Chapter 21

"Var, you're a damned fool," shouted Aunt Nott.

Nandi, my aunt's faithful assistant, patted her shoulder. She shook off his hand and continued to rant at my beloved. "What are you going to do, stay here in Ered Luin all by yourself, until these idiots get back? If they get back at all!"

Var held her temper admirably. "No, I'm going home. I have business concerns to attend to in Gabil inbar, and I've been away too long. When Dwalin is ready," she smiled at me, and I could have sworn Mahal's forge had never glowed brighter, "he will find me there."

I nodded and took her hand in mine. I was too choked up to speak.

Nori had found us in the small and dingy inn, and summoned us to my aunt's offices. The star-haired thief stood beside me now, twitchy and eyes darting around. It seemed that Madam Virtue had taken a shine to him, but he insisted that he and his brothers were irrevocably committed to the Quest for Erebor.

When we walked into the Guildhall offices, we discovered that Var and I weren't the only people at this meeting. Apparently, the purpose of the gathering was to give my aunt a chance to yell at all the members of the Line of Durin, jointly and severally.

Thorin stood to one side, brow furrowed, looking oddly uncertain. His sister Dis had her arms folded tightly to her chest and her lips pressed together. Her sons, Fili and Kili, stood behind her looking as eager as only young dwarves can look.

On the divan, Gloin looked determined, but beside him, his wife Fulla tapped her foot impatiently. Oin, whose ear-trumpet was stowed in his pocket so that he was unable to hear anything, sat in a comfortable chair smiling faintly at one and all.

Aunt Nott rounded on Dis. "And what have you to say for yourself, young woman? Letting your sons go off with their crazy uncle?"

Dis' cobalt eyes flashed magnificently. She was nearly as tall as her brother, and shared his dramatic coloring. She lifted her chin and planted her hands on her hips.

"My sons are the Heirs of Durin, after my brother. Now it is a hollow title, an empty phrase. If they can reclaim the kingdom our people have lost, then they will have earned the right to call themselves kings." Then she frowned down at the ground, and sighed heavily. "They are my treasure, and it is not easy to let them go."

"Bah," said Aunt Nott.

"We have a wizard—" Thorin began.

"Yes, yes, I know." Aunt Nott interrupted. She got to her feet and paced back and forth behind her desk. "But I'm worried about you all."

Thorin nodded. I could tell from his expression that he understood her concerns, but at this point, there wasn't anything new to say on the subject. He drew in a breath. "I'm leaving today for a meeting of all seven clans, and I'm in hopes that Dain will join us in the Quest. Having the Army of the Iron Hills at our side would be a great advantage."

"Good. That's good," Aunt Nott said. She sat back down.

Thorin continued. "So I will be meeting the rest of the company at the home of Gandalf's burglar, in the Shire. Dwalin, will you accompany me to the clan meeting?"

I shook my head, and put my arm around Var. "I can't. I'm escorting Var back to Gabil inbar. But I'll join you in the Shire."

Var smiled at me. We would have to make good time on our trip, I knew. But I wasn't going to leave her to journey all that way alone. It wasn't that I didn't trust Aunt Nott's guards for the caravan of goods she would be traveling with, but…at least this way, we'd have a few more days to ourselves.

"Sweet hammer of Mahal, Thorin, you can't travel all that distance by yourself," Aunt Nott said. "You have the worst sense of direction! You'll end up in Harad, for pity's sake."

"I'll accompany you, Uncle," said Fili, stepping forward.

"Me too," said Kili.

"No," said their mother, Dis. "I'm not letting either of you leave any earlier than you have to."

"Aw, mom." Fili scuffed his boot against the floor, and Kili did too.

Thorin raised his hand, cutting off further discussion. "I'm going to the clan meeting. I'm going alone, and I will meet the rest of you in Bag End on the appointed day. I will not," he glared at Aunt Nott, "get lost."

So it was arranged. Var and I traveled with a caravan heading South, taking her home to the business she had left behind when she and her father had set out to destroy Gamil's ring. Her father hadn't even made it out of Dunland, killed by Dunlendings who had probably been hired to kill them both and steal back the ring. But they'd tried to be clever, thinking to make a little extra profit on the side by selling Var instead of killing her outright.

But all that was behind us now. And the ring had been unmade, just as Var's father had wanted. Var would return to take back control of the business she and her father had run.

As we rode our ponies side by side through an open field, Var sighed. "I've been away so long. Sorting out the backlog of business is going to be a nightmare."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't you have someone minding your affairs?"

"Yes, of course we do. My father and I had planned on being out of touch for a while. But still, it's not the same."

"What will happen when I come back for you?"

She smiled at me. "We'll make our plans then." She reached out her hand to me, and I took it.

We got to Gabil inbar more quickly than I thought possible, but I couldn't stay with Var more than a night. As it was, I'd have to travel night and day to make it back to the Shire in time.

We made the best of our last night together. That morning, I forced myself to get dressed, to pack my gear, to check that I had everything I needed: Weapons, tools, food, blanket. At the door, I sighed and turned to Var.

She reached up and laid both her hands on my cheeks, smoothing down the edges of my beard with her thumbs. "I know love doesn't mean being inseparable. It just means that we still love one another, even when we're apart." Her voice was husky and there were tears in her eyes.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak at first. Clearing my throat, I said, "I love you."

"Keep this. Think of me." She held out one of her pearl hairpins.

I smiled as I took the pearl, admiring its lustrous beauty and feeling its smooth comforting roundness against my fingers. I'd often held and looked at it while I was searching for Var in Ered Luin. Then, clever girl, she'd used that hairpin to pick the locks on the manacles that held her in Lady Ran's dungeon. It wasn't just pretty to look at, but full of all sorts of hidden qualities. "It reminds me of you."

She reached up and kissed me softly. "Good. I hope it tells you never to give up. You have a reason to keep going—so that you can come back to me."

"I will."

I rode away fast as I could, knowing that she was watching me until I disappeared from view. I didn't turn around. I wouldn't have been able to see much if I had, because my vision was all blurry.

My pony, Harley, was not happy with me on that part of the trip. We traveled as far and as fast as we could, only stopping when we had to in order to conserve Harley's strength. I ate dwarven waybread, cram, in the saddle, when I ate at all. No sense in wasting time cooking.

Besides, if I remembered correctly, Gandalf had made it very clear to all of us dwarves that Hobbits were generous hosts and fantastic cooks. They were famed for their love of food and cooking, and we could count on plenty to eat once we'd arrived. By the time I reached the Shire, I was famished.

I found the burglar's house, Bag End, fairly easily. It was on a pretty little hill overlooking a typical hobbit settlement. After seeing Harley well-provided-for in a tidy stable at the local inn, I walked up the hill and knocked on the door as dusk fell.

The door opened. A disheveled hobbit in a dressing-gown and slippers goggled at me, his jaw slack in surprise.

I bowed. "Dwalin, at your service."

He pulled his jaw shut and re-tied his dressing-gown.

"Bilbo Baggins, at yours," he replied, still standing in the doorway in a vague and irresolute way. The delicious scent of fried lake-trout wafted to me from inside the house, and my mouth began to water.

We stood there, staring at one another. The rich smell of food was driving me crazy. Ravenous, I pushed into the small house. "Which way is it, laddie? Is it down here?"

"What?" the hobbit stammered.

"Dinner, of course," I said. "He said there'd be food, and lots of it."

THE END