Evie and Dis were on their way down to dinner when the hobbit stopped in her tracks, sighting a familiar face.

"Telchar!?"

The dwarf, who had been walking away from them and down another hallway, paused mid step. He seemed reluctant to turn around and face her, although the healer couldn't begin to guess why. She was thrilled to see her old friend – one more person to remind her how they had all gotten here in the first place, to make her feel like there were more dwarves already on her side of things than she had expected. Everything seemed confused and muddled – everything but her loyalty to Durin's Folk and to Thorin himself; she did not know if there was a contest to come with Belinir or not, but if there was she could use all the help she could get. She remembered Telchar's kindliness and vibrant spirit and felt immediately at ease knowing that she would have her former companion at her side through whatever might happen.

Telchar finally turned, his mouth set into a quivering line across his face and one of his hands buried anxiously in his auburn beard.

"Miss Evangeline –"

He started, and seemed unable to finish what appeared to have been a longer thought. Evie brushed the attempt aside, curtseying politely and feeling her face light up in a broad grin.

"I'm very happy to see you, old friend."

His reaction was… unexpected. The dwarf shied away from her, as if struck. His expression turned even more grim, and the hobbit couldn't decide what she had said or did to make him react in such a way. Dis stood by, her mouth turning at the corner as she waited for the other dwarf to explain himself. As verbose as she was, she seemed disinclined to assist him. Had something happened since the last time the hobbit had seen her former travelling companion?

"Happy?" Telchar echoed, as if he barely heard her.

"I am so sorry…" The dwarf continued, searching for the right words and only finding them after a struggle. "You are too kind to greet me as a friend, to act as if I have not… I did not… I owe you a life, my lady, and I will not forget it. I still think of that night –"

"Telchar…" Evie whispered his name, startled. He went silent as she spoke, his brown eyes shifting to look down at hers with grave fear behind them. She now knew why, and the very thought horrified her. Had he truly carried this burden for so long?

"You were told that I survived?"

She asked, dumbstruck. She did not know what to say or how to react to him, how to deal with the terrible news that he had claimed such guilt for himself for so many years…

"Yes, yes of course, but… Thorin was not so easy to forgive me and I… You almost died, and it was all my fault. If I had been, if I would have just –"

"You cannot think such things." She interrupted him once more, reaching out and placing a small hand on his shoulder. "What has come before is the past, and if we wish to have a future we must learn from the past but not let ourselves become mired in it."

She advised, her grey eyes full of sincerity. "There will always be times when we are not our best selves, when we make mistakes or.." She could not complete the sentence; the pain in his eyes was too great. She squeezed his shoulder, looking up at him and desperately hoping he had not suffered for this.

"But can you… Can you ever forgive me?"

"I already have."

Came her immediate reply, without thought or hesitation.

"I forgave you as soon as I realized what had happened. It was a goblin who struck me, not you. I was not fast enough with my blade, you were unprepared at the watch, the whole company was asleep… This is not your burden to bear, Telchar. We all have accidents we could hold the blame for, but to live under their shadow…"

She thought immediately of her family's history, of the guilt her father felt for leaving her mother (the same guilt she now owned, yet did little to absolve, even now), of Thorin's inescapable feeling of responsibility for his people and for their safe lodging and eventual return to Erebor, of the countless mistakes she had made in her life, the men lost in Gondor to the error of an ill-made potion or a few seconds' unnecessary delay…. Failure was a part of life. To err was to be mortal. Yet when that error led to the death or suffering of others… She understood what a responsibility that reality was, and she regretted that Telchar had clung to his for so long.

"I am alive, my friend. There are many whose deaths I could claim rest on the failure of my hands to do their proper work, but to my knowledge yours are clean of such violence." She paused, her mouth twisting as she thought, "and as for Thorin… If he has been cruel to you, if he has done or said anything… It is not his right to do so, and his actions are only a reflection of the guilt he feels. If he took it out on you, it was wrong of him, and I apologize on his behalf. It was… It was a difficult time for all of us. We should all be thankful for the lives we are given, and let the past stay behind us. Thorin is… Not so good at that, I think."

She realized, glancing away as she felt Dis' eyes fall on her. Evie did not wish to speak ill of the dwarf's brother, and she hoped it did not appear as such. It was simply an observation, and one she had not been entirely prepared to deal with, herself. But she knew Thorin, for all that he was (at least, she hoped so), and she would not have him any differently. Not that she had him at all…

Evie's mind turned in upon itself, and the hobbit clung to the one thing she knew inconsequentially to be true – they were going to be late for dinner if they did not continue down to the dining hall. All the present company could agree on this matter, it seemed, and so they continued on towards the smell of cooked meats and other savories, trying to shed the heavy veil of lamentation that was the past and step forward into what they all wished might be the future, free and full of hope.

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As they entered the dining room, the others were already assembled. There was a long oak table in the middle of the room, large and sturdy. It looked like it could carry the weight of a great amount of food, and the simple place settings surrounded an empty space prepared for just that. The room smelled rather delightful (the kitchen must have been close by), and Evie felt suddenly very hungry. She felt a lot more than that, however, when she discovered how they were all to be seated.

Evangeline was the guest of honor, as Dis explained it, placed to the right of the head of the table, where Thorin was to sit. Everyone had collected in different areas of the dining hall, laughing with each other and waiting until it was time to be seated, and the healer tried to take part in the joviality although she felt rather heavy inside.

Her small hobbit heart swelled in her chest as Thorin approached her. He was wearing a dark green tunic, simply adorned yet well made. His hair was loose with a few small braids, as was his custom, but he seemed somehow better put together than he had appeared earlier. He nodded to his sister, who was still standing beside Evie. Telchar had moved away to speak with another dwarf the blonde did not recognize.

"You look very well."

Thorin complimented the hobbit, and she was unsure how to reply. She mustered a fluttering 'thank you,' although she was embarrassed of how delicate it sounded. She had not been expecting his attention, after the way he had acted earlier… The dwarf extended his large hand, and she placed her petite one within it, not quite fully aware of everything that was happening. She felt like she was in a fog, dazed by everything she experienced internally when his sharp blue eyes met hers. He kissed the top of her hand, and the sensation made shivers run down her spine. Something passed between them as he looked up at her again from where he had bowed forward to kiss her hand, but Evie was not sure she understood exactly what it was. His lips on her skin made her whole body tense, made her feel weak inside. A strange heat rose in her stomach, and Evie had to fight to keep control of herself. She was no frail maiden, weak and vulnerable – she had seen horrors unlike anything she ever could have imagined as a little girl listening to stories of the wild, she had come through dark times and had helped others when they needed it most. That took strength, and she wasn't about to lose it now because of the way that she felt when this dwarf's eyes fell on her. She took a deep breath, steadying herself and curtseying politely to the king.

She followed him to the table, where he pulled out her chair for her to sit in. He then took his seat at the head of the table, and the other dwarves followed his model and assembled in their proper places. To Thorin's left was Belinir, then Balin, Dwalin, and Telchar. Dis sat next to Evie, and her husband Fildur was beside her. Nrerin, Tekar, and Kochar, the advisors she had met earlier, were also present, as were two more, whose names Evie did not catch in the round of introductions. Her head was spinning with so many foreign names, but she took it in stride and tried to speak to each of them as much as she could. She was saved when the food arrived and all talk died out for a time.

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The dwarves ate as though famished – Evie could have mistaken the assembly for one of travelers who had not eaten in weeks, for the way they laid into the food offered them. Two large roasts were instantly pulled apart in the center of the table, and much ale disappeared into bellies and glistened off beards before anyone thought to start a conversation.

"We must entertain our guest or she will think we are a collection of uncivil brutes."

Dis began, smiling and fondly plucking a sliver of cooked carrot from her husband's blonde beard. Evie could not deny that she was a little amazed at the proceedings – perhaps they had not had enough food on the road for her to see the dwarves eat so comfortably and heartily before (although Thorin, she noted, ate with much more decorum and seemed to be one of the few engaged in using utensils to pick apart his meal), for this was certainly a new experience for the hobbit. She rather enjoyed it, despite how she knew the rest of the Shire might have reacted to the mess they made; the dwarves were a merry company, and she appreciated that they stayed true to their nature, regardless of circumstance.

"Not at all," Evie replied to Dis, scooping more of the thick vegetable stew into her bowl before it disappeared entirely.

"We have a saying in the Shire, 'Silence during a meal is a sign either of good food or bad company.'"

She repeated, looking around at her new companions, "I am most certain this is a case of the former."

The dwarves liked that very much, and lifted their mugs to it. Although this appeared to be a common custom (they raised their glasses to many things as the night wore on – it seemed almost any opportunity to drink proved a good enough one), Evie appreciated it nonetheless.

As she sipped on her drink, her eyes traveling across the table, the hobbit began to relax. Many of these dwarves were her friends, and others she hoped to call such in time. If nothing else, she was glad to share in their company for the evening. After her experiences in Gondor, she had come to realize that even this, the enjoyment of food in good company, the ability to laugh at a joke and smile at a turn in conversation… These were small happinesses which some people were denied. Which even she had been deprived of, for perhaps too long.

But this, Evangeline felt deep within her, was a new start. Or she would make it so. She did not know if she would stay at Ered Luin, but it was not so far from the Shire. And unless things with Thorin were irrevocably altered, which she could only pray they would not be, she hoped to return and visit her friends from time to time, if nothing else. Although she was beginning to feel rather eager she might be invited to stay, not only with the hope of seeing a promise fulfilled, but because this was beginning to feel more and more like a place she could call home.

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Author's Note: The next few chapters are coming together, and we're getting very close to something I've been working on for a very long time, and which is by far my favorite part of the story so far. So keep with me! It has been so nice reading your reviews and comments and getting feedback on this- I'm really enjoying writing it and I can't believe I've been working on it for six months now! Evie and Thorin have been on an incredible journey together, and they still have far to go. Thank you for your support and your comments, I really love hearing from you and you make this experience so much fun! I hope you're all having a great start to the summer!