How the Mighty Have Fallen

Thorin and Puck stepped into the inn and headed toward the dining room, which was packed with loud, drunken patrons. The air was thick with the scent of roasted meat and stale ale, and the drunken chatter rose to an almost deafening roar. 

Perhaps that was exactly why Uncle Warren had chosen this place—to discuss the villain who had annihilated the Zacharia family in a setting where no one would be sober enough to care.

The room was packed with chatter and the clinking of mugs, but Warren Zacharia was impossible to miss. 

Thorin couldn't help but imagine what this scene would've looked like before the fall of the Zacharia family. Aunt Nina would have rented out the entire inn—no, scratch that—she would've bought the place outright. 

There would be no chance for unwanted guests, and certainly no chance for anyone to overhear anything.