Healing, Magic, And Unexpected Adventures

Chapter Twenty Two - A Brief Break from Violence

There were birds singing when I woke up. Early morning sunlight spilled into the infirmary, and if I tried hard enough I could almost pretend I was back in the Shire and this was all a dream.

But it wasn't, and I had a job to do.

Outside, Dale was just beginning to come to life. It may have been the unusual surroundings, but something in the air felt off, as if there was one small detail just out of place.

I walked over to where Bard was standing with Alfrid, looking as grim as always. Though, when I reached them, I understood why.

Thranduil was riding through an army of elves on a giant elk. They parted for him in perfect unison, and I had the feeling that they could do a lot more than stand and look pretty. The swords gleaming at their sides didn't look like they were for show.

'My Lord Thranduil,' Bard said politely, moving slightly so that I was out of view. 'We did not look to see you here.'

'I heard you needed aid,' Thranduil replied coolly.

He turned, and a horse drawn cart came into the courtyard, greeted by the survivors who immediately began unloading the food crammed into it.

'You saved us,' Bard said gratefully. 'I do not know how to thank you.'

'Your gratitude is misplaced,' said Thranduil coolly. 'I did not come on your behalf. I came to reclaim something of mine.'

He looked behind Bard's legs at me, and his lips twitched upwards into a sneer. I stepped out so that he could see me fully - I wasn't going to hide behind anyone's protection, whether it was Thorin's or Bard's.

'You shelter her,' he said. 'Do you know what she has done?'

'She has saved many of our lives,' Bard said. 'There may be crimes that can remove our gratitude, but I cannot name them now, and I doubt many of the people here will want to.'

I suddenly became embarrassed about what Bard was saying about me. I shoved my chin into my collar, pretending it was from the cold, and muttered: 'I was only doing my job.'

'She has aided the company who robbed me,' Thranduil said. 'She ensured they got to the mountain so they could hole up in there with their treasure.'

'She refused to join them in that hole,' Bard said. 'I doubt she had any idea of Thorin's true intentions until it was too late, and when she did she chose to help us instead of run away.'

That wasn't technically true, I thought. I hadn't really chosen anything. It had been a question of doing the right thing or running from it. Choosing others over myself had never been that much of a challenge.

'And which side will you be fighting for, Miss Baggins?' Thranduil asked me.

'I'm just the healer,' I said. 'I leave it up to others to take lives.'

I left the courtyard. I couldn't bare to stay there any longer, with Thranduil sneering at me like I was some failed experiment. Instead, I went back to the infirmary, where at least I could do something.

But all I could think about was how difficult it was to listen to Bard and Thranduil talk about the company like that. They were talking about Uncle Bilbo, who had cared for me when I needed it most. About Ori, who had never been anything but a good friend. About Bofur, who had always known what to say to cheer me up.

I found that it was a lot harder to hate the people you love when you give them their names - it's hard to hate them anyway, but when you remember all of the good things they did it becomes impossible.

And my mind walked the well-trodden path towards Fili. It tripped a few times along the way, but it wasn't difficult to clear away the weeds that had grown there since I had last thought about him.