Ghost of A Memory

The Bargain

A day had passed since Ori and Bilbo's encounter. Since then, he had not spoken to any of the other dwarves and mostly stayed to himself in his chambers. One afternoon Gandalf barged into Bilbo's room.
"Gandalf? Merlin's beard what brings you to Erebor!"
"My dear young hobbit you must leave!" Gandalf said in a frenzy.
"It is not safe. There are--"
"Yes, I know. There are Orc packs but why is everyone making a fuss about some Orcs? We--He--They have fought them before!"
"This isn't any ordinary Orc pack; it's Azog."
"He has come for Thorin. He--"
"No, Master Bilbo! He has come for you."
"Me?? Why? How--"
"It is too long of a story. You must leave!"
"No! Not until you tell me why he is after me."
There was a long pause until Gandalf began to open his mouth to say something when all of a sudden there was a glimmer of silver next to Gandalf's neck.
"You tell and I kill you," a voice from behind Gandalf said belonging to Bard.
He had a sharp blade on the side of the wizards neck. Gandalf slowly stood from his crouching position and gradually turned his head to face Bard's.
"Don't tell me what to do you fool. If you do, you won't see what hit you," Gandalf said, becoming irritable like any person would if they had a blade to their neck.
"The hobbit, Bilbo," Bard said gesturing towards the young hobbit, "doesn't know? I plan to keep him here to be given to Azog--"
"What!? What in the world is this?" Bilbo said raising his voice towards Bard.
"He doesn't know," Gandalf said referring to Bilbo as he looked downwards.
"Please don't Bard. Please." the wizard pleaded.
"Bilbo," Bard continued to say, disregarding the wizards plea, "Thorin didn't die because of a deal. It is true that he wrote that letter for Thranduil addressed to me but I have fallen for the dwarvish king and I couldn't bear to see him fall. Before the battle, I had encountered an Orc pack that was going to kill me and a few of my men. I made them a deal and met with Azog. The deal was this: Thorin wouldn't die if Azog was given Thorin's most prized possession. I was sure that he was referring to the Arkenstone but he wasn't. He was referring to you. I accepted this deal and as a result, when Azog and Thorin were battling, Azog badly wounded Thorin but made a promise to not kill him. So here we are." Bard continued to say as he walked around Gandalf and towards the hobbit,"You are not to leave Erebor until Azog captures you. Thorin tried to use force to get you to leave the kingdom but as soft and easily persuaded hobbits are, you are not. Thorin loves you but the dilemma is that I love him so you must be taken so that me and him can rule together in Erebor; forever. This is also why the Orcs are surrounding the kingdom; to ensure that you won't escape or leave. Thorin knows none of this; just our little secret."
Bilbo is taken aback by this deal made by Bard and Azog.
"But then why was Thorin talking about 'the truth' if he doesn't know about this deal? What truth is there that I don't know about?" asked the hobbit.
"Oh yes. I told Thorin that the Orcs are here to seek vengeance for him not dying by taking you away; him not knowing that you are in fact an object being bargained," Bard answered with a smirk forming across his face.
Bilbo stood in awe at Bard upon hearing this new news of his fate. What Bilbo didn't notice is that as Bard was talking, Gandalf slipped past him and left the room without a sound. As Bilbo stood there, he began to hear a rumbling and a slamming of doors in the distance.
"Orcs," Bard said.
Bilbo slipped past the bowman and ran down the hall towards the sound. He heard shouts of dwarvish women and children and the running of dwarvish men.
"Orcs."