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All of us were tired. Bilbo fell down on the shore, breathing heavily. The dwarves were slowly getting out of their barrels. Thorin somehow managed to get out of the barrel without letting me go. He walked to Kili, dragging me with him. "How are you? Can you walk?" he asked. Kili nodded but it was clear that he was hurt. Thorin sighed.
An old dwarf walked to us and asked Thorin "Why did you take her with us, Thorin?" He replied "She would have called the others, I couldn't risk our escape." I tried to get free but it was as if I was clued to Thorin. "Please let me go! You are free now," I said to him. Thorin watched me in the eyes. I noticed he had grey eyes, I felt captivated by them. He then said "No." I yelled "Why? Let me go!" The old dwarf then said "Let her go, laddie. She will be no use to us." Thorin then hissed "She will. Thranduil will try to find us and took the treasure from Erebor. Now he can't because we have something he cherishes." Some of the dwarves nodded. I was a little offended but I didn't know why. Ofcourse he had a reason to take me and I should have known. Why was I offended?
Thorin told everyone to get up "We have to go get over the lake by nightfall!" A blonde-haired dwarf next to Kili then asked "How are we going to do that? There is a lake. We can't swim over it." Thorin sighed and said "I know, Fili." Fili and Kili seemed to be brothers and close to Thorin. While with other dwarves he used a strong voice, then with Fili and Kili he was gentle.
The dwarves tried to find a way to get over the lake but nothing came up to their mind. Suddenly we hear a voice "Who are you?" I noticed a man, he had a bow pointed at us. Thorin quickly pulled me behind him, as if he was protecting me. I tried to struggle, to get free but Thorin whispered "Be still or you'll be dead." I couldn't tell if he was talking about the man killing me or himself? I felt terrified.
The old dwarf then said "Please. We mean no harm. We are just lowly merchantisers and doll-makers, who are trying to go visit their own kin in the north." The man's eyes moved towards me and he asked "And who is she?" Thorin then said "She is with me." The man didn't seem to believe him and said "Why is she wearing a dress? That is not for travelling." The dwarves around me and Thorin started to whisper. There wasn't a decent answer for that. I still don't know why, but I wanted to protect the dwarves and I said "We were at a party and an orc-pack attacked us. We had to get away quickly." I noticed the dwarves looking at me, they were all surprised. I noticed how Kili said in a whisper "Thank you." I slightly nodded.
I noticed the man trying to leave but before he could get on his boat, the old dwarf said "Please help us. We need a way across the lake and weapons." The man briefly thinked and then asked "Money? Do you have money?" All the dwarves looked at Thorin and he nodded. They searched out their money and gave it to the man. Then all of us jumped to the boat. "You have to do everything I say," the man said. The dwarves nodded while Thorin only gave him an angry glimpse. It felt as if he didn't like to depend on someone.
A dwarf with a funny hat asked the man what his name was. "Bard." "Oh, my name is Bofur," said the dwarf. Thorin looked at him briefly as if it was wrong to say him our names. Then I remembered how the old dwarf said, that they are only trying to visit their kin in the north. What was so wrong about telling him their real cause? Bard seemed to be someone who could be trusted.
The lake-town grew closer and Bard asked us to hide in the barrels, he had on the boat. A dwarf with a weird-looking beard then whined "Again with the barrels, when will this end." Bard looked curious and Bofur said to him "Bad expierience in childhood. Nothing to worry about." Thorin asked him why we had to hide in the barrels but Bard only said to trust him.
Thorin wanted me to climb into one barrel with him. I tried to argue but it only took one angry look and I was in the barrel. Thorin seemed to be that sort of a king who you just couldn't fight back. He was respected, he had a majestic look and he acted like it. Thorin quickly jumped behind me. I couldn't help but wonder, how we fit to the barrel. Thorin was large and muscular and even though I was tiny, it still seemed to be like a wonder to me. Bard told us to hide in the barrels and all of us quickly crouched. I was almost in Thorin's lap. Again we were in this position, his chest pressing against my back, his breath against my skin, his beard tickeling me. I felt so small next to him.
We noticed Bard talking to someone and I heard a dwarf's whisper "He is going to give us up." Thorin seemed to tighen against me and he whispered to others "Be ready to fight." Our surprise was big, when we were all covered by fish. I hated the smell of fish and almost yelled out in a low voice when Thorin whispered to my ear "Be quiet, we have to get into the town." I tried to keep calm but all I could think about was throwing up.
It took us about an hour to get to our destination, Bard's home. I was more than grossed out when I finally got out of the barrel. The old dwarf noticed my condition and told me to breath calmly. "It will pass, laddie. Don't worry." I heard the dwarves talking to Bard and Thorin walked back to me. I would have been surprised that he finally let me go but I still felt bad. I guess that's why he dared to leave me alone for a second. I couldn't have ran away if I wanted to. He sighed and said to me "It is going to get a little worse, I am afraid." I stood up, trying to hold back my vomit and asked "What do you mean?" Thorin then said "Well, the way to Bard's house is guarded and we'll have to go in another way." It was as if he didn't want to go on. "Alright, let's go," I said. I started to walk when Thorin stopped me and said "We have to get in through the toilet." I started laughing but when I noticed how serious Thorin was, I asked "Wait, you are serious?" He nodded. Going through the toilet, that seems fun. I started to think about all the smells. It couldn't be that bad since it was entering through the water and the smell wouldn't be so bad. Still there would be smell. I was more than grossed out and then it happened. I threw up and Thorin happened to be in the way. He was covered with my vomit. I tried to stutter out my apology but nothing worked. Thorin looked at me as if I had killed somebody close to him. I noticed that most of the dwarves were already in and Bard came to look for us. He started laughing when he noticed Thorin but stopped immediately when Thorin looked at him. "You have to get inside," he said in a low voice. I noticed him trying to hold back his laughter. Thorin whispered to my ear "You first." I didn't even argue.
I almost threw up again when I finally reached the house but seeing Thorin's face made me forget, how bad I was feeling. He really seemed like he was close to killing someone soon. I noticed a young girl watching at us. "My name is Elisa," she said. I nodded and said "Rafina." Elisa smiled and guided me to the washing room. She helped me wash my hair, although I said I didn't need any help. "I love your hair, it's so long," she said. I smiled. Most of the elves had long hair and since I lived with them, I tried to be like them.
Elisa left the room only to be back with some clothes. "They are a little-bit small for me. Maybe they will fit you." I thanked him and she left the room. Elisa was only 16-years old and till taller than I was. The race of man was taller but Bard genes made his children even taller. His clothes fit me well, although it was a little tight around my chest area. I really hoped none of the dwarves would notice. I didn't like to wear clothes that showed off my curves but Elisa's clothes did.
I walked outside the room only to meet Thorin's face. He told me to wait for him and went to wash himself. I only waited outside the room for a few minutes when he was already out. He was even more handsome, when he was clean. I did try to keep my thoughts to myself but my eyes still wandered to him. He then put a hand around my waist and guided me to other dwarves. They had all sat down in the small room, most of them tried to be close to the fire. I must admit, it really was cold but I couldn't think about it while being close to Thorin. We had sat down too, Thorin pulling me close to him. For someone who would see the first time, we would look like a couple but I knew it was nothing like that. I knew he only wanted to use me to piss off Thranduil, nothing more.
