Returning Home: A Hobbit Fanfiction

Chapter 29 - A Surprising Connection

~~ Elena ~~

Elena huffed as she kicked the bars of her cell angrily. After the stupid Mirkwood prince had seen her locket, he'd apparently realized she was a female - something that should have been blindingly obvious considering her lack of a beard and feminine features - and left her under the charge of a red-haired elleth she'd recognized as Tauriel. 

She'd been treated marginally better than the rest of the group, but still ended up having all her weapons taken from her, and ended up locked in a cell like the rest, while Thorin was hauled off to be interrogated. Dwalin had not taken to that or their imprisonment well, and had thrown himself against the bars repeatedly until Balin finally intervened.

"Leave it! There's no way out. This is no orc dungeon; these are the halls of the Woodland Realm. No one leaves here but by the King's consent," he said wearily, taking a seat on the small cot meant to serve them as a bed. 

"Is everyone all right?" Fíli called, taking charge while Thorin was gone. "And are we all accounted for, aside from..." he hesitated, wincing. "Aside from our previously missing members? Where is everybody located?"

As it turned out, Bilbo, Thorin, Kíli, Celia, and Ori were missing, and everybody else was scattered around the  dungeon; all still a bit queasy from the spider venom, but overall none the worse for the wear. The general speculation was that Bilbo had either been taken for interrogation as well, and they'd missed him, or he'd somehow escaped the elves' notice.

"Do you have any knives left, Fíli, or were they able to find them all?" Elena whispered, grateful that her cell was across from his, if set a bit higher up. She had been placed in one of the first cells near the stairs that led to the entrance, and she wasn't sure if there was a reason for that yet or not. 

He shrugged, a brief smirk appearing on his face before he sobered again. "They got most of them. I still have one or two left, but they're small, and won't be of much use. Can't exactly use them to pick the locks, either. They won't work for that. Are you sure you're all right, though? I can't tell in this lighting, but you still looked pale, earlier."

"That could have been because I was almost eaten by a giant spider - again," she reminded him, wrinkling her nose at the thought. "And thanks for the reminder. I still feel sick, but I don't think I'm going to pass out any time soon, and I probably won't be throwing up on any guard's shoes, either, unfortunately."

There was a laugh from Dwalin's cell. "The look on the pointy-eared, tree-hugger's face when you said that! He was much less heavy-handed after that. Good on you for putting him in his place, lass."

"He should never have treated her so roughly in the first place," Glóin huffed. "For all that they don't like us, I never thought they'd stoop so low as to treat a lady like that."

"I don't think he knew I was a girl," Elena pointed out thoughtfully. "He addressed me as though I was male. Which was stupid, because I look like a girl, and I sound like a girl. I mean, seriously. What's up with that?"

"Dwarrowdams don't appear outside our kingdoms very often," Fíli offered. "It was more common before Smaug attacked, but even then they were usually disguised as males for their protection. So it's not that surprising that he was unable to recognize you as such. But if the leader was able to determine what you are, I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to pull you aside for a separate interrogation, probably along the lines of what a dwarrowdam is doing out in the open in such a small group, and undisguised at that."

Elena clenched the bars of her cell a little tighter, honestly not having expected that. "What should I say? We're visiting family? It's none of his business? Go kiss an orc?"