Bring Me With Her

The Closest Thing

The meeting went well, but Thorin really couldn't say that he remembered much of it. He remembered keeping it so there was as much peace as possible between the lords and keeping everything business oriented, but he wouldn't be able to explain details if he was asked. His mind was too focused on something else.

Every day, no matter how plain it might be, there was always some kind of adrenaline running through Thorin's system. There was always a part of his mind that was activated, whether he was debating with other lords, receiving his own people, or even eating dinner with his sister and nephews. He was waiting for news. News of her.

It had been ten months now, ten months since she went missing. Talia Russo, his burglar, his love, his Ghivashel. Thorin remembered that day when he woke up in his sickbed. Oin and Balin had told him how his heart stopped, and how the healers miraculously managed to resuscitate him. He remembered immediately asking for Talia as soon as he was able to speak. He remembered when Balin came walking slowly into his room...pained and speechless. The proud, stoic Dwarf king, had nearly burst into tears when his old friend told him that his Talia was gone.

He promised he wouldn't chase her down. Thorin had sworn that he would let her leave this place if that was what she truly wanted. But...he couldn't let her get away. Even if she still wanted to go, he couldn't let her part from him the way she did. He couldn't let her last memory of him be...him breaking her heart.

But that was when all of this began. When he sent his company to find her...she was gone. They couldn't find Talia anywhere. They had searched the whole mountain, they searched Dale, they even searched Thranduil's camp and the woods nearby. She had vanished without a trace.

Witnesses of Talia's departure were called upon shortly after the company's failure to find her. Only there were none. She had been seen here and there in the halls, but no one physically saw Talia exit Erebor. One of Dain's soldiers claimed that Gandalf the Grey left Erebor not long after Talia disappeared, which raised the suspicion that he had taken the Terran with him.

Though the theory may have drawn some attention, Thorin never lost any sleep over it. The only way Gandalf could have taken Talia away without an explanation was if he felt she was in immediate danger. The enemy was defeated, there was no cause for a threat to her safety. Thorin was also informed that when he left, he was alone, and Talia was already gone; the story was weak at best.

Thorin instantly sent everyone he possibly could on a search. He put everything into it; hunters, trackers, hounds, all of it. Even now, nearly a year later, Thorin refused to call off the search parties. He couldn't give up on her.

The paranoia gnawed at him every day. Where was Talia now? Was she alright? Was she hurting? Was she in pain, or was she suffering? Or was she...no. Even if she was, Thorin didn't know. He would never know until he would receive some kind of news of her. But every day was the same, they found nothing. But how could that be? Though Talia was small and stealthy by Middle Earth standards, there was no way she could just vanish without a trace. She had to be out there somewhere. Thorin knew she was out there somewhere.

The Dwarf king had made his way back into his quarters, where Dis and his nephews were sitting on the lounge. His little sister had greeted him, but his nephews had stayed where they were. As much as he hated to admit it, their relationship had been a bit...strained ever since the beginning of the Battle of the Five Armies.

He knew what Talia meant to them...she was like the sister they never had. They loved her as if she were their own flesh and blood. And they had witnessed him nearly kill Talia, and they had to now cope with the fact that they may never see her again because of him.

Thorin had spent the rest of the afternoon sitting quietly in his big chair. He could see Dis from the corner of his eye, staring at him with concern before heading to her room. He knew that she could tell that something had been a bit...off, lately, but no one had the heart to tell her. Not even her sons told her. Dis was completely left in the dark.