Chapter 6 – Trouble arrives
The preparations for the big annual celebration in honour of the restoration of Erebor began. With only two weeks left until the start of the festivities the inhabitants of the mountain switched into a state of highly organized frenzy. Every inch of every visible surface got polished into gleaming shine and various garlands and decorations started appearing around the interiors.
Even Bilbo soon found himself up to his elbows in dough, helping Bombur with the baking of cakes and pastries for the festivities. He had precious little time left for reading or his embroidery, but found that he didn't mind in the slightest. The rush of work and the demanding schedule that the celebration put them on were a welcome change to the stagnation and slow decay of his last years in the Shire. Surrounded by friends and feeling useful by helping with the preparations, he felt happier than he had in years.
He should have known that the peace wouldn't hold forever.
The change came three days before the festivities were scheduled to begin. Bilbo was just having a lunch with the few members of the company who had been able to tear themselves away from their duties when one of the guards walked into the room, looking rather bewildered.
"Master Baggins," he addressed Bilbo, "could you come with me, please?"
"What is it?" Bilbo rose from the chair, trying to come up with a reason why he was being called. Did Thorin want something from him? Was there a war? Another dragon attack?
"There are some hobbits at the gate, asking for you," the guard said.
"Hobbits?" Bilbo's companions exchanged curious glances. Despite the command being only for Bilbo, they all got up to follow him. As he walked, Bilbo felt a strong feeling of foreboding that only grew with every step.
"Bilbo!" Two joyful voices greeted him when he walked out of the gate.
"Boys," he sighed. Then he noticed the tall figure that accompanied them. "Gandalf. I should have known." He closed his eyes and prayed for patience, while his friends chuckled at his exasperation.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"We wanted to see Erebor," said Fortinbras simply, "and since you refused to take us with you, we persuaded the wizard to be our guide."
"I came to your house to find that I had missed your departure by less than a fortnight," Gandalf said. "The boys were quite distressed by your absence, so I decided to help them out a bit."
"I bet you did," muttered Bilbo. Aloud he said: "I see that your propensity for taking young hobbits where they have no business to be is as strong as ever."
Gandalf coughed a bit, but managed to keep his expression of befuddled innocence. Balin came to stand next to Bilbo, eyes twinkling with merriment. Unlike the rest of the dwarves, who were now snickering openly in the background, he had managed to keep his composure, even though his lips twitched now and then.
"Will you introduce us, Bilbo?"
"Ah, of course. I am forgetting my manners. You dwarves are a terrible influence on me." Bilbo shot them a disgruntled look, which made them laugh even harder.
"These are Fortinbras and Isembold, my younger cousins from my mother's side of the family." The hobbits made a passable attempt at a dwarven bow. Bilbo thought they must have practiced on the road.
"And these are my friends, the dwarves." He waved a careless hand in the general direction of his companions. "I will let you figure out which one is which."
"Oi!" Fíli made an attempt to protest, but it wasn't very convincing, because he soon started laughing again. Without another word, Bilbo turned on his heel and marched back into the mountain, the unruly group following a few steps behind.
"Where are your manners, Bilbo?" Kíli called behind him.
"I think I left them in the Shire, along with any sense of shame or propriety I might have once possessed," Bilbo told him, marching to the throne room. He was feeling a strong urge to go the nearest wall and bang his head on it repeatedly until this nightmare disappeared.
They arrived to the throne room without any further incidents, though the dwarves behind him still kept chuckling in a most irritating fashion. Just for that, Bilbo decided not to bake them those nice tarts he had planned to make for dinner. The throne room was busy with dwarves running back and forth, but Thorin appeared to be currently unoccupied, so Bilbo made a beeline for him.
He made a small bow to Thorin to show that he was on an official business.
"Yes?" Thorin asked, looking between Bilbo and the group behind his back with a raised eyebrow.
"I am sorry to bother you, Your Majesty," Bilbo said for the sake of the dwarves around who were pretending their best that they were not eavesdropping on their conversation, "but some unexpected guests have arrived and I thought you should be made aware of their presence."
He motioned for the hobbits to come closer.
"Thorin, these are my relatives, the Tooks. They have decided to invite themselves into the mountain, despite the fact that I expressly forbade them from coming here. They appear to be determined to stay for the festivities." He gave them a look that made them both wilt a bit.
Before they could say anything, Gandalf stepped forward, drawing himself to his full height.
"The hobbits are here as my guests," Gandalf said, daring Bilbo to say anything to oppose that. Bilbo folded his arms on his chest and returned the glare, not intimidated in the slightest.
"Well, if that is the case, I can hardly deny them welcome," Thorin said. Bilbo thought that he looked unseemly amused with the whole affair. Gandalf's expression turned unbearably smug.
"See, Bilbo? You do not have to worry anymore about their reception here."
Bilbo opened and closed his mouth several times, but couldn't come with anything that would sufficiently express his exasperation with the wizard's meddling. In the end he just hung his head, shaking it in defeat. He took a deep breath, turning to the pair of rascals.
"Welcome to Erebor," he told them brightly. "Try not to cause too much trouble while you're here." He turned back to Thorin. "Please, do not bother with assigning them any accommodations. They can stay in my quarters. I have an empty bedroom that I don't use, which should be big enough for them and will allow me to keep a better eye on their mischief."
Thorin gave him a searching look and seemed realize that arguing with Bilbo on this would not be a productive use of his time.
"Very well, your relatives can stay in your rooms if they wish. I am quite busy at the moment, but I will be happy to make their acquaintance at dinner."
"Thank you," Bilbo told him. He made another small bow and went to collect his unruly relatives.
"You two will come with me now and I will show you where you will be staying." He shot a look at the wizard. "We will talk later."
"Of course." The wizard was all obligingness, the meddling old coot.
Since the show was over, most of the company dispersed to return back to their jobs. Only Fíli and Kíli remained behind, latching onto the young hobbits the moment Bilbo turned his back on them. As they walked to his quarters, he heard their excited whispers behind him and tried not to sigh too loudly. Of course these four would get on like a house on fire.
Bilbo got them settled in his quarters and was immensely relieved when Kíli offered to give them a tour of Erebor, taking the youngsters off Bilbo's hands. Bilbo didn't know if he should feel relieved or be horrified in advance at all the pranks they could do with Kíli's help. In the end, he was glad when the door closed behind them and he could enjoy a few blessedly hobbit-free hours.
It wasn't that he was displeased to see them again, Bilbo thought as he rolled the dough, just that his worry and exasperation over their tenacity had temporarily overruled any fondness he might have felt when he had found them at Erebor's doorstep. He imagined the journey they must have taken from the Shire and thanked the Valar that they had had the wizard to look after them. If they had been hurt at any point during the journey, their blood would have fallen on Bilbo's head, because it had been him that they had decided to follow.
Now he would have to plead with Gandalf to escort them back again after the celebrations were over. He wasn't looking forward to that talk.
Kíli and his two new best friends came back just in time for dinner and Bilbo listened to their endless chatter as he helped Bombur put the bowls with food on the table. Since Gandalf and the hobbits had joined their ranks for meals, Bofur had moved in another smaller table and joined it with the current one, creating a long L-shape.
While Bilbo was busy making the finishing touches to their dinner, the young Tooks took the opportunity to meet the rest of the company. Bilbo tried not to cringe as he watched them attempt the dwarvish bows, but the dwarves didn't seem to mind, finding the entire scene highly amusing.
They sat down with Thorin and Gandalf on the ends of the table, Dís having given up her usual seat to the wizard.
"Is this what Gandalf meant when he said that you're a Took?" Balin asked Bilbo after he had spent a good ten minutes observing the hobbits' antics.
"Unfortunately, yes." Bilbo gave him a wry smile. The dwarves started laughing.
"You're one to talk!" Fortinbras said accusingly, pointing at Bilbo with his fork. "You caused quite the uproar when you left. Half the Shire thinks that you ran away to marry a dwarf and the other half that you have finally gone completely mad and decided to become a wizard."
"Become a wizard..." Bilbo got a laughing fit, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "Oh, that is delightful. My countrymen are getting more creative every year. The last time I came back, they were convinced that I had brought a great treasure with me and kept trying to sneak into my cellar to dig holes there." He shook his head. "I wonder what they will say about me in twenty years."
Something occurred to him that made him turn a searching gaze on them.
"Do your mothers know that you went to Erebor? You didn't just run away, did you?"
"No!" Isembold hastened to reassure him. "Both our mothers know that we went travelling. They weren't terribly happy about it, but since we're both of age, they couldn't stop us."
At the end of the table, Bilbo faintly heard Balin tell Thorin: "Does that remind you of anyone we know?"
"Did you give my instructions to the Tháin?" he asked Isembold.
"Oh yes," the young hobbit said. "Uncle was more than happy to carry them out."
"If only you could see the commotion those caused," Fortinbras cut in. "The Sackville-Bagginses nearly threw a fit when they found out that you had left your fields and wine yard to us and they got nothing."
"Thank you for that, by the way," Isembold said.
"The Bagginses have no right to complain," Bilbo told them. "I gave Bag-End to young Drogo Baggins. That should satisfy them."
"Did you really leave your wine yard to me, Bilbo?" Fortinbras asked. "It's an awful lot of work to maintain."
"Fortinbras Took," Bilbo said in his best authority voice. Both young hobbits straightened in their chairs. "Did I just hear you complain about getting one of the best wine yards in the Shire? Just a moment ago, you two made it a point to remind me that you are both of age. You are an adult now, so act like it, or I will change my mind and transfer all my lands to Lobelia Sackville-Baggins!"
"You wouldn't!" Fortinbras squeaked, looking horrified at the very idea.
Bilbo paused for a moment to let him stew.
"No, you are right," he said finally, leaning back against his chair. "I wouldn't. But the matter still stands that I left you something valuable and you dared complain about it."
Fortinbras seemed to belatedly realize that the dwarves had witnessed the entire scene. He seemed to shrink in his chair under their gazes.
"I'm sorry, Bilbo," he said, looking at his plate. "I guess I didn't quite realize the value of what I got." He raised his head to look at Bilbo. "Thank you for the gift."
"You're welcome," Bilbo gave him a smile. "And if you continue to behave yourselves, I may even let you eat the cake that I made this afternoon."
The young hobbits' eyes lit up at once.
"Do we get a cake, too?" asked Kíli eagerly. "We've been on our best behaviour for days." He gave Bilbo his best puppy dog eyes.
"That's why I made four of those cakes," Bilbo told him, turning his attention back to his dinner and pretended not to notice the whoops of joy his announcement caused.
After the dinner was done and each of the two hobbits had eaten enough food for three dwarves, they all moved to the common room for their usual evening sit-down. Ever since Thorin had started joining them two weeks prior, there had been a desk added into the corner and several more chairs to give everyone a place to sit. Fíli and Kíli still preferred to sit on the floor by the fireplace, but everyone else had their favourite armchair that they normally occupied.
The young hobbits decided to join the brothers on the floor near Bilbo's feet, leaning back against Bilbo's armchair on either side of his legs. Bilbo reached out his hands and laid them on their heads, ruffling their curls.
"What were you two thinking, travelling hundreds of miles through wilderness completely unarmed?"
"Isn't that what you did?" Fortinbras gave him an accusing look. "We wouldn't be the first ones to go travelling like that.
"Besides, we had a wizard. He would protect us," Isembold said with utter certainty. "And I took with me grandpa Took's old sword. We weren't completely unarmed."
Bilbo raised his head to see the dwarves watching their exchange with a great deal of amusement. Only Gandalf was absent from the room, so he wasn't able to comment on his ability to conjure walls of fire and slay scores of wild beasts.
"Right," Bilbo told them with a perfectly straight face, "how could I forget about the wizard?" Something suspiciously resembling a snicker sounded behind him.
"So you see, we were perfectly safe the whole time," Fortinbras finished brightly and Bilbo fought the urge to run a hand over his face.
"Of course," Bilbo agreed. "Now I have to figure out how to bribe Gandalf to take you all the way back to the Shire in the same perfectly safe way." Something occurred to him. "Is Beorn coming to the celebrations?" he asked the assembled dwarves.
"He has been invited," Balin said, "but we have no idea if he will really come. His visits tend to be rather unpredictable."
Bilbo nodded his thanks, the wheels in his head turning with plans and calculations.
"You're not getting rid of us already, are you?" Fortinbras asked, sounding hurt.
"No, of course not," Bilbo reassured him. "You can stay here for as long as you like. I was just trying to come up with alternative ways to get you back home in case Gandalf gets into one of his moods and decides to mysteriously disappear without a word."
"That would be just like him," Dwalin remarked. Bilbo started a bit at that. He'd had no idea that Dwalin had been paying any attention to his conversation.
"Of course, if everything else fails, I can always bribe the elves into granting you safe passage through the forest," Bilbo told the hobbits, no longer worried about their return journey.
"How would you do that?" Fíli asked, curious.
"I have powers you know not," Bilbo told him mysteriously. The dwarf started giggling.
"No, you don't. We've seen all your tricks already."
"This is a special trick," Bilbo said. "I am pretty sure it will work on Thranduil."
"What is it?" Kíli asked, wide-eyed.
"Wait and see for yourself," Bilbo told him.
"We'll find out about it soon enough," Fíli said. "The delegation from Mirkwood will be coming here the day after tomorrow."
°O°O°O°
It was a merry company that met the next night. The hobbits had spent the whole day with Kíli on a trip to Dale and came back excited with bags full of gifts for half the Shire.
"Everyone back home is going to be so jealous of our adventure when we show them what we brought back," Fortinbras said with satisfaction, running his fingers over the new buttons on his jacket.
"What are you doing, Bilbo?" Ori came over to Bilbo's chair to peek over his shoulder. "This is not knitting."
"No," Bilbo said, patting the arm of his chair. Ori sat down, eyes full of curiosity. "This is embroidery. I'm putting some finishing touches to my fancy vest. I'd like to look appropriately festive for the celebrations." He raised the vest in the air to show the dwarves the nice golden pattern he had trimmed the cloth with.
"It's very pretty," Fíli told him, coming closer. "Is that some elvish craft?"
"I don't think so," Bilbo said. "Hobbits have been able to do it for generations, thought we usually choose simple patterns to sew, like flowers. This here is an elvish knot, but you could use the same technique to adorn the clothes with dwarvish symbols if you wished."
"Really?" Ori asked.
"Yes," Bilbo nodded. Ori's eyes lit up.
"Can I learn it?"
Bilbo shrugged.
"I don't see why you couldn't. You are good at knitting, so embroidery should pose no problem for you. There won't be much time for crafts while the celebrations take place, but you can come to my rooms afterwards and I'll be happy to show you how to do this."
"That would be wonderful," Ori said, smiling. Bilbo gave him a smile of his own and went back to his needle and thread. Ori remained sitting at his side, watching Bilbo's technique.
The Tooks sat by the fire with Fíli and Kíli and were doing a magnificent job at beating the dwarfs at their own game, much to Kíli's puzzlement. When they defeated the dwarfs for the third time, Kíli called for a break, staring at the board with a frown. Fíli seemed more amused than angry at the defeat, watching his brother's frustration with a smile.
Fíli got up after a while and wandered over to Bilbo's chair, looking at his work.
"Would you be willing to make something for me, if I properly compensated you for the work?" he asked Bilbo. "I am skilled enough with metal and gems, but I would never have enough patience for such detailed work."
"Of course," Bilbo told him. "I would be happy to make something for you, and you don't need to pay me anything. It would be a favour for a friend. If you come tomorrow, I can show the fancy cloak I made last winter. It should give you a pretty good idea of what I can do. If you bring me a pattern and some instructions, I can sew it your clothes."
"It wouldn't be fair to just ask for a gift and give nothing in return," Fíli insisted.
"Very well," Bilbo gave in, "You can create something for me, if you insist."
"I do."
"Then it's settled," Bilbo smiled. "Come for a visit anytime."
°O°O°O°
The small elvish delegation arrived with great deal of pomp and elegance. As Bilbo stood next to the throne with the rest of the company and watched Thranduil glide down the length of the hall, he couldn't help but wonder if the elves had been born with such grace or if they dedicated years of their immortal lives just to the practice of the right way of walking. Bilbo was suddenly very glad that he had decided to wear his best clothes for the occasion. It wouldn't feel right to greet the elves with his sleeves stained from apple sauce.
Thranduil came to stand several feet before the throne and gave Thorin a small nod of his head.
"Greetings, Thorin son of Thráin, King Under the Mountain."
Thorin nodded back.
"Welcome, Thranduil, King of Mirkwood."
Bilbo wondered how much effort it must have cost Thorin to say it without a trace of hostility.
Thranduil's eyes ran over the assembled dwarves and paused on Bilbo, lingering.
"Greetings, Elf-friend," he said pleasantly, drawing curious gazes of the assembled dwarves. "It is gratifying to see you again in good health."
Bilbo made a step forward, bowing deeply before the elf.
"The pleasure is entirely mine, my Lord."
Behind him, he heard Kíli's incredulous "Elf-Friend? When did that happen?"
Thranduil turned his gaze to the young dwarf.
"Mr Baggins stayed in my halls for recovery after he was banished from here," he said in a perfectly casual tone.
"Banished?" There were several voices that had caught onto that word.
"Is that true? Did you really banish Bilbo?" Dori demanded.
"Yes," Thorin said, carefully not looking at any of them.
"Wait a moment. Recovery?" Bofur gave Thorin a sharp look.
"He was injured in the battle, like so many others," Thranduil told them in the same disinterested tone. "Though his injuries weren't life threatening, they still required several days of bed rest to heal properly. I was more than happy to provide accommodations for him and was rewarded for my hospitality most generously. And now I believe Master Baggins should take me to my own accommodations."
He gave Thorin a small nod of his head and started gliding away, as if he hadn't just dropped a bomb on the room. Bilbo had to run a bit to keep up with him. Behind him, Bilbo heard Glóin growl:
"We are going to have so many words."
Thranduil led the way out of the throne room, but once they were out in the hall, he allowed Bilbo to walk by his side and show him the way to his rooms.
"I see that your companions were unaware of this development," he said when they had put two floors between them and Thorin.
"Yes," Bilbo said, "I have managed to successfully keep it a secret for five years. Until just now, in fact."
Thranduil didn't seem fazed by the subtle jab.
"They would have found out about it sooner or later," he said. "Though I must say that I am quite surprised to see you back in Erebor. I would not have thought that Thorin Oakenshield would ever admit you back into his kingdom."
Bilbo shrugged.
"He had five years to rethink his decision and I believe that his advisors were starting to get quite frustrated by my refusal to return back to the mountain."
"Interesting. And you were willing to swallow your pride and come back to the mountain to beg him for forgiveness?" Thranduil shot him a look.
Bilbo fought down his irritation at the elven king's presumptions, reminding himself that the elf did not know the whole truth.
"As a matter of fact, it was he who had invited me here," Bilbo said, his polite smile vanishing. "Which I think was only right, since my banishment was as much his fault as it was mine."
"So you have made peace?" Thranduil raised an eyebrow. "Did he of all people really admit that he had made an error?"
"That is between him and me," Bilbo said, a little sharper than he had meant to, "but yes, we made peace and I was able to move back into the mountain. My return was that much easier because nobody knew that I had been banished in the first place." He sighed. "I have no idea what my standing will be, now that the knowledge of my exile has spread all over Erebor."
They arrived to the quarters that had been assigned to the elven king. Bilbo opened the door for him and then went to show the elves that had been following them where their quarters were. When he came back to Thranduil, the king was deep in thought.
"I saw no reason why the knowledge of Oakenshield's lapse of judgement should be kept secret," the elf began, "but I failed to consider the consequences my remark may have for you. If I have caused you dishonour by my thoughtlessness, I sincerely apologise."
Bilbo was floored.
"I...thank you for that, my Lord."
"My aim had been to disconcert the dwarf a bit, but instead I managed to damage your standing among your companions," Thranduil continued. "Would it help if I offered you a public apology?"
"You do not have to inconvenience yourself on my account," Bilbo protested.
"You are an Elf-Friend," Thranduil gave him an intent look. "I named you one myself. It would not do to have one of such standing suffer disgrace at my hand. You seem to value your relationships with these dwarves."
"Yes," Bilbo admitted. "They are my friends. I care about them."
"Then the matter is settled. I hope you will keep me company at lunch?"
"Yes." There was nothing else Bilbo could say to that.
"Excellent." He turned his back on Bilbo, letting him know that he was dismissed.
Bilbo walked back to his quarters with a heavy heart. He had originally planned to help Bombur with lunch, but he did not have the courage to face his friends at the moment. He found his quarters blessedly empty upon his arrival. Closing the door behind him, he went to his bedroom and sat down on the bed, hanging his head into his hands.
He knew that by the time evening came the news about his past banishment would be all over Erebor. Since nobody knew the full truth, everyone would think that he had deserved his banishment. He had never had much contact with the other dwarves outside Thorin's company, but the few he had met had always treated him with respect. How will they act now when they will think that Thorin was only suffering Bilbo's presence in Erebor out of a favour for his companions?
He wasn't looking forward to finding out.
°O°O°O°
To say that the lunch was uncomfortable would be the understatement of the century. The atmosphere in the hall was freezing when Bilbo walked in and it took all of his courage not to turn on his heel and walk out again. They were taking their lunch in the Great Hall of Erebor because of all the guests and neither Thranduil nor Thorin looked happy about sharing a table with the other. Bard hadn't arrived yet, so there was nobody to mediate the arguments that would inevitably arise.
To make matters worse, the dwarves of Thorin's Company were shooting the king looks of varying degree of betrayal. Only Fíli, Kíli, Balin and Dwalin sat by his side, maintaining the appearance that nothing extraordinary had happened. Several of the dwarves started to rise at Bilbo's entrance, but sat back down again when Bilbo gave them a small shake of his head. This was not the time or place to vent their outrage.
Thranduil had saved him a seat on his left and Bilbo headed for it, feeling very ill at ease with the whole affair. How they thought they were going to get through the lunch without an incident was a mystery to him. When Bilbo came within reach of Thranduil, the elf rose from his seat, drawing everyone's eyes to him.
"I would like to make a public apology," he began, causing the eyes of the present dwarves to bulge in a most unattractive manner. "Today upon my arrival I made a remark which, true though it was, may have inadvertently damaged Master Baggins' standing here in Erebor. Master Baggins is held in high esteem among my kin and it would be disrespectful of me not to allow him to hold such a position here in Erebor as well." He turned to address Bilbo directly. "You have my apologies for any hurt I may have caused you, Master Baggins."
"Apology accepted," Bilbo said, trying not to gape at the elf.
Thranduil sat back down in his seat and reached for a bowl of vegetables with a nonchalance that bordered on art form. The dwarves at the table were still gaping at the elf like he had grown a second head. Bilbo sat down quickly and focused on filling his plate to avoid the gazes of their table companions.
"Did I just see that?" he heard Glóin ask in disbelief.
"I think you did," Balin told him.
The rest of the table was uncharacteristically silent. Normally during the meals there would be a great deal of racket and food flying in all direction, but today there was deafening silence, everyone staring intently at their plates. The elves didn't seem to mind that at all, talking among themselves in quiet voices. Bilbo had never been so grateful to escape from a table in his life.
As soon as he was able, he made a few half-hearted excuses and fled back to his chambers to hide. For want of nothing better to do, he sat down with his vest to finish the last of the embroidery, but his heart was no longer in the work. Why should he take the effort to look festive when everyone would still think his presence was a concession from Thorin?
There was a knock on his door, but he didn't pay it much attention, busy as he was with his brooding. Only when the knock sounded for a second time did he get up and go to open the door.
"Thorin," he said in surprise. The king was standing in the hallway, looking rather uncomfortable.
"May I come in?"
Bilbo wordlessly opened the door wider and stepped back, letting him through. Thorin took a brief moment to look around, his eyes lingering on Bilbo's unfinished embroidery before they landed on the hobbit.
"I just had a very long conversation with my advisors," he said. "They called me a variety of unflattering names. Some of them even threatened to riot should I ever decide to banish you from the mountain again."
"I'm glad to hear that they are not angry at me," Bilbo felt a little relieved at the news, but his mood was still too glum to appreciate it properly.
"Sometimes I think they like you more than me," Thorin told him in a tone that was only half joking. He quickly grew serious again. "I would apologise for the situation, but I think that in this instance, we are both equally to blame since we were both interested in keeping the incident a secret."
"Yes, we are," Bilbo said, looking at him in resignation. "I suppose it was naive of me to expect that something like this could be kept a secret."
Thorin took a few steps closer to him, his eyes intent.
"Why did you not tell me that you had been injured at the time?"
Bilbo shrugged.
"Would it have made any difference in the outcome of our quarrel? I doubt that. After that, it didn't matter anymore. I thought we could make peace a lot easier if I didn't bring up every perceived slight you had ever caused me."
Thorin looked deeply unhappy.
"It is not heartening to learn that not only had I banished someone who had performed a valuable service for me, but that in doing so I had also effectively denied them the medical attention they had needed. And now to see that my foolishness may have caused you dishonour among the dwarves here..." He shook his head. "You can understand why I am not very pleased with my choices at the moment."
Bilbo didn't know what to say to that. Neither one of their positions was enviable. Thranduil had managed to make them both look equally bad in the eyes of the local dwarves – with a few words he had painted Bilbo as a disgraced thief in exile and Thorin as a heartless tyrant.
Bilbo sighed.
If only there was a way to restore both their positions without both of them having to humiliate themselves by making the circumstances of the banishment public... His eyes strayed to the bedroom as an idea started to form in his head. He left the dwarf in his sitting room and went to the bedroom. The tapestry was still there, standing in the corner where he had put in on his first night in Erebor.
He came back into the room with the tapestry in his arms, feeling a little foolish but determined nonetheless.
"I may have found a way to save both our reputations, but I need your agreement first before I can do anything publicly." He came closer, offering the roll of cloth to Thorin. "This is for you. I had planned to give it to you eventually, but it may be of better use if I do it now."
Thorin took the offered gift, handling the folded cloth with careful hands.
"I need you to tell me if you are willing to accept this in public," Bilbo told him. "I can make it a gift for allowing me to return to Erebor. If you don't like it, you can just hang it somewhere out of sight. I hope you don't find it offensive," he added.
"Why would I?"
"Just unwrap it."
Thorin unfolded the cloth slowly and spent a long time gazing at the tapestry. It showed a large red dragon attacking the mountain from the sky while the city of Dale burned below.
"It was supposed to be the first one in a series of three," Bilbo explained hurriedly, eager to fill the silence. "I know you don't like to be reminded of that day, but it is still part of your history."
"What would be the other two?" Thorin finally tore his eyes from the tapestry, focusing his gaze on Bilbo instead.
"I thought I could make one depicting the dragon sleeping on his pile of gold and a final one that would show his defeat at Lake-town. They could be hung in one room and tell the story of the rise and fall of the dragon," Bilbo said, trying his best not to fidget under that gaze.
"You made me a tapestry." Thorin had a tone of wonder in his voice.
"I thought about Erebor a lot while I was in the Shire," Bilbo admitted. He didn't feel it necessary to point out that he hadn't made it for Thorin specifically. "Kíli has seen it already, but none of the others have any idea that it exists."
"I would be honoured to receive it in public," Thorin told him. "You can give it to me during the morning audiences tomorrow. The gesture should be enough to silence any potential critics."
Bilbo took the tapestry back from him, folding it carefully into a roll.
"I'm glad you like it," he told the dwarf after he had put it on the nearby table.
"I would be a fool not to recognize the skill behind it," Thorin said.
Bilbo fought down a blush.
"How long would it take to create the other two tapestries if I commissioned them from you?" Thorin asked.
Bilbo made a quick mental calculation.
"Well, this one took me all winter to make, but I spent entire days working on it. Since I'm here in Erebor, I would need about half a year for each of them. If I had a weaving loom, which I don't."
"I can provide it for you," Thorin told him.
"That's not necessary," Bilbo started to protest, "I have enough-"
"It is the least I can do," Thorin said firmly. His expression softened a bit. "Please, allow me to do this for you."
Bilbo was ready to protest again, but the look in Thorin's eyes stopped him. They held shame and remorse and determination. He sighed.
"Very well. You can get me a weaving loom, but please do not dare complain that the tapestry takes too long to finish. It's a work of art, not a simple piece of cloth and I have other things to do beside sit all day and weave."
"You will not hear a word from me," Thorin promised with a small smile.
"I'll hold you to that." To his surprise Bilbo found that most of his bad mood was gone. "I think you'd better go back before they start a search for you."
Thorin nodded and started heading for the door.
"Would it be terribly impolite if I hid in my quarters for the rest of the day?" Bilbo asked him before he could open the door. "I do not think I'm brave enough to face the world right now."
"You may stay here for however long you wish," Thorin told him. "I will inform our guests that you are indisposed for the day."
"Thank you," Bilbo told him honestly.
"You are welcome." With one last nod, Thorin walked out, closing the door behind him softly.
To be continued...
A.N. Oh Thranduil, why do you have to ruin everything?
I hope nobody hates the Tooks too much. I made them up on a whim when I started writing this and later realized that I need them for the plot. I am normally not a big fan of OCs, so I have no idea what possessed me to write them.