Chapter three: Supper

After the dwarves had finally introduced themselves one by one to Bilbo and Dahlia, they had begun to sit around the dining table in Bag end.
Dahlia was preparing a small supper stew for everyone, and made sure to save some bread for the missing dwarf who was meant to arrive any minute now.
"Shouldn't you have servants doing this stuff" Kili teased.
Bilbo finally corrected the situation "She isn't the princess per say, as we no longer have monarchy as such in Hobbiton. However, we are technically in charge of the area, being respectable Baggins, like a ruling lord and lady."

Balin stroked his beard thoughtfully, "Ah I see" the others all murmured in agreement.
"She certainly looks like a princess" Ori said thoughtfully sketching something in a small pad with a piece of charcoal in his hands.
Dahlia had just begun placing bowls out to every thankful dwarf when a strong knock was heard striking the door.
"He's here" Gandalf said, as Bilbo hurriedly got up and let the dwarf in.

There, standing on the doorstep, is the noble looking Thorin Oakensheild. He was slightly damp from some rain which occurred after the party.
He walked into the house eyeing the surroundings up, locking eyes for a second with Dahlia before placing his focus on Gandalf.

"Gandalf, I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost my way, twice. I wouldn't have found it at all had it not been for the mark on the door" He said with a slight frustrated tinge to his voice.

Gandalf shuts the door behind Thorin as the other dwarves gather from the dining room to the main hall all each bowing at the King.
"About that mark Gandalf! I just had my door painted this morn! You could have asked for a sign instead of vandalising my house" Bilbo said impatiently.
Being ignored by Gandalf.
Thorin was eyeing Bilbo up. "So, this is the hobbit. Tell me, Mr. Baggins, have you done much fighting?"
Bilbo looked startled, as did Dahlia, both with a look of befuddlement on their face. "Axe or sword? What is your weapon of choice?" Thorin continued circling Bilbo like a vulture.
"Well, I do have some skill at Conkers, if you must know, but I fail to see why that's relevant" Bilbo said raising his fists trying to look a little mighty.
"Thought as much. He looks more like a grocer than a burglar." Thorin said, making the other dwarves laugh. Thorin smiled warmly at the other dwarves before walking down the hall following the smell of food.
He sat himself at the head of the table, and Dahlia placed his bowl in front of him. The other begun to dig in as well, the stew was still warm.
Dahlia saved her best bread loafs for the king, and placed them on a dainty dish beside him, he looked up and gave her a friendly nod.

"And who is this" He asked politely.
"Princess Dahlia" Kili laughed, making the others chuckle and Dahlia rolled her eyes.
"Lady Dahlia" She corrected before curtsying politely "At your service" She said imitating what the dwarves had said earlier.
"princess?" said mused biting into the loaf she gave raising his eyebrows slightly at her tiara and letting out a light chuckle.
She sat herself beside the princes and Bilbo, the dwarves all ate their food in a polite manner before Balin spoke up.

"So… What news from the meeting in Ered Luin? Did they all come?"
"Aye. Envoys from all seven kingdoms." Thorin said putting his spoon down finished with his stew.
The other dwarves murmur in excitement.
"What did the dwarves of the Iron Hills say? Is Dain with us?" Dwalin asked eagerly.
Thorin hesitates, frowning. All eyes are on him.
"They will not come" He said with sadness in his deep voice.
The Dwarves all gasp and let out exclamations of disappointment and a few curses. "They say this quest is ours and ours alone." Thorin finished.

"You're going on a quest?" Dahlia asked whilst emptying the table of the empty bowls of stew.
Bilbo looked as confused as Dahlia, then Gandalf gently tapped Bilbo on the shoulder and requested for some candles to light up the table a bit more.

Bilbo leaves the room and comes back with a candle. He sets it down near Gandalf, who has pulled out an old map and is spreading it across the table.

"Far to the east, over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single solitary peak." Gandalf said Dahlia peered over him intrigued and looked at the tattered map.
Gandalf points to a peak drawn on the map. The lonely mountain.
Bilbo also peered over Gandalf, "The lonely mountain?" He asked.
"Is that a dragon sketched on top of the mountain?" Dahlia whispered to Bilbo.

A large burly dwarf with fiery red hair spoke up "Aye! Oin has read the portents and the portents say it is time." Gloin said.
he other dwarves' groan. They have heard this all before.
A dwarf with long white hair, lifted up his tin hearing trumpet "Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain as it was foretold: when the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end." He stated.

Bilbo and Dahlia look up from the map concerned, they both said "What beast?" in unison.
"Well, that would be a reference to Smaug the Terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our age. Airborne fire-breather, teeth like razors, claws like meathooks. Extremely fond of precious metals." Fili said locking eyes with a startled Dahlia.
"Yes we know what a dragon is" Bilbo huffed.

"The task to win back the mountain would be difficult enough with an army behind us. But we number just seven, and not seven of the best." Balin said disappointedly.
The dwarves object to this insult, shouting retorts and protests.
"We may be few in numbers, but we're fighters. All of us, to the last dwarf." Gloin the fiery red hair said.
"And you forget, we have a wizard in our company. Gandalf must have killed hundreds of dragons in his time." Kili said standing up excitedly and pointing to Gandalf who slightly choked on his pipe and flushed slightly.
"Well, no, I wouldn't say that I –"

"How many then?" Fili said leaning over the table towards Gandalf.
"What?" Gandalf said relighting his pipe.
"How many dragons have you killed? Go on, give us a number!"
An embarrassed Gandalf starts to cough on his pipe smoke. The dwarves groan, hopeless.

Thorin rises to his feet, Dahlia noted how he just radiated a majestic aura.
"If we have read these signs, do you not think others will have read them too? Rumours have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for sixty years. Eyes look east to the mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back as others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor?"

Inspired by the speech, the dwarves jump and cheer shouting in Khuzadul. Balin gets to his feet and raises his voice.
"You forget, the front gate is sealed! There is no way into the mountain."
"That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true." Gandalf interrupted.
With a twiddle of his fingers, Gandalf produces a dwarvish key, ornately wrought. Thorin looks at it in wonder.
"How came you by this?" Thorin asked almost accusatively.
"It was given to me by your father, by Thrain, for safe keeping. It is yours now." Gandalf replied handing the key to Thorin.

"If there is a key, there must be a door. Another way in?" Kili shouted.
"These ruins speak of another passage into the lower halls."
The wizard points to runes on the map.
"There's another way in." Fili said astonished.
"Well, if we can find it, but dwarf doors are invisible when closed. The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map and I do not have the skill to find it. But there are others in Middle Earth who can." Gandalf said quietly.
The other dwarves watch him attentively
"The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and no small amount of courage. But, if we are careful and clever, I believe that it can be done." He continued.

"That's why we need a burglar." Oin said loudly
Bilbo not catching on said "A good one too. An expert, I'd imagine."
"And are you?" Oin said
Bilbo froze half confused half afraid.
"Am I what?" Bilbo asked
Oin mishearing and adjusting his hearing trumpet said, "He said he's an expert!"
Several dwarves cheery with joy. Bilbo's face is livid with shock. Dahlia stifled a giggle.

"Him? No, no, no, he is not a burglar. Never stolen a thing in his life" Dahlia laughed looking at a very pale Bilbo.
"I'm afraid I have to agree with the lass, mister Baggins here looks hardly like burglar material." Balin said inspecting the pair carefully.
"Aye, the wild is no place for gentlefolk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves." Dwalin injected eyeing them up.
Bilbo nods in desperate agreement, ignoring the insult. Gandalf shakes his head, irritated.

"Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet! In fact, they can go unseen by most if they choose. And while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of dwarf, the scent of a hobbit is all but unknown to him which gives us a distinct advantage" Gandalf snapped.
Gandalf turns to Thorin, determined to make his point.
"You asked me to find the eighth member of this company and I have chosen Mr. Baggins. There is a lot more to him than appearances suggest, and he has got a great deal to offer than any of you know, including himself. You must trust me on this."

Thorin sighs thoughtfully. He scans the room, weighing the outcome.
"Very well, we'll do it your way" he turns to Balin "Give him our contract."

Balin hands a large, scrolled contract to Bilbo.
"It's just the usual summary of out of pocket expenses, time required, remuneration, funeral arrangements and so forth." Balin explained, as Bilbo opened the contract it was so long when it was unfurled the paper hit the floor.
It was full of ornate handwriting and lots of clauses and exemptions.
"Funeral arrangements?" Bilbo barked.
"Terms: cash on delivery, up to, but not exceeding one eighth of total profit, if any. Present company shall not be liable for injuries inflicted by or sustained as a consequence thereof, including, but not limited to - lacerations? Evisceration? Incineration?" Bilbo said growing paler and paler every word that sputtered out of his mouth.
"Oh, he'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye." Fili said earning a sharp nudge to the chest from Dahlia.
Bilbo seems breathless. He drops the contract to his side, holding a hand to his chest.

"are you alright laddie?" Asked Balin sincerely.
"I'm alright just feeling a little faint" Bilbo said his eyes scanning the parchment rapidly
"Think furnace with wings. Flash of light, searing pain, then - POOF! You're nothing more than a pile of ash!" Fili continued earning another swift nudge from Dahlia, much to Kilis amusement.

Bilbo starts panting, trying to compose himself as the others look on. Finally, Bilbo rises, turning to Balin.
"Nope" He dropped to the floor like a sack of bones.
"Bilbo!" Shouted Dahlia worriedly, rushing to the floor scooping up his head gently into his lap and feeling his temperature.
"Very helpful Fili" grumbled Gandalf disapprovingly glaring at Fili.

"Help me lift him into the living room" Dahlia ordered the dwarves sternly.
Dwalin gently picked up the small Hobbit and walked into the hallway where the door was and straight on into the other room, which had a large fireplace, a table and several arm chairs and wooden chairs scattered about.
He placed Bilbo onto the largest armchair by the fire, and Oin placed one of the blankets that was folded over a chair onto Bilbo. The dwarves were muttering amongst themselves in an unfamiliar language to Dahlia. She noted one dwarf, the one with an... Axe? Protruding from his head, had not spoken a word but was communicating with his hands, in a nostalgic and familiar way that she had seen before.

After attending Bilbo who was now beginning to stir, she tip toed over to the feral looking dwarf. She blinked at him before trying to communicate in a way her father had taught her, she did a simple hand gesture which caused the dwarf to gasp. And respond in a rapid flurry of hand movements back.
"You speak Iglishmek? How does a fair folk know our language?" He signed rapidly, catching the eye of the other dwarves.
"My father taught me when I was a baby, I do not remember much" She admitted looking amongst the questioning dwarves.
"Do you speak Khuzadul?" Thorin asked curiously
"Not that I remember, I called my father a word we don't use here in Hobbiton... adad I think, and mother was… Amad?" She said her eyes dancing with old memories she had not thought of for many years.
She hadn't many memories of her father and mother as they only visited a few times whilst she lived with Bilbo before they too perished from small pox.

"But you're a hobbit?" Kili quizzed her.
"Yes...?" She replied confused.

Just then bilbo begun to stir more and begun to chatter to Gandalf, she gathered he was trying to convince him to do this adventure.

Thorin moved closer then, to inspect her, his eyes locked hers as if for consent to do so. He circled around her, and then gently lifted the hair above her ears, they were not as pointy as a hobbit, but not as square as a dwarves. She had curly thick hair, but still had hobbit feet, albeit they were wider than an average hobbit.
"Could it be possible you're half?" Thorin mentioned trailing off.
From the corner of her eye she saw Gandalf give up talking to Bilbo with a huff and walk towards the small gathering of dwarves surrounding her.
"I hope you're not pestering our lovely host for more food." Gandalf joked.
"No, we are questioning her lineage" Thorin gruffly stated looking at Gandalf "Maybe you can be of some help"
Gandalf looked over at the girl, who had since taken off her tiara and set it on the mantle upon the roaring fire.
Her once tamed curls were trailing down her like a waterfall of coils.
"Wouldn't master Baggins be able to answer better than I" Gandalf said thoughtfully which captured Bilbos attention who shuffled over to the small gathering near the fire, still draped with a blanket around his shoulders and a cup of tea in one hand.