Author's Note: Another week another update. No content warning for this one, just know the plot thickens as the final battle approaches.
Chapter 30Glaes stood at the western windows of the house staring out across the waves at the horizon. Micoz had been established in a guest room with a footman guarding the door and Dwalin had gone to talk to the harbour watch. She hadn't touched the rum yet, her brows furrowed as she worried her thumb between her teeth.
Dwalin returned to the house and climbed the stairs to their bedroom. His wife was still at the window. And his heart lurched. He approached her and said in his low rumble, "We will figure out something. Ye're a great asset, crafty and sea savvy. We call allies, rouse the army. He willnae take all this from us."
"You don't understand," Glaes said, hating how small she sounded in her fear. "He's been planning for this for years, he's been waiting and watching and biding his time. He's not going to stop. He's set his sights on Erebor, he's determined to crush the kingdom, and he won't stop."
She folded her arms over her chest as though that would protect her from the chill, "He is like a hurricane, like a tsunami, you can't get away from him. You can't escape him. He will swallow you whole and you either drown in him or he spits you back out broken and battered. No one gets away from him."
She squinted, straining her eyes as though it would help her see farther, as though she would be able to pick out the scarlet sails from leagues and leagues away.
Two strong arms wrapped around her, drawing Glaes close and he rested his chin atop her golden head. He breathed her in and then sighed deeply. She was very right, of course she was. But he couldn't give in, not without a fight.
"Ye know him. Served with him. While he for sure wouldnae share his plans, ye know how he thinks. We will need that insight. My little fighter, I couldnae keep ye from the battle if I tried."
"And you will try."
Glaes turned into his embrace, hiding her face in his chest as though she couldn't bear to look out at the horizon again.
"Yes," she mumbled into his shirt, "I know how he thinks. And that's why I'm so frightened."
"Commodore, Lady Glaes," a butler bowed. "His Majesty is expecting you and your party. This way, please." He led them to the receiving room of the king and knocked three times before announcing them.
Thorin, in his father's seat - and it did still feel like his father's even these months later - barely looked up when they were announced. He was still reading some paperwork and listening to something his Lord High Chamberlain was saying. But he did acknowledge the entrance of his old friend.
"Commodore," he greeted formally, "My Lady. And guest. Welcome."
When Dwalin bowed, Glaes offered a curtsy. And, coiled tight as a drum and needing an outlet for her anger, when Micoz made no move, Glaes' fist slammed into his gut and he bent over in a pained bow. He supposed he deserved that.
That got Thorin's attention. Dark eyes lifted and he asked, "What's going on?"
"We bring news," Glaes said bluntly, "News you need to hear."
Thorin handed off his stack of paperwork to the Chamberlain and ordered, "Clear the room."
A very irritated Chamberlain made a very swift exit. As soon as he was gone Dwalin began to speak as well.
"Our guest is a former shipmate of Glaes' from the iDragon/i. And he brought some disturbing news. Thorin, we got a mad situation on our hands and I hate tae dump it on ye now but we couldn't wait."
He gave the Easterling a nudge, "Tell the King what ye told us."
Micoz only looked at Glaes once. And there was a look in her eyes he didn't like. It reminded him of someone else, empty and unforgiving. So he told the new King everything. The armada, the plan to blockade and destroy, siege and shatter, the pillaging and the precious prizes that would be taken.
If Thorin had been standing, he would have had to sit down. As it was, he had to grip the arms of his chair, his hands white-knuckled as one of his worst fears was confirmed.
"We had wondered why we hadn't heard reports of pirates recently," he said when the pirate was done. "Now we know. They're gathering to sail against us."
A hundred ships.
"When?"
How long did they have to try to prepare.
"Could be a month," Glaes said, "Could be more depending on how much fear he wants to stir up. He likes his victims scared. But he won't risk much longer or we'd be able to gather allies and actually stand a chance. No, he's going to want to drag this out and cause the most pain while still guaranteeing his victory."
"One of my contacts has already sent word for the sea facing fortresses tae prepare," Dwalin went on. "Our Navy is eighty-two strong and will most likely have tae form a blockade around our ocean border. We cannae allow Drake's men tae make landfall. We need tae get Gondor with their Swan Fleet. And our army prepared if the pirates do begin tae sack."
Erebor's armies were far more vast than the navy. And their nearest neighbour, Dain, could be called in. If Erebor was in danger, his lands would be too. But they had little time.
"We can't rely on Gondor," Thorin said, "Their Steward won't risk the Fleet in the last of these late summer storms, not so far away. The storms are always the worst as autumn begins. No, we'll need to look to our closest neighbours if we're going to get any help. I'll have a raven sent north to the Dúnedain in the mountains and send riders south and east to Dale and Eryn Galen. We'll have to pray Lord Bard and King Thranduil are willing to offer assistance."
"I'll have the Navy move intae place anyway," Dwalin said fiercely, "We cannae wait on this! Would anyone in their right mind deny our call for help? The forts can hold them off for a time but not a flotilla so large for long."
Thorin got to his feet, "I will call the Military Council. We need to meet and we need to meet soon."
Which was how, the next afternoon, Glaes found herself shouting at a royal guard.
"I don't care that 'it isn't done' for ladies who are not the Queen or other royals to attend a meeting of the Military Council," she was bellowing, her hands balled into fists and her amber eyes flashing with fury. "I don't care that part of your duty is to guard the sanctity of the council chamber! I don't care who you are and what you are trying to do. I am going in there and you can't stop me!"
The guard made the stupid decision to try and grab her arm to drag her away. She wrenched herself out of his grip and Micoz stepped between them to give the guard a shove, sending him back against the wall.
His Easterling eyes were hard as stones, "Touch her again and see what I'll do to you."
He figured he owed her. And the more time he spent with her, the more he respected her genuinely as a person and as a leader instead of the youth that had turned his head.
Dwalin was already in the room. Reports were coming in and had to be passed onto the council. Armaments had to be transported, men called from training and installed into barracks. It was a lot.
"Oh let in my wife already!" he bellowed.
Several guards ran to open the doors. When the Commodore wanted something done, it got done.
"Is that really necessary?" one of the gentlemen of the privy chamber asked.
Dwalin glared and the man wilted.
"Mrs. Fundinul and her manservant," a guard announced as she was finally permitted entry.
Micoz snorted at the thought of being her servant. Bosun, maybe. Quartermaster, maybe. Servant? Unlikely. He was not a land-dweller, he didn't live by their rules. But he gave the guard he shoved one final glare and stomped in after the pirate woman.
The pirate woman who glared similarly at the table and the court fops around it before giving a crisp greeting of, "Gentlemen."
She made her way over to her husband, slower than usual. She needed to see a doctor soon, the stress was getting to her and there was a heaviness to her that she didn't like. She hurt and she was tender and the nightmares weren't helping her moods.
"Husband," she said, sliding herself against his side, not caring for the propriety of it. "When this is done, I'm going to steal the Greenstone and run up my own pirate flag and pillage the properties of any man who tries to tell me what I can and cannot do. I've decided."
"Sounds like a plan, my darlin'," he said. "Now, in case it wasnae apparent, I invited my wife here today. As she is the only one amongst us who lived with the pirates and knows their ways, I thought it important that she be present to advise our tactics. Does anyone have issue with that?"
Some sour faces were present, but the Commodore had the King's ear and a well-earned title to use against them.
"Excellent, now where were we?"
"Not waiting for me, clearly," Thorin said briskly as he entered without fanfare from a side door. The guards snapped to attention and Glaes dipped him an almost insultingly shallow curtsy but since when had she ever cared about propriety?
"Your Majesty," one of the generals gaped, "We had thought you were tending to your wife…"
As her pregnancy continued to wear on her, Laraga had been enjoying more time with her husband as a way to combat the difficulties her body was facing.
"Luckily for me," Thorin said blandly, "My wife, the Queen, is more than capable of representing the royalty even on bedrest when matters of our kingdom's security call me away. And while you are trying to argue with my very presence, our enemy gets closer and we are wasting precious time. Go on, Commodore."
Dwalin nodded deeply to his friend and king. Then he began, "As the reports from the coast say, this pirate armada is slowly making its way towards us. As of now we have a barricade of men-o-war in the works. Extra cannons are being situated between the coastal forts. And a blockade chain is being lowered into the capitol's harbour as we speak. No one can leave the city and none can get in."
Lord Gloin continued, "The treasury is withdrawing funds to pay for a siege, should that be upon us. And to make payroll for new recruits. I have letters from the leading army generals giving their requirements for new weapons and replacement miscellaneous equipment."
More reports were given around the table of food for the most vulnerable cities and towns to be taken under siege. Armies and navies needed full bellies too. The entire nation was working around the clock in preparation.
Micoz was shaking his head, slowly at first, almost impossible to see, then faster as more and more reports were read out. Finally, in a lull in conversation, a breath of air, the dark pirate said, "It's not going to work."
"Majesty," a general was immediately complaining, "Commodore, having one pirate in the room is challenge enough for us, but two? And one who is not one of our people? What is the purpose of having this Eastern-"
"Shut up," Glaes snapped, glaring at the man. "Now is not the time to posture because you feel threatened."
The general blustered, "Well, I never-"
"I know, believe me, I can tell." Glaes glared at him before her eyes snapped to the King, "Micoz is right, though. All your preparations will barely matter. He's already inside the city. He's got spies and allies everywhere. Each of these gentlemen here probably has at least one spy in his household staff. He makes his plans carefully and years in advance. He's going to expect you to dig in and fortify, he's studied you. He knows each of you, the way you think. You won't beat him by doing the expected things."
As her statement sank in, the men around the table began to look more and more wary of one another. They looked to their attachés, to the guards at the door. None were free of suspicious observation, save the King himself.
Dwalin broke the silence, "It is something we should have expected. Drake has been gunning for us for years. Why, we dinnae know or care. But he's sly and cunning, more so than the other captains I've run across. And it would be a waste of time now tae look for those spies. No doubt they are all making plans tae be gone once he arrives anyway."
"What would you suggest?" The Royal Physician asked this to both Glaes and the Easterling man she had with her. "How might we catch him by surprise?"
It was the Easterling who spoke, "He is, at his heart, a pirate, true and greedy. And he does what all pirates do, he covets. And he desires what all pirates desire. Treasure. Erebor is a powerful kingdom, a jewel ripe for the taking. By crushing Erebor, he can take enough treasure to make him a King ten times over, even after he splits it among his crew and the captains that agreed to sail under him. He won't stop."
"But, because he is a true pirate," Glaes picked up the thought seamlessly, "He doesn't want to destroy something he sees as valuable. If he can take Erebor with minimal damage, he will. He won't want to lose too much of his prize."
"You're getting at something," Thorin said, blue eyes focused unblinkingly at her.
She nodded, "Yes. I have a plan."
The table erupted, "A plan from a pirate? Another pirate trying to help Drake take us down! She is a woman! What does she know of tactics and strategy! Your Majesty, we-"
Her hand slammed down on the table as she shouted them down, "You want to take him down? You need me!"
"We are here tae discuss the protection of our country," Gloin hissed at the men who spoke so out of turn. "Not tae attack the wife of one of our best officers! She has given no indication that she's anythin' but loyal to her homeland. For shame on you!"
Oin took a long drink of water, this was no place for alcohol and nodded, saying, "As much as you might not like it, these two are our only for sure link to our enemy. We must listen if we are to keep our country intact."
Thorin had not looked away from Glaes the entire time, cataloguing the signals of her anger at being ignored and insulted. Finally, once silence had fallen again, he spoke, "Yes, she is a woman. A woman who survived six years on a pirate ship. A woman who survived six years of the very man who now comes to destroy us. She is the only one I trust to be qualified to present a plan right now. So?"
She looked at him, amber meeting blue, and said, "With respect to the gentlemen of this room, we cannot risk whispers of a plan being leaked back to Drake. These gentlemen have already been infiltrated by spies, we have to know that the least amount of people know about this in order to keep it secret."
"That," Micoz agreed, "And they're not going to like it and we need their reactions to be genuine because if they're faking anything, Drake will know."
Thorin took the measure of the determination in Glaes' eyes and nodded, "Gentlemen, give us the room."
Glaes' eyes flickered for a heartbeat towards her husband.
"You, too, Commodore," the King said firmly, "You're dismissed."
Dwalin did not expect to be asked to leave. But the look in Glaes' eyes left him with no doubt that she meant this. So, as the others were filing out, he slowly stood. Once they were gone, he kissed her forehead and turned to go before he refused to leave.
And he spent the entire time waiting by pacing in the hall.
The courtiers and lords that were even less pleased to be asked to wait outside tried to hide how desperately they wanted to eavesdrop, a couple of them hovering by the door to try to get some scrap of information.
Twenty minutes passed without a single sound emanating from the council room. Then finally, the doors opened, pulled open by the blonde pirate lass herself. Her amber eyes were carefully blank and neutral as she said, "My lords of the Military Council, thank you for your patience. The King invites you back into the chamber."
"What did you say," the lords all clamoured to know, "What is the plan? Why did we have to leave?"
Thorin sat in the chair at the head of the table, covering his eyes with his hand and forcing himself to breathe. This was a risky plan. This was very risky. And while he agreed that it was better that the fewest people knew, that didn't mean it would be easy to keep this secret. Especially from Dwalin.
He needed to trust that Glaes knew what she was doing. He needed to trust that she knew Drake. This was going to break Dwalin's heart and he would apologise for it later but for now he needed to be the King, not a friend.
The Commodore ignored the other councillors, they didn't matter. Carefully he approached Glaes and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Ye have a plan," he stated rather than questioned. Dwalin wasn't a fool, he had made Commodore for his merit not his fancy name or fortune. "And I cannae know. That's fine. We deal with it later."
She looked up at her husband.
"You can't know." The King's voice was low and firm as he continued, "Everyone needs to continue on as usual. There is merit to Mrs. Fundinul's plan, enough that I have agreed to it, despite the risks. Your wife has convinced me of the importance of genuine emotion when facing Drake."
Glaes glanced away, "It'll work. It'll hurt, but it'll work."
She returned her attention to the King as he said, "We continue with our normal siege preparations, and when Drake gets into position then we will move forward with Mrs. Fundinul's plan."
Gloin and Oin looked unsure but trusted their king.
"If Your Majesty puts his trust in Mrs. Fundinul, then so do we," the elder brother said firmly.
"Aye. She is the expert here, not us. We will do our part to ensure she can do hers," Gloin agreed.
It was nearly dinner time by the time the meeting was done. The lords filed out and Glaes separated from Dwalin to cross to the physician. She caught Oin's sleeve and murmured in his ear, soft and quiet, "Master Physician, before I must do this thing, there is a service I require of you in your capacity and profession of doctor. Do you have a moment for a new patient?"
Thorin rose and crossed to Dwalin, allowing himself to be a friend now that the lords and courtiers were slowly leaving. He rested a hand on Dwalin's shoulder.
"I'm sorry. For what little that's worth right now, I'm sorry that this is going to happen and I'm sorry I agreed to keep you in the dark. It was not an easy decision. But she's brave and strong, she'll survive this plan of hers. If anyone could, she could."
Oin turned to the brave lady and gave a nod. "Dear girl, I would be honoured to assist you. I believe you require a private appointment, yes? As royal physician I keep an office here, when I am not practising in my own clinic. Come, I shall show you."
And he offered his arm and took Mrs. Fundinul downstairs to his office and apothecary.
Glaes gave him a tight smile and murmured, "Thank you."
She followed him through the halls and tried to keep her head down. She didn't want the courtiers gossiping and wondering why the commodore's wife was needing to see the royal physician. They would know soon enough once Drake arrived and she made her move.
When he ushered her in, she took a moment to look around the apothecary, taking in the bottles and jars and herbs and oddities on the walls. Finally, she said, "I hope I don't have to beg you to keep this private. Physicians' confidentiality, and all that, right?"
"Complete confidentiality," he assured her with as warm a smile as he could give. "Please, have a seat," Oin gestured to the comfortable chair he had for patients. He took the stool across from it, making them nearly at eye level. It was part of his theory to make patients feel more at ease, to be talked with and not at as if they couldn't keep up with him.
"Now, what seems to be the matter?"
