A Fairy's Tale

Chapter Four

Gandalf came back just after they'd rejoined Elladan, Elrohir and Aragorn. Bilba promptly ran to hug the wizard.

"Gandalf!"

He returned the hug and studied her with worry. "Bilba Baggins, what on earth are you doing out here?"

He looked past her and she saw his eyes widen at the sight of Frerin. Bilba gave a guilty smile. "I may have sort of healed Frerin and people started talking so now I have to go to Rivendell."

"Yes," Gandalf mused, "I imagine you would."

"This is why you should visit more often," Bilba said. "Stuff happens."

She made no comment about the loss of her parents. If she did Gandalf would start saying how sorry he was and then she'd get upset and it was not something she wanted to deal with right then. She also didn't particularly want to break down and start crying in front of the entire group.

"You know her?" Thorin said, reaching them, "and I see by your face you know my brother yet you never spoke of him when we met in Bree."

"I knew him but not as your brother," Gandalf said shortly.

"As I said," Frerin drew up next to Bilba. "It's a long story. No one knew who I was until recently. I was called Paladin for a long time."

"Paladin is a good name," Bilba said firmly.

"It is," Frerin agreed. "And it's not Reginald which is even better."

Bilba rolled her eyes. "For the last time it was a phase!"

Frerin merely looked amused.

***

The remainder of the journey to Rivendell went quickly after that. The Company had their own ponies, all of whom Bilba had to personally greet before they got going. Currently, Frerin and Thorin were riding close to one another, their heads together as they each caught the other up on where their respective lives had led after they had been separated.

As they did, Thorin would occasionally reach out and touch his brother's sleeve or clap him on the back, leaving his hand there a few seconds longer than necessary before removing it as if trying to convince himself he truly rode beside a flesh and blood being and not an apparition.

At one point he twisted around to study Bilba, nearly lost in the midst of the rest of the Company. She'd chosen to walk for the time being and was bouncing along between Fili and Kili. Both had dismounted and were leading their ponies, one on either side of her. They were doing their best to impress her while the others were ranged around her. Dwalin was the only one not near her, choosing instead to ride a few feet away from Thorin and Frerin. Upon hearing what had happened he'd asked about his father, his body tense with the expectation of hearing bad news, only to let out a breath of relief upon hearing Fundin had not been one of the survivors taken by the Necromancer.

"They are certainly fascinated by her," Thorin said now, turning back to Frerin. "Is it part of her heritage?"

Thorin had been more than a little startled to hear what Bilba was but his shock at Frerin being alive, and what he'd gone through after Moria, had been such that finding out there was a fairy living in the Shire had been the least of his concerns.

"No," Frerin said, turning to follow his gaze. "If it were she wouldn't have to worry about some of the idiots living in the Shire, or anyone else for that matter. She's simply the sort who makes friends easily, when people bother to take the time to get to know her."

"She's certainly won you over," Thorin said, his tone neutral. "Are you courting her?"

"Not officially," Frerin said easily, "but I hope to be. She knew Paladin, but she's still getting to know me. She loved Paladin as a friend and companion and I worry those feelings confuse her about what she feels toward me."