DAVINA ⇝ Thorin Oakenshield

Chapter 23

In the early hours of the morning, Bilbo found his way to the quiet haven Davina had claimed for herself in a modest room within the mountain. She was already awake, of course, having not been able to sleep very much at all due to visions haunting her all throughout the night.

There was a war coming. One of great hatred and bloodshed, one that could very well steal the lives of three dwarfs Davina had come to be so very fond of. She knew the fate of Durin sons, and she knew the Valar had allowed her to foresee it because they were giving her the chance to change it. But she knew it would be no easy task, for she was only one person; and given that Thorin could not see reason anymore and would not take heed to her warnings, she couldn't talk to him about it. Nor could she gather the rest of the Company altogether to tell them of these visions, for she knew Thorin would believe them to be conspiring against him.

Davina knew what she had to do... but she had to break Thorin's trust and betray him in order to see it through.

"Are you well rested?" The hobbit asked tentatively, having found Davina curled up on a dusty armchair in front of a long-since extinguished fire.

She snorted in response. "I think you already know the answer to that, Bilbo."

He simply nodded and furthered his way into the room, holding out a steaming bowl of that chowder Bombur had made for everyone. "I brought you some food."

"Thank you." Davina accepted the bowl, though she knew she probably could not stomach very much of it because of her anxiety. She set it aside and leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees as Bilbo sat in the armchair across from her. "Bilbo, we cannot wait any longer to do something," she told her closest friend quietly.

"What -- you mean... about Thorin?"

She shut her eyes briefly, willing away tears as she thought of her beloved who had fallen into the dragon-sickness. "I fear there may not be much we can do for him, after all... Only Thorin can pull his mind out of the darkness that had seized hold of him," she confessed. "But there are other matters we need to attend to; if we don't, members of this Company and thousands of others will die."

Bilbo's eyes widened upon this revelation, and he listened with rapt attention as Davina confided in him the horrible visions she had been haunted with all night. She told him of Thranduil waging war against the Company because of the jewels in the mountain, of Bard siding with him out of desperation for his people. She told him of the vast army of orcs and goblins alike coming to claim the mountain for themselves, and all of the bloodshed that would occur because of it; and, with tears streaming down her face, even confessed to having foreseen the deaths of Thorin, Fili and Kili.

By the time she was finished, the halfling was horrified and shaken to the very core of his being. "What do we do?" He asked, his voice shaking with fear.

Davina swiped the tears away from her cheeks as her expression became determined. "We save them," she said confidently. 

"But -- but how --?"

"You already have one of the two things we need," Davina informed him in hushed tones. Bilbo said nothing to that, knowing she was obviously speaking of the Arkenstone.  "I'm going to take the necklace Thranduil is after; Thorin offered it to me just yesterday, so perhaps he won't think much of it if he sees me picking it up." She paused, worrying her lip between her teeth. "Sometime tonight, Bilbo, we must slip away and go down to Dale to speak with Thranduil and Bard. With the necklace and the Arkenstone, we may wager for peace. I will inform them about the army coming, and request their aid in defending Erebor... and let's hope beyond all hope they will agree."

Bilbo nodded. "And then how are we going to save Thorin, Fili and Kili?"

"One step at a time, Bilbo... but you leave that to me."