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“I won’t say he acted as wisely as he could have, but that was not a reason to demote him,” the countess kept on complaining. Honestly, if her nephew was half as annoying as she was, Bilbo was surprised Dwalin hadn’t just had him sent somewhere dangerous in order to be rid of him. “Wouldn’t you agree, miss Baggins?”
“My opinion on this matter cannot be of any consequence, milady,” Bilbo replied. She threw a longing look at the book and the cup of tea she had been enjoying before the countess and her sister-in-law invaded her secluded spot and sat on her bench. All she had wanted was enjoying some reading in the sun, was that too much to ask?
“But it can!” the sister-in-law triumphantly intervened. “We all know how fond of… your opinions His Majesty is.”
Ah, so that was what they were after. She had suspected it, of course, but she had hoped it wouldn’t be the case. These requests made her extremely uncomfortable.
“His Majesty only deigns hearing my thoughts on some matters from time to time,” she replied. It wasn’t entirely a lie. While Thorin was more than happy to hear her speak her mind, she was also the most stubborn woman Bilbo had ever known. “But certainly not when it comes to these matters, and even less if it would contradict her cousin’s decision.”
“So you do agree with us on this matter, Miss Baggins” the countess said, leaning towards her like a beast that smelled blood in the air. Oh, damn it. Bilbo wondered how the hell she was going to get away from this without turning them into her enemies.
“Well, milady, that is…”
“Miss Baggins,” said Thorin’s voice. “A word, if you please”.
She immediately rose to her feet, but the other women beat her to it, obsequiously saluting the Queen. Thorin nodded at their curtsies with barely suppressed impatience, so Bilbo grabbed her abandoned book and lost no time getting at her side. Not that she preferred the company of the countess and her sister-in-law to that of the Queen -this was only going to feed the rumours about their relationship, but she was definitely grateful for the rescue.
“Thank you for getting me out of there,” she whispered while Thorin led her towards the gardens.
“I came looking for you for entirely selfish reasons,” the Queen admitted. “But I am glad to have been of use; you looked rather cornered. What did they want?”
Bilbo blushed. She didn’t like it when other people implied she had any kind of influence on the monarch, and even less to acknowledge that she might. Still, Thorin had asked, and she wouldn’t lie about it.
“They asked me to convince you to prevent the countess’ nephew from being demoted. It seem like Dwalin considered him unfit for the office he previously held.”
“If Dwalin found him unfit, then so he is,” Thorin declared in a final tone.
“Yes, I know! I told them you only listen to my advice from time to time, and that you would never interfere with your cousin’s decisions when it came to military discipline.” Bilbo sighed. “I must be the worst favourite a monarch has ever had; I am thoroughly unsuitable when it comes to the trading of favours and influence, and I have no interest in learning. Besides, if they wanted something from Dwalin they should have gone to Nori, in any case.”
That made Thorin laugh.
“Nori would have bitten their heads off, and she is way too intelligent to abuse her position as Dwalin’s mistress. She has him wrapped around her little finger, but she never uses that power to affect his work.”
“I wouldn’t… I mean…” She pressed the book she was carrying against the front of her stays and threw the other woman a sidelong glance, embarrassed. “Surely you don’t think that I…?”
Thorin took her arm, shaking her head.
“I didn’t mean to imply you tried to influence me, my dear, fear not. I believe you when you say you aren’t interested in swaying me in order to trade favours.” She smiled. “Although you are not afraid of letting me know when some of my decisions displease you, that’s for sure.”
“Yes, well. You do need someone to tell you when you are wrong, Your Majesty.” Calmer now that she had been reassured, Bilbo returned the smile. The other woman snorted.
“As if Balin, Dís and my nephews weren’t enough.” That seemed to make her think of something else; she looked at her with interest. “Is it true what I hear? Is Kíli about to become a father?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. She had known Thorin would ask; the Queen had accepted Gandalf’s imposition to make her Tauriel’s maid of honour with the intention of using her as a spy, as much as because the old man could be a pain in the ass when contradicted. Fortunately, the newly married French princess was kind enough to act as if she wasn’t aware of it. “Tauriel isn’t sure, either.”
“Hum.” The Queen didn’t seem particularly surprised. “I told Dís it was too soon. I wouldn’t be surprised, considering the intent Kíli seems to be putting on it, but...”
“He is enthusiastic about his bride,” Bilbo diplomatically agreed. Thorin, never particularly keen on diplomacy, merely snorted again.
“He is a fool, as any man of seventeen married to beautiful girl he deems exotic.” The Queen looked at Bilbo and her face seemed to soften. She raised a hand to caress the other woman’s face, and the maid felt herself blush. “Then again, a beautiful girl can make anyone lose their mind, can’t she?”
Bilbo licked her lips, feeling her throat suddenly dry. The way Thorin was looking at her never failed to make her heart beat faster.
“You said you had come looking for me for entirely selfish reasons.”
“I had.” Morosely, as if she didn’t want to, Thorin cast her eyes apart from Bilbo’s face and looked around. There were only a couple of gardeners to be seen, apparently minding the bushes, but it still seemed to be too much public for her liking; she took Bilbo’s hand and led her towards a maze. “Come with me. I want you all for myself.”
“Goodness,” Bilbo said, slightly out of breath. She had often thought about how nothing in her previous life as the unmarried daughter of a minor noble had prepared her for her role as a Queen’s lover, but she was even less prepared for Thorin’s intensity.
She followed the other woman for several turns, util they were made invisible by the maze. When she was satisfied, the Queen put her hands on Bilbo’s waist and pushed her against one of the bush walls.
“There,” she mumbled; one of her hands rose to take the maid’s chin and tilted her face upwards, close enough to her that she could feel Thorin’s breath on her lips. “Now I can kiss you properly.”
Bilbo let the book fall from her hands.
The first time she had met Thorin she had found her quite fearsome. The Queen was a tall woman, and she knew how to dress herself to look even more impressive than she already was; her air of command was unmistakable, and her blue eyes could be icy when they saw something she didn’t like. It was quite clear, at the beginning, that she didn’t particularly like Bilbo -and even less the imposition of having her in her court.
Well, it wasn’t like she had chosen to leave Baggin’s End; she just couldn’t inherit it because of her gender, and with the Sackville-Baggins occupying the house after the death of her father it was clear that she would have to go somewhere else. She had wished Gandalf would find some place humbler than a court, with a mistress who didn’t seem so cold and remote, but she didn’t have a choice on the matter.
Little she knew that some months later she would be where she was -pressed against a bush wall by the Queen herself, kissing her like she could never get enough.
One of Thorin’s thumbs caressed her neck, making her shiver; she groaned into the monarch’s mouth when the digit descended towards her cleavage, setting aside her neckerchief and drawing lines over her breast. Oh, how she longed to feel that finger caressing her nipple, digging into her breast, ripping the damn kerchief off. How she wanted to be taken in the middle of the garden, marked by Thorin’s teeth; desire burned within her, hot and consuming, making her insides twist and warmth pool between her legs.
But it was one thing to be known as the Queen’s favourite, and another to flaunt it.
“You will make me look unkempt,” Bilbo complained. She didn’t sound very convincing, but it might be because she was rather out of breath.
“You, unkempt? Never,” Thorin declared with a smirk. Her lips covered Bilbo’s neck in kisses, and then they closed around her lobe to make the maid moan. She took a step back with a sigh and looked at her with dark, openly hungry eyes. “Goodness, I should have taken you to my rooms. I hoped to be satisfied with some kisses and caresses, but I can never get enough of you.”
“There isn’t much more than we can do here,” Bilbo mumbled; she run her hands up the Queen’s back, frustrated by the lack of skin to caress. “Damn these dresses. When it comes to feeling someone’s touch, clothes are most cumbersome.”
“They are, aren’t they?” Thorin shook her head, pinching the silky fabric of Bilbo’s skirt. “Particularly so the clothes befitting a woman of your station. Let us say that I wanted to touch that delicious, plump arse of yours -I would have to do so through your underskirt, your bum pad and two petticoats. It simply won’t do.”
“Oh, so you went attacking my breasts, but it was actually my ass you coveted.”
“I want both, obviously. I want all of you.” Thorin had a way of saying that kind of things, like it was nothing. Like her hand on Bilbo’s neck, her finger playing with her curls weren’t making her squirm with want. Like her eyes weren’t enough to get her consumed by lust, to draw heat to her folds. “It’s only that your breasts are barely covered by a thin neckerchief and protrude over your stays, which makes them look exhibited, so to speak. And yet, that thin, light veil prevents me from touching them. It’s so unfair, really.”
“It moves me to tears,” Bilbo said. It sort of did, though -for her own sake, as much as Thorin’s.
“Do not try to act aloof, darling. We both know you want it as badly as I do.” She took a step back with a resolute air her lover knew very well. Her Majesty had made up her mind. “Get your skirts up. I am going to do something that won’t ruin your looks.” She smirked in a way that made Bilbo’s heart beat faster. “Well, perhaps you will look a bit flushed and sweaty, and I cannot promise you won’t get some bush’s leaves in your hair, but no one will be able to complain about your clothes, that’s for sure.”
“God gracious, Thorin, what do you intend to do?” the maid asked, wide eyed. “Surely you are not going to get on your knees and…”
“No, not that. I am very tempted, but I cannot truly kneel in the mud, can I?” She grabbed Bilbo’s skirt and lifted it up. “Come on, gather them around your hips. Let me see your lovely thighs.”
“You are crazy,” the other woman mumbled, but she obeyed. There was no way of saying no to Thorin when she was like that -not because she was the Queen, but because she was simply her.
“That is indeed true. As stated, your pretty face makes me lose my mind.” Thorin’s hand caressed her bared thighs before playing with Bilbo’s suspenders and following the fabric up her lover’s leg. If the maid could have blushed any more she would have; the other woman’s gaze was so heated it made her feel positively sinful, and the breeze against her parts was doing nothing to diminish the feeling, nor the want. “But then, who wouldn’t? There’s worse cause when it comes to lose reason, after all.”
She was not that beautiful, no matter what her lover said; she had mirrors and a sensible brain that informed her the Queen was just very biased when it came to her favourite’s appearance. But when Thorin looked at her with such want; when she put her lips on her mouth like she was doing now, as if she tried to devour her; when she caressed Bilbo’s entrance and that spot that made her squirm… she could almost believe it.
“My love,” Thorin muttered, breathing heavily as she played with her folds and spread the moisture she found there. Soon the movements of her hand became firmer, more focused on pleasuring her. “My sweet, sweet Bilbo.”
This was worth everything -the gossip, the envies, living in the Court. Bilbo would endure all of it as long as it meant to be taken, to be loved by Thorin -passionate, intense, zealous Thorin, who liked to appear as aloof to all who weren’t close to her. Never, in her entire life, had she imagined she would become the recipient of such devotion and unrestrained affection, and she couldn’t help but consider it was worth everything.
“My dearest Queen,” she gasped. “The one who rules my heart.” She groaned; her eyes shut close, very much against her will. She would rather see the face of her lover, but the pleasure was too intense. “I am going to… you’ll make me…”
“Climax, Bilbo,” Thorin gently urged. “Let me see the pleasure I bring to you.”
She did, of course she did. How could he not?
Afterwards, when her thighs had stopped trembling and her breath was back to normal, she opened her eyes and saw Thorin was smiling, looking at her own fingers.
“My very proper lady, won’t you have another kerchief I could borrow? I would be most gratef-“ Before she could keep on talking, Bilbo took her wrist and took her fingers in her mouth, cleaning them for good. “Ah. That will certainly do. Thank you kindly, Miss Baggins.”
“My pleasure, Your Majesty,” the maid answered with a little impish smile. “I could not let you walk out of here looking even slightly improper, could I? People would talk.”
“Mmmm.” Thorin bent down and kissed her slowly, lovingly, in unharried way that never failed to melt Bilbo’s heart. “Let them talk. Any of them would wish to have the favour of the Queen.”