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Chapter Twenty - Words In The Night

Oin managed to find everything he needed out of all the supplies Dwalin, Gloin and Thorin had found around the skin changers home. Maura's breathing was off and on and Oin had instructed that someone needed to keep an eye on her through the night, encase her condition were to become worse. The dwarves all groaned. They were exhausted from the lack of sleep they had been deprived of, not to mention hungry and they were in no shape to stay awake another night. Thorin didn't sleep much these nights anyways and didn't want to listen to his men continuously bicker about how exhausted they were. The company helped themselves to food they could find to fill their starving bellies and then they ventured off to find somewhere to sleep - which just happened to be where all the animals in pens were sleeping.

Thorin was sitting in the shadows, near the table smoking his pipe. He was staring in the direction where the woman laid resting. The light of the moon shinning down on her face, she looked so peaceful. The dwarf prince got up and did another walk around of the massive home of the skin changer to clear his mind of all the unanswered question's that burned his mind. Like how his most hated enemy was still breathing after all these years, he was baffled like the others as to how the young healer had survived such a brutal attack that happened to her only a couple weeks ago. Thorin came back from his walk around and instantly froze when he saw that Maura no longer resting on the makeshift bed he and Dwalin had made for her. His eyes searched frantically around when he found her near the back window, looking outside. " I would think someone with your expertise would know that you should be resting in your condition." Thorin spoke up, startling Maura and caused her to gasp in surprise and turn around to look at the dwarf.

"Im...fine." Maura answered hesitantly.

"Yes....so you keep telling us, but you're not." Thorin stated in a stern tone. Maura looked around, she could hear the continuous snores of the dwarves that were sound asleep and wondered why this dwarf wasn't doing the same.

"Shouldn't you be resting? I imagine you're exhausted as the rest of them." Maura questioned, her brow raised in challenge.

"Someone had to keep an eye on you, encase your condition was to get worse." Thorin pressed, scowling at her.

"So, what caused you to volunteer? Surely it wasn't out of the goodness of that stone rock heart of yours." She hissed at him, folding her arms across her chest as she waited for him to give her an answer.

"Because...it's my fault what happened to you....If I hadn't engaged Azog that night, this wouldn't have happened to you. I should have made sure he was dead, that day in Moria." Thorin muttered, coming across the room towards her.

"So you did it because you feel guilty. What happened to me is not your fault. I did what I did to protect someone I care for, my actions are my own fault. I would have gladly given my life to save Bilbo. So save your pity you don't need to pretend you care about my well being!" She snapped at him in anger. Thorin could feel his blood boiling, within him. He was trying his best to make things right with her. He wasn't one that liked to admit that he was in the wrong and she was making it incredibly difficult for him. The dwarf stomped towards the half-breed and grabbed her by her shoulders and shoved her against the back door and she turned her face away from him and whimpered, feeling his breath on her face, his intense eyes glaring at her angrily.

Thorin panted heavily in frustration when he figured it out why she was acting the way she was. "You know what I think. I think you're scared. And it's alright to be scared Maura. What happened to you was terrifying and pretending none of this has changed you isn't fooling anyone. Until you admit that too yourself, you will never be able to move on from this state of fear your in." Thorin growled, lowly at her. Maura looked at him, he could see the fear coming across her face and she shoved him away from her and ran down the steps. Thorin turned to watch her go into the area where the others were sleeping. He ran his hand over his face, letting out a sigh realizing he could have gone about that a different way, but she just always seem to make the anger come out in him. He stood by the back door for second more and then it hit him. Maura was doing exactly what he had done to her and the hobbit. He wouldn't give them the chance to prove themselves all because he saw the hobbit as someone beneath him and the woman was nothing more then just a distraction to him and his men. But both of them had proven their worth to this company. Thorin knew, somehow he had to earn her trust back if this feud between them was to end.

The dwarf prince stomped down the steps and walked into the stable room and saw that the young healer was sound asleep not to far away from the hobbit and he left the area and he left to get some rest himself for tomorrow when they were to finally met the host of the home they had taken refuge in from Azog and his pack.