An Unexpected Romance

Chapter Thirty Three

Chapter Thirty Three

*Fili's POV*

I watched in horror as Orcs fired their catapults at Dale. The city hadn't been my concern, up until now. I could hear the screaming from where we were, and it was awful. I didn't realize I'd zoned out until something hand hit my back.

I spun around and saw that it was Ariel. She was flailing her arms, lashing out at whatever she could reach. Kili was holding her around the waist, so she was almost immobilized, but she got a few good hits in on me.

"Ariel!" Kili was yelling as I grabbed her wrists. "Ariel, calm down!"

"No!" She cried, her face red and blotchy. "They're attacking Dain! They're killing innocent people!"

"There's nothing we can do." I told her. "I'm sorry."

She stopped her fighting all at once, as if her energy was simply spent. She went almost limp in Kili's arms. I took a closer look at her face and found deep circles beneath her eyes, accompanied by the greenish bruise snaking it's way up her cheek. Ariel shook her head, eyes squeezing shut.

"I helped him." she whispered.

"What?" Kili asked, loosening his grip on her waist.

"Bilbo." Ariel confessed. "I went with him when he gave Bard the stone."

I dropped her arms and narrowed my eyes. "You did what?"

"He's sick." She told us. I think she would have cried if she wasn't so worn down.

"There's something wrong with him, and I thought-" she broke off with a dry sob. "I thought that if we could just.. avoid the war, maybe we could fix him, too. And now there are people dying because of me."

She turned away from me and pressed her face into Kili's chest. Ariel's fingers clutched at his armor, and I could tell that she hated the barrier between them. I heard heavy breathing before her shoulders began to shake. Kili kept running a hand over her hair, whispering some things I couldn't quite catch in her ears.

I did catch a few, though- "It's okay." "You were doing the right thing." "It's not your fault." "I love you."

When I stepped back and looked around, I found that we were alone on the overlook. Something in me snapped then, and I found myself in a rage. This whole time, I thought that Ariel's was just being more brash than usual by standing up to Thorin. Now, I realized that she was doing what no one else did. She was trying to take care of him.

The little girl whose parents had died.. was watching the father who raised her turn into a monster.

***

My footsteps echoed on the stone floors as I approached Thorin. He was sitting upon his throne, crown on his head and hate in his eyes.

"Since when do we forsake our kin? When do we leave innocent people to die for a mess we made?" I spat, stopping mere feet in front of him.

His gaze drifted up to meet mine, but it was blank and glassy.

"Thorin.." I said. "They're dying out there."

His eyes cleared for a moment and I wondered if I had maybe gotten through to him. But when he spoke-

"There are halls beneath halls within this Mountain. Places we can fortify.. shore up, make safe." He stood suddenly and put a hand on my shoulder. "Yes. Yes, that is it. We must move the gold further underground, to safety!"

Thorin began to walk away and I followed. "Did you hear me, Uncle?" I nearly yelled. "Dain is surrounded. They're being slaughtered!"

"Many die in war." He dismissed. "Life is cheap. But a treasure such as this.. cannot be countered in lives lost. It is worth all the blood we can spend." Thorin snarled.