In Time

Chapter Thirteen

The Company moved in absolute silence along the narrow path that ran adjacent to the Great East Road. Rounding everyone up had been the easy part, as when he returned to the Great Hall, the celebration was still going strong. He'd received some strange looks, and Kili asked him where he'd vanished to, but all he said was they needed to leave and soon.

So there they were, traipsing along this narrow path that could only barely be called such. Perhaps the trail was wide enough for elves, who were tall and slender, but for shorter, stockier dwarves? It was like fighting their way through the foliage itself. Branches and leaves draped in all directions on either side of the narrow path, and the day's rain turned what had been dirt into stubborn mud. Thorin considered using the Orcrist to widen the trail, but thought better of it and opted instead to simply beat it back as they needed to.

As they rounded a bend, he stopped and cast a last look back at Rivendell. Part of him wanted to return and insist Amara join them, to pick her up and toss her over his shoulder if it came to that. He told himself it was because he was worried about her. Worried about what would happen to her once Elrond learned that they'd taken their leave, for Elrond wasn't stupid. He would know Amara warned the dwarves about orcs.

He'd also insist that to the others. In fact, he'd insist on it to anyone who might ask.

But, if he was completely honest with himself, that was not the reason at all. However, he certainly couldn't tell anyone that an Elvish healer had come to mean something to him, that he couldn't tolerate the thought of being away from her for even a short while, never mind for the rest of eternity. Kili alone would never let him live that down.

"Why are you lingering?" Balin asked, his voice barely a whisper as he appeared as if from nowhere to stand beside Thorin.

"I do no such thing," Thorin replied in a harsh whisper. He looked down at the white haired dwarf who always seemed to act as his conscience whenever necessary. Balin could be trusted with anything he might hear, he and Dwalin were the two dwarves Thorin trusted above all others, with the exceptions of Kili and Fili. That in mind, he sighed softly and murmured, "Very well, I worry for her."

"Her?"

"Amara. The Healer. She is the one who warned me about the orc army and did so at great risk to herself."

"When did you see her? She was not in the Great Hall." Balin arched one thick white brow.

"I went out for a bit of fresh air and bumped into her in the courtyard." He paused and then added, "I asked her to come with us, but she refused."

"Then, we should continue moving, lest she risk whatever it was she risked in telling you." Balin took hold of his arm and tugged. "We still have a great distance to travel before we reach Dunning."

Thorin didn't move. With a low sigh, he confessed, "I slept with her."

Balin stopped dead in his tracks and slowly turned back to him. "You did what?"

"That's where I was. I did step out for air and I happened upon her in the courtyard. One thing led to another and she and I... " Thorin confessed, his back stiffening at Balin's frown. "What? I did nothing wrong."

"Perhaps not wrong, but definitely foolish." Balin shook his head.

"Foolish? How do you think I learned of the orc army? I mean, that isn't why I did it, but—oh, stop looking at me that way. As I said, I did nothing wrong."

"She is an elf, Thorin. Of the same elves who have sent us out into battle without telling us we were being sent out into battle. Perhaps you did nothing wrong, but you certainly knew better than to do it at all." Balin didn't look back as he spun about and resumed his stride.