Chapter 18

Never ask a dwarf for marriage advice.

Don't ask a male dwarf—if he's anything like Gloin, he'll just say, "Never go to bed angry. Stay up and fight!"

And never, ever ask a female dwarf—if she's anything like Gloin's wife Fulla, she'll give you a long, well organized lecture with plenty of details and an analysis of applicable precedents. She made my head spin.

She said, "Listen to your wife. Bring her lots of gifts."

There was more, but I can't remember it off the top of my head. That's not a problem, though—Fulla made me take notes.

Gloin and Fulla lived in a pleasant home on a tranquil side street not too far from the Great Hall. They seemed happy together. Gloin's hair-trigger temper and tendency to shout at the least provocation didn't seem to bother Fulla at all. And whenever Gloin's gaze lighted on Fulla and the baby, he seemed to calm down a little.

Their baby son Gimli was a likely young dwarfling, barely old enough to bang his first hammer against his very own miniature anvil. His mother gazed fondly at him as she told me what a husband should do to promote maximum harmony in his married life.

I'd heard Fulla was a beauty, and she was: Raven-black hair, blue eyes and creamy skin, a lovely black beard framing her face and a full, sturdy figure with healthy muscles. She had that vibrant energy about her, a kind of natural glow that made you think that here was a woman who enjoyed her life. Zest—that's what she had. She made you think that nothing was impossible.

I raised the burning question.

"Oh, don't talk to me about that damned Quest," Fulla exclaimed. "Gloin and I had a battle royal over that one, I can tell you! We broke practically every piece of crystal in the house. Lucky for us we still had the pewter stuff from long ago."

She eyed the pewter mug I'd been drinking from. "Oh, Mahal, did you get one of the dented mugs? Gloin, I thought we were saving those for family use only!" She grabbed it away from me.

"I don't mind," I said, trying to take my mug back. "Ale tastes just as good in a dented mug."

"No! It's just not right." Fulla held it out of my reach. "I'll get you another one."

Gloin snatched it out of her hand and scowled at it. "What dent? I hammered out all the dents already!"

"It's fine," I roared. "Give it back and let me finish my ale."

Gloin handed it back to me. He didn't even seem to notice that I'd raised my voice. "Certainly, old fellow. Let me know when you're ready for more."

I turned back to Fulla. "So you no longer have a problem with Gloin going on the quest?"

"Of course I have a problem with it," Fulla said indignantly. "It's a crazy idea. But my parents came from Erebor. They never got over Smaug's desecration of their home. I know they would have wanted to see it taken back. Also, those crack-brains going with Thorin need an accountant, and Gloin's good at that."

She glanced his way. He puffed up proudly and said, "That's not all I'm good at."

Then the two of them traded a look that could have melted steel. She blushed pink as her generous bosom heaved, and he was breathing heavily through his nose. It was embarrassing as hell. I just wanted to find Var and…and…

Then Fulla was talking to me again. "Besides, Gloin assures me that there's a chance the dragon is dead or gone. And he's promised me that the Company is not going to confront the dragon head-on. They're just going to survey the situation from a safe distance."

I raised my eyebrows at Gloin.

He cleared his throat. "Of course, my darling. That's why we've got a wizard coming with us—to do the dragon-battling. Also, Gandalf will be bringing along a colleague. Someone with special skills."

They shared another one of those heated looks, so I glanced away and jotted down a few more notes. No direct confrontation, merely observation from safe distance—check. Wizard with skilled associate—check.

I moved on to the next problem. "The other thing is this wedding contract. Is there some way to do something about that?"

I explained the business about the month's betrothal and the wedding. Why couldn't we get married now? Or perhaps wait until I came back?

"Hmm," Fulla said, frowning. "I'm not sure why a month is necessary in this case, but contracts can be modified by agreement of the parties. Why don't we go and talk to Var about this?"

So baby Gimli was left in the care of Uncle Dron, his usual caretaker, while we walked back to The Mithril Mattock. I hoped Fulla could talk Var around to a more sensible arrangement.

We went up to Var's room. It was neat and tidy and there was no sign of her. None of her crimson dresses were in sight.

"Has she gone out somewhere?" Fulla asked. "Shopping, perhaps?"

I looked around with a sinking heart. "I don't know."

"Fine way for her to treat visitors," Gloin growled.

Fulla opened the wardrobe and peeked inside. "This is empty. If Var is staying here, where have her things gone?"

The innkeeper was a grumpy fellow with a nose like a potato and a big white apron around his middle. We bearded him in his private office downstairs, and he answered our questions irritably. The lady had left a few hours ago. Yes, he'd seen her leave. No, he didn't know where she had gone. And it wasn't his place to ask her, now was it?

"This is crazy," I said, pacing around the small office. "Why would she leave? Where would she go?"

Fulla turned to the innkeeper. "Did she say anything at all to you?"

"No, of course she was too important to talk to the likes of me," the innkeeper said sourly. "Just flung some coins at me and stalked out."

That didn't sound like Var to me. "What was the problem?"

"No problems! No problem at all," the innkeeper nearly shouted. "Our food here is always fresh and well-prepared. If anyone in this inn gets sick, it's nothing to do with us."

"Who was sick?" Fulla said, before I could ask.

"Her maid," the innkeeper said, as if it were obvious. "But that wasn't the fault of this inn! Whatever illness that woman had—and she certainly seemed ill, lying on that stretcher moaning and squirming under that blanket—she must have brought in with her, because it's nothing to do with us. I've told my housekeeping staff to clean the room very thoroughly, just to make sure."

Gloin looked at me, and I looked at Fulla. I said, "Var didn't have a maid."

We ran back up the stairs to the room. It was empty. I stood in the middle and turned around, looking at every corner. Spotless. Someone had already cleaned it.

Gloin sighed gustily and flung himself into a chair. "This isn't good."

The innkeeper trailed behind us. "Now what is it? What's going on? I don't want any more trouble, do you hear?"

Fulla sat down on the bed, frowning.

I kept pacing and turning. I opened the wardrobe, looked inside. Nothing. I looked around at the floor, then knelt down to peer under the bed. Not even dust. Nothing, except—a faint gleam behind one of the legs of the bed.

"Hmmm." I scrambled under the bed and swept my hand gently along the floor until I touched a small bead. It skittered away. I trapped it under my fingers and pulled it out. "Look at this."

It was one of Var's pearls, together with the pin that held it in her hair. A few strands of gold were trapped in the pin.

"Oh, that's beautiful. Is it hers?" Fulla held out her hand and I placed the bauble on her palm, nodding. She poked delicately at it. "These pins, when you wear them, are meant to stay put. So it must have been torn from her hair."

I lost my head a little bit at that point. "Speak, you," I roared picking up the innkeeper and shaking him like a rat. "What did this woman look like? Who was with her? Where did they go?"

The fellow didn't say a word, just hung there with his face turning red and his mouth open, clawing at my fingers. I shook him some more.

Fulla patted my arm patiently. "Dwalin, you're choking him. He can't say anything until you let go of his neck."

I dropped him. He lay on the floor, gasping in an overly dramatic fashion. I glared down at him. "All right. Now, talk."

The woman he'd taken for Var wore a red cloak with the hood up, so he didn't really get a good look at her face. Two male servants carried a stretcher on which her "sick maid" lay, covered up. They had left after the bill was paid.

We questioned every member of the staff. Only a few had noticed the group leaving the inn. Nobody had thought anything of it.

"AGAIN?" shouted Aunt Nott. "She's disappeared again? What is wrong with this woman?"

Gloin and Fulla sat on the sofa in Aunt Nott's offices and looked uncomfortable.

I explained to my aunt that this time, Var hadn't left by her own free will. I also filled her in on the whole business with Var's father's ring and the wizard who was after her.

My aunt listened with her eyebrows raised, then gestured over her shoulder to call Nandi to her side. She murmured a few words to him. He nodded and left.

I paced around the room. "I know Var's in trouble. But why?" I slammed my fist down on the desk's hard granite surface. "Who has done this? What am I supposed to do next?"

"We'll look into it, Dwalin," Aunt Nott said. "Now sit down before you break something."

Sitting down was the last thing I wanted to do. Sitting down was useless. I glared at my aunt. "Don't worry, I'm not going to bust up your fancy desk."

"I was thinking of your hand," she replied tartly. She turned to Gloin's wife. "Now, Fulla, what is your analysis?"

The raven-haired beauty ticked them off on her fingers. "Number one, it's possible that she chose to leave for reasons of her own."

"No," I growled. There wasn't enough room to move in this office.

She ignored me. "Two, maybe this wizard has discovered that Var is still alive and has resumed his pursuit of her."

I scrubbed my hands over my face.

"Three, it could be someone else who has kidnapped her for another reason entirely."

Gloin growled to himself, and shook his head in frustration.

Aunt Nott waved her hands in a pacifying gesture. "Well, let's see what Nandi can turn up for us. Then—Mahal damn it, what do you think this place is, the Great Hall on market day, Thorin?"

I turned to see Thorin Oakenshield entering her office. He looked mildly surprised to see us all there. "We had an appointment, Lady Nott, to discuss financing arrangements for the quest."

"Oh, that's right. Sorry about that, my boy. I mean, your highness," Aunt Nott said. "This kidnapping business has me all on edge."

Thorin looked startled, and turned to me. I told him what had happened, and his expression changed to deep concern and distress. He gripped me by the shoulder. "What are you going to do?"

Aunt Nott said quickly, "We're working on it, Thorin."

He nodded, frowning at me. I knew he was thinking that he needed me on the quest. Now we were just a week away from leaving—he was wondering whether I would desert the quest.

I shook my head. "I'm coming with you. But I need to find Var first."

"Have you asked any of the members of the company?" he asked. "They will help you. Have them do what they each do best. We can meet at the end of the day and see what we've learned."

Help—that was a great idea. Hopeful plans to search Ered Luin bloomed in my head.

"Fulla and I will help," Gloin said, standing up.

His wife brushed off her skirts. "I'll talk to Dis first. We'll work on the women."

I looked around, my heart filled with gratitude. When I needed anything, these were the people who were by my side. For the first time since I picked up that discarded pearl, I felt sure I'd get Var back. "Thank you all."