Book Three: The Desolation of Smaug

Chapter Sixteen: Allies and Enemies

Notes: Welcome to Book Three! You guys aren't even ready for this chapter - another one of my favorites to write! Enjoy!

I hurried back to the group, coming back from a mini scouting mission to see how far behind the orc hoard was. It was nice at first to have some peace and quiet to myself after the last few weeks of trying to get to the end of the Misty Mountains. That entire idea left my head when I spotted the orcs and something else not far from our location. I definitely had a thing or two to report from what I saw traveling across the mountain.

I came down to where I had left the company and Thorin looked up in my direction. "Lydia, how close is the pack to us?"

"Much too close."

Kili asked, "Have they picked up our scent?"

"Not yet but they certainly will. If not them, then that bear creature will."

Gandalf looked up from what he was doing and said, "Was it by chance, bigger than a normal bear?"

"Yes, much bigger. Is that not a creature known to this area?" When I saw it I just stayed out of its sights, not thinking much about a bear in the woods.

Bofur asked Gandalf, "Did you know of this beast?"

He turned his back to think and we discussed amongst ourselves on what to do to avoid the pack and the bear creature. Backtracking wasn't an option, we would surely run into the orcs before we found someplace to hide. But if we kept going forward we weren't going to know where we could find safety. We were soon just arguing with each other and bickering in circles on what to do.

Finally Gandalf spoke back up, "There is a house…not far from here." We all looked back to him, but it was impossible to miss the uncertainty in his voice. "We might be able to take refuge. Emphasis on 'might'."

"Whose house? A friend?" Thorin asked.

"Neither friend nor ally. Certainly if he doesn't kill us, he will help us."

"Seems like good odds to me," I commented dryly.

"What choice do we have?" Thorin said.

"None," Gandalf nodded.

We heard a roar rip through the peaks of valleys of the mountain and it most certainly did not belong to the wargs. We were all shook by the loudness of it and I'm sure we all had the same thought, we'd all rather take our chances with the house than figure out more about what bear creature that could make a sound like that.

By foot we traveled down the edge of the mountain and made it into valleys of lavender. If we weren't in a rush I would have loved to stop and enjoy the smell of the flowers. However, knowing that the orcs could be upon us again any moment, that kept me running.

I did not want to see a repeat of our last run in with the orcs.

We came out of the forest and across the way we could see a walled-in house that had to be our destination. Before any of us would feel a bit of relief, the screeching roar filled the air again, much too close for comfort! All of us got an extra shot of vigor in our step, especially Bombur who outran all of us to the entrance of the home.

The company ran past the front gate and through the front lawn that had collections of honeybees flying among the flowers. I would have thought it was quite lovely, again, if I didn't have fear throwing me towards safety.

As everyone gathered at the front door, attempting to get it open, I looked back to the trees. Out burst the giant bear creature and it started barreling towards us!

"Get that door open!" I shouted from the back of the pack, watching it move so quickly across the fields towards us. "Hurry!"

Thorin shoved his way to the front and unlocked it. Everyone sorted in as quickly as possible but I pushed everyone to move faster and faster since I was at the back and would be the first one to be eaten! Once I got myself past the threshold they slammed the door, but a single claw made its way through. It ran up the side of my arm and caught my cape. Without hesitation I removed it and put a hand to my throat as it disappeared through the crack in the door. The dwarves dropped the wooden barrier down, effectively locking the bear out.

"What was that?!" Gloin shouted.

"That is our host," Gandalf admitted. We all looked at him dumbfounded. "His name is Beorn and he's a skin changer. Sometimes he's a bear, sometimes he takes the form that appears more mortal. The great black bear is just as monstrous as it appears, but when he's a man he can be reasoned with which is what I'm hoping for. However, I can not say he's very fond of dwarves. So, it will be best for everyone to get some sleep. We will be safe for tonight."

We exchanged looks amongst each other but decided to just go with it. What were we supposed to do? Leave? I wasn't going to attempt facing Beorn in that bear form again. If I had learned anything from the journey so far, it was to avoid fighting things bigger than you.

Gandalf had to fight the dwarves off the livestock that wandered around the house. They wanted to take one of the goats or sheep and throw it over the hearth but he made it abundantly clear to all of us that if we didn't want to be eaten by a bear we needed to leave the animals alone. I was even side eyeing one of the chickens, but knew Gandalf was right. I would not enjoy the feeling of its teeth around my neck. A chicken dinner wasn't worth it.

Some of the dwarves went to bed right away amongst the hay, while a few others stayed awake. Thorin was amongst the few who stayed up, Fili and Kili sat with Gandalf at the fire, asking him questions about his travels across Middle Earth. Dwalin and Thorin watched the windows and checked the entrances to make sure we were safe. I stayed up and convinced Ori to spend some time with me training. Since escaping the mountain full of goblins, I tried to get training from each other the dwarves. Some were more helpful than others.

Ori, not much of a fighter, allowed me to teach him how to play chess after we were done training. It was easy to convince him to sit down and play a game, but I don't think he was aware of all the rules.

Beorn owned a large chess board and gave me an idea of how truly big he was compared to us. One piece was the size of my hand! I felt like the larger size made it easier to teach Ori, but he didn't seem very interested in the strategy in it. I still appreciated him humoring me and playing the game with me for a little while before bed. I let him win so he possibly liked the game enough to try chess again in the future.

Ori wandered off to hit the hay, literally, while I set the chess board back to the starting position. While I placed everything back I looked around the cottage. Gandalf appeared to be asleep by the fire and it looked like everyone else was tucked in for the evening. Of course, I did notice that Thorin was still awake. He was sitting on the window seat and staring off into the distance, brooding as per usual. I couldn't help but stroll over to him, in the low light of the evening, especially since we were the only two still awake.

"Evening Stranger," I greeted.

"Lydia," he nodded.

"Going to bed soon?" He nodded again. "Okay, I'll wait for you then."

"You don't need to do that."

"Do you wish for me to leave you alone?"

"No but-"

"Then I'm going to wait up then, if you don't mind." I sat on the window seat cushion and looked out to the front yard where fireflies glinted across the flowers in the light of the moon. "What do you think about when you're alone like this? Erebor? Killing Azog? Swimming in those mountains of gold maybe?"

"To be honest?"

"Of course."

"When I'm not worried about what we're going to run into on the road, I think a lot about how much I miss the food I grew up with in Erebor. I'd give up an arm if it meant I got to have the pork pies, raspberry jam tarts, and sour pickles again."

My stomach instantly growled. "I'm sorry I asked, that sounds so amazing when we've eaten nothing but stews this entire trip. I would drive myself mad if I was always thinking of food, especially the stuff I grew up with."

"Like what?" he asked.

"Well, we were a family of hunters so we could make smoked meats like it was no one's business. My mom was one hell of a cook too, I'm still so disappointed that I never caught onto any of her skills. She would make the more delicious baked goods like crumpets and fresh bread." My stomach growled again and I keeled forward dramatically. "I'm going to wither up and die if we keep talking about food, I'm serious."

"You started it," he chuckled.

"I know I did." I sat back up and laughed quietly. "It's oddly reassuring that when you get stuck in your head that you think about food, like the rest of us."

"I wouldn't be able to constantly think about dread and destiny all the time, I would lose years off my life."

I guess I assumed he wouldn't care, since he was so severe and serious all the time. Anyone who saw him doing that distant look he does wouldn't guess in a million years that he was thinking of food the entire time.

"We certainly wouldn't want that, your majesty." I stretched my arms widely then leaned back against the windowsill.

"You're getting tired."

I shimmied, getting comfortable where I was. "Nonsense."

He took off his jacket and handed it to me. "Get some sleep Lydia."

"I'm not tired yet, I'd like to keep talking." I caught the honesty in my voice and I was glad it was mostly dark in the house besides the few candles we lit. It hid any color on my face well. "I mean…there's so few moments where we're not being hunted or running or fighting these days. It's so nice to just enjoy your company."

His gaze felt like it weighed hundreds of pounds on top of me. Eons had passed before he relaxed back onto the cushioned window seat. He brought his legs up like I did and we sat facing each other, laid up against the windowsill.

"Let's keep talking then, but you must keep the jacket for now."

I spread it on top of me, accepting his terms.

The candles burned down lower and lower as we stayed up trading stories about our families. He talked about growing up knowing he would be next to rule after his grandfather and father died. He didn't expect to get the crown for hundreds of years though, knowing how long his family lives for, so he seemed to have all the time in the world. Even so, Thorin still wanted to be very involved with any matters concerning Erebor or his people because he cared, not because he thought it was his duty. It sounded like his brother and sister gave him a hard time while growing up for a 'suck up' to their father and grandfather.

My family was obviously the furthest from royal they could be. My parents had the expectation at a very young age that each of us had to contribute to the household one way or another. For most of them that included stealing food or money, but I took the hunting path. Not to say I didn't pick up on some basic skills like lockpicking, sneaking around, and being half-way decent at lying. We just had to do that to survive in a house with that many kids. Be the person who provided the least to the house and you had to sleep outside.

I was surprised at the things we could relate to though, like having to grow up fast by taking on responsibility at a young age and not being able to enjoy a normal family because of it. Obviously neither of us would change a thing about it but it felt therapeutic to recognize something we both missed out on in our youth.

"Young Thorin would have hated Young Lydia," I snickered, playing with the fur that lined his coat.

"I would not have hated you," he scoffed.

I squinted at him. "You think your by-the-book attitude would have thought my delinquency was cute? I don't think so. You would not have tolerated me for five minutes and you can't convince me otherwise."

He tilted his head, trying to think of different angles. "...No you're right, but Young Lydia wouldn't have enjoyed Young Thorin either. You would have thought I was the biggest stick in the mud you had ever met."

"Hmm. My sisters would have adored you which would have bothered me, so I guess you might be right."

"Your sisters?"

"They were always boy crazy, and if you were one tenth as rugged looking as you are now they would have lost their damn minds."

"Well, I'm sure they would have enjoyed my brother Frerin much more than me. And he would have loved the attention too, knowing him."

"The Barclay girls are known for ruining any man they touch. He would be begging for mercy sooner rather than later, they always do."

An amused smile crossed his mouth. "Maybe that's something you should have mentioned back at the Prancing Pony, I might have left you with Ferdinand."

"Believe it or not I don't get in the habit of ruining men's lives." I reached over and pushed on his arm playfully. "Unless you'd like to argue otherwise?"

He shook his head and looked at me fondly. "I would do no such thing."

The look on his face took me out of the conversation. I leaned forward slightly and he instinctively moved forward as well.

"I feel I need to ask you something, Thorin."

"You've never been hesitant before."

"Alright…do you think you'd like to kiss me?"

His expression opened in surprise. "What?"

All my insides tightened at his reaction and I quickly started back peddling. "Um sorry…I can't believe I asked that. I just wanted to know but that was such a stupid thing to ask." I put my hand over my face, embarrassed that my tired brain allowed me to ask something like that. "I'm obviously exhausted, please forget I asked that."

"Did you ask that because I'm making you feel uncomfortable?"

"No!" I quickly lowered my voice and waited a moment to see if I had woken anyone up. Everyone continued to snore away. I slowly looked back to him and whispered, "I'm literally the most comfortable I've ever been around a man. I-I only asked because I'm tired and it felt like we were flirting a little and…I literally hate it when I babble so I'm going to shut the hell up."

There was a long, painful silence between us where he opened and closed his mouth several times, obviously trying to come up with something to say. Then he sat up and I assumed he was going to get up and leave me since I ruined the entire evening. I was already making plans on walking all the way back to Bree.

To my surprise he reached over me and tucked his hand along my cheek, his fingers brushing behind my pointed ear. I looked up to him and saw him come in close before placing the most gentle kiss onto my lips. I completely melted and leaned into it softly, feeling the rush spread over my face and down to the tips of my toes. My brain swam inside my head and a burning started in my stomach that was quickly getting out of control.

I reached up and held onto the front of his shirt, telling him not to stop, and we both leaned into it further and came closer together. The amount of warmth that steamed off my skin seemed unnatural. I even loved the rough feeling of his mustache and his beard on my skin. I could have drowned in the moment and lived with it forever.

I reluctantly released my vice grip on his shift as we pulled apart. It took all my willpower not to push back toward him again; I felt drunk on the sensation of him and I wanted nothing more than to kiss him more. I could feel the fire burn up through my stomach and I was sure he could see the flames in my eyes when we stared at each other. I swear I saw the same burning in his eyes as we tried to control our breathing.

I cleared my voice as quietly as I could. "So…I wasn't stupid for asking."

"No, you were not."

"Can I…" I trailed off, moving forward and kissing him back. My resolve fell away, unable to stay out of his orbit.

My mind could not even wrap around the fact that I was kissing Thorin, it just latched onto this feeling and wanted more of it. When he held my face in his hands and backed me into the windowsill I thought my chest was going to cave in and I was going to implode. The only thing that kept me grounded was the hold I had on him. I gripped onto him tightly, afraid that if I let go all of this would slip away, fall through my fingers like sand.

I breathed him in then we both eased away. We stared into each other's faces and I wondered if his face was as red as mine. I smiled at him and the fluttering in my stomach grew when he smiled softly back at me.

"How could I possibly go to sleep now?" I joked, my hands traveling down from his shoulders to his arms.

"Don't."

He pulled me forward and kissed me again and I curled into his arms. The candles burned out around us and we were engulfed in each other.