Royalty

Part Two

The next morning, the company had set off. Thorin was leading and Lasgalen rode peacefully next to Gandalf. She was looking at the serene forest when the hobbit, Bilbo, started yelling for them. Her horse came to a stop and everyone looked at him as he ran closer. She watched as he was accepted and Thorin's deep voice boomed through the company.

"Get him a pony."

"No, no, no, no, that- ­­that won't be necessary, thank you, but I-­­I'm sure I can keep up on foot.I­­ I­­I've done my fair share of walking holidays, you know. I even got as far as Frogmortononce­­WAGH!"

Lasgalen chuckled as he was lifted onto a pony. Her elfish ears picked up something in the underbrush and she trotted ahead to meet Thorin.

"I'm going to hunt your dinner, Thorin." She said. "And scout ahead."

He glared at her but nodded and she bounded away.

-----------------------

Soon, Lasgalen rejoined them with a deer strung across the back of her horse.

"Dinner. More rabbits can be killed. There is a cliff face ahead as well."

He nodded and the company followed her to the spot. She allowed the dwarves to gut, clean and skin the animals she killed while she made them food. As she passed it out, Dwalin grumbled.

"I didn't know elves could cook." He said.

She sent him a smile. "Well, most of them can. But I'm what most call different. I can cook and I do eat meat. Not all animals are sacred. Only the white deer from my home is sacred."

"Why?" Kili asked her.

She sat down by the fire, warming her hands.

"The white deer is very rare. When an elf is killed in battle, he or she will become a deer. Most become brown or sometimes red. But some will become white." She smiled at the flames. "The creatures are pure white with spots of gray along their backs and white horns. Absolutely stunning. Only the royal become white after they die."

"Have you ever seen one?" Fili asked this time.

Her smile faded as she sat back from the fire.

"Yes." She said. "It was after my mother was killed. After returning home, I had spent every day for two months out in the wood of my home, looking for her deer. When I finally found it, her eyes were the same. Those bright blue eyes I had inherited and the soft fur along her back matched the feeling of her hair. She was magnificent."

The pair of Durin brothers were watching her closely and listening to every word she said. She smiled at them. They blushed and smiled back at her. Suddenly, a screech filled the air and she was up. She went over to the edge of the cliff and looked to the darkness around them. She heard someone saying something behind her, but her ears and eyes stayed on the sky. She was scanning the trees when she saw the orcs. She strung her boy and aimed, sending the arrow through the sky. The orc shrieked before they ran away and she narrowed her gaze. She didn't like orcs, and she knew something was going on. She just didn't know what.

--------------------

The next day, it was raining and Lasgalen was fighting to smile at the complaints coming from her companions. Dori was huddled up in his cloak as he spoke to Gandalf from his horse.

"Here, Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" He asks.

"It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish tochange the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard." He calls back to the dwarf.

Bilbo looks at him. "Are there any?"

"What?" Gandalf asks.

"Other wizards?"

"There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman, the White. Then there are thetwo Blue Wizards; you know, I've quite forgotten their names."

Lasgalen rolled her eyes at him as Bilbo nodded.

"And who is the fifth?"

Gandalf smiles fondly. "Well, that would be Radagast the Brow."

"Is he a great Wizard or is he... more like you?"

Gandalf looks offended and Lasgalen chuckles as she passes them, on her way to the front of the group.

"I think he's a very great wizard, in his own way. He's a gentle soul who prefers thecompany of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the East, and agood thing too, for always Evil will look to find a foothold in this world."

Lasgalen nods as something settles in her chest. A darkness is creeping through the land and she knows it.

--------------------------------

The Company arrives at an old, abandoned farmhouse that is in ruins. Lasgalen and Gandalf move to the farmhouse. They look at each other before Gandalf turns to Thorin.

"We'll camp here for the night." Thorin says. "Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them."

"A farmer and his family used to live here." Gandalf says softly.

"Oin, Gloin." Thorin calls to the pair.

"Aye?" Gloin asks.

"Get a fire going."

Gandalf steps over to Thorin. "I think it would be wiser to move on. We could make for the Hidden Valley."

"I have told you already, I will not go near that place." Thorin said.

Gandalf frowns. "Why not? The elves could help us. We could get food, rest, advice."

Thorin doesn't listen. "I do not need their advice."

"We have a map that we cannot read. Lord Elrond could help us." Gandalf tells the stubborn dwarf.

"Help? A dragon attacks Erebor, what help came from the Elves? Orcs plunder Moria,desecrate our sacred halls, the Elves looked on and did nothing. You ask me to seek out the verypeople who betrayed my grandfather and betrayed my father." Thorin snaps.

Lasgalen turns away from them, her anger making her fists clench.

"You are neither of them. I did not give you that map and key for you to hold on to the past." Gandalf counters.

"I did not know that they were yours to keep."

Gandalf stomps off angrily, leaving the Company and Lasgalen. Her eyes snap to him as Bilbo yells after him.

"Everything alright? Gandalf, where are you going?"

"To see the company of the only one around here who's got any since besides Lasgalen."

"Who's that?"

"Myself, Mr. Baggins! I've had enough of dwarves for one day."

Lasgalen watched him go before she huffed and moved to sit by the fire. Thorin watched as she sat down next to Balin. The elf had found her way into the company. Everyone liked her. Even Dwalin had found a spot for the elf. Thorin still did not trust her though. What was her plan? Why would she want to join them? He was cut off from his thinking when a bowl was handed to him. He looked down at it and began to eat as Bilbo took the food to the twins. A few moments later, Fili came running into camp.

"Trolls!" He said, making everyone jump up. "They have Bilbo!"

-----------------------