Thorin rose his gaze. Had anybody said something? He shook his head. Of course not. He was alone. Alone with his thoughts. With white light and the desire pumping through his veins.
Pictures were dancing behind his closed eyes, but they were all blurred, the only image that remained as clear as the ice of the mountaintop was it. Arkenstone.
And with the picture the question came. Again and again, hammering in his brain, as if the dwarven smiths were back in the halls beneath his feet. Where is it?
He licked his lips. He should go and see how far the others had come with their search for it.
No. They should come to him. He was king under the mountain.
He went back to his throne. His eyes started wandering across the big hall around him, restless. Even his sight was blurred, just like his thoughts. What was this hall even worth without it? Arkenstone.
What was this whole mountain worth without its heart? Heart.
The word was ringing a faint bell in his mind.
Who needs a heart when he has infinite gold?
But how could he keep these riches for him? How could he possibly keep them safe...Suddenly panic bit its sharp teeth into his chest. He couldn’t. Not without the proof of his birthright. But he had to! There was only this one thing that mattered. Knowing that his treasure would be safe. It was what they had all fought for. But then there were these doubts.
What if...?
Wasn’t it possible? Wasn’t it likely?
What if one of them has taken it?
Thorin was shocked. That wasn’t only likely, going by the time it took them to bring it to him, it was simply more than mere assumption. His own men? Or was it this burglar...
Burglar, you say? Isn’t that what burglars do? Take things away from others?
He jumped up to his feet. He had to be sure.
He nearly shot down the alley towards the stairs. If he was a real burglar, he would be with the others, down in the deepest chambers of what was rightfully his.
He had a short glance at an open door and stopped abruptly. Burglar.
There he was. Sitting on a small bench and caressing something he hid in his small hands, in these cunning little fingers...Thief.
“What is that?!” He didn’t even try to sound friendly or polite. He knew Bilbo was hiding something! Bilbo winced. “What is that in your hand?”, repeated Thorin.
Bilbo looked guilty. “It...it’s nothing...” Thief! Thief!
“Show me!” He opened his fingers and showed him what he had been hiding. It was a small, green acorn. What was that supposed to mean? Bilbo cleared his throat. “I picked it up in Beorn’s garden.” He was confused. “You brought it here?” “I’ll plant it into the earth of my garden, in Bag-End.” His home...
“Come on now, Laddie! Get yourself together. It’s true you have to fight with all the courage your heart can give you, but you also need to use your brain. Try it again.” Balin smiled and let his sword swing back and forth playfully. Little Thorin’s grip around his small sword got tighter. “But it’s not fair! You are so much bigger than me! How can I win against you then?” Balin smiled again, caringly this time. “You’ll realize that the size of your enemy doesn’t matter. To defend your home, you can do great things.”
Home. Wasn’t that what Bilbo kept talking about? The pictures in his head started to regain shapes and colours. They suddenly became clearer and the edges got sharper.
The endless steps of the Erebor, far too steep for a child to climb up. The first sword he should ever shape in the flaring heat of the deep halls. His room up in the mountaintop...
“Well, it’s going to become a tree. And when I look at it, I’ll think back. I’ll remember everything that happened. The good, and the bad...and the luck of having reached home alive.
Thorin...I...”
Wise little Hobbit.
He should forgive –
-“Thorin! Survivors from Lake-Town! They’re coming to Dale, there’s hundreds of them!”
It was Dwalin.
When he looked at him, the blurs were back. What have I been thinking...?
He tried to get hold of the thoughts that were vanishing from his mind. What was it...?
Doesn’t matter. The Erebor. The Arkenstone. They’ll take it away!
“Get the others. To the gate, NOW!”
Frohe Weihnachten, VaSou :) Ich hoffe, ein paar Leuten hat es gefallen :)