The Dragon Girl

Chapter 16

Once Thorin and I arrived at the barricaded main gate, I hesitated and paused as Thorin kept walking while muttering to the company, "Nice going lads, nice work. Come on!" I looked to Kili and Fili, which they nodded as we climbed up to the balcony to see an army of elves guarding Dale. As I saw this, I gasped and stumbled backward, which made Kili and Fili come to my aid, "F-Father!" Once I regained my footing, I positioned myself between the brothers, who were to the right of Thorin. Not long afterward, we saw Bard riding over on a white horse towards us. When Bard stopped right at the gate, I could feel the tension was as thick as smog. Bard smiled slightly and spoke with respect towards Thorin, "Hail Thorin, son of Thrain. We are glad to find you alive beyond hope." Thorin scoffed, "Why do you come to gates of the King under the Mountain armed for war?" Bard replied back with, "Why does the King under the Mountain fence himself in like a robber in his hole?" Thorin sneered once Bard thought that they had reached an impasse, "Perhaps it is because I'm expecting to be robbed." Bard shook his head, "My Lord, we have not come to rob you, but to seek fair settlement. Will you not speak with me?" The silence afterward made me tense with worry knowing that Thorin was completely unpredictable due to the dragon sickness. What made me slightly sigh with relief was when Thorin nodded and went down the stairs to meet with Bard. When a few minutes had flown by without any words spoken that I could hear, I raced down the stairs with the rest of the company. It was then that I saw Thorin thinking to the side as Bard stood on the other side of the wall peeking through a hole in the stone. He then looked to me and spoke with stress woven in his tone, "Wisteria, please try to knock some sense into him!" I looked to Thorin, who shook his head, and then back to Bard sympathetically as Thorin yelled, "Begone! Ere our arrows fly!" Bard then punched the side of the stone wall that he was at and ran back to his horse mad with anger. Not thinking of the consequences beforehand, I ran up the stairs with several of the company calling me back as I watched Bard mount his horse angrily. Before he left, he and I locked gazes as I mouthed the words, "I'm sorry." He shook his head and kicked off, with his horse galloping back to Dale. As I followed Bard's horse, I gulped at who I saw. My father, Thranduil, astride his great elk in full battle armor.

Once the rest of the company joined me on the balcony to watch Bard gallop away, Bilbo broke the silence, "What are you doing? You cannot go to war." Without looking at Bilbo, Thorin responded coldly, "This does not concern you." Bilbo let out a weary laugh as he gestured to my father's army right outside our doors, "Excuse me, but just in case you haven't noticed, there is an army of Elves out there. Not to mention several hundred angry fishermen. We...we are in fact outnumbered." Thorin shook his head as he turned to face Bilbo, "Not for much longer." Bilbo's eyebrow raised as he asked, "What does that mean?" Thorin smirked as he went up to Bilbo whilst saying, "It means, Master Baggins, you should never underestimate Dwarves. We have reclaimed Erebor. Now we defend it." As he turned to face the company after stating what he had said before, he then gestured to me for Bilbo, "And, we also have Lord Thranduil's daughter. She can count for something against him." I gawked, "You're really going to use me against my own father?" Thorin then turned to me, "If it comes to that, yes." He then gestured to the head of one of the statues on his left, "Break the road down with that." I didn't stay to watch four dwarves break down a stone head to destroy the only road out of Erebor, instead, I ran down the stairs with Kili on my tail. I went through several passageways back up to the balcony that I spent so much time on nowadays, along with ignoring Kili's cries for me to slow down or stop completely. I only did so once I reached the balcony.

Kili then shut the door behind us and sighed, "What was that about? You can tell me you know." I shook my head, "There is nothing really to say, except that your Uncle plans to use me as a ransom against my father if need-be." I dropped to the floor and laid my hands in my lap defeatedly. Kili sighed again as he sat next to me up against the wall of the balcony room and cradled me in his arms. With my head now being in his lap, his hands then started to brush through my hair as he spoke, "I'm sure that Thorin didn't mean it that way. It's just the dragon sickness getting to him." I sighed as I sat up and met Kili's gaze, "But what if he did mean it that way? I'm scared Kili. I'm scared that this will end up in a war that we can't win." Kili then placed his hand on my right cheek, with his thumb underneath my chin, and shook his head, "Don't be scared Wisteria. I'm not going to let anything happen to you whilst I have I say in it." I then placed my forehead on his as I smiled, "That's why I love you Kili." He smiled as well as our lips got closer than before, with Kili sealing the gap with a loving kiss. My hands filed through Kili's hair as his hands wandered down to my waist, pulling me even closer to him. As Kili's kisses traveled down to my neck and collarbone, he mumbled, "Are you sure this is what you want?" I nodded as Kili placed another kiss on my lips.