Thorin, Balin and Bilbo were gathered on a terrace with Lord Elrond and Gandalf after they departed from Thessa's chambers.
Gandalf turned to Thorin and requested that he show Lord Elrond the map.
"Our business is no concern of elves," Thorin stated, glancing from Gandalf to the elf lord.
"For goodness sake, Thorin, show him the map," Gandalf pleaded.
"It is the legacy of my people, it is mine to protect, as are its secrets," Thorin replied, eying the elf warily.
"Save me from the stubbornness of Dwarves! Your pride will be your downfall. You stand here in the presence of one of the few in Middle Earth who can read that map. Show it to Lord Elrond," Gandalf demanded.
Bilbo looked slightly uncomfortable and he was wondering why he was brought to this meeting at all. Thorin slowly reached into his pocket and drew out the map.
"Thorin, no," Balin tried to stop his friend, but he handed the map to the elf, which took all the dwarf king's restraint and diplomacy skills to manage. Lord Elrond opened the map, perused its contents and looked back over to the dwarf king.
"Erebor. What is your interest in this map?" he asked, eying Thorin suspiciously.
"It's mainly academic," Gandalf supplied. "As you know, this sort of artifact often sometimes contains hidden text. You still read ancient dwarvish, do you not?" Lord Elrond brought the map over to the light of the moon.
"Moon runes," Gandalf said, slightly surprised. "Of course, an easy thing to miss." He looked over to Bilbo, giving him a small smile.
"Well in this case that is true, but moon runes can only be read by the light of a moon of the same shape and season on the day on which they were written," Lord Elrond informed the dwarf king.
"Can you read them?" Thorin asked, becoming slightly impatient.
"These runes were written on a midsummers eve by the light of a crescent moon nearly two hundred years ago," Lord Elrond explained. "However, that moon will be seen two weeks from tonight, until then, I cannot read this map." The elf handed the map back to Thorin who took the map and stuffed it back into his pocket, angry that he would have to spend more time in this blasted place with these blasted elves.
"We will return to this spot in two weeks' time, and then you will have the answers you seek," Lord Elrond supplied as Thorin and Balin were making their way to the door. Thorin turned back only to nod his head in thanks as he departed with Balin back to the rooms they had been given.
"You go on ahead, lad," Balin said, stopping in the corridor, "I'm going to take a walk to think for a while, and I'll meet you and the company back in the room." Thorin nodded his head and strode back down the hall. He was about to pass by Thessa's room when he heard a scream come from her room. Without thinking, Thorin burst into Thessa's room to find her thrashing around in her bed.
"No! Valenia!" Thessa cried out. Thorin rushed over to her and gripped her shoulders, softly shaking her and calling her name.
"Thessalia! Thessalia, wake up. It's just a dream," Thorin said as he watched the woman wake suddenly with wide, teary eyes.
"Thorin?" Thessa sniffed in confusion as she sat up, and before she thought better of it, flung her arms around his neck and cried onto his shoulder.
"It's my fault, Thorin. It's my fault she's dead," Thessa sobbed. Thorin was surprised by the woman crying in his arms and slowly brought his hands up to brush his fingers through her hair, calming her slightly.
"Did you want to talk about it?" Came Thorin's deep voice. It was something he said out of habit when Dís was upset and he would be there to comfort her.
"Those men," she said, looking up into Thorin's eyes. "They were after me, and Valenia tried to fight them off but…" she broke into tears again. "They stabbed her, with- with a harpoon." Thorin's eyes widened as he realized what she had dreamed of and the guilt she carried with her. "I watched her body sink. There was so much red. Red everywhere…" Thessa sobbed into his shoulder.
Thorin wasn't the best when it came to comfort, but he tightened his arms around her, letting her cry onto his shoulder. He ran his fingers gently through her hair, breathing deeply and letting the smell of oranges and rosemary fill his nose. Soon her sobbing subsided and her tears began to dry, so he pulled her back to look her over. Thessa's teary eyes met Thorin's sapphire ones, and they stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity.
Thorin glanced down to her soft, full lips and wondered what it would be like to kiss them. He mentally shook himself, however. He shouldn't be having these thoughts, he should be focused on the quest. This woman was driving him to distraction, just like she had nearly done to his nephews, and he had feared from the very start. He released Thessa from his hold and let her lay back on her bed as he stood up.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," Thessa said, sad eyes blinking away her tears. Thorin, not one to shatter his intimidating persona, tried to save what little face he could.
"Your chambers are down the hall from our rooms, and we don't need to lose sleep over wailing women." Thorin strode purposefully out of her room, shutting the door heavily behind him, and back towards where he knew the company was staying. He knew that was harsh, but he couldn't afford to let that mermaid princess distract him. No, he had to let her know that he wasn't in the business of comforting crying women. He made it back to their rooms and plopped down on his bedroll, ignoring the looks the others gave him when he went straight to sleep, with no explanation of the meeting he had with Lord Elrond. Balin would fill them in, he was sure.
Thessa lay in her room, head spinning from Thorin's change in behavior. He was harsh towards her, then he carries her to safety. He speaks callously to her, then he comforts her after her nightmare. What is going on with him? Thessa could not figure him out, she just wished he would either be rude to her forever, or explore whatever was growing between them. She knew Thorin had a softer side, she had seen it, but when the company was around it was like he was a totally different dwarf, devoid of emotion. Sleep would not come easily after her encounter with the dwarf king, so she decided it was time to take a swim. Swimming had always helped clear her mind, and she was sure she could find some small body of water in this valley.
Thessa changed out of her sleeping gown and into a pair of breeches and a loose tunic before she padded down the corridors and eventually found her way into the gardens, looking for an exit that might lead to a pond or lake. There was no one around, as it was very late into the night, or was it morning by now? The light of the moon gave her comfort, she never felt alone when the moon light shone down from the heavens. Around the bend of a hedge she spotted a break in the gardens and followed a little, grassy path until she came to a waterfall that fed into a larger pool of water. This little place was set far enough back and away from the main halls that she figured no one would see her out here.
She slipped off her tunic and breeches and dove gracefully into the water. She broke the surface with a grin as she kicked her legs and tried to figure out how humans swam with such appendages. She closed her eyes and focused on the buzz of energy radiating from her arm band. If she hadn't had the band on, her tail would have materialized immediately, but thankfully her armband let her be the master of her changing form. She felt her legs slowly pull together and meld into each other. The scales of her tail came up through the creamy skin of her human legs, and her feet stretched and thinned until she could see her tail fin again. She sighed, letting herself float there in the water and she reveled in the feeling of having her tail back again.
With a flick of her tail, she dove deep into the water, turned back toward the surface and propelled herself out of the water in a front flip, landing perfectly back in the water with hardly a sound. She stopped to assess her scales, they were not as lustrous as they had been before she was taken, but better food and more rest would fix that soon enough! The sapphire scales glinted in the moonlight, making them appear midnight blue. Every now then she would have an interspersed gold scale that shone brightly and reminded her why she had to return home. Anyone who saw her tail, and the gold scales it contained, would seek to take them, to sell her to the highest bidder, or turn her into a wall mount. They didn't know any better, but men used to believe that the gold scales mermaids sometimes possessed were made of actual gold, and perhaps some of them still did, and so they were always in danger. Men either hated or coveted mermaids, and the longer she was away from home, the more danger she put herself in, especially now that so many people seemed to know her secret.
She swam for a few hours, growing tired after a while, but she didn't feel like returning to her room. She missed the water too much to leave it just yet, and wondered if anyone would notice her absence if she decided to stay here until morning. Deciding that she wouldn't be missed, she swam down to the bottom of the pond, maybe fifteen feet below the surface, and found some smooth stones covered in a soft blanket of green algae. Perfect, she thought as she settled on the stones and relaxed. Tomorrow she would request a meeting with Lord Elrond to discuss important matters. But for now, she sighed, she would enjoy the water and worry about anything else in the morning.