The Company approached the house with trepidation. No one spoke on what had just happened. The Hobbit had tried only once more to change Thorin's mind but the King would not hear of it.

"If you feel so strongly then perhaps you should join her."

"Maybe I will," Bilbo had said angrily. And then, with more resolve, stood to his fullest height and said, "Maybe I will! Because that girl is a part of the Company. And you never abandon a member of the Company."

Without another word, he had rushed off, quick as his Hobbit feet could carry him.

"Where are you going now," Bofur had cried in exasperation.

"To bring her back!" He called over his shoulder and disappeared beyond the trees.

"Agh," Dwalin had said, "it seems as if we have lost our Burglar as well as our Tracker."

"Thorin. Is it really wise to cast her off in such a manner? The girl was probably frightened, that's all."

"I have no tolerance for fright on this journey. Nor a broken arm."

With that, Thorin had stepped up to the castle's doorway and knocked. They could hear the sound echoing through the home. Just when they were about to enter on their own, the door opened to reveal a tall woman. She was old and ghostly pale. Her faded yellow hair hung straight upon her shoulders, and a small smile seemed to grace her plump bottom lip. She looked down upon the Dwarves and they stared back up at her.

"Afternoon," Thorin said cordially, bowing slightly. "Thorin Oakensheild. At your service."

"Oh my," the woman said, pressing a hand to her heart. "Dwarves. And so many of them. Why, you all look as if you've been to the farthest corners of the Earth."

"Aye, you could say that," Dori said and Thorin nudged him with his elbow.

"Well, don't just stand there looking all confused and bothered. Come in, and I will fix you up."

"Ah, we really must be going," Balin said gently, "We had thought that the castle was deserted, you see-"

"Deserted or not, there's enough room for all of you," she said a bit too quickly. She opened the door wider behind her. "Is it common for your kind to turn down the offers of a lady?"

"Not at all," Thorin said and, glancing over his shoulder as he stepped into the vast hallway. She counted the Dwarves as they stumbled past her. There were thirteen of them and Nadi was not with them, nor was the Hobbit that she had seen in her teacup. She smiled in her most dashing manner and closed the door behind them. She had just enough of what she needed for all of them.

"Down the hall, to the left," she called. She had only taken up residence in the castle recently. She didn't know who it belonged to or how long it had been abandoned but no one had come to reclaim it yet. And the garden had offered up ample space to grow her most precious herb. Bandiweed, it was called. It had been the plant that she had used to put Nadi in a suggestible trance and she planned to use it on the Dwarves. They settled around a cracked stone table and waited upon her awkwardly.

"I don't have much to eat, unfortunately," she said, "but may I offer you some tea?"

"That would be quite nice," Dori said, grinning in his most gentlemanly way at her. Oh, how she hated the bearded chin and twinkling eyes.

"Right…well...pardon me."

The woman disappeared into her backyard and the Dwarves sat glancing curiously about.

"I don't like her," Ori said, pouting, speaking the thought that was on everyone's mind "she's weird."

"What kind of woman doesn't keep food in the house," Kili asked, leaning forward, his black hair swinging back and forth.

"Oh, come off it, what kind of woman would keep enough food on hand to feed thirteen hungry Dwarves," Balin said.

"How do we know she won't poison us with the plants in her garden?"

"And what reason would she have to do that?"

"Well, have you seen yourself lately?"

"Silence!" Thorin roared, for he could hear her footsteps approaching. "We stay long enough for tea. By then we should have rested enough. We leave after that to find different shelter."

The woman returned, balancing thirteen mugs of different shapes and sized along her chest. She set these down before the Dwarves and retrieved a bucket of hot water from the dark recesses of her kitchen.

"A rejuvenating tea made of licorice root, lavender, and chamomile. Bound to relax weary bones and sharpen a fatigued mind."

She poured the steaming water into each of their mugs. None among them were particularly familiar with plants, as carnivorous as they were, so they did not notice that the leaves at the bottom of the cup did not match her description.

"Excuse me, miss, ah, I do not think that we got your name."

"Iree," she said, casting Balin a curt smile. "My name is Iree. I have lived here for many years and have served quite a few Dwarves from Erebor, back before...is that where you are headed?"

"We prefer to keep our businesses private," Thorin said, grasping his mug.

"Oh of course. A still tongue lives forever."

There was a moment of hesitancy then as the Dwarves waited for someone to take the first sip. Iree cleared her throat and lifted her mug. "Cheers," she said, "to a fruitful journey, whatever that may be."

The Company lifted their mugs as one and sipped mightily. She set her's down quickly and watched with a smile as every last Dwarve drained his mug in one gulp. They sighed and belched in appreciation. Nori shook his head woozily and Oin tapped at his earpiece in confusion. Thorin raised his tingling hand and looked at Iree in surprise.

"What have you done?" He slurred. She simply smiled and crossed her legs.

"Be still. Be quiet. Do not attempt to run," she began and the Dwarves froze in place, "and do not attempt to harm me. You are in a highly suggestible state and I intend to take full advantage of your weakness."

X

Bilbo crashed through the thicket, calling Nadi's name. It had been hours since he had left the Company behind. He was sure that he was on the right path, and yet darkness had closed in around him and the nighttime creatures of the woods had begun to wake. But despite his worry, he traveled on. He intended to find his friend and bring her back, consequences be damned.

"Nadi?" He called and the woods echoed his panic. "Nadi, where are you?"

"I'm here!" A voice called from far away and he followed it with a rising heart.

"Nadi?"

"What is it?"

He stumbled to a stop along an edge of suddenly sloping land and looked down. Two glinting eyes peered back up at him from a dark face. He barely noticed her, so thickly had she been coated in mud. He rushed down, more tumbling than running, and fell to a crouch by her side.

"Nadi, oh dear, are you hurt?"

"I should have known that you would come," she said in a weak voice. She tried to move her shoulders and winced. "You are insufferably persistent."

He realized then that her leg was twisted at an odd angle and he covered his mouth. "Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh," he said, more to himself than her. Murky water flowed over them, carrying with it the day's debris and detritus. She was submerged to the waist with the foot of her twisted leg poking out of the water. The moon rose and cast its light along her tired face and drenched clothing. She shivered and he quickly put his coat around her.

"Nadi what...what happened to you?"

"I fell," she said simply and smiled, seemingly deliriously. "It seems as if I have become the clumsy one while you have only grown better at your balance."

"We...we have to do something...we have to...get you back or move you or…" Bilbo looked around but there was nothing and no one around to help them. He looked back down at her and gulped. "I'm gonna try to lift you," he stuttered.

"Don't-"

"Okay. One, two, three," he wrapped his arms under her shoulders and attempted to lift her. She grasped his shoulder and closed her eyes, crying out against the pain.

"You can't. My other leg...it's stuck."

Bilbo looked down and found that this was indeed true. Her unbroken leg was wedged beneath a fallen log in a way that would break it if she tried to stand. Her wet hand slid limply away from his shoulder.

"I'll...I'll try to go back and get help. I'll-"

"Bilbo, please." She pressed her palm against his cheek and smiled through her tears. "Can you stay for just a minute?"

The Hobbit nodded and held her hand. Part of him feared that she had resolved to die then and there, trapped and broken as she was, but the other part refused to believe that to be so. That a mighty Dwarven warrior should meet such a cruel and lonely fate seemed blasphemous and wrong. He pressed her hand into a fist and kissed her knuckles.

"Oh, sweet Nadi," he said, weeping quietly as the cold water seemed to soak them to the bones. She closed her eyes and smiled, but this time her smile was empty. It showed none of its usual warmth and light. This frightened him terribly but he refused to look away from her waxen face. Her lip trembled and she muttered something that he could not understand. Her pupils ceased to move beneath her eyelids and he shook her wildly, all the while screaming her name.

"Nadi, Nadi, please wake up!"

"I think…" she said melodically, her smile growing wider. "I think that I am going into shock. The water is so warm…"

"No, no, no, Nadi. The water is cold and you're right here, right here with me. Nadi, listen to me," he had to do anything to keep her talking, to keep her away from the soft whisperings of an endless sleep that was no doubt pulling her away. Something jangled in his pocket and he reached in to find the golden locket bearing the image of the girl and the baby that he had found long ago at the beginning of their journey. He waved it in front of her face. "Who is this, Nadi? Tell me. I found this locket days ago, I...I think it belonged to Bofur."

"That? Ah, that's Ailee and her little one. She made my necklace, see? A lovely woman..." Nadi's eyelids fluttered and he quickly pocketed the locket and shook her shoulders.

"Tell me...tell me what happened when you went into the woods years ago. Bofur said you left and you weren't the same when you came back. What was it Nadi? A bear? Was it a Troll?"

"Hmmm," Nadi said sleepily, still smiling with her eyes closed "'tis not a story that I can tell to such a sweet Hobbit."

"Why not? What was so awful that you couldn't tell your brethren, that you can't tell me?"

"You are my brethren," she said in a voice so quiet that he could barely hear it. Her body went limp then and her hand fell away from his.

"Nadi? Nadi? Nadi?! No! No! Wake up, please, listen to me."

"You are...you...you're not….you're-" her eyes flew open and she sat up slightly. The color seemed to return to her cheeks as she stared at him with a gaze full of wonder. "You're not my brethren!" She exclaimed, "You're not a Dwarve!"

"I...could have told you that," Bilbo said, with some confusion. She shook her head and began to mutter to herself.

" 'You will never be able to speak of your curse to your Dwarven brethren,' that's what she said, the Witch. The Witch!" Nadi's eyes were alight with fire as she grabbed Bilbo's hands and squeezed them viciously. "You are not my Dwarven brethren! The curse doesn't apply to you!"

"What-?"

"Long ago I went into the woods in search of a hunting party that had gone off in search of Trolls. During my travels I encountered a bear who wounded my arm, see-" gingerly, she rolled up her sleeves, revealing an old scar in the shape of a bite mark. "I was able to scare it off but my wounds were great. So I traveled in the direction of the nearest town in search of aid. It was there, in the woods, that I came upon a Witch by the name of Iree. She cursed me, for reasons that I do not know. And, according to the curse, I would be plagued by images of Kili's death for every night that I lived."

"That's why you tie a handkerchief around your mouth at night, to keep from screaming?"

"Silence!" She cried in jubilation. "But the curse had another part. Never would I be able to speak on it, on her, or what I saw. If I tried, my throat would constrict and my words would be lost. Before I left, she had me do terrible, terrible things to my arms, neck, and face. But do you understand, Bilbo? Do you see? All these years I have suffered the weight of my own traitorous imagination. Never could I speak on it, never did I dare seek her out for the fear that she had put upon me with her curse. She said that I would never be able to speak on it to my Dwarven brethren. But you -"

"I'm a Hobbit."

"You are a blessed Hobbit!" She fell back, coughing, and Bilbo quickly put his arms around her. "Listen to me," she rasped, "I have reason to believe that the castle back there is being occupied by none other than the Witch, Iree. I'd seen the plants growing in the garden before, long ago when I first met her. Bilbo - you must go and warn the others. Quickly! Right away!"

"I might not make it in time!"

"But you must try. Their lives may depend on it!"

"But you-"

"Bilbo. Lend me your strength and courage as I cannot move from this spot. Let my words light a fire beneath your feet and run. Protect the Company, deliver my word!"

Bilbo stood up but right at that moment, they heard a loud crashing through the trees. Bilbo crouched low above her, sword held at the ready but it was a welcome sight that burst through the trees.

"Gandalf!" They cried in unison. The Wizard stood there panting, looking very confused and disappointed.

"Where are the rest?" He demanded to know.

"They're in trouble. There's a Witch by the name of Iree-"

"Right, then." It had been as he feared. He hopped down into the ravine and looked at Nadi's twisted leg. "And you? Where else are you hurt?"

"My arm."

Gandalf wasted no time. He waved his hand slowly over his limbs, whispering incantations beneath his breath. Bilbo watched in awe as both her leg and arm straightened themselves out. She gasped, and he quickly covered her mouth as she let out a painful scream. But the worst was soon over. The sling fell away from her once broken arm, which she waved in amazement.

"We must hurry,' Gandalf said. "Can you stand?"

With Bilbo's help, she lifted herself from the river and stood solidly on both legs "You healed me," she said in surprise, glancing up at the Wizard with a look that verged on worship.

"Yes, and perhaps now you will have a bit more faith in my kind. Grab your bow and arrows - Kili's is it? - we must run as fast as our legs can carry us."

With that, they were off. But it was already too late.