In the morning, I wake before him. I leave the bed and clean myself before going downstairs to have some food. While eating, my mind can't help but drift to Thror and Thrain. What if they didn't die? What if they made it out and are trying to find us? I have this feeling in my gut that they still live, yet I have no proof to even think this. Do I bring this up to someone? I am so lost in thought I don't even register Thorin sitting beside me.

"What is it that causes you to look so?" Thorin's voice brings me from my questions. I look to him and smile as best I can considering where my mind was.

"Thinking about everything again." I lie easily. He nods in understanding.

"Well do not think of such things. It is done and everything is in the past now. Focus on the here and now, or else your food will become anothers." Thorin teases and grabs some of the food off my plate and shoves it in his mouth. I gasp and slap him lightly.

"Thief!" I accuse playfully and we both fall into light laughter.

"What are you doing today?" He asks me when we both have stopped laughing.

"I suppose not much. I have work later. And you?" I ask him back.

"I was hoping you would join me for a midday meal picnic." He tells me. I am in shock! It is a romantic gesture to be sure.

"That sounds delightful." I tell him with a big grin on my face now.

"Perfect. But for now I must go talk with the blacksmith. It looks as if I might find some employ there." He tells me quickly. Thorin gives me a soft peck on the cheek before standing and leaving the inn.

"Dis, I have a question for you." I say as I walk up to my friend. She looks at me as I approach and smiles.

"What is it then?" She asks wanting to know.

"Do you think your father or the king could still be alive? Do you think they could have gotten lost if they made it out late from the mountain?" I am straight to the point. Her face goes slack. No emotion whatsoever.

"I… I suppose it is possible but not likely. Why would you ask such a thing? Did you hear something?" Dis asks getting more and more frantic.

"No. But I can't help but have this feeling right here." I say as I put my hand on my stomach.

"Are you sure you aren't the pregnant one?" Dis teases. I gasp at the thought.

"Dis, I am being serious. What if one of them is hurt and so they are moving slowly. Maybe they are out there on the road right now, trying to get here." I push. She sighs.

"I don't think that is what is happening. Thank you for having hope but I don't think that is what my people need right now. At least not hope in that. Let Thorin lead them. He can do this." Dis tries to make me stand down. For her sake, I will. But I will not ignore my gut on this. I will do this on my own if I must.

"Dis, I apologize. I didn't mean to make you upset or say Thorin isn't ready to be king. Let us drop the subject. Tell me, have you told your husband about the baby?" I change the subject to something, hopefully, more joyous. Dis shakes her head but smiles.

"Our anniversary is in a month. I want to tell him then." She confides.

"That is perfect! Oh he will be so surprised. You must tell me his reaction to the news!" I squeal excitedly. We both erupt into laughter.

"Oh of course I will." She tells me.

"Oh no. I have to go. I took an earlier shift. See you at supper?" She asks me.

"Of course. See you then." I say as she goes off to go into the back of the inn. I end up going into town to see if I can find the library I found before. A book for my down time seems like a good idea. I make sure to be back at the inn by midday so I can meet Thorin for our picnic!

Midday comes soon enough. I put the book I picked up under my pillow and then go back downstairs to wait for my betrothed.

"Ready, my love?" He surprises me with his voice coming from behind me. I whirl around and smile at him. I see he has a basket and a cloth on top of it.

"Ready." I confirm. I take his free arm and we walk to the entrance of the town. Right outside the entrance is a nice meadow before leading into trees that reach until the Lonely Mountain.

Thorin places the basket on the ground and unfolds the cloth so it creates a clean place for us to sit. It is more than I expected. Thorin then grabs the basket of food and places it on the cloth. Next, he offers me his hand to help me sit. He is truly a gentleman. As soon as I am sat, he joins me.

"It is such a beautiful day." I comment on the nice weather and lushes greenery around us.

"I can think of something more so." Thorin says. I look to him and blush at his intense stare and kind words.

"You flatter me." I throw back at him and look away. He is quick to grab my hand and bring my attention back to him. He rubs small circles with his thumb like he did in the library at the mountain.

"I know you aren't there yet, but I do mean it when I say I love you. When I say you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. That I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Thorin says getting extremely personal and sharing his feelings and thoughts with me.

"Thorin…" It comes out as a whisper. I have nothing to say to that. He is right. I am not there yet. But I know it will happen. I know that much about us.

"You don't have to say anything now. But I won't lie and say I don't look forward to the day you return my feelings completely." He continues. I can feel the tears forming. I know he didn't mean to guilt me but that is what happened. Thorin must see the tears coming because he is quick to release my hand and put his hand on my cheek and wipe a stray that falls.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ruin our time together by crying." I apologize. He brushes another escaped tear away from my face.

"You did not ruin this. Please, don't cry." He tells me sweetly. I do my best to stop myself from crying anymore and just enjoy our time. It takes a moment but I am able to choke back the sadness and guilt I feel and be in the moment. I give him a small smile and he returns it. He drops his hand from my cheek back to my hand.

"May I ask a personal question?" He suddenly asks of me.

"We are to be wed. Of course you can." I tease lightly. He smirks at me before asking.

"What is it you saw for your life? I know when you came to Erebor it was not your intention to be betrothed to me." He asks of me. I look to the sky and think back on what I wanted only so short a time before now.

"I guess… I wanted just to be happy. I wasn't sure how that was going to be achieved, honestly. I guess I thought I would meet a man, fall in love, marry and then start a life together. Maybe I could even find work as something to fill part of my time." The story comes easily enough and it is true. It would seem my life didn't go according to my plan but I can't say I am unhappy. I look to Thorin to see what he thinks of this.

"Are you?" He asks me seriously.

"Am I what?" I ask for clarification.

"Happy. Are you happy? With me." He adds. I smile at him and lean in for a kiss. He obliges me.

"I am. Very much so." I confirm when we separate. His face lights up with a smile. I can't help but do the same.

"And what about you, Thorin? What did you want before I came into your life?" I throw the question back at him. He takes much longer to answer.

"I wanted to be king but not like this. I also thought I would marry whomever my family picked for me. I would have at least one boy, to take the throne after me. A daughter if I was lucky. We would live in peace in Erebor." He says the last part with much sadness.

"Perhaps one day you will be able to return, hmm?" I try to instill some hope in him.

"Perhaps. But for now, let us eat." He says and begins to spread the food he brought out and we each make a plate. We continue to eat and talk until it is time for me to get back to the inn. I have to grab my uniform before going to work.

I arrive to work a bit early and change into my uniform. Since I am there early, I get to work early.

"Hello, Alvina." I hear the master greet as I make my way down the halls. I stop and force a smile out.

"Hello, sir." I greet before trying to continue onward.

"Alvina, dear, come help me with this." He says before I can leave. I sigh internally and follow him into his bedroom.

"What is it you need help with, sir?" I ask as I stand by the door. He is by his nightstand. An easel is set up at the foot of his bed. A canvas is already perched on it, ready to be painted.

"Lie on the bed for me, please. I wish to paint something beautiful." He tells me. I freeze.

"Dear, lie on the bed. I promise I won't bite." He teases me, the last part sounding like a lie completely.

"I don't feel comfortable doing that, sir." I tell him honestly, hoping he will be kind and let me go back to cleaning.

"Don't be shy, dear. What is bothering you? Never been in a man's bed before?" He teases me more. A blush begins to creep up my face because I currently share a bed at the inn with a man. The master must take my blush as him being right, though, because he laughs.

"I love an innocent girl. Would it help if you had some wine? I have a glass on the nightstand. You are free to have some to calm yourself." He offers me. I look at the glass then back at him.

"If you have nothing for me to clean I will leave, sir." I tell him, trying to give him the hint while offering a solution.

"Fine. At least take the wine, though. For the discomfort I caused you." He says as he goes to the nightstand and brings me the wine. I eye it warily. Something in my stomach tells me not to trust this man or his drink.

"Thank you but I don't enjoy wine. Excuse me." I say and slip out of the room. A curse is heard from the other side of the door as I walk away. Perhaps I should find employ elsewhere. The warning I got from Amanda comes into my mind and I can't help but think she might know something. I go to find her instead of cleaning.

I end up finding her in the study, searching through the drawers of the master's desk.

"Amanda, I have a question for you." I say quietly, so as to not scare her. It doesn't work and she jumps as she slams shut the drawer she was looking in.

"Alvina, I didn't hear you come in. What question did you have?" She asks, not wanting to reference what she was caught doing.

"Has the master ever had you lie on his bed so he could paint you? Did he offer you wine?" I ask. Her face pales.

"Did he just make you do that? Did you drink the wine?" Amanda starts to get a bit frantic.

"No. I left. He offered me just the wine but I refused that too. What is wrong?" I ask her as I step closer.

"I warned you not to work here. It would seem he is moving faster with you. Maybe because you are only here for a short amount of time. It doesn't matter. Find work somewhere else. He will eventually get you to drink the wine." Amanda warns me.

"But I need the money. And I shouldn't be here longer than another two weeks at most. I can handle myself, but thank you. I will be more careful now." I tell her before going off to find something to clean in the house.

I up with Dis at supper and I tell her what happened at my job.

"You need to tell Thorin at once! He can protect you from that vile human." Dis exclaims.

"Shh! I don't want to tell him this. If I did he would have me quit and use this experience to never let me work again. We need the coin too much at the moment. Please, Dis, don't say anything to him." I beg of my friend. She doesn't want to agree, I can tell, but she does so anyway.

"Fine. But if anything else happens you need to tell Thorin." She warns me. I nod in agreement.

"Of course." I agree. We end up spending the night together, talking. Thorin, Balin and Dis' husband joined us a bit later and we had a wonderful time amongst ourselves before going off to bed.