Chapter 10

Balin chuckled. "The lad doesn't want to rule his people. Besides, you are expecting Thorin to die. The fact of the matter is, he will probably live to his four hundreds. How long do Dwobbits live, do you know?"

Bilbo shrugged. "Lord Elrond says that I will probably live to the age of two hundred, possibly three hundred."

Balin nodded. "Aye. Fíli would take the throne after you passed on. He will get his chance at leadership and far later than he first expected. If anything, Fíli will be happy that you will take the throne before him."

Bilbo glared at Balin. "No wonder you are the councilor for the Dwarf King. You have a tongue made of silver."

There was a bark of laughter at the door. Dwalin nudged it open. "Best get a move on, you two." He grabbed Bilbo's pack before Bilbo could.

Bilbo barked. "Dwalin, son of Fundin, give me back my pack RIGHT NOW!" His bark was just like his father's.

Dwalin shook his head. "How did we miss the resemblance, Balin?"

Balin looked Bilbo up and down. "It was the beard. The lack of it threw us off."

Dwalin nodded. "Aye."

Bilbo rolled his eyes and shouldered his pack. "Come on!" He moved quickly through the halls, stopping only to say goodbye to Elladan and Elrohir and Arwen. He spoke quickly to them in Sindarin, explaining what was going on.

When he started moving with Balin and Dwalin again, Balin was shaking his head. "When all is sorted, Thorin won't like it one bit."

Dwalin snorted. "His own son kissing up to tree-shaggers!"

Bilbo snorted and insulted them both in Khuzdul, his tongue wrapping around the guttural pronunciations perfectly. "Shut up, you beardless whelps, sons of seven Orcs!"

Dwalin started roaring in laughter, slapping Bilbo on the back and nearly sending the Dwobbit flying. "Aye! He is his father's son!"

Bilbo gave Dwalin a dirty look and straightened his clothes. The rest of the company were watching in confusion, silently wondering when the sons of Fundin had gotten so close to Bilbo.

Thorin huffed. "Now that you've graced us with your presence, Burglar, let's move." He turned and left without another word. However, his attitude was far more foul now than it had been. He kept looking at where his best friend's hand was resting on Bilbo's shoulder. He growled and focused on the path.

The rest of the Dwarves quickly heard Bilbo chattering in Khuzdul with Balin and Dwalin. They were shocked that Bilbo knew the language so well.

Bilbo chuckled. "My mother sent me to Bree to be taught by a Dwarf from the Iron Hills how to bend metal, and carve stone and wood, and do all things Dwarf. He also taught me Khuzdul and Inglishmêk." Bilbo didn't tell them that it was actually Gandalf who taught him. He didn't want the Dwarves to be angry at the wizard, no matter how meddlesome he could be.

Continuing on with his conversation with Balin, Thorin listened carefully. Bilbo's pronunciation was perfect. Even Thorin couldn't criticize it, which irritated him.

Fíli and Kíli started chattering to him too. Everyone was happy that they could refrain from using Westron now that the lad knew their tongue. Bilbo tuned out Kíli's chatter about some type of arrow head and looked back to where he could still see Rivendell, if only slightly.

"Master Baggins! Keep up!"

Bilbo gritted his teeth. "Son of a sow…" He growled. Kíli froze and then swallowed.

"You know…you really shouldn't insult your king like that."

Bilbo looked at Kíli and Fíli. Both were grave. He sighed and shook his head. "Thorin has made it abundantly clear that I am neither a Dwarf, nor is he my king." Bilbo snorted bitterly. "I am a creature of two races, that neither race wants."

Kíli frowned. "What do you mean?"

"This adventure has completely ruined my standing among Hobbits. They have, undoubtedly entitled me 'Mad'. When, or if, I return, I will be, if only slightly, outcasted and thought of as a Took." Bilbo chuckled sadly.

Fíli frowned. "You mean, by helping us, you've lost your standing in the Shire?"

Bilbo nodded. "I will still be viewed as the heir for the Thain, but I will not be respected as I used to be. Some Hobbits will even hate me, distrust me, and possibly view me with fear."

Kíli looked at his brother in a worried way. "We have ruined your reputation?"

Bilbo quickly realized that he was making his cousins sad. "Only among the larger part of the Shire. My own kin, the Tooks, are already considered 'mad' and 'reckless' and 'un-Hobbit'. They will accept me with open arms. That is all that counts really. Considering that my last name is not truly my last name." At their confusion, Bilbo expounded. "My mother was a Took. Favored daughter of the Thain, leader of the Shire. You could call him a King."

Bilbo smiled at the shock in their eyes. He could tell that the other Dwarves were listening. "Because of this, I am considered the Thain's heir. As Fíli has already said, I'm what you could call a 'Prince of the Shire'. When my mother's first husband died, she left the Shire and met my father, a Dwarf from Erebor who lived in the Blue Mountains. I am unaware if they married or not; however, my mother returned to the Shire before I was born. I never knew my father, but I know enough about him to make me know that he's a bastard." Bilbo's eyes flashed in anger. Dwalin and Balin both winced.

Fíli sighed. "I'm sorry for your troubles, Bilbo. I hope you all the good fortune when you return to the Shire, and that, when you inherit the throne, you will do so when the current Thain retires."

Bilbo chuckled. "I love my grandfather very much."

Kíli swallowed and then blurted out, "Did you know our Aunt very well? Her name was Belladonna Baggins."

Bilbo nodded. "I was her favorite nephew." He watched as Thorin froze and then resumed walking beside Dwalin as if nothing had happened. Dwalin shot him a glare. "While she was still married to her first husband, Bungo Baggins, she often baked with me and cooked with me. We always got into food fights."

He laughed at the memories of growing up with his mother. "I remember one time, she convinced my mother to let me learn the customs and culture of the Dwarves. I packed up and moved to Bree. Belladonna often visited me." Bilbo sighed. "But then…then Bungo died and she left. Left without saying goodbye. I was just a little boy. Not even old enough to pick up a hammer and use it properly, according to Nogli, my teacher."

Fíli frowned. "When she came back…was she well?"

Thorin had stopped pretending he wasn't listening in. Bilbo sighed. "She was frightened. She had only just started showing her baby bump when she arrived back to the Shire. I had grown into an older lad, but I still remembered her. I was there when it…when she…" Bilbo bit his lip. "She died smiling. I remember. She was singing to her son. Singing a Hobbit lullaby in Khuzdul. She finished her song and then…she died." Bilbo felt tears slip down his cheeks.

In reality, Belladonna had whispered the words to Bilbo as she lay on the ground just west of Imladris. She had murmured the lyrics of her favorite lullaby to him while he held her.

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