Listen while you read: Norah Jones – Chasing Pirates (Santigold & Snotty Remix) or type in youtube and then add /watch?v=SVHl1O4CeIk&list=PLB0D827925814C3B6&index=2

Chapter 6

Fili watched Gulm rolled his eyes. "You'll have to forgive my brother. He's always had a twisted sense of humor," Gulm narrowed his gaze at Dul with a condescending look, "which others have always had a difficult time interpreting. Have a care, Dul, we are all weary with travel."

Dul's eyes glistened on his sad face and Fili thought the dwarf might at any moment resort to tears. It was an odd expression to see on such a dwarf—he mimicked his younger brother's appearance of muscle rolling over muscle, amplified by the brown linen shirt with cut off sleeves, and hardly a hair to speak of except a thick mustache. "I wish I could be careless enough to make such a jest."

Thorin's companions shifted uncomfortably, eyeing each other, but saying nothing.

"Then I hope you'll enlighten us." Thorin said protectively, fearing their host meant harm to them.

"None are able to leave because we are under siege." The weight of his voice and the way he crossed his arms reassured them that there was no mistake this assessment, though they had seen nothing to indicate a blockade.

"By whom?"

"We don't know."

Thorin rolled his eyes. "Then for what purpose? This post is a small village, what could anyone value from it?"

"Information." Dul lowered his eyes. He was not as forthcoming as Thorin would have liked, but he had cause to be suspicious of the travelers.

The Ambassador, Varak, stepped forward, sending Thorin a resentful look. "This is hardly an interrogation." Standing before Dul, he bowed low and held a warm smile. "We are here to offer whatever assistance we can, and to bring word back to King Dain of the Iron Hills of your predicament with reinforcements in tow if that is necessary."

Dul glanced at Varak sternly, halfway caught between sympathy and disgust. "Have you not heard what I said? We are not permitted to leave this fort, let alone send for reinforcements."

"Surely, the offenders would not dare to attack Thorin Oakenshield." Varak said.

Dul turned to face the sitting king, whose arms rested on the table and whose face resounded with thought. "You are Thorin?"

The greying dwarf nodded solemnly and Dul pushed past Varak to sit beside the king. "Then you may be the only one who can put an end to this hellish nightmare!"

Thorin reached out a hand to pat the thick forearm of the distressed Dul. "But you forget that I know next to nothing about your plight."

Dul sat back and pulled his arms to himself, looking exhausted and drawing in a deep breath.

"Almost two years ago, I was sent from the Iron Hills to re-establish contact with this quiet trading post. They had endured here without fear of the dragon who resides in the mountains behind us. Though their commerce was little, they were strong and they were adamant not to leave. Gold and jewels used to flow out of Erebor and down the mountain to this outpost, but by the time I arrived I found them to be selling livestock and furs. They did not know it, but they guarded something more valuable than the wares which they traded."

Fili and the rest weren't aware of it, but most of the listeners were leaning toward Dul.

"There were spies in our midst, dwarves with wicked intentions who sought a way into the mountain. Where the great battles at the front gates had failed, a stealthy few could creep into the halls from behind."

Thorin's heart rushed at these words. "Is there a way?"

Cautious eyes leveled with Thorin. "The builders must always have two ways out of the tunnels they build, and the great caverns of Erebor had more than one."

The blood in his veins burned fast in Fili and he glanced at Kili to see what he made of the news, but Kili was still hunched over the table, his forehead resting on his hand and the other arm thrown carelessly over the back of the chair.

"The passages have all been blocked off save two, and we rest close enough to them." Dul continued morosely, as though his story had burdened him heavily.

The heir of Erebor ran a few fingers over his beard and asked, "What became of the spies?"

Dul's head was ducked, but his eyes met Thorin's. "I unwittingly forced their hand with my arrival."

After a pause, the dismayed fellow continued, "They left the walls, but they did not really leave… we began to note that there were eyes in the forest and that any who travelled far from our gate did not come back. What began as ridiculous rumor became a hard reality when a large number left together and returned with a story that they had been attacked, though the account had hardly left their lips before they were run through with arrows from an unseen foe. Those were the days before the high walls."

Thorin nodded. "I noticed that your fortification is recent."

"Then your eyes may help us in identifying the faceless enemy which oppresses us. We used to be many, many more than what you see here. And now we are…" he grimaced, holding his forehead in his hand and trying to regain his composure. "They think we know the way into the mountain and they desire the secret deeply enough to make sure that none come in and none leave this fortress."

Fili leaned forward. "But do you know the way in?"

Dul shook his head. "Those who knew died and we guard clues to the whereabouts of the tunnel openings."

A heavy sigh left Varak and he ran toward the door. "If you'll excuse me…" and they heard him heaving outside.

Dul raised an eyebrow, but spoke on. "We fortified the trading post and we have tunnels under the wall to hunt and gather for ourselves—and a well inside the walls to draw drink from—but we cannot outlast the enemy who stops our comings and goings."

"Why do they persist in harassing you? Why do they not capture or kill you?" Gulm said shakily. His composure was off and his shoulders trembled though they shined with perspiration. Dul took in the sight of his sickly younger brother and gave him a pensive look before he answered.

"At first they guarded us and searched for it themselves—we know that because we could see movement in the rocks above us and torches by night—but now we know that they have not found it. Once every week for a year now, they call to us from the forest surrounding our walls and tell us they will set us free once we have told them how to enter the mountain."

Thorin's anger had grown all throughout the conversation, but now his nerves were on fire and he wanted to exert some powerful force and break something—though he knew it would give him little relief.

Gulm broke into a series of coughs and Dul looked broken with concern. Something was tugging at his mind, a marker that something terrible was about to happen, but he was so overjoyed to see his kin again that he paid little attention to it.

Dul was startled when Nur appeared at Gulm's side with a small bowl of water and a towel. He had not even seen her disappear into the kitchen to fetch those things, but he did not yet understand her determination to be self-sufficient and work quickly to aid other people.

"You need to sleep." She cooed at Gulm, dabbing the wet towel on his head. "As does Kili and Varak, whom I have not seen return." She glanced at the doorway and saw Gren returning from the porch.

"I went in search of our ambassador and could not find him." Gren said.

Fili frowned. He had not even noticed Gren's departure from the room and scolded himself for being so focused on Dul's account that he had not paid any attention to the other things around him.

He was worried for Kili, he had been listening to Dul, and he had been holding Nur's hand for a time—hoping to soothe some of her distress in hearing the predicament of the forlorn people of the outpost.

Karta mumbled something about bad pig and earned a scowl from Gulm and they all rose to follow their host, who directed them up a set of stairs to the rooms of the inn. They entered a hallway and while Dul opened doors to indicate which rooms they may take, he admonished them, "We leave the gate closed at night and will not open it until morning, even if stragglers are forgetful and have not returned at sundown."

Fili supported Kili's arm over his shoulders and helped him to drag his ill feet down the wooden hallway. He peeked into Gulm's room to see Nur and nodded at her, but she did not notice. She was crushing an herb she'd found in the kitchen with a mortar and pestle.

It made all the sense in the world, thought Fili with irony, that their physician should fall to sickness while the rest of them did.

He continued his hauling of Kili until they reached the room at the end of the hallway. There was a large and soft bed occupying a small space with only a nightstand, a chair, and one small window in the wall, but it was sufficient for their needs. They had shared beds before; indeed it had become difficult to think of a time when they had not shared one.

Kili rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling and smacking his lips together, as though he tasted something foul, while Fili sat in the chair and removed his boots. He was all too happy prepare for sleep as he knew the morning may bring on more horrors than the ones they had witnessed.

"Where's my pipe?" Kili moaned, floundering in an attempt to leave the bed. Fili scooted is chair over to the side of the bed and pushed Kili back down.

"If you think I'm going to let you smoke while you're sick—"

"Oh, mum, you never let me do anything fun."

"I, on the other hand," Fili reached into his jacket and pulled out his own pipe, flipping it out and pressing it to his lips, "am free to do as I please."

He did not light it, but held it in his lips, reveling in the familiar scent of it and the feel of the wood. Fili tipped back in the chair, pushing against the frame of the bed with his feet while he raised and lowered himself like a rocking chair.

"Don't lie, Kili," Fili began in frustration. "How bad off are you?"

Kili blew out a sigh and put a hand on his own forehead. "Terrible."

Fili's concern peaked at this admission. Kili downplayed everything and now he was relenting…?

"It can't be as bad as that time with the arrow."

Kili's brow furrowed, his eyes closed. "What arrow?"

"As if you could forget such a thing. You remember; I shot you."

Kili's grinned weakly as he recalled the reference. "I was trying to show you how easy it was to use a bow." He laughed, but it came out as a series of coughs. "Apparently, not easy enough for you—you nearly killed me. No, this isn't as bad as all that…"

He frowned and met Fili's eyes. He was done admitting his pains and was drifting into blurred vision and exhaustion. "…do you think we really are under siege?"

Fili stopped rocking and settled the chair back into the corner. "You need not concern yourself with that until you are well again."

Striding to the large bed and crawling alongside his brother's feverish body, Fili lay his head down and his eyes bored a hole into the ceiling with his stare. "Thorin will make all well again. He always does."

A low snore was Kili's only response and Fili was content to surrender to the comfort of the bed. His mind was a buzzing of hornets, but the ache that had begun in his body overpowered his questions and concerns.