The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings one shots and Imagines Book II

The merchant - Part 2 - Bard x Reader

She looked around, as she and Kaspier made their way into the city of men. Her travels had brought her here once before, thought it was long before the time when the gold in the nearby Mountain had called to the fire drake. She had been impressed by it then; unlike some places that men called home, it had seemed bright and merry. A city that owed much to the closeness of the dwarven kingdom. It had been prosperous, and its citizens had had an infectious happiness that one could not deny; and even though this new version of Dale was still in the midst of being rebuilt, she could still see some of the old grandeur. Able to believe that one day, it might even be greater than it had been before.

No one looked at her, as her cart slowly made its way over the cobbled stones; but given that it was still only early morning and there seemed to be so many others that were there for the same reason as she was, it wasn't an unusual thing. And the fact that her hood was pulled down low over her features, meant that she could have been just anyone or anything.

"You.........Stop!" A voice suddenly exclaimed. Kaspier stopping as an older man that looked like some kind of guard, came to step in front of her wagon; before indicating for two others to pull back the waterproof covering from the wares in the back.

"Ya here for tha market...........?" The slightly gruff man enquired, looking over her shoulder as one of the other men picked up some of her wares and showed it to him. The half-elf doing her best to fight back the urge to scoff at his question; to retort sarcastically. Choosing instead to just nod.

"Remove ya hood." He continued. A sigh leaving her lips, before doing as she was told. As much as she would rather not show the man her face, for him to know that she was female, she couldn't afford to be turned away. She had invested much on this trip. She had gone out of her way to find items that would appeal to those that called the Mountain home; and if she were to be able to make back some coin, then she would have to get into the market. Her hand slowly reaching up and pulling her large hood back over her head. The man seeming a little surprised to see a woman; but, as the other men climbed down from her cart, the guard thankfully waved her through. Her hood quickly pulled back onto her head, before she slapped the reins and Kaspier moved on.

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The day in the market was going well. She had found a place at the stables for Kaspier, paying a young boy a little extra so that he would find the poor old horse a couple of nice juicy apples as a treat; before setting out her stall. She had been surprised by how many dwarves had been in the town; but happy that she hadn't had to deal with too many that had wanted to argue over her prices, unlike other places where she had met their kind. A smile coming to her lips, as a large, rather gruff appearing grey haired dwarf handed over a small pouch of coins for an old ear trumpet that she had come across in Bree, last time that she had been there.

"STOP! THIEF!" Loud exclamations suddenly rang out. The people that were still filling the bustling market moving aside as a man came running through with a knife firmly gripped in his hand. The half-elf, without thinking jumping onto the back of her wagon, before pulling out her bow, notching two arrows and letting them fly, as some guards came chasing after the man. The projectiles both catching the fleeing thief's cloak and pinning him to a large tree that must have been growing in the corner of the market, since she had last been in the city; before she quickly pushed her bow back under some old sacks, and jumping down from the wagon, as the crowd began to murmur and look around for where the arrows had come from. The man that had stopped her earlier that day, stepping forward and looking around.

"WHO SHOT?!" The old guard enquired loudly, as he moved into the middle of the market; some of his men pulling the arrows from the thief's cloak and dragging him away, while another brought them over to him. Both of the men talking quietly to one another, before the older man once more turned his attention to the market. His eyes stopping their wandering, as they found her. The man gesturing for the other to follow him, as they made her way to the stall.

"Are these yours........?" The half-elf merely shaking her head and pretending that she had no idea what he was talking about. That she was as confused as everyone else.

"Captain..........." The other man interrupted, as he reached into the back of her wagon and pulled out her bow.

"Put that down. You have no right to touch that. I have done nothing wrong." She protested loudly, pushing against the older man, as she tried to get to the back of the cart, where the other man had also found her quiver.

"Pack up your wares. You are coming with us to see the Master." The captain told her; the half-elf wanting to protest, to restate that she had done nothing wrong. If anything, she had helped stop the thief. It not as though she had killed him; she had ensured that she hadn't ever marked him. But as it became obvious that neither of these men were going to listen to her, then she would state her case in front of this Master, that she had heard was good and fair. She would tell him that she had meant no harm, and just hope that he had more sense than his guards, and he would allow her to continue to sell her goods at the second day of the market; that he would allow her to return in the future. The half-elf simply beginning to move her wares back into the rear of her cart, and trust that the man that had slayed the dragon, would listen to what she had to say.