Date: TA 2941

Thorin: 195 years old

Lina: 192 years old

"Drink this." Gandalf thrust a cup beneath Lina's nose. She recoiled at the stomach-churning stench rising from the brew.

"What is it?" she asked, eyeing the proffered drink warily. Even if she trusted the wizard, which she wasn't sure she fully did at times, she wasn't sure she wanted to be ingesting whatever concoction he'd come up with.

"Despite the smell, it is quite good for you. It is intended to prepare your body for a child. I've instructed Nes to have a cup for you every morning, regardless of location," he informed her.

Lina blinked in surprise before gingerly accepting the cup. She barely got her lips to the rim before gagging at the smell. Taking in a deep breath and holding it, the cup managed to reach her lips. The liquid was thick and cold. It was as if the dwarf poured slime into her body.

Gandalf and Nes watched impassively as their companion fought her body's desire to expel the substance. The wizard had explained his plan to the assassin the night before splitting off from Thorin's company. He was not sure if Lina would ever see her husband again. The road through Mirkwood was a perilous one. No one was exactly sure what lurked in the darkest shadows beneath the trees, not even one of the Maiar. If something should happen to the Company, Dain Ironfoot would become the leader of the Longbeards. While he was a strong leader, neither individual wanted to see him ascend before Thorin's line.

Nes and Gandalf were both aware of the sexual bond that still existed between Thorin and his wife. The talisman was to help create a child and to protect any child formed. The concoction Lina just finished drinking was not, as Gandalf had told her, to prepare her body for the child. It was to nurture any possibility of a child. Should the most recent coupling produce results, this concoction would ensure the child's survival barring any terrible shocks to the mother's system.

To keep Lina's hopes from rising too high, the old wizard was selective as to what he revealed to her. Yet, to accomplish his plan, he was forced to take Nes into his confidence. She would remain at Lina's side through the coming weeks and months. With her aid, the likelihood of a child being brought forth rose substantially.

Lina felt eyes watching her. Both companions looked very serious. The dwarf wondered what they knew that she did not. A great many things, she supposed. There was no telling exactly how old Gandalf was, and what he had seen in his many years. As for Nes, Lina was only vaguely aware of the assassin's past. She knew very little about how her companion had fallen into the life of a killer-for-hire.

Perhaps one day she would have the answers to all her questions, but at this moment in time she had only one goal: finding her missing companions. That she had no word from Kira worried her as well. She was depending on her old friend's army to help Thorin in his quest to not only retake Erebor, but to assert his right to rule the land. According to Gandalf, a band of refuges from Dale had built a town on the Long Lake of Esgaroth. Laketown, as they called it, was home to a motley crew of humans who maintained some form of trade with Thranduil's Elves. Both peoples would have to accept Thorin's right to rule the Mountain as his grandfather had done. But would they?

Thranduil, an ally of Thror, refused the dwarves aid or comfort when Smaug attacked Erebor. Lina doubted the Elf would be terribly interested in giving the grandson of his abandoned ally any such aid now. If anything, the Elf King would probably be interested in claiming the Mountain Halls for himself. His own kingdom extended both above and below ground in Mirkwood. Unlike Lord Elrond and Lady Galadriel, Thranduil had a reputation for loving gold nearly as much as a Dwarf.

The line breaker snorted with amusement at the thought of delivering such an insult to the Elf King's face. Accusing him of being as greedy as he'd once accused the dwarves of being would certainly not endear Thorin's people to him. He might not be openly hostile, but he certainly did not like the Dwarves. His hostility might cause problems for Thorin once the Dwarven Prince established his kingdom once more.

Lina sighed and rose to her feet. It had been three days since the trio had begun the return journey to the Misty Mountains. The dwarf's sleep had been uncharacteristically silent and empty. Neither dreams nor visions came to her, there was only black. She worried for her husband and heard the echoes of her young nephew's voice in her mind. Hoping to ease her fears, Lina had turned to Gandalf for help. His words, however, gave little comfort. He knew of the gold sickness in Thorin's line. He, unlike Elrond, believed the same madness would not touch Thorin.

Why the wizard felt her husband would be immune to such illness, he would not explain. He noted only that he had reason to believe the madness had left the line due to an encounter years before with Thrain. At his pronouncement, Lina suddenly realized how the wizard was able to provide Thorin with the map and key to Erebor. Thrain had taken both objects with him in his journey, but neither had been recovered after the King had gone missing.

The wizard refused to say where he had been, but admitted that he had been in the presence of what remained of the Dwarven King several years before meeting Thorin in Bree. The King's mind was nearly gone, but he knew he had a son though he could not remember his son's name. Shortly before dying, the dwarf passed the key and tattered map to Gandalf.

Suspiciously, however, the wizard never recovered the King's ring, something which should have passed to Thorin as a symbol of his right to rule. Thrain wore the ring while he ruled in Erebor, passing it on to Thrain just before his journey to Moria. That ring was never passed to Thorin, though it should have been. Perhaps, one day, the ring would be recovered.

Lina hefted her pack, ready to follow her companions as the sun rose in the sky. With or without the ring, she was determined to help her husband retake what was rightfully his. To do that, she could not remain buried in the past. She had a job to do, a task to complete. If she failed, she could not bear to think what would become of her family.