What little joy and humor aunt and nephew had managed to find during the night had all but disappeared as the morning sun rose.
When Baylee awoke, she found that some food and water had been left for her, as well as a bit of pain medicine. After taking the medicine, she guzzled down the water and had a bit of food before going in search of the others. She didn't have to look for them long, as she soon heard Thorin's voice echoing down from the main hall.
Approaching the gate, though, her brows furrowed; she could see Thorin pacing back and forth. Her stride began to slacken when she found that he wore a full suit of bronze armor with a heavy, dark fur coat over top it. It was hard to for her to tell, but it almost seemed like he was stooping a bit, as if he were carrying a great weight on his shoulders.
Forcing herself to continue walking, she soon stepped out from behind one of the pillars only to stop in her tracks. Every single dwarf wore a suit of armor and held a weapon of some sort. When she spotted him sitting beside Bofur, she saw that even her father wore a bit of armor, though his was paltry compared to the others—just a mail shirt.
"Wh-what's going on?" she asked, taking them all by surprise. No one had seen her come out from behind the column. "Why are you all dressed for war?"
"Because we may very well be going to war, 'ibinê," Thorin answered, his words laced with anger and hatred. As he walked towards her, she could see him holding something under his cloak; when he got closer, she realized it was her sword. "There is a host of elves on our doorstep, just waiting for the opportune moment to strike so that they can take what is ours." He brushed his knuckles against her cheek and she shivered at how cold they were.
"C-Can't we try to negotiate with them?" she asked, trying to keep herself from sounding timid. "Surely, there must be some way that we can avoid going to war—"
"No, 'ibinê," he said, cutting her off. "The time for negotiations has passed." He held out her sword to her.
Biting her lip, Baylee looked between it and Thorin's face. "Thorin…We're thirteen dwarves and two hobbits. What good could we do against an entire army of elves?"
To her great surprise, he smirked. Leaning over, he pressed his lips to her forehead and once more brushed her cheek with his knuckles. "Our numbers will soon be greater," he softly reassured her. "Help is on the way, 'ibinê. We need only to hold out a little while longer." Without waiting for her to reply, he pressed the sword into her hands before walking past her.
"Help is on the way?" she quietly repeated strapping her sword around her waist. "What does he mean by—" Her eyes widened and her skin somewhat paled. "The message he sent with Roäc…" Biting her lip again, she thought back to her father's maps of Middle Earth, hoping she could remember which dwarven settlement was closest to them. But it wasn't the maps that made her recall that knowledge,
It was the sight of Dwalin as he sat beside Balin, a grim look on his face that made her remember.
"What do the dwarves of the Iron Hills say? Is Dain with us?" That was the question Dwalin had asked Thorin all those months ago in Bag End.
'The Iron Hills…? But they're almost two hundred miles from here,' she thought, lifting her dress and hurrying after Thorin. By now, he was halfway up the stairs. 'There's no way they'd be able to get here in time! Even if they marched all night without sleep, they couldn't cover that much ground!'
"W-wait! Baylee, wait!" Bilbo called out. Hopping down from his spot, he sprinted across the way and grabbed her arm. "Come with me, dear—no, no questions. Not yet." He started to guide her towards the gatehouse; she couldn't help but notice that he seemed far more nervous than he had the previous day.
Though she was puzzled by his behavior, she said nothing until they were both in the emptiness of the gatehouse. "Da', wh-what is going on? Why are you so nervous?"
"Because—Because I need to warn you of something, dear," he said, fumbling over his words a bit. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself, he gently took hold of her shoulders. "Thorin is convinced that someone in the company has the Arkenstone."
Her brows furrowed. "He thinks…what?"
Bilbo nodded. "Yes, it-it-it's preposterous, I know. No one in the company has the Arkenstone." He shook his head, sighing. "No, no one here has it. I know that for a fact. But because Thorin's convinced that someone does have it, he is extremely quick to anger today. He-he doesn't trust anyone—eh-eh-except you and me, that is."
"Al-alright…I'll be careful around him," she said, still feeling confused by her father's behavior. If he was so certain no one in the company had it, why was he so nervous…? Or maybe it was just the entire breadth of the situation that had him so on edge? "Is that all, or is there anything else I should know?"
Bilbo fell silent, though a variety of emotions passed over his face as he looked down at his daughter. He so badly wanted to tell he what he had done—that he had taken the Arkenstone and given it to Bard. But he couldn't risk making her an accomplice should his plan go awry, especially when Thorin was like this.
Instead, he suddenly pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. "I love you, dear," he whispered, voice somewhat muffled by her hair, "and I am so very proud of you. There will never be a hobbit more proud of his daughter than I am of you. No matter what happens today, remember that."
His words almost instantly brought tears to Baylee's eyes and she clung onto him in return. "I love you, too, da'," she whispered. She did her best to hide the fear that was quickly growing inside her, but her voice betrayed her by wavering slightly. "You're the best da' a hobbit lass could have ever asked for."
"Please remember that promise you made to me."
"Only if you remember the one you made to me."
A small smile came to his lips and, giving her a small squeeze, he kissed the top of her head. "I will. But for now…I think it's best if we join the others once more. The last thing I'd want is for Thorin to mistake our absence as us conspiring against him or some other outlandish thing."
She nodded in agreement, using the sleeve of her dress to wipe the tears from her eyes; she was thankful they hadn't yet spilled. "That's a good idea," she sighed. As Bilbo headed for the archway, she followed a few paces behind, wanting to make sure that there were no traces of her tears left.
Once outside the room, she looked up at the battlements to find Thorin still up there, his hands behind his back as he stared out at the valley. Biting her lower lip, she went over to the stairs and began to climb them. Upon reaching the top, she found that bows and quivers of arrows had been placed against each makeshift merlon in preparation for battle. She shook her head and approached Thorin, ready to confront him about sending word to the Iron Hills. Her attention, however, was quickly captured by something else.
The entirety of Mirkwood's army stood before the gate.
Her eyes wide, she moved to stand beside Thorin as she stared out at the army. There were so many of them—far more than what she had seen standing on Dale's walls the previous day. Resting her hands on the cold stone, she swallowed hard.
"Do you see now, 'ibinê?" Thorin asked, voice quiet and stern. "Do you see now why we must defend the mountain?"
"I…I suppose I do," she said, not wanting to argue with him. Inwardly, though, she knew there was still time to prevent a war from breaking out. Bard was a reasonable man and Thranduil—well, if, perhaps, she spoke with the Elven King, things may go a bit smoother than they did in Mirkwood…
She jumped slightly when she felt Thorin's knuckle brush against her cheek. Swallowing hard, she looked up at him; there was no trace of blue left in his eyes. They were entirely gold and, if she stared long enough, it almost looked as if his pupils had become a bit pointed.
"I should lock you away somewhere safe in the palace," he murmured, caressing her cheek again. "Keep you as far away from those would-be thieves as possible…"
"I-I'd much rather be out here," she said, managing a smile. The thought of being locked away in a room all by herself while everyone else was fighting for their lives terrified her. "With you and da' and the others."
His palm now came to rest on her cheek and he lightly shook his head. "No. Gems as precious as you should be kept away from the fields of battle—kept somewhere safe where they have no fear of being broken or stolen."
"Th-Thorin, I'm not a gem," she told him, brows furrowing. "I'm a person. If you locked me away—" She paused, trying to keep herself composed. "If you were to lock me away and something happened to you out here, what then? What would become of me?"
A frown came to his lips. "You are a gem," he told her, his voice low—lower than she had ever heard it before. There was a sort of rumble to it, making him sound almost animalistic. "A queen of gems—my queen of gems. Of emeralds and of amethysts."
Moving his hand away from her cheek, he instead took hold of her shoulder; his hold was tight, but not painful. At the same time, he closed his eyes and turned his face from her as he clenched his jaws. His brows practically knitted themselves together, they were furrowed so deeply; she knew what little part of the real Thorin that was left was trying to fight back the Dragon Sickness.
Eyes flicking open once more, he leaned over and locked his gaze with hers. "You are one of the most beautiful and most precious of gems on this earth. You are one of my most precious treasures," he whispered, "and I will suffer no one to take you from me, lest they wish to taste the steel of my blade."
Baylee squeaked in surprise as he suddenly kissed her, forceful and demanding. It made her lips hurt and drew a pained whimper from her throat, but the sound went ignored by the king. His beard scratched at her skin and his hand held onto her shoulder even tighter now—painfully so.
With a great deal of strength, she suddenly gripped the fur of his coat and pushed him off of her.
He looked down at her in a mixture of anger and confusion, but before he could demand why she had shoved him, she looked out towards the army of elves. The action made Thorin do the same and he swore under his breath.
Two figures were approaching on horseback.
Baylee let go of his coat just in time for him to storm away. As he went over to the top of the stairs, she turned so that she faced the valley once more. She raised a hand to her lips, half expecting to find blood on her fingertips when she pulled it away again. But there was no blood and she exhaled a sigh of relief.
Shaking her head, she focused her attention on the riders once more. She knew one was most definitely Bard, though he wore different clothes than the previous day. As they came closer, she saw that what she had mistaken for a large horse beside Bard was, in actuality, a great elk with massive antlers.
"Thranduil," she whispered, hearing the sound of heavy boots running up the stairs behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the others rushing to take their spots along the wall, with Thorin coming to stand beside her once again.
Snatching up the bow and an arrow, he nocked the arrow, but didn't fire it. Instead, he glared at the approaching pair, his jaw clenched as he waited to see just how close they would dare to come.
No one spoke as they waited, the silence around them both deafening and eerie. As she looked at the dwarves nearest to her, Baylee saw that there was fear and excitement in their eyes. She knew they didn't want to fight—not when they were this immeasurably outnumbered—but she also knew they wouldn't turn their backs on their king and would fight to the death if they had to.
By this point, the riders had reached the front row of soldiers. They continued to ride forward; their gazes were fixed on the dwarven king. Still, no one spoke. No one even moved, fearing that battle would break out if they did so much as lift their pinky finger.
Thranduil and Bard had nearly reached the makeshift bridge below when Baylee heard the creaking of wood and string. Before she could look to her left, however, Thorin let loose the arrow. It stuck fast into the dirt just feet from Thranduil's elk, making the pair come to a halt in surprise.
"If you come closer, I will put the next one between your eyes!" Thorin shouted, earning a cheer from the dwarves. Reaching down, he grabbed another arrow and drew it back.
Thranduil's eyes narrowed as he glared at the dwarf; ever so slightly, he tilted his head. The front few rows of elves, who had been standing as still as statues, suddenly came to life. In one fluid, unified motion, they brought out their own bows, nocked their arrows, and took aim at the dwarves.
Everyone except Thorin darted behind the merlons for cover.
Poking her head just a bit above the wall, Baylee watched as the Elven King raised his hand, making his elves stand down. "We've come to tell you," he called out, "payment of your debt has been offered…and it has been accepted."
His words made some confusion came to Thorin's face. "What payment?" he barked. "I gave you nothing! You have nothing!"
"Actually, we have—" Bard reached into the pocket of his coat before pulling something out. As he held it above his head, Baylee saw that it was a beautiful gem that seemed to almost glow, even in the daylight. "This."
"The Arkenstone," she breathed, eyes widening. Beside her, Thorin lowered the bow, anger and incredulousness on his face.
"They have the Arkenstone?" Kili gasped. He slammed his fist down on the wall. "Thieves!" he shouted. "How came you by the heirloom of our house?! That stone belongs to the king!"
"And the king may have it in our good will," Bard replied, slipping the stone back into his pocket. "But first, he must honor his word."
Thorin shook his head, his face filling with rage. "They are taking us for fools!" he growled. "This is a ruse—a filthy lie! The Arkenstone is in this mountain! It is a trick!" His voice rose in volume until he was shouting so loud, his voice echoed around the valley.
"It-It's no trick." Bilbo's voice almost sounded like a whisper compared to Thorin's. "The stone is real," he continued. "I…I gave it to them."
Baylee felt the color drain from her face and her eyes widened in horror. "No…"
Thorin turned towards Bilbo, his eyes blazing with fury and hurt. "You…"
"I-I took it as my fourteenth share," Bilbo said quickly, hoping beyond hope that the king would see reason.
"You…would steal from me?" the king seethed. Still clutching the bow, he took a slow and menacing step forward.
"Steal from you? No—oh heavens, no." He shook his head. "I may be a burglar, but I'd like to think I'm an honest one. And because of that, I'm willing to let it stand against my claim."
"Against…your claim?" Thorin repeated, voice beginning to take on that animalistic rumbling once more. "Your claim? You have no claim over me, you miserable rat!"
A whimper left Baylee's mouth and she shoved herself away from the wall, wanting to put herself between Thorin and Bilbo. But she wasn't fast enough. Before she could take even two steps forward, Thorin had slammed the bow down on the ground and started to storm towards Bilbo. She chased after him and grabbed the back of his coat, pulling on it. "Thorin, please—"
Bilbo cut her off. "I-I was going to give to you." He watched as Thorin came nearer and nearer, dragging his daughter behind him. But he did not move from his spot. "Many times, I wanted to, but—"
"But what, thief!?" Thorin snarled. He didn't even feel the tugging on his coat.
"You are changed, Thorin!" Bilbo answered, his tone taking on an air of scolding. "The dwarf I met in Bag End would never have gone back on his word! He would have never doubted the loyalty of his kin!" Glancing behind the king, he could see Baylee fruitlessly trying to hold back her husband.
To her somewhat relief, Thorin stopped just a few feet away from Bilbo. "Do not speak to me of loyalty!" he snarled. He looked over at the others. "Throw him from the rampart!" he commanded. When no one stepped forward to do as commanded, but instead stepped away from the pair, he growled and spun around; once more, Baylee had let go just in time to stop herself from being flung away. "DO YOU NOT HEAR ME?!" he roared.
Still, no one moved to do his bidding.
"Then I will do it myself!" he snapped. Turning towards Bilbo once more, he quickly closed the gap between them and easily snatched up the hobbit. "Curse you!" As Bilbo began to struggle against him, he dragged him towards the wall.
"NO!" Baylee ran forward again, grabbing onto her father's arm. "Stop it, Thorin! Let him go!"
But he ignored her. Slamming Bilbo down atop a merlon, he started to push him towards the edge. "Cursed be the wizard that forced you on this company!"
"Thorin, stop! Please!" Clutching onto her father with one hand, she started to slam the other down onto Thorin's forearm. But even if he hadn't been wearing armor, it would have been in vain. "Let go of him! For the love of Mahal, please let him go!"
"IF YOU DON'T LIKE MY BURGLAR—" From nowhere, Gandalf's voice engulfed them, the volume and the power of his words making everyone freeze. With Thorin no longer actively trying to kill Bilbo, the wizard let out a small sigh of relief. "Then please, don't damage him. Return him to me instead," he said, voice returning to normal. "You're not making a very splendid figure as King Under the Mountain, are you, Thorin son of Thrain?"
Growling and cursing under his breath, Thorin finally released Bilbo. As he stepped away from him, Bofur and Fili raced forward to help Baylee bring him down off the wall. "Never again will I have dealings with wizards," he called out. "Or that cursed Shire-rat!"
Though he hated to do so, Bofur pulled Bilbo away from Baylee. "Go, Bilbo," he said, pointing at a rope hanging off the end of the battlement.
"D-da'!" Baylee whimpered, reaching for her father while struggling against Bofur. "Le-let me go with him! Please!" She watched Bilbo start to scramble over the wall, but he paused for just a few seconds, his eyes filled with sorrow as he gave her an apologetic smile.
"He's goin' t' be fine, lass," Bofur assured her. "He's goin' t' be fine. He's safer out there than he is here. Out there is far too dangerous for you, though."
A choked sob left her mouth as she clung onto him, body trembling. There was little comfort to be found in his embrace, though: His armor was stiff and cold and if it hadn't have been for his scarf, the scales of his breast plate would have pinched at her face. She turned her head, tears streaming from her eyes as she glared at Thorin; his shoulders were heaving from exertion and he was glaring at the eastern horizon.
"Are we resolved?" Bard's voice rang out. "The return of the Arkenstone for what was promised?" There was some worry in his voice; he had seen Baylee struggling against Thorin, but she had disappeared in the scuffle and he could no longer see her. He prayed that she was unhurt. "Give us your answer! Will you have peace or will you have war?" His brows furrowed as a large raven flew down and landed on the wall beside the dwarf king.
A grin came to Thorin's lips as he reached up, lightly stroking the feathers on the crow's neck. Then, looking down at Bard, his grin turned into a sneer. "I will have war!" he shouted. His words once again echoed around the valley, but as they faded away, they were replaced by a new sound: The sound of thunder.
But it wasn't thunder at all.
It was the sound of hundreds upon hundreds of heavily armored dwarves marching.
The dwarven army came to a halt upon the eastern ridge, their armor shining coldly in the morning light. What at first looked like a dwarf twice the size of Bombur came ambling to the front of the lines, but as Baylee focused on him more, she saw that it was actually a dwarf sitting atop a massive, armored pig.
"Is th-that Dain?" she asked, voice wavering in a mixture of fear and sorrow.
"Aye, that's him alright," Bofur murmured, lightly rubbing her back. "Dain II, king o' the Iron Hills."
"Good morning! How are we all?" Dain called out, continuing to ride his pig forward. His army, however, stayed in place on the ridge. "If you wouldn't mind givin' me a few moments o' your time, I have a wee proposition for you!" He let a few seconds of silence pass by, waiting to see if anyone would reply. When no one did, he brought his pig to a halt atop a rocky overlook. "Would you maybe consider…just sodding off?!"
Morbid curiosity drove Baylee to step away from Bofur and go over to the wall. Standing between two merlons, she watched as the elven army suddenly burst into movement. As one, half the army drew their swords and took a step forward while the other half once again nocked arrows to their bows.
Gandalf, shaking his head in the same fashion a disappointed grandfather would, hurried past the elves as he made his way towards Dain. Bilbo followed closely behind him, not wanting to leave the wizard's side. "Come now, Lord Dain!"
"Gandalf the Grey." Dain's tone was one of discontent. "Tell this rabble t' leave or I'll water the ground with their blood."
"There is no need for war between dwarves, men, and elves!" the wizard said. "There is a legion of orcs and an army of wolves coming to march on the mountain. Stand your army down until the real enemy has arrived!"
Baylee gasped, though the sound was drowned out by the dwarves around her swearing in shock.
"Armies of orcs and wargs? There's no way we can fight them, the elves, and the humans even with Dain's help!" cried Kili.
"What we have t' do is t' make a temporary truce, then," Balin offered, though he didn't sound entirely confident in the idea. "A-aye, a temporary truce. Three armies versus two armies would put the odds in our favor."
"Don't be ridiculous! At this point, the humans and elves would never ally themselves with us!" Gloin countered. "They would rather ally themselves with the wargs an—"
"SHAZARA!" Thorin snapped, silencing the group.
Down in the valley, the elves burst into life again. Those who wielded swords or bows stepped out of the way, allowing for those elves who bore shields and spears to take their places at the front of the line. There, they formed a wall out of their shields with their spears pointed outwards to further defend their ranks.
The dwarven army started to move forward, their weapons at the ready. At first, their march was steady, but as they moved down the hill, it became steeper and steeper. Breaking free of their strict cadence, they started to run—
Howls and horns came echoing down into the valley, carried by a bitterly cold, westerly wind. The sound brought the charging dwarves skidding to an almost immediate halt. They, along with the elves, looked towards the western arm of the mountain. Seconds later, what seemed like an enormous wave of wargs and their goblin riders crested the top of the ridge only to come crashing down as they raced towards the armies. Following close behind them was a sea of black, brown, and green—orcs. Large ones clad in plate armor and marching in unison.
The commanders of the armies shouted out in their native tongues and their soldiers, obeying their commands, turned to face the new enemy. It was then Baylee realized that, at the very back of the elven army, near the outskirts of Dale, was a small army of humans. The armor and weapons they had found within the ruins of the city's armory didn't shine like that of the elves and dwarves, leaving them to appear to be the shadow of the elvish army they fought alongside.
Their numbers had to have been less than two hundred.
She bit her lower lip; her mind had instantly gone to Bain, Sigrid, and Tilda. From there, she thought about the other refugees and how the ruined city offered little in the ways of defense. And, of course, her father, who was with Gandalf in the midst of the battlefield.
"I'm going over!" Fili suddenly declared. He turned, beginning to head over to the end of the wall, where Bilbo's rope still dangled.
"Me too," Kili agreed, moving after him.
"An' me," Dwalin grunted.
Before the others could join them, however, Thorin spun around to face them. "Stand down," he ordered.
The company exchanged confused looks with one another. "What?" Ori dared to ask.
"I said STAND DOWN!" Thorin shouted, eyes still ablaze and shining like molten gold. He looked at the dwarves around him, growling quietly. Then, spotting his queen standing at the wall, he went over and grabbed her wrist, starting to pull her with him as he made for the stairs. "Come, 'ibinê. You shouldn't witness the bloodshed that's about—"
Baylee spun around and slapped him across the face.
"Don't you touch me!" she snapped. With him temporarily stunned by the slap, she pulled her wrist free of his grip. "Do you really think I want to go anywhere with you after what you did? After you tried to kill my father?!"
His eyes narrowed as he glared down at her. "'Ibinê, don't be foolish," he growled, reaching for her again. "War is no place—"
"STOP CALLING ME 'IBINÊ!" she suddenly screamed, making everyone—even Thorin—jump. "I am not your gem! I am not yours at all!" She glared up at him, anger and hurt filling her eyes only to spill over and run down her cheeks as rivers of tears. "I am Thorin Oakenshield's. I am his wife and I am his Mouse-Lass." Shaking her head, she backed away from him, moving towards the stairs. "But you are not Thorin Oakenshield. You're just—just—you're just some selfish, gold-hungry bastard!"
Without giving him the chance to reply, she turned and hurried down the stairs.
"Get back here, you ungrateful, sniveling rat"! Thorin shouted, rushing after her. But by the time he reached the bottom, Baylee had completely disappeared.
A/N: So, uh. I disappeared for a bit. Turns out I had been hit harder by grief and burnout more than I had anticipated, and it left me unable to even open my three fic documents. Which is a great big pain in the butt because this chapter has been written since last November. That's right. I wrote this chapter almost a year ago and only just tonight managed to force myself to reread and edit it. And I remember this being a hard chapter to write because of that final 'confrontation'.
However, I also remember giggling quite a bit as I wrote the one and only time Baylee truly swears in the 560+ pages of this fic.
I have chapter 36 done as well, but I still need to edit it, so i may post it next week. I've also got to finish writing chapter 37 and a possible chapter 38. This story is so close to being finished, guys. So close.
With that said, here's something a bit important: For the past few months there have been rumors about fanfic dot net being abandoned by the owners and the very real possibility of it basically...just disappearing one day because the owners aren't paying the host servers or something. If these rumors are true, you can find me over on Archive of Our Own under the same username.