Eclipse of Hearts ✔

Chapter 81. [Thorin]

Thorin was aware of the guards staring at him. They stood at both sides of the gates, but stepped away with bowed head when he passed. He tried to ignore the heavy feeling in his chest, that came up when the shadow of the mountain came over him. In a straight line he walked to some guards. "Bring me Vaughn," he grumbled. 
After these words he gestured Dwalin and they walked together through the long, narrow passage that led to the dungeons. 
They said no word. Thorin wanted to say something light to taste something of their old friendship, but not a single sentence appeared in his mind. So all he did was listening to the echo of their shoes and the jangling of his keys when he brought them out. He couldn't remember in which cell Balin was locked up, but everyone who was held here, had done something little. They were mostly agitators, thieves and defaulters. The ones who had done heavier crimes were already greeted by the executioner. He opened the first cell, in which a young dwarf was locked up. His head was covered with a layer of dust and his cheeks were hollow. Thorin couldn't remember he had seen the kid before, which meant he sat here for a long time. 
"You're free to go," he said shortly and he opened the next door. They did so with all the cells, until they arrived at the last of a long row. There was nobody in it. Thorin raised his eyebrows. "I guess they already freed him."
Dwalin looked sceptically at him. "Then were is he?"
Thorin shrugged. He just arrived. "At least not in chains." He had hoped to see some relief at the face of his companion, but it was clear Dwalin didn't feel right about this. "It won't take long before we've found him."

He couldn't be more wrong. Thorin asked for the old dwarf at different places, but nobody had seen him since his trial. His suspicion grew when not only Balin seemed to have vanished, but also Vaughn. They told him the man had fled as soon as the rumor spread the king was on his way. A single thought about that dwarf was enough to make him furious. He wouldn't accept this. As soon as the war was over, he would pay him back. 
"Has anyone heard anything of Dain?"
From the ship he had send both Erebor and his cousin a message that war was coming, so that they wouldn't be overwhelmed in case he came too late.
"Yes, we have. They are a day away."
Thorin nodded shortly and went to his own rooms to pull on his armur. He expected the horn to sound any moment, the sign that the battle would start. 

At the break of dawn the first elves were signaled. Although Thorin knew he needed his sleep, he had only slept for a while. The fear that he would find Alyssae's mutilated body squeezed his heart. It was hard to let it go and hasten to the gate.
"Nobody leaves his post!" he screamed at the men who had gathered behind the closed doors.  He didn't plan to lead his people out of the city before the armies of Alyssae and Dain had arrived. While his call was taken over by others, he climbed the stairs that led to a higher terrace. Here the bowmen were stationed. He leaned with his hands on the balustrade while he watched the marching elves, who were led by Thranduil. His snow white armor shone in the early sunlight and made his thirst to revenge grow. A few times he took a deep breath, but then he looked at the lake that glimmered at his right. He wouldn't made the same mistake. He wouldn't lose control of himself agin. There would be a moment he would observe how that man fell in the dust, he was sure about it. The elves didn't count on more resistance than Erebor alone and they would soon be a minority. All Thorin had to do was stop them until their allies appeared on the horizon.