Dearest Bilbo

Chapter Eighteen

He had taken the longer route to get there but was hoping that if Thorin was out and about looking for him, then perhaps they would run into each other.

Distant footsteps drawing closer froze Bilbo in his tracks and his hand immediately went for his ring, but he withdrew his fingers at the last possible second. He didn't want to experience the nauseating vertigo the ring caused again. He was going to take his chances.

Except he didn't actually have to do anything. Without a sound, Nori dropped down seemingly out of thin air. His sock-covered feet landed softly on the marble tiles of the hallway and he quickly glanced at Bilbo with a finger applied to his own lips. Then, Nori grabbed Bilbo by the sleeve and hurried him along in the opposite direction, toward and through a door that led into a space so dark he couldn't see a thing.

"What are you doing?" Bilbo whispered dramatically, though Nori didn't answer right away.

The footsteps in the corridor drew close, stopped completely, and then began moving further away.

"Dwalin," Nori uttered distastefully. "That was a close call. You need to be more careful."

The dwarf carefully pushed the door open, allowing a little bit of light into what Bilbo now recognized as a storage room, although there wasn't anything being stored in it at the moment.

"Wait," Bilbo suggested once Nori was back out into the hallway. "Where did you come from? How did you just appear like that?"

Could the dwarf have a magic ring of his own? That would answer a lot of Bilbo's questions. Nori was renowned for his tactics of stealth and thievery throughout the kingdom.

"I would tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," Nori told him with a straight and serious face.

Bilbo swallowed hard. He didn't know Nori all that well, but he liked him anyway. Then again, Bilbo hadn't always been that good at judging someone else's character.

"I'm just teasing ya'," the dwarf spluttered, punching Bilbo in the arm, which he was sure was going to leave a bruise. "I've got passages throughout Erebor. Hidden tunnels not many know about or have forgotten were there. It's how I spy on other dwarves – with the king's permission of course. It's always been sort of my job around here. To make sure everything is running smoothly and no one is making any plans to overthrow the king."

"Oh," Bilbo said simply. He had no idea about the apparent espionage that went on behind the scenes in Erebor, although it did make sense. He was suddenly quite impressed with Nori and the important position he held, for he was yet another dwarf who was watching Thorin's back.

It all sounded so covert and secretive that he didn't want to ask a bunch of questions, but he did have a few. Well, one in particular. "Why did you just save me from Dwalin?"

Nori chewed on his lip and eyed Bilbo carefully before he answered. "That's a secret me and only one other share. We're not ready to reveal it to you yet, but we will. Just trust that we have only the best intentions at heart."

Bilbo huffed cynically at that. "That's what Dwalin and Balin claimed."

It was Nori's turn to chuckle with an equal amount of sarcasm. "Those two idiots wouldn't recognize a snake if it bit them on the arse. Stick with me, I'll make sure you get where you want."

A spark of hope lit in Bilbo's chest and he grabbed Nori by the arm enthusiastically. "You will? Can you take me to Thorin?"

"I'll do my best," Nori assured him, "but there's some climbing involved."

Just a while ago, Bilbo had been tired enough to lay his head down on the table and fall asleep during supper. Now, the thought of being with Thorin shot adrenaline through his bloodstream and he eagerly nodded his head. "I'll do anything that's required."