Star-Crossed

Chapter 34

“I know.” Was all she replied. Before he could stop himself he took a step closer, as did she, the gap between them closed. She let her hands entwine in his hair, his pulled her into the room, closing and locking the door. Their moves were coordinated and nearly perfect, as if it had been rehearsed. Strange, Thorin thought.

Beuren’s mind was racing. Only moments ago she had been so angry that she could have killed him, now, she had no idea what she was feeling. It was sort of an emotional overload for her. For the longest time all she’d felt was anger and loneliness, and now… not so much. All of these emotions that had gone unfelt for so long all of a sudden came bursting in like a clumsy drunk trying to catch his wife in the act. It was, almost frightening for the elf.

As she laid there, her back to him, she wondered if he knew it was her. The room was practically pitch black, small beams of light streamed in from the slats in the shutters, but they hit the floor several feet away. Thorin was still, so still that Beuren thought him asleep. He wasn’t however; he pulled her closer into his chest, pressing a lingering kiss to the nape of her neck, arms wrapped tightly around her.

Thorin couldn’t help but smile. It was her. It was finally her. Beuren was careful as ever, keeping the room dark, but really, Thorin knew her so well he could place her voice in a dark room with a million others. He didn’t want to keep up the act, but he had no choice, if she knew he knew Mahal knows what she would do. Unpredictable, she always had been, even to him. But he thought it almost a blessing, holding her one last time, though; he knew she’d be gone before the sun rose.

Beuren woke to the sound of a crackling fire. With a groan she opened her eyes, just as she did there was a hideous snapping sound and her nose started to bleed. Lurching into an upright position, she yelped and grabbed her nose. Gandalf laughed and patted her bare shoulder.

“Sorry to wake you, thought I ought to do that before I headed out, speaking I didn’t have time to do it before… well, anyways, good day.” He closed the door. She flopped backwards on the bed. Her hand stretched out to the left, feeling the coolness of the bed she turned her head. Thorin had left, before the sun even rose.

With a heavy sigh she stood, pulling the heavy comforter around her small body she went to the window. Secretly she hoped to see Thorin making his way back to the inn, but she knew that it wasn’t going to happen. When she looked, all she saw was the grey sky above, and the quaint town below. She turned away, allowing the blanket to fall from her shoulders and to the ground. Quickly, she slipped into her clothes, happy to see that they were dry and had no blood stains on them. Her boots however, were not such a pleasure. She allowed herself to some breakfast while they sat by the fire to dry. Once she was ready, she slung her quiver over her shoulder and tied her belt around her hips. Mahal only knows where her pack went, she lost it when dumb and dumber drug her out of the woods and tried drowning her in a barrel full of gutter water, not as fun as it sounds.

Thorin sat at the stone table before him, hands laced together. Kili and Fili shared a look, unsure of what to think. Dwalin was trying to reprocess what his king had said, surely he was hearing things. There was no way in hell they could do that! Balin was speechless, this wouldn’t end well.

“Have you lost your bloody mind?!” Dis barked. Everyone winced a little at her harsh tone. “I have heard some crazy things from working in all those villages, but this, ha, this tops the damn cake!” Thorin raised his eyes to his sister’s, he expected to see anger or perhaps even worry, but the tears were an honest surprise to him.

“Ma?” Fili said, noticing them as well.

“Does it not occur to you what we’ve lost because of that mountain?” Balin, who was closest, patted her shoulder.