Happy Christmas to all who celebrate it, and good wishes to all who don't. Hope ypu are all staying well and safe.
Disclaimer as usual all JRRTs for fun only.
The madness of Thorin Oakenshield
Dain knew that Thranduil had noted his careful avoidance and suppressed a frown, they had not spoken since first arriving at the feast and though the words they exchanged then had been mild and inoffensive enough he had had to fight the urge to go on the attack. He was almost sure that that the glint of amusement he thought he detected in the Elvenking's eyes was an illusion created by the brilliance of the elf's eyes and the glow of candlelight but still he had to struggle with the harsh words that rose so readily to his lips. He was determined that he would not make a fool of himself this evening and so he had given a small inclination of his head and a thin smile and made some innocuous remark about the earlier crowning and his expectation of the feast. The Elf king had responded in kind, and no hint of any inconvenient memory of past events seemed to be present in his fair face.
But he remembered that wretched confrontation, Dain was sure of it, how could he not? Elves forgot very little despite the span of their years, or so it was said, and he had to admit he had given this elf every reason to recall the events of that night. The same ones that gnawed at him even to this day.
So he had stayed at a distance from the Elvenking, for it seemed the only way he could be sure the guard he had set upon his tongue would be sufficient. But as the evening turned towards night, and the number of tankards of ale he had consumed grew, the urge to scratch the itch of his discomfort, to confront and taunt the Elvenking a little also grew. Why he couldn't have said, to prove to himself that he was not intimated by the past perhaps, but there was something about the calm that seemed to wrap the elf that stoked his temper and nibbled away at his own self control.
He was well aware that Thranduil had done nothing to warrant his ire, that was the nub of the matter after all, and that he risked making a fool of himself again. Risked embarrassing Bard too, but despite that he found himself surging to his feet and turning toward the side of the room where the Elvenking and his son were seated in discussion with some noble from one of the southern lands and one who had the look of a Ranger from the north despite his fine clothes.
"Don't my Lord, please don't."
Dain looked down to see a hand upon his arm and Balin looking up at him with serious eyes.
"Don't what!" He growled.
"Do what is in your mind, we both know it will not end well and what would be gained by it? He will say nothing for so he promised the wizard."
"You would trust to that from such a faithless creature?"
Balin sighed.
"There, that is why you should remain here. We both know there is no true reason for such a judgment, however much that knowledge may displease us. We both know that the provocation we gave him was enough that he would have been seen by many as justified in taking the mountain from us after the battle. We both also know that at that moment we could not have stopped him from doing so. Yet he made no move against us for all the insults that had been hurled at him, and for all the mis-truths and false accusations spoken both then and before."
He sighed sadly.
"It pains me to say it my Lord, for Thorin was both my friend and king, but if you must seek to set blame then let it sit with the dead, for that is where it belongs."
Dain glared at the other dwarf and his voice was a low angry rumble as he replied.
"The dead? Aye perhaps, I'll grant that one of those who lie beneath our mountain had more than a little to answer for. But what of the others, they had not done so. What about the one, the elf, that brought about at least one of those deaths and still lives? The one who seduced one of our own into betrayal and neglect of his kin at the moment of great need, what of her? The Elf King protects her from just punishment."
Balin sighed.
"It is but conjecture my lord, for I was not there and no more were you, and Kili was a fool if he allowed it to be so. The one you speak of was a fighter trained by all accounts and had been for centuries before he was born. He was but a foolish lad with dreams of saving a fair maiden I expect, saw it as a noble deed without thought for the wider need. As for the rest, well it is the elves way, after all did she not threaten the Elvenking's very life here in this city, or so it is said? She is without honour I will agree, and I'd not be surprised if her lord thinks the same, nor if greatly grieves him, and yet still he has not put her to the sword or arrow. Do you think he does that to annoy you, do you think that such annoyance would matter more to him than the threats and insults it is claimed that she hurled at him?"
The dwarf king glared at his companion for a moment, but then felt some the anger ebb away.
"Nay, I'd not claim that. Even so I cannot forget that he ….." he broke off the words as a small group of elves passed by them.
Balin gave him a sympathetic look understanding very well what it was the elf king knew that irked his own king so greatly.
Dain smoothed down his robe and sank back into his chair.
"Ah well, perhaps your words are wise for I've supped freely and that does loosen the tongue perhaps more than is kingly."
The other dwarf smiled and caught a tankard from the tray of a passing servant and handed it to Dain.
"And very good ale it is too," he said softly.
Dain took the tankard and raised it in salute to his companion.
He settled back into his seat and set the ale cup to his mouth, yet the dark and angry thoughts continued to swirl like a cloud of bats in his head. For Balin didn't know the whole of it.
He took a deep swallow of ale as his eyes locked upon the Elvenking and his mind drifted back into the past.
It had been after the battle, when the dead had been counted and the battlefield laments sung. The costs of the day had struck cold into his heart for too many would not return with him, and he knew that for the moment had the elves and men looked to take the mountain from him he could have done nothing to stop them.
He had wandered in through the broken gate and followed those of Thorin's company who still lived to the great hoard upon which the dragon had slept , and it had not taken him long to determine that the Men of the Lake had spoken nothing but the truth when they claimed that their wealth had also formed a part of the dragons bedding. Dain had cursed Thorin then, for the message the raven had brought to him had claimed that the men of the Lake were trying to steal his grandfathers wealth. Looking around he was of the mind that Bard had spoken truly and it was their own that men had sought to claim. He nibbled at his lip, if that was so then perhaps elvish gold and gems also laid here, perhaps that was why the Elven host had supported the men of the lake in their claims, though Thranduil had claimed nothing for himself and his people as yet.
That had been the first time he had wondered about Thorin's claims and it had soured his temper in a way he would have found hard to explain. Perhaps he should have given it more thought, if he had then maybe what followed on that night would not have done so and his remembering since that time would not be so difficult.
For the next two days his anger had simmered, his thoughts roiling like barley in a stock pot on the hearth. Yet every time the doubts rose he had pushed them away buried them under the rage that he held in such precarious control.
The Elvenking had provided the focus for much of this, for once he had learned that that king did not intend to execute the treacherous she elf who had seduced Kili from his uncles side, leaving that uncle and brothers defence to go to hers and in doing so calling into question the honour of the whole of the line of Durin. He had no doubt at that time that she had been acting under the Elvenking's instructions, that it had been at his instigation she had bewitched the young dwarf. No doubt she had found the task easy enough for Kili has been barely grown, little more than a child in fact, whilst she must have had several centuries and more to her name to have the post of guard. The very thought of it made him feel slightly queasy.
He had tackled the Elvenking on the matter the day after they brought the young dwarf down the mountain and had met with cold distain, the contempt flaring in Thranduils eyes as he had refuted the accusation.
"You think I would use such a manoeuvrer, to have one of my people fain affection for any, much less one of yours? Little you know of elves if you do think it."
His chill had fed Dain's heat.
"I think you would have done anything, however base, to gain control of the mountain and the wealth within it. I think you would have considered nothing beyond a price worth paying to fault Thorin Oakenshield."
A small smile flitted across Thranduil's face.
"It seems the madness spreads and deepens. Have you also caught Dragon sickness?"
He shrugged.
" I did not release him he escaped with the help of his burglar, why would I seek any action against him if I intended to keep him secure? As I did intend, and it would have been better for him and others too had he remained within my Halls. Nor did I know his plans at that time, though I suspected them, and had I done so I would have given little for his chances of surviving a confrontation with Smaug. Indeed I was most surprised to find him alive after the Dragon was killed. No, I had no reason to have a juvenile dwarf bewitched as you claim. Nor is she the one I would have chosen for the task had I had such a thought, for she is nearly as unreliable as Oakenshield was."
Dain had swallowed his anger at the mention of madness and gone upon the attack at the point where he felt the elf was at his weakest.
"Why should I believe you? If that were the case then why then did you bring her here?"
The question caused the Elvenking no discomfort that he could see for he replied without hesitation.
"You are mistaken again, I did not bring her here. Indeed she followed your kin to Laketown against my express instructions and after that journeyed with my son to scout the mountains of Gundebad, that is how we knew of the second force. She never formed a part of my host nor did I send her here on my business."
Thranduil stared past him to where the piles of the dead enemy were being assembled onto rough pyres.
"As to how they both came to be on Ravenhill I cannot say. Nor do I know how your kin came to die in her proximity or the circumstances of his death. However from the little that I know I believe he died honourably and will claim nothing else and will defend that view should it be required."
Dain came back to the present and took a deep swallow of his ale with a scowl. He had got nothing more out of the Elf king on the matter then and their next confrontation had been on a different matter entirely. It had been this second confrontation that still caused him so much grief. The past rose up before him again in woeful clarity and once again the summer night in Bards hall was displaced by a warrior camp in deep winter in his minds eye.
It had been the night before they laid Thorin and his nephews to rest beneath the mountain and his anger had reached white heat upon discovering it was planned that Thranduil would attend the funerals. More than that he intended to lay an elvish sword upon Thorin's grave, in honour so he said but Dain had great doubt about that, after all when had the Elvenking done anything that could be trusted by a dwarf. He had determined that he would allow no such insult and that he would make that clear in person.
The night had been bitter and the camp fires burning high he recalled as he stormed through the Elvish camp trailing the wizard and Bard in his wake. Looking back perhaps he should have been less loud in his protest, at least until they stood beside the object of his rage. Certainly the wizard thought so and had caught at his arm as he had made to force his way to the Elvenking's tent.
"My Lord Dain I counsel you to be moderate, there is much about this matter that you cannot know and unity at this time is more important than can be said. You saw the size of the goblin army and the massed ranks of other dark creatures that accompanied them, does that not give you pause? Those legions are defeated and destroyed now high as the cost has been, but the enemy will not abandon his plans and each and everyone of of them will be replaced in time. Nor will that time be long in the scheme of things. The day will come when they once again issue forth from his strongholds and that time may be sooner than we would wish. You will need friends then or at least allies. Divisions amongst our selves will only serve his cause."
Dain recalled how he had waived the words away without a thought and with little courtesy.
"I know all that I need to know for the raven Thorin sent told me of it. For the rest I care nothing for the lectures of a ragged wizard, nor of a bowman who would stand as lord, and I tell you I will not have an elf at the burial of Thorin and his nephews."
Thranduil pushed back the tent flap at that point and stood upon the threshold haloed in the golden light of several candles that burned behind him. Dain remembered that he had scowled at him in contemptuous fury.
"Certainly not the Elfking so called who abandoned the dwarfs of Erebor, his neighbours, at their time of need." He roared causing the elvish guards at the tent entrance and behind him to place their hands upon their sword hilts.
The wizard had sighed.
"My Lord, peace I beg of you. If we must talk of this then let it be in quieter tones."
Thranduil however seemed unconcerned by Dains' behaviour and reassured the guards with a slight movement of his hand. He regarded the dwarf with a considering look for a moment then he smiled slightly and indicated they should enter before he turned away to pour himself a glass of wine.
"Ah yes," he said softly as he watched the wine spill into the glass. "The king who abandoned them to a marauding dragon and turned his back on those pitiful few that survived leaving them to penury and starvation."
He turned, glass in his hand, and a strange look upon his face, a look compounded of sympathy and also contempt as he met Dain's angry glare.
"You would be right to not want such a king at the burial rites, at least you would be Dain of the Iron Hills if any of that was true, but it is not."
Dain well recalled his fury, it still troubled his dreams.
"Not true! You say it is not true, when it is the evidence of Thorin Oakenshield, one of the few that was there that day and lived to tell of your neglect of those who had lost all."
Thranduil inclined his head slightly.
"Yes I say it is not true, that it is nothing more than the madness of Thorin Oakenshield, and such events only ever existed within a mind that had lost sight of the truth of those days for reasons that I can only surmise. A mind that had lost it balance and convinced itself of something that was not true, a pitiful story that was too absurd to be true."
Then he turned away again and moved across the tent to seat himself in the carved chair beside the brazier and took a sip of wine, leaning back as if there was nothing more of interest to be said.
"Lies!" Dain had shouted. "All lies and nothing more would I expect of such a faithless creature. Thorin told me of your desire for that which belonged to his line, of your lack of honour. He warned me what to expect of you should I come to his aid, and cautioned me against believing your lies."
Thranduil had met his glower with a slight sigh and a frown.
"I do not doubt that he did, for it served his immediate purpose if nothing else. But madness I said, and that I meant. Oakenshield may have come to believe his fantasy, indeed I think that he had, but that does not change the fact that his belief was a mad delusion with no truth to it. That being so I see no reason why any more should be said on the matter."
Dain however did not intend to allow the matter to rest.
"And why should I or any other accept your claims. Why would any expect that you would speak the truth on the matter."
At that the Elvenking rose again, straightening to his full height, the sweep of his robe adding even further to the sense of majesty, a presence that seemed to radiate from him; his expression was cool and distant as if whatever was said was of no importance to him.
"What you do or do not accept is of little matter to me. Despite the stream of childish insults that you have directed at me from the moment of your arrival I remain willing to set aside his mad ramblings and pay full honour to Thorin Oakenshield's acts in battle. Should you wish to deny that then the responsibility will sit with you. But I will not answer for your cousins' delusions to you or any other."
"I will not have you or any of your kin within the mountain, now or ever." Dain spat.
Thranduil cast him a dismissive glance and inclined his head slightly.
"So be it."
At that the wizard sighed again and stepped across the tent to stand before the King with his hand extended in supplication.
"My Lord Thranduil," he said in an urgent tone, "there must be an end to this hostility, and you of all the people of Middle earth must know that. The darkness creeps from its hiding places once more, and though it is weak now that cannot last for ever. Few enough remain in the world who stood against the evil before, but you are one and you have fought the darkness every day for centuries since. You know that unity is the only hope we have of defeating it this time, just as it was in the previous age."
There was no response from the king to this burst of eloquence, instead he sank into his chair again, leaned back and stared silently at the wizard before him, his expression no less cold and distant than before. The look brought yet another sigh.
"My Lord, I understand your reluctance to speak in your own defence, particularly to dwarves, for you have no reason the love their race. But such things must be set aside in the interests of the fight. There needs to be more than peace between you if the north and east is to be held from the darkness, there must be accord. However wild and unjust Lord Dain's accusations are he believes them to be true, you must see that is so, therefore I beg of you to be magnanimous as becomes a monarch of such long standing. Yield this time in the interests of all and speak the truth of the matter however hard or harsh it may be to those who hear it."
That did bring a response, Thranduil's expression remained cold and distant but a fire sparked in his eyes and that seeped into his voice.
"Why should I answer to any for my judgements and actions as King, I will do what is best for my people without apology for those are my oaths. Why should I be required to defend myself against a deed that never happened and would be of no ones concern if it had."
"Never happened?" Dain's response came like the roar of an enraged bull. "You deny that the plight of our people was your concern? That you left them first to burn and then to starve when it would have taken little effort on your part to succour them and provide them with a way to rebuild."
Out of the corner of his eyes Dain recalled that he saw a strange confused expression pass across the face of Bard at this remark and wondered what he knew of the matter. But the thought was fleeting, he regretted that later, for he was more concerned with the frost in the Elvenking's expression; he had no doubt that had they been anywhere but in Thranduil's own tent he would have risen and left them. He might still chose to do so, and if he chose to leave and order the guard to remove them there would be little they could do to prevent it, though Dain had been willing to attempt it.
"Peace Lord Dain, " Gandalf hurried into speech, " this matter raises hurts on both sides and calm heads will be needed to see to the truth of things and do fairness to all."
Dain spluttered but before he could say anything further Bard spoke up.
"I confess that the matter puzzles me, for Lord Dain seems most convinced of his rightness and yet his words make no sense in terms of what I have been taught of the matter."
The wizard looked at him with interest and once again hurried into speech.
"My Lord Thranduil, your people are known to be good and kindly and it is my experience that all such people are led by merciful and wise lords. It would appear strange that you should do such as you are accused of and yet Lord Dain seems to truly believe the charge. Whatever the truth of the matter there is a wound that must be healed if the lands of the north and east are to be defended should the darkness come. However wild and unjust Dain's accusations seem to you he believes them to be true and therefore I beg of you to indulge this belief this time and speak the truth of the matter. I entreat you to set aside your anger at being so charged and speak of things as you understand them."
Thranduil remained silent but the look directed towards the wizard seemed to change for a moment to one of consideration. That he did not wish to speak was clear, the war within himself was written in his eyes though his expression remained as calm and distant as ever. Finally he seemed to come to a decision, though it was obvious that it gave him no pleasure.
"Very well, I will speak of this once but never again, what, if any of my words you chose to believe is for you to decide. It matters little to me."
His voice was stiff with reluctance. He paused for a moment, as if marshalling his thoughts, then he settled himself more comfortably on his chair and started to speak in a low and expressionless tone.
"Thorin Oakenshield stood before me after his capture and refused to say why he was travelling through my lands without permission, nor why he disturbed my people. He was surly and rude even though he knew himself to be trespassing. His actions in the forest, his stirring of the spiders, did not lead me to believe his journey was an innocent one and his refusal to speak merely confirmed my suspicions that he meant my people a harm. At least it did until I saw the map and key that were taken from him at his capture, after that it was not long before I realised the purpose of his actions. I had him brought before me again then to give him a further chance to explain himself. As I did his companions when they were taken."
He paused for a moment looking down at the seal upon his fingers and was still staring at the ring as he continued.
"I did not expect much from him, or them, neither politeness nor any admission of their transgressions, for I recalled his father and grandfather and I know dwarfs and their arrogance too well for that, but even so I did not expect what happened."
Dain had been of a mind to protest then but a warning look from the Wizard had silenced him and with a muttered curse he contented himself with glowering in the Elvenking's direction That king seemed oblivious, lost in past memory, and he continued without hesitation.
"There in my Hall he accused me of having no honour, of deserting his people when the dragon came, of not intervening when the dragon attacked them and of leaving the survivors of the attack to starve. I was too taken aback even to be angry at first. His words made no sense to me and I knew not what to respond. But as his rant and insults continued I dimly perceived the cause of his bitter anger and was horrified by his words, for in that moment I understood that Thorin Oakenshield was truly mad."
Dain had drawn breath to shout but was silenced by another look from the wizard. The Elvenking's eyes flickered towards him and his lips curved in a bitter smile.
"Yes mad, just as I said when we met before the lonely mountain Dain of the Iron Hills, for once upon a time he must have known the truth of the matter, just as I did, but it was clear to me then that the weight of his knowledge of the events of that time had turned his mind. So great was his guilt and shame that he had replaced the unpalatable memory of the truth with a fantasy, and in that moment it was clear to me that now only the fantasy lived within his head. As I said, he was mad."
"What knowledge?" Dain snapped.
The Elevenking's smile died and a look of sadness replaced it. For a moment he seemed to debate ending the discussion but changed his mind. He reached for the goblet and sipped for a moment, then set if down with a shrug.
"That Smaug came without warning when most were still within the mountain, that there were no survivors of the dragons attack except for the few that had been well away from the mountain when Smaug came, like Oakenshield himself. They were a handful no more than that. Most of them had fled towards Dale by the time I arrived within sight of the mountain, for at that point the town still stood though most of its defenders had come out onto the plain and fell before the dragon's fire."
The Elvenking's look seemed to become chillier as he stared at Dain.
"Few who walk the world now have known dragons, I am one of them, and you may be assured that I speak the truth when I say that the fire drakes do not tarry about their fell business once the object of their desire is within their sights. Or did you think Smaug waited to attack until I was able to observe his taking of the mountain?"
Dain well recalled his fury at that.
"Lies! Thorin knew the truth of it and he warned me of your past perfidy and how little you could be trusted when he called me to the mountain."
Bard draw a sudden breath as if wondering what would happen now, it was asking much to expect Thranduil to tolerate such an accusation given all the provocation already hurled in his direction. But no icy outrage was forthcoming from the Elvenking, instead Thranduil looked at Dain for a long moment without speaking and a strange almost pitying smile settled upon his face, then he inclined his head.
"No doubt he did and I expect he believed it as much as he did in my Halls, but his belief does not make it truth for he was, as I have told you, mad. That you accepted his words as honest I will also accept, yet that does not make them honest."
Thranduil's expression softened into something close to understanding.
"Nor do I doubt the honour of the heart that listened to his words for I know that for all their faults a dwarf treasures kin as dearly as does an elf."
Thranduil shook his head sadly, still looking at Dain.
"But had you set the thoughts of your heart aside and considered it with your head for but a moment, as leader and warrior, then you would have known that time and distance alone meant that it could not be as he claimed. If you have amongst you any others that escaped that day then bring them here and let them tell you the truth of it if they will."
Dain frowned at the elf but something, some shadow of doubt, flitted through his mind at the last remark.
"That I will, for one of Thorin's company was also there that day. Have Balin sent for and we will hear what he has to say on the matter. But what is it of time that your claim is your defence?"
Anger briefly flared in Thranduil's eyes at the mention of his defence and it was clear that he maintained his calm with an effort, but there was no hint of that in his voice.
"Thorin told you I left his people to burn did he not? That I arrived before the mountain was taken and did not intervene?"
Dain looked at him for a long moment then he inclined his head.
"Aye. That you arrived when the dragon was still outside the mountain and that you watched as the dragon entered the mountain, safe on a rise but at no great distance, and that you made no move to help them even though you had a host at your back."
Thranduil took another slow swallow from his cup his eyes never leaving Dain's face.
"Which rise? How close? Look at the ground my Lord, what rise is there that I could have occupied that would have allowed me to intervene? Where was there that I could have been that would have allowed me to attack a winged fire drake had I been there to do so?"
Dain frowned, his doubts suddenly growing and settling like a stone within his gut, for there was no rise close to the mountain, the nearest was at the edge of the forest and some considerable distance away.
Thranduil smiled again.
"Did he tell you why I was there upon that rise he claimed I sat upon? How I came to be there?"
Dain's frown deepened.
"Why? Well…. No. On your way to visit the mountain perhaps."
The Elven kings brows rose and he tilted his head in consideration like a robin watching a slowly emerging worm.
"Yet I had not visited the king under the mountain in many years," he replied mildly. "Strange that I should chose to do it that day is it not? Had I done so. Then if he did not explain my presence perhaps he told you why I had a host with me, for I would hardly bring an army to visit unless I was seeking war."
Dain's frown became a scowl.
"No, he made no mention of it. Only that you were there and could have helped and did nothing. From the message he sent the nature of events was clear enough, they sought your help and you withheld it."
Thranduil looked at him in amusement.
"Sought my help? You think that they knew of the dragons approach before it arrived and sought my aid? That knowing of Smaug's approach, knowing a dragon's love of gold and why he would have come, that they stayed within the mountain? Mad indeed!"
The Elvenking sighed.
"Even had they done so, they had not the time. It is more than a days' march from my halls to the edge of the forest, and, though I set out with a host as soon as I could after hearing of the disturbance there from the messengers of the air, the gate of the lonely mountain fell long before I arrived. By the time I reached the high ground at the edge of my burning woods and could see the gates to the mountain all was quiet and the dragon had destroyed everything within without mercy or pause. I saw the devastation that had been wrecked, the dead of Dale, the burning trees on the mountain, the broken gate, the charred defenders scattered before it and around it and knew there was nothing I could do. The Dragon was master of the mountain and had I an army a thousand times the size I could not have removed him nor aided those within. If any at all survived by that time."
He paused for a moment still holding Dain's look, then continued with a hint of sadness in his voice.
"Perhaps you know little of the fire drakes but the simple truth is that Dragons do not hesitate when their prize is in sight, they do not tarry about the business of acquiring gold. From Smaug's arrival on the mountain to the fall of the gate and his entry into Thror's Halls would have been no more than a bells time passed. Within two bells all would have been dead and the gold would have been his. None escaped from within the mountain itself, bar two and it is their escape that so maddened Thorin Oakenshield."
He drew a deep breath as if knowing how unwelcome his next words would be.
"Thror and Thrain escaped when Smaug breeched the gate through a door known only to them, or so I believe. Thror told me of it once, though I had never seen it. They abandoned their people to a fiery fate and fled for their lives taking nothing with them. Oakenshield and a few others were already outside, he hid on the mountain as the others fled to Dale and found them, for I saw them creeping out through the remaining trees around the foot of the mountain and heading towards the City road when I arrived."
He sighed and took another sip of wine.
" He must have known the truth of what had happened then, though I doubt it was ever admitted plain. I understand that such dishonour and guilt would weigh heavily upon any dwarf and cause them much pain and grief, but until that day in my Halls I had not understood the full effect of it, nor of the role he had made for me within his fantasy."
"Lies" roared Dain, "twisted words from one who cannot speak the truth."
Thranduil smiled again.
"Yes it was clear upon the plain before the mountain that you believed him and so shared in his madness."
"Madness? To believe my kin? Believe that over a faithless elf, nay that it is sense not madness."
"Indeed?" said Thranduil mildly but with the contempt now obvious again in his smile. "Then answer me this, how do you know he spoke the truth, what proof did he give to you? Or did you see it with your own eyes."
Dain scowled.
"Of course I did not, I was not there!"
Thranduil's smile widened.
"No, you were not, and I wonder why?"
Dain recalled the sudden sense of dread those words had brought and how he was suddenly still as met the Elven kings look. Thranduil's smile faded as he continued.
"For you were no further away than you were at the death of Smaug. You managed to reach the mountain quickly enough when he summoned you then, less than a day I had been camped in Dale when you arrived. The winged messengers that brought me the word of trouble when the dragon arrived would have flown no less swiftly to you Lord of the Iron Hill and the smoke of his destruction would have been more visible to you. No, the dwarves within the mountain would have had as much time to ask for help of you if they had been able, and yet you were not there when I came within sight of the mountain, nor did you arrive at any point in the seasons that followed."
Thranduil leaned further back and looked at Dain with amused eyes.
"Yet you came quickly enough when the dragon was dead and there was gold to be considered."
Dain drew a deep breath, the doubt now spawning a bitter fear.
"Yes. I heard of the dragon's coming, and would have marched to help had it been asked. But Thror was always jealous of his mountain and his kingship, if he wanted help he would have sent messengers to ask, but the request never came. and the next thing I heard the people of Durin had fled."
"So," Thranduil said softly and his voice had the edge of oiled steel, "You think he would have asked help of me, an elf, who was no closer, rather than seek help of his kin. Why would that be unless there was some great rift between you?"
"No rift!" Dain had been stung by the remark. "But as I said he was jealous of his position and of his wealth. Nor did I think he had sought help of you at that time, only when Thorin sent his message did I understand the nature of what had happened and your neglect."
"Yet I recall the word you used to me was 'faithless', why would it be faithless if he had not requested my help? Even had I been there when the dragon arrived would it have been faithless to turn away away from a fight that could not be won, to bring down more death and destruction on all, in defence of the already dead? Would not that be the proper action of a king, to risk his people, and those of Dale, for nothing? You may learn better."
Thranduil sighed and stared down into his wine.
"Thorin was indeed mad," he said softly, "and for all he would be king he understood little of the duty of such rank. But as I said only his rant when he was taken in my lands betrayed his madness, and the depths of his disorder, to me, prior to that I had no knowledge of it."
Dain remembered how he had spun around, turning away from the Elvenking in frustrated anger.
"I would hear another's account. But if the dragon was indeed in possession of the mountain when you arrived then it was in truth a battle that could not be won, and if they were all dead then it would have been vainglorious to engage with Smaug when no good could be achieved. But Thorin's message told it differently, he said that the dragon had not taken possession of the mountain when you arrived. He also said that many fled the mountain and were left by you to starve."
He turned back to face the Elvenking.
"But while I may never have faced a dragon my ancestors did Thranduil of Mirkwood and I know enough of the tales and songs, and trust their stories, to admit the force of your earlier words, Dragons do not wait to wreak their havoc, nor do they play with their prey once their course is decided. Unless you had been summoned long before the dragon landed on the mountain there would have been nothing you could have done for those within it, and as you say why would Thror have called to you when he had no knowledge of Smaug's intentions and when his kin were as close to hand."
At Dain's words the wizard had rejoined the conversation.
"For the unknown door I can answer, there was indeed such a door, and Thorin admitted in Bilbos Hobbit hole that his father and grandfather had forbidden him to ask of the whys and wherefores of their escape. But that he had thought much of it and that he believed they must have had a secret way out long before I gave him the map. As for the rest, I have travelled this way over many years and can attest should it be needed that the city of Dale remained standing and peopled for some time after the coming of the Dragon, and was subject to Smaugs' depredations of their folk and wealth on a regular basis, before the desolation became too great and it was abandoned. It is reasonable that any survivors would have found refuge there before they dispersed to the wider lands."
Bard spoke up then.
"That is the case as it was told to me. Many of Dales men at arms perished when Smaug came and all before he attacked the gate of Erebor. It was as King Thranduil said, done quickly and with no hesitation. The remaining men of Dale tried to hold the City for some time, hoping that the dragon would sleep upon its treasure and leave them be. But it was not so and Smaug came relentlessly to take people and gold for his feeding and pleasure and did much destruction each time until eventually, after one truly terrible raid, they fled with nothing to take shelter upon the Lake. Dwarfs did indeed come into Dale after the dragon came, and the stories tell the tale as Lord Thranduil says, they were few and had been outside the mountain when the dragon arrived. They were given aid and shelter by the people of the City, something forgotten by Thorin when we asked for our portions of the treasure in the mountain to be returned to us. At this time the elves of the forest provided aid to Dale as they have done this time and so by that route they also gave succour to the survivors of Erebor. "
At this point another dwarf, one with much silver in his beard, was ushered in. Balin looked around him in confusion before bowing to Dain.
"You have need of me my lord?"
Dain recalled the sense of bitter foreboding that had overtaken him but he had inclined his head with as much grace as he could manage for there might yet be a way out of this mess of his own making.
"That I do for I believe that you were there with Thorin the day the dragon appeared and would hear your tale of it."
Balin had cast a wary look around Thranduil's tent then sighed.
"Very well my Lord it was like this."
