Chapter 3

It had been three days since Leanna woke up in this strange world. Looking out through the window at the morning sky, she watched the comings and goings of different people, boats moving about in the town. Bard had left at dawn to get an early start in the day, mumbling something about needing to prepare for winter. Of course he had given a strict warning not to be seen or to draw any kind of attention to herself. Leanna sighed, she would have to adapt, first of all to not being queen anymore and second, to the world around her.

A set of feet tapped behind her and she looked behind her to see Bard's son and youngest daughter standing behind her. She turned to face them and smiled as Tilda looked down bashfully while mumbling something she couldn't hear clearly. Bain poked her with his elbow, urging her to repeat the words louder. Leanna smiled clearly confused about the antics of the two children before her.

"Oh why don't you ask her then Bain?" Tilda blurted out, irritated at the jabs her brother kept giving her.

"Ask me what?" Leanna asked curious as to what the siblings wanted. Sigrid who had been watching the exchange from the corner jumped to her feet and spoke instead.

"Oh for heaven's sake! Magic! They want to see you do magic again" said Sigrid who folded arms together and looked away trying to seem uninterested in what they were doing. Even though Leanna had proven to be of noble stock and friendly, she couldn't help but feel distrust towards her still. At some point Sigrid thought maybe she had some elven blood in her but she was from another world, so she obviously didn't know anything about theirs.

Leanna looked to Sigrid, seeing that though she tried to hide it, she too was curious and still weary of her. She understood that much, given the circumstances even she as well would be cautious. They all should be.

"Very well then but just this once" She said looking at all three of them, her blue eyes sparkled with mirth. She flicked her wrist subtly and in the air a thin wave of snow fell. The little droplets began to form figures within the shower and what the children saw tore gasps from their throats, their eyes filled with wonder at the sight before them. Figures danced and one after the other in pairs as the scene illustrated a ball.

"That's you! And…a man, who is that?" Tilda said pointing to a figure with a crown and a dress whilst another bowed at her and offered his arm. Leanna turned swiftly to where Tilda pointed and stilled, she knew that scene, which was the day of her first banquet and Gilford had come as her escort for the evening since she had no husband to do so for her. Gilford, she missed him dearly and prayed he was alright, prayed they all were.

"That is…was the Commander of the Royal Queen's Guard, Gilford …my friend" said Leanna with a sober expression, she quickly wore a smile and looked at the children who had kept her company since her presence here in Middle Earth. She closed her palm and the shower of snow dissipated quietly.

"I bet even those elves and their elven sorceress couldn't do magic like that" Bain said proudly as he nodded his head.

"Elves?" Leanna asked sharply, the statement Bain had made caught her attention quickly. Sigrid picked up a long scroll from the table and handed it her.

"Here" She said. Leanna took the scroll and opened it, it was map and Leanna smiled at Sigrid, thanking her for the gesture. Leanna stood up and spread the large map across the table. She and the children spent a great deal of the day discussing the realms located on the map.

"Since you know next to nothing about the other cities and kingdoms, you could ask Da, he's got some scrolls that you could borrow" Bain suggested as Tilda rolled the map and set it away.

"Even if, Da's scrolls only contain so much and the only one in this town who's got those kinds of scrolls is The Master of this town but he's the last one you'll want to ask anything of" Sigrid said leaning by the table. Leanna nodded and sat back down, she wanted to go outside even if it were for an hour and stretch her legs but she knew the dangers that came with being noticed by the master who, by the sound of things was as unfriendly as they come.

!

!

The sun was setting and Leanna had taken to finding out things about the world she now lived in. She engaged the two girls in a light discussion where she learned of creatures such as the elves and from their descriptions, her desire to see such creatures grew. Bain however, had been moving from window to window every now and then with a grim look on his face.

"Bain?" Leanna called to him, worried about his silence. Bain looked at them and held a finger to his lips; Leanna immediately grew on high alert as did Tilda and Sigrid who exchanged looks. He closed the windows and turned to face them.

"They're watching us. I have to go warn Da! Everyone stay here" with that, Bain ran out.

"What?" Sigrid said as her eyes grew in alarm, she glanced at Leanna who quickly understood her worry.

"Calm yourself, if they knew of my existence, they would have come for me by now, whatever is going on most likely has nothing to do with me" Leanna spoke gently to calm the young girl but still felt ire growing within. What had happened? Hopefully Bard had not gotten into any trouble.

The door swung open and they all turned to see who had barged in unannounced. Bard stepped in followed by Bain who quickly shut the door behind him. Sigrid and Tilda ran to embrace him, both scared and relieved to see him. They took the items off his hands and set to placing them in their right places, Bain rounded up his father, with worry etched on his face. He looked at Leanna and nodded his greeting to her, which she returned. She was clearly tensed and knew something was wrong but had no time to allay her worries now. Bard looked outside the window and made certain the coast was clear then turned to Bain.

"Bain bring them in". Bain nodded and rushed down the back of their house, to the toilet, quietly guiding dwarves up into the house. Sigrid who followed her brother from behind, looked down and in a worried tone questioned her father.

"Da…why are dwarves coming out of our toilet??" Sigrid asked, gripping the wooden railings of the stairs as she continued watching dwarves ascend into the house.

"Will they bring us luck?" Tilda asked with hope brimming in her eyes. Bard gathered a handful of cloth and shared amongst the dwarves and they settled down to dry their clothes round the fire. Leanna had been watching quietly from the sidelines, her eyes roving from one dwarf to another and then there was one who wasn't as tall as the others but clearly had feet that no shoe would probably fit on, hence his bare feet. The last time Leanna had seen dwarves were the ones her grandmother had taken her to, the feeling of homesickness grew strong in her heart as memories flashed in her mind.

Happy, Lucky, Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Sunny, Green and the one whom Leanna had bonded with the most after her grandmother died…Grump. Her chest tightened with longing as she watched the dwarves settle down from what seemed to be a weary venture. One of the dwarves had caught her eye, staring at her with pure distrust and suddenly the remaining dwarves turned their attention to her. The dwarf who looked to be the leader of their group turned to Bard and spoke.

"I thought you said you'd help us keep our presence a secret here Bargeman" the dwarf's voice low and angry as he spoke. Leanna who failed to understand the cause of his anger, felt her irritation grew and looked to Bard for an explanation but the look on his face told her he was just as confused.

"And it is a secret, the master doesn't know of your presence here and I intend to keep it that way" Bard responded coldly. He didn't know where this was going but he was getting tired of having anything to do with dwarves, regretting his bargain with them almost immediately.

"Then why is there an elf among us?" said Thorin who out rightly glared at the fair woman standing in the corner of the room, dressed like one of the nobility. Leanna was confused now, wondering why this dwarf thought she was an elf.

"That is no elf master dwarf, she's as human as any of us here" said Bard who set down more cloth for the dwarves to warm up with. Another dwarf spoke, it was the one who had brokered the deal to get them across the Lake.

"Surely yer mistaken lad, ther's no way a human could look like...well, uhm" Balin said clearing his throat not intending any offence. Leanna narrowed her eyes at the dwarves who seemed to have taken a keen interest in her.

"Like what? "Asked Leanna, her were eyes cold and piercing. Whilst she had been friends with her grandmother's dwarves, that did not change their stubborn, free willed and unruly nature and it seemed that even in this world, dwarves were the same as well.

"Uh we mean no offense lass, it's just that uh…yer look a lot like an elf than a human, it's a bit easy to mistake yer for elfkind" Balin bumbled through his apology and Leanna raised an eyebrow. It seems not all the dwarves in her presence were blatantly lacking in manners. She turned to the children who looked worriedly at her and sighed, she would dismiss their assumptions for the sake of peace and so she parted her long pale hair strands from her ear, all the while ignoring the reactions in the room.

"As you can see, I am human through and through…does this satisfy you master dwarf?" said Leanna looking directly at the dwarf who had initially spoken out his suspicions. The dwarf in question nodded and looked away. Leanna resumed her silent stance by the corner, her exchange with the dwarves forgotten.

There was movement in the corner of her sight and she saw the dwarf who had thought her an elf earlier, look out the window.

"A dwarvish wind lance" whispered Thorin as he continued to look out the window.

"You look like you've seen a ghost" the dwarf with no shoes on his feet had moved to stand behind him.

"That's because he has" Balin said to Bilbo, Thorin seemed immersed in memory and remained silent. Leanna wondered at the object of their perusal but stayed quiet in her corner regardless, listening on to their conversation.

"The last time we saw such a weapon, the city was on fire" As Balin spoke, Leanna looked at him sharply, her eyes trained on him as she listened to his tale. "…it was the day the dragon came, the day that Smaug destroyed Dale…" Leanna felt her blood run cold, there were dragons? Without realizing the tremble that held her body, her attention had been fully and openly placed on the dwarf currently speaking, her mind reliving the nightmare that befell her kingdom on the day she died.

"Gideon, Lord of the city rallied his bowmen and fired upon the beast, but a dragon's hide is tough, tougher than the strongest armor, only a black arrow fired from a wind lance could've pierced the dragon's hide and few of those arrows were ever made" said Balin.

"Had the day of men been true that day…much would've been different" Thorin said looking across the room. Bard moved round to the center of the room.

"You speak as if you were there" Bard said while watching him, he wondered about the dwarves that he led into his home, knowing they had concealed their identities from him for other reasons aside their altercations with The Mirkwood Elves.

"All dwarves know the tale" Thorin replied smoothly.

"Then you would know that Gideon hit the dragon, he loosened the scale under the left wing, one more shot and he would've killed the beast" Bain moved to stand beside his father. A dwarf behind them, Dwalin laughed at the boy's words and spoke.

"That's a faery story lad, nothing more" Dwalin said, his face growing dark again. Leanna had listened to the exchange, her mind clear of the grief she had been nursing since she entered LakeTown, the thoughts in her head swirling as she watched the dwarves speak of this creature that had laid waste to the city in the east.

"Where is this beast now?" she asked, trying to keep the tremor and anguish from her voice. Everyone present turned to look at her but Bard spoke in their stead.

"In the dwarvish kingdom of Erebor north of here" Said Bard as he looked back to Thorin and his men. Thorin with a sense of urgency, approached Bard, now was not the hour for tales of things long passed. Time was not on their side as it were.

"You took our money, where are the weapons?" said Thorin and Bard turned to leave.

"Wait here" he said and moved to the back of his house where his boat had been docked. Looking to make sure the coast was clear, he picked up a long sack that had been tied to the side of his boat and quickly went back inside.

Leanna looked at the children who were clearly scared and tense, Tilda openly fascinated with the presence of dwarves in the house, curiously looked on from her corner with Sigrid and Bain beside her. Leanna smiled slightly at the sight, were she not so frightened, she most likely would've gone to have a closer look at them. Bard returned and threw the sack on the table. The dwarves quickly gathered and opened it with eager faces. But upon inspecting the items brought to them on the table, their faces fell and their rowdy complaints rose in the air.

"What is this?" Thorin asked while picking up a pike with three hooks at its end.

"Pike hook from an old harpoon" Bard answered.

"And this?" Killi asked as his brother picked up a stone that had an iron handle embedded in it.

"A crow bell we call it, fashioned from a smithies' harmer, its heavy in hand I grant but in defense of your life, these will serve you better than none" Bard said, leaning on the table as he tried to reason with the discontent dwarves.

"We paid you for weapons, iron forged swords and axes!" said Gloin who was glaring at Bard over the loss of his coin which had been wasted on such useless items.

"It's a joke!" Bifur said as they threw the weapons back on the table. Bard spoke further, trying to reason with them, dwarves were one thing, but discontent and angry dwarves were very difficult to control.

"You won't find better outside the city armory, all iron forged weapons are held under lock and key" Bard said. Thorin looked at Dwalin and Leanna did not miss the silent exchange, they were weaving a plan to steal those weapons.

"Thorin, why not take his offer and go, I've made do with less and so have you, I say we leave now" Balin said. However Bard having heard the old dwarf speak that name stiffened.

"You're not going anywhere!" Bard declared, with understanding gleaming from his eyes. He now knew who these dwarves were and why they so dearly needed weapons urgently. Dwalin, peeved at the words of the simple bargeman, moved to face him.

"What did you say?" he whispered with a threat in his tone but it didn't stop Bard from speaking.

"There are spies watching this house, probably every dock and wharf in the town, you must wait till night fall" he said, packing the items from the table as the dwarves settled back down. Having heard Bard's confession, Leanna frowned. She would have to be even more careful, for the sake of Bard's family. She watched Bard walk out and door and turned to the dwarves.

"I do not know who you are, but if you plan to go anywhere near that place I would ask that you turn back" she looked at the dwarf they called Thorin, who she knew held some form of authority over this group. Leanna left the corner as Thorin turned to look at her.

"What are you talking about woman? You know nothing" Thorin said, feigning ignorance. A skill Leanna knew well for she had mastered it at court when she became queen but she had no time for games, this was not court and these were not Cor Alvaron nobles.

"You talk like one and you certainly speak like one too, I could tell from the composure of your kin here that you are not regular dwarves…Lord Thorin" Leanna said, looking down into the startled eyes of the dwarf but continued.

"You're outnumbered by size alone" she said as she looked up and into the eyes of the other dwarves who were watching her intently. "…the fire in the eyes of a warrior are hard to quench, most especially in dwarves, however if you face that dragon, you will not only be killed but you will awaken its wrath" she whispered harshly to Thorin. The shocked looks on the dwarves faces confirmed her suspicions. Thorin stepped back, his eyes hard with anger and suspicion.

"How do you know that is our intention?" he said. Leanna's eyes soften and sighed, the grief she had been fighting off slowly coming to surface.

"Because I know what it feels like, the feeling of loss and helplessness, each surpassing their limits as you watch everything you love and hold dear being torn from your very grasp and I know very well the anger that comes with that feeling too" said Rose, Thorin turned away, her words pierced him deeply for they were truthful.

"Then you understand why we must do this" Thorin said resolved in his words. He had made his choice from the beginning well aware that the possibilities of this quest failing, was at an all-time high.

"A dragon is not a creature you slay with only twelve dwarves at your beck and call. Even for an entire army the odds of winning are still so low. What's more is the consequence of provoking this dragon, not only will it ensure your deaths, it will look for a means to quench its anger" Leanna spoke with hardness in her voice. She was angry, but she didn't understand why, she had no business with these dwarves, this was not her fight either. The fear that crept up her chest was paralyzing her, she had failed to kill the dragon that attacked her home and these dwarves were rushing to their doom, in turn putting this town at risk.

"This matter is no concern of yours woman, our business is our own and we will choose to keep it that way" Thorin said, his face hard with conviction and Leanna knew that no matter what she said, they would not change his mind.

"Then at least be considerate enough to leave the injured one behind, anymore strain on his body and he will collapse" said Leanna. She turned to look at the young dwarf stifling his painful groans, she knew from the obvious limp he carried that it was a serious wound, even now a sheen of sweat formed on his brow, a foretelling sign of an oncoming fever.

The dwarves nodded and a young dwarf which seemed close with the injured dwarf drew near him to inspect his wound. Leanna looked out the window to make sure Bard was still close by and moved to the children to check on their needs, the talk of dragon would certainly frighten them.

Bard leaned on the balcony railing of his house. It felt like the breath had been knocked out of his lungs. Thorin, the dwarf under his very own roof was none other than the heir to the throne of Erebor. He was King under the mountain. He moved to enter back inside when he stilled as a thought came to him, without hesitation he turned the skyline and stared at the sight of the lonely mountain with its peak reaching beyond the clouds. The door opened and Bain's head peaked out.

"Da?" Bain called out, Bard turned to him whispered to his hearing.

"Don't let them leave" Bard said and took off afterwards, running down the stairs and into town.