Hello again, dears!
Being at home alone really bores me a lot, so I decided to update sooner! (Probably next chapter will be up by Sunday, hopefully)
again, thank you for being here and for your interest in this story, I'm really happy you're enjoying it!
Some of you guys asked me if I had another movie-inspired Fanfiction to write, and at the moment I can say that probably I will do something else after this one (Though I really have no idea what Ferngully is, but my sister says we have the dvd so I'll probably watch it, when she comes back and tells me where she put it!)
Okay, nothing else to say,
thank you and enjoy!
Two days after Thorin's last encounter with Bilbo, the Dwarven King was walking along the Walls alone, enjoying the silence that surrounded him and that made him feel free after yet another morning spent holding court, listening to his people's endless complaints.
The King knew very well that part of his job consisted in listening to what his Dwarves had to say, but since the Hobbits' arrival it seemed that all had something to say.
Even though he clearly said he could do nothing.
"Hey! Your Dwarfishness!" Thorin startled at the yell, looking around frantically for the source of the voice.
"Down there! Look down!"
He did and noticed little Frodo waving at him, jumping up and down to attract the King's attention.
"Hi Frodo. You didn't run away, did you?"
The Hobbit scrunched up his face in disdain "I did not. Uncle Bilbo told me to ask you if you wanted to have lunch with us. To say 'thank you' again for what you did." explained Frodo, in a tone that made clear just how many times he'd been told to say those exact words to the King.
For his part, Thorin was a bit baffled by Bilbo's invitation for lunch.
He'd been taught to always answer positively to invitations like those, but on the other hand, it was Hobbits they were talking about.
He wasn't supposed to be nice to them.
They weren't supposed to be nice to him.
The long pause had Frodo looking at him with confusion and anger.
"Whatever, if you don't want to come, you can go bugger an orc!" huffed the Hobbit and turned around to leave, only to be stopped by Thorin's strong hold on his ill-fitted shirt.
"Mahal, slow down! I'll have lunch with you!"
"Really? You'll come?" Thorin nodded silently "Great, I told that stupid Lotho you would! Ah, he'll have to give me his meat portion!" exclaimed Frodo with enthusiasm, jumping around Thorin's legs.
"Okay, now show me the way, I don't want to get lost."
"Yes! Oh, uncle Bilbo will be so happy!"
Thorin startled a bit at this.
The Dancer wanted to have lunch with him.
His presence would be appreciated by him.
It made him sort of warm inside for unthinkable reasons.
Walking to the Camp, Frodo guiding him, he thought about what would happen during lunch, what he could say, what would Bilbo say.
Unaware of his internal struggle, Frodo kept chatting, telling him about his friends, his cousins and how Pippin had started crying at night waking up the whole Camp.
"We're here! This is where we have lunch. It's grandma Bella's tent."
"It's...lovely."
Lovely was not a word for the emerald green tent.
Amazing would've been more appropriate.
Splendid, even.
Moving the flaps of the tent out of the way, Thorin was greeted by a warm room, filled with cloths and pillows, most of which had been placed around a short-legged table, in place of chairs.
He looked around the room, noticing a Hobbit lady, clearly older than Bilbo, puttering around a small kitchen corner.
"Grandma, we're here! He said yes!"
The woman turned around, noticing him for the first time, her face opening in a kind smile, so similar to that of her son that was astounding.
"Oh, Your Majesty, you're here, I can't believe it! Thank you, thank you!" Thorin found himself with an armful of Hobbit clinging to his tunic.
"You're...you're welcome, ma'am." he answered stiffly,awkwardly reciprocating the hug.
"Mum, leave him alone, you're embarrassing him."
Oh, thank Mahal.
The Dancer was there.
He was there, looking at him with a smile, Pippin in his arms, wide awake, for once.
"Good job, Frodo, you convinced him. Later you can go and rub it into Lotho's face, darling. Now go and call the others please, we're eating." he paused, sighing "Mum, let him go, come on."
Bilbo's mother finally let him go, keeping him at arms length.
"Yavanna bless you, it was a nice day the day you first met Frodo! A nice day indeed! Not all Kings are like you, Your Majesty, not at all! Most of them just want us gone as soon as possible!"
Because of her excited chatter Thorin didn't really had the heart to tell her that he wasn't that much different to other Kings, but from Bilbo's sad smile he realized his face must had shown his discomfort.
The awkward moment was broken by the kids' arrival, the noise more akin to a pack of Oliphants than to three little Hobbits.
"Mister King!" screamed Merry, rushing at his side, rubbing his soft cheek against the rough material of Thorin's trousers "You're here!"
"Yeah. I'm here." he paused, thinking about what to say "Ehm, how are you?"
"Great! Today we're having meat! We haven't had it in weeks!"
To this Thorin's eyes widened almost comically.
Weeks without meat were surely bad for growing children.
Even more for underweight children.
He looked at the two adults in the tent, only to find them not meeting his gaze, ashamed, both of their ears red with embarrassment.
"Yes, we...we've had a bad time lately. Meat here is too expensive for us and we can't hunt."
Bilbo looked so ashamed that Thorin didn't have the hearth to answer him.
Instead he gathered Merry in his arms and sat down at the table on a pretty blue pillow, Sam settling on one of his side, silent and shy as he usually was, asking for permission with a nervous smile, to which Thorin answered with a nod and a small grin.
Bilbo, relieved, sat on the King's other side, his mother and Frodo following him shortly after.
"I hope you'll enjoy your lunch, Your Highness." said Belladonna serving him an abundant serving of stew, with lentils as a side dish.
It was a very frugal lunch compared to the ones his Cooks cooked for him everyday, but it was very good, the ingredients fresh and nice-flavoured.
While eating, he noticed how Bilbo's and his mother's portions were smaller than his or the children's, with more lentils than stew, and not very much of them at all.
Inviting Thorin for lunch must have costed him a lot more than they could afford, but they looked happy nonetheless.
Every couple of seconds, Bilbo looked down at Pippin, seated on his laps, playing silently with a small piece of cloth, while Belladonna made sure the other kids didn't end up with more lunch on their clothes than in their stomachs.
It was so similar to what his sister Dis did when Fili and Kili were younger, that he no longer felt uncomfortable, sitting there with Landless people, sharing their meagre lunch.
"It was really good, ma'am, you're a wonderful cook." said the King politely as soon as his dish was completely clean.
"Thank you Your Majesty, hope you still have room for some fruit."
Thorin had room for at least three more servings, but it probably wouldn't have been the right thing to say, so he just nodded.
"Fruit?! We have fruit?" gasped Sam from his left.
"We do, darling, I bought cherries." said Bilbo with a smile, watching the children smiling delighted at the prospect of fruit; Pippin in the meantime, had shifted on his laps, trying to grab Thorin's tunic but not quite reaching with his short arms.
While the kids started devouring their cherries, Thorin took Pippin from his uncle's grasp and finally let him play with the hem of his tunic.
"Oh dear, you shouldn't have! He has a habit of..putting...them...in his mouth...Pippin" he sighed, distressed "I'm so sorry, I'll clean it for you."
"It's not a problem, really, I'm used to it, I have nephews, too."
"Oh yes!" intruded Belladonna with a smile "the young princes. Charming Dwarves, they are!"
They stayed in a comfortable silence for a bit after that, disturbed only by the young ones' talking and by the little noises coming from the baby in Thorin's arms.
"Where will you go, after Erebor?"asked suddenly the King, making Bilbo jump.
"Probably the Iron Hills. Lord Dain doesn't like our presence, but there's a Masterless land near a river." shrugged Bella "but, who knows, maybe we'll just go back to Rivendell."
"The Thains will probably want us to the Hiron Hills before Winter, mum."
"Thains?"
"Our leaders, from the most important family. My husband, Bungo, was a Thain, but when he died, Bilbo was too young to succeed him."
"And so Otho became one. Lucky day for us all." said Bilbo sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"I see. So they're like Kings?"
"No, they don't hold that much power, they're more like..a Council, I think."
"Oh. So you don't have a King?"
"What use would one have? We don't even have a land to call our own!"
Bilbo had a point.
A landless King would have been useless, especially for a race who had never had one.
After that brief discussion, Thorin felt again the need to leave and go back to the Mountain, so, after thanking Belladonna, saying goodbye to the children and being escorted back to the Doors by Bilbo and a sleeping Pippin, he returned to the richness of his Palace.
That afternoon, and the evening that followed it, Thorin kept thinking about the Hobbits' hospitality, their capability to share all they had, even if barely enough for them, with others, and about Bilbo's words.
What use had a King for a landless people?
He couldn't find an answer, and when he finally collapsed into his bed, he fell into an uneasy sleep.
He was waken at dawn by the smell of burning wood and screams of agony coming from outside the Wall.
He rushed to the window, looking towards the Doors.
Th Landless Hobbits' Camp was on fire.
Notes:
Belladonna Took makes her appearance! She looks like a kind, sweet lady in this chapter, but you'll see soon how she's really like! Gots balls of steel that woman!
Someday Bilbo and Thorin will actually have a proper conversation, I swear!
As soon as Thorin will take the stick out of his arse and Bilbo will stop making Thorin
go into reflective mode
Cliffhanger. Yep. I know. I hate them, too. Sorry.
That's all, Erika out!