"You need to know something," said Fili, taking her face in his large warm hands. "You will always have me. Even if the Valar take you away tomorrow, I will always be your brother. I want you. I'm going to fight Thorin for you, but even if I lose, y...
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In which things do not go as planned.
Thorin paced his cell, kicking the door each time he passed. Where could they be? He had no way to tell time, but still he knew that it was well past the appointed hour. Different scenarios flashed through his mind, each one serving only to wind him tighter as the minutes passed with exaggerated slowness. He had tried to sleep but was too painfully aware of his own helplessness. He hated that the fate of the company rested with an elf and a hobbit. The best he had been able to achieve was a lite doze. He hoped the others were faring better. Oh confound it all, where could they be? Had the she elf betrayed them after all, only learning their plans to better thwart them? No sooner had this thought arisen then he felt a prick of shame imagining Sara's response to it. He desperately hoped Sara was okay. He was loath to leave here without her necklace for she would be devastated at its loss, but he was also sure that if given the choice she would flee without it rather than stay. Perhaps they would be able to find her family without it. He sighed resting his head against the bars of the cell. He knew that possibility was low.
He looked up at the sound of footsteps approaching rapidly, the light growing brighter by the second. The slapping of bare feet on stone assured him of who was coming and in a matter of seconds Bilbo was before him, his round face flushed in the flickering light of the torch in his hand.
"What kept you?" accused Thorin, reaching to take the torch as Bilbo fumbled with the single key, fitting it into the lock.
"We had some difficulty administering the pills," said the hobbit, pulling the cell door wide. "We had to be careful not to get caught. After all, we couldn't very well walk up to the guards and ask them to please take these pills. But we finally managed it."
"Where is the elf?"
"She is releasing the others," said Bilbo, locking the cell behind them. "We are behind schedule so we spit up."
"What time is it?" asked Thorin as they quickly climbed back up the path.
"It's near 4:30. We shall have to move quickly if we are to make it out of here with any sort of lead. Luckily Tauriel says the river is fast-moving so when the alarm is raised we should be some number of miles down river."
"Were you able to locate Sara?" They emerged back into the hallway and Thorin placed the torch in an empty bracket, leaning carefully over the two female guards who were slumped against the wall, fast asleep.
"We found her but were unable to get past the four guards guarding her, so she has no idea of our plans. But I have the key to her cell," said Bilbo holding up a tarnished key before stuffing it back in his jacket pocket. "We are to retrieve her before we meet the others and make our way down to the cellars."
They set off down the hall, silent as shadows. Nothing stirred in the early morning hours as they slunk from one hallway to the next, passing another guard who sat with his knees propped, head lolling on his crossed arms. There was soft snoring as they slipped past another guard and came to the corner where two halls intersected. Bilbo paused for a moment, looking to the right and then the left before darting across. In a matter of minutes they stood before another group of four elves asleep at their post. The one to the right sat slumped against the wall, on the left another lay on his side curled in a fetal position, and the last two were sprawled out, almost cuddling, in front of the doorway they guarded.
