"Laddie, you are a part of the Company now. There's a few things you should know…"
Thorin's grandfather Thror was our king when Smaug attacked Erabor. Most dwarves know that. But not all know that Thror was so caught in his dragon-sickness – drooling over his enormous wealth – that he was almost lost that day. It was a family failing – Thorin's father Thrain suffered the same. Thorin managed to stay clean for years. But we who knew him well could see that same vulnerability, that same weakness in him. The look he got in his eyes... He admitted it himself even, on his good days.
But then…"
Bilbo saw a shade come over Balin's eyes and was worried that he wouldn't hear anymore.
"Balin," he dared. "You've all told me Fili and Kili's names. But which one is which?"
He saw a small smile cross the old dwarf's face.
"Fili is the blonde one – he's older. Kili is the younger brother."
"You care for them."
It slipped out without much conscious though on Bilbo's part.
But Balin just nodded.
"Most of us do."
He sighed.
"Their mother and father came into possession of a ring. Now, I don't know how much stock hobbits take in magical artefacts, but this was a great dwarven ring of power. It gave our lords of old a deep connection to the Earth and her minerals.
This ring, of the Durin line, was thought to be lost in Erabor, but when Thorin heard it had been found, he captured the two dwarves who held it from him."
Balin's eyes snapped over to Bilbo. "They were not criminals," he hastened to add. "They genuinely thought they were acting in the Kingdom's best interests."
Privately, Bilbo wondered how two ordinary dwarves came to own a great ring of power. Balin spoke of them well – perhaps they were not so ordinary after all – but that was a pondering for another time.
"They were convicted of high treason and sentenced to death." Balin stared back into the fire. "As is his right as King, Thorin claimed the couple's sons as his slaves. They have been serving him ever since."
"How long?" Bilbo ventured.
"Twenty years," Dwalin growled.
Bilbo almost jumped onto the coals. He hadn't heard the giant warrior at all – and as a hobbit, that was impressive.
"Twenty years he's held them," Dwalin repeated. "Though tradition said he could have released them a decade ago."
"The ring," Balin interrupted, "It builds greed and insists on hoarding. In the past, that insistence created our civilisation. Now…"
He looked over to the two slave brothers on the darkest side of the clearing. Dwalin huffed.
"Now this is our heritage."
-ooo-
Too many serious thoughts, Bilbo grumbled to himself as he stretched his sore back out the next morning. No wonder you aren't sleeping well, with all the worries you're carrying along.
And then his brain woke up properly, and Bilbo felt incredibly guilty and ashamed for feeling sorry for himself, with Fili and Kili having slept without a bedroll and the mountain of blankets Bilbo had.
They had clearly woken up early again, and were readying Thorin's pony and collecting firewood for breakfast.
Bilbo kept quiet as the Company ate, packed up and moved off. He hoped the others weren't wondering why he wasn't as cheerful as they were. Gandalf might have noticed, but he had only just returned as they finished breakfast, and was now riding up front with Thorin and Dwalin.
"Don't think too harshly of us, Bilbo," Bofur said suddenly. He had drawn his pony alongside Myrtle. "There are so many traditions and old ways tied in knots around our way of life, we can't do much except hope for a change of heart."
"Like the food?"
Bofur nodded. "Like the food. Custom has it that slaves be given the last and least portion. If any of us were to do something different we'd be kicked out."
Bilbo looked puzzled. "Does Thorin not trust you?"
"No," Bofur said, "In fact, he's said many times that he trusts this Company fully. He's actually been quite good to us, 'specially with me, Bifur and Bombur not being related to the crown. But anything to do with them boys…"
"He's different with them," Bilbo surmised. "So, no dwarf can interfere with Fili and Kili?"
"Nope."
"Nothing to do with their food, their clothes…"
"No, nothing."
Bilbo felt a sly grin sliding into place. "What about hobbits?"