The next morning, Larson stood up and walked around his cell. He eyed the guards, trying to decipher a plan of escape. Kítra skipped into the jail. 'My cousin can't tell me what to do.' She thought determinedly. She stopped in front of Larson's cell.
"Hi." She said.

Larson turned to her and frowned, "What do you want?"

Kítra shrugged, "My cousin told me that I shouldn't visit the dungeon." She said simply.

Larson raised an eyebrow, "So you still come?"

"Yup. He isn't my boss." She tossed her head. Larson smirked and turned away, going to sit on the stone bench.

"Miss Kítra?" One of the guards interjected, "I don't think it would be wise to speak to him."

Kítra nodded, "Alright." She turned to Larson, "It must be boring in there." The guard sighed, but didn't say anything.

Larson looked at Kítra, "A little. So," he said casually, "what is your uncle planning on doing with us?"

Kítra just shrugged, "I'm not supposed to tell you that."

"Why not? It is my life we're talking about." Larson pointed out, "Besides, did anyone actually say, don't say anything? I mean wasn't it a public conversation?" He reasoned.

Kítra glared, "You think I am that dumb?"

Larson smirked, "Well..."

Kítra realized that he was trying to bait her, "Well now I see that you are stupid." She said curtly and walked off.

Larson sighed and stood up, "Wait, please..." He called after her. The guard watched him carefully.

Kítra stopped, turned around, and raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"I really wanted to know...well, because I'm..." He trailed off, "I shouldn't even be here...this is all Calium's fault."

"Let's see, you were the one who pretended to have men surrounding us? Why did you do that?"

"He wanted me to do that. Or at least something like that." Larson looked down, "I was his back up."

"Uh, sure." Kítra said skeptically.

Larson looked at her pleadingly, "I just want to know what's gonna happen to me."

"Well..." She faltered. Larson came nearer to the bars, but stopped when the guard pointed his spear towards him. Larson held up his hands in surrender and rolled his eyes.

"Please..." He watched her carefully.

Kítra's mouth tightened into a line, "No." and then she walked away. Larson huffed inwardly and sat down.

Meanwhile, Fili headed to Dain's hall along with Kili. Thorin was still resting. They wanted to see what would happen to the men. When they walked in, after bowing they came closer.

"Dain, is it okay if we observe the events of your court today?" Fili asked, obviously meaning that they wanted to see what Dain would do with the prisoners.

Dain nodded "I suppose so."

"Thank you." Fili and Kili stood to the side of Dain's throne.

A guard walked into the room and bowed, "My lord, should I bring the prisoners out? One of them, Calium, has been shouting for us to hold up our end if the 'deal'."

Dain rolled his eyes, "Bring them in."

The guard nodded and turned away. "Sir, should I bring all of them? Including...uh Larson?"

"Actually, only bring Calium in." Dain changed his mind.

The guard nodded and left. A few minutes later, the guard pushed Calium into the room and onto his knees. Calium stared up at Dain, slightly annoyed, "When are you going to let us go?"

"Twenty-four hours after we made the deal." Dain replied calmly, "I promised to pay you for any excess information and am willing to hold to that. Is there any other information you can give?"

Calium shrugged, "Not sure, what kind of information are you wanting?"

"Anything about your son, what you were doing, or anything like that." Dain said.

Calium thought for a moment, "I do have one more thing I could tell you." He offered greedily. "But for a high price."

Dain's eyebrows met, "How much?" He asked.

"Ten gold pieces." Calium answered.

Dain thought it over, "Alright." He agreed.

"Larson has a knife concealed on him that your men didn't find. It's in his boot. That's all I know, but he told me he had it." Calium said.

"Thank you. I will send some men down there." Dain said. "I will pay you when you are set free."

"Guards. Five of you go down and take the knife from Larson. Do not let him know that you know about the knife. Just take him out, grab both of his arms, and take the knife." Dain ordered.

The guard nodded.

When he came to Larson's cell, he pulled away four other guards and explained what Dain commanded. "Don't let him know, understand?" The other guards nodded and they all headed for Larson's cell.

Larson's eyes widened at the sight of the guards and he hoped up, backing away from the door. The guards didn't say anything and opened Larson's cell. "Come out, prisoner." A guard ordered.

"What it is going on?" Larson asked suspiciously.

"Dain is going to judge you today." The guard lied, realizing that if he said something wrong, Larson could turn hostile. Larson nodded slowly and walked cautiously towards the door. He noticed how many guards there were and froze. Something felt off to him.

"Get out here...now." The guard said slowly.

Larson narrowed his eyes, but didn't move, "What is going on?"

The guard sighed, "I told you. Dain is going to judge you today."

"Then why do you need five little dwarves to escort me up there?" Larson questioned.

"Because of the trouble you caused last time." The guard was beginning to get impatient.

"Fine." Larson stepped out of the cell, realizing there wasn't much he could do.

The guards immediately stepped forward and grabbed both of Larson's arms, securing him. The guard who was their spokesman bent down and checked Larson's boots for the knife Calium had said would be there. The search was successful, and the guard brought a knife out.

"Thinking of doing something with this?" He asked.

Larson tried to wrench his arms free and scowled at the guard, "Who told you I had that?" He demanded.

"No one." The guard simply said. He decided it would be best not to say that Larson's own father had betrayed him. "Search him and put him back in his cell." The guard ordered.

Larson pulled and pulled, extremely angry. "Wait, you said you would bring me to Dain!" The dwarves held him tightly and being fairly young, Larson couldn't escape. "Let me go!" He shouted.

"No." The guard said simply. The other guards shoved Larson into his cell and locked the door.

Larson fell to the floor, but stood back up quickly. "Who told you where to find that knife?!" He shouted. Gripping the iron bars, he glared at the guards, specifically the one that took his knife.

The guards all ignored him and began walking away, except for one, who turned his head as he walked and mouthed, 'Your father.'

Larson's eyes widened, 'My father?!?' He thought. He sent a confused expression towards the guard. "What is going on?" He shouted to no one in particular. The guard said no more and soon all the guards were gone.

Soon, the original guard that Dain sent to the dungeon, arrived back at the throne room. "I got the knife." He said, holding up the small blade.

Dain nodded, "Very good. You have done well."

"He was quite upset and suspicious." The guard added.

"As is to be expected." Dain replied. He turned to Calium, "Your assistance has been most welcome, and you will be rewarded."

Calium nodded, "Can me and my men go now?"

"Not yet. I have another question. Why were these men with ye?" Dain asked.

"They're my men." Calium replied casually.

"I know that. Why were they with you?" Dain's persisted.

Calium snorted, "Because we were heading home."

"So they live there too?"

"Ya, most of them." Calium nodded.

"But what were the other ones doing there? The ones that don't live there? Dain pushed.

"I don't know. I was letting them all have a vacation. I don't keep track of them all the time." Calium replied honestly.

"Alright." Dain said. "Send for Kítra." He ordered. A guard hurried to obey.

A few minutes later, the dwarf girl entered. "Yes, Uncle?" She asked.

"I would like you to go to the dungeons and ask Calium's men a few discreet questions. Such as where they are from and why they were with Calium. Do not make it so they suspect something." Dain ordered.

"Okay!" Kítra said, and left the room.

________________________________

Oooh.....I rEally want to punch Calium in his face right now! I can't believe how cruel he is! (Oh wait...I wrote him...)

Anyways...heehee...vote, comment, and follow as usual!

Thank you all!

Ithildae, Evara, and Aris
(BananaBam03 )