Darkness and LIght(Revised)

Chapter Twenty-One

Lake Town..

One day later...

 Lydia had been traveling non stop since she had left Ered Mithrin---she had finally made it to Lake Town by nightfall.  Several guards appeared as she approached the gates of Lake Town. "Halt! Who goes there?!" called out one of the guards.  "My name is Lydia Silver beard!  I belonging with the Company of Dwarves whom are also here!" spoke up Lydia.  "Oh my lady! Please come with us! I will show you to your Company!" exclaimed the second guard, as he knew the missing member of Thorin's Company has arrived. Lydia followed the guard into town, and he showed her to the guest home where the Company is staying.  "This is where they are staying!" said the guard.  "Thank you!" said Lydia, as she watched the Company walk away.   And so Lydia knocked on the door.  "It's Thorin! I bet ya!" said a voice behind the door.    Suddenly the door opened, and Lydia could see it was Balin whom opened the door.

 "Lydia! Great Heaven's above! What are you doing here? I thought you would be in Ered Mithrin!" exclaimed the older dwarf. "The Orcs are getting ready to attack Ered Mithrin as we speak, my father had sent me away for protection! May I come in?" said Lydia.  "Why of course!" said Balin, as he allowed Lydia to enter.  When the rest of the Company, they greeted her and hugged her.   "Give her room to breath, will yer?!" called out Dwalin.  Dwalin approached Lydia and hugged her.  "How's the little one doing?" asked Dwalin.  "The baby's doing just fine, the last I checked! Where's Thorin?" asked Lydia.   Suddenly,  Lydia noticed the grave looks on the faces of the dwarves, and nobody replied.  "What's is going on here? Where is Thorin?" demanded Lydia, sharply.   "Lass, we had a feast last night, and Thorin had gotten really drunk, and lets just say he hadn't made it back here yet. In fact he's still at the Master's Halls." said Balin.  "Maybe I better go and find him!" said Lydia.  "No, no! That is a really bad idea, Lass! I really think you should stay here and wait for him!" said Dwalin, quickly.  

 "I am going to see him, if you wish it or not! I haven't seen Thorin in forever, you know! Now if you must excuse me, I have a dwarf to track down!" said Lydia, and she left.   "She is not going to like what's she's about to see! This is not going to end well!" sighed Balin.   Meanwhile, Lydia arrives at the Master's house, and she asked some of the Master's servants if they knew the whereabouts of a dwarf leader.  "The Dwarf Lord is one of the rooms on the second level! You wouldn't miss it!" said one of the servants.  "Thank you!" said Lydia,  as she approached the long stairwell and she climbed two flights of stairs.    Once she arrived on the second level,  it didn't take her long to find the room.  She turned the knob, as she entered the room, and what she had found, she released a loud scream.  There in front of her, she saw Thorin and Natasha still sleeping, and both of them are naked. "No! No! NO!!" Lydia screamed, as her screams had startled both Thorin and Natasha awake.

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 Suddenly, Lydia picked up a vase that was sitting in the room, and she thrown it at both of them.  "LYDIA?!" cried out Thorin, as he jumped out of the bed, and he quickly grabbed his pants and he put them on.  Then he turned to Natasha looking at her in confusion.  How did I get in here? And why is the Master's niece with me naked?! Thorin's mind reeled.   "Go ahead! Have your little fun! This woman is all yours now, Thorin since you already had bed with her!" shouted Lydia angrily, as she slapped Thorin, and she sprinted out of the room in tears. "Lydia! Come back! It's not what you think!" Thorin called out.   But it was too late,  Lydia already had left.  Thorin turned to Natasha, glaring angrily at her. "You! You were behind this!! Why did you lead me in here for woman?!! Was this some kind of trick?!" Thorin bellowed at the Master's niece.   Natasha didn't answer, but only stared at the Dwarf leader, with her mouth open, as she realized she been had.   "Answer me, woman!" barked Thorin, angrily.  "Yes, yes, this whole thing was set up by My Uncle!  He knew about your treasure, and he was hoping you would marry me to get to the treasure!"  explained  Natasha.  Hearing this, really had made Thorin angry. 

  "Oh, The Master is going to be that way? Well then,  we will be leaving at once! And he will not see a single coin from us at all!" shouted Thorin, angrily.  And with that, Thorin bolted out of the room.     Meanwhile, Lydia had returned to the guest home, in tears and in rage.  "Lydia, are you alright?!" exclaimed Dori.  "No! I am not alright! Maybe it's a mistake of coming here! I should have stayed back in Ered Mithrin to be left to die by the hands of orcs!!" screamed Lydia.  Balin ran towards her, and he wrapped his arms around her.  "No! You're not going anywhere, lass! We're going to get this worked out! You have a child to think about!  As for Thorin, you just leave that to me and the others! Now in the meantime, go and get some rest, you will need it!" said Balin gently.  Lydia nodded, as she went up to a nearby room and she laid down.

  It wasn't long after Lydia had laid down, that Thorin entered the home.  "There you are lad! We was just about to send out a search party for yer!! You ought to be ashamed of yourself for the way you acted last night!!" snapped Dwalin.  "The way I acted?! What are you talking about,  Dwalin?" snapped Thorin angrily.  "You know damn well what I'm talking about, Thorin! You and Natasha! That's what I'm talking about!!" shouted Dwalin.   "Dwalin, it's not what you think alright! I was tricked last night!  You have to believe me! That and the fact, I was also drunk as well!" shot back Thorin.  "We have plainly seen last night you are drunk, Thorin! But you already have a mess on your hands now!" said Dwalin.  "I know---Lydia found me, and I feel terrible, about the whole thing, but let me tell you something I have found out from Natasha! The whole thing was set up and paid for by the Master, according to the Master!" said Thorin.  "WHAT?!" cried out all the dwarves.  "I knew it! I just knew! I knew the Master couldn't be trusted!" exclaimed Gloin.  "Exactly.   But what am I going to do now?  I know for a fact, Lydia is never going to speak to me again!" said Thorin.

  "Thorin, just talk to her, and explain to her, what you just had told us about the Master's plans." said Balin, firmly.   "You are right, Balin! Maybe I should do that!" said Thorin.  After finding out what room Lydia is in, Thorin made way to Lydia's room.  Thorin knocked on the door.  "Who is it?" Lydia called out from behind the door.  "It's me Thorin, Lydia! May I come in!"  Thorin called back.  "NO! GO AWAY! I never want to speak to you again!" Lydia screamed angrily.  "Please, Lydia!  It's not what you think of what happened back there! Just let me in, so I can explain!" Pleaded Thorin.   Suddenly, the door opened.  "Well if you wish to explain, explain! You have five minutes!" said Lydia sharply, as she sat down on the bed.   And so Thorin explained to Lydia of what he had explained to the Company, minutes earlier.    When Lydia heard this, she felt shocked at hearing this.  "That scum of the Earth! That man cannot be trusted!" hissed Lydia.  "That's what all of us are saying, Lydia.  Lydia, forgive me! This had never meant to happen!" said Thorin gently, as he took Lydia's hands.

 "I--forgive you, Thorin!" said Lydia quietly.  Thorin smiled as he pulled Lydia into his arms , holding her close to his chest.  "You have no idea how badly I missed you, Lydia! But tell me, why did you leave Ered Mithrin?" asked Thorin.  "The orcs are planning to attack Ered Mithrin, Thorin--and Father ordered me to leave for my own safety. At least I made it to Lake Town in one piece." said Lydia.  "Your father done the right thing to send you away, Lydia.  And I'm glad, you've made it here safely, my love! But let me tell you, we're going to leave this place at once, before the Master comes up with another scheme of some sort." said Thorin.  "But what about Kili? He's too hurt to travel!" said Lydia.  Thorin sighed.  "I don't know what to do on that, Lydia--it's leaving me to make a very difficult decision.  I may have to leave him behind!" said Thorin.