The Fifteenth Member (Thorin Oakenshield/OFC)

Chapter 24

Bard was right about one thing, the dwarves HATED his plan. We were all in the water now, following him to his house. Once there, the plan was to get in through the toilet. Dwalin rapped his knuckles on one of the pillars and not thirty seconds later, someone else did the same inside. That was our cue. Dwalin went first.

"If you speak of this to anyone I'll rip your arms off." He growled at whoever was getting us out.

"Up there!" came a frightened male voice. It was not Bard so it could only he his young son. Bilbo went next, followed by Bifur. Thorin was the last dwarf to go and I followed him. The boy looked like a younger version of Bard, he was even younger than me, I would've guessed about twelve. He reached out again when I came up, probably expecting to be swatted away but when I took his hand, he looked at me.

"No woman should have to do this." He stated sadly.

"I'm not just any woman. Some help here, honey?" Thorin turned and knelt so he could pick me up. When he turned, Bard's son was gawking at my tail.

"That must be what this is for!" He covered it with a blanket so it's shine would not attract unwanted attention.

Thorin carried me up the stairs without any trouble and I saw a girl about my age rush off somewhere.

"Put her down here master dwarf." Bard gestured to a chair and a little girl no older than seven or eight came over as Thorin lowered my down.

"I'm Tilda. My sister Singrid will be right back, she's getting you some clothes."

"Oh, that's really not necessary, mine will come back soon enough." I opened my bag to make sure my books were not ruined. Unless I was mistaken, no leather bag could've kept out all of that water. To my surprise, the books weren't even damp!

"What do you mean, soon enough?" I looked at Thorin for approval. He nodded, it was no use trying to hide my secret from them, especially since both her brother and father knew. Before I could move the blanket however, Singrid came back.

"Here, milady. You can use these clothes, I cannot help but notice that you have none."

"Actually, that's not true." I shifted ever so slightly so the blanket fell to the floor. The girls gasped in wonder.

"You're a mermaid?" Singrid found her voice first, "You're a legend here!"

"Shhhh, and I don't want to get discovered either." I turned to Bard, "Where's a place I can dry off without it looking strange to those in the area?" He paused his job of handing out blankets to think.

"No where really, but if you go to Tilda's room, there's less of a chance of the steam being seen." Thorin scooped me back up.

"Take us there."

Tilda's room was rather small but she seemed to be happy with it anyways. Thorin put me down on her bed and I proceeded to, very slowly, dry my tail. The steam billowed up to the ceiling, heating the room a bit. My legs replaced my tail and my elvish nightgown came back. It was a white translucent color.

"On second thoughts, I think I'll take those clothes now." Tilda scampered off. As soon as she was out of sight, Thorin sat down beside me and pulled me into his lap.

I missed this. He laid back down on the bed so I was using his chest as a pillow.

I remember the first time we did this.

It seem like it happened years ago!

I know. We went silent and just stayed there unmoving. I shut my eyes, enjoying this quiet moment with my soul mate. But the peace did not last long. Someone cleared their throat in the doorway. The two of us bolted upright to see Singrid holding a dress out to me.