Someone to Watch Over Me

Chapter Six

They set out by dawn the next morning and Seren fought to keep her eyes open as she sat in the saddle. No easy feat, as the pony's easy gait was enough to lull her back into a state of drowsiness. More than once, she dozed off, only to awaken abruptly by the sensation of falling and thankfully her reflexes were quick enough that she caught herself before she toppled clear out of the saddle.

The Company as a whole was fairly quiet. Perhaps she wasn't the only one who had a rough night and poor sleep. She didn't know, for by the time she'd returned to camp, they had all tucked themselves into their bedrolls. She'd sat by the fire for who knew how long, listening to various snores. Bifur talked in his sleep, but since he only seemed to speak khuzdul, she had no clue as to what he said. Bofur sang in his sleep, which was unsettling and slightly amusing. Dori and Ori mumbled incoherently. Dwalin growled, or perhaps they were snores, it was difficult to tell. All in all, they were a rather noisy bunch when asleep.

It seemed she'd no sooner closed her eyes, than Balin had given her a gentle shake. "Up you get, lad. Time to go."

And so, bleary-eyed, she'd gathered her things, rerolled her bedding, and loaded up her pony to climb back in the saddle. Her entire body hated her for being astride that blasted pony, and Marigold seemed put out when Seren gave her only a single apple, but she only had two left, so the pony would have to be mad.

Thorin didn't utter a single word to her. He barely looked her way. All of that over a single kiss? She didn't understand at all, but certainly couldn't ask him with everyone around them. Perhaps that night she might find a way to happen upon him and ask him why he was so upset over a single kiss. Her experiences with kissing were few and far between, but she didn't think she'd done that badly. And he couldn't possibly be upset with the way he'd kissed her, for if there was fault in his kiss, she couldn't find it. It seemed to her his kiss was exactly what a kiss was supposed to be—soft and gentle, teasing and arousing. He'd hit each of those points and then some.

A sigh climbed to her lips. She was far more accustomed to walking and would prefer to do that, but she'd fall way too far behind and would only irritate Thorin even more. Besides, not even Bilbo complained and more than once, he muttered something about his armchair and his garden under his breath.

To sour her mood further, clouds slowly swallowed the sun and a light rain began to fall. A light rain that quickly grew into a downpour. The wind picked up to blow the driving rain sideways and Seren tried to ignore the water dripping down her chin and rolling along her cheeks. She drew her cloak more tightly about her, but its help was minimal.

They rode on through the afternoon, through the night, and thankfully, by the next dawn, the rain abated. Dori grumbled. Bifur scowled as he wrung rainwater from his tunic, muttering darkly in khuzdul the entire time. Bilbo looked very much like a drowned cat, glaring at the sky as if he looked to pick a fight with it.

The sun broke through once more as they neared a clearing bearing what looked like the remains of a farmhouse. Something had incinerated it, the burned out skeleton, a charred foundation, and some scarred, broken wood flooring were all that remained.

"We should keep moving," Gandalf said. "The Hidden Valley is not far from here."

"I told you," Thorin said, "I will not go—"

His voice faded as he and Gandalf moved away from the rest of them and Seren put it entirely from her mind as she climbed down and unloaded Marigold's saddle. She tugged the last apple from her bag and held it out. "This is it until we happen upon an orchard, dear. Savor it and don't wolf it down."

Marigold promised nothing, but took the apple and chomped away. Seren smiled, rubbing the velvety nose, but jumped when Gandalf suddenly stormed past her, growling, "I've had enough of dwarves for one day!" and disappeared over the ridge.