Author's Note: I own nothing.

17 In the Dungeon

It took Bella two days to find her way all the way out of the dungeon. To be completely fair this was a complex fortress, nothing like the only other elven dwelling she'd been in and she'd had free reign to wander as she wished without fear in Rivendell. The dungeons in and of themselves were more complicated than she'd imagined, on the first day she'd discovered a small path to what looked very much like the root cellar in Bag End but much more complex and very much larger. It seemed to be a storehouse for mostly dry goods and wine. She risked stealing an apple here and there, but couldn't risk much more than that lest she be noticed. When she deemed it night time she slipped back to the dungeon. She'd slept that first night wearing the ring and regretted every moment of it. She had dark dreams full of blood and death and dark words she did not even wish she could understand. After that she removed the ring to sleep, resting instead next to Thorin's cell since the others could hear any guards coming long before they reached that point and Thorin could wake her. By the fourth day she was thanking all the Valar that her mother had endeavored to teach her both Sindarin and Silvain.

She'd been following what she'd come to term Kili's elf for the last day or so. She visited the dark haired dwarf often enough, though she never made it obvious that was what she was doing. She was the captain of the guard Bella was quick to learn and she was fast friends with Thranduil's son Legolas, her name was Tauriel. She spoke mostly Silvain, though she would speak Sindarin to Thranduil and Legolas. She and the Keeper of the Keys didn't seem to agree on much. As far as Bella could understand the Keeper was older than Tauriel, by a large margin and resented her for being as high up as she was. Bella privately scoffed at him when he muttered about women not being worth their salt when it came to fighting. But she had other things to worry about. It took her three more days to collapse fully next to Thorin's cell. She swore under her breath glancing back up the passage before pulling the ring off her finger. She felt drained, and hungry.

"Are you alright?" Thorin's voice was quiet but clear in the dark. The guards didn't often come down here and unless one was shouting the other Dwarves couldn't hear well what they were saying. Bella privately thought Thranduil had Thorin put down here to starve him of company in hopes that he would give in easier to his demands. She was glad to spite the elven king in this. She shook her head.

"I'm fine. Just tired." She said and frowned as Thorin's hand emerged from the cell with a small apple and a hunk of cheese.

"Take it. I hid it from the guards before they took the breakfast plates." Bella only hesitated a moment before taking the offered food. "You don't look well." Thorin commented and Bella frowned chewing and swallowing before she spoke.

"How can you tell? It's too dark down here to see much." She said and the corner of Thorin's mouth tilted up.

"Maybe for a Hobbit. Not for a dwarf. We can see very well in the dark. And you look pale." He commented. Bella shrugged. She felt drained but she couldn't figure out why. Thorin hadn't asked yet about the ring, or more accurately how she kept vanishing and reappearing. She had been careful that none of the dwarves had actually seen the ring. She didn't much feel like sharing it, that was all.

"I'm fine, wish I could find the kitchens. But I have found the Keeper of the Keys. Good news for us is he's a bit of a drunk. The bad news is I haven't found an unguarded gate yet. Far as I can tell there are two main gates but they're guarded all day and all night." She said taking a bite of the apple before speaking again. "But I keep hearing about shipments to and from Lake Town. If I can figure out how those are getting in and out maybe we can use that way. Because they aren't coming in by either gate." She took another bite of the apple as Thorin leaned against the bars looking out at her.

"You look exhausted." He said and Bella frowned at him. She might have originally taken it as an insult but his voice had a soft edge to it that she thought she recognized as concern. She shook her head.

"Running from elves doesn't exactly allow for a restful night." She commented letting a slight smile pull at her lips. "And I can say with certainty it was never something I saw myself doing." She said taking another bite of the cheese. Thorin snorted in amusement.

"It's not too bad. I've seen danker dungeons than this." He commented. "Well not exactly dungeons, a few prisons in the world of men." Bella laughed.

"How did you end up in a prison of men?" She asked and he allowed himself a smile.

"Tavern brawling, Dwalin could tell the story better than I, he was mostly sober." Thorin admitted his smile growing as Bella suppressed a bout of laughter into her sleeve. "All I really remember is that one of the men at the bar had made a snide comment about Dis. I woke up in the cell the next morning. Truth be told I don't recall what the comment was, but I believe it had something to do with her beard. Which is of course the worst kind of insult a Dwarrow can receive. We're very proud of our beards." Thorin said and Bella grinned.

"I had noticed that. Seems to be the most grooming some of you do on a regular basis." She said her tone teasing. He rolled his eyes at her, but found himself still smiling. "What is your sister like? You never told me."

"Unyielding. She has always been the one to knock some sense into me. She's back in Ered Luin, the Blue Mountains." He sighed. "She told me this quest was folly. Insisted I should be looking for other things instead of a way into the mountain."

"What other things?" Bella asked curiously. Thorin glanced at her and tilted his head at her.

"My One. She wants me to find her and settle down. But something tells me my One isn't one to settle, no matter how much she seems the opposite." He said and began to hum the song she'd used to tease the spiders. She went bright red.

"I'll have you know I like being settled." She said her voice shaking slightly.

"How long have you known?" He asked. She took the last bite of the cheese to forestall her answer. But as the silence dragged on she sighed.

"That it was you for sure? That first night in Rivendell. You were the only one who wasn't singing." She said not looking at him. "That my Tuning was coming from one of the company, I've know since the first night when you all sang that song in my parlor." Thorin frowned slightly.

"You only agreed to come along after that song." He said and she nodded.

"I had to know. If I was right. I was. How long have you known?" She asked not looking up at him.

"The spiders. You sang to distract them." She was silent. "But I have been missing your singing for a long while now. Since that first night I arrived in the Shire." She snorted but fell silent as footsteps echoed through the dungeon. She slipped her hand back into her pocket and vanished. But he felt her hand on his, though he couldn't see it.

"I'll be back." She assured him in a bare whisper before the feel of her hand vanished from his.