I will ensure that all my potential heirs have interesting and important jobs to do, according to their abilities, so they will have less time to plot against myself and one another.
"Papa! Look what I found!"
It was a skeever...she found a skeever.
"Why, Runa, you do know that skeevers are vermin right?" Cullen would politely ask his daughter.
"Yes, but this one is so cute! Can we keep him, please?" She would ask. Her face was adorable, how could he say no to her?
"No. We don't keep vermin in the house."
Just like that, apparently.
"Don't worry, I promise you'll have an actual pet in the near future. Just give Papa a little time, okay sweetie?"
She would happily shake her head and make her way outside, skeever in hand. Once she left Cullen would sigh and taks a seat in a nearby chair, wondering why she even picked up the damned thing. And then it dawned on him: she picked up a damn skeever. She needed to bathe, now. He was so occupied with his thoughts on the matter that he didn't notice Lydia make her way downstairs until she was sitting down next to him. Even then, he couldn't help but keep thinking about it.
"Morning. Something on your mind?"
"Runa asked if she could keep a skeever as a pet. A skeever, of all things. I wonder about that girl sometimes."
"Well, she's been through a lot."
"And I'm completely fine with that. But a skeever?"
"Are you really that upset about the whole thing? It's just a skeever, Cullen, not a dragon or something."
"I hate skeevers."
"You've eaten cooked skeever before!"
"I hate living skeevers."
"Understood. So, where is everyone?"
"Well Carlotta went back to Riverwood to catch up with her brother. It's been awhile, those two haven't seen each other much in these past few months. Runa is running around here somewhere with a damn skeever. It could be diseased for all we know! Lucia went to Jorrvaskr with her dagger to show it off to the Companions, and Hroar had his mind firmly set on being Lars' bodyguard."
"Ah. And what are you doing?"
"As of right now? Figuring out which of the three are gonna be my heir."
"Why?"
"I'm not gonna ignore this. I've got three kids, a wife, and an entire Skyrim to rule over. Sooner or later this was gonna pop up, so I'm gonna sit here, drink some mead, scratch my bottom and think this over."
"Well, I'll help, but only because you're my friend."
"Uh huh..."
"So, explain to me what's going on in that mind of yours."
"Alright. So before we start, I need to do something. Stay right here." He'd tell Lydia. He would then stand out of his seat and leave his home. And after what seemed like forever, he would return, although now he was drenched.
"Why are you wet?"
"Gave Runa a bath. Drowned a skeever. Nothing too important." He'd respond, sitting back down in his seat like nothing happened.
"Let us start out with Runa. She's a smart gal, if a bit too naive at times. She's not a big fan of action and prefers diplomatic solutions to things. Unlike Hroar, who'll punch a problem in the face. She's a fan of the temples, I could see her becoming a priestess when she gets older. As long as the temple doesn't worship Dibella...anyone but her."
"So she could technically worship anyone else? Even a Daedric Prince? Like, say...Molag Bal?"
"Of the divines, Lydia! I'll be damned if any of my children worship one of those damned Princes."
"But...don't you 'somewhat' worship Me-"
"That couldn't be helped, she wouldn't leave me the hell alone. You were there, you know this! I don't even use her damn sword."
"I know, I know." She'd say, holding back her attempts to laugh. "Alright, so what about Hroar then?"
"The boy's a warrior, no doubt about that. He'll grow to be a strong lad, I mean look at him. Getting into fights to protect Lars? That's a mercenary in the making. Sure, maybe one day he could be ruler, but I doubt it'd be by anything other than force. Then again he's only ten, so I don't know, maybe he'll mellow out a bit."
"What about Runa? She's only nine."
"Priestess. Mercenary. Heir."
"Well obviously, Lucia the only other option left. Unless..."
"She's the only other option. And she's the most well-rounded option as well."
"No fair, you've been raising her longer than the other two."
"Which means she has the advantage. For one, she's bubbly and humorous, but she knows how to hold her own. Just like her Papa."
"Uh huh..."
At that time Lucia made her way into the home, her new dagger still in hand. "Hi Papa, hi Lydia." She said before bouncing off upstairs, most likely to put the dagger away. Once she came back downstairs she stood in front of the two with a puzzled look on her face. "Where's Mama?"
"She went to see uncle Lucius dear. She'll be back soon."
"Okay. Me and Hroar are going to play tag with Lars. See you later!" And with that, out the door she went.
"I still can't believe you gave her a dagger."
"Better than a wooden sword."
"An ebony dagger?"
"Better than a steel one."
"What type of father are you?"
"The best type."
