Chapter Text
"So how old's your sister?"
"16."
Tilda's mouth fell open. "Mine's 16 too! That's so funny!"
The girls sat hip-to-hip on the dock, their legs hanging through the railing and dangling over the water. The sun was long gone. Mariam had found them a clean woolen blanket that was now draped over both of their shoulders. The dock on the back of the laundry house was all their own, but the door outside was propped open, letting out the warm air and the racket of party-goers within. The lowest beam of the railing was at chin level, so Kamal rested her arms on the wood and leaned forwards. Tilda picked a splinter out a plank and threw it into the lake. "Any brothers?"
"Nope."
Tilda sighed forlornly. "You're lucky, brothers are awful."
Kamal hummed. "I don't know... Pranani is kind of annoying somethings. I mean I love her, but she fights with my parents a lot."
Tilda's eyes widened. "Really? And they don't punish her?"
"No, they do. She just doesn't listen."
The light on the water changed. The moon had appeared from behind the clouds, silver and round like a coin. "Moon's full." Tilda commented. "There're going to be a lot of fish tonight."
Kamal glanced at her. "Isn't you dad a fisherman?" Tilda nodded but didn't reply. Kamal drew the tip of her tongue between her teeth and lightly nibbled as she thought. "Maybe he'd catch a bunch if he went out now."
"He could," Tilda muttered, pulling the blanket tighter around her. "But the Master doesn't let people fish at night."
"Why not?"
Tilda shrugged. "I dunno. He just says so."
The Master sounded like the worst. Kamal hadn't heard a single kind word about him. How can someone no one likes be in charge? She wondered. "What about your mom? Does she fish?"
Tilda leaned forward like Kamal, resting her chin to her forearms. "She died," She mumbled flatly. Kamal deflated. "Oh. I'm sorry."
"It's ok," Tilda muttered, kicking her feet.
"So... um..." Kamal puttered around for something to distract from the dark turn the conversation took. "Do you... uh... do you go to school?"
Tilda looked at her. "We don't have a school. Sometimes Ms. Aoife teaches us letters, but only when she's not working. Da works too much. Sigrid and Bain know letters AND numbers because Mama taught them, but they never have time for me."
"So you can't read?" Kamal asked, regretting it as soon as she said it. Tilda's mouth twitched with annoyance. "I can read; I'm not stupid." She said defensively. Kamal drew back. "No, no that's not what I meant!" She put a hand on her chest. "I can't really read either."
"You can't?"
"Not Westron. It's new for me."
Tilda frowned quizzically. "New?"
"Yeah, I had to learn it when I... moved here."
Tilda's shield dropped. "You do kind of have an accent. So you moved here with your family?" She grinned. "Maybe our sisters could meet!"
"No I'm with my..." My what? Kidnappers? Protectors? "... Uncles."
"I've never met someone with dwarf uncles." Tilda laughed. "You're very interesting."
Kamal's face grew red hot. Her tongue knotted up. She could only smile, dumbly burying her face into her arms until the blush died down.
The moon rose higher and higher. No one came out to bother them. As Tilda rattled on, Kamal's eyes drifted over to the dark edge of the lake's shore. What lay beyond the black veil of night made her squirm with unease. Until Beorn returned and Sverne was dead, she was stuck in this town with Darestrum and Hasdran. They couldn't cross back to the Iron Hills without endangering themselves, nor could they call for help without the risk of the rescue party falling victim to the monster. She wondered worriedly if she'd ever see Clasa again. She missed her so much it hurt. And Hasdran. Hasdran was alive. She was so sure that he was dead because of her. That's what had driven her to change course in the first place. And even now, even though it was a miracle he'd survived, she could sense he wasn’t telling her something. Her mind kept flashing back to the image of his legs under the blanket.
Kamal stared out at the lake with vacant eyes. She felt drained. Weariness had settled in her bone-deep, a kind of tired she didn't think she could sleep off.
"Are you okay?"
She roused at the sound of Tilda's voice. "I'm fine." She answered. Tilda frowned. "You look sad."
Kamal scrubbed at her face. She was surprised to come away with tears on her arm. "I’m not sad. It’s... nothing. It’s nothing."
Tilda drew her hands into her lap. Kamal was concerned that she may have hurt her feelings by not listening. She liked Tilda, truly, but her mind was all over the place. Luckily Tilda didn’t sound upset when she spoke. “We don’t have to stay out here if you’re sleepy.” "I'm not tired," Kamal said. "It's nice out here."
Tilda nodded. "I like watching the lake at night when it's quiet." She looked out through the dark. "Do you see that peak over there?"
Kamal narrowed her eyes. In the light of the full moon, she could just make out the craggy incline of a mountain. "I see it."
"That's the Lonely Mountain. Da says that's were the dwarves used to live." She pointed at it, then moved her finger down the slope. "I don't know if you can see, but that's Dale."
Kamal leaned forward, poking her nose between the railing. Dale looked like nothing but a pile of indiscernible rubble at the base of the mountain. "My family used to live there before Mama and Da were born." Tilda spoke softly. "They say when the dwarves were still here, Dale was rich and beautiful. Even Lake-town was rich." Her gaze returned to the dark peak. "Then a dragon came and burned it all down."
A fire drake, Kamal remembered. It felt like it had been ages since she'd spoken to the strange black-haired dwarf, Thorin. He had called it something else, not the Lonely Mountain, but wasn't his home taken by a dragon? She tried to recall if he had mentioned a city called Dale, but it had been so long ago. Only little pieces of memory floated through; 'My home is very far away... and I too cannot return. Not yet.'
"But one day the dragon will leave," Tilda said, the moonlight casting a pale glow in her eyes. "We'll go back and be part of the land again. And I'll have a proper teacher, and no one will be hungry." Her chest rose as her heart swelled. "I'm not going to stuck here forever. I won't."
✶
Tilda eventually fell asleep on Kamal's shoulder. Kamal had to gently ease her head onto the planks of the dock before going inside to fetch her father. Bard was chatting with Darestrum and Hasdran, taking slow sips from a drink in his hand. The raucous dancing had ended hours ago, and now the party was divided into small groups either gossiping or drunkenly napping in their seats or on the stairs. Kamal padded up to the man and tapped his shoulder. "Hi." She greeted awkwardly as he looked down at her. "Tilda's asleep."
Bard smiled. "It's long past her bedtime." Then he reached out and ruffled Kamal's hair. The dwarves chuckled. "And yours, I figure." Bard teased. "I'll get her."
He retrieved his youngest, bundling her in the blanket and carrying her in his arms. He called for his other children; Bain, a young man just entering his teenage years, and Sigrid, Tilda's very pretty older sister. Once he'd collected his brood, Bard bid the dwarves and their ward goodnight and headed home. Kamal watched a few strands of Tilda's wavy hair bob as her father carried her away. Her face was relaxed and peaceful. For a moment, Kamal felt an ugly feeling of envy stir in her gut. She wanted to be in her own father's arms, to be able to go home with her family, to her own house.
But that wasn't her reality anymore. She was here, still a stranger in a strange land, with two people not even the same species as her, waiting with bated breath to see if the one who hunted her for sport would be caught.
✶
Kamal had never been more uncomfortable. She lay in a cot within a large dormitory with several other women. She hadn't been able to get a wink of sleep.
Corac was snuggled into a makeshift nest made from an extra shirt on the floor next to her. Kamal rolled onto her stomach. She reached down with two fingers and nudged him with her knuckles. "Corac?" She whispered. The raven grumbled in the back of their throat and peeked at her. "Can I talk to you?" She asked. Before the bird could answer, someone in the room shifted in their sleep, groaning. Kamal sealed her lips shut. She rolled out of bed and, to Corac's dismay, snatched up his bedding with him in it and snuck outside. She crouched in the hallway, making sure the door was closed so she wouldn't wake anyone. She put Corac and his nest down on the floor in front of her. The raven watched her with critical black eyes.
"Can you talk to me too, or only Beorn?"
"Talk to any." He croaked. She was a little taken aback but his eerily human voice, but she pressed on. "You didn't find me by accident, did you?"
Corac shook his head, pausing to scratch under his wing. "Sent." He answered sharply.
Kamal's heart started to thump hard against her chest. "Who sent you?"
Corac vocalized, garbling nonsense at first, then twisted the sound into Westron. "Can't. Say." He shuffled then spoke again. "Too early."
"Too early for what?" Kamal's voice barely registered over a whisper.
"Thrush-knock."
"What?"
Corac knocked his beak on the floor as if that would explain it. "Thrush-knock. Last light."
Kamal slumped. “I don't understand." She sighed. "Maybe Beorn can tell me what you mean when he gets back.”
Corac chuffed. "Bed?"
Kamal smiled sleepily, trying to mask her disappointment. "Sure. Sorry I woke you up."
"You. Sleep?"
"I don't know if I can."
Corac paused. Kamal's eyes softened as she looked at him. She felt like she'd barely seen him since Mirkwood. He'd spent most of his time sitting on or in the backpack, riding along with one of the elves. He'd saved her from Sverne, and like Hasdran, had paid for it. Kamal put her hand out towards him. Corac clicked his beak curiously, then relaxed as she began to pet his neck. "I love you buddy." The girl whispered. "I shouldn't call you a jerk. You're a good bird."
The raven tilted his head. Then he moved out of her caress, hopping onto her lap. His claws were still a little sharp. He butted her chest with the top of his head. Kamal giggled soundlessly, returning to her petting. The raven warbled, and it almost sounded like a purr. "Care."