Homeward Bound Part One: An Unexpected Journey

Chapter Forty-Six

Bilba sighed and dragged her eyes away from Erebor.

She was being pathetic.

So much for grand gestures and declarations of being better than her mother.

"Where's Fili?"

"Still yelling at Thranduil last I saw," Kili replied. He pulled away from her and frowned. "We need to work on getting you away from here." His eyes flickered toward the mountain, narrowed, and Bilba knew he was thinking the same thing. Thorin must know about the oncoming army yet he seemed perfectly willing to let her, Fili and Kili stay in the camps.

For the first time the tiniest seed of doubt lodged itself firmly in her heart. She'd been hanging on to Fili's and Kili's insistence that Thorin would come around, that he just needed to cool down or just needed a shock and he'd recover and realize what he'd done.

He'd had time to cool now and the news of an army of orcs was a shock by any definition.

What if he'd never been sick at all? What if it hadn't been the ring?

What if it had just been Thorin?

Kili shifted beside her suddenly, breaking into her train of thought. "Come on," he said. He slid off the crate and pulled her after him. "If we can't go back inside Erebor the second safest place is Mirkwood."

"Mirkwood?" Bilba asked in surprise. "Are you forgetting the giant spiders?"

He smiled. "We'll just have to be sure to avoid those," he said flippantly. "It'll be fine."

Bilba rolled her eyes at him but found herself smiling just the same. It was one of the things she loved about Kili. He was always so optimistic and carefree. No matter what they faced he had a smile on his face and confidence in his step.

"Alright," she said. He crooked an arm, exaggerating his gallantry, and she laughed and slid a hand around his bicep, lightly grabbing his arm with her other hand as well.

They walked through the camp together, sidestepping rushing figures, silent in face of the panic and noise of preparation.

"Will Dain arrive in time?" Bilba asked as they sidestepped a pile of boxes, many turned over on their sides and spilling their contents. The camp was large and had been set up to face down the dwarves, and any reinforcements they might bring, inside the mountain. It would take days to reconfigure it to face an army coming from behind them.

Kili nodded. "He should arrive in about two days. The orcs will arrive about two days after that." He frowned, considering. "I was wondering...what if we sent word to Thorin about your--" he waved a hand in the general direction of her stomach. "Maybe it would get him to allow you inside Erebor at least?"

Bilba felt her gut clench with dread. "I don't know," she whispered. "With the way he's acting--" she chewed on her lower lip, "he declared me a traitor and banished all three of us and he's angry enough that he doesn't care if we're at risk dying in a battle. How would he react if he found out I was carrying his sons?" She stopped and looked at him. "Would it reach him? Maybe. Or maybe he'd throw me in a dungeon until I had them, take them from me and cast me out of the mountain."

Kili blanched, actually jerking his head back as though struck. "I don't think--"

"The Thorin we know would never do that," Bilba said. "I don't know about this one though." She turned her eyes to the mountain, looming over them. The clouds had lowered until they nearly touched the peak and the darkness of the day cast it in shadow, making the lifeless rock appear menacing. "Thorin is a king," Bilba continued, never taking her eyes off the last kingdom of the dwarves. "What chance would I possibly have against him if he decided to take his children?"