DAVINA ⇝ Thorin Oakenshield

Chapter 24

In the dark of night, weaving between paths lit with crude torches and avoiding the eyes of elves and lakemen, Davina and Bilbo walked in silence. They approached the large tent that could only have belonged to Thranduil, as the people of Laketown clearly no longer had anything that nice since the attack on their town.

As they approached it, they were greeted with the sight of Gandalf speaking with Bard. "Is gold so important to you? Would you buy it with the blood of dwarfs?"

"It won't come to that," the bargeman insisted. "This is a fight they cannot win."

"That won't stop them!" Bilbo exclaimed as he and Davina revealed themselves.

"He's right, Bard," she agreed. "If you think the dwarfs will surrender, you're fooling yourself."

Bilbo nodded along to her words emphatically as he added, "They will fight to the death to defend their own."

"Bilbo Baggins and Davina Roswell," Gandalf greeted, genuinely glad to see them both. He ushered them into the tent where Thranduil was, and Bard followed behind them.

The elven king glared at Davina and eyed Bilbo with disdain. "If I'm not mistaken, this is the Halfling who aided Davina in stealing the keys to my dungeon from under the nose of my guards."

Davina simply smirked, while the hobbit awkwardly sucked his teeth in before saying, "Yes... Sorry about that."

"No you're not," Davina told him. 

"I'm not," he agreed without even trying to deny it further.

Thranduil's angered expression did not falter, and Gandalf tried to hide a smirk of his own. It was refreshing to see the elven king receive some of the sass and attitude he'd been giving the wizard for the past few hours. "Anyway," Davina went on, exchanging a look with Bilbo as the two stepped toward Thranduil's table. "We didn't come empty-handed."

Bilbo pulled out the Arkenstone from his pocket, setting it on the table as he unwrapped Bofur's dingy handkerchief from it. Thranduil, Bard and Gandalf all stared at the glistening stone with wide eyes. "The heart of the mountain," Thranduil breathed in shock. "The King's Jewel."

"And worth a king's ransom," Bard caught on, glancing at Bilbo. "How is this yours to give?"

"I took it as my fourteenth share of the treasure."

"And I," Davina said, pulling the starlight necklace out from where it hid beneath her tunic, "took this." She unfastened it from her neck, looking up at Thranduil, whose expression was utterly shocked. "But I do believe this is yours."

He took it from her, silent with disbelief that she had betrayed her betrothed's trust just to return these gems to him. Of course, he also knew she had done so with the hopes of Thranduil changing his mind about waging war against the dwarfs. He wasn't daft. 

"Why would you do this?" Bard asked the two of them. "You owe us no loyalty... Especially you, Davina, for you have already done more than enough for my people." He was referring to her warnings about Smaug's attack, all of the help she had offered in evacuating people and how she had distracted the dragon so his son could get to him safely.

"We're not doing it for you," she admitted.

"No, we're not," Bilbo agreed. He took a deep breath. "I know that dwarfs can be... obstinate, and pig-headed, and difficult. They're suspicious, and secretive -- with the worst manners you can possibly imagine... But they are also brave, and kind, and loyal to a fault. We've grown very fond of them; and we would save them if we can."

Davina smiled at her friend's words, as they rang nothing but true and she could not have described their beloved Company any better. She rested her hand softly between Bilbo's shoulder blades, offering him an encouraging nod before she moved forward.