Chapter Forty Seven: Life in Erebor

For the next few days Thorin and I alternated sitting with Lydia throughout the day. There was very little time she was by herself. We normally sat together at the end of the day after eating dinner with the rest of his family. Once we were sitting around Lydia, he would continue his story of their journey east. Occasionally other dwarves from the journey would drop by and spend time with her as well. Eventually I got to meet all of the dwarves that Lydia got to travel with and it was amazing to put faces to the names I heard from Thorin.

Whenever I wasn't in Lydia's room I mostly wandered around on my own to memorize the layout of Erebor. It was strange after being so lonely for so long when I was in Hobbiton that I actually yearned for time to myself. Even though Lydia wasn't awake, it was still mentally and physically exhausting to be in that room. My brain just could not be quiet when I was there.

I had wandered down, deep into Erebor. The deepest I had ever been, curious if I could see the infamous treasure. The walk ways seemed to go on forever. I could only imagine how Lydia felt walking down those steps to face Smaug.

Eventually I made my way down to an overlook and a sea of gold stretched out for forever in this humongous cavern. I stood there awe struck, never thinking that seeing that much treasure was even possible. It was truly beyond what I could have even imagined.

My staring was interrupted by some rough voices shouting at me, "Hey you! No one is allowed down here!"

I nearly leapt out of my skin, seeing two guards running up the stairs towards me. I held up my hands innocently. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize this area was off limits."

"Well get the hell out of here!" they shouted again, looming over me and jerking their axes at me. "Go on before we bring you to the dungeons!"

His tone and the way he was trying to physically intimidate me immediately made a switch flip inside me. "Will you politely back the fuck off?" I growled, shoving him away from me. "Do I look like a threat to you, are you daft?"

The guard's eyes flared in anger and the other guard grabbed his arm to keep him from getting too close to me. I didn't stand down.

"Oh now you want to fight me too? Is there something about my dress that intimidates you? Perhaps it's my stature, I must be trouble aye?"

"That big mouth of yours seems like you need to be put in your place," he threatened, shoving against the other guard's grip.

Two hands grabbed onto my shoulders and it scared the daylights out of me. I spun around to fight whatever grabbed at me, but the blonde hair and blue eyes of the Prince of Erebor filled my gaze. He smiled down at me then turned to the guards.

"Ah, you've found my hobbit. Thank you Sirs, she had a tendency to get lost."

They both bowed to Fili and the one who wanted to start a fight said, "That one is trouble, your highness. She was trying to get down to the gold."

I spat, "Oh shove off, you bastard!"

Fili pushed me behind him. "Oh I know she's trouble, but she's not a threat to the treasure. As you were."

They bowed to him again as he hauled me back up the stairs.

"Were you really about to fight that guy? He's twice as big as you, Gen," he snickered, directing me through the halls.

"I don't care, I'm not afraid of a bully like that," I grumbled.

"If I wasn't in the armory I wouldn't have heard what was going on and who knows what would have happened. What are you even doing down here?"

"I just wanted to see the treasure. Thorin had gotten to the part in the story where Lydia had gone and faced Smaug so I wanted to see what it was like. Is that a crime?"

"We do have a law that only authorized people are allowed down in the treasury, so it kind of is. Those guards were just doing their jobs."

"Well they didn't have to be so aggressive about it. Do I honestly look like a criminal that needs to be manhandled? Seriously." I crossed my arms as we walked and I looked around. "Where are we going?"

"As I said, I was in the armory when I heard you pick a fight with our guards. I can take you back upstairs if you can wait for me to finish."

I looked behind me and figured I could probably find my way back on my own. But sticking with Fili would prove to be more entertaining.

"Alright. Armory and then back up, I'd like to get back to my sister for a while before dinner," I agreed, peeking my head inside the door and looking at the rows of armor and weapons. "Oo look at those fun toys, can I play?"

"I wouldn't trust you with any of these things, even if my life depended on it," he scoffed, walking amongst the rows.

"Oh come on, I wouldn't hurt myself. I know my way around weapons." I tried picking up one of the axes off the rack and it was incredibly heavy in my arms. "I grew up stealing all kinds of weapons that I would go and sell off for money. Hell, I even enjoyed whittling little wooden knives when I was a child."

He grabbed the ax and put it back down. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me, nor does it reassure me." He smirked at me and took some weapons that were sprawled around the ground and put them back to the places they were supposed to.

I leaned up against the wall and watched him work, knowing I would have been useless to move around those heavy axes and hammers. I caught myself staring at his arms as he moved the weapons around. I gulped and quickly averted my eyes to the ceiling.

"So Kili has his elfish woman off somewhere, do you have a special person? A human? A troll? Or are you more interested in your own race?"

"I'm married actually," he said, tossing some daggers into a barrel.

I tilted and almost fell into one of the racks of weapons. I quickly caught myself and my face turned bright red. "What? Really?"

He laughed and shook his head, "No, not really. No humans, elves, giants, dwarves, or otherwise."

I tried to hide my relief though I don't know how well I did. "That's kind of strange for someone of your status, isn't it?" I didn't know what I was doing, asking him those sorts of questions, I just couldn't help myself.

He shrugged his shoulders. "This is really the first time in my life I've had time to pursue such things. Before coming and taking back Erebor, we were just trying to survive. Anyone who was trying to pursue a royal family member, they were going after my uncle, not me."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Are you trying to tell me you've never had anyone pursue you? Honestly?"

"Well of course a few have, but none of them were worth the time of day. It's the benefit of my position I suppose, I really get to take my time to choose."

"Huh, yeah I guess that would be nice." I ran my fingers through my long, black curls as I stared off into nothingness.

"Did you ever love your husband, Gen?"

"No," I said plainly. "My parents had died, I needed a place to live and he was the only man willing to marry me with my family's reputation. We were happy for a very short while, but I don't think that was the same as loving each other. If you must marry someone, Fili, really make sure you like them otherwise you'll make each other really miserable. Trust me."

"Don't worry about me, I've had a good example from my uncle about waiting for the right person," he winked. "His advisors had browbeaten him for decades about marrying some dwarvish lady but when Erebor was attacked there was no more time for such discussions. Now he's waiting for his sleeping beauty to wake up so that they can live happily ever after."

I covered my face and groaned, "Thorin got to the part where he and my sister finally did the deed. He was so awkward about it too, it was like getting the sex talk from my mother. If Lydia wakes up, she's going to be furious that I got him to share that stuff with me."

"When did they even have time on the trip?" he asked.

"The night everyone stayed at the Maester's home before sailing across the lake. They shared a room, just the two of them."

He seemed to try and remember as he put the last of the swords away. "Damn, how in the world were we all so blind?"

"I have no idea. It honestly sounds like they were giving each other gooey eyes the entire trip." I stood up from the wall.

"Thorin does not give gooey eyes, I can guarantee it." He wiped his brow and pushed his blonde braids out of his face. "Well I think that's all that needs to be done for today. Ready to head back upstairs?"

Seeing him stand there amongst the rows of weapons, his sleeves rolled up and a little sweaty, I just imagined pushing him up against the wall and kissing him. I immediately pushed that thought out of my head, knowing that was just the lust talking. It had been so long since I had a kind touch from anyone so I was latching onto the rugged Prince of Erebor who I certainly could not just casually sleep with and then pretend nothing happened.

"Uh, Gen?"

I pulled myself out of my thoughts and focused on his face. "Hm?"

"I asked if you're ready to head back upstairs?"

"Oh yes," I nodded. "Sorry."

"Are you alright?" he asked, approaching me.

"Yes! Yes, perfectly fine," I said, keeping my distance. "I think I could use some of your help tonight though."

"Tell me how I can assist you, my lady."

Oh he was so damn cute.

"I think I need a bit of fun after dinner tonight. I'll still spend some time with Lydia tonight but I think I need to go sing and dance somewhere for a while. Or something else that's going to be a bit of a distraction."

"I can definitely help with that as long as you stay out of trouble until then."

I smirked at him. "I guess I could try."

Fili mentioned at dinner that we were going to go to the tavern after dinner to have a bit of fun and invited the rest of the family if they wanted to come along. Kili was of course excited and accepted right away and Dis was disappointed she couldn't go since she had some sort of gathering of Erebor women going on that evening. Thorin by no surprise was not interested in making merry, he got very quiet as soon as the topic even came up. He just said that he was going to stay with Lydia after dinner, like we had expected him to say.

After we finished eating, the two brothers led me to a new area of Erebor I hadn't been able to explore yet, the economic area where shops and restaurants and of course the tavern were all located. While we made our way towards the loud tavern I slowed at shop windows where I could see wooden and stone carvings, clothing, and baked goods. Most of Erebor smelled the same, of rock and stone, but this part smelled similar to Bree with fresh food and fun in the air.

As soon as we stepped into the tavern called Stone Hammer, Fili and Kili were greeted by their adoring subjects. While they had to speak with others, I was pulled in by some familiar dwarves. Those who traveled with Lydia. Bofur immediately bought me a drink and the others, Gloin and Bombur, asked me about my sister's current state. I brought them up to speed as I sat at the bar, drinking my beer and listening to the music. They gave me their condolences and I tried to smile and tell them I was still hopeful she would pull through, even though every day that passed by it became harder and harder for me to believe that.

After telling them about Lydia, I slammed my beer and turned to the three of them saying, "Alright, who is going to teach me how to dance to some dwarvish music?"

Bofur immediately got up from his chair and took my hand. "This way, my lady! Just try and keep up."

He swung me out onto the floor, singing with everyone else that was on the dance floor to these songs in their native tongue I couldn't understand. I watched his feet to anticipate his movements and eventually I understood the pattern. Though I could not sing along, I hummed to the melody and followed Bofur's lead.

I could feel the tavern shake when everyone stomped their feet and sang at the top of their lungs. Though hobbits loved to sing and dance, they didn't dare get as loud as the dwarves did. It was freeing, being able to be as loud as I wanted and still being drowned out by the sound of everyone around me. Even if I mis stepped or accidentally went in the wrong direction Bofur easily guided me and no one seemed to notice.

All the songs seemed to merge together and I had no clue how long we were dancing for but I was getting hot and sweaty. In between songs I leaned towards Bofur and told him I needed a drink. He nodded and pointed back to the bar where the others had stayed drinking. We shimmied our way through the crowd and Bombur had a drink waiting for me.

I grabbed the beer and poured it down my throat as I wiped my forehead, trying to cool down. Dancing like that reminded me of the nights in the taverns back before I got married, but even those younger years were not as wild as that night.

"Alright, now it's my turn," Fili said, pushing his way over to me.

Kili popped out of nowhere and put my drink down. "Too slow!"

I laughed as I was pulled back out onto the floor. Kili was a crazy dancer, he had all the energy in the world it seemed, but it felt like I was fighting him more than he was dancing with me. He swung me around and bent me backwards jerkingly. When he would pick me up in the air I was afraid he was going to throw me.

I did a couple songs with Kili before I was running back to the bar, sweating my ass off and in desperate need for a cool drink. Fili was waiting there with another drink for me. I grabbed it from his hands and tried to catch my breath before guzzling another beer.

"Thought you might need that," he chuckled.

"Thank you!" I gasped between gulps. "I genuinely think your brother was trying to kill me out there."

"Once you catch your breath, I get the next dance with you," Fili said. "Do you need another drink?"

"Are you trying to get me drunk, Sir?" I asked jokingly.

"I'm just trying to make sure you don't have a heat stroke," he chuckled, putting his cold glass up against my neck.

I squealed and laughed, trying to push him away from me. "You're going to lose your dance with me, your highness!"

"You wouldn't dare."

"I seem to be a hot commodity tonight, I can easily find someone else!"

He cocked an eyebrow mischievously and set down both of our drinks before picking me up off the ground. "Don't make threats you can't back up, Gen!"

My face went completely red, if it wasn't already from the heat, as he threw me over his shoulder and carried me through the crowd. I burst out laughing again, knowing I couldn't fling around my legs or else I would certainly kick someone in the face.

Fili set me back down and I looked up into his eyes, feeling the buzz start to hit me. He took my hands, grinning down at me, and led us into the dance to match everyone else. I was hyper aware of whenever his arm went around my waist and how my hands felt in his. I felt like I could follow his lead the easiest, though that may have been the alcohol at work. I chanted along to the music the best I could and stomped to the rhythm.

"You're good at this!" Fili shouted over the music.

"You're not bad yourself!"

He spun me around, avoiding a drunk dancing couple that was plowing their way through the dance floor. Someone on the other side of us bumped into me, pushing me into his chest. I was trying my hardest to not become attracted to him but the entire world seemed against me and was literally trying to shove us together.

"It's like a battlefield out here!" I laughed, turning around so my back was against him instead of my front.

He continued to lead me in the dance, swaying me through turns and lifting me in unison to the music. "Don't know what battlefields you've been on, but I've never been able to dance with a pretty girl in a battle before."

"I was being metaphorical, or does that not exist in Erebor?"

"I just said you were pretty and you're going to focus on semantics, Genevive?" he scoffed, lifting me up and spinning me.

"Maybe if you told me something I didn't know I would be more impressed."

"I quite enjoy your confidence, my lady." His grip on my hand and my hip became a little tighter. "Normal flattery does not work on you then?"

"Oo you're trying to get me drunk and flatter me. What are your intentions, your highness?" I teased, flashing him with my light brown eyes.

He leaned in so I could hear him clearly. "I'm just here for a good time. What are your intentions, Miss Barclay?"

"Just the same," I responded.

"Then let's keep having fun." His smile made his entire expression glow and with his blonde hair all braided up he looked like the sun.

There was not a doubt in my mind we were flirting with each other. In any other situation I would have furiously and passionately made out with him, maybe even led him back to my room for the night. But not only was Fili Thorin's nephew, he was also the crowned prince of Erebor and the next in line for the throne. There was no such thing as fast and casual with someone like that, so I needed to control myself.

We continued dancing for a while, where he helped me learn the songs and dances to a couple drinking songs. His touches on my body were intentional and set my skin on fire, but I reeled myself back in. I couldn't have a complicated relationship with Fili, no matter how handsome he was and how good he was at dancing.