The Sisters [A Hobbit Fanfiction]

Chapter 34

Sarabelle was in a jam. Literally. Bilbo had miscounted and they discovered that they were one barrel short.

So it was that she found herself jammed in with the smallest dwarf… Kili…

“Sorry about this…” she laughed nervously, trying to compact herself to one side to give him as much room as possible. Kili smiled awkwardly,

“It’s not your fault, no need to apologize…”

“Everybody ready!?” called out Bilbo. The dwarves all returned with “Yes”s and “Indeed”s and one “Onward to Glory!”.

“Um… I’m just going to apologize ahead of time if I elbow you in the face,” Sarabelle tentatively said. Kili nodded,

“And I to you, my lady.”

“Not my lady,” said Sarabelle with a genuine laugh. “Just Sarabelle. I’m a hobbit, not a princess.”

Kili seemed about to reply, but was interrupted by Bilbo’s voice.

“Three! Two! One!” With that the floor dropped out from underneath them and the barrel encased dwarves all fell with a splash. Bilbo, grabbing the last bucket, managed to jump in after, somehow dragging himself inside it to bob in the rushing, underground river.

Sarabelle spluttered, managing to wipe the water out of her eyes only to see Kili, soaked, with hair plastered all over his face. She couldn’t help it. She giggled.

Kili looked at her in confusion and she pointed. After feeling his own face for a moment, Kili realized what was wrong and joined her in her merriment as he scraped the wet hair from his cheeks.

“Is everyone alright?” Thorin’s voice echoed back to them. Again, the dwarves and Bilbo all responded positively and they fell silent, waiting for some sign that they were close to freedom.

*    *    *

Nienna and Nora, barely dodging several intoxicated couple, guards and servants made their way to the nearest exit and slipped out of the palace.

“You do know where we are going, right?” asked Nienna worriedly. Nora scoffed.

“Of course I do! I am the Great Xanadu Wizard after all!” With that, to Nienna’s horror, Nora ran to the end of the hallway and leapt out the window. Judging by Nienna’s mental map, they were still a good distance from the ground -- enough for Nora to be seriously injured.

Running to the window, she looked out to see her friend, waving at her from a rooftop extending from the palace wall only eight feet down.

“What the heck Nora, don’t do that to me! I thought you’d died!” Nora laughed at Nienna’s concern,

“Nope still alive! Now come on!”

Grumbling, Nienna hoisted up her dress and jumped down to join her friend.

“Where are we?” she asked, looking around.

“Currently we are directly above the stables,” responded Nora, leading the way across the roof. Nienna glanced down at the building they were on.

“Did Aelith and Avice make it out?”

“Yup! They’re in the town square with Silvia right now. They sent me back because you were taking too long and they got worried.”

“Any word from Runa?”

“Nope,” frowned Nora, shrugging helplessly. “I haven’t seen her at any rate. She might’ve caught up with Aelith and Avice by now though-”