The Fifteenth Member (Thorin Oakenshield/OFC)

Chapter 47

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Wani woke me up again at sunset for dinner, which was nothing out of the ordinary. Wani had gotten my letter to Dwalin but he had yet to come back with anything, which was slightly concerning. I tried to assure myself that I would get the reply during dinner but when that didn't happen I really began to worry, needlessly I told myself but the feeling was rooted so deep I couldn't banish it. That irrational fear of a faceless terror that I always got before things took a turn for the worst.

I woke up the next morning very unsettled. I had had a nightmare but I couldn't remember what it was about. All I knew was that there had been a lot of confusion and fear. I took several deep but shaky breaths in an attempt to calm my beating heart but to no avail so I just sat in the new morning light. Wani was still asleep on her mattress next to me, blissfully unaware of my problem. I tried to close my eyes but all that came to me was the sensation that I was being watched.

For the longest time, I sat in bed thinking about whatever random thoughts came to me. At last, there was a soft knocking at the door.

"You girls up yet?" Came Dis's voice from the other side of the door. Wani stirred and I decided not to answer. I laid back down as quietly as I could, wincing every time the bed creaked until I was back in my sleeping position. By now, the sun was up and it's light was shining into the room through the flimsy curtains. Sure they had worked well yesterday but the sun had been on the other side of the mountain. Now that the light was being directed towards them, they let a good amount through. Dis knocked again, louder this time and Wani opened her eyes.

"She wants us to get up at this ungodly hour?" She whispered to me, "Not happening." She sat up, picked up the pillow, laid back down, and pressed the pillow on top of her head, muffling the noise Dis was making along with the light.

"I'm coming in you two!" She yelled from the other side. I threw my covers over my head and did my best to stay stone still. I heard the door open and footsteps coming closer. "Alright. Up you get Wani!" I heard my friend groan. My body trembled slightly with laughter as she began to complain about the light and how much she needs her beauty sleep. "You too Mereniver!" My covers were yanked off me but I remained still, pretending to sleep.

"Give her a few more minutes." Wani suggested, "She'll wake up when she figured out that her covers are gone.

"We don't have a few minutes." I heard Dis moving around and then the sound of water running. "Help me with this will you?"

"Help you with what?"

"Just come here. She's getting up." Then everything was silent. It was quiet for long enough for me to become slightly concerned. What were they planning? I opened my eyes just in time to see them upend a bucket of cold water on me. It was freezing, chilling me to the bone. My nightgown yielded to the water, becoming instantly transparent and clinging to my body.

"Come on!" I shouted, annoyed that my plan had backfired on me, "Was that really necessary?!"

"Yes." The two of them answered right away. I crossed my arms and sat up just in time, my tail took shape and the lower half of my body became dead weight on the bed. My tail was so much harder to lift when I wasn't in the water. I looked down. The tube top I had did not go down far enough to cover my entire torso, leaving my pregnant belly completely exposed. Wani didn't react but Dis immediately shielded her eyes.

"Do I look that bad?"

"No, it's just that Thorin should be the only one allowed to see you with your condition, with the exception of the healers who check up on you. He'll be jealous if he finds out."