What the Heart Wants: Book 3

2

I hastily let go of Bilbo and ran after Thorin, the others not far behind. The mountain was ours now and yet the quest to reclaim it seemed far from over. I reached the front gate and paused. I could finally take in the architecture now that we can nothing currently trying to kill us. It was beautiful. Two dwarven statues stood on either side of the gate and every side of the gate was covered in small intricate carvings. It was taller than anything I had ever seen and I sincerely wondered how the dwarves managed to get so high.

"Thorin?" I called into the mountain, taking slow steps inside.

My voice echoed off the walls. No response came.

"Thorin!" I shouted louder.

"He's gone to the gold I bet," Balin mumbled sadly, walking past me and into the mountain.

I didn't respond, unsure of how to react to that, and instead followed Balin. I trusted he knew where to go as he walked through halls and around corners. As much as the pit in my stomach grew, I couldn't shake the feeling of wonder at the dwarven architecture. Each carving, each statue was so intricately designed. It was more detailed than what I had grown up with within The Shire. Balin finally stopped in a room littered with dust-covered glass jars and herb filled vials. If I didn't have more pressing concerns I just knew I could spend the rest of my time here. I would eventually need Balin to show me the kitchen.

"This is as far as I go. I need to do some inventory checking," Balin told me, walking towards the herb vials.

"What about Thorin? I thought you were leading me there," I asked unsurely, wondering if I had followed Balin without double checking we were actually going towards Thorin.

Balin paused and glanced towards a door on the other side of the room, "If I had to take a guess, he's through there."

"What's through there?" I wondered, hoping I'd discover why he looked so unsettled.

"All the gold in Erebor."

I didn't respond. I only nodded at the dwarf and slowly walked towards the door. I paused at its entrance, debating if I wanted to see Thorin's state now that he had the gold to himself. My emotions won the internal battle and I stepped through the opening, shielding my eyes from the brightness of the gold. I looked below me and realized I was standing on a tall pile of gold and flashbacks of the dream I had in Belen's cottage made their way to the front of my brain. I tried to shake my head and remove the images from inside me but I couldn't shake this gnawing feeling in my stomach that we should leave Erebor as fast as possible.

I carefully walked down the mountain of gold and took a deep breath, "Thorin?" I called into the room.

My voice bounced off of every wall and the echo seemed to last far longer than normal. It took a few minutes before Thorin finally responded.

"Beautiful isn't it?" I practically whispered, appearing from around a corner to my right, "How does it feel to know your love is a king."

He gave me a smile that only increased the fearful feeling in my stomach.

"Look at it y/n," He said, walking quickly towards me and grabbing me by the shoulders so he could spin me around to look at the room, "All of this is thanks to you. I couldn't have won this battle without you."

I felt nervous to respond. Sure the battle for the mountain was won, but an entirely new battle was beginning. A battle of the mind and one I wasn't sure how to help Thorin fight.

"Well don't you want to say something?" He asked gruffly, his grip tightening on my shoulders, "Don't you want to congratulate me?"

"Congratulate you?" I asked out loud, losing the nerves as they were replaced with utter confusion, "Congratulate you for what?"