Dearest Bilbo

Chapter Sixteen

The sight of the Sons of Fundin discussing matters of importance was not particularly unusual. After all, they had been members of the Quest and were close to the King. Dwalin had been named the captain of the Royal Guard, and his brother, Balin, the King's Advisor.

However, the discussion they were having at the moment appeared secretive, their moods fragile, and passing dwarves gave them a wide berth.

"Where is he now?"

Dwalin, the taller, heavier-set brother looked agitated – even more so than usual. "He's back in his office. Finally."

The white-haired older brother leaned forward, his voice hushed. "Are ye sure ye saw what ye think? We must be certain."

"Aye, it's as I told ye," Dwalin replied just as secretly. "I know Thorin like me own Amad, and I'm telling ye, they were sending secret messages between each other. There's no anger there. Not as we were led to believe."

"Messages? What kind of messages?"

"I don't know!" Dwalin replied louder than either wished and was immediately shushed by his brother. "I know nothing of this mushy romance stuff! The thought of it turns my own stomach."

"Then tell me, brother," Balin insisted. "How can ye be sure?"

"Because..." the bigger dwarf hung his head and kicked at the base of his axe like an embarrassed youngling. "I followed them."

"You spied on the King? Are ye insane? We've already crossed a line and now you're sneaking around?"

Dwalin smiled at a passing dwarf and the two went silent until they were once more alone.

"I wasn't sneaking! I watched them meet up in the north hall and kept my distance. But after they disappeared, I walked in the direction they went."

"Are you sure you weren't seen?" Balin didn't like this. Not at all. The King was already distrustful of them both, and if he found out the two of them were still plotting, he would have their heads for sure!

"Nah. They slipped inside an alcove and I just kept walking. I knew they were in there though. They were both breathing heavily like they'd been running from a pack of orcs."

"That's enough details, lad. I don't need to hear anymore," Balin begged, his face squeezing with distaste. "This does put us in a quandary, though."

"How so?" Dwalin asked, rather intrigued. As far as he was concerned, they needed to step back and let Mahal take over from here. Dwalin's talents lay wielding an axe and splitting skulls, not in the romantic entanglements of dwarves and hobbits.

"Because they're taking us for fools!" Balin spat out, quieting immediately as two more dwarves passed close by. He nodded at them kindly and wished them a good day, confident that no one had heard them or suspected a thing.

Once the coast was clear, Dwalin leaned down to his sibling. "We are fools!" he spat out. "And this is none of our business!"

"I agree, lad, I do," his brother calmly replied. "And indeed, I'm happy for them both, but I think it's time we had a little fun. No harm intended. You remember fun, don't ye? It's what we had once in these halls when we were young."

"I remember Adad tanning our hides because of our antics, is what I remember," Dwalin pointed out.

"Aye," Balin recalled fondly with a grin. "You always seemed to take the brunt of the punishment, I'll give ye that. Probably why you grew up as big as ye did. He toughened ye up a bit."

"If you want to call it that. You, on the other hand, were always Amad's favorite."

Balin recalled the steady but firm guidance of his mother. She was the one who taught him the diplomatic skills he knew today. It took a calm and reasonable demeanor to be able to manage their father.

Dwalin sighed. He was the one who always got into trouble because Balin was smarter than him. If this was what his big brother wanted to do, then he had no choice but to go along as he always did. "As long as your plans don't involve us getting banished or our bodies separated from our heads, I don't suppose having a little fun is out of line."

Balin displayed a mischievous grin. "I'll do my part. All I need is your support."

"Aye," Dwalin grumbled even though he knew he was someday going to live to regret being so agreeable.

The problem was that even though the brothers believed they were alone, they were not. Two other dwarves had been watching them from the shadows and were now having a meeting of their own.

"I told you. It's not over. Far from it."

Bofur glanced at his friend, Nori with curious concern. "You really stay in the thick of things, don't you? I always try to keep to myself, do my work, and mind my own business."

Nori chuckled. "You aren't the only one, but you didn't see the King's face and hear the worry in his voice. Those two don't know when to quit. I had the suspicion they were up to something, especially when I saw Dwalin poking around in the north hallway leading to the forges."

Bofur rubbed his weary eyes and reached for his pipe. He needed a nice, soothing smoke, and the tobacco Bilbo had given him provided just the thing. "Let me get this straight. They stole the king's letters, sent them to Bilbo, who came to the mountain, and the king found out. So, he and Bilbo decided to play a trick on them and pretend to hate each other? Excuse me for saying this, but the whole thing sounds insane and I want no part of it."

"You saw them!" Nori hissed dramatically lowering his voice. "Even though the King warned them both, they're still conniving! Someone needs to protect the King from these two idiots!"

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess I don't have a choice! What do you suggest we do?"

"I'm working on it, but one thing we're not going to do is let the King be blindsided again. We need to figure out what's going on and keep His Majesty informed."

"I see," Bofur replied, his thick brows lowering in slight confusion. "In order that he'll know that they know what he knows that they know."

Nori chuckled, a unique and rare thing to hear since there wasn't a mug of ale in his hand. "Now, you're getting it. Are you free this afternoon? I can follow them for now, but I've got duties in the forges later."

"Aye," Bofur committed. "But I'm not as good as you are in getting around this place so quiet-like."

"Don't worry. I'll show you the passages I use. I don't think anyone remembers them. You won't get caught, I can promise you that."

Bofur lit his pipe and inhaled the sweet tobacco smoke, holding it in until his jangled nerves began to soothe.

Oh, this was a bad idea. One of the truly baddest of the bad ideas of all time, and he was excited to be a part of it!