Time for Some Explanations
Breakfast was a jolly affair. Tauriel's introduction to Bilbo's cooking was well underway. The surprised pleasure on her face had the three dwarrow laughing.
"Bilbo's cooking is very fine." Said Kíli.
"Hmm. Yffs, idf imm." Fíli mumbles and Tauriel smacks on the back of the head.
"What…?"
This time Fíli swallowed before answering.
"I said, Yes it is."
Notting more is said for a while, everyone enjoying the food on their plates.
After a bit they move to the parlour and the more comfortable seating to be had there. The first question from Bilbo is, of course, about the wellbeing of the dwarrow in his smial.
"Your injuries? Has Oín seen to them?" When the three dwarrow nodded, Bilbo continued. "How long ago? What did he say?"
"Oín was here day before yesterday. Uncle is fully healed, but Fíli is still on light-duties yet. Kíli however… Kíli re-cracked his ribs two and half weeks ago and is not allowed to do anything that requires lifting this arms above his head." Tauriel ignored the discord her assessment brought.
Interesting. Tauriel had taken to calling Thorin 'Uncle', interesting indeed.
"You lot, shut yer mouths. Tauriel, continue, please." Bilbo overrode the dwarrow and they knew better than to argue with a mothering Bilbo.
"Certainly, Master Baggins. Oín-"
"Stop. From what I gather from the letters left littering my smial, you my dear are being Courted by Kíli. Yes?"
"Yes." The answer came from Thorin, surprisingly enough.
"Thank you, Thorin. Also from those same letters I understand that I am being Courted by Thorin, without my knowledge I might add." Thorin winced at Bilbo's tone. "Thorin is Kíli's uncle and if these Courtships continue that will make us family, my dear elf. So… enough with the Master Baggins and call me Bilbo."
"What do you mean 'IF'? There's no 'if' involved." Thorin growled. The other three also growled and grumbled in disagreement of Bilbo's statement.
"Atkât!"
There was silence, the three dwarrow and the elf looked at the Hobbit in various degrees of emotion, ranging from amusement to shock.
"Khuzdul. That's Khuzdul. Where did you learn Khuzdul? Bilbo?" Thorin's voice was very quiet. Too quiet. If you knew him well, you knew quiet was dangerous and sometimes unpredictable.
"Gandalf, of course."
"Gandalf? Gandalf can speak Khuzdul?" asked Fíli.
"Well, of course he can." Replied Bilbo.
"Who taught him? Where did he learn it?" Thorin was still growling.
"Durin IV taught him when they were both at Rivendell."
"What?! Why would Durin IV have been in Rivendell?!" Kíli exploded.
"It was before the Sauron tried to reclaim control over the Rings of Power. All the Kings - Dwarrow, Men and Elves met every other year in a Council of Kings to discuss treaties and trade. That sort of thing. It wasn't that long after Cirdan the Elven Shipwright gave Gandalf the Ring Narya."
"Council? Rings of Power?" Bilbo, what are you talking about?" Thorin just sounded puzzled now.
Bilbo chanted the verse that Gandalf had taught him,
"Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."
He took a deep breath before continuing.
"The elves were given three Rings of Power. Galadriel got one, Nenya, and Gil-galad the other two. In turn he gave one to Elrond, Vilya, and the other he gave to Cirdan. Hmm? Maybe that's where Thranduil's issues started, Gil-galad didn't think his father, Oropher, wise enough to bear a Ring of Power, maybe he was right… Anyway, eventually Cirdan gave Narya to Gandalf. As for the Rings given to the Dwarf-Lords, four of the Rings have been consumed by Dragons, two Sauron has taken and the last was worn by your grandfather Thráin. It is now lost with him." Bilbo said to the two young dwarrow.
"Thráin? But-?... Never mind. Why would Durin IV have taught Gandalf Khuzdul? It's forbidden to teach outsiders."
"He taught Gandalf before it was forbidden. When Sauron tried to conquer Middle-Earth, he started a war that ended at The Battle of Dagorlad, this was the end of the Council of Kings. Oropher and another elf Amdir ignored Gil-galad's orders and attacked early. There's no way of knowing but this may have caused Sauron of put on the One Ring. What is known is that as soon as he did that the three wearing the elven Rings, Galadriel, Elrond and Cirdan 'Felt' what he intended and simply removed theirs, the nine Kings of Men didn't and became the Nazgûl, the Ring Wraiths. The Dwarf-Lords weren't as susceptible, but they'd already lost four to dragons and Sauron never stopped trying to get the other three. Eventually he got two of these, but the Line of Durin was just too strong and until Smaug attacked Erebor there seemed little chance that he ever would. Quite probably that's the only reason Smaug even knew about Erebor, after all, dragons are creatures of Morgoth."
Kíli and Fíli were sitting close paying attention, they remembered spending hours in the evenings around campfire listening to Bilbo tell stories.
"Did he tell you about the Battle? Tell us about the Battle, Bilbo, please?"
"No lads. Gandalf wasn't there. He and the other istari weren't there. Sauron had once been an istari called Mairon, but had turned to evil and become the student of Morgoth, taking the name Annatar long enough to trick the elves into making the Rings of Power, once they had, he made the One Ring himself and took the name Sauron and control of his fallen masters armies." Bilbo stopped long enough to take a couple sips of tea before continuing.
"There were armies from all the great races, dwarrow, elves and men. Only the Silvan elves lead by Oropher objected to being lead by Gil-galad. Even the host from Khazad-dûm followed him. The Battle raged for months before Gil-galad and Elendil, the King of Gondor, gained control enough to push Suaron's armies back through the Black Gates. The Battle claimed many lives, many good lives, including that of Oropher. This was the beginning of the end of the Last Alliance of Middle Earth."
Bilbo stood and returned to the kitchen.
"Enough of the history lessons. I want to know. Where are the rest of the company? Do they know you are alive? Courting? Courting, Thorin? Really? No. No, that can wait."
The hobbit entered the parlour with a tray and tea makings, sitting down in chair again.
"Is anyone going to answer my questions?" He queried.
The next couple of hours were used to bring Bilbo up to date with the recent history of one Thorin Oakenshield, his nephews and Company.
"So you lied to Fortimbras?"
"Yes." Thorin winced as he said this.
"What did he demand as reparation?" Bilbo frowned.
"We agreed that I would front the cost of a new smial suitable for the Dwarrow Envoy to The Shire." Thorin grimaced as Bilbo screamed.
"WHAT?!"
Thorin was quick to reassure him that he had offered and Fortimbras had agreed.
"That. Doesn't. Matter. He had no right."
"He did. He spoke as the head of your Family, not as the Thain of The Shire, Bilbo. We kept it a private matter between a two Courting parties." Thorin tried to head off an argument.
"Hmmf. Still not sure I approve, but it appears I have no say in this. So? Where is this new smial to be built?"
"Next door. The vacant block of land with the Cedar tree. We spent the day yesterday getting Fortimbras' approval and drawing up plans. We were going to go up to the Bindbole site today and ask the Company to come and build it for us."
"No."
"No? what do you mean 'no'? Why not?" Kíli didn't understand, why wouldn't Bilbo want the Company to do this?
"Thorin, you and your dwarrow are great miners and builders, but you work in stone. The hills of the Shire aren't stone. It takes a very unique skill-set to build a smial in the soil of the Shire. It might be a good idea to have a couple of the smial-crafters come and make sure the roots of the tree won't interfere with the structure. If the smial is moved around the bend a little further, it won't matter so much and there's a plateaued area on the other side of the road that could be used as a stable area. If Dís is to be Dwarroven Envoy, then there'll a lot of visitors to the smial. A stable area would be an asset. It would need a stable yard, stables and pasture access. None of that can be underground. Being for the Dwarroven Envoy it should be built in the dwarrow-style, which means it will have to be built by dwarrow. Hobbits rarely build above ground and when we do, we tend to build in timber. So for the best and fastest build, let the hobbits use their skill in the soft earth and have the dwarrow build in hard stone."
"Hmm. As always, Master hobbit, you provide sound advice."
"Thorin! I thought we were past you 'Master Hobbit'-ing me?" Teased Bilbo.
"Indeed we are, Bilbo, indeed we are." Chuckled the dwarf.
"What about the tree itself, Bilbo. The ravens have claimed it and now use it as a rookery. They won't be keen to move from it." Fíli interjected.
"And why should they? There's no reason for them to move. All that's needed is a shelter for them for the winter. While winters in the Shire are milder than Erebor, we still get a good coating of snow and that tree is awfully exposed to winds. A shelter for the colder months where ravens can nest, rest and recover from the long flight from Erebor and the Iron Hills would be a benefit. To the ravens themselves, but also to the Envoy in dealing with stubborn, mule-headed dwarrows fretting about their birds."
Bilbo jumped to his feet and scramble for his pack.
"That reminds me. I have something for you, Thorin."
"A Gift?"
"Yes. Well… Not exactly. More returning something lost." With that Bilbo carefully placed the canvas wrapped item in Thorin's lap.
Thorin looked at the bundle and with trepidation undid the strings tying the canvas. As the string was removed, canvas sagged and slid. Thorin's breath caught.
"My shield. You found my shield. Oh, Bilbo. Thank you, thank you. I have missed this so. I have felt exposed without it." There were tears in Thorin's eye at being reunited with something so valued.
"Well, that's about to get worse." Bilbo then turned to Fíli. "Fíli, I would like you, Kíli and Tauriel to head up to Bindbole now. Thorin and I have a lot to discuss and I sincerely doubt that any of you want to be here for that. Oh, and be a dear, Tauriel if you would, would you be so kind as to pass this to Hamfast before heading north? Thank you my dear." While talking Bilbo had gotten to his feet and gone to the desk under the window. Taking a piece of paper and a quill in hand, he quickly wrote out a note to Hamfast asking him to speak to the smial-crafters and have two of them present at Bag End the next morning.
"And when you get to Bindbole, tell that bunch of stone blind idiots, that I expect them here for lunch tomorrow. Explain to them what's going to be happening and DON'T let them come here today. Now. Off you go."
Bilbo puttered off to wash the dishes.
"Ah, Bilbo?" Thorin tensed, waiting for he-knew-not-what.
"Please wait until the children have left, Thorin." Bilbo replied and continued with the dishes.
A few minutes later after waving to Bilbo through the kitchen window, Fíli, Kíli and Tauriel rounded the bend in the direction of Bindbole and the new dwarrow settlement-in-the-making. Seconds after loosing sight of Bag End, Bilbo's voice could be heard ringing across the valley.
"COURTING?! WHAT IN THE NAME OF ERÚ WERE YOU THINKING?!"