Chapter Seventeen
When Thorin and Bernadette entered the Mountain, hand in hand, everyone smiled brightly as they entered. Thorin took notice that Dain and his dwarves already arrived. Gandalf greeted them. "I see the two of you made up." said the wizard. "Yes." said Thorin, as the two looked at each other and smiled. "Come Bernadette, its time for me to introduce you to my kin!" said Thorin. Bernadette quickly turned to Gandalf. "Where's Bilbo?" asked Bernadette. "He's with the Men and Elves Bernadette. Remember, Thorin had banished him." said the wizard sadly. "Do you think there's a way I can convince Thorin in undoing the banishment!" whispered Bernadette. "Go ahead and try, Bernadette. I wish you the best of luck." said Gandalf.
Bernadette nodded, and she turned to Thorin, and she joined him among the other dwarves, as Thorin introduces her to Dain, and the dwarves of the Iron Hills. Dain smiled congratulating the two of the engagement. But Bernadette didn't feel happy. She felt a part of her was missing. And that part of her, was her brother Bilbo. "Thorin, after this meeting, we need to talk." said Bernadette. "Okay." said Thorin, smiling at her. Later, when the meeting ended, Thorin walked over to Bernadette, whom appeared rather sad.
"Bernadette, what's wrong? You still look sad! We made amends." said Thorin. "Its not that, Thorin. I want my brother at our wedding, and if you aren't going to have then, then I'm afraid I cannot marry you." said Bernadette looking into Thorin's eyes, she stood up, and before she walked away, Thorin stopped her. "Bernadette…" began Thorin. "You heard me, Thorin Oakenshield. You wrongly banished my brother. Its not fair! He's my brother! I want him there to see us marry." said Bernadette. Bernadette walked away from Thorin.
Thorin decided he needed some fresh air, and he stepped out onto the balcony. Balin was already outside, and he noticed sadness clouding Thorin's features. "Are you okay, Thorin?" asked Balin. "She rejected me, Balin." said Thorin sadly. "What?" asked Balin. "She told me she wouldn't marry me, because I banished Bilbo from returning to Erebor." said Thorin. "Thorin, maybe you should undo those words and talk to Bilbo, and offer him back. He had his reasons of taking the Arkenstone. All they ever done was to try and save you." said Balin, gently.
"I know. They have saved me." said Thorin. "All you need to do is find Bilbo and talk to him before the night is over. We have a big battle tomorrow." said Balin. Thorin nodded.
"You are right, Balin. I will go and talk to him. I will fix this." said Thorin. Thorin put on his cloak, and made his way down the mountain to the camp of the Elves and Men. Bard, whom was on first watched noticed the dwarf king approaching the camp. "Well, this is a surprise! You are coming down here to make a deal with us?" said Bard. "Yes, and I'm also here to speak with Bilbo." said Thorin. "You look troubled? Having woman issues?" asked Bard. "How did you know that?" asked Thorin, folding his arms across his chest. "By the look on your face." said Bard.
"Miss Baggins has refused to marry me unless I make amends with her brother. That is one of the reasons why I'm here." said Thorin. "Yes, it was rather harsh of you to send someone who saved your life away from you. He is terribly upset, Thorin." said Bard, darkly. "Don't make this any worse than it is already, human!" snapped Thorin. "Come, I'll show you to him!" said Bard. As Thorin followed Bard into the camp, Thorin noticed Kili is there, and he was talking to Tauriel merrily, and kissing her hands. At first anger came over him, but then he quickly dismissed it. He had other things to settle, he would deal with Kili later.
"Mister Baggins, you have a visitor!" smiled Bard. "Who is it?" asked Bilbo.
Thorin stepped forward. "Thorin!" exclaimed the hobbit standing up, quickly backing away. "Bilbo, don't go! I won't hurt you, I promise! I came to apologize!" said Thorin quickly, placing his hand on the hobbit's shoulders. Bilbo relaxed. "Yes, you do owe me an apology, Thorin Oakenshield. You really have said some hurtful things to me, not to mention my shoulders still hurt from you shaking me!" said Bilbo, sharply. "Bilbo, I came to apologize for the words I said to you at the Front Gate. You and Bernadette were only tried to help me. And I appreciated you try and help." said Thorin.
"Thorin, I regretted for taking the Arkenstone from you, in fact, I have convinced Bard in returning it to you. Here…" said Bilbo, taking out the jewel from his pocket. "Bilbo-no, you don't have to do this!" protested Thorin. "Thorin, it is your right to rule, its yours! Take it!" said Bilbo. "Bilbo-I don't know what to say." said Thorin. "A thank you would be nice." smirked the hobbit. Thorin laughed. "Thank you." said Thorin. "Bernadette. Is she still upset with you?" asked Bilbo. "Yes, actually she is. She told me if I don't make amends with you, she won't marry me. She wants you there at the wedding. And I want you there at our wedding." said Thorin, smiling.
"How about joining us for supper tonight?" asked Thorin. Bilbo smiled. "I like that. Besides that, I'm missing my sister horribly, and I very much like to see her." said Bilbo. "Your wish is granted. You will go and see your sister!" smiled Thorin. Thorin and Bilbo hugged. "Just a little heads up, Thorin. Kili is here in the camp, he's spending time with Tauriel." said Bilbo. "Let him have his fun." said Thorin. "You're not going to get angry, or curse at the elves for taking Kili away?" teased Bilbo. "No-when I looked at them earlier, I seen how happy the two of them are together. And it makes me happy." said Thorin.
Bilbo laughed. "Kili would be pleased to hear that." said Bilbo. "My nephews and I aren't at the best of terms right now either." said Thorin, as they made their way up the Mountain. "Why?" asked Bilbo. "For one, leaving them behind in Lake Town, two, I said something that I should've never had said to them, in fact, quite a few things I have said I've should've never said to them." said Thorin. "Maybe now's the time you set things right with Fili and Kili. Of course, you'll have to wait until Kili comes back from his time with Captain Tauriel." said Bilbo.
Thorin chuckled. "Yes." said Thorin. The entered the Mountain.
When they entered the Great Hall, everyone smiled brightly as Thorin entered alongside with Bilbo. "My dear brother!" exclaimed Bernadette running to him. "Bernadette, I missed you!" said Bilbo, hugging his sister. "I missed you too." said Bernadette. "Thorin has spoken to me, and I accepted his apology. He has welcomed me back to the kingdom." said Bilbo. Bernadette smiled at Thorin. "Now marry the dwarf already, Bernadette!" Bilbo ordered his sister playfully. Bernadette laughed. "Alright, alright. I'll marry Thorin. Are you happy now, Bilbo?" said Bernadette.
Thorin stood behind Bernadette, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You hear that, Bernie? Your brother gave us his blessing!" smirked the dwarf. And everyone laughed. "Thorin, we're about to play some music if you want to join in with us!" called out Fili, holding up his fiddle. Thorin smiled. "Ready to listen to some dwarven music?" asked Thorin. "We're ready!" smiled Bilbo and Bernadette together, and they followed Thorin over to where the other dwarves are sitting. One of the dwarves brought Thorin's harp down to him. Thorin sat down, pulling the harp to his shoulder and chest.
Thorin positioned his large fingers on the silver strings, and he started to play, followed by the other dwarves on their instruments. After playing instrumentally for a while, Thorin started to sing, his beautiful deep baritone rising above the music. The other dwarves joined in with him. Bernadette smiled brightly at Thorin. She noticed he looked more handsome than he ever had been before, dressed in his new armor and dark blue leather tunic. His blue eyes sparkled as he sang, reflected in the light of the room.
And his voice and music left her spell bound, because it was so beautiful and enchanting. She felt her body feeling weak as she watched him. Tauriel and Kili had just now entered the hall, and they stood observing the music and singing played by Thorin and the rest of the dwarves. Tauriel smiled. "Oh, we came too late. I wanted to join them." said Kili. "You play music?" asked Tauriel. "I play fiddle and harp. Well, I'm still learning the harp, though. I can play the fiddle rather well!" grinned Kili. "I play the harp, which most elves do. I haven't touched a harp in a long, long time. I've been too busy as Captain of the Elf King's Guard." said Tauriel.
"Don't you ever take time out to enjoy their feasts? You would've had the opportunity to play a harp then." said Kili. Tauriel chuckled.
"I do have time, but I'm never much in a mood to play anyways. I sort of lost interest in it. But I enjoy dancing though. I remember as a little girl, I would dance in the forests all the time and sing. Most of the time I would be alone, hopefully no one would notice me. I sing pretty good, I suppose." said Tauriel. "Pretty good? All elves have beautiful voices! I can imagine, you have a beautiful voice yourself!" said Kili, grinning. "How do you know? You never heard me sing." said Tauriel. "But I hear you talk! And that night you chanted that incantation when you heal me, your voice really sounded beautiful then!" whispered Kili, placing his hand on Tauriel's cheek. "Kili!" said Tauriel.
Kili wrapped his arm around Tauriel's waist, tilting her head towards his, and just as he was about to kiss her on the lips, Fili leapt over to them. "Hey! Come and join us! We're going to sing some more! The kissing can wait until later!" beamed Fili. "Do you mind, Fili? We're having a moment here." said Kili, glaring at his brother. "I said your moment can wait, we want you to join us." said Fili. "This is your opportunity to see my musical talents!" grinned Kili. Tauriel smiled as she followed Kili as they joined the others. Kili picked up his fiddle and joined them.
"I see Kili has finally joined in!" laughed Bernadette. "He's been rather busy with Tauriel lately! You know they're officially courting!" said Bilbo. "Are they really?!" said Bernadette with excitement. Bilbo nodded. "He asked her a couple days ago and she accepted." said Bilbo. "Isn't that too cute?" laughed Bernadette. "Talk about cute! You and Thorin are the cute ones!" joked Bilbo. "You better not tell Thorin that!" shot back Bernadette playfully. "No! Because he would hang me by my undergarments on a tree some where!" laughed Bilbo, and the two of them chuckled.
After all the dwarves finished with the music, Thorin approached Bernadette. Thorin was ready to retire for the night, and wanted to retire to his room. "Are you going to join me, Bernadette?" asked Thorin. Bernadette smiled, and she took Thorin's hand as he guided her to his bed quarters. As they entered the room, Thorin closed the door behind them. They sat down on the bed together, as Thorin undressed. Bernadette already had her night gown on. They shortly laid down together in the bed, Thorin taking Bernadette in his arms. Bernadette laid her head gently on Thorin's chest.
"You know this may be our last night together." said Thorin, caressing Bernadette's cheek.
"Well lets make the best of tonight!" whispered Bernadette. "You are right!" purred Thorin, and he leaned towards her, kissing her passionately on the lips, and they kissed for a long time, until sleep clouded over them. When the kiss broke, Bernadette closed her eyes, as she continued resting on Thorin's chest. "I love you, Bernadette!" whispered Thorin. "I love you too, Thorin!" said Bernadette, and she drifted off to sleep. Thorin sighed, he too fell into sleep, holding Bernadette in his arms.