Chapter summary: In which Bilbo shows off his tailoring skills, and Thorin is finally crowned.
"Confound it," Bilbo muttered, as the thread slipped the needle again.
"Are you sewing a button, Mr. Baggins?" It was Fili, sounding quite amused, and he peered over Bilbo's shoulder at the coat puddled in Bilbo's lap.
"Several," Bilbo said, sighing.
"Well," Fili said, squinting, "I do not mean to offend, but that coat has seen many better days. It is possibly," he added, "beyond repair."
"Why," Bilbo cried, "I have had this coat since I was forty!"
Fili hummed. "That is a good length of time to own any single garment, even one of such a fine quality as that one." That was a bit of a generous assessment on Fili's part, as the coat in question was not of a very good quality at all, having been purchased on the cheap from Bilbo's cousin Arginalt at his stall in the Hobbiton market. Bilbo nonetheless loved it for the way the fabric still smelled, even after all this time on the road, of the particular mix of tobacco and tea that filled Bag-End.
"Perhaps," Fili said genially, "we could find you a new one."
"The tailors here have all their hands quite full, I should think," Bilbo said. "What with all the dwarves preparing for the coronation. I never imagined there were so many dwarves in the whole world!"
"Oh, even more than this," Fili said, and now he sounded quite amused. "Why, there are hardly any Blacklocks here at all, and the only Stiffbeards I have seen have been those that married into Dáin's folk."
"Can you tell them apart?" Bilbo asked curiously, for he had still not got the hang of even differentiating between the dwarf males and females, and had seen no single distinguishing characteristic that could be used to tell a Longbeard from an Ironfist from a Broadbeam — had not even known there were different clans at all, until Ori had started pointing them out.
"Of course," Fili said, and he looked quite genuinely surprised. "Can you not?"
"Not so easily," Bilbo said, which was quite an understatement indeed.
"Well," Fili said, "it is no matter. You know the Longbeards well enough, and most of the others will leave again once the celebrations have finished. There is not much to distinguish one dwarf clan from another, anyway, but stories and tradition."
Bilbo looked up from his sewing at this. Fili was circling a bit aimlessly around Bilbo's chambers, picking up and examining one nicknack after another, though without the appearance of any genuine interest. "Are the traditions of the clans very different?" Bilbo asked cautiously.
"Aye." Fili was looking at Sting now, running his fingers over the edge and frowning a bit. "The blade is nicked. You ought to get it sharpened. You never know when you might need it."
"I hope," Bilbo said fervently, "to never need it again!" Then, after a minute when Fili did not speak, he asked, in a rather leading tone, "How are the traditions different?"
"Oh," Fili said, waving vaguely. "They are just different. I'm sure all your hobbit towns must not do everything identically."
"Indeed not. Even the holidays are different from one end of the Shire to the other." Bilbo paused again. "But in many ways, one hobbit town is indistinguishable from another."
"It is not so for dwarves." Fili had moved on to Bilbo's mithril coat now, fingering the mail gently, letting the links run over his fingers. "Dáin's people do not follow the laws of khazd khuv as we do, nor do most of the Eastern clans. They have more interaction with other folk, you see. They have forgotten many of the olden ways. Or discarded them, I should say, when they were no longer convenient."
"I cannot imagine," Bilbo said, a little sourly, "that khazd khuv was ever convenient."
Fili was quiet for a moment. "It was better than the alternative," he said, and Bilbo remembered Gandalf telling him that such babes were killed, before. He shuddered to think of Kili's life ended before it had properly begun, and felt relieved that at least that had not come to pass.
"But no," Fili said, sighing, "I do not suppose it was ever convenient. It was just the way of things, you see. I did not question it, except at the beginning."
Bilbo paused in his sewing, the needle poised in the air over a button. "In the beginning?" he repeated. "What do you mean?"
"I am sure I have told you," Fili said, brows knit slightly. "When we were little, Kili was not — of course, he was never treated quite the same but still he was not — we played together, and did all the stupid things dwarflings do, and it did not matter that he wore my old clothes, and that he had not the same toys as I did, nor that his bed was small and his room hardly larger than a closet. I never thought on it, and I am not sure he did either. We were so young. We did not know any better, or any different."
He breathed in once, mouth pursed. "But when we got a little older, I started school, and he did not, and I did not understand why, but that he was younger, which hardly seemed like any reason at all. I thought perhaps I had done something wrong, being forced to sit still and learn runes while Kili was allowed to go out and gather wood and feed the animals. It seemed far preferable to me. I even said as much to Balin, and oh, Mr. Baggins, you should have seen the look on his face! Then Thorin sat me down and explained all about khazd khuv, and why Kili had so many chores and was punished so often, and why I could not eat with him anymore."
Bilbo felt a queer little ache in his chest. "It sounds quite sad, if you ask me."
Fili made a noncommittal noise. "It was not, not precisely. He was still Kili, you see. He had not changed. And I was not forbidden to play with him, if all his chores were done and my schoolwork finished. He followed me around the same as he ever had. Though —" He sighed then. "He would do whatever I wanted, you understand. Anything I suggested. I used to take advantage of him quite horribly, only he was so compliant it was hard not to. And I suppose I knew even then that it was not — there were other dwarflings in Ered Luin, and the little ones would always follow the older ones, but not the way Kili followed me. I thought then that it was because he was not permitted any other friends, but now, I think that it was just that he did not think he could disobey me."
"He was correct in that, was he not?" Bilbo asked gently. "He could not disobey you."
Fili scowled. "I was not his shemor. He was under no obligation to listen to me or do what I said. But we were young, and I think he must have felt his status keenly. The other dwarves certainly did not let him forget. They were cruel to him, behind Thorin's back. Even some of the adults." He frowned rather fiercely. "Some of them are here now. I see the way they look at him. Like he is still what he was."
"As for that," said Bilbo, "he still is what he was. I do not think he has changed so very much at all. It is the rest of you who have come to your senses." Then he blanched, for though he preferred to speak plainly whenever possible, that was rather more plainly than perhaps was prudent when speaking with the crown prince, but Fili only smiled.
"Indeed we have," Fili said. "And it has been a long time coming. Sometimes I wish Thorin had not delayed so long undertaking this quest. It has been 77 years that Kili has lived under these laws. I fear that it has been too long. He does not — I think I should be angry, if I were him. Wouldn't you?"
"Well," Bilbo said, "I have thought about this quite a bit, you know, because sometimes I find I am almost frustrated with him. I want for him to yell at you all, or even just be angry, if he will not yell—"
"But he will not yell," Fili said morosely. "I know. I have tried to provoke him but he will not be baited."
"I am not sure you should be baiting him," Bilbo said dubiously.
"How else am I to get him to react? I can think of a hundred slights, a thousand insults, any one of which would have had any other dwarf up in arms and armor. It is not natural, for a dwarf to be so forgiving. We hold our grudges as dear as treasure."
This was the first time Bilbo had ever imagined a ready temper could be more desirable than a temperate one, but he could certainly sympathize with the desire for Kili to act more like a typical dwarf. Still, "He has had a lifetime of holding his tongue. I do not imagine it is easy for him to break that habit."
"No," Fili said. "I am sure you are correct in that. Still, I wish I could be certain that holding his tongue is all it is, that he understands there is a grudge to bear. Even if he cannot bring himself to be angry about it."
"Well," Bilbo said, after a moment, "he is not stupid, after all."
Fili smiled, the broadest grin Bilbo had seen on him in some time. "Indeed," he said, "he is not."
The coronation was indeed a magnificent affair, grander than even the grandest hobbit birthday party. (That had been Old Took's, on his eleventy-first birthday, and it had lasted for several days.) All the dwarves were dressed in their very best finery and their most intricate braids, their beards shaped and combed and studded with jewels, and such a display of weapons and mail that left Bilbo breathless.
Bilbo himself had been outfitted in a coat of such deep lustrous velvet as he had never seen, and the dwarves had braided beads into his hair — which had reached a scandalous length for a male hobbit, though it was still very short by dwarf standards — and had also fashioned a jeweled scabbard for Sting, which they fastened to an equally ornate belt that fit snugly around his waist. All in all, Bilbo felt that he looked very splendid indeed, and rather wished that someone might sketch his portrait, that he might show it off when he returned home to the Shire.
But of course, he looked rather plain and dull in comparison to Thorin, who looked quite thoroughly a king in his splendid robes. His braids had taken a full team of hairdressers half a morning to plait — so confided Kili, grinning rather impishly, for it seemed Thorin had little tolerance for sitting still for any length of time — and he wore a breastplate studded with jewels and a different gemstone on every finger. Fili too looked splendidly regal, in a mid-length cloak lined with the finest furs and bedecked with jewels and gems such as befit the crown prince of Erebor.
Well, Bilbo was quite thoroughly dazzled by all the pomp and glory, and he could not stop looking to his left and right, for his eyes were ever landing on something new and marvelous. Only the speeches were less than enthralling, though to be fair they were no worse than any other speeches Bilbo had ever suffered through, and fortunately they were for the most part in Common — Bilbo had feared they would be entirely in the dwarf tongue, and of that he knew no more than a few words, most of them impolite!
When Thorin had been crowned, and Fili too had been officially named crown prince, with a small golden circlet placed upon his brow, the dwarves broke again into enthusiastic cheers. In truth, they had been cheering very heartily all morning and did not seem to be tiring of it at all, but now it had a special tenor to it. It went on for many long minutes, and the cheers were not just for Thorin, but for the reclamation of Erebor, and the restoration of the dwarves to their home, and Bilbo was quite awed that he had played some small part in such a wondrous event.
But then! Thorin held his hands up to quiet the crowd, and though it took quite some time, the dwarves gradually fell silent. Bilbo wondered what part of the ceremony this could be, but then he saw Fili grinning at him from where he stood next to the throne, and he grew instantly apprehensive, for though Fili had been teasing him for a week that he would be called before the throne, Bilbo had never for an instant believed he was serious.
"My friends," Thorin began, in a very deep and serious voice, "you have all heard the tale of how we came to be here today. And indeed it is a very fine tale, and I am sure the bards amongst us shall spin it into songs that will be passed down among the ages, and those songs will sing the praises of all who accompanied this quest — the newest lords of Erebor!" At this, the crowd cheered fiercely again, and all the members of The Company bowed — Balin and Dwalin, and Bifur and Bofur and Bombur, and Dori and Nori and Ori, and Oín and Gloín, all looking splendid in their fine robes. "But–" Thorin said, voice raised above the throng, "this quest could not have succeeded without the two remaining members of our party, and I would not have their part downplayed, for without them, we should never have won back our home. Bilbo Baggins of the Shire, and Kili whom they call the Dragon Slayer, please come forth before the throne."
Bilbo was quite nervous, for it was one thing to stand in front of a few dozen hobbits at a birthday party and make a speech; it was quite another thing entirely to stand in front of a thousand or more dwarves! But Kili was at his side, and though he looked equally discomfited by the attention, he did not hesitate to cross the great hall to the throne, and he kept his hand on Bilbo's elbow the whole time — a small kindness for which Bilbo was very grateful.
Kili made to kneel, and after a moment's hesitation Bilbo did as well, but scarcely had their knees touched the ground than Thorin bade them rise again. He gazed at them both very seriously, and Bilbo was relieved to see that beneath the crown and the jewels, he still looked very much like Thorin, and in his eyes there was no trace whatsoever of the madness that had gripped him before the battle.
"Bilbo, son of Bungo, son of Mungo," began Thorin, in the formal dwarf manner. "I will confess before this great assemblage that I doubted Gandalf's advice when he proposed you for our burglar, for I looked at you and saw a quiet and timid creature that had never left the safety of his home. And that may indeed have been true–"
"It was," Bilbo murmured, to the quiet laughter of those around him.
"–but in the end you surprised us all, and me perhaps most of all, unless in fact it was you yourself who was most surprised." Bilbo rather thought it was, for he would never have guessed at what he might prove to be capable of, and even sometimes still doubted his own recollection!
Thorin continued, deep and sonorous. "Your deeds have already been spoken of this day, as they shall be spoken of for generations to come, but did I not think it would embarrass you, I would embellish on them further, so great were they. Were it not for you, we should have been killed by spiders. Were it not for you, we should still be languishing in the dungeons of Mirkwood." A little murmur ran through the crowd at that, and Thranduil, standing in a place of honor to the side of the dais, had the grace to look slightly embarrassed, if not especially apologetic.
"Were it not for you," Thorin continued, "we should never have known how to kill Smaug the Terrible! For all these great deeds, and for your friendship and courage and loyalty, I hereby name you forever a dwarf-friend."
There was a great murmuring at this. Fili looked quite pleased and smug, and Kili at Bilbo's side jolted just a little, and his eyes grew very wide, so that Bilbo knew there was more to this than just pretty words. He resolved to find out from Kili later what exactly it was.
Thorin rose his voice above the rumbling of the crowd. "In return, we are friends to you and your kin until the end of days. If there comes a time that the Shire needs assistance, know that the dwarves of Erebor will ever aid and protect you."
Here Thorin fell silent, and Bilbo had the dreadful feeling that he was expected to say something fitting to the occasion, but he had not the slightest idea what that could be, and was in fact rather irked that no one had warned him to prepare something suitable. In the end he bowed quite as low as he could and said simply, "I am honored, your majesty." And then he added for good measure, "And though your home here is quite magnificent, and I am sure you will never have need of another, know that Bag End shall always be open to you and yours, if you ever chance to visit the Shire again."
Apparently this was quite appropriate, for Thorin smiled broadly, and the rest of the dwarves cheered merrily (though Bilbo rather suspected they would have cheered him no matter what he had said, as they seemed to have a propensity for it).
At his side, Kili winced. "You have just opened your home to the entire kingdom, Mr. Baggins," he whispered.
Bilbo blinked, and cast a sideways suspicious glance at Kili, for surely he could not be serious, but Kili looked almost pained, and just shook his head a little.
The cheering died down eventually, and then the crowd grew hushed and expectant.
"Kili," Thorin said, deep and solemn. He rose from his throne and crossed to stand in front of the young dwarf, reaching out to place his hands on Kili's shoulders. "I have thought long and hard," Thorin said, "of what to say to you now. And I have thought too on whether to say it in private, or whether to say it here, in front of all. I think perhaps you would prefer the former, but I would have all here bear witness, so none can ever dispute the record of what I have said. So I apologize that these private matters must be made public, but I hope that you will forgive me for it."
Kili nodded jerkily, and Thorin nodded back in acknowledgement before he continued. He did not shout, but Bilbo knew there was some dwarf wizardry in place that enabled his words to reach to the farthest reaches of the chamber. ("It is no wizardry," Bofur had told him the day before, "but that dwarves are very good with stone.")
"All here know your story," Thorin said, his voice ringing clearly in the hushed chamber. "All know that your sire died while you were still unborn, and that she who bore you died bringing you into this world, and so on the day of your birth you were named khazd khuv, convicted according to our laws, declared cursed by our traditions, and all your kin-bonds severed."
Well! So far, Bilbo could not say he thought too much of this speech! But Kili was silent at his side and he had not moved so much as a muscle in protest; instead he stared at Thorin with eyes wide and intent.
"From that day forth you have been scorned, and feared, and shunned, and blamed for things over which you had no control, but you have borne it all with grace and courage and dignity, and honor befitting a true son of the line of Durin. You have never complained nor questioned your fate, and I, to my unending shame, have never questioned either."
He paused here, looking quite somber. Kili swallowed, and Bilbo could see that his shoulders were shaking under Thorin's hands. Thorin squeezed lightly and released him, stepping back and raising his voice so that it rang out across the chamber even without the need of dwarvish stone wizardry.
"But of late," Thorin said, "I have asked myself if one so cursed could have withstood the lick of dragon fire to bring down the beast with but a single arrow! And I have asked if a soul who bears only bad luck could have found among a mountain of treasure the single jewel that could restore a bloodline to a throne! And again and again I reach the same answer: No! Surely, Mahal has spoken, and I would defy any dwarf to challenge his intent!"
Thorin whipped around at this and glared out at all the dwarves, as if daring them to protest, but the crowd was silent and spell-bound, and none spoke a word. After a moment, Thorin turned back to Kili, and Bilbo saw the same challenge directed at Kili himself. But though his expression was troubled, Kili said nothing, and eventually Thorin nodded, apparently satisfied.
"I cannot erase the circumstances of your birth," Thorin said. "But I can, and I do, pardon them. And so I hereby name you before all those here assembled: Kili, son of Dis, daughter of Thrain, son of Thror!"
The applause that followed this announcement was quite thunderous indeed, and Bilbo found himself clapping and cheering and stamping his feet along with the rest of the assemblage. It went on for quite a long time, until Bilbo's hands grew quite sore and red and his feet began to ache, and Bilbo rather thought if Thorin had not raised his hands, the cheering might have gone on all day.
"In so naming," Thorin continued, when silence had more or less fallen again, "I restore to you all the bonds of kin to which you were born, and thus do I accept and acknowledge you as my sister-son. And so too do I declare you a Prince Under the Mountain, with all the rights and responsibilities of your bloodline."
At this, Fili — who had been bouncing on his heels for many minutes, in a manner quite unbefitting a crown prince — stepped forward, grinning, and placed a small golden circlet upon Kili's brow. "Well," he said, very cheerfully, "now we look like brothers indeed!"
A/N:
:: looks around guiltily ::
Errr, yeah. So that was a really long delay. Sorry. :( I plead Thanksgiving and child home from college and work and holidays and just general laziness, because I knew I needed to write a whole new scene to add to this chapter and I was disinclined to do it. But hey! Then I did! And here it is!
Will make my long overdue reply to any of your lovely comments on the last chapter in the next couple of days, promise! I so adore these comments - please keep them coming. :)
Happy, happy holidays to all! And special thanks to my beta SapphireMusing for encouraging me and prodding me to add more Fili, because this story needed more Fili.
