Chapter 13
Thorin opened his eyes. "Balin…" Balin came over quickly.
"Did I understand the Orc correctly? You heard him speak to Bilbo? Or was it just a dream?" Thorin didn't know what to think. He had been half unconscious when Azog spoke to Bilbo. Thorin looked at Balin, silently commanding him to tell the truth.
Balin sighed. "It was not my place to tell you, Thorin, but I cannot lie to my king. Aye, Thorin, Bilbo is your son."
Thorin pulled himself up and turned to look for Bilbo. "Bilbo…" He moved past Gandalf unsteadily.
Bilbo tensed and stepped away. "Thorin?"
The tenseness in Bilbo's shoulders broke Thorin's heart. I have sneered at my own son?! I have belittled, mocked, ridiculed the son of my wife! My One! Thorin gasped.
"Did I not say you were a burden? Did I not say that you had no place amongst us? I claimed that you were not of our kin!" Thorin shook his head, letting his tears flow. "I have never been so wrong in my entire life!" He didn't let Bilbo pull away. He grabbed his son and held him close. "Please, Bilbo, please forgive me. I was wrong to treat you as an outsider! I was wrong to be so cruel against you! I was so, so wrong! I'm so sorry. Please forgive me…Please forgive me!" He begged the last part in Khuzdul.
It was a long while until Thorin pulled Bilbo closer and rested his forehead against his son's. "Why did you not tell me?"
Bilbo stiffened. "What?"
"I learned to understand spoken Black Speech when I was young so I could understand the orders given amongst the armies of my enemies."
Bilbo went still. "Oh."
"Why did you keep it from me?"
"I wanted to earn your respect without you knowing who I was."
"But in the very beginning?"
"I only knew who you were the day you arrived at my hole. Gandalf told me. My mother, Belladonna, never told me anything about my father. I didn't know that the Thain lied to you. Gandalf told me everything later. I wanted to earn your trust without forcing you to accept me, because I was your son."
They were speaking quietly. Thorin moaned. "My son. My son. My son. I thought you were dead. I grieved your mother and you. I did not search for you as I should have. My son. My son!" He pulled back slightly to look into Bilbo's eyes. "I have wronged you! So much!" He held Bilbo close. "No wonder you hated me. No wonder you disliked your father. I deserve your hatred. I deserve it all!" Thorin was too overcome to feel much anger towards the Thain or Elrond…yet.
Bilbo shook his head. "You have apologized. I have accepted you. All is forgiven." He looked at Thorin. "I forgive you." Bilbo knew, deep down, he would still feel uneasy around his father, at least for a while. Thorin's words hurt him, cut him deeply, but…maybe they could grow? Maybe they could become as close as Thorin was with his own nephews?
Thorin pulled away and reached into an inner pocket of his coat. He pulled out a small box that contained a gold bead, engraved with lapis lazuli, and gave it to Bilbo. "A bead from the line of Durin. Gold and Blue are our people's colors." He smiled at Bilbo. "It was my only spare, in case I lost the one I am wearing now. I am glad that I carried it all this way." Thorin did not say that it was Belladonna's. The Thain had sent it back without Bilbo knowing it.
Bilbo allowed his father to braid his hair and slip the bead on it. The Dwarves were silent. When father and son pulled apart, the Dwarves started shouting, demanding answers. The loudest were Fíli and Kíli.
~two hours later~
Thorin was sitting on the log watching their camp fire. His gaze was unwaveringly on Bilbo.
My son? Could it be? All these years I have mourned him. All these years, I thought him to be dead! Thorin stiffened. "And they did not tell me…"
Bilbo looked up with a frown. "Tho-Father?"
Thorin gave his son a fleeting smile at the title he was now being given. He liked hearing Bilbo call him that. "The Thain of the Shire told me that you were dead. He told me that Bella died in childbirth. He forcibly evicted me when I came to visit, banning all Dwarves from the Blue Mountains after I was forced to leave. Why?!" It came out in a growl.
Bilbo swallowed and then looked at Gandalf. Gandalf was slowly easing away from the camp, his eyes constantly on Thorin.
Fíli and Kíli grinned. "Uncle! The Wizard was in on it too! He's trying to get away!"
Thorin pinned Gandalf with a ferocious glare. "And what do you have to say for yourself, Tharkûn?"
Gandalf smiled gently. "Ah…yes…Well…Belladonna had personally asked me to keep her whereabouts a secret. She was afraid that Dwarves would kill Bilbo even after she fled."
Thorin sagged against the log he was on. "Aye…that would have been a high possibility." He glared at Gandalf. "But after?"
"Dwobbits were still not looked well upon, Thorin. As soon as they were, I directed him to you via this quest. A journey through danger is a perfect way to bring an estranged father and son closer together." Gandalf smiled, pleased with himself.
Bilbo rolled his eyes.
