She looked in awe at the entire table, scanning every one of them. They were staring back with similar expressions except theirs held anger.
Dwarves didn't usually enjoy the presence of things they didn't understand- or things that weren't dwarves as well. They became extremely defensive.
"And what might all this be about‽" Gloin asked rising up from his seat slightly and pointing a stubby finger at Gwen.
I could see Gwen's mouth open and close a few times in speechlessness as almost all of the previously seated dwarves rose up and started bickering accusingly at us and at each other.
This went on for a few moments before I had had enough. A usually "kick-ass-and-take-names" Gwen looked lost and hurt.
Can you blame her? What would you do if your childhood companions started yelling at you?
It was true though; we looked at everyone in this room and most everyone in this entire realm as friends and family. They were who we had clung to when we had been alone with no way to cope. We read about them for hours on end and went with them on all of their travels.
We both sort of felt betrayed. Even if we had no right to.
They didn't know us at all, even if we had known them all our lives.
The bickering rose and thrived. Nori rose up from his seat with the other dwarves in toe and grabbed onto Gwen's arm, roughly, so she had to shift over to him so he could yell at her more effectively.
"ENOUGH!" Thorin's voice rang throughout the hobbit hole. He addressed the entire gathering but was more pointedly focused on Nori.
Nori shrunk away from Gwen and he reluctantly released her. She looked at him, as he sat down, with shock. Almost as if she had just been slapped by a family member.
The room was silent and all eyes were on Thorin. He looked away from the group and his eyes found mine, sensing I had something to say, he nodded towards me to proceed.
"We will explain. Well, the best that we can, that is…I promise, just…please, give us both a minute or two. This isn't easy for us either, you know."
After I finished, I tugged on my arm again, trying to get it back from Thorin's grasp. This time he let go and I turned to him.
"May I talk to her for a moment? Alone." I asked, knowing the probable answer.
Thorin stared down at me for a time, trying to see if my intentions were pure and trustworthy as he searched my eyes and breathed deeply, thinking.
Ugh, there goes another chill.
Goosebumps flashed up my arms and up the back of my neck in a cold flash.
I had been worried that Thorin would find the seizure like roll of my shoulders and neck strange and therefore mistrust me even more. But, as soon as I recovered, I noticed him mimic my movements.
There was the characteristic rise of the shoulders, then the motion of rolling each one out smoothly, next the turn of the head, either right or left and finally ended with the sharp intake of breath.
He was much more subtle about it then I was, but I still noticed. My ears went back and my brows gathered at him.
A thump from Gwen made us both look over at her. She had comfortably situated herself on the edge of the wooden table and was trying to crack her neck as she slumped with her legs loosing hanging over the edge in a very "unladylike" way.
The hustle and bustle of the exiting dwarves, who, were skirting around us both cautiously as they tried to get through the doorway, made such a noise I could barely hear Gwen when she interrupted Thorin, just as he was opening his mouth to answer me.
"Oh, Ori, honey. Don't worry about the plates. I'm sure all of you will be back to eating once we have left anyway." Gwen said too casually to Ori while she picked the crumbs out of her fingernails.
Poor Ori almost dropped one of his plates at "honey" as he swallowed loudly and helplessly looked at Thorin.
I moved forward to shove Gwen in the knee, "Gwen! God, don't scare him. You and I may have known him for a long time. But, he has only just met us."
I leaned down even further and spoke through my teeth, "You aren't exactly helping our cause any."
She shrunk back from me and looked up at me sheepishly, "Right."
Craning her neck to look behind her she ashamedly apologized.
With an authoritative, but gentle, nod from Thorin, Ori fled the room with only one plate in hand.
"Yes."
I spun around to Thorin with a small smile.
He grunted, "But, in the morning."
My smile disappeared.
"Tomorrow night you explain." Thorin said haughtily with an arched brow before he sauntered off, leaving us both in the empty dining room.
I turned to Gwen, puzzled, "That never happened. In the book they only stayed the night…"
Gwen looked around and squinted at me before her face broke out in a grin, "Yeah well, I have read the book just as many times as you have and I don't ever remember two girls falling from the sky happening either."
I smiled at my friend just as Bilbo came in, flustered, as usual and with his head down.
"Um, I was informed that you two…would be…staying. So. I, uh, was told to put you in the two rooms down the hall."
"Which hall?" Gwen asked obnoxiously, her legs swinging back and forth again.
Bilbo looked to her, surprised at hearing her voice, and cringed a little palely when he noticed what she had chosen to use as a seat.
His precious wooden table.
Breathing deeply and closing his eyes for a moment, Bilbo placed his hands securely on his hips for added support, "The one to your left when you get to the door." He said, feigning a hospitable smile.
"Thanks…" I replied with a wink.
A bright red blush ran down his entire face and neck and he shuffled around before wobbling away towards the rest of the dwarves who were a few rooms over.
"C'mon" I lightly slapped Gwen's knee with the back of my hand as I moved towards the doorway.
I walked through the hallway while Gwen tromped behind me. The hobbit hole was much more spacious than I had ever imagined. There were little touches here and there that made everything tie in. There were little pictures in different shapes like ovals and tiny squares. Little pebbles were stuck in the top of the wooden paneling. Little pebbles that were, I didn't doubt, from Bilbo's many little morning walks. A handful of maps that Bilbo had drawn himself decorated a few of the walls and every once in a while you would come across a stray flower or sprig of grass. The smell of the house was the best though. There was this clean, fresh scent that wafted through the walls. It calmed you and you knew, even if you didn't know Bilbo very well, that you were safe here.
Bag End was a safe haven.
As we rounded a corner I saw Bifur sitting on a low standing stool up against a wall.
He was completely alone and was just staring out into space.
I turned to Gwen and we exchanged looks.
Bifur raised his head to both of us and looked at us curiously, tilting his head and scrunching his bushy eyebrows. He slowly stood up and faced us, continuing to stare.
Both Gwen and I had no idea what to do. We were almost at the doors of our rooms and here was this dwarf with a partial axe embedded in his forehead, not completely all there-if you know what I mean, and he looked like the sweetest most lost thing. But, with an edge. That uneasy edge that almost all mentally impaired people have. You want to trust them but there is a subconscious danger at how unpredictable they can be.
Balin and Thorin had, apparently, been down the hall speaking with each other when Balin had noticed what was happening.
I guess that Bifur was fairly crazy at times, especially around strangers, and Balin was approaching us, with Thorin behind him, cautiously because he had noticed the signs that something was off.
Ever so boldly and quickly Bifur reached out and grabbed my hand with his. Everyone around me either stepped forward of put their hands out to reach for me but I stopped them.
"Wait."
Bifur, with his other hand, crooked two stubby fingers towards me, signaling me to lean in so he could whisper into my ear.
As I was about to comply Bofur rounded the corner and piped up, "No use really Lass. Ol' Bifur here doesn't speak anythin' else except ancient dwarvish on account of the axe in his head. Lost all his memories and most of his mind." Bofur finished by tucking his thumbs into his belt.
Him whispering in my ear wasn't going to hurt anyone, so I ignored Bofur and leaned in and waited.
"Raven."
My eyes widened but I didn't turn away.
"The Morning Star knows why…"
I felt the pressure release from my hand as Bifur stepped away. He aimlessly wandered back into some other crevice of the house, and I stood, completely lost for words.
"I thought you said that he couldn't speak anything but Dwarvish?" I turned to the just as bewildered gathering.
Balin looked at me strangely, "He can't, my Lady."
"What did he say?" Thorin, seeming to have believed me, said gently.
I looked down, "He said…he said my name. And then…"
"What?" Gwen asked from behind me
"He…he said that 'the "Morning Star" knew.'" My eyebrows pulled and I lightly shook my head
"Knew what?" Bofur asked me, stepping forward and taking his hands out of his belt excitedly- happy that his cousin was speaking after all these years.
I shook my head again and shrugged my shoulders, "He didn't say. That was it…"
The silence lasted only a few moments before Bofur set out to find his cousin, probably to see if he could get him to speak again. Others followed and soon Thorin and Balin had reluctantly moved back down the hall to continue their talk.
Gwen moved in front of me and tried to catch my downcast eyes, "Hey, you okay?" she cocked an eyebrow at me, grinning.
It was infectious.
"Yeah, I'm fine. But, I mean, don't you think that was a bit weird? The Morning Star…"
"Mmmm. You really think Galadriel has anything to do with this?"
"Why not? She is a guardian of Middle Earth, she is an Elf- and an Eldar at that, and she is extremely powerful. Not to mention she has a ring of power, Nenya. She is practically an elf-witch."
"But why? We are probably the two most unimportant people to have ever walked both our world and this world. We are just two orphan kids taking care of a bunch of other little rugrats and trying to hide from the Pigs."
I sighed exasperatedly, "Everyone tries to hide from the Pigs. They don't enforce the law anymore, they just headhunt."
She grunted in agreement.
Gwen bounded up to a door and decided to pick the one closest to Bilbo's- whose name had been carved into the panel covering the door. I took the other available one, which was on the edge of the hallway.
We both stepped in. I crossed the threshold and drank in the sight.
The same paneling and cream paint color carried over into this room, and I'm assuming every other room in the house as well, with the same wood flooring too. There were dark red throw rugs under each of the two twin beds and another by the fireplace.
The fire cast such a glow on the space it made me feel immeasurably calm. But, what I was most grateful for was the reasonably sized, round window that was filled with the sight of a now clear, un-rainy, sky full of stars and the moon.
Psst.
I looked around and listened closer.
Pssssssssssttttttt…
I stopped moving and stood stock still in the middle of the room, frozen.
"Down here, you idiot!"
I looked to the voice and saw the bright, distorted image of Gwen's face coming from the other side of a black metal grate that was in the wall.
"Oh hey." I said smiling, feeling twelve again as I clamored onto the floor to lay down with my head propped in front of the grate.
"Hey, who are you sharing your room with?"
"Wait. Sharing my room?"
"Yeah, I know, I was kinda hoping that we would get a room to ourselves too but…"
I looked around and noticed a pile of luggage on the floor that I had overlooked. I crawled over to it and reached for the sack.
A neat and beautiful name was burned onto the leather, it read: Balin.
I scooted back over to the grate and looked at Gwen just as she returned too.
"I got Balin. You?"
"Thorin." She said growling.
I smirked but at the same time felt something rise in me.
Was it jealousy?