Hey friends!

Thank you all so much for your patience with me getting this chapter out! Lad's night was cancelled a couple of weeks ago and I forgot to let you know that there would be a pause in updates. We are back to our regularly scheduled, every other Wednesday/Thursday posting schedule.

Thank you all for the support, the follows, and the comments! I really appreciate them and hope you enjoy the next chapter in Brili's adventures.

See you in a couple of weeks! (For real this time.)

Please feel free to share any feedback! I would love to hear how you feel about this chapter!

Lots of love!

Kim

One more day.

If Brili knew her landmarks as well as she thought she did then they only had another day of travel left, two if they moved at a snail's pace. It would take less time if she were able to use the private tunnels also leading to Rivendell that were littered nearby but those were strictly for ranger and military access only. She wouldn't dare bring the company through that way, as eager as she was to be rid of them.

Still, even with that option off the table she only had to put up with this a little longer. More than once she had debated taking Borias and making a clean break for it but that would require breaching her contract with the wizard. No small amount of pride—which she was sure would be her downfall—kept her trudging on despite the sweltering heat. Make no mistake though, she's had enough of these dwarves; noisy, messy, crass creatures. Always snoring, shouting crass jokes, belching, and stopping the caravan to piss on the side of the roads.

Don't even get her started on all the flatulence.

She's a dwarf, she can pass wind like the best of them but at least she had the decency to do so in private. Poor Bilbo had been inconsolable the first time Bombur had farted loudly and openly in front of the company. Now Kili thought it hilarious to call out Bilbo's name and lift his cheeks every time he broke wind.

"You know where we are, I presume?" Gandalf asked as he slowed his horse to match her pony's pace.

She nodded her head.

"And I take it that your decision to remain anonymous is unchanged?"

Another nod. Really, why had he bothered to ask such a stupid question?

Gandalf grimaced as he looked at the back of Thorin's head like it had grown snakes that would attack him over the slightest provocation. "Shame, I could have used your support on this… Our leader is not very fond of elves, it would seem."

So he hadn't told Thorin of his plans to stop in Rivendell yet? Yes, that would be a bit of a problem, wouldn't it? It was a good thing that the wizard could not see her smirk.

That sounds like your problem, not mine.

Gandalf seemed to be debating the best approach to this debacle all day. He could be heard muttering in various tones as if he were rehearsing his upcoming pitch to Thorin yet still made no progress by the time the company stopped for the evening. It was still early in the day, closer to afternoon than evening, too early if you asked Brili but, of course, no one had. Why would they ask her when she could not answer them?

There was something… wrong about the location they'd stopped in. The grass was overgrown and Brili could have sworn that the last time she'd passed through this area a couple of years ago there had been a house, a farm actually. She hadn't lingered long enough to speak to anyone, of course, but she was fairly certain that there had been children running around the last time she'd been to this area. And Gandalf seemed to feel the same way about stopping as she did.

"A farmer and his family used to live here," he mused aloud while Brili was searching the rubble of the cottage for any sign of a trap. Not that she expected to find anything, she mostly just wanted to keep busy. "I think it would be wiser to move on. We could make for the Hidden Valley."

As if he wasn't planning on going there in the first place. Still, she had to hand it to the wizard for trying to casually drop the suggestion like it was a spur-of-the-moment idea. Thorin looked up at him briefly before rolling his eyes and then eyeballing her suspiciously, like she were the one responsible for Gandalf.

"I told you already: I will not go near that place."

His tone was almost firm enough to overshadow the exhaustion in his voice. Yeah, they were all tired. Being on the road could be tough and even the most hardy traveler will find themselves weary from time to time. Her uncle would be wise to heed Gandalf's advice. Brili was very glad that her uncle was not wise when it came to matters of the elves.

"Why not? The elves could help us." He gestured towards Brili who had already tried to slink away from the conversation. "We could get food, rest, advice. My companion and I have found great—"

Thorin, once again, glared at her like she was the one recommending that they stop there. Hmph, like hell she'd ever invite him into her home.

"I do not need their advice."

In a tone that sounded remarkably like a parent explaining the simplest of concepts to a misbehaving child, Gandalf replied, "We have a map that we cannot read. Lord Elrond could help us."

"Help?"

Best to give it up, Gandalf. Not that it's any of my business.

She'd better see herself off. If she remembered correctly then there should be a small pond just shy of a mile away from this abandoned farmhouse. It should be fairly walled off by a large rock as well. Provided that everyone else stayed put for an hour or so, she might have enough time to rinse off at least some of the sweat that was coating every inch of her body. A change of clothes would be nice… She'd been wearing the same clothing for far too long and her current getup wasn't doing her any favors in the personal hygiene department.

In other words, she reeked.

She brought Borias with her, not trusting her brothers with her pony or her traveling supplies. She also figured that her pony's presence would ward off any roaming dwarves. They'd finally learned to steer clear of her now, which was at least some relief. Bilbo and Gandalf were the only ones who spent any time with her these days.

Just as she'd remembered, though a little bit further out than she'd originally thought, there was a pond, and a fairly clean one at that. Taking one more quick look around to make sure that she hadn't been followed, she grabbed a spare uniform from her saddlebags and brought it with her to the shore. Listening closely for any sounds that might belong to nosey dwarves, she peeled off her boots.

Nothing sounded off…

She removed her trousers and unbuttoned her traveling cloak for the first time in nearly a month.

When she finally peeled off her tunic it clung to her skin like it was plastered there. Gross. Good thing she was having a bath now. They'd never let her into the communal baths like this. She left her eye mask on, not that it would do her much good without her full getup to hide her hair and the rest of her face.

Not wanting to waste any time, she stepped into the pond and submerged herself in the cool water. It took a moment to get used to, her body had been running hot lately under all of her gear. After a while, she acclimated to the temperature and was able to get to work rubbing some of the sweat from her skin. It felt good to be finally clean, or as clean as she could get without soap that is. Lifting her mask to splash her face with the cool water also felt really, really nice. This was just what she needed…

"Hello, boy, what are you doing so far out here?"

If Gandalf could be attributed to anything, he certainly knew how to pick his burglars; Brili hadn't heard Bilbo's approach. She froze, her back turned away from him as she offered up yet another silent prayer to her ancestors.

Ancestors that, once again, reminded her that she was not in good standing with them.

"Oh! Oh m-my turnips! I'm so, so sorry!" Bilbo stammered, grasping at Borias's reigns when he spotted Brili's bare back in the water before covering his eyes. "I-I didn't know you were— I mean, I didn't see anything. I swear it! I-I'm looking away!"

She counted to three, hoping that it would give her some measure of patience. No, it was no good, if Bilbo kept shouting like that then he was bound to attract some level of much unwanted attention. She marched out of the water, grabbing her cloak to wrap loosely around her very naked and very wet body as she walked by, and covered his mouth with her hand. The moment she pressed against him Bilbo's entire body went rigid but at least he'd stopped stammering so loudly.

"If I let go are you going to be quiet?" she asked him, surprised by how hoarse her voice was. She wasn't sure she could shout even if she tried at this point.

Bilbo nodded his head, a muffled "yes" pressed to her palm. Good enough. She released him, ready to jump in and silence him again if he got too noisy. To her relief, he let out a whoosh of air before turning around to look at her.

"Could you— Ahem. That is, could you put something on?" he asked, looking at the ground by her bare feet and gesturing vaguely in her direction.

So much for her bath. "Fine. Cover me."

It didn't take her long to pat herself dry with one of her spare tunics, her cloak taking the brunt of the water when she'd hastily grabbed it on her way to shush Bilbo. Once she'd reassembled her outfit she popped her hood over her head and began to tie her mask back into place. Halfway through, Bilbo's hand on her wrist stopped her and he peered under her hood at her face.

"It's you," he said after a moment of inspection. "The girl from the poster. The one that Kili was telling me about."

Her eyes narrowed in warning. "Are you planning on telling them?"

"Me? Tell them?" He shook his head, sandy curls flopping from side to side. She was surprised to notice that he had a bit of a sly expression on his face. "No. That's none of my business now, is it?"

Well, that was some relief at least. She thought she was going to have to hightail it out of here for sure. To have to breach her contract this late in the game would just be embarrassing.

"Is it true that you ran from Bofur screaming?"

She blinked slowly at him tying her mask back into place. "What do you mean?"

"That story they've told, about how you met Bofur and ran off screaming, is it true?"

She snorted out her nose as she turned to gather her dirty clothes. "More or less. Didn't go to the Iron Hills though, if that's what you are wondering."

To her surprise, Bilbo started chuckling until she glared at him. "Sorry, I just know what it's like. I have an auntie that thinks herself quite the matchmaker. Why, this spring she'd dropped Millie Tillsbury on my doorstep. I reckon Auntie Linda will think I've run screaming for the hills as well…"

He didn't actually understand what she'd gone through but Brili still smiled. "Well, Master Baggins, it appears that we have more in common than I'd have first thought."

"How did you get mixed up in all of this then?" he asked. "They think you are missing, most of them think you are dead."

"I can promise you, Bilbo, their appearance was just as much of a surprise to me that night at your house as it was for you… More so for me, I think. I'm sorry about your figurine by the way. I'd dropped it when you opened the door on Dwalin."

"You're the one that broke my Lottie—" He sucked in a deep breath through his nose and released it with a measured whoosh. "No, never mind. It's fine. It's just a trinket."

She smiled at him over her shoulder, stuffing her dirty clothes in one of her saddlebags. "You've grown since we've been traveling out here. I'm glad to see it."

He blushed bashfully. "I'm sorry that I never got the chance to… Well, you know, spend more time with you, getting to know you."

"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. We'll only be traveling together for a few more days. After that, my contract is up and I'll be returning to Rivendell." She rubbed Borias's snout affectionately.

"Contract? With the dwarves?"

She shook her head before she remembered that she was allowed to speak freely, at least for a few more minutes. "No. With the wizard. The only reason I am here is to escort you and him to where I've been living for the last few years: Imladris. You may know it as Rivendell, the land of elves."

"That's where we are going? I'd never have thought! I've read stories about it. To think I'll be seeing it with my own eyes…"

"Well, that's what Gandalf plans at any rate but I don't think you will make it that far. My uncle is not keen on the idea. Better for me, I suppose, but this means I'll have to rework the contract with the wizard at some point soon, settle on a new agreement to terminate…" she trailed off, not even noticing that she'd been speaking out loud to herself towards the end.

"I'm afraid I don't follow… You've signed an agreement with Gandalf?"

"Yes. I'm a ranger, Master Baggins. I work out of the house of Lord Elrond in Rivendell. I patrol the forest and the grounds and partake in contract work. This was meant to be my first job without my mentor."

Bilbo whistled lowly. "Imagine that…"

She scowled. "I don't have to imagine, I have lived it. I don't suppose you would mind keeping an eye out for me. I would love to be able to get a good nap in…"

She hadn't gotten a decent rest since the night she'd stayed at the Prancing Pony with Gandalf before heading to the Shire. Surely with Bilbo watching out for her, her identity would be safe. At least safe enough to catch a few hours of real rest.

"You haven't been sleeping?"

"Not really," she answered, setting her things down by a tree trunk. "I've gotten a little paranoid in my time here."

"Well, I should think that you would be all right for a bit… Fili and Kili are minding the ponies and the others are helping prepare supper… Gandalf's gone out for a bit. I believe he's had a row with your uncle."

"Not surprising. My uncle has rows with almost anyone who does not agree with him."

"Well, I'll let you get to it. If someone starts heading your way, I'll turn them straight around, don't you worry!"

His grin was catchy as he winked conspiratorially at her. It was a shame that she'd only just now had the chance to make friends with him. Brili had a feeling that, in other circumstances, she would have gotten on quite well with Bilbo Baggins. She hoped he survived whatever mess her uncle had gotten him mixed up in.

She reached out to shake his hand. "Thank you, Master Baggins. It's been a pleasure serving you."

"No, no!" He took her hand and shook it politely. "Bilbo is fine. Listen, ah, will you ever tell them?"

"Tell who what?"

He shook his head, releasing her hand. "Nothing, never mind, it was silly. I had just thought, well, maybe if you were to speak with them then you would all perhaps be able to bury the hatchet, as it were."

Not a chance.

"No, that's not possible, Bilbo. And I ask that you don't say anything either. It's best for everyone involved to believe that I am dead." She turned him around by his shoulders and gave him a light shove back in the direction he came from. "Now, thank you for letting me get some much-needed rest. Get back over there before someone notices you are missing, won't you?"

A nap was something she desperately needed.

~o~

Her nap was rudely interrupted far too soon by an awful lot of noise in the distance.

At first, Brili had thought that the noise was closer to her than it was and she had brandished her knife in the air out of pure instinct. Of course, there was nothing nearby that warranted her behavior so once she'd sorted that part out, she tucked her blade away and stared out into the darkness to make out the plumes of smoke indicating that a fire was lit. Two fires were burning, one where she knew the dwarves had made camp but she couldn't imagine who the second fire belonged to. Maybe it was Gandalf's? Bilbo had said that he'd gone out on his own for a bit…

Well, this would be as good a time as any for her to discuss her contract with him. If Thorin refused to visit Rivendell she'd have to rework the terms of their arrangement. She was hardly going to follow them to Erebor and back, not on such a minor technicality and with no extra pay.

If he expected her to put up with those smelly-ass dwarves for that long then she'd be asking him for double… No! Quadruple her agreed-upon payment. Scratch that, she wouldn't be taking the job at all, monetary gain be damned. This trip had run her ragged. No, her best option would be to determine with Gandalf when they'd gotten close enough to Rivendell for her to have completed her duties.

Only, it wasn't Gandalf's fire at all.

She might have known by the stench that was radiating downwind that the campsite she'd found could never have belonged to the wizard. Unfortunately, the scent had escaped her olfactory senses and it was only after she'd stepped into the clearing she noticed that there was a hulking troll hunched over the fire where she expected the wizard to be. The moment he laid eyes on her the gigantic, overwhelmingly stinky creature lunged for her, his body reeking similarly to some very potent body odor.

She leapt back instinctively just managing to avoid the troll's reach and slash his fingertips with her sword.

"Oi!" she bellowed. "Back off, you oaf!"

She hadn't a moment to relax; another troll tried to flank her on the left, forcing her to retreat towards the tree line again. Two. There were two trolls. Wasn't that just great? She was stuck facing two trolls with no backup to speak of. Still, she couldn't leave them to live. The trolls were likely what had obliterated that farm where the dwarves were camped out and they'd likely killed that farmer and possibly the children she'd seen the last time she had ventured to this area.

Well, at any rate, this would be a good story to share with Aragorn. And she'd have no reason to fear an orc ever again after this. She'd do her due diligence and see that these threats were eliminated.

The pair of smelly trolls were giving her quite the workout as she dodged between them and their uncoordinated attempts to capture her. She was overwhelmingly thankful for all of Aragorn's agility training, without it she doubted that she'd stand a chance. She gracefully slipped in between reaching hands and slicing at limbs and fingers where she could. Still, she was only working on the defensive. She had to switch to offense soon if she wanted to stand a chance of taking them down.

Thinking quickly, she sheathed her sword and switched to a pair of twin blades that were buckled by the small of her back. They were a bit larger than her usual fare of hunting knives but smaller to handle than a sword. Not even bothering to smother her excited whoop, she bolted towards the smaller of the trolls and embedded her knives into his thigh. As he howled in pain Brili used her knives to help her scale up his body and onto his back.

She'd seen one of the kitchen cats in Rivendell pull a similar move on one of the cooks and the cook had made a sound quite similar to the troll.

If she could blind them then it would be much easier for her to figure out how to hogtie these big brutes. She wasn't stupid enough to try and kill them. That would be a death sentence. She'd incapacitate them and then let the sun do the dirty work for her. As she hoisted herself onto the lumpy head ready to slam her knife into the troll's eye she let out another victory call.

"They'll never call me a princess after this," she promised herself aloud. "I'll never again be a princess of—"

She was cut off by something grabbing her midsection in a vice grip and lifting her effortlessly off of her target. But she'd had eyes on the second troll so what on earth had grabbed her? As she was turned over and face to face with yet another troll it occurred to her that she may not have assessed the situation as well as she thought she had.

Meaning, there were three of them, not two…

The string of invective she spit out in Khuzdul would have been enough to put her mother in an early grave and no small part of her was relieved that no one else had been around to hear it. Based on the lack of reaction on his part, the troll had also been none the wiser that Brili had just emphatically told him to do something rather indecent with a fish.

"Get another bag," her captor growled to his companions, the one Brili had used as a scratching post whimpering loudly. "Throw 'er in with the rest!"

The rest?

The hell? There were civilians here?

She dared a peek at the ground and noticed that the entire company was staring at her like she'd grown at least three extra heads. Nervously, she took stock of her disguise. She had her cowl up, her mask was in place, okay, the hood had shifted off while she was running around with the troll but that should be okay… She couldn't be the only person with fair hair, right? Wait. Her hair color was extremely uncommon for a dwarf.

Shit.

She locked eyes with Bilbo who only shook his head and sighed.

"Well, that's done it," he muttered quietly.

She dared a peek at Kili and Fili who were both bundled up in bags. They looked her over like she was suspect but nothing that indicated that they might have figured out who she was at least not yet. Thorin also appeared to be none the wiser, thank goodness for that. Okay, she could work with this. They'd heard her speak but surely they wouldn't jump to conclusions based on that alone.

Still, better to send a quick prayer to her ancestors just to be on the safe side. Wait, they weren't likely to help her out here… Okay, she's gotten out of worse shakes than this, right?

No, not really. She's never been dangled off the ground by a troll and threatened to be cooked over a fire like this before. Yeah, this was pretty bad. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that one of the trolls was approaching with a burlap sack to store her along with the rest of their ingredients. Those 'ingredients' being her uncle's company of dwarves and her contracted client.

Ingredients that she would rather not be placed anywhere near, thank you very much.

"Wait!" she barked as one of them began roughly binding her ankles together. "Don't bother with the bag, just put me on the spit."

She'd rather burn alive than have to suffer the humiliation of being bagged and delivered to the dwarves of Erebor like a wrapped present.

The company looked at her like she'd gone completely mad. To make matters worse, some of them were whispering among each other. It made sense, the ones who had known her in her past life would be able to start piecing together her identity. And now it looked like she could count Kili as one of those people. She could see the realization lighting up his expression just before he began struggling against his bonds so much that he'd managed to flip Fili over onto his belly.

Bofur, ever the hero, interjected on Brili's behalf. "Take me instead of the girl! She'll be nothing but tough hide and bones."

"Can it, Bofur," she growled through her clenched jaw. "No one asked, you cow pie."

However, she was mortified to notice that the trolls seemed to agree with his sentiment.

"Take me, as well," Dwalin added, his voice a begrudging growl. "Let the lass go and take me."

"Oh for the love of— Would you duffs be quiet?" She swung a fist out to try and brawl her way out of this giant mess she'd found her way into. Of course, the only thing she'd done was crack her knuckles against the leathery skin of the troll before her hands were bound behind her. "Don't listen to them. I can assure you, it's best for everyone involved that you cook me first. I'd really prefer you not—"

Her demands fell on deaf ears as she was stuffed inside the remarkably musty-scented sack. That settled it. If she wasn't already planning on heading straight for the communal baths first thing when she'd gotten home she would most certainly planning on it now. First, she just had to get out of this, hopefully without any casualties to haunt her conscience.

"Don't want nothing to be preferable," the troll that had been manhandling her answered before literally tossing her off to the side.

She landed with a loud thump and what promised to be a very sore shoulder a couple of days from now. Daring a brief look up she found herself face to face with Fili whose eyes were narrowed as he took in what he could of her increasingly uncovered face. Nope, she'd not be sticking around here, thank you.

As the trolls began selecting their choice cuts for their meal and tying them to the spit they'd been building when she'd made her appearance, she made it a point to roll away from Fili.

If she could just free herself from this bag then she could find a way to distract them until daylight came about. Maybe do a little more of that thing she'd done with her sword and the defense before she'd mucked the whole thing up by trying to go in for the eyes. Aragorn had always warned her that she needed to do a little more thinking before acting, turns out that he was right. At least this time…

"I don't fancy being turned to stone," one of the trolls grumbled pointedly, turning the spit another quarter turn as he spoke.

She stretched her torso and hips back, curling her knees so that her bound hands could fumble about at her ankles. She had a knife in her boot that she could use to cut this sack into ribbons. Once her fingers made contact with the hilt she wasted no time pulling it from the sheath sewn in her boot. After some careful maneuvering, she managed to shimmy the blade into one of the rope knots to hold it still. They'd bound her hands before tossing her in the sack so she had to deal with that first—

"Wait! Wait! Hold it!" Bilbo shouted from the pile. "You are making a terrible mistake!"

To her surprise, the hobbit had even found a way to get to his feet. She was so surprised to see him standing that her hands slipped on her knife and she sliced the meat of her palm instead of the rope.

Ah, shit. This wasn't going well at all for her, was it?

"You can't reason with them! They're half-wits!"

"Half-wits? What does that make us?"

Bofur's voice made her nauseous again. Mahal, she hoped that no one had figured out who she was… It was decided then that she'd be leaving the company the moment this was over, contract be damned. If this ruined her reputation as a ranger then so be it. She'll go back to being an attendant in the kitchens if she must but she'd not be staying here a moment longer.

"I meant with the seasoning," Bilbo continued, looking around nervously, his expression growing more and more uncomfortable.

His eyes landed on her for just a moment and she nodded at him to continue. The more he talked the more time she had to work something out. And, for whatever reason, the trolls seemed to listen to him.

"What about the seasoning?" It seemed that one of the trolls was falling for it at least.

"Well, have you smelt them?" Bilbo asked incredulously. "You're gonna need something a bit stronger than sage before you plate this lot up."

Ah! Finally! Her wrists were freed. Good, the next step was to free her ankles. Thank Durin's beard that she was flexible, her time in Rivendell had done wonders for her.

"There's nothing wrong with a bit of raw dwarf!"

One of the trolls stood up suddenly and Brili, convinced that her escape plan had been found out, dropped her knife before she could finish freeing her legs. The relief she felt when the troll picked up Bombur and left her alone was indescribable.

Except he was about to eat the poor sod…

"Oh! No, no! You don't want that one, he's infected!"

Brili had gone back to trying to saw through her bindings. If she didn't hurry someone was going to get eaten. But, to Bilbo's credit, the trolls did look absolutely disgusted.

"You what?"

"Yes, he's got worms in his… tubes." Bombur was thrown back into the pile while the troll that was about to eat him cringed not unlike a girl who'd seen a mouse. "In fact, they all have. They're infested with parasites, the whole lot of them. It's a terrible business."

Finally, her ankles were unbound, she just had to climb out of this sack…

"I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't."

"Parasites? Did he say parasites?" Oin demanded, leaning over Kili.

Her brother was mortified that someone dared to suggest that he had parasites. "H-he did! We don't have parasites! You have parasites!"

While they were arguing she crawled out of her bag, knife in hand. Only a bit longer until dawn. All she had to do was play a little defense until the sun came up. She could do this. She shook the bag off and rolled her shoulders back. Sure that no one larger than Bilbo had noticed, her prey completely distracted by either Bilbo or the dwarves being roasted over the bonfire, she snuck around toward the back of one of the trolls.

"I've got parasites as big as my arms!"

"No! I've got the biggest parasites! I have huge parasites!"

She climbed up the trunk of a tree behind them, perching herself on one of the branches. One final push on her part should be enough to see them through until the sunlight saved them.

"We're riddled!"

"HEY!" she shouted from the darkness. "I'll give you a parasite."

Without waiting, she lunged forward, knife in her grip to attack.