Queen Under The Mountain

By the Evening Fire.

  When Bilbo came around, I had Kili and Fili set him on an arm chair, and we gave him a mug of tea.

"I'll be all right. Just let me sit quietly for a moment." He took a sip of his hot drink after I had asked him if he needed anything.

"You've been sitting quietly for far too long." Gandalf said. "Tell me, when did doilies and your mother's dishes become so important to you? I remember a young Hobbit who was always running off in search of Elves in the woods. Who would stay out late, come home after dark trailing mud and twigs and fireflies."

"Sounds a lot like Kili and Fili to me." I said.

"The world is not in your books and maps. It's out there." Gandalf nodded to the window.

"I can't just go running off into the blue. I am a Baggins of Bag End." Bilbo argued. "And I am not your nephews." He said to me.

I sighed and left the room into the hallway where Balin and Thorin stood, caught in there own conversation. I leaned against the wall as Bilbo emerged from the living room and down the corridor to the kitchen.

"It appears we have lost our burglar." Said Balin. "Probably for the best."
Thorin watched Bilbo disappear before looking at Balin.
"The odds were always against us." Balin added. "After all, what are we? Merchants, miners, tinkers, toymakers. Hardly the stuff of legend."

"There are a few warriors amongst us." Thorin's mouth showed a slight smile. I always liked it when Thorin smiled, it was the real Thorin, the Thorin I knew.

"Old warriors." Balin said.

"I would take each and every one of these Dwarves and Woman over an army from the Iron Hills." Said Thorin. "For when I called upon them, they answered. Loyalty, honor, a willing heart. I can ask no more than that."

Balin stood up from his seat. "You don't have to do this. You have a choice. You've done honorably by our people. You have built a new life for us in the Blue Mountains. A life of peace and plenty. A life that is worth more than all the gold in Erebor."

"Erebor is our home, Balin." I said. "I may have been born in Dale, but the Mountain is our home. I grew up next to that mountain, and found a family in the Mountain." I placed my hand on Thorin's shoulder.

"From my grandfather to my father, this has come to me." Thorin held up the key. "They dreamt of the day when the Dwarves of Erebor would reclaim their homeland. There is no choice, Balin. Not for me, or Larewen."

"Then we are with you, laddie." Balin nodded. "We will see it done."

----

A fire had been made in the living room fire place, where the company had made themselves comfortable smoking pipes. A hum arose from the Dwarves, another song was to be sung. It was unheard of to have a gathering of Dwarves and not sing at least once.

"Far over, the misty mountains cold." Thorin began the song with a soft, deep voice. "Two dungeons deep, and caverns old."

Together the Dwarves were softly harmonizing, and all I could do was sit and listen while staring into the fire. These sort of songs were always soothing. One by one, they all stood up and gathered to further project their voices together in unison.

The more they sang, the more I began to feel tired, until, my eyes had shut, and sleep had taken over me.