They had been walking for about five miles when Thessa began to tire. Kili had noticed her weariness and came beside her.
"Do you want me to carry you for a while?" he asked. Thessa looked over at the dark-haired dwarf.
"Oh no, Kili, I'll be alright," she gave him a small smile. Kili could see she was lying, and so he shot his brother a look over her shoulder. Fili nodded his head and came up behind her.
"Up ya go!" Filie said with a laugh. He lifted her up onto Kili's back and Kili wrapped his arms under her legs. Thessa gave an indignant squeal and latched her arms around Kili's shoulders so she wouldn't fall.
"Kili, let me down!" she cried. She didn't want to be carried like a toddler. If the rest of the group was walking, then so would she.
"Not a chance!" Kili laughed. "Its not everyday you get to carry your future aunt across Middle Earth." Fili and Kili gave a laugh, looking up to the annoyed woman.
"Great," she rolled her eyes. "More nephews to worry about."
"Wait, do you have other nephews besides us?" Kili asked, feeling a little deflated. Gandalf had heard their conversation and as curious as well.
"Lord Elrond told me that I have a great nephew named Estel, but he would only be around ten years of age by now," she said. Gandalf's eyes widened. Thessa was not only the heir to her kingdom, but to Gondor's now as well. Not to mention she could easily become the next queen of Erebor. He would have to consult Lady Galadriel regarding this new information.
"Well, we'll be your favorite nephews, right?" Kili asked with a cheeky grin.
"If you become my nephews," Thessa said absentmindedly.
"What do you mean if? You are going to marry uncle, aren't you?" Fili added. Not this again, Thessa groaned.
"I might consider it as a possibility," she said cryptically.
"Well when you do, I know you'll make the best aunty in all of Middle Earth! Maybe we can go on a family trip to see our Great aunt in your kingdom!" Kili said excitedly. Thessa couldn't help but smile at their antics.
"How good is your swimming?" she smirked.
"Swimming? Why would we need to swim? Your kingdom is by the sea is it not?" Fili questioned. Thessa gave a laugh at his words. Oh how silly!
"No Fili," she giggled. "Our kingdom lies beneath the waves." Their conversation had now drawn the attention of the rest of the company, who had stopped their own chatting in order to hear her.
"Wait a minute, lass," Nori said from behind them. "When you said that men could not live with your people indefinitely...?" Thessa was impressed that Nori had caught that. No one else had questioned her word choice back in Rivendell when she had explained herself to them.
"No, Nori, not indefinitely. But they can for a time, although it is not always a pleasant experience for the men," Thessa clarified.
"How so?" Nori pressed, curious how someone could even enter her kingdom.
"There is a plant that grows near the shores of the Rhûn sea. It is a slimy, foul-smelling plant, but if one were to soak it in sea water and then eat it, they would find themselves with gills instead of lungs," she finished. Gasps came from around her, Thorin even turned his head upon hearing that.
"Gills? Like a fish?" Glóin asked incredulously, surprise on his face.
"Almost!" Thessa laughed. "I think it works more like a separate opening for your lungs, but instead of taking in air, it just lets in water!" They all seemed to be scratching their heads at that, trying to imagine gills in place of lungs.
"What is your kingdom like? You haven't ever told us about it," Ori asked from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to smile at the young dwarf.
"It's the most beautiful place in the world," Thessa sighed."The castle is made from different corals and it spirals up from the sea bed for hundreds of feet. It is far enough below the surface, though, that a human would run out of air before they could reach it."
"What does the inside look like?" Bilbo asked from the front of their group.
"All the walls are alive with coral, and old, flat shells cover the floors. But we don't have much use for floors anyway, so guess that wouldn't matter much," she mused. "Fish swim through the halls with us, and there are lots of seahorses that live outside my window," she laughed, remembering the new baby seahorses that came every spring. The company was amazed by her descriptions, wishing they could se it for themselves.
"My mother's throne room, is my favorite," she added with a wistful smile. "There are high ceilings and her large throne is made of carved stone. Sometimes she would let me play queen for a day when I was young and she even let me hold the trident once."
"Trident? What's that?"Kili asked.
"Umm, well it's kind of like Gandalf's staff, but It's taller and made of gold with three sharp points on the top. It's like the Arkenstone for my people." Her comparison helped the dwarves understand the weight now of her mother letting her hold the trident. It was obviously very precious to her mother and their people.
"Do you have a crown and dress you have to wear? Our great-grandfather always wore his gold crown and roll robes around," Fili said.
"I do have a crown, but I only wear it for special occasions. And we also don't wear dresses underwater," she laughed.
"Well what do you wear?" Ori asked, blushing slightly.
"We reinforce strands of kelp and wrap those around our... our uh, womanly parts," Thessa explained, her cheeks tinting red.
"What do you eat if you can't have fish, lass?" Bombur asked.
"We usually live off kelp, some types of seagrass, and the few sea vegetables we grow near the castle," she told them. The dwarves all gave looks of disgust at that. They could not fathom living without meat.
"Are there any monsters down there?" Ori asked quietly. Thessa wasn't surprised by his question. Many people feared the sea because they did not know what lurked below the waves.
"Not to us, Ori." she smiled. "We protect all the creatures in our kingdom, and each family line is dedicated to the protection of a family of sea creatures that they help before all others. My family line, Cetavian, protects, first and foremost, the whales and dolphins of the sea. There are not many whales anymore," she said sadly, "but there are still many dolphins. My family is charged with their protection from the humans that would hunt them and see them harmed."
"What about your friend, what did her family protect?" Óin chimed in. Thessa's expression fell when she realized he had asked about Valenia.
"Valenia's family, Echinodema, watched over the starfish," she said softly. "Sometimes they can be a sort of pest, eating the corals around the kingdom, but they are very dear to her family." She missed her sister dearly. She wanted to pay her respects when she finally found a way home.
"What else is there?" Kili asked, curious what other creatures he could expect to see if he ever visited.
"Some families watch over the sharks, or the minnows, the jellyfish, sea turtles, octopuses, the clownfish," she listed. "And there is a family line, although there are no surviving members of that line anymore, that were charged with the protection of the herring. But now that they're gone, fishermen come to collect the unprotected fish, taking the food of some of the other animals." The company now felt a little guilty when they thought about the fish they had eaten in their lives. Maybe someone was supposed to protect that fish, but didn't. It was a strange concept to wrap their heads around.
Kili was beginning to feel stiff from carrying Thessa and passed her to his brother. They carried on with their light conversations and walked until the sun began to sink in the sky, not even stopping for lunch.
"We'll stop here for the night," Thorin said. They had climbed up some rocky hills and were now in a forest that stretched over the rocky hillsides and broke around a few large clearings now and then. The company sighed in relief, plopping down on the ground to get off their aching feet. After about ten minutes, some of the dwarves went to look for water and some food, the others began to set up camp.
Bombur quickly got a small stew put together from what they had left and what the company hound found in the forest. Thessa had walked for a while after Fili began to tire from carrying her. She passed on dinner, opting to sleep instead. She found a small patch of grass and laid down, closing her eyes.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" a voice said from above her. She opened her eyes to Thorin standing there, looking down at her with a half smile.
"I'm trying to sleep," she said, closing her eyes again. She squealed when she was suddenly lifted into the air. Thorin had scooped her up and was carrying her over to where his bedroll was.
"No princess of mine sleeps on the ground," he said softly. He laid her on the bedroll, covering her with his cloak. "Sleep, love. I will join you after dinner." He tucked his braid behind her ear and brushed his fingers along her cheek. He stood up again and rejoined the company by the fire, accepting a bowl of soup. It didn't take long for Thessa to fall asleep, only stirring slightly when Thorin joined her on the bedroll and hour later, securing her in his arms.
The company woke to the sound of howls in the distance. Everyone scrambled to their feet, searching for where the noise came from. Thorin made his way over to Bilbo, pulling him to the side.
"Bilbo, do you see that rock formation up there?" he watched Bilbo nod slowly. "Climb up there and tell us what you see." Thorin gave him a gentle shove in the direction of the boulders and then turned to get everyone ready to move on again. Thessa woke slowly to the sight of dwarves scurrying about, gathering up their possessions and dousing the remainder of the fire.
"What's going on?" she asked Thorin, but he held a finger to his lips, gesturing to where Bilbo was. They heard a great roar from close by and watched Bilbo quickly return to the group.
"How close is the pack?" Thorin asked.
"Too close, a couple of leagues, no more," Bilbo stammered. "And that's not the worst of it."
"The wargs picked up our scent," Dwalin interjected.
"Not yet, but they will," Bilbo added. "But we have another problem-" he began.
"They saw you," Gandalf guessed.
"No, that's not it, I-" Bilbo tried.
"See, what did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse, excellent burglar material," the wizard said smugly.
"Will you just listen?" Bilbo raised his voice. "I am trying to tell you there is something else out there."
"What form did it take?" Gandalf asked. "Like a bear?" Bilbo looked at the wizard, astonished.
"Y-yeah, yes, but bigger, much bigger," he said.
"You knew about this beast?" Bofur asked the wizard. "I say we double back."
"And be run down by a pack of orcs?" Thorin asked.
"There is a house," Gandalf offered, "not far from here, where we might take refuge."
"Who's house?" Thorin grumbled. "Friend or foe?"
"Neither," Gandalf sighed. "He will help us, or... he will kill us." The company's eyes went wide. Take refuge with a man who might kill them?
"What choice do we have?" Thorin sighed, taking Thessa's hand in his. Just then, the bear that Bilbo had spotted gave a loud roar.
"None," Gandalf concluded, ushering the dwarves down the mountain side and over a small stream. The rocky terrain was hard to Thessa to run over as Thorin was pulling her along behind him.
"Come on!" Gandalf called as they entered a large expanse of open grassland. They could hear the orc pack in the tree line giving chase. "This way! Quickly!" Gandalf directed them through some trees again and down the side of a hill into another clearing. "To the house!" Gandalf cried. They could see it now that they were out of the trees again. "Run!" Gandalf hurried them. They heard the bear crashing through the trees, hot on their trail. Thessa was trying as hard as she could to keep up, but it wasn't enough. She tripped when her foot stepped into a small dip in the grass, bringing her crashing to the ground.
"Thessa!" Thorin called, tuning back to her. He scooped her up and ran with her in his arms toward the house. Bombur was so frightened that he picked up speed and passed the company, running to the head of their group. They made their way through a tall gate in a fence line that surrounded the small house.
"Quickly, get inside!" Gandalf bellowed. The dwarves came upon the latched door of the house, running straight into it instead of reaching up to unlock it. "Open the door!" the wizard shouted to them.
"Move!" Thorin shouted, setting Thessa down and throwing the lock open so they all could stumble inside. Once everyone was in, they turned to shut the door as the large beast stuck its muzzle through the opening.
"Come on lads!" Dwalin shouted. With their combined effort, the managed to shut thee door and throw the lock, slumping to the ground.
"What is that?" Ori panted.
"That is our host," Gandalf informed them. The company all turned to look at the wizard. "His name is Beorn. He is a skin changer. Sometimes he is a huge, black bear, sometimes he is a great, strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However," he added, "he is not overfond of dwarves."
"He's leaving," Ori said with his ear to the door.
"Come away from there!" Dori yanked Ori away from the door. "It's not natural, none of it. It's obvious he's under some dark spell." Gandalf turned to the dwarf then.
"Don't be a fool! He's under no enchantment but his own," Gandalf chastised him. He turned back to the rest of the company. "Alright now, get some sleep, all of you. You'll be safe here tonight... I hope." He whispered that last bit to himself, taking a seat on the floor.
Thessa looked around them, there were animals in the house, well it was more like a barn. Hay covered most of the floor and there were some cows and horses sharing the space with them. Thessa walked over to where Thorin was talking with Balin.
"Thorin," she said softly. The dwarf king turned to her, finishing his conversation with Balin.
"Yes, zaglamrâl?" he asked, taking her hands in his and leading her to one of the unclaimed stalls.
"I'm tired. Come sleep with me." She pulled him down into the hay. Thorin's mind went to a completely different activity than she had intended when he heard those words. He quirked an eyebrow at her, sure that she meant actual sleep and not something else. Thessa looked up to him, confusion on her face.
"What?" she asked. Thorin's cheeks became a little red when he thought about how to explain to her what that phrase often meant.
"Sometimes, when people ask for someone to sleep with them, it is not usually sleeping that they intend to do..." he said carefully, glancing at the recognition on her face.
"Oh! No, Thorin, I didn't mean-" she stammered.
"It's alright, love" he pulled her into his arms while they laid in the hay. "I know what you meant." He wrapped his arms around her back, letting her head rest on his chest. He laughed lightly when he saw her hair was covered in hay.
"Thorin?"
"Mhmm?" he mumbled, his eyes closed as he lay back.
"Do you think you would ever, you know, want to do that?" she asked quietly. Thorin looked down at her, realizing what she was asking.
"Well I would hope so!" he gave a light chuckle. Thessa's cheeks blushed a bright red. "Why do you ask, love?"
"I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't have to sing to you... later on." Throin sat up suddenly, pulling her over him so that her legs straddled his thighs.
"Don't you ever think for a moment that I do not want to be with you in that way," he brushed his thumbs across her cheeks while he cradled her face. "I have to control myself around you, you little minx." He laughed when she blushed again.
"Sorry, I know that you are attracted to me, Thorin," she said, meeting his gaze. "I just wanted to make sure that something so unpleasant wouldn't stop you from wanting to be with me." Thorin was confused now. What unpleasant thing was she talking about?
"What would be unpleasant?"
"You know!" Thessa whispered. "The act of making... of making offspring." she looked down at her hands resting on his chest, not wanting to meet his eyes.
"Thessa..." Thorin put a finger under her chin so she would look him in the eyes.
"What about that would be unpleasant?" he asked gently. Now it was Thessa's turn to be confused.
"Well my mother and the elders always told me that it was a repulsive action that was only necessary to keep our people alive," she finished, gauging his reaction. Thorin's eyes softened. Mermaids must not have had the time invested in a relationship to truly know how it felt to make love. They had only experienced the dirty, and unpleasant side of men's lust.
"Thessa, when it comes time for that, I promise you it will be the most enjoyable night of your life. After I show you what it is truly like to make love, you'll always come back for more," he whispered in a deep, husky voice. Thessa felt a strange sensation when she heard his words. It came from the apex of her thighs, but it wasn't an unwelcome feeling. She had felt it once or twice before, when she had kissed Thorin in Rivendell and by the river near the Carrock.
"Thorin, can I ask you something?"
"Of course," he replied, moving her hair so that his lips could touch her neck. Thessa drew in a sharp breath when that sensation came back.
"When you kiss me, something strange happens to my body. I can feel it near my stomach, but I don't know what it is," she said shyly. Thorin growled when he heard her admission, his desire growing, making his breeches feel tighter and tighter.
"That, love, is something that happens when women are intimate with their partners," he explained. "The feeling will build, becoming stronger," he continued to plant kisses along her neck and jaw as he spoke. "Until finally, a euphoric feeling comes over them, making the act something entirely pleasant rather than unpleasant."
"Will you show me?" she asked hesitantly. He stopped his exploration of her neck and came up to look her in the eyes, cupping her face in his hands.
"One day, my love, but not tonight. We are not alone here, and I want that moment for you to be special. Once we have reclaimed Erebor, then I will show you," he promised. Thessa nodded her head in agreement. She had been told how to pleasure a man when she was young, that she understood and could do. But they taught that to every mermaid so that they would be prepared. They never told her about what she would feel from the experience, only that it was a vile act that should never be sought after unless absolutely necessary. She pondered that as she lay back down on Thorin's chest, ready for sleep to take her.
Thorin was still hung up on her request. His One had just asked him outright if he would pleasure her, if he would enjoying becoming one with her. His whole body felt hot. He knew that she had never experienced anything like that before, and he was determined to show her just how good it could be. He wrapped his arms around her waist and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. He needed a cold dip in a stream, but hat would have to wait for morning.