21st of First Seed, 4E 179 9:48PM
Renbi Vedril tried desperately to hold the tarp over his head while still holding onto the reigns of the horse. The dark elf had been in the Imperial city nearly all day trying to trade his produce, along with some other miscellaneous wears he had accumulated. His horse was pulling the covered carriage, which carried far more leftovers than he cared to have. The rain was becoming worse and Bruma was still a good while away. Thunder boomed off in the distance but Renbi could tell it was getting closer, and fast. His only hope is that the worst would pass over quickly. He whipped the reigns to try to get the horse to go faster, but with the soaked path the horse was as clueless where to go as he was. Eventually they ran into a part of the path that was completely flooded and they were forced to stop. Renbi jumped out of his seat and tied his horse to a nearby tree before headed towards the covered part of the carriage. A loud, echoing thunder suddenly stuck not too far from where Renbi was in the forest. He looked over in the direction of the crash but continued to climb into the carriage. That was until he heard a different and strange noise coming from the direction of the crash. At first he wrote it off as an animal, but it sounded too high-pitched for anything he knew. Renbi started walking towards the sound as the rain miraculously started to die down.
The closer he got to the source of the noise, the louder and clearer it became. As soon as he realized it was the sound of a baby crying, his walk turned into a run. Renbi arrived at the base of a large tree split by the thunder. At the foot of the tree lay something wrapped in a green blanket with gold and white trim around the edges and an embroidered rose in the middle. Renbi slowly kneeled down and pulled back one of the corners to see a newborn human girl with a small amount of black hair on her head. He looked around franticly for any sign of her parents.
"Hello?" He called out. The rain was quiet enough for his voice to carry far into the forest.
Renbi's call was met with silence. He looked back down at the child. She was still screaming as he picked her up and started walking back towards his carriage. He figured it would be best to get her to safety now and look for her parents later. Once he made it there, he crawled into the back with her and placed her in his lap. Renbi took a long look at the child and determined that she was most likely an Imperial. Her crying had silenced some as she looked at the dunmer before her. He smiled down at her as she slipped back into crying.
"Shhhh child." He said, holding her close to him, "You're safe now. I won't let anything happen to you."
28th of First Seed, 4E 201 3:02 PM
The old Breton sat at her desk and awaited Frelvias arrival. She hated interrupting her break times, but she felt Frelvia would forgive her in this instance. However, Lelice had called for her nearly 30 minutes ago and yet she had heard nothing. It was not unlike Frelvia to get distracted and lose track of what she was doing, however it was out of character for her to miss a call from her head teacher.
Lelice sighed and stood up from her desk. "I swear that girl…" She said as she walked towards the door. Lelice quickly opened her door only to find that Frelvia was rushing in from the other side. She ran into Lelice pushing her back onto the floor.
"Lady Lelice I am so sorry!" Frelvia said, leaning down to help her up.
Lelice took her hand and used her desk for support. "Where have you been?"
"I'm sorry! I received your call but…" She stopped and bit her bottom lip.
"Frelvia…" Lelice said, now standing and looking straight into the Imperals eyes.
Frelvia let out an exasperated sigh. "Susling looked like she needed help, you know how Nords are with learning magic! I just gave her some advice-"
"We have talked about this, you are not yet qualified to teach the apprentices Frelvia!"
"Susling's more talented than just 'apprentice', she has real potential! I mean she pushed to come here instead of the College of Winterhold, that has to mean something!" Frelvia said as she took a seat on the far side of the desk.
Lelice sat behind her desk. "Her potential was and is determined by the Arch-Mage, not you." She pulled her chair closer to her desk. "Speaking of that, there's a reason I didn't want you to be late. "
Lelice was cut off by a knock at the door. Frelvia turned to face it only to see the Arch-Mage himself walking in. Lelice and her immediately stood from their seats.
"Arch-Mage Lylldur!" Frelvia exclaimed, "I had no idea-"
"Lady Afreve," The High-elf said, gesturing towards Lelice. He turned to Frelvia, "Vedril."
Frelvia nodded towards him and sat back down.
"It's always a pleasure." Lelice said as she did the same.
"The same to you." He said, seating himself in the chair across from Frelvia. "How are your studies, Frelvia?"
"They're going well; I'm currently focusing on alchemy. That's always been a weak point for me so I wanted to work on it in the University before-" Frelvia said hastily before being interrupted by Lylldur.
"Before what, exactly?" He asked.
"Well, before…" Fralvia nervously looked over at Lelice who gave her a quizzical look. "Before nothing, I suppose."
"Indeed…" Lylldur said, pulling a paper out from his robes. A silence filled the room as he handed the papers to Lelice.
"Not to seem…ungrateful but why exactly am I here?" Frelvia asked, breaking the silence.
"We have a proposition you may be interested in." Lylldur said as Lelice skimmed over the papers.
"What's that?"
Lelice looked up from her papers. "The Arcane University would like to establish better connections with the College of Winterhold in Skyrim. We have some papers and a shared-information contract that need to be delivered and we want to send someone from the University."
Frelvia nodded and looked at Lelice. "So…"
"Lady Afreve tells me that you would be the best fit for our representative." Lylldur said, still looking at Lelice.
"Me?" Frelvia said, sounding confused yet excited, "You want me to go to Skyrim?"
"You will go to the college, nothing more." Lylldur said, turning to Frelvia and giving her a harsh look. "I would go myself, however I've received word that the Dominion is already planning to send someone to the college for them."
"And I have too many students to tend to." Lelice handed the papers she was holding to Frelvia, who took them quickly and started flipping through them. "You will have 2 months, plenty of time to establish a friendly relationship and come back."
Frelvia was in shock. "I…I don't know what to…"
"Simply go to the college, speak with the Arch-Mage and deliver the papers. Stay for a short while to ensure that they understand the terms of the agreement and come back with a full report." Lylldur said, standing from his seat. "There is a carriage coming to pick you up tomorrow morning that will take you straight to the college. Pack light, you won't be gone long." He said coldly.
Frelvia stood and started walking to the door, "Arch-Mage thank you for-"
"Just, do as you are instructed." He interrupted.
Frelvia nodded excitedly and opened the door. She ran out into the hall, slamming it behind her.
Lylldur turned back to Lelice. "Are you positive this is the right course of action?" He asked her.
Lelice sighed and looked at him. "Trust me, I believe Frelvia is more than meets the eye."
Back in her chambers, Frelvia was franticly collecting her things and throwing them in her knapsack. She grabbed a few history and guide books off her shelf, as well as potions she had been saving for an occasion such as this one. Her focus was broken by a knock in her open doorway. Frelvia quickly turned around.
"Lady Lelice!" She exclaimed as Lelice closed the door.
Lelice smiled and walked closer to Frelvia. "The door is closed dear, drop the formalities."
Frelvia smiled and ran over to hug her teacher. Lelice was startled, Frelvia was a great deal younger than her but was much taller and…excitable.
Lelice backed away from her, Frelvia did the same and went back to packing. "I'm sorry if I seemed short with you earlier, you know how tight things have been recently." Lelice walked in more and sat on Frelvia bed. "I knew the guild before the Dominion took it. I was only a student but things were…better."
Frelvia was leaning into her dresser digging out her clothes. "Right but," She started, clearly not listening to whatever Lelice had been saying, "but there's so much to, I'm going to need all my guide books and all my warm coats OH and I can't forget resist frost potions, do cure disease potions cure frostbite?" She stopped her rant to turn around and grab her bag. "How am I supposed to fit all this in here?" She whispered to herself.
Lelice laughed at her enthusiasm. "Frelvia, please, you'll only be going for a short time."
"I know but this is an entirely new land, I've hardly ever been out of the city!"
"You're from Bruma, that's the closest you can get to Skyrim-living in Cyrodiil."
Frelvia stopped what she was doing and laughed quietly, "That feels like a lifetime ago." She reached into her dresser and pulled out a small green blanket. "How…why did you chose me to go?"
Lelice sighed, "Because of this." Frelvia turned around to see Lelice taking a piece of paper with out of her robe. Frelvia recognized it almost immediately and her face turned to ash.
"Where did you find that?"
"You dropped it in the hallway about a week ago." She said, handing it back to the still-stunned Frelvia. "I assume it has something to do with finding out about your past?"
Frelvia placed the paper in her sack. "It's the closest lead I have at the moment. It's small but maybe it'll lead to something better."
Lelice nodded. "Unfortunately I cannot help you more than I already have." Frelvia looked at her curiously. "I gave you 2 months, but all your investigations must be done from the college. I got you into the country, but the part about communicating with the college still stands. You have a job to do."
Frelvia sat down next to her on the bed. "Of course." She said, looking at Lelice. "Thank you."
Lelice pulled Frelvia in for a hug. "Promise me you will be safe, child."
"I promise." Frelvia replied.
The next day Frelvia was preparing to leave as she threw her bag into the carriage. She looked in front of the kart to see a Nord, tall and hardy like most are, brushing his horse. He looked up as she started walking up to him.
"So…you're my driver? Bjorlam?" She asked, sauntering over.
He looked back to his horse. "Aye. If we leave soon we should make it by tomorrow morning."
"Good, good." She said, walking over to the horses' head. "So…nice…horse." Frelvia reached her hand up to pet him when the horse whinnied and stepped away. She awkwardly put her hand down as Lelice called for her from the back of the carriage. Bjorlam shook his head as she walked back over to Lelice.
"I was worried I had missed you." She said, grabbing Frelvias hands.
"I wouldn't leave without seeing you first!" She exclaimed. A cough belonging to Lylldur came from behind Lelice.
"You need to be leaving soon," He said, "it's a harsh ride through the mountains."
Lelice nodded and spoke quickly. "We've supplied you with enough food for the journey, once you're at the college you should have everything you need there." Lelice reached up and stroked Frelvias' hair. "It won't be long."
Frelvia smiled at her as Lelice brought her hand back. "I know."
Lelice took a step back. Lylldur stepped out from behind her.
"Driver!" He yelled to Bjorlam, who promptly looked over at him. "Time to leave."
Bjorlam gathered the bag at his feet and hopped into the driver's seat. Frelvia hugged Lelice once more before climbing into the back. Bjorlam whipped the reigns and the carriage pulled away slowly.
Frelvia spent most of the first portion of the ride reading her books in nervous silence. She couldn't believe that this was happening to her, that she was finally getting a chance to figure out who she was. All of her life had been shrouded in mystery, she had no knowledge of who her birth family could be. Over the past few years, she had secretly been in communication with a few people who were good at gathering information. After all the time coordinating with them, she had only gathered one small piece of valuable information.
She put down the book she had been reading and grabbed the letter Lelice found.
Frelvia,
Things have moved faster than intended. You must act now. Go to Skyrim, and do as we discussed. I hope this helps you find something useful about yourself.
-Silaius
She read over this note a thousand times, her heart beating hard inside her chest. Frelvia was waiting for just the right moment before-
"Just letting you know; we've crossed the border." Bjorlam called from the driver's seat.
-and that was her que. Frelvia put the letter back into her bag and took out a small but heavy bag of coins.
"I'm sorry Lelice." She whispered to herself. Frelvia looked over at Bjorlam and made her way to the front of the carriage. She leaned over the side towards him. "Bjorlam, change of course." She said.
"The guild gave me very specific instructions to deliver you to Winterhold."
Frelvia took the bag of coins and handed it to him. Bjorlam took it slowly and opened it to examine the contents. He looked back at the girl who was smiling coyly at him. He shook his head and looked back at the road.
"Where too?"
Frelvia sat back down in her seat. There was no turning back from the path she was about to set foot on. She took a deep breath in.
"Windhelm. I need to get to Windhelm." She said matter-of-factly.
Bjorlam rolled his eyes. "Here we go again." He mumbled to himself.
"What was that?" Frelvia asked, leaning back over to him.
He looked down at her. "You're obviously running away from someone."
"I'm not running away!" She shouted at him "I'm just…looking for something."
"Treasure, adventure?" He asked.
"No…" She started, looking ahead at the road, "an explanation."
A/N:
I'm back, I suppose. I hope you all enjoyed chapter one, two should be posted in the following weeks. The chapters will follow the same format as this one, with the beginning having backstory followed by the current story. At the end it will have either an author's note or a TL;DR (which will be a quick, humorous summery of the chapter). This story is also being posted on my personal Tumblr which can be found in my account summary. I hope to see you in the next chapter, please review and follow!