The Hobbit: An Unexpected Reunion

Chapter 8

In the end, it appears that fate had led Thorin Oakenshield and his company to Rivendell. The light of a crescent moon on a midsummer's eve revealed the moon runes on the map of Erebor. It told of a grey stone and a thrush's knock and the last light of Durin's day. Bilbo was surprised that Thorin had relented and let Lord Elrond read the map. However, though the help was appreciated, their host expressed his concern with the venture.

The day after their arrival in Rivendell, Bilbo was off exploring the magnificent city. He ran into Lord Elrond and shared some words with him. Then, on the steps of one of the big houses where Fróia's people were residing, the hobbit found the female captain of the dwarves, sitting with a sketchpad.

"Good morning," he bid the she-dwarf.

"Morning, Master Bilbo," answered Fróia. She looked up from her work, "How are you finding Rivendell?"

"It's beautiful." Bilbo turned in a circle, marveling at the architecture that seemed to merge with the rock and trees of the valley. "I've never seen anything like it!"

Fróia nodded, "My father told me of the heavenliness of this place. Somehow, his words paled in comparison to seeing it in person."

"What are you working on?" inquired the halfling, his eyes gesturing to the sketchpad.

Fróia smiled and patted the stone step she was sitting on, indicating that she wanted Bilbo to join her. He did, and Fróia showed him her sketchpad. It was composed of a square piece of smooth stone, over which leather had been stretched. More leather fell as a flap that Bilbo saw contained paper and a pocket for her few surviving pencils. On the page that Fróia was currently using, Bilbo gasped as he recognized the majestic rotunda that peeked over the one of the high cliffs Rivendell was situated on. Water rushed from underneath the structure, creating calm streams and spouting waterfalls.

"You like?" Fróia said, guessing from the hobbit's expression.

"It's an incredible likeness!" he praised, struck by how the rotunda seemed to fold out of the page, provoking him to dare to reach out and touch it.

Fróia laughed, "It's not finished yet. But I appreciate the praise.

"No, you have true skill!" Bilbo pressed. "I've never seen anyone draw as well as you!"

"I learned a lot from my father. He even built a few of the structures and fountains here!"

"Really? Which ones?"

"Uhh, there's a statue of Gil-galad in one of the gardens here that he carved. And there's a fountain, in which an elf maiden is pouring water from a bowl into the tiers of the rest of the fount. He designed that in his early years. And a statue, somewhere in one of Lord Elrond's libraries, that he had made very early on in his life and on one of his first trips here. Not an imposing statue, if I'm recalling the sketches I've seen back in his records. The statue seemed to be designed to hold something."

"I think I've seen that one," Bilbo informed the she-dwarf. "I saw it in the library up there," he pointed off from where he had come from. "It holds some sort of broken weapon, I think. Sword shards it looks like."

"Hmm. I wonder what's so special about them. I should go up there and see for myself." Then, Fróia dropped her face down to continue working on her drawing. Bilbo felt that he was being dismissed and was about to leave when he decided to disclose, "Thorin showed Lord Elrond the map last night."

The pencil halted in its marking. Fróia did not look up at the hobbit, but replied, "Really?"

"It seems you changed his mind."