Author's Note: I own nothing.

26 Through Dale

It took them a full day and a half to make it to Dale. Bella didn't know what exactly she'd expected but the air of sadness that seemed to lay over the ruin like a blanket of fog was not it. They had less than two days now until Durin's day when the door would reveal itself. Night was beginning to fall as they reached the city. It was a hollow husk of what looked to have once been a mighty city. The only signs that the living had once inhabited the place were the torn and ruined remains of clothes and the smell of decay. There had been bodies here once Bella guessed but the elements had seen to the remains, or the dragon fire had. Whole streets of the town were razed to the ground, a black stain that spread like running ink. No one spoke as they entered the city. They were forced to make camp about halfway through, choosing one of the more stable ruins. The white stone here was untouched by the black ash of dragon fire, though time had not been kind to it otherwise. They managed to get a small fire going and in the light of that fire Bella examined the map Thorin had given to her that first night in Lake Town.

"Have you found anything Ghivashel?" Thorin asked stepping over to her, ceding the watch to Bifur, who took up the post by the door. Bella frowned down at the map.

"I think we need to go to the south face of the mountain." She pointed to a small opening drawn onto the mountain directly across from where Dale sat. "We're here. That'll be the main gate, but the secret door is here, that's what this symbol means right?" She asked and Thorin nodded.

"Seems to be." He had glanced up away from her and she looked to where his eyes were focused to find Fili and Kili muttering together in the corner. Bella caught his hand.

"You're worried about him." She said, it wasn't really a question.

"I have never heard of a coupling between a dwarf and an elf, even one connected by the Song. I am concerned."

"I've never heard of a coupling between a dwarf and a hobbit, and yet here we are." She pointed out and he laughed. It echoed in the room silencing everyone for a moment as if even now the dragon sleeping beneath the mountain could hear them. He shook his head.

"You have a point Ghivashel. We cannot judge anyone for who they love. That was decided for us long before we walked this land." Thorin said cupping her cheek. She smiled.

"Good, now go talk to your nephew and make sure he knows you feel this way." Bella said, chastisement in her tone. Thorin leaned forward and captured her lips for a moment.

"You will make a just and honorable Queen, Treasure of all treasures." He muttered against her lips and she wrinkled her nose at him.

"Someday you're going to tell me what all that means." She said and Thorin smiled against her mouth.

"Soon enough." He said kissing her one more time before heading over to speak to Kili.

"Thorin I…" Kili began.

"Do you love her? Truly?" Thorin asked in Khuzdul. Kili stood, at his full height he was only slightly shorter than Thorin himself.

"No less than you love Bella. She is my One uncle, and I cannot forsake that or her." Kili said standing his ground, his leg might be stiff where he had been wounded but he would not back down on this. He and Thorin stared each other down for a moment.

"You believe she feels the same?" Thorin asked and Kili nodded.

"I believe she would not have come to my aid if she did not, let alone abandoned her post and her home." Kili said clenching his fists. Thorin nodded.

"Peace son of my sister. I would never act to separate anyone from their One. You must understand though that this bond is everlasting, if something happens to her you will never love again."

"I never could." Kili said and Thorin pulled him into an embrace.

"Then she will have a place should we take back Erebor, for her place is by your side just as yours is by hers." He said with a slight smile. Kili stared at him for a moment before wrapping his arms around his uncle in a fierce embrace, burring his head in his uncles shoulder. Bella smiled. She had not understood a word that had passed between them but from the reactions Thorin had chosen his words well. Fili and Kili rejoined the others by the fire after that and Bella once more grew serious.

"Now that's settled I have a question I should have asked long before now. I know I was hired as the Company's burglar but I have no knowledge of what it is I am to steal." Bella pointed out and Balin and Thorin exchanged a look. "I read through the contract back in the Shire and it made no mention of what I was meant to steal." Thorin sat down next to her and nodded to Balin. He took a deep breath.

"Lass, what you have to understand is that Dwarven politics are complex. We follow the sons of kings yes but since Erebor fell there has been a question of leadership. Most of the clans of dwarves are split." Balin explained and Bella frowned.

"And this has something to do with burglary?" She asked.

"More so what you are to steal yes." Balin said and Bella frowned.

"The Arkenstone." Thorin muttered his eyes far away.

"What is an Arkenstone?" Bella asked. Balin shook his head.

"Not an Arkenstone, the Arkenstone, there has only ever been one found." Balin clarified. "It was named the kings jewel. Many believed, and still believe, that it is a sign from Mahal of the right of Durin's folk to continue to rule. To truly retake Erebor we need the Arkenstone to unite the dwarves under a single banner. All of us together may have a chance against the dragon."

"So I am to steal a single jewel? What does it look like?" She asked and Oin snorted slightly.

"Lass there's only one Arkenstone, you will know it when you see it." He said and Bella rolled her eyes.

"Well, does it look like a diamond? For that is the only jewel I have ever seen." She said, her temper growing slightly short with nerves about stealing from a dragon. The dwarves all stared at her in utter disbelief. "It's true, we do not care for jewels back in the Shire. The only ones I have ever seen were a pair of diamond cuff links Gandalf once gifted to my grandfather." Thorin shook his head.

"No Ghivashel, it is no diamond. It is like a fallen star. At first glance it is white and glowing with a light of its own. The longer you look at it the more colors seem to shift and emerge. Truly there is only one Arkenstone." Thorin said his voice still far away. Bella nodded glancing out the door of this house and at the mountain.

"Well we still have to get into the mountain before I can steal it."