In Time

Chapter Fifteen

Kenia and Samblar must have heard the hoofbeats, for as Thorin tugged his mount to a halt, they were there, ready as he eased Amara from his arms into theirs. "Take care," he said, ignoring the looks he received from both Healers, "do not jostle her."

"We know what to do, Mr. Oakenshield." Kenia's voice was oddly gentle. "You can wait for her out there."

She pointed to the colonnade leading to the Healing Room. He shook his head. "I want to stay with her."

"That isn't possible." Kenia patted his hand, then pried it from Amara's shoulder. "We have her now and she is in good hands. Trust me."

He reluctantly stepped back, and for the first time, saw how much blood stained his shirt. Despite the packing, which of course was haphazard at best, Amara's blood still soaked into his right sleeve, spattered his chest, and as he watched them whisk her away, his knees threatened to buckle.

Despite his stubborn will to the opposite, his knees went to sponge and he sank to the marble floor. For a horrifying moment, he thought he'd be sick, but thankfully it passed as he buried his face in his hands.

A gentle hand alit on his shoulder. "What happened?"

He looked up to see Gandalf standing beside him. He hadn't heard the wizard's approach and had rather forgotten they'd left him behind when they departed the night before. "Do you honestly not know?"

"No, I don't suppose I don't." Gandalf sank onto the bench across from the doorway to the Healing Room.

Thorin glowered at him as he rose from the floor. "Did you know about the orc pack?"

"That they'd arrived here?" Gandalf shook his head. "No. That they once again were hunting you? Yes."

"You knew, and yet you said nothing." Thorin folded his arms although even seated, the wizard still towered above him. "You let this happen?"

"Elrond knew they encroached and it was why he'd instructed Amara not to say anything." A heavy sigh wove through his words and it seemed to Thorin the wizard aged right before his eyes. "However, he did not know she had developed feelings for you and would tell you."

"She was right to tell me," he countered, irritation streaking through him. "Otherwise we would have stumbled blindly into the middle of it."

"As you did this morning?" Gandalf retorted, shaking his head. "She should not have said anything. Had she kept quiet, Elrond would have most likely offered up a garrison of troops to escort you."

"Perhaps he should have but told Amara that as well."

"She was a fool to take matters into her own hands and defy a direct order from her king."

"Her king should have been clearer."

"He owes no one an explanation for his decisions," Gandalf reminded him sharply. "What happened in that forest is a direct result of her foolish arrogance in thinking she knew better."

Thorin couldn't stand there any longer, unless he threw a punch at Gandalf. And since that would be terribly unwise, he began pacing instead. "She took two arrows, you know. Two arrows meant for me. And I will not speak ill of her, nor will I listen to you slander her."

"Is it? Slander, I mean. Do you not agree she—"

"Enough!" Thorin's voice boomed all along the colonnade. "I am finished with this conversation. If you've nothing to offer but criticism and blame, keep it to yourself."

Gandalf drew himself up to his full height, which made him taller than any hobbit, any dwarf, any man or elf. "You listen to me and listen well, Thorin Oakenshield, this would have all been avoided, had she not taken it upon herself to defy Elrond's order. You know this to be the truth as I know it to be."