The next day, after Bilbo had, to his own surprise, signed the contract and gone running after the dwarves, he found himself astride a pony for the very first time in his life. He rather thought he might fall off, but after a little while, it became clear that so long as he didn't twist too suddenly, the pony was quite content to leave him on its back. Soon after that, as he was beginning to get sores in many uncomfortable places, leaving him very pessimistic about the state of his bum for the rest of this journey, he found himself riding next to Fili.
Fili was young and excited to be on a quest, and he spun marvelous stories to Bilbo about all the places he'd seen. Far too many, really; Bilbo suspected deeply that Fili was making some of them up. But Bilbo was quite fond of stories, and the stories of a dwarf were very much more interesting than the stories of a hobbit, which often revolved around nothing more exciting than meals and gardens and the occasional party.
"So," Bilbo said, at a convenient break in the conversation, "might I ask a question?"
"Anything at all, Mr. Baggins."
"It's just," Bilbo said, a little uneasy, "and certainly you don't need to tell me if the topic is too sensitive, but I was curious."
Fili waited a little bit before prompting, "About what?"
"Well," Bilbo said. "It's just. Kili." He jerked his head subtly behind them. Kili was trailing at the back of all of them, riding a pony and seemingly minding all the extras, of which there were a fair number. "Is he, I don't know, a servant of some sort? It's only that he slept outside last night with the ponies, and I've not seen him to talk to anyone today."
Fili's face went blank and still for a moment before he recovered his composure. "He's not a servant. He's ... I don't know the word in Common. He's khazd khuv."
"Well," Bilbo said, "you may not know the word in Common, but I certainly don't know it in Dwarfish."
Fili frowned, and lowered his voice. "He's paying off a life debt."
Bilbo blinked. "A life debt? What is that?"
"It's–" Fili said helplessly, then he scowled. "It's hard to explain. He killed someone, and so he must pay off the debt."
"He killed someone!" Bilbo said, aghast. He turned around and took a furtive look at Kili. He didn't look very dangerous, but Bilbo supposed you never could tell, really, not that he had any direct experience with murderers, or dwarves for that matter, and certainly not murderous dwarves. "I don't think I shall sleep very well with a murderer in our midst."
"It was not murder," Fili said, frowning. "You are in no danger. Well, at least, you are in no danger from Kili. It was a very long time ago. He killed a dam."
Bilbo was confused. The dwarves did not seem so irrational, though they were very exuberant, and hobbits might easily confuse the two. "He is serving a sentence for killing a horse?"
Fili frowned more fiercely. "A dwarrow-dam. A female dwarf. There are very few of them among our people."
"Oh," Bilbo breathed. "How horrible. So this khazd thing means that he must pay a debt for her life?"
"Khazd khuv," Fili said. "Aye. One year for every one he took from her. She was young, scarcely a hundred years old. His sentence is 150 years."
"One hundred fifty years!" Bilbo couldn't believe it. "He will be quite old when he has finished serving his sentence."
Fili shook his head. "He has already served more than half of it. He will be but middle-aged when it is done."
Bilbo blinked. He turned around and peered at Kili again. "But he looks like a boy. How can he have served more than half his sentence?"
"He is no boy," Fili said, apparently amused. "He is 77."
"Well," Bilbo said, astounded. "I knew that dwarves lived longer than hobbits, but never dreamt — why, he is older than I am!" Then another thought struck him, and he frowned. "But if he is 77, and he has served more than 75 years, he must have started when he was but a babe!"
"From the moment of his birth," Fili said grimly.
"Oh," Bilbo said, in a very small voice. Comprehension dawned, and it was a cold and terrible thing. He glanced back at Kili one more time, but sadly now. "The female dwarf. She died during childbirth?"
Fili nodded tersely. "Yes. Her name was Dis, daughter of Thrain."
"Daughter of Thrain — but I have heard that name. Why, she must have been–"
"Thorin's sister," Fili said flatly. "And my mother." And then he spurred his pony ahead without uttering another word.
A/N: I know some readers may find the entirely author-invented concept of khazd khuv distasteful. Fair warning: it gets worse before it gets better. But not, I think, monstrously so. More on khazd khuv in the next chapter.
Chapters will get longer later, I swear. Comments and concrit welcomed!
