Thorin's Happy Ending

Part 3

On the barge, I was nervous about was going to happen. It was foggy and one couldn't see a foot in front of themselves. The water was filled with floating chunks of ice and it had gotten cold.

I went over to the man and started to talk to him. He told me his name, Bard. He told me about his children and his wife who was no longer with him. Bard told me about the town and the new master of Lake-town.

Traveling back to the bunch of dwarves, I sat next to Bilbo, who had his hands in his armpits, trying to keep warm.

"How-- How do you know Thorin?" He asked me with a small and friendly voice.

I chuckled a bit. "I don't. When you came and saved everyone from the Elven cells, Thorin held out his hand and asked me to come with him."

"Sounds like he may like you, Arura." Bilbo nodded his head to Thorin, who was gazing my direction.

I smiled and looked down. "Now let's not get any hopes up." 

Bilbo leaned towards me. "Thorin isn't a bad guy. I think you two would be cute together. Once you get to know him, you'll never want to be with another guy." 

"Bilbo, it's not that I don't like him, I'm scared. I've lost so much that I don't think I can be happy. I'm worried that if anything happens with Thorin that I'll lose him too."

The other dwarves started to groan about Bard while Thorin made his way over to me. Bilbo got up and stood next Balin who was counting money.

"There's a wee problem... We're 10 coins short." Balin said.

I stood up to get my little purse out. "I have 10 coins."

Thorin put his arm in front of me. "No, Arura, you don't have to do that." Then he looked at Gloin. "Gloin. Come one. Gives us all you have."

"It's fine, Thorin. If I'm to be apart of this--- Company--- I should give a little." Then I handed Balin the 10 coins.

Suddenly everyone started to stand up and stare. I looked in the direction of their gazes and the Lonely Mountain. It stood tall and beautiful in the thick fog, just as I remember it.

Just then, Bilbo cleared his throat and nodded at Bard, who had left his post and jumped down toward us.

"The money, quick. Give it to me," Bard politely ordered.

"We will pay you when we get our provisions but not before." Thorin roughly replied.

The wind was blowing through Bards shoulder length hair which made everything seem dramatic. "If you value your freedom, you'll do as I say. There are guards ahead."

Everyone looked at where Bard was gazing. A small loading dock of people were ahead. Bard told us to get into the barrels and wait. So we did. I could faintly hear Dwalin talking but I was a few barrels away. In a matter of minutes fish began filling all the barrels the 14 of us were in.

~~~~

"Fish? That's just gross," Norra spat.

Thrin started to laugh. "Bard had the barrels filled with fish while you guys were still in!!"

"He did it for good reason. As much as I disliked him, Bard knew what he was doing. Lake-town changed, so it had became hard to get into," Thorin explained.

Norra looked at us confused. "Was Lake-town the place in the middle of the lake just outside?"

I gave her a nod. "Yes, indeed."

"What happened to it?" She questioned.

"That will come later in the story," Thorin replied.

~~~~

Bard had smuggled everyone into the town in the barrels full of fish. After a long while he tipped a few of us over. I helped Arura out of her barrel. Since Bards house was being watched, we had to sneak in through the water and through the toilet. Giving us dry and warm clothes, Arura went with Bards girls to their room where she changed.

~~~~

"This can't be a love story! climbing through toilets is too gross, mother!" Norra groaned.

"Just wait, it's a long but sweet story." Then I continued the story.

~~~~

Bard's two girls took me to their room, so I could change in private. Barb's oldest, Sigrid, had to help me out of my wet clothes. While Tilda sat down and asked me questions.

"Arura, which dwarf is yours?" She questioned.

"None, I do not have a husband," I replied.

"But you are so beautiful. I've met a beautiful dwarf," Sigrid said.

I gave them a smile. "Thank you. But I do have my eye on one of them."

They both awed at me.

"Which one?" Tilda asked excitedly.

"Is it the young, long black haired one?"

I shook my head at the two of them. "No. It's Thorin, the leader. He asked me to go with him because I was stuck in a cell. I don't know what it is about him... I find him so dreamy. The bad part is that I don't know if he feels the same way. We only just met."

Sigrid sat down next to me. "Arura, you got to go for it. How can he not like you?"

"He's a King, that's how. I was a simple folk that lost everything in the fire of that horrible dragon. Thorin, he is a mission to take that mountain. He doesn't have time for a broken girl." I explained to her.

"Tilda, I think we need to give Arura a makeover to show Thorin what he's missing."

My eyes widen. "Oh, no. You girls really don't have to do that."

But I had no choice. They brushed and pulled my hair. Sigrid opened up my jacket to show off my two friends. They went all out.

When the girls lead me out of the room, everyone looked at me. We had interrupted a small meeting of Thorin, Balin, Fili, and Kili.

"Go get him," Sigrid whispered in my ear, just before gently pushing me toward them.

Thorin looked at me with wide eyes. He seemed shocked to see me. "Arura--" He began. "You look-- breathtakingly gorgeous."

I tucked a loose piece of hair behind my ear and looked down. "Thank you, Thorin."

He lifted my chin up with one finger, causing my eyes to lock with his. "I am glad that you decided to take my hand in that cell."

"I am too," I replied.

"I am really glad. I would love if you, Arura, would -- I'm not sure how to say this..."

And right at that moment, Bard come into the room, through junk wrapped in cloth onto the table. So I left Thorin, who became busy with the Bard. I went and sat down next to Bilbo, who was sitting next to a small fire.

"He's not wrong, you do look beautiful," Bilbo said to me. "Thorin has a lot on his plate. He'll come around."

"He already has. Thorin was about to tell me something, but we were cut off by the bargemen," I replied.

Bard had told us that we were not allowed to leave because of the spies watching his house. He told us to wait till nightfall and that's what we did.