OMG. This wee story has been viewed over 100, 000 times. Thank you so much for all my reviews, followers and favouriters, I love you all :D Now that, is just incredible! Thanks so much to all of you, I hope this next chapter has been worth the slight wait! Unfortunately for our lovely Bagginses, the story takes a turn for the worse here so I hope you enjoy it!
Forgive any mistakes as ever.
Chapter Thirty Two # The Downwards Spiral #
"Oh, if only Lobelia Sackville-Baggins could see me now!" Bilbo laughed brightly, throwing the dice again and cheering as the two ivory cubes fell into the exact right score.
Bofur cursed, sliding a couple of coins Bilbo's way and snatching the pair of dice up for himself. "That's the 'dreadful woman', isn't it?"
"It is indeed." Bilbo confirmed, cursing himself as Bofur rolled a higher score. "She would be utterly appalled."
"That you're gambling?" Nori's light frown of conversation did not damper his cheerful tone as he swiped up the dice and effectively eradicated Bofur's last move.
"Oh, I am doing far much more than gambling!" Bilbo scoffed, thinking of his cousin's stifling prejudices. "I am fraternizing with dwarves on the other side of the world and acting far from respectably."
Nori and Bofur snorted and the game continued, with Bilbo steadily winning more and more money off of the pair of them, even when Nori began cheating. The rest of the company were scattered around the hall, drawn together by the smell of the stew Bombur was concocting with Bifur, with the exception of Thorin, Dwalin, Fíli and Kíli.
Heavy footsteps alerted them to the boys' presence long before they could see them, and Bilbo looked up with a slight frown as Kíli and Fíli crashed through the door breathlessly.
"Thorin…" Kíli gasped, his eyes gleaming with excitement and anticipation. "Where is Thorin?"
"He went with Dwalin to see how much of the throne room is intact." Bofur informed the princes. "Why?"
Fíli sagged a little, though his eyes danced. "We found something, we found something very big!"
"What did you find?" Bilbo narrowed his eyes at the lads, but at that moment Thorin and Dwalin returned from the other entrance and Fíli and Kíli raced each other to Thorin's side, all but running over each other in their childish desperation to reach their uncle.
"Thorin, Thorin!"
"What in Durin's name-"
"Thorin, we found something!"
Bilbo watched in confusion as Kíli and Fíli passed an item wrapped in a bit of soft cloth to Thorin, but then he saw the look on the King's face and he knew.
That was the Arkenstone, it had to be.
Thorin's face was shining with joy, wonder and adoration as he stared at the jewel in his hands, and as Bilbo watched the king grabbed his two nephews, pulling them close into a tight hug and whispering what he guessed to be words of thanks in their ears, before releasing them to stare at the Arkenstone with awe.
"Bofur?" Bilbo asked quietly, unwilling to disturb the peaceful atmosphere. "What is so important about the Arkenstone?"
Bofur shuffled almost uncomfortably. "It's one of a kind, Bilbo, to say the least. I don't rightly know how to explain it, but I can tell you that Thorin values it more than a river of gold."
"One little stone?" Bilbo found that very hard to believe, until he caught a glimpse of the shimmering jewel itself.
Its beauty astounded him and he was instantly enamoured by the gorgeous stone, though he knew that when it call came down to the end, it was still just a cold, hard lump of rock.
What good would a rock do if you were starving? The hobbit reasoned. Very little, that's what.
Just like a ring...?
A dark little voice crooned in the back of his mind, and Bilbo gave a light shudder.
As ever, the toymaker seemed to find the hobbit's confusion both amusing and puzzling. "Aye, just one little stone."
"Fair enough." Bilbo shrugged. He cared little what Thorin did with his jewels – that was Thorin's business.
As the days began to pass, though, Bilbo wondered if he should consider it their business. On the first day they sent a raven to Dale with the news that the dragon had been destroyed and the dwarves of Erebor would appreciate supplies to help see them through the winter, for a payment, of course.
The dwarves were optimistically expecting the men to arrive within the week, but their food supply was a little on the thin side, something that depressed the hobbit greatly. They had begun work clearing away the rubble from the main gates, but Thorin spent much time 'surveying' the rest of the mountain. On one occasion, when he was terribly lost on the way back from the only working bathroom, Bilbo saw Thorin standing in the room he had first confronted Smaug in, staring up at the mountain of gold with a smile on his face without moving a muscle.
Slightly unnerved that the length of time for which the king stood stock still, Bilbo had returned to his companions and joined in with the heavy labour without complaining, though Nori – who was in the middle of mocking the ever patronising Dori - was quick to shove a broom into the hobbit's hand, directing him to the easier but no less tiresome task of sweeping the finer rubble.
By the fourth day, Thorin missed dinner with the company and did not return until most were asleep. It broke Bilbo's heart to see the carefully masked disappointment in Kíli's when his uncle did not return for his daily Khuzdul lesson, and his worry grew when Thorin missed breakfast the next day and offered only a small smile to his nephews at lunch.
That evening was marked with the arrival of Gandalf, an event that did seem to spur Thorin into action a little.
"Hmm…you do have quite an impressive problem, Thorin Oakenshield." Gandalf nodded his head, surveying the enormous dragon corpse in the forges. It was starting to smell a little by now, and Bilbo was sure that he was not the only one who wished that the wizard would conjure a spell to make it disappear into nowhere.
"Can you do anything about it?" Thorin ground out irritably.
"Indeed, I think I can, but it would be wise for you companions and yourself to vacate the general area for a day or two." Gandalf mused, dismissing the company with a wave of his hand.
When the wizard re-joined the company waiting in the largest treasure room, the sickly smell of smoke clung to his clothes and Bilbo coughed slightly.
"What on earth is that horrible smell?" he wrinkled his nose up and Gandalf raised his eyebrows.
"That, my dear hobbit, is the stench of a burning dragon. Rather pungent, isn't it?"
"How on earth can you burn a dragon? Surely they have to be fireproof?" Kíli frowned, and Gandalf looked at him smugly, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
"It is true that it is impossible to burn a dragon with normal fire, which is why I had to use a particularly tricky spell to conjure a particularly dangerous flame, and that is why you would do well to stay out of the forges for the next few days, Master Baggins." The wizard looked very pleased with himself as he pulled out his pipe. "The fire will destroy all but the bones and the scales of the dragon."
"We can use the bones and the scales." Balin pointed out. "Dragon bone is a valuable and expensive resource."
Bilbo's mood soured slightly at the dark glint that passed through the eyes of several dwarves at the mention of the word 'expensive', but his spirits quickly rose again when Gandalf revealed that he had arrived on a horse and so had been able to bring them a whole pack of food, meaning that Bilbo's stomach felt almost full when he laid down to sleep that night. Perhaps the reason why the hobbit dreamt so vividly…
Another scream tore through Bag End, loud and piercing and pained and Bilbo woke with a jolt of terror, flames flashing before his eyes as Kíli's terror filled shriek filled the air.
"Kíli…" he breathed, racing out of his room without even grabbing his dressing gown and tearing down the hall into Kíli's room. "Kíli!"
The dwarfling's room was pitch black – the way Kíli liked it – and the first thing that the hobbit did was to rip open the curtains and allow the light of the full moon to fall on the face of the thrashing child. Kíli's injuries were heightened in the darkness and for a moment Bilbo flashed back to the terrifying moment of the previous evening when his precious little Kíli had saved Rosa Goodchild's life by jumping out of an enormous tree. The hobbit shook his head, dispelling the images of the screaming little boy falling through the air, and lurched forward, grabbing Kíli's less bruised shoulder and running a hand through the dwarfling's tangled hair.
"Kíli, Kíli wake up, shh, shh." Bilbo soothed, repeating the words far more calmly than he felt until Kíli's eyes flew open and the dwarfling's hand reached up to grab Bilbo's arm.
"Bilbo!" the boy whimpered, the fear remaining strong in his big brown eyes. "Bilbo!"
"I'm here, it's alright…" the hobbit smiled shakily and Kíli threw himself into the hobbit's arms, sobbing desperately.
"Bilbo, don't leave me, please don't leave me!"
"Leave you?" Bilbo blinked, taken aback by the boy's desperate plea. "Why on earth would I leave you, Kíli?"
"The tree was burning and it was so high and you weren't there!" Kíli wailed, his sobs growing louder.
"I was there," Bilbo whispered brokenly, shifting the dwarfling onto his lap and holding him close, stroking Kíli's hair comfortingly. "Oh Kíli, I was there… I didn't leave, not for a moment! I couldn't scream, I couldn't move, I was so scared. I'll never leave you, Kíli. Never."
Kíli just whimpered, snuggling closer to Bilbo's chest and taking deep, shaky breaths until his sobs subsided.
"That's it. It will be alright, Kíli. It's alright." Bilbo soothed, rocking the dwarfling back and forth for a minute.
"…don't even remember what I dreamed of…" Kíli sniffed bitterly, clinging to Bilbo's sleeve.
Bilbo swallowed, resting his chin on Kíli's head before replying. "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere, Kíli. I am right here, for as long as you need me, I promise."
"Me too," Kíli looked up seriously, tears in his sombre brown eyes. "I promise I'll never leave you either, Bilbo. I love you."
"I love you too." Bilbo murmured with a small smile.
"Will you stay in here tonight?" Kíli asked with about as much volume as a mouse.
"Of course." Bilbo shuffled around a little, "Budge up, then."
Kíli quickly scampered out of Bilbo's lap to allow the hobbit to slide under the covers, before snuggling back up with his only family. Bilbo wrapped his arms around Kíli and pressed a kiss to his tousled hair, making sure that his little dwarfling was feeling as safe as possible as he drifted off to sleep.
When Bilbo woke the next morning the memory was still fresh in his mind, and it comforted him greatly to feel the pins and needles attacking his arm, informing him that Kíli had used his arm as a pillow again.
He poked his son's arm good-naturedly. "Kíli… Kíli, get off me, you big lump!"
Kíli moaned and eased his eyes open, slowly propping himself up on his elbows. "What day is it?"
"I beg your pardon?" Bilbo frowned, utterly confused by the uncharacteristic question.
"What day is it?" Kíli repeated more firmly, rubbing sleep from his eyes and yawning.
"I have absolutely no idea." Bilbo admitted. "Ask Gandalf."
Kíli sighed sadly, inspecting the nails on his right hand. "I think we've missed Merry's birthday."
"Oh…" Bilbo sat up, looking at Kíli carefully. "You're probably right."
"I've been thinking, Bilbo… I'm not ready to leave Erebor just yet, but I still don't know what I want to do or where I want to go… Can we wait here for a bit longer?" Kíli asked quietly, looking at Bilbo seriously.
The hobbit laughed. "Kíli, we can stay here for as long as you like. You don't have to decide anything now."
Kíli smiled wryly. "Thank you, Bilbo."
Bilbo smiled back. "You're welcome. Now, let's see if we can find some breakfast, I am famished!"
To everyone's great relief, the men of Lake-town arrived the very next day and brought with them several carts full of provisions for the times ahead. Bilbo noticed Kíli conversing happily with a man who the others called Bard, and he wondered how his son knew the man until Bombur called him over to offer his opinion on dinner.
The men that had delivered the provisions were a merry bunch, and they proved very good company in the short time they stayed. They prepared to leave the next morning, and it just so happened that Kíli and Bilbo were talking in the same room Thorin and Balin were counting up the money to give to the men.
"That's not very much." Kíli noted with a tight frown as he peered at the pile of coins, causing Thorin to glare at him.
"It is payment for what they brought us. It is enough."
Kíli did not flinch. "It's not very much. We took their charity when we stayed in their town and we put their people at risk."
"It is not my concern who they give their charity to, Kíli." Thorin retorted, turning back to the gold.
"Their people are starving." Kíli pointed out, his voice growing a little stronger. "There had very little to give yet they gave it to us freely. Politically Lake-town is a far better ally than it is an enemy – surely it makes sense to start out on good terms?"
"If we give them surplus gold now they will come begging at every opportunity. Men are greedy by nature-"
Kíli snorted, interrupting his uncle. "We would be giving them no less than they deserve."
"Silence!" Thorin roared, his patience evidently tested by his nephew's morals. Even as he shrank from the angrier than usual king's foul temper, anger grew in Bilbo's heart at the spasm of fear that passed over Kíli's face. "You are too young to understand such matters. We shall pay them what we shall pay them!"
For a moment, Bilbo was sure that Kíli would swallow and nod, agreeing meekly to his uncle's tirade. That was how the young dwarf usually appeased those he had irritated, especially those that scared him.
But Bilbo's Kíli had grown up, and he held his chin high, responding in a quiet voice.
"So be it. I'll give them some of my own gold then."
"What?" Thorin looked genuinely taken aback. "Why would you do such a thing?"
"Well, it's my gold, is it not?" Kíli argued calmly. "Up to, but not exceeding one fourteenth of total profit. I don't see how it's your business what I do with my gold, and if the men of Lake-town are not going to be paid properly by you, someone has to do it. Besides, they helped us take down Smaug."
"How?" Thorin growled, though his voice was a little less angry.
"Bard gave me the arrows, arrows that were strong enough to pierce the dragon's hide. Without him, Smaug would never have been wounded enough for Ori to deal the final blow."
Thorin was quiet for a moment and Bilbo stared between the uncle and nephew until the king sighed. "Very well. Balin, we shall give them another two bags of gold. Will that suffice?"
Bilbo turned to Kíli, expecting a triumphant, cheeky smile, but instead the young prince gave his uncle a solemn bow.
"Thank you, Thorin."
The king nodded stiffly, waving his hand to dismiss his sister-son, and Kíli quickly obeyed, leaving Bilbo to scamper after him.
"What was that?"
"What was what?" Fíli asked curiously as he came around the corner from the other direction, frowning at the serious look on Kíli's face. "What did I miss?"
"Your brother just told off Thorin. And lived." Bilbo explained simply, and Fíli's frown deepened.
"Kíli?"
"He was underpaying Dale." Kíli said quietly.
Fíli peered around Kíli in Thorin's direction, shaking his head. "They're all acting strangely."
"It's not an excuse-" Kíli began hotly.
"No, it's not." Fíli's calm voice held a darker undertone that the hobbit did not like one bit. "But it's the truth. Have you not noticed the others? Have you not seen the way they look at the gold? They all stare at it as if it's the only thing tethering them to life."
Kíli shuffled uncomfortably. "It's just the novelty of it though, isn't it?"
Bilbo swallowed and looked to Fíli who shrugged, shaking his head hopelessly.
"I have no idea. I've never seen any of them like this before."
"I don't like it." Kíli muttered childishly.
"And I do?" Fíli raised his eyebrows, shaking his head. "If it's the Dragon Sickness…"
"What?" Kíli prompted when his brother trailed off. "What?"
Fíli shook his head again, putting a hand on Kíli's shoulder. "If it's the Dragon Sickness, little brother, we are all in deep trouble."
Kíli looked to Bilbo worriedly, but the hobbit had no answers, so he could do nothing but shrug his shoulders helplessly and offer a weak suggestion. "Is there anything we can do to help them?"
"I have no idea." Fíli repeated, worry dancing in his blue eyes. "The Gold Sickness has plagued our bloodline for generations but it is rarely talked of."
"I'm sure we'll all pull through somehow." Bilbo tried to comfort the concerned brothers, putting a hand on each of their arms. "Come on, let's go and see the men off."
Kíli nodded slowly and looked to Fíli, who smiled weakly, and they all returned to the main gate, where Bard was bowing respectfully to Thorin.
"Thank you, Thorin Oakenshield, King Under the Mountain." The man of the lake was smiling, prompting Bilbo to believe that Thorin had indeed handed Bard the extra money. "The men of the Lake will remain close allies of Erebor, I am sure."
"As am I. I pray your return journey will be safe." Thorin declared regally, and Bard bowed his head one more time before leaving the mountain with his fellows, though not before gifting one last smile to Kíli.
Bilbo noticed Balin looking at Kíli thoughtfully over the next few days, a strange look in the old dwarf's eye but the hobbit never questioned it. It was a rare thing for Kíli to stand up to Thorin when he was angry – indeed it had been almost obvious on several occasions just how afraid the king could make his sister-son – so that was surely the reasoning for Balin's curiosity.
The hobbit had no idea that the youngest dwarf's action had in fact reminded his distant cousin of a conversation with a particular elven Lady that Bilbo himself had spent an interesting afternoon talking to.
"Greetings, Bilbo Baggins…"
Bilbo looked up, a little startled at the sudden appearance of the woman who had spoken, and instantly he was taken aback by the sheer beauty and grace of the white-clad elf. "Good afternoon…"
The elven lady smiled, speaking in Bilbo's mind – something that delighted and terrified him at the same time. "My name is Galadriel, Lady of the Light. Will you walk with me, Master Baggins?"
"Of course, my lady…" Bilbo stammered, following the graceful woman out of the library. Only later did he think of the young dwarf he had abandoned in the library, but the guilt would not stay with him for long – Ori was a perfectly lovely lad who was perfectly capable of taking care of himself.
"You and your son have stirred a great interest among my people. It has been many years since I have seen a dwarf accepted so easily into the company of my kin."
Bilbo smiled almost shyly. "He's a likeable person."
"He is unique." Galadriel corrected with a smile. "It is rare to come across a soul who tries so hard to free his mind of stereotypes, Master Baggins. Your son sees the world very differently to the way most view it. Where a dwarf may see an elf or an elf may see a dwarf, Kíli Baggins sees only a soul to be judged by the quality of their character. Those who live like your son are found rarely, Master Baggins."
Bilbo swallowed. "Oh, I know…"
"There will be those who cannot understand your son's predicament, and there will be those who cannot tolerate his tolerance, but it appears that Kíli Baggins could sway the future of the world if he so chose." The Lady spoke carefully, and Bilbo frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"Over the ages, those who have seen through the same eyes as Kíli Baggins have been sources of great hope and light in times of great darkness. Had he been raised by his kin, his role in this world would have been very different."
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Bilbo wondered, though he dared not say it aloud.
"It is not yet known if Kíli's coming to you has affected the path of history for better or worse, or indeed if it will even affect history at all." Galadriel's words shocked Bilbo, but her smile appeased him slightly. "Kíli will need you until the very end, Bilbo Baggins. You need not worry about your dwarf leaving you to live with his kin – it would seem that Kíli will be a Baggins for the rest of his life."
Bilbo felt the smile grace his cheeks completely unbidden, and he thanked the Lady graciously.
"You are also an interesting soul yourself, Bilbo Baggins. There is much good in you, and much that your companions do not see. Do not be afraid to reveal yourself to those you deem your friends – you are just as 'likeable' as your son."
Bilbo had opened his mouth to protest at that, but the she-elf had just smiled at him and slipped around the corner so quickly that the hobbit could have sworn that she had vanished into thin air.
At the time, Lady Galadriel's words had filled Bilbo's heart with hope but now they seemed rather ominous.
"Kíli will need you until the very end, Bilbo Baggins."
Bilbo hoped very sincerely that he would be dead long before Kíli's end. His natural lifespan was far shorter than his son's, and now the mysterious Lady's words sent shivers down Bilbo's spine.
"Thorin, Thorin!"
Bilbo looked up from the book he had discovered abandoned in a little alcove at Ori's panicked cry, wondering what on earth could have gotten the young scribe so flustered. Across the hall, the dwarf king rose to his feet, his fingers wrapped around Orcrist.
"What's the matter, Ori?"
"It's the wood elves!" Ori said breathlessly, his eyes wide. "Thranduil has gathered an army and is waiting a day's march away from the mountain. His messengers say that he wants to claim a portion of the treasure!"
"What?" Thorin growled, his eyes flashing darkly, and for a moment Bilbo feared for Ori's life. "What claim does he feel that he has over my gold?"
"He says that if he receives the White Gems denied to him by Thror he will forget about our escapade with the barrels. He says that otherwise it is a grave insult to his people, and that surely you would not want to create so bitter relations with so near a kingdom so soon after reclaiming your homeland." Ori swallowed as Thorin released a long string of swear words that would probably have burned Lobelia Sackville-Baggins' ears off.
"If that-" at this point Thorin used what Bilbo was certain was a most colourful profanity in Khuzdul – "Thinks that I will merely roll over and give him those gems he is sorely mistaken! I am not some pathetic coward, I am a king!"
"Thorin," Bofur pointed out from Bilbo's side in a tone of forced casualness. "No one in here is disagreeing with you."
Bilbo flinched as Thorin glowered at Bofur, before storming out of the hall with a roar of "Gandalf!"
"Durin's beard…" Bofur whispered, going quite pale. "We can't give that bastard our treasure!"
"Ori did say he has an army…wouldn't negotiation be the wiser option at this point?" Bilbo volunteered, his heart sinking when Bofur shook his head.
"No…This is our treasure, Bilbo, ours alone!"
Shivers ran down the hobbit's spine and he swallowed. "Do you know who you sound like?"
"No, who?" Bofur asked, running his fingers over a golden coin protectively.
"Gollum." Bilbo said shortly, standing up. "The one from whom I took the ring."
Bofur's head snapped up instantly. "That ring is bad news."
Bilbo laughed angrily. "And you are a gold-sick hypocrite."
Admittedly, Bilbo had overreacted a little and he knew it, but honestly. Would it be so hard for the dwarves and the elves to just let bygones be bygones?
Of course it would be. Elves were all but immortal and dwarves could hold grudges until the cows came home.
A sudden craving for fresh air overwhelmed Bilbo and he looked around desperately for some sort of balcony or the like where he could look up at the sky, and maybe catch a glance of some living organism other than a dwarf. He had had quite enough of dwarves for now.
Eventually, the hobbit came upon a large balcony that opened up to the night sky. Amazed by just how dark it could become when the stars were shrouded by cloud, Bilbo lay down on the balcony and sighed, feeling the cold, sharp air fly through his nose and into his lungs.
How the dwarves could stay underground for so long was beyond him.
So, Bilbo… a voice that sounded suspiciously like his mother's summarised his situation with an inappropriately humorous tone. You're in a mountain that was reclaimed from a dragon almost two weeks ago, half of your companions appear to be going mad and there is an army of angry elves who want to take a certain collection of gems from a king who is already behaving very strangely. Oh, and you only have enough food for a couple of months, with your main suppliers being heavily reliant on the afore mentioned angry elves.
Bilbo sighed, marvelling at the insanity of the situation. Despite the stress wracking his body, Bilbo quickly slipped off to sleep, only to be woken by the early morning sun peeking out from between two clouds, sending an uncomfortably bright beam of light onto his eyes.
He quickly staggered back inside and started to make his way back towards the hall of kings.
"Bilbo! Bilbo!" Kíli's calls were rather distant until Bilbo turned around another corner and he saw his son searching for him frantically.
"I'm over here!" he called, stretching with a yawn.
"Bilbo!" Kíli called again, relief flooding his tone. The next thing Bilbo knew he was being hugged very tightly.
"What's wrong?"
"I had no idea where you were." Kíli pulled away, his eyes full of terror that seemed like an immense overreaction.
"I'm sorry, I found a balcony and there was fresh air. I never meant to sleep there. I won't do it again." Bilbo teased lightly, but Kíli just swallowed.
"Bilbo… We're under attack."
"What on earth do you mean?" Bilbo asked, his heart accelerating in his chest.
"Gandalf received the word this morning." Kíli's young voice was strangled and afraid. "There's an army of hundreds and hundreds of orcs marching behind Azog right now! They're coming for us, Bilbo! They're coming!"
Phew, a lot happened in that chapter, I hope it wasn't too much?
Because of that, this may seem to have happened very quickly BUT this chapter spans across almost two weeks and there is a very good reason as to why Thorin falls to the gold sickness so quickly (as do some of the others to a lesser extent). All shall be revealed in time.
Leave a review if you like, I really, really appreciate them :)
