Rue (A Thorin Oakenshield/Hobbit Fanfiction)

40

"I want this Fortress made safe by sun-up. This mountain was hard won; I will not see it taken again." Thorin commanded, watching as the Company hauled stones to the gate. Now, the Company had their doubts on the virtue of Thorin's leadership. His actions seemed unwarranted and paranoid—why was he barring their kingdom, full of beds and food, from those that needed it most?

"You really think they will take it." Talia croaked, rolling her eyes from the shadows.

Thorin whipped around to face her. "Say what you mean, Talia. I don't have time for games."

She scoffed, stepping forward. Her injuries had improved since Thorin last paid attention to her, but she was still weak. She had lost weight since she had arrived, and her face was gaunt from exhaustion. At least it had spared her from the labor Thorin demanded; he hadn't deemed her worthy of work, since she hardly had the capacity to stand up straight. Like Thorin, she rarely slept or ate, for she was so focused on finding a cure to stay his madness. But the more she tried, the worse his illness grew and the more sickly she felt. Put simply, the Queen looked terrible, and everyone but Thorin seemed to care.

"You heard me. It is absurd to think that the Lakemen will rob you in their current state. They've just survived Smaug's wrath, and you truly believe that this mountain is their focus?"

"The people of Lake-Town have nothing." Kili snapped, tossing the stone he carried aside and siding with his aunt. "They came to us in need. They have lost everything!"

"Do not tell me what they have lost!" Thorin hissed, glaring at his nephew. "I know well enough of their hardship. Those who have lived through dragon fire should rejoice! They have much to be grateful for."

But Talia was tired of letting the Mad King have the last word.

"You disgust me."

That got the King's attention, as well as the Company's.

"Excuse me?"

Talia met her husband's shocking glare. She was dying for him to explain what exactly Lake-Town had, for gratitude was the last thing she expected. She would love to watch him attempt to make up for his blasphemy, because if no one else dared to challenge him, then she would. At this point, all of her researched remedies had failed her. And as she had told their nephews, she intended to suffer burn after burn of his fire if it meant she was chipping away at his infection.

What else was there to lose?

"You disgust me, O Great King Under the Mountain! You daresay that Lake-Town has much to be grateful for, when you know that dragon fire took their homes, their families? How can you say such a thing, when you know damn well that it is no different from what we suffered?! We lost everything that day, Thorin! All we had was each other! And yet you prance around these halls, acting like you have won."

"We did win!" Thorin snarled, his rebuke just as firm and menacing. "The dragon is dead. Erebor is reclaimed. Even back then, we had won. We rebuilt our lives in the Blue Mountains."

"A life of what? Pain, suffering?"

"Just because your parents burned doesn't mean the whole kingdom did."

The Company held their breath in shock. Thorin had said some awful things to Talia, but this was by far the worst. Ironically, their views of Smaug's attack on Erebor had been much different before the quest. Thorin had always thought the Blue Mountains wasn't enough for the dwarves, and Talia had always been content to settle wherever her people did. Now, the juxtaposition between their past opinions was jarring, especially to the Company. The illness truly was warping everything into a twisted new reality, one based on gold and survival that sacrificed all prior principles.