Chapter 29! Thanks to Xoxo and blasttyrant for your reviews on the last one, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts. I hope you enjoy this one!
"Don't mind Thorin, lass," Balin was saying quietly. They were gathered in one of the old rooms, where the company had set up their bedrolls and provisions after their retaking of the mountain. While Thorin had ordered most of them to get back to searching the treasure and Bofur had gone off to spend some time with his brother and cousin, Balin and Bilbo had stayed with the rest of the newly arrived members of the company. "We're all very happy for you two. A little surprised, perhaps. But very happy, indeed."
"Thank you, Balin," Fili muttered, while Arinna just gave the old dwarf a small nod. They were standing together, Fili's hand firmly enveloping her own. He had not left her side since after their arrival, almost as if he was afraid that she would begin to believe his uncle's words if he gave her the chance to consider them. So, he kept himself close to her, trying to reassure her that there was no truth to what Thorin had said.
"I don't understand how he could have said such horrible things. He likes Arinna, I know he does," Fili continued with a shake of his head, frowning as he looked over at the druid, who said nothing in return, merely giving him a small look.
"He's… not himself at the moment," Balin sighed in return, exchanging a meaningful look with Bilbo, who stood beside him. Fili, Kili and Arinna all watched the exchange with matching frowns on their foreheads.
"What do you mean by that?" Fili asked with concern, looking at the old dwarf with a questioning gaze.
"He has been spending all his time in the treasure hall," Bilbo answered in Balin's stead, letting out a deep sigh of his own. "He has had every one of us searching for the Arkenstone day and night. It… it has not been found yet. He's obsessed with it."
Kili shook his head slightly. "So? The stone is the symbol of this mountain, of our people, what does that have to do with his outburst earlier? I know he has a temper but that was –"
"It has nothing to do with his temper, lad," Balin answered, shaking his head with a tired and sad expression as he returned the young dwarf's confused gaze. His next words settled heavily between them. "It is dragon-sickness. I've seen it before, that look, that terrible need. It is a fierce and jealous love for this treasure, for the Arkenstone. It drove his grandfather mad and Thorin… I fear Thorin is headed down the same path. He lashes out, is suspicious of all of us. Arinna was merely a catalyst for his wrath. Even though he used to value her greatly as a member of his company – and we all know that he did, lass – he now sees her as an outsider, someone who would undermine his kingship by courting his heir."
There was a heavy silence in the room as Balin trailed off, and they exchanged a few concerned looks as they took in the meaning of his words.
"Well, what can we do?" Fili finally said, unwilling to accept Balin's words. Thorin wouldn't just suddenly go mad, he thought defiantly. He was the strongest dwarf he knew, surely there was something that could be done to help him. He shot a glance toward the druid beside him, who was looking thoughtful. "Perhaps Arinna could heal him? She's the best healer I've ever seen, surely –"
"I don't know anything about dragon-sickness, Fili," Arinna interrupted him softly, uttering her first words since her earlier confrontation with Thorin. She slightly shook her head as Fili fell silent. "Besides, you saw him. I doubt he would accept any help from me. In fact, if it truly is as bad as Balin suggests, then I doubt that anyone of us can do much to help him. You cannot simply cure such a thing with magic; it is ultimately up to Thorin to defeat it."
Fili took a deep breath, as he returned her gaze, bringing up their entwined hands to his chest. "But you healed me when I had lost my memory," he said, beginning to feel rather helpless. "You healed Kili when he was close to death."
"It is not the same thing to lift a spell or heal someone from poison," the druid sighed, letting her thumb brush across the skin of his hand, trying to make him understand. "The root of this isn't magic and there is no herb to counteract it. A sickness of the mind is beyond my skills, Fili. I'm sorry."
The blond dwarf stared at her for a long moment until she inclined her head, no longer able to stand the disappointed look he gave her. Fili, suddenly realising the amount of pressure he was putting on her, quickly pressed a small kiss to her knuckles, giving her an apologetic look as she glanced back up at him in slight surprise.
"Still, there must be something we can do," Kili uttered, looking from his brother and the druid to Balin and the hobbit.
"Balin," Bilbo suddenly spoke, his voice hesitant as he addressed the old dwarf. All eyes turned to him as he uttered his words quietly. "If Thorin had the Arkenstone… if it was found, do you think it would help?"
As Balin remained silent for a few long moments, his gaze turned away and staring at the stone wall opposite him, Arinna took the time to study the hobbit closely. Somehow, she felt as though there was something off about the way Bilbo had asked his question, though she could not quite put her finger on it. It reminded her of the time after they had lost him in the goblin tunnels – many months ago now – when he had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and had not truly been able to explain himself, while he had let something shiny slip into his pocket, or so the druid seemed to recall.
"That stone crowns all," Balin finally muttered, his voice weary as he looked back at Bilbo. "As Kili said, it is the summit of this great wealth, bestowing power upon he who bears it. Would it stay his madness? No, laddie. I fear it would make him worse."
Bilbo was about to say something else in return when the door to the room suddenly opened with a loud bang and they quickly fell silent, turning around to see none other than Thorin marching into the room, followed by the rest of the company. The dwarf-king halted as he saw them all sat in a group, clearly noticing that they had fallen silent upon his arrival. His eyes narrowed slightly.
"What is this?" he asked gruffly, his gaze darkening even further as his eyes fell on Fili's and Arinna's entwined hands. "I thought I had made myself clear."
"Uncle, please –" Fili started, not wanting to start another fight with Thorin but at the same time unwilling to let go of Arinna's hand. He would not let himself be forbidden from being with her, not even if it meant another argument. Not even if it meant a thousand more of them.
"I expect you to follow your duties," Thorin growled, interrupting his nephew harshly, before his gaze drifted over the rest of them. "I gave orders to continue the search for the Arkenstone, instead I find you here. How dare you disobey my direct order and hide here in your little hole, scheming in secret?"
Arinna could only shake her head at his words. "We are not scheming, Thorin, we –"
"THAT IS ENOUGH OUT OF YOU!"
The druid flinched back at Thorin's sudden shouting, unable to conceal the hurt look on her face. The dwarf-king stared at her for a moment, blinking rapidly, before he turned his gaze away.
An uncomfortable silence settled throughout the room as the dwarves slowly began to settle down for the night, Thorin sitting at the far edge of the room, brooding by himself. It seemed as though no one was particularly keen on keeping him company, and instead they began conversing quietly among themselves, careful not to disturb the dwarf-king. They talked for a while about how Bilbo had snuck into the mountain, how the dragon had awoken and how they had had to go in and rescue the hobbit, which inevitably led to the other part of the group telling them what had happened after the dragon had escaped the mountain.
"Esgaroth lies at the bottom of the lake," Bofur was concluding the story quietly, his voice sombre as he looked at his companions, who were following his words with doleful expressions. "Hundreds of people have lost their homes. They will be streaming into Dale soon, no doubt, on their way here."
"What do you mean by 'on their way here'?"
Thorin's voice rang out heavily over the group, silencing Bofur immediately. He looked up at the dark-haired dwarf, who had risen from his seat to take a few steps closer with every word Bofur had spoken. The hatted dwarf gave a small shrug.
"Well, they will be coming to the mountain, won't they?" he uttered, faltering slightly beneath Thorin's dark glare. "To ask for their share of the treasure in order to –"
"Their share?"
Bofur's mouth snapped shut at the dangerous hiss that had accompanied Thorin's words. He looked around rather helplessly. It was Fili who came to his aid, speaking up calmly but seriously as he looked up at his uncle.
"They will need to rebuild their homes," the blond dwarf said with a small frown, earning himself a hard stare. "We promised them – you promised them that all will share in the wealth of the mountain!"
"This mountain was hard-won," Thorin growled in return. "I will not see it taken again."
"They do not want to take the mountain, uncle," Kili chimed in, disbelief written all over his face. "The people of Laketown have nothing! They are coming to us in need, they have lost everything."
Thorin gave his younger nephew a small huff. "Do not tell me what they have lost. I know well enough their hardship. Those who have lived through dragon fire should rejoice! They have much to be grateful for."
"And those who have not lived?" Arinna asked quietly, her iron voice cutting through the heavy silence that had followed Thorin's words. The dwarf-king shot her a withering look as she returned his gaze angrily. "What do they have to be grateful for?"
"I will not part," Thorin hissed lowly, glaring at her. "Not even with a single coin."
"Then you are not the dwarf I thought you were," the druid answered sadly and got up without another word, brushing past Thorin as she left the room, not bothering to look back, while the dwarf-king stared after her angrily.
Fili only hesitated for a second, before he got to his feet as well, though Thorin put a heavy hand on his shoulder as he tried to march past him. "Do not follow her."
The blond dwarf halted in his steps, sending his uncle an enraged look as he shook off his hand. "I would follow her to the end of the world," he growled. "But that is not the point. She is right, Thorin. How can you go back on your word like that, when these people have lost everything? This is not like you. You do not care one bit about them, do you? Nor do you seem to care that it was not only them that were caught in the firestorm that you sent down from the mountain. Would it have mattered to you at all if Kili and I had not made it here alive? Would you have noticed, or would you have just kept digging through this damned treasure day and night?"
"Fili, of course, I would have –" Thorin started, his voice suddenly less gruff as he stared at his nephew. But Fili only sent him a glare of his own in return, before he turned away and stormed off, following after Arinna.
The door slammed shut behind him with a loud bang.
Arinna's path led her down windy, dark hallways, which she followed without knowing or caring where they would lead her. Her footsteps echoed off the cold stone as she kept walking until she finally came to a large doorway, from which golden, shimmering light fell out onto the dark stone floor outside. Arinna walked through it slowly, her eyes widening at what she saw. An enormous hall was on the other side, large pillars reaching up high toward the ceiling. Arinna could not see how far back this hall reached, she could not see the other end from where she stood. What she could see were mountains upon mountains of treasure, some of them reaching almost all the way up to the ceiling.
Her breath faltered in her throat as she beheld the vast wealth of Erebor. She had never seen such a thing, had never even been able to imagine that such amounts of treasure could exist in one place. She felt wonder and amazement, before the thought came back to her that this was enough wealth for several kingdoms, and she felt anger and disappointment bubble hot in her stomach. Her stomach almost turned in disgust as her gaze wandered over the gold.
She took a few steps further into the treasury then, looking around, not knowing what she was actually meaning to do in here. The druid picked up a gold cup from one of the piles near her, intricately ornated with sparkling gems of different colours. No doubt this cup alone would be worth enough to build a small house for a family. She let out a small growl, before she hurled it away from her with all her might, the cup flying high and landing in another pile of gold further away with a loud clank.
"What are you doing?"
Arinna whirled around, though she calmed quickly when she saw that it was Fili standing in the doorway, watching her calmly. She let out a deep sigh, shaking her head.
"I don't know," she admitted. "I did not mean to come here. I just couldn't stand to be in the same room as Thorin any longer."
Fili inclined his head. "Aye, I understand that. The way he talks to you –"
"It is not just that, Fili," Arinna said, interrupting the dwarf as he took a few steps toward her. "I can handle his hostility. But I cannot stand by and watch him go back on his word to the people of Lake Town. I have seen what they have lost, I have felt their suffering. I told Bard's children that they should come to the mountain when they were ready! That we would help them any way we could. You said yourself that all we can do is to try and make amends by helping them rebuild their lives. And what will they find when they arrive? A dwarven king who hides behind his walls, counting his coin, while they are freezing and starving. We owe them, Fili."
Fili wrapped his arms around her as he reached her, pulling her against his chest. She trailed off, her voice breaking slightly with her last words. He gently put his forehead against hers. "I know," he muttered with a sigh. "But I don't know what we can do. Perhaps… perhaps he will come around, see reason. If we only talk to him."
Arinna shook her head, though said nothing in return. They remained like that for a little while, the blond dwarf's hands softly running up and down her back, until he spoke again quietly.
"I'm certain that he will change his mind," he uttered and the druid wasn't sure whether he was more trying to convince her or himself. Arinna let out a small sigh, pulling back from Fili's touch as she looked from him to the vast piles of treasure that surrounded them.
"There is more treasure here than two kingdoms could spend in a lifetime," she muttered quietly, her gaze wandering over the gold and silver, the sparkling gems, before she looked back at Fili. The dwarf was looking at it, as well, his eyes thoughtful and troubled. "It is more than Thorin could ever need or use. He must know that himself. And yet, he said he would not part with even a single coin."
"It's just the –"
"The sickness talking?" Arinna interrupted softly, finishing Fili's sentence as she gave her beloved a sad look. "Perhaps. But the people of Laketown will come for help soon, a few more days at most and they will be here. Do you really think Thorin will see reason by then?"
Fili dropped his hands, letting out a low breath as he walked a few steps away from her, trying to clear his mind, gather his thoughts. "Well, I refuse to give up on him as easily as you seem to," he answered without looking at her, his voice carrying a certain irritation as he spoke louder than necessary. "He is my uncle and my king. What do you expect me to do?"
The druid remained silent for a few moments as Fili's raised voice echoed through the hall. The irritation in his eyes dissipated slightly as he looked back at her, letting out another deep sigh. "I'm sorry," he said, calmer now as he shook his head. "I don't mean to shout at you, Arinna."
"I know," the druid answered kindly, closing the distance between them once more as she reached out one hand and put it gently on his chest. She inclined her head, thinking for a moment, before she looked back up at him. "I don't expect you to do anything, Fili. How could I, when I don't know what to do myself? But I… I just need you to know how I feel. If my fears should come true… I don't think I could stand for such injustice."
Fili said nothing in return, instead only grabbing her hand from his chest and pressing a short kiss to the back of it. They stood silently, the dwarf's thumb brushing softly over the back of her hand, neither of them knowing what to say.
