Bard's worldly knowledge was limited. There were no group chats in this world. Balrogs, the Mines of Moria, he'd never even heard of them. Those events were too far removed from his life, as remote to him as another world entirely.
"A Balrog?" Bard had no idea what the word even meant.
The dwarves working on the windlance beside him, on the other hand, knew the story very well. In their telling, Bella was practically a hero straight out of myth and legend. They still meant to be paid in full when payday came, of course, but with an epic feat like the slaying of a Balrog as her foundation, her standing among the dwarves was nothing to sneeze at.
The dwarves enthusiastically embellished Bella's heroic exploits.
Bard came away with a fresh appreciation of his new sovereign, but he still wasn't reassured about her dragon-slaying plans. "Even once the windlances and Black Arrows are all forged, hitting a dragon requires open terrain and a great many marksmen. In my view, dwarves do not make good archers."
A clutch of dwarves shot him glares, certain this Man was looking down on them.
Bella knew exactly what they were like. Dwarves spent every day either swinging picks in mineshafts or hammering at the forge, decades on end. It would be a miracle if their eyesight stayed sharp.
"Don't worry. I'll find sharpshooters."
Her own archery was excellent, and Bard standing beside her was a master shot himself, but two people couldn't operate a hundred windlances, and there was no need to try. Her solution was to recruit elves as the crossbowmen.
A day later, she traveled west along the Forest River on the western side of the Long Lake, heading for Mirkwood in search of the elves' Woodland Realm. In the original timeline, the river Thorin and his company had taken in their barrel-ride adventure was the Forest River itself.
Elves passed information faster than dwarves did. With the endorsements of Galadriel and Elrond, Bella had little trouble securing an audience with Thranduil, king of the Woodland Realm (the much-doted-on "Daddy Thranduil" of fandom legend), and his son, the world's most handsome prince, Legolas Greenleaf.
The good looks of this elven father and son were a clear cut above those of Elrond and Arwen. Galadriel was beautiful, certainly, but her husband, who carried the air of a hanger-on rather than a lord, looked rather forgettable. Of the three great elven powers (Rivendell, Lothlórien, and the Woodland Realm), their military strength was debatable, but for sheer beauty, the Woodland Realm took first place without contest.
Thranduil sat high upon his throne. As Bella entered the great hall, he didn't so much as lean forward.
The two sides came to a halt. Neither spoke. A calm smile rested on Bella's face as she looked at Thranduil. Nearly a minute of silence passed, the air thickening between them, before Thranduil, the host, finally deigned to speak.
"Slayer of the Balrog, Grey-robed Sage, honored Miss Mithrandir, do you have some request to make of the Woodland Realm?"
How arrogant. They hadn't said a word yet, and already he was talking of requests.
Bella swallowed her irritation, pretended she hadn't heard him, and replied in formal elven cadence. "Son of Oropher, leader of the Silvan elves, honored King Thranduil, I have come to reaffirm the alliance between the Kingdom of Erebor and the Woodland Realm."
Her voice was unhurried, neither aloof like Galadriel's nor weighty like Elrond's. Her tone carried only one thing: confidence. Confidence beyond measure.
"There is no longer a Kingdom of Erebor." Thranduil cast a single glance at Bella, then turned his head with elegant indifference toward the other side of the hall, as if even a wooden carving over there held more interest for him than she did.
Bella had ample patience and continued to lay out her purpose. "Arendelle has inherited all that belonged to the Kingdom of Erebor. Arendelle wishes to continue its alliance with the Woodland Realm, because we share a common enemy."
Thranduil looked down at her from his throne. "Inherited all that belonged to Erebor? Inherited the greed of dwarves, you mean?"
Bella didn't take the bait at all. The grudges between elves and dwarves were a mess no one could untangle. Instead she countered, "Thorin is rallying every dwarf of the line of Durin to Khazad-dûm. The Woodland Realm must be aware of this. The situation across the continent is about to shift dramatically."
Thranduil smiled contemptuously. "And what does that have to do with the Woodland Realm?"
Bella reached out and sketched a map in the air, partly to display her power and partly to explain the current situation to the elves present. Thranduil, as their leader, surely understood the strategic picture, but his son and his retainers might not.
When Zhuge Liang crossed the Yangtze, was he there to persuade Sun Quan? No, he was there to persuade Sun Quan's advisors. Bella was doing the same thing now.
"East of the Misty Mountains and the Great River Anduin lies the vast region where you have dwelt for two Ages: Mirkwood. To the southwest of the forest lies the fortress of Dol Guldur, held by orcs. Farther west is Lothlórien, ruled by Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel. With the protection of Nenya, the Ring of Water, no mortal can enter Lothlórien."
These elf-related details were already well known to everyone present. Bella deliberately glanced at Prince Legolas's expression. The handsome prince gave a small nod.
She continued. "Lothlórien is shielded by Nenya, but the dwarves of Khazad-dûm have no such ring. They will be fighting the orcs across this vast region east of the Misty Mountains, all the way down to the southwestern edge of Mirkwood."
Bella raised a finger and pointed to the northeast of Mirkwood. "Here, this is our Long Lake and the Lonely Mountain. To the west of the Lonely Mountain is the Woodland Realm, also within Mirkwood. On the journey here, I saw countless great spiders moving through the dark shadows of the trees. They are the descendants of Ungoliant. Darkness has already pushed into the borders of the Woodland Realm. Does King Thranduil still believe this war has nothing to do with the Woodland Realm?"
She spread her hands. Under the extension of her psionic power, a rough topographic map of the entire continent took shape before them.
"In the northeast, the only forces of the free peoples are Arendelle and the Woodland Realm. The spiders of Mirkwood already pin down most of your military strength, do they not? Once the orcs of Mount Gundabad and the Grey Mountains march south, what will the Woodland Realm do? Orcs of Dol Guldur to the south, orcs of Gundabad to the north. Tell me, can the Woodland Realm still stand apart from this? Or will you abandon the honor of your kind and throw in your lot with the orcs?"
"Be silent!"
"You will not insult the honor of the elves!"
Several elves who looked like elder counselors barked their indignation. Bella half-closed her eyes, as if she had heard nothing at all.
What followed unfolded naturally enough. However much they loathed one another at first sight, the Woodland Realm had no choice but to ally with Bella's Arendelle. Banding together was the only sensible play. And to keep from being caught in a three-front pincer attack from the orcs of Dol Guldur, the orcs of Gundabad, and the dragon Smaug, they would have to deal with Smaug first.