Quilted Together - The Hobbit Fanfiction

Chapter 3: Meeting Under the Hill

As Thorin and Dis rode away from the meeting they went as quickly as they could without risking injury to the ponies. Dis had mostly stopped swearing before long, but she glared straight ahead with such fury that Thorin feared she wasn't really watching where she was going and hoped the pony had the good sense to stay on the road. He didn't blame her for her anger and showed his agreement with her opinion by brooding. He was very good at brooding.

Dis swore, again. "It eats at my gut having to beg for help from those toads!"

"We did not beg. We asked."

"Just as bad! And now what? We set out with just us and this friend of Gandalf's? Hardly a force a dragon needs to worry about, are we?"

Thorin hadn't thought it was possible, but his stomach twisted in an even more painful knot than it had already been in when they'd left the meeting. The touchy subject of Dis joining them on the quest would have to be handled carefully and he was reasonably certain he didn't have the right words to use. He said nothing and they rode a bit further down the winding road that led them westward. Riding hard, they would reach their people in the land of the hobbits in just a few days. Hopefully, it would be enough time to convince Dis that she certainly couldn't be part of the quest; she was needed to look after those who would remain behind. He was exhausted just thinking of the coming argument – Dis never listened to a thing he said. As head-strong as a mule, once she made up her mind about something, nothing short of the end of the world would change it.

"Thorin," Dis said in a more subdued tone. "I've changed my mind about going on the quest."

Thorin nearly fell off his pony. "What? When?"

"Just now. I've been thinking about it and I think I need to stay with the others. We have a respectable number of children now and they'll need every able hand in case of trouble. I think I'll be more use with the families than on the quest."

"Oh." Thorin tried very hard not to grin. "If you think that's best."

"I do. I know it'll be harder without me and it'll put your party at an unlucky thirteen, but with your new burglar, you should be just fine."

"I wish I could send everyone to shelter in one of the dwarven cities while I'm gone," Thorin told her.

Dis snorted. "Hardly likely. None of the lords of the cities would even let our distant cousins stay for fear of us staging a coupe using them. Even when Della was heavy with child we couldn't find anyone who would take her in. Expecting any different will only end in disappointment and we both know, from how that sorry excuse for a meeting went, that none of them are willing to help us."

He couldn't deny that. He was a fool for hoping for such help. He was always such a fool.

Thorin's mind turned back to that complete waste of time of a meeting. His poor pony could have been saved days of travel and, really, he should have known that it wouldn't work out. At least it had been brief. He hated long, drawn-out meetings. Long or short, the response had been quite clear – there would be no warriors, no funds, and no supplies.
What was he going to tell the others?

Could they even get to Erebor with such a small company?

He should have let Balin go in his stead, just as Balin had suggested.

Well, he reasoned, there was nothing to be done about it but to just deal with the situation. He would have to pretend everything was going to be alright – just as he always did. He often found himself faking self-confidence in order to reassure those who followed him. Confidence in a leader was necessary or the group would suffer. He knew that if the others understood how very badly he doubted himself and fretted over every decision he made that it would only make them anxious. No. He was prince and it was his duty to be strong for everyone.