An: this chapter gave me some trouble, and I'm only somewhat happy with how it turned out. Let me know what you think. Thank you for all follows, favs and/ or reviews!


Chapter Four:

He descended into the mountain through what was once the front-door of the mountain kingdom and once inside he brought them into a main chamber.

She was dropped then, and a small grunt escaped her when she hit the ground. Seconds later Smaug's looming form disappeared from her line of sight. As she sat up, rubbing her abused back with a grimace, she could hear the distance crashes of Smaug making his way out of the mountain.

He was leaving?

Why kidnap her if he was only going to leave, Nalene wondered with a furrowed brow. And where else did he have to go? She'd assumed his rampage was done.

She'd been under the impression she'd be bound or caged, or at least watched carefully. Physically, there was nothing to prevent her from leaving. She turned towards the path Smaug had come in from. Rubble and ash cluttered the way, but the hall she could see looked navigable.

Hope surging, she pulled herself to her feet, and advanced towards the pathway. For a few moments she felt giddy. How stupid of Smaug, had he forgotten she could walk on her own two feet? She wanted to laugh in his face- finally she had a chance to-

-to what? Suddenly doubtful, Nalene hesitated. Dale was gone, her family was gone, everyone unfortunate enough to be in the city was gone. The nearest city or haven would be at least days away. With no food, no water, no horse and not to mention little clue which direction to even head in, leaving seemed even more idiotic that staying.

Besides, now that she thought about it, she got a sense that Smaug was not so stupid as to leave her alone unless he was completely confident.

She shook her head and turned away from the entrance. Of course, it made sense now. His casual- no, nonexistent- dismissal of her told meant the exactly that. It didn't bode well, the confidence he had concerning her.

Why threaten a girl, Smaug must have known, when she had no chance of escape. And what had he said earlier? He could smell her fear from miles away?

With a sigh, she accepted that she might be staying here a while.

"Here" looked exactly how she would expect a ransacked kingdom to look. She could see shadows of distance fires yet to die out, and a majority of the supports had been crushed during Smaug's invasion. But worst was the stench. It was heavy and inescapable, and some part of her recognized it immediately. Burnt flesh. Nalene didn't even want to consider how many had died in Smaug's attack, but the smell told her the number was heartbreaking.

What was it the legends said? Dragon covet gold above all else? If so, Nalene understood why he chose Erebor.

Gold was piled up in mounds like sand dunes of riches, more wealth that she'd ever seen- than anyone could ever have seen, surely. It made her nearly forget the dragon, and that was a feat worthy of her respect. This is what the Dwarven King had possessed? Never in all her life would she imagined this sort of wealth rested just miles from her home in the Lonely Mountain. She had heard the stories of Erebor's wealth, but this... Nalene had grown up in wealth, but what she'd known was nothing compared to this.

What did Smaug want with a Gondorian princess? Nalene nibbled her thumbnail. What would she do when he discovered she wasn't what she thought? She bet the daughter of a merchant was of no interest to Smaug.

He'd said he was curious, but about what?

Afraid of moving too far and losing herself in the sea of gold, Nalene found the nearest column. She settled against it and prepared to wait.

It was not long before the pillager himself returned. There was no missing it, not with the dead silence that resided in Erebor now. Besides, Smaug was too huge in maneuver the mountain unheard, like an giant amongst children's toys. He couldn't move in the mountain without creating a noticeable racket.

She was leaning against the column when he returned, and he spotted her immediately.

"Ah, yes. You."

She flinched back, eyes unable decide what to watch, his talons? His teeth? His wings?

He regarded her for a moment- inspecting his plunder, she thought inwardly. She felt like her father's goods during inspection. He made no pretense of doing anything else either, and she was pinned beneath his forward gaze. Wrapped around the column as she was reminded Nalene of the witches burned on the stake. Would he change his mind and eat her now?

Nalene wouldn't consider herself especially talented at reading someone's expressions but with a dragon it was nearly impossible. She hadn't the faintest hint at what he was thinking when he spoke.

"You do not resemble your ancestors," he announced, his eyes narrowing. "I remember you differently."

Her eyebrows pinched together. "I-"

"Humans," he spat. "Populous as flies, and twice as irritating. They have always been insignificant, but you... you look especially puny."

Nalene was average sized, maybe somewhat closer to the shorter end of the spectrum. Growing up she had always been the shortest in the house. Of course, anyone would be dwarfed besides Smaug.

"I am as tall as I will ever be," she tried, unsure what he wished to hear.

He sniffed imperiously, obviously unimpressed, but all Nalene could remember was what he'd said before. I could smell your fear miles away... No doubt he smelt it now as well. There would be no hiding from Smaug in here.

"Then you have shrunk in the past millennium," he retorted, eyeing her distastefully. Nalene gathered he was referring to the human race in general again. "Isn't your Numenorean blood supposed to keep you big and strong."

The Numenoreans- Nalene had heard the stories of the ancient people who founded Gondor, but she only knew the basics, and that had been so long ago. By now it was rare to find anyone with a trace of that blood in them.

It's...diluted by now... O Intimidating Smaug..?"

"You do not sound so sure."

She cleared her throat nervously, eyes flickering up to him for a second. "I have never given it much thought, Most Impressive Smaug."

"And what were you doing cowering in the plains? Very far from Gondor, aren't you." He still sounded suspicious, but she could also detect a layer of curiosity. At least she hoped that's what it was.

"Umm, because..."

He waited.

"Because I was kidnapped. Two thieves after my necklace. Maybe you," she gave a weak shrug, eyes on the ground again, "maybe you saw them, on horseback, when you... flew over," when you flew over and set fire to everything, including them probably.

He let out a long breath, and lowered himself onto the gold, head propped up as his keen eyes narrowed at her. "And why would two thieves take the whole princess, and not just her necklace?" He asked slowly, eyeing her like he couldn't decide whether or not to believe her.

Before he had loomed over her in a blatant display of intimidation, but now his head was almost level with hers. It was slightly better, but Nalene didn't undestand why he would relax all of the sudden. Either way, the words flowed from her mouth a little easier now.

"They found me in the gardens during my party." Her face screwed up as she recalled the bad memory. "They wanted my necklace, they'd found out-" found out it belonged to a princess once, she almost said "-...they found out how much it would be worth, but their hands were too big, too clumsy, and they couldn't get it off. I think," her voice fell to a whisper, "I think they were going to kill me, and then take the necklace. One way or the other..."

It was nice to share her story with someone, even him. As she finished a heavy silence occupied the space with Nalene contemplating her earlier circumstances and the dragon watching the concern and fear flash over her expressive face.

Smaug broke the silence with a dry tone. "It did not occur to you to simply remove it yourself?"

Nalene blinked, mind clearing. "I guess I didn't think of that..."

He made some sort of rumble in the back of his throat, more annoyed than angry. "Of course you didn't," he concluded, looking down at her with a vaguely disgusted expression.

Slightly insulted, Nalene's back straightened. No manners! Dragon or not, hadn't he heard of common courtesy? "I was under a lot of stress," she defended. "They attacked me, one was going to... to- it was terrifying."

She watched as something in Smaug's eyes hardened, and for a thick, tense moment he stared at her. As the silence continued on Nalene had a growing sense of foreboding, and she was unable to hold Smaug's intense glare for long.

"Terrifying." He hissed spitefully, rising to his full height. "Those two little thieves I scorched scared you? They are nothing compared to me. They are not terrifying, I am!" His claws dug into the gold beneath him as he seethed. "Would you like to see terrifying? To feel your bones ache?"

She jumped at the fierce display and scrambled behind the column. He snapped, growling, and swerved around the column, pining her against the the stone with his furious glare.

"You impudent girl! Insolent! If princesses weren't rare to find I would kill you now," he snarled, snapping his jaws with restrained rage.

Baffled by his sudden outburst, Nalene could only stare in muted horror.

"You would insult me? I have burned the people of Dale, I have torched the plains and forests! The mountain is dead! Dale is dead!"

"Please-"

"I will not be swayed by begging," he spat.

"I didn't mean it like that," she pleaded frantically, "You... you are far more impressive than them! Much bigger, stronger, and smarter!"

That seemed to pacify him a little because he stopped snarling.

"The most impressive," she continued, swallowing her hurt. "Destroying Dale was a very...stunning feat, only the best could do that. And taking Erebor, look at all your treasure!"

There was a low growl in his throat, but Smaug moved back. Nalene's heartbeat was finally returning to reasonable levels when his attention returned to her, but thankfully the rage was gone from him. "Flattery will get you nowhere," he warned her, sounding resentful.

She accepted his threat with a quick nod but did not take it to heart. It was unnerving, how mercurial his moods seemed. His ego ruled him, and she would not forget it. Backing away, she found another column a safer distance from where he was settling down.


With it's cold glinting treasures, vast echoing chambers, lifeless halls, and shadowed, unlit corners it would make sense for Erebor to be cold. A tomb, a massive, burnt tomb is what she'd imagined. But she hadn't taken Smaug into account. The dragon gave off heat like the sun, warming the entire mountain till only the farthest reaches were frigid. Sleeping directly on the coins gave her horrible bruises and aches, but at least she was never cold.

She missed her soft bed, her maids, her home.

The day before while Smaug slept she found a source of water deeper in the halls, in what may have been a kitchen. Sadly there had been no food, only charred, indistinguishable lumps.

It had been nearly three days since she'd eaten, but she hadn't found the courage to face Smaug. She wasn't even sure he intended to feed her at all. Maybe he wouldn't care that her stomach ached, that she already felt a little weaker.

Smaug was sleeping again. He'd submerged himself into the coins somewhere a bit off to the left, and once again Nalene was left to her own devices. He had been rather disinterested in her after the initial day. Now he seemed content to treat her the same was he did the rest of his treasure. When he was awake- something that had been rare the past two days- he hardly deemed it worthwhile to talk to her- it was like he'd forgotten this particular treasure was alive and breathing.

Nalene kept away from the coins he was nestled into as she walked. She went over the mounds of coins carefully, not wanting to risk disturbing the dragon. She picked her way to one of the ramps leading up the raised walkways. On the first day she had caught sight of the elevated pathways, snaking along the walls and high above the sea of wealth. Some of them were destroyed, but a fair portion still stood. It was relaxing to Nalene, being so high above the rest of it. From the walkways she could clearly see all the way to the far wall, and it was nice knowing she had no chance of stepping on Smaug up there. Nalene imagined stepping on him would be similar to stepping on a snake- practically asking to get bitten.

Hanging her legs over the edge of the walkway- the dwarves evidently did not believe in railings- she brushed pieces of hair from her face. She stared at the gold beneath her despondently. Her chin started quivering. Steadying herself with a deep breath, she sniffed and reached for her necklace.

Her fingers traced over the designs as they slid behind her neck to the latch. It took her four tries to finally get it off, and then she couldn't decide whether the absence of weight on her neck was unnerving or soothing.

Now that she'd seen all Smaug's treasure the beauty of it was lessened, and she couldn't bring herself to see what had enchanted her so much before.

Lips twitching, she held her gift out over the edge. She stared at it, remembering the two leering thieves pulling at the necklace still around her neck. She was tempted to drop it. Finding it again in the sea of gold would be nearly impossible.

Then she remembered how she'd begged for it, and how pleased she'd been when her father had finally given it to her.

She pulled it back, and returned it to it's place around her neck.

Besides, she reminded herself sullenly, Smaug would notice, and how would she explain herself then?