Greetings, all!
For those of you who celebrate Christmas, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your friends and families! I certainly did! Let me just brag for a second about my wonderful husband. He knows I love LotR and he is very supportive of my obsession xD This year for Christmas, he got me a Rohan mug (although it's actually still shipping right now), Galadriel's ring and Tauriel's daggers! How great is he? :D I love him so much and I am glad that he condones my love for LotR and my collection of LotR merch. He really is the best; a total keeper!
Also, a quick plug I want to make: starting January 1st, my brother and I are going to be starting a podcast which we're calling "The Forcecast". It's just going to be a fun thing where we'll talk about a bunch of nerdy things, especially LotR, Star Wars, music, etc. Just random things we want to share our thoughts on. We would love to have as many listeners as possible! Our episodes will be on YouTube starting January 1st, 2019, on Tuesdays and Thursdays and, later that month, will switch to Wednesdays and Fridays when my brother goes back to school. If you're interested, you can find us at our YouTube page below (even though, right now, there's no content. Just add the regular YouTube URL to the front of the link)
/channel/UCclvjCy1noedk5VqVgUJ0tA
That's all I wanted to say!
Other than, in regards to this chapter...I'm terribly sorry :/
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That night, Aelin hardly slept.
All she could do was worry about how things were going to go the following day. She held hope that hers and Bilbo's plan for Bard to trade the Arkenstone for what Thorin owed them would work, but at the same time, she could only imagine the worst-case scenario: Thorin would actually refuse and choose to go to war with the Men and Elves on their doorstep. He was so desperate to find that stone, she assumed that that situation wouldn't come to pass. However, Thorin was so unpredictable at the moment that there was no telling what he would really do. The only thing she could do was hope for the best.
Even then, what would Thorin getting the Arkenstone back do? Would he finally be satisfied and his anger would die away along with the rest of his sickness or would his condition only worsen, as Balin had warned? Were they doing the right thing for peace or were they going to make the situation worse than it already was and just prolong the inevitable war that was coming? Were they actually helping Thorin with this move or were they sending him to his doom to lose himself forever?
Aelin didn't have answers to any of these questions and it was agonizing.
All she wanted was to get Thorin back to his normal self; back to the kind, noble, determined Dwarf King that she had given her heart and trust to, but she didn't know how. Only once had she caught a glimpse of his former self, but she didn't know what she had done or said to trigger that change in him, so there was no way for her to know how to duplicate that. She just felt hopeless and she hated that. There had to be something she could do. This couldn't be the end. There had to be a way, but what? What?
All of this and more plagued her mind almost the entire night. Because of all her worries, she didn't dare fall asleep in fear that she would have dreadful nightmares again, this time about the upcoming day and its possible outcomes.
In her head, all she could was pray, "Mahal help us all if things go south tomorrow."
Clad in heavy armor and weapons aplenty, the Dwarves awaited the Elves and the Men at the top of the ramparts. Sure enough, the Elven army was shortly in place before the gates of Erebor, stretching back a fair distance. Thranduil came trotting up through the army on a giant elk with Bard riding beside him on his white horse.
Aeliln stood off to the side of the rampart closest to Nori. She was only dressed in regular chainmail and leather armor. The kind of armor the rest of the Dwarves were wearing really restricted her movements and she needed as much fluid movement she could get in order to fight, especially if she was using her knives. She glanced over at Thorin in the center, who was in his gold armor and also wearing a long, fur cape and a black and gold crown on his head. He was glaring down at Thranduil and Bard as he watched them approach.
As they came to the edge where the bridge used to be, Thorin withdrew a bow and arrow and immediately fired a warning shot right at the feet of Thranduil's elk. Thranduil looked up at him with disdain.
"I will put the next one between your eyes," Thorin threatened him, nocking another arrow on his bow.
The rest of the Dwarves began cheering and taunting Thranduil along with the rest of the Elves. However, Thranduil retaliated by simply nodding his head and the hundreds of Elves all in unison withdrew their bows and readied their arrows, aiming them up at the Dwarves. Shocked at the sudden move, all of the Dwarves ducked behind the wall, except for Thorin, who stood unphased and unafraid. Thranduil then gave the command for the Elves to stand down, showing the Dwarves that he too was issuing a warning.
Then he spoke up, loud enough for Thorin to hear, "We have come to tell you: payment of your debt has been offered...and accepted."
"What payment?" Thorin questioned. "I gave you nothing! You have nothing!"
"Well...here goes…," Aelin thought, bracing herself for the deal to take place.
Bard reached into his coat and withdrew the glittering Arkenstone. "We have this," he clarified to Thorin, holding it aloft for all to see.
Thorin tensed up in astonishment and fear, lowering the bow in his hand. How was this possible? Bard had the Arkenstone. It wasn't possible...it couldn't be...
Next to him, Kili exclaimed in shock, "They have the Arkenstone." Then angrily, he yelled out to Bard and Thranduil, "Thieves! How came you by the heirloom of our house? That stone belongs to the King!"
Bard nonchalantly replied, "And the King may have it with our goodwill…." Then, in a carefree manner, he tossed the stone up, caught it in his hand and then proceeded to put it back in his jacket. Then he looked up to Thorin. "...but first, he must honor his word."
"No...there's no possible way that's the real Arkenstone," Thorin thought to himself. "They have never been inside this mountain. That stone is a false one." He shook his head and spoke up to the rest of the company, "They are taking us for fools. This is a ruse...a filthy lie."
"Oh, no. He's not buying it…!" Aelin thought anxiously.
"The Arkenstone is in this mountain! It is a trick!" Thorin then cried back to Bard.
"I need to stop this," Aelin told herself in her mind.
However, just as she was about to step up and admit to Thorin that she knew the stone wasn't a lie, Bilbo came forward instead and declared, "No...it's no trick. The stone is real. I gave it to them."
"Bilbo, no…," she whispered to him. This wasn't part of her plan! She was going to say she was the one who took the Arkenstone. Whatever Thorin would do in reaction, she could more than likely take it, but there was no telling what he would do to the Hobbit. Why was he taking the blame for it when he knew that she wanted to protect him from Thorin's wrath?
The rest of the Dwarves were startled and looked at Bilbo in disbelief. Thorin had slowly turned his head, a mix of anger and hurt in his face.
"You?" he asked.
Bilbo then explained, "I took it as my fourteenth share."
In unbelief, Thorin then inquired, "You would steal from me?"
Aelin couldn't stand by for a second longer, so she came forward and answered, "No...he wouldn't...because it was not Bilbo who took the Arkenstone. It was me."
The Dwarves all gasped, now in greater shock than they had been a second ago. Bilbo looked at her with concern, but she shot him a look that told him to keep quiet.
"Aelin…?" Fili asked aloud, looking both confused and sad.
Knowing that this was what she had to do and she just had to endure the disappointment the rest of the company would be feeling towards her for a while, she just said, "Bilbo was only helping me and trying to cover for me. It was my idea to give the stone to Bard and Thranduil."
Thorin stared at her for a moment and then the hurt died away, leaving nothing but fury in his eyes as he glared furiously at her. Then, in a low, dark voice, he responded, "I should have known…."
That was not the reaction Aelin was expecting. Taken aback, she simply asked, "What?"
Keeping his angry eyes on her, he explained, "The burglar said I was wrong to suspect you, but I was right." Then his voice rose as he cried out, "All this time, I knew it was you who took the stone from me! I knew you hadn't given up your old thieving ways!"
In that moment, Aelin felt as though a sword had been thrust through her heart and shattered it into a thousand pieces. The words he had just spoken were everything she thought he wouldn't say. He had actually suspected her the entire time?
"No...he promised...he promised…," were the sad words that went through her head.
Then she spoke aloud in a quiet, choked voice, "You promised me that that was all behind us." She grew louder as she went on, "You swore to me that you no longer cared about that part of my past and we would move on from it! How could you do this to me?"
All other emotions but anger were gone from Thorin's face as he continued to glare at her, a fire growing in his eyes. Then he simply answered with condescending disdain, "Once a thief, always a thief."
Whatever was left of Aelin's heart broke even more. No...he couldn't possibly believe that. The Thorin she knew never believed that! Right then, she could have fell to her knees and wept in agony...but she didn't. No, she was going to stay strong and fight this. She would get Thorin to see reason; she wasn't giving up, no matter how great her pain inside was.
"I gave them the Arkenstone for you," she said through clenched teeth to try and keep her tears at bay. "I did it with the hope that you would finally see reason!" She stepped forward, looking at him challengingly, her own fury boiling up within her. "You are changed, Thorin. The Dwarf I fell in love with and trusted with my life would never have gone back on his word and would never have doubted the loyalty of his kin!"
"Do not speak to me of loyalty," he hissed back. Suddenly, he shouted an order to the others, "Throw her from the rampart!"
Aelin's face fell and she instinctively stepped back. Everything was falling apart. This was nothing like how she thought everything would turn out. He was drifting father and farther away from her.
Down below, Thranduil and Bard watched nervously, waiting to see what was going to happen and to intervene, if necessary.
However, no one moved to follow Thorin's order. Some of them turned away. Nori had raised his weapon slightly in defense. Others just remained where they were. Thorin looked around in unbelief, wondering why no one was obeying him.
All of a sudden, he flipped around and grabbed Fili by the arm. "Did you not hear me?!" he demanded, pulling him towards him. "Do as I say and throw her off!"
"Never!" Fili said, yanking his arm away.
Thorin turned back towards Aelin and cried, "I will do it myself!" Before she could react, he leapt forward and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. "Curse you!" he bellowed right into her face.
"No!" Fili cried, grabbing at Thorin's arm.
Some of the company then jumped into action, crying at Thorin and trying to get him off of Aelin, who was clutching at his hands that were roughly pulling her towards the edge of the rampart.
He forcefully shoved everyone aside, yelling as he came up to the edge of the wall, "And cursed be the wizard who forced you on this company!" Then he lifted Aelin up and shoved her into the crevice in the wall, causing her to cry out from the jolt of pain in her back.
Right then, Gandalf's echoing voice called out from down below, "Stay this madness, Thorin!"
While Thorin was distracted by his surprise at seeing Gandalf there, Aelin took the advantage to best him. She brought her legs up and shot them outward, right into Thorin's stomach. He growled at the sudden blow, removing his hands from her and clutching at his stomach. Now that she was free, Aelin slid down the stone she was on back down to the ground, withdrawing one of her knives as she did so. As he stood there winded, she reached out, took hold of his chestplate, pulled him back and pinned him against the wall as her knife came up across his neck. The remainder of the company stood motionless, shocked at Aelin's sudden defiant movements.
Breathing heavily and now seething with fury, Aelin threatened Thorin, "If you touch me like that again, I swear it will be the last time you ever use your hands!"
Thorin said nothing. He simply glared back and sneered at her.
Keeping her eyes on Thorin, Aelin called out, "Bilbo, get out of here. I can handle him." She waited to hear movement, but there was none. She looked back and saw he was standing in place, looking at her dumbfounded. "Now!" she cried.
Bofur then moved beside Bilbo and took hold of his shoulders, guiding him around Aelin and Thorin to the rope on the other side, telling him to go. Bilbo didn't argue any further and did as he was told. He climbed over the wall and slid down the rope to the other side.
Watching the burglar escape made Thorin even angrier and he roared loudly as he smacked away Aelin's hand with the knife and pushed her back. As she stumbled backwards, Thorin unsheathed his sword and took a readied stance.
He was going to attack her.
"So that's how you want to do this…," Aelin stated aloud as she pulled out her other battle knife, seeing that there was no other way around dealing with Thorin at this point. She heard the others moving forward behind her and simultaneously saw those behind Thorin doing the same and she held out an arm to the side, ordering them sternly, "Stay back, all of you. This is between me and Oakenshield."
They stayed where they were, casting nervous glances at each other.
She looked down below and added ever so casually, "Bard, Thranduil, if you will pardon us!"
Just as the last words left her mouth, Thorin lunged forward, swinging his sword up towards her. With ease, Aelin sidestepped and dodged the blow. She had to be careful; the rampart was half-demolished and held little room for them to move around. That and she wasn't going to attack Thorin herself. If this was how he was going to let out his anger at her, then so be it. She didn't want to harm him; she would remain on the defensive and either dodge or block any of his attacks until either Thorin gave up or an opportunity would present itself for her to defeat him.
Thorin's sword came back up and he swung downward. She hopped backwards and the sword missed her, hitting the ground instead. He lifted it again and swung it across outward in the opposite direction towards his right. Aelin reached up with her left hand and deflected it, pushing it to the side. Using his momentum, he raised his sword above his head and swung it downward. She brought her knives up into an "X" formation, catching his sword between the two blades.
He leaned closer to her, pushing his sword against her knives, and yelled, "You are a traitor! How dare you have the nerve to turn against me!"
Keeping him from pushing her back, she cried back in a strained voice, "I was never against you! I have been trying to save you!" Then she gave a powerful shove back towards him, thrusting her knives up and out to her sides and pushing his sword away, making him stagger back a couple steps.
"I trusted you!" he bellowed as he came at her again.
As she dodged his attempt, she responded sarcastically, "Yes, that was made exceptionally clear when you admitted that you were suspicious of me this entire time!" She ducked underneath his sword.
"Thorin, stop!" cried out Kili in desperation as he and the others were looking on with ever-growing anxiety.
"No!" shouted Thorin back. "Not until this woman pays for what she's done! She has endangered our home and brought our enemies to our gates!"
"This is my home now, too!" Aelin exclaimed. "The only thing I have done is try to protect this kingdom that you fought so hard for from you! You are going to doom us all!"
Another furious roar ripped itself from Thorin's throat and he lunged at her once more, raising his sword above his head. Aelin raised her knives, ready to block the incoming attack.
Zip!
Suddenly, there was the sound of metal meeting metal and an arrow came up and struck the side of Thorin's blade with a powerful blow, sending it out of Thorin's hands and tumbling back down into the fortress. Everyone looked down to where the arrow had come from with wide, shocked eyes. Down below, they saw Bard, still on his horse, with his bow in hand.
"Stop this now!" he cried firmly, lowering his bow back down.
Thorin was silent, staring wide-eyed down at Bard.
Then Gandalf came forward and chided him, "You are not making a very splendid figure as King Under the Mountain, are you, Thorin, son of Thrain?"
Appalled that Gandalf would speak to him in such a way, Thorin shouted, "Never again will I have dealings with wizards!" Then he directed his attention to Aelin and added, "Or streetrat thieves!"
The adrenaline from the fight and Aelin's anger was starting to die away and in that moment, upon seeing Thorin's soulless eyes, her heart completely withered away and she just couldn't keep her strength together any longer. Her knives dropped to the floor and she fell to her knees, hunching over and bringing her closed fists up to her forehead as her breathing grew shaky, ragged and heavy mixed with tiny whimpers. She did not cry, though. There was no strength left in her to bring forth any tears. Overall, she felt dead and empty inside. There was nothing more she could do.
Thorin was lost to her forever.
Nori and Fili came up beside her on both sides of her. Nori put one hand on her shoulder and his other arm over her shoulders. Fili held her shoulder closest to him and placed his other hand on her back. Both he and Nori held her tightly as her body shook with terror and anguish.
"Are we resolved? The return of the Arkenstone for what was promised?" Bard then called up to Thorin.
Thorin asked back in reply, "Why should I buy back that which is rightfully mine?"
Thranduil then said to Bard, solely to get at Thorin, "Keep the stone. Sell it. Ecthelion of Gondor will give you a good price for it."
"I will kill you!" Thorin raged at him. "By my oath, I will kill you all!"
Whatever anger was left in Aelin broke through as she then shot back in response to Thorin's statement, "Your oath means nothing!"
Thorin started towards her, growling, but Fili got to his feet and stood in Thorin's way, blocking Aelin. He glared challengingly right into his uncle's eyes.
"Stand aside, boy," Thorin ordered him.
"You will not lay another hand on her, not while I'm here," Fili declared defiantly.
Suddenly, Nori then came up from behind Fili, approached Thorin and threw a fist right into his face. "You promised me, Thorin!" he screamed. Balin and Dori held Thorin back as Nori continued, "You promised me you had no intention of hurting Aelin! You swore that no harm would come to her as long as you live! She is right: the vows you make mean nothing anymore!" He attempted to go in for another hit, but Dwalin and Fili pulled him back, urging him to stop. Reluctantly, Nori stepped back and crouched down beside Aelin again.
Down on the ground, Gandalf pleaded to Thorin, "Thorin...lay down your arms. Open these doors. This treasure will be your death."
"Thorin, we cannot win this fight," Balin warned him, his face practically begging Thorin to listen to Gandalf and finally let go of his greed and selfishness, to which he simply averted his gaze defeatedly to the ground in response.
"Give us your answer," Bard told him. "Will you have peace...or war?"
Seeing Thorin looking down in defeat gave Aelin the slightest hope that perhaps Thorin would actually relent. "Please, Thorin...make the right choice...please…!" she desperately pleaded in her mind.
Just then, a raven suddenly appeared and landed on the railing in front of Thorin. He gazed at the large black bird for a moment before turning his head left, looking towards the hills in the distance and proclaiming, "I will have war."
"No…," Aelin groaned, leaning her head into Nori's chest.
"Come on," Nori urged her, pulling her to her feet and moving further down the rampart, away from the others. Once they stopped, Nori asked Aelin, "Are you all right?"
"Of course, I'm not," she said back.
"Did you really steal the Arkenstone?" was his next question.
For a moment, she contemplated keeping her lie up, but this was Nori. He knew her; he probably already suspected that she was lying, but just wanted confirmation.
She shook her head. "No...it was Bilbo...but I didn't dare imagine what Thorin would do to him if he knew the truth and I thought I could handle whatever Thorin would do to me, so I lied and took the blame in Bilbo's place. I thought Thorin would do anything for that stone, including giving Bard and his people what was promised."
Nori opened his mouth to reply, but then something caught his eye and his eyes started to get wider. Aelin was curious and looked out to where he was looking. Right then, coming up over the hills in the distance, was a long line of people. As they came more into view, she realized it was a vast army of Dwarves with catapults and armored mountain goats scattered amongst the soldiers. At the head of the army was a Dwarf with red feathers on his helmet, carrying a large war hammer and riding an armored boar.
"Hey, Thorin!" this unknown figure called out to Thorin, waving his hammer.
The other Dwarves all cheered in response. Just then, the army of Elves all turned to face right and started marching towards the hills.
"Who is that?" Aelin asked.
Nori replied, "That's Dain Ironfoot, Lord of the Iron Hills...and Thorin's cousin."
"Wasn't he the one who initially refused to help us?" she then inquired.
"Aye…," Nori sighed.
She frowned. "That's what that confounded raven was about, wasn't it? Thorin sent word to him."
He shrugged, nodded and answered, "Dain hates Elves...more than Thorin does. He probably just saw the word 'Elves' in whatever Thorin sent him and hopped right on his pig over here."
Aelin watched as the Elf army came to a halt and Dain and his boar came up on a raised rock in front of them.
"Good morning! How are we all?" Dain asked. "I have a wee proposition, if you don't mind giving me a few moments of your time. Would you consider...just sodding off?!" he then shouted angrily. "All of you, right now!"
"This is already going well…," Aelin thought to herself as she then saw Gandalf coming through the Elves to speak to Dain.
"Aelin, get inside," Nori then told her. "There's a battle coming and you're in no condition to fight."
"And do what, Nori?" she asked back. "Cower in fear? Wait to see if the Dwarves I care about even come back alive or wait for more put downs from Thorin? No...I can't. I can't stay here now, not after what's happened. I'm not going to live in sorrow or in fear of those around me."
"You're really going to leave us again? You know you can't, not this time."
"Nori…."
"No, I'm not letting this happen again! I couldn't stop you before, but this time, I will. You have to stay. I know you won't for Thorin, but stay for me. Or, more importantly, stay for Fili and Kili. You know how much those boys love you. They are suffering as much as you are in this situation with Thorin. They heard and witnessed everything that just happened, too. Thorin is the only father they've ever known and you are a mother-figure to them right now. Those lads need you now more than ever. Do you know how devastated they would be if you left, especially in the middle of all of this? If you won't stay for me, stay here for them. Don't leave the people you love when they need you most. Don't become the kind of person you've always hated."
Nori's last statement reminded Aelin of the thoughts she had as she had been heading to Laketown just before Smaug's attack. She had realized that she had abandoned the people she loved just as she had been abandoned before. Now, here she was, about ready to do it again. What was wrong with her?
Before she could say anything, she heard Gandalf call out to Dain, "Stand your army down!"
"I will not stand down before any Elf…," Dain replied steadfastly, then pointing to Thranduil, "...least of all, this faithless Woodland sprite! He wishes to bring nothing but ill upon my people! If he chooses to stand between me and my kin, I'll split his pretty head open! See if he's still smirking then!"
Aelin couldn't help but grin a little at Dain's threat to Thranduil. Guess he really did hate Elves as much as Nori said.
Dain then turned his boar around and began riding back towards his army with Gandalf crying out after him.
"Let them advance. See how far they get," Thranduil challenged.
Dain heard him and yelled back over his shoulder, "You think I give a dead dog to your threats, you pointy-eared Princess?"
Extremely amused by Dain's insult, Aelin chuckled aloud and stated to Nori, "I like him."
"Don't get too excited, sister," Nori warned her. "I have a feeling this is about to get worse."
Deep down, Aelin had this same feeling.
The war was only just beginning.
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Sorry if that ending felt slightly rushed. I had a hard time thinking of a good place to end the chapter, so I just kinda cut it off somewhere. Hopefully that was good enough.
Yeah...sorry about this chapter. Believe me, I hate myself for it.
What do you think's going to happen now? With the battle? With Thorin and Aelin's relationship? With the final outcome of the war? So many questions!
At this rate, there will only be a few chapters left. I just have to figure out how to break up the battle and how many chapters it will be first. But there will still be enough to semi-look forward to! xD
PM me or review with your thoughts!
Much love!