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Important flowers (to this chapter) and their meaning:

Marigold – Cruelty, grief

Ambrosia – your love is reciprocated

Yellow Carnations – You have disappointed me, rejection.

Purple Hyacinth – I am sorry, please forgive me, sorrow.

Geranium – Stupidity, folly

Orange blossoms – Innocence, Eternal love, Marriage, and Fruitfulness

Primrose – I can't live without you.

Red Roses – love

Red Tulips – Believe me, a declaration of love.

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Chapter 55

~X~

It took Thorin about half an hour to locate anyone who might be of help to him, and oddly enough, he found most of them in the same place – Dis' chambers. It would appear that a meeting of at least three of the conspirators was being held in the princess' private rooms. Bilbo, Bergie and his sister all looked up as he entered the room, upon receiving permission to do so from Dis.

"Thorin, we were just talking about you," the dam informed him, gesturing to a cozy chair beside her. "Have a seat and let us fill you in on what we believe your next move should be."

"I do not like the idea of being discussed behind my back like some wayward child," he snorted, knowing he was being a bit unreasonable, yet still on edge after what had just happened.

"No one thinks you are a child, Thorin," Dis assured him, eyeing him with a bit of irritation. "Though, for some unknown reason you seem to be acting like one. What has gotten you all riled up? I thought you wanted us to help you win Marigold's affections."

"I did…I do," he mumbled, simmering down a bit as he realized they only meant to help. "I am sorry."

"As you should be," Dis mumbled, though she quickly brightened, forgetting her irritation as she gestured to the two hobbits. "We have decided that the best way for you to proceed is to send Marigold a little gift. Nothing too elaborate, we don't want her to think you are trying to buy her love, but a gesture from the heart."

"I agree," Thorin nodded, deciding that he had not been too far off the mark in his initial plans. "And I have already taken the initiative to see it done."

"You have?" Bilbo sounded surprised, though not displeased.

"Yes, I stopped at one of the shops in Dale today and purchased Marigold a bouquet of flowers."

"Oh, that sounds lovely!" Dis was obviously delighted with her brother's idea.

"Wait…" Bergie broke in, a look of worry on her face. "You got Marigold flowers? Which ones?"

"Does it matter?" Dis asked, looking confused. "Flowers are a lovely gesture, why would it matter what he gave her?"

"Because to a hobbit, the meaning behind a flower is very important," Bilbo explained, now sounding just as worried as Bergie. "There is a science to picking out the right flowers to send a lass, especially when you are just starting to court her. Send too strong a message and you could scare her off…send the wrong one, and that could end things before it has a chance to start."

"There is a language in flowers?" Dis asked, apparently not knowing such things.

"There most certainly is, and like Bilbo said, we hobbits take those things very seriously." Bergie nodded, turning a hopeful look to Thorin. "What did you get her…roses? Perhaps a red chrysanthemum or tulips? Primroses?"

A cold sweat broke out over Thorin's brow, suddenly imagining he had not acted in the wisest manner…especially after how Marigold reacted to his offerings.

"I…I got her a bouquet of marigolds," he confessed, having to clear his throat in order to make his voice sound steady. "It was the flower she was named after, thus I thought she would appreciate the gesture."

When both hobbits closed their eyes in disappointment, shaking their heads and muttering to themselves, Thorin's hopes fell.

"That was wrong?" Dis asked, now looking just as worried herself.

"In the most horrible of ways," Bilbo nodded, leaning forward and burying his face in his hands. "The only worse flower he could have given her was yellow carnations!" When the two dwarves looked at him questioningly, he raised his head to explain. "Yellow carnations send the message of disappointment and rejection."

"They do?" Thorin asked, now even more concerned. "What sentiment did I send with the flowers I chose?"

"Marigolds symbolize cruelty and grief," Bergie explained sadly. "By giving her a bouquet of those, even if they are her namesake, you were telling her that you find her company to be…well, undesirable to the highest degree."

"Oh dear," Dis gasped, covering her mouth with her hand in shock. "Perhaps…perhaps Miss Brandybuck chose not to take the gesture in such a way. Maybe she realized that Thorin probably knows nothing about the language of flowers…at least we can hope."

"I fear that from her reaction…she did not see things that way," Thorin groaned, leaning his head back against his chair and closing his eyes in misery. "In fact, she specifically asked me if I did know the meaning of flowers…and I foolishly answered in a way that might have led her to believe it to be true."

"Oh, Thorin," Bergie lamented sadly. Her pity for the clueless king was growing exponentially. "If only you would have chosen roses, which stand for love…or given her a variety of ambrosia, for they tell the receiver that their love is reciprocated."

"I think at this point he would be better off sending her a big bouquet of purple hyacinth, or maybe some geraniums," Bilbo moaned. "Simply admit your folly, Thorin, then fall at her feet and beg forgiveness. I fear that I have failed you, my friend. Completely failed you."

"Now, now, Cousin Bilbo, things are not all that bad," Bergie soothed, reaching out and rubbing his back kind-heartedly. "It was an honest mistake…really." She then looked over at Thorin, giving him a sympathetic look. "I am sure once we explain things to Marigold she will completely understand."

"But I shouldn't require that you keep explaining my blunders to her!" he fumed, angrier with himself than any of them. "Why must things be so difficult?"

"When have things ever gone smoothly for the line of Durin?" Dis asked, placing her hand on her brother's arm in reassurance. "Look at Fili and Sier…their ultimate joining did not come without a measure of trial and frustration, yet look at them now. Happy and with an adorable dwarfling to show for it. That can be you as well, brother dear, if you are willing to stay the course and fight for what you want. But perhaps, until you get the hang of things, it would be best that you allow us to aid you, and run any ideas you might have by us first?"

Thorin let his eyes drift to all three sets of pleading eyes before he bowed his head in a nod of submission. He was tired of looking like a fool in front of Marigold, the one person he wanted most to impress. He would swallow his pride and allow his sister and friends to aid him in this mysterious courtship, hopefully avoiding any more cultural pitfalls and blunders.

"Excellent!" Bilbo nodded. "Now, the first thing you need to do is write her an apology letter, stating that you had no idea what marigolds meant."

Dis quickly stood and fetched a piece of parchment and ink. Handing him the feather quill, she stood back, crossing her arms.

"And make it good," she warned. "We will offer assistance if you require it, but I would think with all the diplomatic letters you have written over the years, this shouldn't be too difficult for you."

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Dis was wrong. Terribly wrong. After Thorin had completed the letter, to his apparent satisfaction, he left it in her hands to be delivered and headed off to his chambers. It had been a long day and right now he only wanted peace and quiet, no longer wishing to dwell on his failure with the flowers.

"It can't be that bad," Bergie stated, noting how many times Dis cringed as she read the letter over. Yet when it came time for her to get a look, the older hobbit lass had to agree with Dis. It was horrible. "It sounds like he is trying to make some peace treaty with her…not a love match."

"Let me look," Bilbo demanded, taking the parchment from Bergie's hand. After a few moments, he too gave a heavy sigh. "We can't give this to her! If she is not already packing up to leave Erebor, this will have her out the front gates by morning for sure."

"I love my brother with all my heart, but it is obvious that he knows nothing about the ways of love," Dis sighed. "Most dwarves are a little slow on the uptake when they are presented with their ones, but at least they have the benefit of knowing that the lass understands such things and is willing to give them some leeway. With Marigold being a hobbit, and having an entirely different set of expectations about courtship, my brother is woefully ill equipped."

Bergie was about to respond when a knock at the door sounded, followed by the entry of two smiling dwarrow.

"Hello, Amad," Fili greeted her as he stepped inside, Kili hot on his heels. "You sent word that you wished to see us?"

"Yes, I did," Dis nodded, her eyes brightening. "I need your help…even more so now than when I originally called for you."

"Oh? And why is that?" Fili was becoming a bit nervous, for the looks on everyone's faces did not bode well.

"I am putting together a secret council, one that will require the assistance of every dwarf from the original company…and then some," their mother informed them. "Your uncle is in grave danger."

"Danger?" Kili barked, his hand automatically going to the hilt of his sword. "Danger from where…from whom?"

"Sadly, from himself," she explained. "He has fallen in love, yet stands a very big chance of messing it all up."

"WHAT?" Kili gasped, looking at his brother for confirmation. "When…how…WHO?"

"So Thorin has finally admitted his feeling for Miss Brandybuck?" Fili concluded, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"Miss Brandybuck?" Kili questioned, still looking lost. "You mean Marigold? Uncle is in love with Marigold Brandybuck…the hobbit?" He then turned a glaring eye at Fili. "You knew about this and you didn't tell me?"

"I meant to…if and when Thorin decided to act on it," he assured him. "And apparently that time has come."

"Still, it would have been nice to know!" Kili's eyes suddenly widened a bit more and he turned them on his mother. "THAT is why Uncle was acting so strangely in the burial chambers…and why he kept glaring at me during breakfast, with murder in his eyes! And you set it all up…you set ME up!"

"Not with any intent to get you into trouble," Dis assured him, trying to soothe her younger son's ruffled feathers. "I just hoped to give Thorin a bit of a nudge in the right direction."

"By putting a big target on my back and handing him a quiver full of arrows!" Kili still railed. "I have been afraid to go anywhere near him for weeks, worried that I had offended him, and had no idea why!"

"Well, until this is all settled, you might want to continue giving Thorin a wide berth," Fili laughed, throwing his arm over his brother's shoulders. "And just remember, if he can't catch you…he can't kill you." This won the older brother a dark scowl from his sibling.

"Well, now that you know, perhaps you can be more understanding of your uncle's feelings," Dis insisted. "Fili only knows about this because he noted how oddly Marigold had been acting and questioned me about it. Sadly, with as obvious as they are both being, soon all of Erebor will know what is going on, and I would prefer they were both on the same page before that happens."

"How can we help?" Fili asked, taking hold of his brother's arm and pulling him closer, as if to include him in the offer as well. With a sigh of resignation, Kili nodded, showing his willing support.

"Well, first of all, I would like the two of you to take this and go find Ori," she said, handing them the parchment they had all been previously reading. "It is your uncle's feeble attempt at an apology letter and I fear that if we were to give this to Marigold in its current state, she would rip it up and throw it back in his face. Perhaps if you enlist the help of Sier as well, the four of you might be able to…to…well, fix it up a bit so that it would be more kindly received."

"Are we allowed to do that?" Kili asked, taking the paper in his hand and quickly scanning the page. Yet by the time he finished, he let out a long, low whistle. "I see what you mean…I think it would be considered high treason not to alter this!"

"Ori can copy your uncle's hand well enough, and if we keep this to ourselves, Thorin will never have to know she received anything other than his own words," Bilbo nodded in agreement. "I fear if he found out, it might be a blow his ego couldn't take. Marigold's feelings are not the only ones we must protect here…Thorin is just as fragile in his current state."

"Agreed," Bergie nodded. "I would love to help with the letter as well, but I need to go see what I can do to calm Marigold down, especially if she thinks Thorin meant the sentiments reflected by the flowers he gave her." She shook her head sadly. "Poor Thorin…he had no clue."

"We will do our best," Fili nodded, plucking the page from Kili's hand and tucking it inside his vest. "I am sure after as many blunders as I made with Sier, she will have quite a few ideas on the most effective way a groveling letter of apology should go."

"Just don't use the word grovel around your uncle," Dis suggested. "It tends to set him off a bit."

"This is not going to be easy, is it?" Kili asked, looking a bit forlorn.

"Nothing worth having ever is, little brother," Fili laughed, tossing his arm around his shoulders and leading him towards the door. "Just you remember that when you happen to fall in love."

Kili's only reply was a moan of misery, as the two left the room.

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Flinn had been put to bed hours ago, and yet Sier, Fili, Kili and Ori burned the midnight oil, doing their best to rework Thorin's letter, morphing it into something that resembled a heartfelt apology and not a letter of state.

"I like how we fixed the start," Kili nodded in satisfaction. "At least it sounds more like he is speaking to a female and not a committee. But can't we just scrap the rest and start fresh?"

"No, that would be unfair to both Marigold and Thorin," Sier reasoned. "If she is to accept his apology, it needs to at least contain some of his own words still in it. We need to rework this carefully, making sure to retain as much of the king's original intent as possible. We simply need to…to…" here the dam was at a loss for words.

"Fix everything," Fili sighed, gaining nods from all around.

"I am just glad I am only here to do the writing…not the fixing," Ori said sheepishly, having been sitting there with his quill at the ready for some time.

"Well, it is not going to get finished if we all keep arguing about it," Sier assured them, taking a deep breath. "Now, how can we make this next part sound better?"

"I still say only by setting it on fire and redoing the whole thing," Kili mumbled, sitting back with his arms crossed in frustration.

"Kili!" Fili scolded.

"Fine! I will help," he grumbled, leaning forward and resting the side of his cheek on his upturned fist. "But I would much rather head off to bed."

"I think we all would," Fili nodded, looking just as irritated as his brother. "But we can all sleep when Thorin and Marigold are finally wed."

"THAT LONG?" Kili whined.

In the end, though it was indeed very late that night…or early the next morning, depending on how you looked at things, the letter had been successfully written. Kili had still threatened to toss it all in the fire at least three more times, but even he seemed marginally pleased with their final results. As it was, Thorin's original letter, which had once read like this:

To my esteemed hobbit,

It is with much regret that I am forced to pen this letter, doing my utmost to explain my deplorable behavior today. I was unaware that flowers held hidden meaning, even if I mistakenly gave you the impression that I did. It is true that I am a king, and should have a working knowledge of many such things, though I am ashamed to admit that flower-speak is not one of them. I chose the marigold simply because it was your name. No other reason. I did not intend to send the wrong message with them. For this I do ask forgiveness. I hope to continue getting to know you better, as you have requested. I will endeavor to be more aware of such things of importance in the future.

Respectfully,

Thorin Oakenshield, King of Erebor, descendant of Durin

….had been transformed into:

My most esteemed Marigold,

I find myself forced to take pen in hand in order to tender to you my deepest, and most sincere regrets for the misunderstanding that took place between us, due to my inexcusable lack of knowledge on the subject of flowers. I swear that I had no idea they held hidden meanings. And it was through my own foolishness that you were lead to believe that I did, leaving you with no other recourse than to misinterpret the sentiments behind the bouquet I gave you.

Please believe me when I say that the only reasons for my choosing to offer you marigolds, was that they share the same name as you, and are currently the only flower that holds any importance to me. No other reason was behind my wish to bestow them upon you. Please forgive me for not making this clear when I came to your door, and for leaving with this tragic misunderstanding still between us. It is my dearest wish to continue courting you in the fashion to which you so greatly deserve. I promise to apply myself to being more keenly aware of any such cultural differences that might be of importance to our future happiness.

With all my respect, admiration and great affection,

Thorin.

"Well," Fili said, rubbing the short beard on his chin with thought. "Most of the words he used are still there, even if we mixed them up and added a few of our own."

"A few?" Ori laughed, blowing on the paper to help his final writings dry. "I hardly recognize Thorin's original letter in this one."

"And that is a good thing!" Kili laughed. "The first one was terrible."

"But this one," Sier said, trying to stifle a yawn, "is sure to win Marigold's forgiveness."

"Then we have done our duty," Fili nodded in satisfaction, taking the parchment and rolling it up before tying it with a piece of string. "I will deliver this to Amad in the morning, and the rest is up to Marigold."

"Do you think she will forgive him?" Ori asked, looking rather hopeful. "I have not been around her very much, but she seems a very pleasant sort. Thorin could do a lot worse."

"If Marigold truly is his one…we all know he can't do better," Fili smiled, his arm reaching out as he wrapped it around Sier's waist, pulling her to his side. "But never better than me, for I found the best of them all."

Sier blushed slightly, leaning her head against his shoulder as she looked up at Fili with equal feeling.

"I feel exactly the same way, my love," she admitted quietly, as both Kili and Ori respectfully averted their eyes.

There, now THAT is how you fix a king's mistakes...without him knowing about it. ha ha.

Poor Kili, he fees so betrayed. ha ha.

So...does the second letter sound better?

How did the combined efforts of Fili, Sier, Kili and Ori do?

Guest Reviews

Guest: Yep, that is exactly right. Orcs he knows how to deal with...a bunch of flowers has him completely stumped. ha ha. Maybe that is what Mordor needs to do...don't send a hoard or army to take down Erebor...send the FTD guy. ha ha.

Aranel Mereneth: From here on out, he will smarten up and things will move ahead much better. ha ha. I just had to get all the stupidity out of his system first. ha ha.