Queen Under The Mountain

Laketown

  The boat stopped moving and a voice was heard from off the boat.
  "Halt! Goods inspection!" The voice said. "Papers please! Oh, it's you Bard."
  "Morning, Percy." Bard greeted.
"Anything to declare?" Percy asked.
  "Nothing, but that I am cold and tired,  and ready for home." Bard said.
  "You and me both." Percy breathed out. "There we are, all in order."
  "Not so fast." Another voice said. "Consignment of empty barrels, from the Woodland Realm." The voice said. "Only, they're not empty."
  Oh for Durin's sake.

"If I recall correctly your licensed as a Bargeman. Not a fisherman." The voice said.
  "That's none of your business." I heard Bard.
  "Wrong, it's the master's business. Which makes it my business." Said the voice.
  "Oh come on, Alfrid, have a heart." Bard said. "People need to eat."
  "These fish are illegal." Alfrid replied. "Thrown the barrels over the side."

  Footsteps were on the boat, more than one. "People are struggling." Bard protested. "Times are hard, food is scarce."
  "That's not my problem." Said Alfrid.
"And when the people hear the Master is dumping fish back in the lake, when the rioting starts." Bard said. I felt my barrel being tipped. "Will it be your problem then?"
  "Stop." Alfrid called out. My barrel was standing upright again.

  "Raise the gate." I heard Percy's voice.

   Our barrels were tipped over by Bard and we fell onto the boat deck. I stood up and pushed a fish off my shoulder.
  "You didn't see them, they were never here." Bard gave a bystander two coins.

  We stepped off the boat and waited for Bard, he walked past us and around a corner. "Stay close." We followed after him as he walked around a market.
  "What is this place?" Bilbo asked.
"This, Master Baggins is the world of men." Thorin walked past him.
  I cleared my throat and Thorin looked at me. I gestured towards myself and raised my eyebrows. "Sorry." Thorin said.
  "Keep your heads down, keep moving." Bard stopped to let us walk past him. "Quickly now."

  "Halt!" A guard caught sight of us. "Oi! In the name of the Master!"
  "C'mon, move!" Thorin pulled us down the walk way. We turned a corner and were stopped by another guard.

  "Get back!" Thorin began walking backwards and another guard was behind us.

  I grabbed an oar and whacked a guard upside the head, he fell the the ground and Bombur got on his hands and knees tripping another guard. Kili and Fili pulled a rope causing a guard to trip.
  When all the guards were knocked out we dragged them out of sight. The townspeople were watching us and disbanded when more guards came by.
  We all got down and hid.
"What's going on here?" A guard asked.

  A knocked out guard moved and a woman dropped a pot of flowers on him, the standing guard came around the corner and townspeople moved around baskets to hide the men on the ground. The guards left and I looked at Thorin with a smile on my face.

  "What?" He asked.
"Welcome to the world of men." I said.
  "Larewen, you know what I meant." Thorin sighed.
  "Don't worry about it." I got up and the company followed Bard once more through little streets.

  In another place in the market, a boy came running up to Bard.
  "Da!" He stopped in front of him. "Our house, it's being watched."
  We looked at Bard, who looked around then back at us.

  "I have a plan, you won't like it."
~~~~~

   Bard was right, I didn't like the plan, none of us did. But here we were, standing in sewage.
  There was a knock and Dwalin lifted his head up through the toilet seat.

  "If you speak of this to anyone, I'll rip your arms off." He said, lifting up the toilet seat and climbing out.
  Bilbo was out next, then me. I pulled my hair out of my face and shook the dirty water off my hands.