to the original matter that Fili had wanted to discuss with him. "Over and over."

"I wouldn't expect any different of her."

"I did." Kili said, surprising Fili.

"Why?" Fili blew a shaky smoke ring, watching it was it traveled through the air until it dissipated into nothing.

"She used to talk about nothing but going home, about wanting to be rid of us for good, and then we get here and she wants to go with us. She looked at me like she was going to cry if she didn't get to go with us." Kili fiddled with his hands, dropping them into his lap after a moment. "It just surprised me. She surprises me."

"Good surprises?"

"Definitely." Kili smiled down at his hands. "Although, I wish she would let it be. You remember the goblins and how distraught she was after she killed one of them. And she didnt do much better when faced with the pack of orcs. Imagine her with a dragon."

"Who knows? She might be able to talk the damn thing into submission."

"That didn't work on me. Why would it work on a dragon?"

"You're more stubborn for one thing." Fili wrapped an arm around Kili's shoulder. "And you smell remarkably worse."

The party seemed to have taken a turn for the rowdy while the two of them sat outside. Loud laughter floated over the music, combining with shouts for more alcohol and songs from the dwarves that were already inside. Fili could hear the distinct sound of Bofur singing off key. It was littered with girlish giggles, all of which did not come from Emelia, Fili was certain. He imagined Emelia was still pulling Ori around the dance floor, shooting dry looks at Bofur the entire time. Now that he was thinking about, and not just prodding at his brother's fragile ego, the men of Lake-town would probably want to dance with Emelia. She was beautiful and dainty and, above all else, the new person in town. Plus she was human, like them, and chopped full of weird things to say that never ceased to surprise the dwarves around her. He glanced at Kili, hoping that he wasn't thinking about that too much.

He was, apparently, considering how his brow was drawn together in a confused manner. "How long do you think Ori will be able to dance with Emmy before some other…" Kili trailed off, annoying himself with his own words.

"Maybe a few more dances, at most." Fili said, deciding that it would be best to be honest with Kili. "Of course, Ori was never one for dancing. They might already be done."

Kili cursed under his breath and immediately started to try and stand up. He struggled for a bit, biting his lip to keep from crying out. Fili scrambled up, the pipe in his hand completely forgotten, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Oh would you calm down for a moment? She's going to dance with other men, Kee. It's just what happens. No amount of brooding on your part is going to prevent that. Especially when you can't dance with her yourself."

"Thank you for reminding me, brother." Kili ground out through his teeth. He placed his hand on the side of the building, breathing like he was about to pass out. "I need you to do me a small favor. As a form a payment for being such a…"

"Watch yourself. Mother would be all too willing to wash your mouth out with soap again."

"I'm going to kill you."

"You'll have to catch me first. And right now, I'd say the odds are in my favor." Fili jumped back from the arm Kili swung at him. "What was your favor?" He asked before he upset Kili any more than he already had.

"Dance with her for me."

"Pardon?" Fili heard him properly, but he couldn't really understand the odd request.

"It's bad enough that I can't dance with her myself. If you keep her occupied no other man will be able to dance with her."

"That seems a bit unfair to her." Fili observed. He supposed if he cared about Emelia the same way Kili did, admitted or not, he would want to find any excuse he could to keep her from being dragged around the dance floor by some unknown man. "Besides, since when do you care about dancing so much."

"I don't." Fili understood exactly what his brother meant, even if Kili wasn't willing to admit it to himself.

"Of course, brother." Fili kept his arm around Kili's shoulder and began to lead towards the large hall. "Besides, it will give me the opportunity to teach her the proper dances for when you decide to finally court her and marry her."

Kili hit him in the stomach without even responding. Fili supposed he deserved that. He smirked over at Kili and continued to help him into the hall. Kili hadn't answered his question directly, but Fili didn't need him to. He had gleaned all the information he needed; now it was just a matter of putting it to a good use. He would need Emelia for that and Emelia would need a dance partner once she tired Ori out or embarrassed him too much. It was fortuitous, really.

It turned out that even though she had been deflecting when she had asked Ori to dance, she was right to do so. As soon as they entered the large hall in the Master's house they were assaulted with outlandishly loud music, the smell of alcohol, and pairs of Lake-town citizens enjoying the exotic and exciting nature of the dwarves. The human women seemed to be the most excited by them, judging by the way they were flocking to the more social dwarves, Bofur in particular.

Emelia grabbed onto Ori a little bit tighter as he led around the dance floor. She noticed Nori and Bombur were escorting two pretty women to the floor, thus causing more couples to follow their lead and join them as well. It was overly loud in the large room and the festivities seemed to spring up out of nowhere, making Emelia wonder how long it had been since the people of Lake-town had celebrated something. It seemed fishy to her, no pun intended, that the Master was so welcoming to them when just the day before Bard had been forced to sneak them in to the town in the first place.

"Sorry, Miss Emelia." Ori apologized softy when he stepped on her foot, although Emelia hadn't noticed. Her attention had been drawn to the raised platform at the far side of the room. The Master of Lake-town was watching the dwarves around the room, a calculating look on his face. Alfrid, who was demonstrating attachment skills that only a parasite would be proud of, was next to him, whispering something every once and while. Thorin had taken a seat next to him, even if he didn't look too pleased to be there, and was responding to the Master's questions when necessary. Emelia could see, so far as across the room, that Thorin was doing his best to not look annoyed or repulsed by the Master.

Emelia admired that, even if she was still mad at him. She hadn't done a very good job at not showing her dislike for the repulsive Master, or Alfrid for that matter.

Emelia's attention was pulled back to Ori when he trod on her foot again, much harder than the first time. Her eyes watered with pain but she tried to not let Ori see. He had been a horrible dance partner, as far as the dancing went, but he was being very considerate to not comment on the situation with Kili. Of course, she imagined all of the dwarves were so used to her and Kili fighting that it was no longer worth speaking about.

"Try not to maim the poor lass, Ori."Ori seemed to take Fili's sudden appearance as an excuse to stop dancing. He removed his arms from around Emelia and stepped back immediately, a sheepish look on his face that was mixed with appreciation for Fili. He was replaced by Fili, who winked at Emelia when he saw the look on her face. "I'll take over for a bit. You should know, one of the ladies serving drinks keeps giving you the eye."

"I think I'll just settle with a drink. I'm sorry for your feet, Miss Emelia." Ori smiled at her, seeming relieved at the prospect of not having to dance anymore. Emelia should have known it wouldn't be his thing, although she wasn't really thinking about that when she had asked him.

"Emelia." Emelia said, leaning over Fili's shoulder to call to Ori before he got out of earshot.

"What?"

"Call me Emelia. It's been months." Emelia smiled at him and pointedly ignored the commentary coming from Fili. "And thank you for the dance. It was lovely." Ori smiled brightly at her, blush and all, and made his way over to where some of the dwarves had gathered and were sharing a round of drinks.

"Lovely?" Fili wrapped one of his arms around her waist while grasping her hand with his other before she could protest. "That has to be the sweetest word you've ever used to lie about something."

"Oh, shut up."

Fili laughed, twisting her around as the music picked up in tempo. He lifted her in the air, despite her protests, before dipping her outlandishly. His dancing style left a wide birth between them and the nearest couple and was unfortunately drawing attention to them. The dwarves by the drinks were clapping and laughing at the sight of Fili dragging her all around. He seemed to know what he was doing when it came to dancing, although Emelia didn't. She was having a hard time keeping up with him after the relative ease of dancing with Ori.

"You aren't going to be sick are you?" Fili asked, twirling her in his arms. "You look a little pale."

Emelia looked down at her feet, trying not to fall over. While she had been the good dancer with Ori, she had discovered, rather quickly, that Fili was far and away better than her. It irked her and the smirk on his face wasn't helping.

"No." Emelia yelped in surprise when he lifted her up once again. "But I might be if you keep doing that."

"Would you like to stop?" Fili asked, arms poised to keep up his fast pace.

"Maybe. For a bit."

"You go and sit then, and I'll get us something to drink."

He left her on the dance floor as quickly as he had shown up. He maneuvered his way away from her, leaving her with the decision of where to sit. She moved off the dance floor before she could be asked by someone else, someone more annoying than Fili, if that was possible. She scurried away when she noticed a particularly dirty man, both hygiene and facial expression wise, smiling at her. She ducked through the crowds of happy people, glancing over her shoulder to see if the man was still watching her. She avoided an enthusiastic couple, narrowly missing the man's elbow, and looked around for a quiet spot for her and Fili, not that she expected there to be.

Emelia was forced to settle on a table that was occupied by only a young couple with their heads close together and an old drunk who was already passed out. It wasn't the worst option for her. She could have been forced to sit with some of the women who liked to giggle at the dwarves, even when they weren't being funny.

She sat down between the couple and the man, trying to make herself as small as possible. The couple looked like they would start exchanging spit at any moment and the man was dangerously close to passing out on top of her.

"Making some new friends?" Emelia jumped up once Fili was back with the drinks. The drunk man slumped down onto her spot as soon as she did, letting out a loud burp in the process.

"I couldn't find anywhere else." It was true. The hall was filling up with more and more people, all of whom seemed to gravitate towards the dwarves, Fili included. Emelia noticed a few women hovering behind him, whispering amongst themselves about the blondness of his hair or how charming his smile was. Or at least, she assumed that's what they would be talking about. It wasn't as if they knew anything else about him.

"This is perfect." Fili shoved one of the large goblets, or tankards or mugs, Emelia wasn't really sure what to call it, into her hand and steered her towards the small opening between the two sets of people. "We need to talk."

Emelia did not like to hear that sort of thing.

He waited until he had taken a long swig of his drink before he turned to look at her with a very serious expression. She waited for him to speak while she sniffed at the very brown liquid with caution.

"What's the drinking age here?"

"Drinking age?" Apparently no such thing existed here, as was indicated by the confused look on his face.

"You know, legality. Should I have X's on my hands or something?"

"I have literally no idea what you're talking about." Of course he didn't. The dwarvish idea of drinking age was probably based on how much facial hair someone had. She supposed she should appreciate the freedom of being able to drink whatever she wanted. It was a perk that she hadn't been planning on. She took a big swig of it, almost to prove to herself that she could, and immediately regretted it.

It tasted like gasoline, or at least what she assumed gasoline tasted like. She forced herself to swallow it, coughing and gagging like an idiot.

"Don't drink the whole damn thing at once, Emmy." Fili clapped her on the back. Her eyes watered and she felt slightly nauseous, forcing her to set the mug down and push it away from her.

"That's what I've been missing out on?" Emelia wiped her mouth on the back of her sleeve, scowling at the offending drink. She could still taste the aftertaste in her mouth. It was something akin to what she thought it might taste like to lick a bar floor on a Saturday not, if she had to guess. "Ugh, that's atrocious."

"You get used to it."

"Used to it, my ass." Emelia laughed, pushing the drink farther away from her. She leaned closer to him so that she would be able to hear him better, smirking when she saw the amount of foam that was stuck to his facial hair. "You've got a bit of foam in your mustache."

"I'm saving it for later."

"Do you have snacks squirreled away in there too?" Emelia reached up a hand and poked one of the braided ends of his mustache, picturing him trying to hide a bit of food in his hair like an odd sort of kangaroo. "Is that why dwarves have beards? So they're always prepared just in case they get a mad case of the munchies?"

"Yes, Emmy. That is exactly why we have beards. It has nothing to do with cultural significance, status, or personal aesthetics."

"You're certainly dialing up the sass tonight." Emelia decided to try the drink again. She took another tentative sip and instantly wished she wasn't such an idiot. "God, that tastes like snot."

"Do you have much experience with that or are you just postulating as usual?" Fili tipped his mug back and finished his drink with a particularly obnoxious flourish. "Are you going to finish your tankard of snot?"

"It's yours." She handed it to him and smirked at the appreciative look on his face.

"Cheers."

Emelia looked away from him as he set to work finishing her drink as fast as he could. Or at least, that's what it sounded like to her. He wasn't the only one. The hall was filled with people laughing and dancing and, probably most importantly to them, drinking everything in sight. The amount of alcohol seemed to have a good effect on the people. Emelia had never seen the dwarves so happy and carefree. It's like they almost forgot about the mountain and the large dragon that was using it as its own personal hidey-hole.

It was only after she caught herself glaring at Nori did she realize she was being a bit of killjoy.

"Would you believe me if I told you this was the first real party I've ever been invited to?"

"No." Fili peered at her over the top of the now empty mug.

"Well, believe it. I lived so far from anybody my own age parties were virtually nonexistent. I wasn't very popular anyway."

"Shocking." Fili chortled when Emelia scowled at him.

"We can't all be princes."

"How very true, my lady." Fili glanced around the room conspiratorially before he scooted close enough to her that their legs were pressed up against each other. "Speaking of princes, would you care to illuminate something for me?"

"You have that look on your face that I don't like, Fee."

"What look?"

"The look that means you're up to no good."

"Then I must look like this at all times."

"Well, I'll give you that." Emelia wasn't stupid. She knew that Fili was going to ask about Kili. She would think something was wrong with him if he didn't. "Ask away."

"Why do you keep kissing him?" Fili wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer so that no one would be able to overhear them. Not that it was likely, considering the current volume level in the hall.

"To be fair, this most recent time he kissed me." Emelia said, looking down at her knees as a form of avoidance. She could talk about it without being too overly embarrassed, but looking at him was out of the question. She could only handle so much without turning into a bumbling mess of stutters and run on sentences. "It seemed like a natural progression for me. In my weird logic kissing him was the best response to emotional trauma."

"The emotional trauma being that dream." Fili shot a glare at a couple that attempted to sit next to them, effectively keeping their space to themselves and the young couple. Although, they were so enthralled with each other by that point, neither Fili nor Emelia worried that they would overhear them in the slightest. "I happen to think that you are completely justified in fearing the mountain, Emelia."

"I am not afraid of the mountain. Don't get it twisted. I'm afraid of losing you."

"I hate to be the one to point this out to you, but the possibility of losing one of us is still there whether you're with us or not." Fili set her mug down and turned so that they were speaking face to face. "I think Thorin and Kili might have approached this subject in the wrong way."

"If you're going to tell me no..."

"I wasn't. Emelia, it's your choice whether or not you go to tomorrow. Thorin can tell you no all he wants but I know that if your are truly set on going you will follow us. Now, I know Thorin and Kili have told you that you can't go based on your own safety so I am going to try and illuminate it from a different perspective. If you're with us, Emelia, someone else could get hurt worrying about you."

"I can take care of myself." Emelia said obstinately.

"No, you can't. I'm saying that as your close friend, Emelia." Fili squeezed her shoulder. She hoped he realized how harsh he was being. Of course, that was probably his intention. "You and Kili can downplay what's going on between you all you want, but I know better. I know that if you were to come with us tomorrow he wouldn't be able to focus on anything but you. He already can't focus on anything but you and we aren't even in danger here. Wait until after it's safe, please. I'm asking you as a favor to me, wait."

"Fee..."

"Emelia, please."

"What am I supposed to do?" Emelia pulled back from him, crossing her arms over her chest. "While you're all gone, what can I do? Nothing. The answer is nothing. You guys are all I have. I have no life outside of you. I know that is extraordinarily sad, but it's true. I don't know what to do without you guys."

"What you did before you met us." Fili seemed very confused, not that she blamed him. She didn't really think she was getting her point across. "We will only be gone for a short time and then you will rejoin us."

"I can't do what I did before. What I did before is gone, my life before you guys is gone. My home, my parents, and my little brother are all gone and I don't want to lose the only people who could even come close to being my..." She paused, feeling her chest starting to constrict. "Well, you're my family and I don't intend on losing you. You guys are just going to have to get used to that."

The Master of Lake-town did not like dwarves. Nor did her trust them, for that matter. He cared for their manners even less and he couldn't stand their height. He wasn't one to ever ignore an opportunity for money, however, resulting in the unfortunate turn of events that involved him socializing with a group of particularly loud dwarves and treating them as his most honored guests. They weren't, that much he was sure of.

Lake-town was a miserable place if you cared for anything but fish and cold weather. It was devoid of any sort of interaction with people of high value and lacked the sort of social season the Master generally liked the place himself among. The people were soggy, if that was a way to describe people, and smelled like rotting fish. He did all he could to avoid them, but they were like bugs, crawling all over him and causing problems, demanding things from him that they had no right to demand from him. Bard was the worst and the Master did all he could to rid himself of that particular annoyance. Thus far, it hadn't worked.

Currently, Bard was one of the last things on his mind. His attention had been turned to the dwarves of Erebor and the woman they traveled with. He was particularly interested in the riches he was promised by the would be king, Thorin Oakenshield and even more so interested in securing those riches for himself.

The Master shifted in his chair, turning away from where Thorin had been sitting to speak to Alfrid. "Bring me Emelia. I wish to finish our conversation from earlier."

Emelia was currently sitting with one of the younger dwarves, speaking in his ear about some drivel, he was sure. The dwarf had his arm wrapped around her shoulder, effectively preventing any man from approaching her. The Master was hardly fazed. He pointed towards her, waving Alfrid off before he could ask any further questions. He leaned back in his chair and waited for her to come and join him.

She was a slight woman with very small features and an even smaller mind, if his experiences with her were any sort of indication. He seriously doubted the mental capability of someone who would willingly spend time with dwarves, let alone travel with them. He was able to pick up rather quickly that she wasn't actually related to Bard. Even an imbecile could see that. It only served to further his plans, as far as he was concerned.

Emelia looked up from speaking with the blonde dwarf, looking very surprised to see Alfrid standing in front of her. She spoke, hands balling into fists over her chest as. Alfrid shook his head, gesturing over his shoulder. He hardly cared what Alfrid said to the simple woman, merely that she come sit with him.

It took a few moments of discussion between Alfrid and her before she finally stood up and followed after him, throwing a glare up at the man dressed in black as she went. The people of Lake-town parted for them, shooting curious glances at them and the Master. He ignored them, like he always did.

He felt a small smile making its way onto his face as she got closer. He would not be denied his gold and Emelia was just the means to an end he needed.

Emelia glared at the back of Alfrid's head, secretly hoping he would feel the intensity of her dislike without her needing to say so. He wasn't getting the message, considering how he kept glancing back at her with a creepy smile that made her stomach squirm. She highly doubted it would matter if he did know, however. The Master had summoned her, and summoning seemed like the right way to describe it in this situation, and Alfrid had said he wouldn't take no for an answer. Don't shoot the messenger, she figured, even if she thought he might deserve a well-aimed paintball to the backside.

She made a mental note to work on that for later and turned her attention towards plastering a fake smile on her face.

Emelia tried her absolute best not to visibly cringe when the Master smiled at her in greeting. He gestured to the seat that Thorin had been sitting in. She wondered briefly where he had gone before she realized that he had probably had enough of the Master. She knew that she had during their extremely short meal earlier in the day, or night she wasn't really sure anymore, and could only imagine how much more nauseating his company was when combined with alcohol.

"Ah, Emelia, have a seat."

She was already sitting. She inwardly rolled her eyes and pretended to look interested, but she could already begin to feel her mind wandering. She could feel herself wanting to think about Kili and Erebor. She was tired of arguing about things with them. It exhausted her and she imagined it was the same for them. What Fili had said about thinking of the dwarves had stuck with her, as much as she was loathe to admit. She had never thought of herself distraction, but now that he said it, it seemed very plausible. She was a little embarrassed about claiming them as family to Fili, even if that isn't what she should be thinking of. She should be thinking of how she was going to go with them without it being too much of an ordeal. Emelia thought about following them, but Fili's words stuck in her mind.

She was a distraction. A hindrance.

The idea crossed into her mind, briefly, that she might shouldn't be planning her life based on one dream, no matter how sad and frightening it was.

Maybe they were right. Maybe it would be better for her to stay behind. She didn't know what to think anymore and her head was starting to feel like someone was inflating a balloon in her brain.

"Are you enjoying the feast?" She was unfortunately forced to pay attention to him. She wondered if feast was the right term. The people seemed more intent on drinking their calories than eating them.

"Yes." She tried to not look at his teeth when he smiled. They were far too gross and far too creepy and threatened to make her regurgitate the food she had steadily been noshing on throughout the evening. "The people of Lake-town sure know how to party."

"They don't get much occasion." He placed his abnormally large head on one of his hands. It put his facial features into even sharper focus, which made her want to move her seat even farther away from it than it already was. "It seems only proper that we should welcome someone as important as Thorin Oakenshield in such a manner."

Emelia had come to realize, over he months of traveling with Thorin, that he was much more important than she had initially thought. Originally, she had chocked it up to an inflated sense of self mixed with a group of supportive groupies. He claimed to be a king and she had never really believed it. Not until recently.

"He is pretty cool, I guess." Emelia said, thinking that she might actually believe it for the first time.

"Emelia, I'm going to be perfectly blunt with you."

"Okay." Emelia hoped that him being blunt would end the conversation sooner.

"There is gold in that mountain beyond what you can imagine." Emelia highly doubted that. Growing up poor had granted her a certain imaginative spirit when it came to money. She imagined piles she could swim through, mountains of jewels, lakes of shiny things. She imagined a lot, but somehow she knew it might be more than that even. "And I want you to make sure that I get my share."

Emelia, who had been avoiding looking at him for too long, turned back sharply.

"I am not the sort of man that is fond of relying on women for anything, least of all, important things, but I find myself to be a bit of a bind." Emelia flat out wanted to punch him in the face for the woman comment, but she resisted, for the time being. "I am aware that you are not related to Bard."

"I never said I was. Technically speaking, I claimed to be related to his wife." She glanced back to where Fili was sitting, officially uncomfortable with this conversation. She had been uncomfortable from the start, but now it was worse. "If you wanted to get technical."

"I do not."

"Of course not." Emelia shifted in her seat. "So what is it that you wanted from me?"

"I just told you. I want you to ensure that I get my share. Thorin Oakenshield promised me riches for my help and I intend to get it."

"You mean Lake-town's share." Emelia said. She assumed that was what he meant. Thorin, as much of an ass as he could be, would never offer money to someone like the Master without offering it to the people of Lake-town. They deserved it more and she thought Thorin saw that. She hoped he did, at least.

"I am Lake-town. I make sure they survive. Without me they would be nothing."

Emelia highly doubted that. In fact, she doubted it so much she rolled her eyes right in front of him.

"I have been a gracious host, Emelia." He gestured around him, making special note to point to the dwarves that were having the most fun. "And all I ask is a little repayment for my trouble."

"I'm not going to make Thorin do anything." Emelia said, knowing that the Master was not going to like that answer. "If he promised you a share of the treasure in Erebor then you'll get it. He is a man of his word. He has never once lied to me, even though sometimes I wish he would. You'll get your money, but I'm not going to be part of it." She stood up. "I appreciate your hospitality and I would very much like to go enjoy it before we leave tomorrow."

"You mean to go with them?" The Master asked, an incredulous look on his face. "Truly?"

Emelia's frustration was mounting. Firstly, and most annoyingly, there was the fact that this was the second time in a week that someone had had the audacity to assume she would be willing to go against the dwarves in any sort of manner. The Master was even more condescending than Thranduil, if that was possible, and about a million times ruder. She wondered if there was something about her that made her seem like she was an easy target. She wasn't. She liked to think that after all this time she was better than that. If either the Master of Thranduil had asked when she had first arrived here, she would have more than likely said yes in a heartbeat. She was more than a little ashamed at that. She wasn't like that anymore, at least she didn't think she was, which meant she wouldn't ever chose elves over the dwarves. Emelia was starting to think that she wouldn't even choose the humans over the dwarves.

Secondly, she was annoyed that people seemed so surprised that she wanted to go to Erebor. Whether or not she would actually go was an entirely different story.

"I do not mean to be rude, but I would like to return to my friends." She didn't answer his question about Erebor on purpose. If she had been asked an hour ago she would have said yes in a heartbeat. Now that Fili had stepped in, she wasn't so sure anymore.

"Remember what I said, Emelia. If I don't get my share I'm holding you as the responsible party." Emelia stared at the Master, thinking it might have been wrong to call Alfrid a parasite. He wasn't, not when compared to the leech of Lake-town himself.

"That's very dramatic."

"Enjoy the party. It might be the last you ever have if the rumors about that mountain are true."

Emelia felt a shiver run down her spine.

"Have you ever seen the dragon?" She couldn't help but ask.

"No, not for years."

"So it might be dead." Emelia reasoned, knowing it probably wasn't true.

"It might be. But that also means it might be alive. We have spoken enough for tonight. Go and enjoy the festivities." The Master gestured to Alfrid, snapping his finger for another drink. "Do not forget what I have said, Emelia. I think you will find I generally get what I want. I would hate for you to find that out the hard way."

Hello!

I am sorry for the long wait. I've been crazy busy with work and family stuff. Positive note though, I just had my birthday and am no longer a teenager! Yay! I guess, anyway, thank you for all the reviews, favorites and follows. :)

Firstly, this is the longest chapter by far. I originally had it going up until the dwarves leave but it was just a beast so I cut it in half. Second of all, this will be the last time Emelia going to the mountain is addressed in depth. I don't want it to end up being like the same conversation over and over so Fili was sort of it.

I hope you guys hate the Master as much as I do! Next chapter will be the dwarves leaving and Kili's injury, so that means our favorite elves will be popping back up!

I've had some readers express and interest in me writing a Wenny/Eldarion story, so I was wondering what the general consensus is on that. It would be much shorter, like 50,000 words maybe? and include all of the members of the fellowship except Gandalf and Frodo. Thoughts?

Lastly, Happy 4th to all my American readers. REVIEW!