Hello, good morning/evening/whatever it is where you are!
I'm dead, as you can see.
I'm really really sorry for the delay, but I'm studying for my US History exam and I have very few free time!
Like I say every time (I'm not very original, I know) thank you very much for your support! It's thank to you that I don't let myself become a lazy bum and stop updating!
And I know I don't really answer your reviews personally when I read them, but I'm really too busy to breath at the moment! I swear next time I'll answer all of you, you really deserve answers, seeing how much your enthusiasm is fundamental to the continuation of this story.
So, after my apologise and my thanks, enjoy this chapter!
Hope you'll like it!
Three days after Bilbo's revelation to Thorin about the Thains' decision for the Hobbits to go back to Rivendell, the Dwarf King was still thinking about it almost incessantly.
The only thing that distracted him from that thought was the opening of a new mithril mine on one of the lower levels of the Mountain that required his constant attention.
He had visited the Market again, both the first and the second day after his discussion with the Hobbit, but he had not dared entering the Healing Camp set up outside the Walls, fearing another harsh reaction from its inhabitants.
Even so, he actually saw the Dancer, completely wrapped in silky veils, dancing in a corner, under the enraptured gaze of his enthusiast audience, who clapped rhythmically their hands in time with the music played by two other Hobbits.
For a moment it looked as if Bilbo had not seen him, but then he'd stopped his sensual dance and raised his head, looking Thorin in the eyes with such a hot stare, that the Dwarf turned on his heels and returned to this Mountain.
Now, the third day after his last conversation with Bilbo, Thorin felt the strong need to go out and talk to him again, make him see the reason, even if he had to force him.
But, alas, Balin, his advisor and Dwalin's brother, told him otherwise.
He was to be at the new mine in fifteen minutes, but he was still half-asleep and with his hair all in disarray after last night sleep.
He felt like shit.
However, when Fili entered his room to escort him, he was almost ready, combing his hear, arranging it into its usual braids framing his face.
"Shall we go, Uncle?" asked the Prince, with uncertainty.
"Yes, Fili, let's go. We mustn't be late or else, Balin will have our heads".
"Death by the hands of an advisor, not a majestic end for a King and his heir".
Thorin chuckled at that "Luckily for us, we have Kili to continue the line, do you imagine it?"
"I'd rather not, Thorin" answered Dìs coming from around a corner and startling the two speaking Dwarves "I'd rather not see our line end by my dear son's hands".
"I doubt this will ever be a possibility if we arrive at the mine on time and don't leave Balin waiting".
"Then by all means, let's go" said Dìs "we don't want Balin to be nervous and kill our loved King".
Obviously, they arrived late.
And Balin was not amused.
Not at all.
He survived anyway, but his ankle had probably been broken by the swift kick Dwalin delivered him, on his brother's behalf.
After a boring and long explanation, the Chief Architect decided he had said enough and left the royal Dwarves by themselves.
But sadly not for long.
"Your Majesty, there's a Landless here, who wants to speak to you". Announced a guard, walking to them with his strong hand holding onto someone's slim arm.
"You brute, let me go! I can walk by myself!" yelled the small figure, struggling against his captor.
"Shut up, trash!" snapped the guard showing the familiar Hobbit to the ground with an harsh shove.
"That's enough! Leave, now!" ordered Thorin to the guard, who left after sending the Hobbit sprawled on the floor a disgusted look.
"I'm sorry about him, he shouldn't have treated you like he did" said Fili, helping him up on his feet.
"Not a problem, I'm used to the likes of him".
Thorin sighed and tried to attract the others' attention to himself with a cough.
Obviously, it didn't work.
"Bilbo, why are you here?" asked the King to the Halfling.
"Oh, right. The Thains asked me to deliver you this letter as soon as possible, and I had this evening free, so...here I am, Your Majesty." answered Bilbo, handing the letter to the King, who accepted it without hesitation and put it in his pocket, to read it later.
"Would you like some tea, dear? Something hot to eat? You're so thin!"
Great, now Dìs was mother-henning the poor Hobbit without his consent.
Just wonderful.
"I'm sorry, my Lady, but I have to go back, I must be at the Camp soon, I've left my nephews with my relatives and...I really just came here to deliver that letter!" answered Bilbo, becoming more and more agitated, looking around the Hall and avoiding the others' eyes.
"If you're sure, little one. But at least take something home for your nephews".
And so Thorin ended up with an armful of food, walking to the Walls with a flustered Bilbo, still shocked, but thankful to Dìs' act of generosity, trailing behind him, with a number of warm blankets in his hands and Fili grinning beside him, his arms loaded with clothes of various sizes.
"I've never been to a Landless Camp before, you know?!" said excitedly the boy "Kili will be so jealous, when I'm going to tell him! He'll regret staying in bed all day!"
"It's not that great, actually. After the fire, we had very few things left intact and we had to manage with what we could buy from your Market."
"Still, I really want to have a look! Uncle Thorin said it was wonderful, before...before the fire".
"It was." nodded Thorin without hesitation "there were drapes where we have rock and pillows where we find chairs."
"It's just...it's because it's easier to move that way, we just...fold things up and go away again without much efforts! It's not supposed to be nice, but fast and easy!" explained the Hobbit, now completely flustered.
"But it sounds nice to me, I mean I'm used to rock and nothing else ever since I was a babe! It must be so different!" exclaimed Fili excitedly, practically dancing around the Hobbit.
"I wouldn't know, I've never been in a real house." admitted Bilbo with just a hint of sadness "I've always travelled, all my life! Like my father and my grandfather before him, and my great-grandfather before and so on."
"It must be very hard on you little fellows." said the Prince with a gentle tone, balancing his pile of clothes on one hand, to pat the Hobbit's shoulder with the other one.
"It wasn't before. Now, with the boys and little Pippin, it's harder, but we'll manage, we always do."
"You should stay here until the end of winter" suggested Thorin in a low voice.
"And risk another attack like the last one?!" snorted unattractively Bilbo "I don't think so, in Rivendell we'll be safe, at least. Lord Elrond is an old friend of my mother, he'll take care of us".
The stayed in silence until they reached the Camp, when Fili let out an amazed sound, finding himself in front of the colourful tents.
"It's wonderful! I knew it had to be, even while it was burning it looked great, but now...it's just so amazing!" exclaimed the excited young Dwarf "And you build it yourselves?! How?"
Bilbo was about to answer when a female voice reached their hears.
And not a pleasant one.
"Baggins! Take your lazy arse here right now! You just had to give the damned Dwarf King one letter! One! And you've been away for an hour! You really are useless!" shouted the woman, stomping toward the trio with an angry glare on her face. "Stupid, useless boy! Now what you've got here? Come on, let me see!"
"Hello Lobelia. I'm afraid these things are a gift for my family. You won't have them, this time". Stated the Hobbit firmly, his mouth a thin line.
"Won't have them?! Really?! You think yourself better than me, because you've become that foolish King's whore?! You are nothing, Bilbo Baggins, nothing! Go back to the Market and keep whoring around like usual, then you'll have your fair share of goods!"
Bilbo's face looked ready to burst in flames, but his voice was calm when he spoke again to the woman.
"I won't. Lady Dìs gifted those things to me. You won't have them, just because you're one of the Thains' wife. Now leave me be, I have to go to my nephews."
"Oh, really?! I see how it is! You think you know better?! Well, you'll change your mind when my husband will order you to give me all of this!" yelled Lobelia, storming away, not even bothering to notice the two Dwarves' presence.
Bilbo sighed deeply and turned to them with an half-smile.
"I'm sorry you had to see that. Lobelia never really liked me, she's always like that with everyone, I'm afraid."
"She was most rude to you! Will she really take your things away from you?!" asked Fili in disbelief.
"She'll try, I'll have to give her something in the end, but with my mother present she won't be as bold as she'd just been."
"And what he said...about you being a...being a" stuttered the Prince, blushing madly "a...you know!"
"A whore?" asked Bilbo gently "I'm not one. At the moment dancing helps me earn enough so I don't really need to sell myself. But to Lobelia is just as if I'm doing it, she always calls me that when she's angry."
"But it's such a terrible thing to say! You would never...never...sell yourself to others right?"
"I'd try not to, but...to help my mum and my nephews, I'd do everything I can!"
Thorin's heart missed a beat at that.
At last he remembered who he was standing before to.
Hobbits.
The forgotten sons of Yavanna, left without a land and forced to march through the world without an actual destination forever.
Hobbits.
Thieves, beggars and whores.
Landless.
He went back to the Mountain that day, a shocked Fili in tow, with a heavy heart.
Because while he thought to know everything of the world, the desperation and determination mixed in Bilbo's eyes that morning left him speechless and hunted his sleep that night.
Notes:
There are a lot of women I love in LOTR,but Lobelia is not one of them. On the contrary, I always picture Dìs as a badass woman with a great sense of loyalty to her brother and her Kingdom!
Lobelia, as I said, is just plain mean sometimes. In the books and in the movies, she keeps stealing Bilbo's silver spoons. Here they don't own silver spoons, obviously, so she tries to steals all she can from poor Bilbo.
Bilbo will not become a prostitute. I want to point this out. He said he would to help his family, but he won't. I thought a lot about writing or not this passage, but in the end I did, because I wanted to show Thorin's reaction to such a declaration. It's the reaction I think anyone grown-up in a wealthy situation (he' s the KING!) would have at such a declaration and it makes him reflect about what really Hobbits are. In the next chapter his doubts will find answers, fear not!
About Fili's behaviour: I think he'd be a bit timid and shy talking about things like prostitution and other not-so-legal things, because he grew up, like his Uncle in a sheltered place, shielded by the reality of the life going on around him. So he's a bit ashamed, and doesn't really understand why Bilbo or anyone else would do something like that, but he is a sweetheart and will try and understand the Hobbits' condition as good as he can. Really, I just love him a lot and I hope I've not been too OOC, but I think he, being the older brother and the heir and all, is not really the carefree, mindless guy most people think he is, I'll leave that role to his younger brother.
Okay, I think I said everything, if you have questions, please write me, I'll answer as soon as I have a minute!
Thank you!