Bring On The Wonder[Thorin Oakenshield]

Chapter Thirty One: Smuggled In

Bella opened her eyes hours later to the extreme cold weather. Winter was coming. Ice had already started to form on the lake. The young woman sat up more comfortably, as oppose to the slouching position she had been sleeping in for hours, which would explain why her neck was all of a sudden, sore. Bella slowly got up, rubbing the crook of her neck.

"You're up." Bard stated, relief on his face to see his older sister up and walking.

"Yeah..." She murmured, wrapping her arms around her to try and block the chill from the wind.

"Bella...where have you been? I haven't seen you in over 10 years. What happened to you? What are you doing with these Dwarves? What have they gotten you into?" Bard hissed at her.

"I thought I made it clear why I left, brother. I don't belong there."

"So you think you belong out in the wild. Did it not occur to you, how worried I've been about you, Bella? I thought you were dead." The man growled lowly at her.

"And I told you not to worry about me. I know how to look after myself." The woman stated with a slight glare.

" Yes, so I've noticed. How did that happen?" He asked once again pointing at her face. Bella turned away from her brother's intense stare.

"I know what you're thinking Bard, and they had no part in what happened to me, but I don't want to talk about it." She declared. Thorin was speaking with Dwalin and Balin, when he looked up and had to look twice to see Bella was up. He had been so worried about her since she collapsed into his arms when she first climbed onto the barge. He cursed himself for getting angry with her, even in her fragile state she was in. The secrecy frustrated him more then anything. He actually felt hurt that he trusted Bella with everything but she still didn't trust him completely with anything or even one thing about her.

Bard could see he wasn't going to get anywhere with his stubborn sister right now and went back to steering the boat. Bella turned her attention to the front of the vessel and caught Thorin's eyes looking right at her, in a way she had never seen him look at her before. His expression was more then suspicion, but not quite anger and she could hardly blame him for looking at her that way. How long did she think it was going to take before Thorin and the others figured out her past? She could only just imagine what they were all going to think when they realized who she was.

Bella looked at the ground, before approaching her companions, Thorin in particular. She didn't want things to seem suddenly awkward between them, now that he knew she was half Dwarf, and half Man's blood. She couldn't get that look he gave her out of her head. The young woman swallowed and started heading over to the others. Bilbo was the first to look up to see the half-breed approaching and gave her a smile as he shivered from the cold.

"Bella. Your up. How are you feeling?" Bilbo asked.

"I feel a lot better. Thank you." She stated, giving a small smile and turning to look at Thorin, she could see a hint of concern in his eyes but it was quickly smothered by his brooding look. No way would the Dwarf king give his men the chance of day to tease him about him actually showing concern about her. But again she couldn't blame him, why should he even show a hint of concern for her. All she has done is keep him and the others in the dark about who she was, what she was, all because she was protecting herself from allowing anyone to get close to her.

The half-breed couldn't hid the fact either, these last few weeks with Thorin have been so different. He was different. He wanted to know her, he was kind to her, even through all her stubbornness he still showed some sort of caring for her in his own way. But why would he? She was hideous. He probably was just doing it because he felt sorry for her. The young woman's thoughts were interrupted as they hit a patch of thick fog. "Watch out!" Bofur shouted from the front of the barge when he saw giant rock formations. Bard steered around them with ease.