"So you love her," Deirdre states more than asks, gesturing to the statue. "Mara."
"I do," Erandur breathes, his hand clenching to keep from reaching for his amulet. "I love her. Finding Mara was the greatest moment of my life. I'll never forget the warmth that spread through my heart when we embraced."
"Does that love leave room for anyone else?" she asks and he hears the slightest hesitation in her voice despite her feigned nonchalant tone. This woman who wielded a greatsword with the fury of a warrior queen, who never faltered in the face of danger, who left questions better left unsaid in the heat of battle, is nervous. He has to strain to hear her unease but he hears it all the same. He finds himself stumbling for words eloquent enough to answer her.
"Love," he begins, and he knows he will fail to find the words he so desperately wants to use. He watches he trace the statute with her hand. "Is infinite." She smiles wryly, looking up at Mara's weeping visage.
"Plenty to go around, eh?"
"Plenty," he whispers. "More than enough."
"And acolytes of Mara," she continues with that same practiced feigned tone. "Are they allowed to give that love freely?"
"If the goddess wills it," he says past cracked and dry lips.
"Does she?" Her voice is barely more than a whisper and he isn't sure if he heard it at all. Her eyes widen just a fraction as though she hadn't meant those words to spill out. Erandur closes his eyes and tries to hear the goddess in her voice.
"I am betrothed to Mara," he says and, for the first time since he had begun saying those words, they are painful to force out. "Until she wills otherwise. My heart is hers alone." Deirdre nods, her hand slipping down from the statue before finally pulling away. He watches her every move like a hawk and his heart hammers in his head.
"All right," she says. "Let's head to Iverstead."
So I started Skyrim and I was like "What what what am I doing?" because I have work and other stories and college starts in a few weeks and ASDFGHJKL:. I'm gonna be straight with you guys: I fell in love with Erandur. Hard. And I kind of wanted to throw this out there to see if anyone is interested in a longer fic with these two. The last game I played was Oblivion, on the PC at a friend's house and I never finished it. I'm getting back into Elder Scrolls.
So let me know! And no worries, this won't effect my Fallout stories.