A/N: A new chapter as a slightly belated Valentine's Day present for everyone! Sorry for the delay, I meant to get a chapter up in January, but things got really busy with work. I will do my best to make the next update in two months or less! This one is all from Alison's POV again, and gets them to Lake-town. Next chapter is likely going to have multiple POVs, and is going to shake things up a bit more. I'm once again not entirely sure I'm fully satisfied with this chapter, but I hope you all enjoy anyway!
Thanks to everyone who's favorited, followed, and read so far. I'm glad you're all enjoying it!
Extra special thanks as always to those who reviewed last chapter: the three anonymous Guests (I'm glad you all are enjoying this story, and here's an update!), lavonnadarc, Sweet Petit, Shetan20, FlowerChild23, Never33, ReignleighNyte, LuckyMaple, ThatOtherWriterGirl, and amrawo. I really appreciated hearing from all of you, and though it may not have seemed like it, your reviews did really keep me on track and get me to write this chapter! I hope to hear from you all again!
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Disclaimer: As always, I don't own any characters or lines you recognize from the Hobbit, just the rest of the story!
Chapter 14: Escape to Lake-town
Alison and Fili followed Lily and Bofur over to where Bilbo stood with the others, shaking his head at them as they went for the stairs leading up out of the dungeon. "Not that way. Down here. Follow me." He marched over to the stairs leading down.
All of the dwarves paused, looking to Lily, who waved them impatiently on. "Follow Bilbo, he knows what he's doing."
Though they all looked faintly doubtful, they took her at her word, following Bilbo down the stairs. He paused briefly at a landing where a hallway branched off, glancing back at them. "I was not able to find everyone's weapons," he murmured apologetically to Alison. "I was able to gather your weapons and Fili's, and a few other short swords, but I couldn't find anyone's bows or axes. Or Orcrist," he added with a nod to Thorin.
Thorin shook his head, though he did look a touch disappointed. "Do not worry about it. Doubtless Thranduil is keeping it close to him."
"Yes, Bilbo, don't worry about it," Alison reassured him.
"Any weapons are better than no weapons," Lily added. "You did great."
Bilbo smiled, nodding back at them. "Wait here a moment." He disappeared down the hallway, returning in a moment with a bundle wrapped in cloth. He set it on the ground, unwrapping it to reveal several weapons, among them Alison's sword. She smiled in relief to see it, kneeling to grab it from the pile.
Fili knelt next to her, grabbing his two swords, but he told the others to split up his pile of daggers amongst themselves, as Bilbo had only found four additional short swords. Fortunately, due to Fili's weapon-hoarding nature, there were enough daggers for everyone to have at least a dagger, with one left over for Fili. Once they were all armed again, however feebly, Bilbo hurried down the stairs again, gesturing to everyone to follow along the twisting stairwell and through several corridors.
They arrived finally at the wine cellar, which smelled very strongly of wood mixed with wine, to see two elves passed out on the table, snoring. "This way," Bilbo whispered, gesturing them further into the room.
Kili, who had been right behind Bilbo, hissed, "I don't believe it. We're in the cellars!"
Bofur, who was right behind him, added, "You were supposed to be leading us out – "
But Lily interrupted him before he could finish his sentence. "Shut up!" she snapped in a low voice. "I told you all, Bilbo knows what he's doing. This is the only way out, so keep going!"
All the dwarves started mumbling among themselves, looking back to Thorin, who said simply, "Listen to our seer, and do as Bilbo says."
"Thank you," Bilbo murmured with grave dignity, nodding to Thorin before he waved them on again, heading deeper into the cellar.
This time, the dwarves followed without complaint, though Alison noticed they all looked suspicious still. Bilbo, however, confidently led them to the back of the wine cellar, through walls covered both with shelves of small bottles and larger wine barrels. Eventually, he stopped in front of the pile of empty barrels, stacked neatly on their sides in the center of the cellar by a lever. He pointed to the barrels. "Everyone climb into the barrels quickly."
"Are you mad?" Dwalin exclaimed lowly. "They'll find us."
Bilbo shook his head rapidly. "No, no. They won't. I promise you. Please, please. You must trust me."
"God, Lily literally just went over this," Alison snapped impatiently as she stalked over to a barrel. "Just bloody get in the barrels already, would you?"
"She's right, go!" Thorin barked out.
The others immediately began to follow Alison's example, heading over to the barrels and picking one to crawl into, the more nimble dwarves picking ones higher up in the pile. Fortunately, it appeared there were enough for everyone to have their own barrel, which Alison was glad of. Though the barrels were decently roomy, she wasn't entirely sure she could have squeezed into one alongside someone else.
Fili, of course, picked the barrel right next to hers on the bottom. He knelt in front of her first, where she had stuck her head out of the barrel. "You're certain this will work, lass?" he asked softly.
She nodded firmly. "Positive. It's not going to be easy, but it will be successful. Keep your swords at the ready."
He nodded soberly, touching her face with his fingers briefly before he scrambled into the barrel next to hers. Meanwhile, Bilbo was standing in front of the barrels, counting under his breath. Apparently satisfied, he nodded and headed for the lever.
Alison could hear Bofur's voice somewhere above her, asking, "What do we do now?"
"Hold your breath," Bilbo advised, putting his hand on the lever.
"Hold my breath?" Bofur repeated, clearly confused. "What do you mean?"
Bilbo didn't answer, but rather yanked the lever. Alison pulled herself back inside her barrel as the floor began to tilt downward, opening up the hole to the river below. She took a deep breath, bracing her arms and legs against the sturdy walls of the barrel as it rolled over and over, hearing the sound of the others crying out in surprise.
Her own barrel went free-falling through the air, jolting her when it landed with a loud splash in the river. She kept herself braced, grateful when the barrel tipped upright, and peeked over the edge to see the others gradually bobbing upright, as well. She noticed Lily grabbing the edge of an extra barrel, and realized her cousin had had the foresight to prepare for Bilbo, as well.
Fili paddled his way over to her, smiling ruefully. "Did you know this was his plan all along?"
"I did," she admitted, grinning back. "But it is the only way to get out."
Fili nodded, but before he could say anything further, they heard a creak from above, followed by another loud splash. They all turned to see Bilbo come spluttering up for air.
"Bilbo, here, get in this one," Lily urged him, still clinging to the empty barrel.
Bilbo nodded, quickly doggy-paddling his way over to her. Nori and Dori, who were nearby, each grabbed one of his arms and hoisted him, dripping wet, into the barrel.
"Well done, Master Baggins," Thorin praised him. Bilbo nodded, teeth chattering, waving his hand at Thorin, who began to paddle downriver. "Go! Come on! Let's go!"
Alison began using her arms to paddle her way after him, though it fortunately only took a moment or two of paddling before the current grabbed hold of them and dragged them along. After that, she simply gripped the edges of the barrel and braced her legs against the sides for dear life as they spilled down a short waterfall into the main part of the river. She spluttered as foaming white water washed up over her head, taking a deep breath once they were clear again.
The current started to move more rapidly, pulling all of the barrels along, crashing some of them into each other as they went bobbing and weaving along. Once he was close enough, Fili grabbed hold of the edge of Alison's barrel and held on firmly with one hand as they went careening along.
Alison gave him a grateful smile, but before she could say anything, she heard the sound of the elves shouting and horns blowing nearby. She turned to look, seeing the gate to block the river coming up ahead. A stone archway and set of stairs was built above it, and a few elves were running along the top of it towards a large lever. The first elf to reach it pulled it down, and with a screeching mechanical noise, the two halves of the barred steel gate swung shut, blocking their passage further down.
"NO!" Thorin shouted as it closed just before he reached it, bumping up against it. Several of the others bumped up behind him, piling up like a traffic jam before the metal gate, Alison and Fili among them.
Thorin turned and hissed at her as the elves drew their swords, "I thought your sister said this was the way to go!"
"It is," Alison snapped back. "Give it a – "
She stopped short when she heard the groan of an elf above, who came tumbling over the gate, spilling dead into the river in front of them.
"Watch out! There's Orcs!" Bofur shouted, looking up to the gate behind them.
Alison could hear the sound of an Orc shouting in Black Speech above, just before all hell broke loose. Orcs came spilling over the gate, trying to reach down and grab the dwarves in the barrels, who pulled out the meagre weapons Bilbo had collected and started hacking at any Orc that got near them.
Alison pulled her own sword out, managing to hack off an Orc hand reaching for her, and when it squealed and pulled back, Fili stabbed it and shoved into the river. Alison looked around through the chaos, just in time to spot – Lily heading for the lever?! Somehow, her cousin had managed to maneuver herself to be the one of the ones closest to the stairs leading up to the lever, and had seized the soonest opening to pull herself out and head up the stairs.
"Lily, what the fuck are you doing?!" Alison screamed, trying to scramble out of her own barrel. At that moment, however, another Orc reached for her and she had to slash at it, eventually catching it in the chest and knocking it back into the river.
"Amrâlimê, don't," Fili said hastily, grabbing her arm and pulling her back down when she went to get up again. "You're too far away, and Kili is going to help her. He'll keep her safe."
Alison looked, realizing that yes, they were almost as far from the stairs as they could get, and Kili was indeed scrambling up the stone stairs after Lily, almost frantically. He got there just in time to catch the downward arc of a sword heading for Lily on the short sword Bilbo had given him. Throwing his whole strength into the parry, he deflected the blade, then kicked the Orc in the chest, knocking it off the stairs into the river.
Another Orc was almost on top of Lily, who was nearly at the lever, but Fili flung his one remaining dagger straight at it, hitting it square in the chest. It, too, tumbled into the river as Kili killed off one more Orc, reaching Lily just as she got to the lever. He shouted something at Lily, who ignored him, throwing her whole weight into the lever, pulling it down.
The gate slowly started to creak open, and Lily and Kili started heading back down the stairs. Alison was just thinking they might actually be in the clear, when Kili suddenly pushed Lily down the stairs, just in time to avoid her getting struck by an arrow, which hit him in the left thigh instead. He cried out, clutching his leg and going down, as Fili shouted, "Kili!"
Shit, Alison thought, panicked, watching as Lily scrambled back up to Kili, shouting something at him, her face pale. She grabbed his hands, putting them around the base of the arrow, and snapped the shaft off, not noticing the Orc coming down the stairs toward the two of them.
"Lily!" Alison screamed, as their barrels started to drift away through the open gate, following the others.
Lily looked up at the Orc, just in time to see an arrow sprout from its neck. It went tumbling down the steps, Kili shoving it away from them into the river, as elves led by Tauriel and Legolas came running up to join the fray.
That was all Alison got to see before her and Fili's barrels went past the gate, leading them down the river after the others. Fili was still holding onto her barrel, and he turned to her, his eyes frantic. "Is he going to be all right?!"
"He – he should be," Alison stammered, turning back around to watch behind them. "I – Lily wasn't supposed to go up there, and things didn't happen quite the way they should have, so I don't know – " She let out a long breath of relief as she finally spotted Kili and Lily come bobbing through the gate in barrels after them, along with Nori and Ori, who must have kept their empty barrels ready for them. "There they are. Yes, it should be okay now."
Fili had turned to follow her gaze, and he also let a long breath. "Thank Mahal. But will we get past the Orcs?"
"We should. As long as we – watch out!" she cried, as an Orc jumped from the bank straight towards Fili's barrel. He let go of her barrel, raising his sword and slashing the Orc full across its chest. It screamed and tumbled back into the water.
So it went, in much the same fashion as they went rushing along the river, bouncing and whirling and skipping along, with the Orcs running after them along the banks. The Orcs would try their best to leap into the river after them, and the dwarves would fight them off with Bilbo's collected weapons or their fists. The elves followed along as well, firing arrows at Orcs, and Legolas did his dance across the dwarves' heads at one point while simultaneously firing arrows. Alison even managed to catch the moment when Thorin saved Legolas's life while he was back on the riverbank fighting, not noticing another Orc behind him. Thorin flung his short sword at the Orc, striking it in the chest and killing it before it could hit Legolas. The elf stared after them in surprise, giving a brief nod to Thorin before they moved past the point where they could see him, continuing their crazy barrel ride down the river.
By the time they reached a calmer, shallower area of the river, Alison thought she might be sick from all the rolling, bouncing and jouncing as they'd gone along. She paddled her way after the others, though her arms were exhausted from all the fighting and holding on for dear life. Fili had managed to get next to her again, and he gave her an encouraging smile as they went.
"Anything behind us?" Thorin called to them from up ahead.
"Not that I can see," Balin called back.
Bofur, who was near Alison and Fili, spit some water out into the river. "I think we've outrun the Orcs."
"Not for long," Thorin called back grimly. "We've lost the current."
"We'll be all right for now!" Lily shouted from further back. "We just need to get to shore now, and we'll find a way to keep ahead of them!"
"You heard her! Make for shore!" Thorin bellowed.
A chorus of "Aye" came back as they all began paddling after Thorin, towards a rocky section of the riverbank nearby that was low enough for them to climb out on. They made it to the riverbank without incident, and as soon as Fili hit the shore, he climbed out and pulled Alison's barrel closer to shore as well, before bodily lifting her out and setting her on her feet.
He then scrambled over to Kili's barrel, which Nori was helping Lily to pull ashore, and got his brother out as well. "Bring him over here," Alison called. "I'll have a look at his leg." Fili nodded, helping his protesting brother over to her while Lily followed.
"I'm fine, it's nothing," Alison could hear Kili saying as they got nearer.
"It's not nothing," Lily snapped him. "It's a serious wound, that I was trying to prevent you from getting!"
"What, by getting injured yourself?" Kili retorted, his face pale but his dark eyes flashing fire at Lily. "You could have gotten killed if I hadn't come to help!"
"He's right, Lily, that wasn't the brightest plan," Alison agreed as Fili lowered Kili to a flat rock nearby. "You haven't been training in close combat. How were you planning to keep the Orcs off you?"
"I – I don't know," Lily grumbled, looking both angry and embarrassed. "I was just hoping they wouldn't really notice me before I pulled the lever. It was the best plan I could think of on such short notice."
"Perhaps if you hadn't been avoiding me, you could have talked to me and we could have come up with a better plan!" Kili snapped at her.
"You know, you'd think you'd have some gratitude when I was just trying to help you!" Lily shouted back, hands planted on her hips. "But no, you'd rather complain about everything instead!"
"Oh my God, you two, either shut up or get a room already!" Alison said in exasperation, taking the bag of bandages and supplies that Oin handed her. He'd luckily kept it wrapped in oiled cloth, so the contents inside were still quite dry. She peeked inside, nodding in satisfaction at the contents and ignoring Lily's indignant squawk.
"Alison!" she cried, turning bright red as Bofur laughed a few feet away, obviously not needing this particular slang interpreted for him.
"I don't understand, what do they need a room for?" Ori asked, dumping water out of his boot.
Bofur laughed harder at this, Nori joining in, while Lily spluttered, flung her hands up, and stalked several feet away, where Thorin came over to talk to her. Alison grinned as she dug out the necessary supplies from the bag, handing it back to Oin. "They just need a room to, ah, resolve their argument in private," she explained to Ori diplomatically as she knelt by Kili.
"I wonder who would win that one," Nori muttered, causing Bofur to laugh again.
Alison glanced up, seeing that Fili, who had his hand on Kili's shoulder, was grinning broadly, obviously having understood the slang as well, while Kili was slowly turning red. He didn't say anything, though, until she went to peel apart his shredded pants leg to look at the wound. "Um, are you sure Oin shouldn't be looking at this?" he asked.
Alison glanced up at him, seeing that he was turning ever redder. "What, you don't think I can treat it?"
Kili rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not that, it's just, it's . . . you know. . ." He gestured at his leg.
"On your leg?" Alison supplied, fighting back a smile. When he nodded, she grinned. "I've seen men's legs before, Kili. And I'm sure you've had women touch your leg before."
"Well, I mean, yes," he stammered, "but never my brother's - " He cut himself off abruptly. Alison glanced up again, seeing that Kili looked almost guilty, while Fili's face looked expressionless, and she could almost swear that Fili's hand on Kili's shoulder was a bit white-knuckled, as if he was squeezing it extra hard. There it was again, just like when Fili had cut himself off from calling her something in the dungeon. There had to be some dwarven word for lover or something that they didn't want to use in front of her, though she couldn't imagine why. Well, no matter. She'd get it out of Fili later.
"It's fine, Kili. It's just a leg. Unless you're really that uncomfortable you'd rather have Oin look at it after he's done there." She nodded to where he was treating a cut on Dwalin's arm from the fight.
"No, it's okay," Kili said after a moment, though he was a bit red-faced still. "I trust you."
She smiled. "Thank you, I'm glad to hear it."
She turned her attention back to the wound, cleaning it carefully with one of the scraps of clean cloth from the medical bag. Lily had done a good job of getting the arrow out, but . . . she suppressed a frown as she noticed tendrils of black liquid oozing through the healthy, red blood, and the blackening already starting around the edges of the wound. It was definitely still a wound from a Morgul shaft, which meant there was really nothing she could do to fix it. She could bind it up for now, but they would still need Tauriel and some athelas later to fix it properly. She'd just have to hope that Tauriel was still going to come after them.
"How does it look?" Fili asked a little anxiously.
"Well, Lily did a good job of getting the arrow out, and it should be easy enough to bind." All true things, but of course not the whole truth. Knowing how protective Fili was about Kili, though, Alison didn't think there was any use in worrying him with the full truth. "He'll need to take it easy for a bit, though, and I'm going to need to treat it with some herbs that I don't have here. We should be able to find them in Lake-town, however."
"Lake-town?" Kili asked in confusion as Alison finished cleaning the wound and started bandaging it with an herb poultice, as much good as it would do. "Are we even going to Lake-town?"
"We will be," Lily said, rejoining the conversation before Alison could reply. "I've seen that we need to go there next. We'll just need a little help to get there. Oh, and there's our help now," she muttered under her breath.
Alison secured the bandage in place, then stood up, looking over to see that Bard was indeed drawing his bow and sneaking up on Ori at the edge of the river, where he was now wringing out his tunic. Lily headed over to him, calling out, "Hello there, sir!"
Bard whirled toward her, shock clear on his face even from this distance, but he kept his bow rock-steady and drawn on her as he turned. Alison could hear Kili grunt from behind her, as if he was lurching to his feet, but she held her hand up, shaking her head. "Don't worry, she'll be fine."
Lily halted several feet away from Bard, holding her hands up, palms out, in a peaceful gesture. Alison noted that none of the dwarves were moving to attack, not even Dwalin, who was standing by Thorin, and realized that Lily must have warned Thorin and the others about Bard's sudden appearance while she'd been treating Kili. He was also just as handsome in person as he'd been in the movie, Alison saw, with the same shoulder-length dark brown hair, partially tied back, neatly trimmed mustache and beard, and tall, broad-shouldered body wrapped in a long duster coat and somewhat tattered clothing. He watched Lily with dark, wary eyes that constantly flitted to the others, taking note of where everyone was as she smiled at him.
"We have no wish to fight," she told him. "We just need your help, that's all."
"My help?" Bard repeated incredulously.
Lily nodded. "We need to get to Lake-town. You're from there, right?"
Bard nodded slowly in response, still wary, as Thorin added, "We also need supplies and better weapons."
"What makes you think I would help you?" Bard asked at last, lowering his bow and sliding his arrow back into the quiver.
"Because we would pay you for your help, right, Balin?" Lily prompted in a cheerful tone, lowering her arms to her sides again.
"Yes, as the lass says, we'd be happy to hire your barge out," Balin agreed, nodding at the barge docked a few hundred yards away. "I can tell that those boots have seen better days. As has that coat." Balin gave him a friendly, open smile when Bard didn't immediately reply. "No doubt you have some hungry mouths to feed. How many bairns?"
"A boy and two girls," Bard finally answered. Though he was still watching them closely, a slight smile graced his face at the mention of his children.
"And your wife, I imagine she's a beauty," Balin added.
Bard's face fell at that. "Aye. She was," he said shortly, turning and heading for his barge.
Alison winced, feeling a sharp twinge of sympathy for Bard at what he'd experienced. She knew his pain all too well. She watched as Balin and Lily hurried after him, calling apologies, and nearly jumped when Fili wrapped an arm around her. "Are you all right, lass?" he asked softly.
"I'm fine, thanks," she replied quietly, smiling up at him. Though he smiled back, she noticed worry darkening his eyes. "Is something bothering you?"
"Nay . . . well, when he said he'd lost his wife, I couldn't help thinking of what it might be like if I lost you," Fili murmured to her as the others followed after Lily and Balin. A frown creased his face as he added, "It's . . . not something I like the thought of."
She turned into his embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing him gently, appreciating the heat of his body in the coolness of the afternoon. "I know. But I'm not the one that we need to worry about, remember?"
"Maybe we do, though. Your sister said she cannot see what happens to the two of you, right? And I've nearly lost you more than once already." He squeezed her a little tighter with those words.
"But you didn't," she reminded him, hoping he wasn't thinking too deeply about why Lily couldn't see what happened to the two of them. It wasn't something she exactly wanted to explain to him. "And I'll do my best to be careful. We'll just have to watch out for each other, and make sure that we both get through this quest alive, right?"
He watched her for a moment, before giving her a slight smile, followed by a quick kiss. "Right. Let's catch up to the others."
They caught up with the others just in time to hear Balin offering to pay Bard double, and Lily adding, "Please? We could really use your help."
Alison watched as Bard's face softened, and he finally nodded. "Very well, then, get on board."
The dwarves all scrambled to get on board, Thorin sending a pleased nod Lily's way, and headed for the bow, most of them sitting down or leaning against the sides of the boat. Alison stopped next to Lily as she stood by Bard in the stern as he began to steer the boat away from the dock. "Thank you so much," Lily said, smiling at him. "My name is Lily. This is my sister Alison."
"You're welcome," Bard said after a moment, as if unused to manners, and gave them a slightly rusty smile. "I'm Bard." He nodded to them, before adding, "You two aren't dwarves, are you? Or not fully dwarves."
"No, we're half dwarves," Alison replied, smiling back at him.
Bard nodded. "And just how did two young ladies come to be travelling with these ... merchants?" He smirked at this, indicating what he thought of the story the dwarves had fed him.
Alison exchanged a glance with Lily. They had agreed before, at Beorn's, that Bard would need to be better informed than he had been in the past. "That's actually quite a long story, and one we will need to tell you. But we should probably wait until we reach Lake-town for that."
"You probably need to keep your attention on steering the ship," Lily added. "But we will definitely need to talk to you about some things later. For now, we just need to get to Lake-town. You're planning to use fish to cover us up in the barrels, right?"
Bard gave her a startled look. "I am, but how did you know that?"
"Lily has some ability as a seer," Alison explained carefully. "Which is part of what we need to talk to you about later."
"A seer?" Bard repeated with a snort.
"The weapons you're planning on giving us later, you hide them hanging from a rope off a boat, right?" Lily said, and when Bard nodded slowly, looking astonished, she went on, "And there's a pike hook and a crowbill among them. They're handmade weapons your resistance has put together."
"Yes," Bard agreed slowly, "there is. But how can you know all that? Have you been spying on me?"
Alison shook her head. "Neither of us has been to Lake-town in our lives before."
"I've just seen it," Lily told him. "Like I saw that you would help us, eventually. And that you will succeed in smuggling us in, in the end."
Bard smiled slightly. "That's reassuring to hear. As for using fish to cover you all up, I think that may only be necessary for the others. You two should be able to pass as young human girls, if you cover up your more, ah, womanly attributes."
Alison glanced down at herself. They'd lost their cloaks in the dungeon, and her tunic and breeches from Rivendell were still pretty soaking wet and rather plastered to every inch of her body. Lily suffered from much the same issue. "Right. You wouldn't happen to have a couple of extra cloaks around, would you?"
"As it happens, I do." Bard nodded at a wooden chest several feet away. "There are some cloaks for my children in there, when they come on the barge. They should work well enough for the two of you, as well. You would also have to act like young girls, if we are to make this work."
"So we'd probably be best off staying out of the way, and staying quiet, then," Lily mused, looking at Alison.
"What are you looking at me for?" Alison protested. "I can stay quiet! For a little while, anyway."
Lily smirked. "Well, as long as you're sure you can." She turned back to Bard. "Thank you. We really appreciate all of your help."
"I am being paid rather generously for it," Bard pointed out, smiling slightly. "But it is good to know at least someone appreciates my help." He nodded at the dwarves in the bow, most of whom were still glaring suspiciously at him.
Alison grinned. "Well, we're working on their manners and gratitude." She deliberately raised her voice on the last few words, hearing a few grumbles and a few chuckles in response, while Bard actually smiled fully.
"Anyway, we'll leave you to steer the barge now," Lily said. "And we'll talk more later."
Bard nodded gravely. "I look forward to your explanations."
Alison and Lily went to the chest, getting out two cloaks that they wrapped themselves up in, which were also fortunately warm and dry, before they headed to the bow to join the others. Alison settled down next to Fili, who wrapped his arm around her shoulders again and pulled her close to his side. Kili whispered something to Lily as they approached, and though Alison couldn't hear it, she just barely made out Lily's whispered reply that they would talk later, before she went and sat by Bilbo. Alison watched Kili stare after her for a moment before he sat down with a pained grunt on the other side of Fili, and couldn't help but think that if Lily was jealous of Tauriel, she might not need to be. Of course, that could also mean that Tauriel wouldn't bother to come after them to save Kili. She prayed that the elf captain was good-hearted enough to want to help them still as she settled down to rest with Fili and wait for their arrival at Lake-town.
Dawn was just starting to peek over the horizon when they approached Lake-town, having dozed fitfully on the boat during the night while crossing the vast lake. The dwarves and Bilbo were all tucked in their barrels, piled high with fish, and Alison and Lily sat on crates by Bard, huddled up in their cloaks trying to look as young as possible, hoods up over their heads. Alison was just grateful they didn't have to be covered by the fish, since she really quite liked eating fish, but wasn't sure she ever would be able to again if she had to be stuck in a barrel full of them. She felt bad for the others, though, but they'd at least gotten advance warning of the fish this time from Lily.
Lake-town appeared gradually, looming out of the fog before them, as they sailed closer. It was a ramshackle-looking, lopsided place of tilted wooden buildings set on docks rising out of the water. The entrance they were approaching was blocked off by a metal gate in a grid pattern, cutting straight down into the water. A dock with a small shed was off to the right of it, and a voice called out from the shed as they approached the gate. "Halt! Goods inspection! Papers please!" The inspector, an older man with long, greying hair and shabby, damp clothing, held up a lantern, peering at them. "Oh, it's you, Bard." He glanced over at Alison and Lily. "With two young passengers?"
"Morning, Percy. These are my nieces, come to visit for a few days," Bard added, nodding at Alison and Lily, who offered shy waves and tentative smiles.
Percy squinted at them, then nodded, apparently satisfied with the explanation. He turned to Bard. "Anything to declare?"
"Nothing, but that I am cold and tired and ready for home," Bard answered. He headed over to the side of the barge, pulling out a piece of paper from inside his coat that he handed to Percy.
"You and me both," Percy agreed, taking the paper. He headed over to a small table, laying the paper down and stamping it. "There we are. All in order." He headed back to Bard, holding the paper out.
"Not so fast," another man said, snatching the paper from Percy. Alison groaned inwardly. If Bard was as handsome as he'd been in the movie, this guy was as ugly and weaselly-looking as he'd been in the movie, dressed all in black robes with an odd black hat pulled down over his greasy dark hair. He held the paper out in one hand, reading out loud, "'Consignment of empty barrels from the Woodland Realm.' Only . . ." He headed over to the boat, a few armed soldiers on his heels, adding, "They're not empty, are they, Bard?" He tossed the paper over his shoulder. "If I recall correctly, you're licensed as a bargeman. Not –" He reached out and plucked a fish off the top of the nearest barrel. "– a fisherman." He held the fish up to Bard's face, then glanced over at Alison and Lily. "Or a passenger barge."
"That's none of your business," Bard retorted, glaring at him. "And as they're my nieces, and not paying passengers, I don't have to be licensed for passengers."
Alfrid smirked. He looked over at Alison and Lily again, a long, searching look that made Alison feel like her skin was crawling. She bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, reminding herself to keep her mouth shut and try to look like an innocent child. After a moment, Alfrid turned his attention back to Bard. "Wrong. It's the Master's business, which makes it my business." He smirked widely at Bard, revealing a disgusting set of teeth to top everything off with.
"Oh, come on, Alfrid, have a heart. People need to eat," Bard replied.
"These fish are illegal." Alfrid moved away from the boat, throwing the fish he held into the water, and turned to the soldiers behind him. "Empty the barrels over the side."
"You heard him. In the canal," the one in the lead said.
The soldiers piled onto the barge, surrounding the barrels, while Alison clenched her fists tightly inside her cloak, hoping that everything would work out the way it was supposed to.
"Folk in this town are struggling," Bard said loudly as the soldiers started to grab the barrels. "Times are hard. Food is scarce."
"That's not my problem," Alfrid sneered at him.
"And when the people hear the Master is dumping fish back in the lake, when the rioting starts," Bard met Alfrid's eyes levelly, "will it be your problem then?"
The soldiers were just starting to tilt the barrels towards the side of the barge, the fish on top spilling out into the lake, when Alfrid held up his hand. "Stop."
The soldiers obediently tilted the barrels back up while Alison let out the breath she'd been holding, then started marching off the barge as Alfrid added, "Ever the people's champion, eh, Bard? Protector of the common folk. You might have their favour now, bargeman, but it won't last."
He stalked away as Bard cast a relieved look back at Alison and Lily, and Percy shouted for the guards to raise the gate. As the gate rose up out of the water, Bard started to steer the barge forward again. Alfrid turned back, glaring at him. "The Master has his eye on you. You'd do well to remember: We know where you live."
"It's a small town, Alfrid," Bard replied casually. "Everyone knows where everyone lives."
He steered the barge through the gate and into the canals of the town as Alison muttered, "Thank God that's over with. Man, did I want to tell Alfrid off."
"Well, you did a good job of keeping quiet for once," Lily teased lightly. "But yeah, so did I. Maybe we'll get to later."
It didn't take long before they reached their destination, Bard halting the barge and tying it up before the dwarves all began popping out of their barrels. Bard hopped off the barge, pressing a few coins into the hand of a passing man. "You didn't see them. They were never here. The fish you can have for nothing."
He turned back to the barge, where the dwarves were all huddled at the edge of the barge along with Bilbo. They all looked miserable, wet, and slimy, Alison noted with sympathy, though Bilbo was probably the most miserable-looking. Lily held up her hand before anybody actually got off the barge. "Remember, your house is being watched," she told Bard in low tones. "As is the marketplace. You'll have to smuggle all of them in from underneath."
"Underneath how?" Dwalin demanded skeptically.
"The toilet," Alison supplied before Bard could. "Sorry, guys, but it's the only way to get in without being seen or caught."
Several of the dwarves started grumbling loudly at this, but Thorin barked out a command in Khuzdul that shut them all up. "If that is the only way to go, that is the way we will go," he said sternly, glaring at them all. "Now, bargeman, show us how to get there."
Bard nodded, gesturing to the dwarves to follow him, and began to lead them to an area where they could slip into the water and get beneath the town. Alison and Lily stayed by the barge for the moment, waiting, and waved goodbye to the others as they headed off. It took Bard only a few minutes, and then he came back to the barge, leading Alison and Lily through the bustling town.
It took only a few minutes of weaving their way through the crowded, dirty town before a young, earnest-looking boy with curly brown hair came running up to them. "Da! Our house, it's being watched," he said urgently. He glanced at Alison and Lily, but mercifully didn't say anything.
Bard simply nodded. "It's all right, Bain, come on." He handed Bain some of the supplies he'd picked up on their way through the marketplace, then gestured to Alison and Lily to follow as they continued their way along the narrow walkways through the town. Soon, they reached the stairs leading up to Bard's door. Bain led the two of them up, while Bard came up behind them, tossing an apple to the "fishermen" below. "You can tell the Master I'm done for the day," he called, before heading into the house and closing the door behind him.
Alison and Lily stood off to the side, watching as a young girl of about eight, in a simple blue dress over a white blouse, her long, curly hair tied back, came running up to Bard. "Da! Where have you been?" She hugged Bard enthusiastically, then looked over to where Alison and Lily were. "Hello! Who are you?"
"Father! There you are! I was worried," added an older girl, this one likely about sixteen, wearing a mismatched blouse and skirt cobbled together out of various cloths. She hugged Bard as well, taking the bag he handed her, also adding, "Who are these girls?"
"One thing at a time," Bard told her, holding up a hand. He turned to his son. "Bain, get them in."
While Bain hurried for the steps that led down to the bottom of the house where the toilet was, Bard turned to his daughters. "Sigrid, Tilda, we are housing some dwarves and their companions for the night. We had to smuggle them into Lake-town, so nobody can know they're here. These girls," he nodded to Alison and Lily, "are actually half-dwarves, travelling with the others. I was able to bring them into town normally by claiming they're your cousins, so remember that, okay?"
"Yes, Father," Sigrid replied, looking curiously at them.
Tilda bounded over, sticking out her hand with a gap-toothed grin. "My name is Tilda. What's yours?"
Lily shook her hand, smiling at her. "I'm Lily. This is my sister Alison."
Alison shook her hand as well, smiling down at the young girl. "Pleased to meet you."
"I've never met any dwarf ladies before," Tilda announced. "You're very pretty."
"Thank you." Alison grinned at her, charmed by the young girl. "So are you."
"But we're only half-dwarf ladies," Lily explained. "Half of us is human, just like you."
By this point, half of the dwarves and Bilbo had made their way upstairs, dripping water all over the floor. Bard called out instructions to his children to get clean clothes and towels. They scurried off to do his bidding as the other dwarves piled into the house.
Fili came up to Alison, smiling and dripping water everywhere, yet still somehow managing to look sexy as hell even when totally soaked. "I see you made it all right, lass."
"Yes, we didn't have any problems. We had a much easier time of it than you, I'm sorry to say," she told him apologetically.
He shrugged. "It's all right, Ali. I wouldn't have wanted you to have to freeze alongside me." He reached out as if to hug her, but she held up her hands to ward him off.
"Ah, maybe clean up a bit first before you do that. You still smell very fishy." She wrinkled her nose at him, though she smiled to take the sting out of it.
Fili lifted up one arm to sniff at it, then nodded. "I suppose you're right. I'll wash up first, then. Thank you," he added, taking some clothing from the pile Tilda was handing out. The child beamed at him, then turned to Alison, who took a tunic and breeches off the pile as well.
It took a couple of hours, but they were soon all as cleaned up as they could be in the small house, with fresh clothing on, while Alison and Lily helped Sigrid and Tilda wash their previous clothes and make a stew.
Alison and Lily had already allowed Bard and the dwarves to have their argument over the weapons (as well as the discussion about the windlance), having agreed that the dwarves needed to be caught trying to get better weapons so that they could address the whole town at once about Smaug and the mountain. If they ended up caught some other way, they might be brought before the Master alone, and then he could just make them quietly disappear instead of shipping them off to the mountain hoping the dragon would kill them. So they would wait for dark and allow the dwarves to go to the armoury and try to fetch the weapons, while they spoke to Bard about what needed to be done. In the meantime, they would simply get everyone clean and fed.
"What will we do if Tauriel doesn't come?" Lily murmured as they scrubbed clothes on a washing board. She was watching Kili, who was sitting on the floor by the fire, leaning his head back against the wall, face pale.
"She'll come," Alison said with a confidence she didn't feel. "But if not . . . I'll try to use the athelas on my own, I suppose. I don't know if it'll do any good. Also, I've been thinking . . ."
"What?" Lily glanced at her.
"I think . . . you should go to the mountain with the others, and I'll stay here with Fili and Kili." Alison blurted all this out very quickly, keeping her eyes on the tunic she was scrubbing.
"What?! No!" Lily hissed. "You want us to split up?!"
"No, I don't want us to," Alison retorted. "But I think we have to. I can't leave Fili here alone to try to deal with Kili and his wound, especially if Tauriel doesn't come. And the dwarves will need help at the mountain. So the seer should go to the mountain, and the healer should stay with the wounded."
Lily frowned. "I mean, I guess that makes sense, but I don't like it."
"I don't either," Alison agreed, "but I think it's the best way to do things. We'll be back together after Smaug is dead, and we won't have to separate again. It'll just be the battle to deal with." If it only it were as simple as "just" the battle.
"Right, just the battle," Lily snorted, echoing her thoughts. "Do you have any thoughts on that yet?"
"Not really, no," Alison admitted heavily. "I'll try to do as much thinking as I can here in Lake-town. I think we have a few days before we'll have to split up, anyway, so we can try to strategize a bit before then. And then think more while we're apart, and hope we've figured out something by the time Smaug is gone."
"Yeah, hopefully. I'll think as much as I can too." Lily tossed the breeches she'd been working on onto the finished pile. "There, I think that's the last of them."
"Mine too." Alison tossed her tunic onto the pile as well as Sigrid called that the stew was done.
After they'd eaten the stew, everyone sat around relaxing for a bit while the dwarves waited for dark to go to the armoury. Bard had left to "run errands" which Alison knew really meant he was going to look up Thorin's name on the tapestry, but he wouldn't be back until the dwarves had left, so they could talk to him in private. In the meantime, Alison was content to relax for the moment.
She was sitting in between Fili's legs on the floor, while he brushed out her hair in preparation to put the courting braid in. The other dwarves were talking amongst themselves around the room, and Lily was braiding Tilda's hair while Bilbo helped Sigrid clean up from the stew. Alison leaned back a little more, humming in pleasure as Fili brushed her hair.
"Ali," Fili murmured by her ear, "you've got to stop that."
She tilted her head a little to look at him. "Stop what?"
"Making noises like that. It's very . . . distracting," he muttered lowly, a light flush spreading across his face.
"Oh, is it?" She gave him a sly grin, watching as he swallowed convulsively, his eyes roaming over her. "Maybe you shouldn't make this so enjoyable, then, because I just can't help myself."
He laughed softly, his blue eyes heated as he watched her. "So it's all my fault then?"
"Absolutely." She licked her lips, noting the way his eyes followed the movement. "You were torturing me just a little bit, so I returned the favour."
"Fair enough." As if he couldn't help himself, he leaned in and kissed her, hard and quick, pulling back just as fast before she could really enjoy the feel of his lips on hers. "I'm done brushing anyway. It's time for the braid."
She sighed, hearing the unspoken message that they had to stop playing for now. "All right, how is the braid done?"
"It's a single, slender braid on the right side of your face," he told her, running his callused fingers down that cheek. "If we were to complete our courtship and agree to wed, I would put a single braid on the left side. If we were to marry, you would have a braid on both sides." He turned her a little more, so her right side was more angled toward him, and deftly began to braid from the top of her head at the right side.
She let him braid, watching his face out of the corner of her eye, and thinking about his statement. She'd not really given any more thought yet to how she felt about him. Probably, she admitted privately, because she hadn't really wanted to yet. Agreeing to the courtship was a frightening enough step as it was. But she had decided not to be a coward, she reminded herself, which meant she had to start thinking about it. That was something else she would have to focus her thoughts on for the next few days in Lake-town.
"Then, I finish the end with my bead," he told her, holding up a small, battered silver bead. What appeared to be a very tiny hammer and anvil were etched on it, with a crown above, which must be the Line of Durin's crest, she guessed. He added the bead to the end of the braid with a small frown. "Normally, a courting bead, especially from our family, would be a bit more . . . elaborate," he explained. "But this is all I have to give you right now."
"Fili, this is fine. This is beautiful," she reassured him, studying the end of the snug braid.
He smiled, his eyes warm. "I'm glad you think so, amrâlimê. Now, you give me the same braid."
She slipped over to his right side, sitting up on her knees, then froze. "I don't have a bead," she said. "Like, any bead at all. Would . . . would this do?" She touched the green hair ribbon looped around her wrist that she'd gotten from the elves. "For now, at least?"
"Of course it will, Ali." He smiled gently at her. "I'm simply honoured to have your braid, no matter what it is secured with."
She smiled, her face flushing a little at his words. Bloody smooth he was, as always, she thought. "Thank you. That was very smooth," she added teasingly, and he laughed, obviously remembering their previous conversation about the definition of the word.
She brushed out only a small section of his hair on the right side of his face, for with his wild, thick hair, it would take her far too long to do the rest of it. She then braided a slender, but still noticeable braid along the right side of his face, making it as snug as she could. She'd had a decent amount of practice on her own hair, so she was fairly satisfied with the end result, tying it with her green ribbon in a bow. "Done," she said, patting his shoulder.
Not a moment too soon, apparently, for Thorin came up to them right then. He took in the braids without a word, merely said, "Fili, we must go now."
"Yes, Uncle." Fili got to his feet quickly, glancing back at Alison. "You and Lily will wait here?"
She nodded. "We'll wait for Bard and keep him from going after you." Which, as before, was true enough, but not the whole truth. "Kili should probably also stay behind, though." She didn't believe for a moment that he actually would, but she knew he really should, so she gave the advice anyway.
"What? No!" Kili exclaimed, getting quickly to his feet. He winced visibly, but managed not to groan aloud as he stood up. "I'm fine! I can go!"
Thorin glanced back and forth between her and Kili. "You are certain you will be fine, Kili?"
"Yes," he said firmly, walking quickly over to them, managing to only have a barely noticeable limp in spite of the pain spasming across his face. Alison sighed. Stubborn-ass dwarves.
"Well, I can't stop you from going if you insist. I'm just telling you, it's a bad idea. You should be resting that leg as much as possible," she warned him.
"Kee, are you sure?" Fili asked as well, frowning as he watched his brother.
"I'm positive, Fee, and I'll be careful," he insisted, ignoring Alison's eye roll and Lily's snort. "Let's go, Uncle."
Thorin simply nodded, heading to the door, Kili and the others following. Fili looked back for one last wave before they disappeared out the door. Alison exchanged a glance with Lily; now they just had to wait for a pissed-off Bard to get back and try to convince him of his upcoming destiny.