The King, The Burglar and The Guardian

Chapter Five

Word count - 2,153

Ch - 5

Her legs were sore but it felt good to Adelaide. She liked it when she was strengthening herself further. She had been travelling for almost three days now, refusing to stop for sleep, knowing her body won't rest until she willed it to happen. A gift from the orcs she supposed. She had reached Hobbiton with no difficulty, even stopped in the market to pick up apples, although her people skills could use work.

She was pretty sure she had scared the little thing working the stand. Perhaps she was staring a little too long. Right, blink next time. Walking off the gravel path, she found herself at the bank of a river. She looked around for any wandering folk of Hobbiton, finding none, she stripped and went into the lake. Dunking her head under the water, she opened her eyes underwater. Yes the water stung, but she would bear it for the sight. Ha.. bear. She smiled to herself at her bad joke.

Many fish were swimming around her, some were big and colourful, others were tiny with huge eyes. One of the bigger fish swam right up to her in curiosity. Staring at it for a little while, she shooed it away while she went up for air. Her hair was quite short, so it dried relatively quickly. She put her clothes back on and ate an apple while she sat up in a tree. Hopping off the branch, she picked up her belongings and paused. She smelled Gandalf, and a lot of sweat. She followed the smell, though reluctantly.

Stopping where she was hidden, she spotted the wizard standing by the green door he mentioned.. Along with eight dwarves. Gandalf must've felt eyes on him, he turned to Adelaide's direction. He opened his mouth to call to her, but was cut off when the little door was opened and the dwarves fell into the home. Gandalf turned from the bushed and leaned down into the doorway ushering the dwarves into the home further. The door closed and Adelaide turned back.

She was rethinking her decision. She didn't realise they had stunk that badly. She could see through the burglar's windows that the dwarves were hurling food across the room, spilling drink, and tossing dishes. She wanted no part in it, but Gandalf needed her there. Turning on her heel, again, she approached the doorway and knocked a few times.

"No! No! Absolutely not! No more dwarves, I can't have it! You need to leave, and take your smelly friends with you-"

The door opened and Bilbo had cut himself off.

"Adelaide" she gave a slight bow of her head. "At your service."

Stepping back, the hobbit took a moment to look over the person at his door. She was quite a bit taller than him, he came to her lower abdomen. She had her cloak covering her face, so he could only see her lips. She was dressed in loosely fitting black pants with leather boots. Her cloak was black, it was covering her white shirt and brown vest. He could see the handle and hilt of her sword poking out from behind her shoulder, leading Bilbo to realise she was most likely part of the group that had bombarded him in his home.

"Uh, Bilbo Baggins at yours miss. Are you sure you're supposed to be with this group?"

She humoured the little hobbit and took off her hood. She smiled at Bilbo when his eyes widened looking at her scar across her eye.

"Yes master Baggins, I am supposed to be meeting them here. Though I apologise on their behalf for how they've repaid your generosity."

If there was one thing her father made sure she retained, it was her manners.
The hobbit was taken aback at her appearance. She had the look of a rugged warrior, but talked as though she's been living in the Shire all her life. The hobbit stared at the woman for a little while, astounded she hadn't pushed her way into his home yet, like all the others.