Hello all you lovely readers out there, I truly am sorry it took me this long to make this chapter Writers block is a pain in the ass to get over XP but I do hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm hoping to try and get these chapters out every fortnight or so that's two weeks just for those of you that don't know which means chapter three should be coming out around the 16th this month. Thank you for your time and now onto the show!- um you forgot the- oh right right... damn... this is a Fan-fiction made from my devious mind I do not own anything that the company Bethesda has, including the awesome game Skyrim which is technically what I am writing about.
Y: 201 4E M: Morning Star D: 21st of Loredas
Morning: the time of day when everyone rises to start their day. Working the jobs they have acquired through years of living and learning. However, in my case, morning just brings us to realize that the people we once loved and care for have passed on, and that we must learn to deal with the fact that they have left this plane for another. It didn't help that Helena was not too thrilled with me because of last night's blow out, though I wish she could understand why I had to do this for her, why I had agreed to this deal me and Virani had. As I rose from my bed, I tiredly looked around the room, first towards my sister who was still sound asleep, then to my Mother's body, who laid on the bed, making her appear as if she were just asleep.
Standing up I started to dress myself in dark attire for today. The closest I got to was a dark blue ragged shirt and pants, with the same furs shoes that where 'given' to me when I was sixteen, which even then didn't fit. As I looked over at my sister who was now starting to rise from bed, and gave a weary glare. It was obvious she still felt hurt from the conversation last night. I sighed and looked at her as I said:
"Look, today is a day of mourning. Can we please hold a truce till after the funeral?" She looked at me blankly and nodded. She soon after went into the other room to dress herself.
"So where, and how exactly, are we going to burn her body? It's not like we have supplies or the money to actually give her the proper rites of passage." Helena asked from the other room, the rustling of clothes clearly being heard. It hadn't crossed my mind at that moment of how we were going to actually do this. I sighed as I said:
"I honestly don't know. I might go into town and ask if we could get a free service from a priest of Arkay. Either that or 'borrow' one of their books and returning it to them before they realize it's gone." I snickered at the borrow note a feeling a bit of sadness. It was the same usual sadness I had whenever I felt like I needed to steal things to help support me and my family, it saddened me more now that the one of the two people I cared for were now gone from the world.
I shook my head as I turned around, there before me was Helena in what seemed to be a dark bear fur and a smaller set of furs shoes that resembled mine. As I looked at her, my eyes looking up and down I nodded and said:
"For furs, it does look fairly decent on you." She gave me a slight smile and nodded before we turned to our mother's body. Knowing we would have to move the body I looked at her and said: "Why don't you go into town and ask one of the priests to come down at the beach to help with the rites? I'll meet you there." She looked at me and gave a small nod.
Going over to her, I wrapped our mother's body up in some cheap furs that were scattered around the room and carefully put her over my shoulder. As I began walking towards the exit of the servant's area, I found Virani and Tragri blocking our path. Tragri had his usual smug face, though it seemed to have a much more sinister intention then any time before. Virani however seemed to have a look of sorrow as she looked away from me.
I looked up at them.
"Is there a problem, sir?" I asked, my voice mixed with both confusion and barely concealed aggression. His smile widened as he pushed past my sister to get to me, and of course he did stand taller to me with his elven height.
"Actually there is, filth. You see, from what I've heard around the house you and my sister have been at each other for some time, is that not true?" I looked at him and then Virani. Now I understood why she was avoiding my gaze, she must have let it slip about the nature of our relationship. Tragri, the slick bastard, was going to taunt me before he sent me to the block.
As I breathed in and looked at him with a hardened stare, his face turned from smug to one of shock, and it was now my turn to smile as I said:
"No it is not. I don't know who told you, or how you came to that conclusion, but believe you me; I wouldn't be caught dead courting one of you puffed up arrogant witch elves even if my life depended on it. Now if you'll excuse me and my sister, we need to take this body and burn it before your filth gets on it." Tragri didn't say a word, looking at me in utter shock and disgust. Shoving him out of the way, I first saw my sister's smile, and though small I could tell it was filled with utter joy. I then saw Virani who looked at me with both concern and confusion. I looked at her with a neutral face and then blinked, to most it wouldn't mean much, but hopefully she would get the message that what I said wasn't true at all.
Taking in a deep breath, my sister and I left the mansion to go our ways for preparing the funeral pyre. Heading towards the sea I started to think about the consequences my words might have wrought when I returned to the mansion with my sister... it was more her I was worried about then my own well-being.
After an hour of travel, I set the soles of my shoes along the sandy coast. I breathed the salty air that the sea brought in, giving me a feeling of ancient longing and nostalgia. As I waited for my sister to return, I started to set up the funeral pyre for our mother. I gathered stranded logs along the beach and piled them up on top of each other until it was at least three feet above the sandy ground. Laying my mother's body onto the pile of logs, I sighed, looking calmly at the corpse that was my mother.
Soon after, I heard the sounds of footsteps coming towards me. It was Helena, with a priest of Arkay who looked like a Dunmer. Waving at them as they came over to me, my thoughts roamed to what me and Helena where going to do now. It was obvious that if I tried what I was doing with Virani anymore, Tragri would kill me, but then again he might kill me either way from that stunt at the mansion.
Helena and the priest bowed lightly as did I, asking: "I suppose you already know why we called you out?" The priest lightly nodded.
"Yes my good lad she did explain it, but Arkay does not discriminate the rich or poor. He only wants those who have passed from Mundas return to the other plane. Now, please be silent and I'll conduct the ritual." The priest then turned from me and began preaching about Arkay's will and sacred rites befitting a woman of her stature. I tuned him out as I breathed in the salt sea air more than ever now, trying to clear my mind, trying to be as silent for the priest as possible. A nudge however woke me from the trance when Helena and the priest where looking at me. They were waiting for what seemed like words for the departed. I grunted and stepped forward, looking up at the sun. I apparently had dozed off for a while - it was near sundown.
I breathed in one more time before beginning. "Mother, you have always been there for me, and Helena always watching us and trying to teach us from right and wrong. But I feel like the time of us in service to these people is long overdue, and from what I saw in yours eyes, I felt that feeling even more so. I do wish you a great life of song, and hope that one day I may join you in your great embrace or may we live again as mother and son once more. May..." I had to stop at that, to look back at my sister and at the Priest hoping they would not utter the words I was about to say as well then continued, "May the god Talos guide you in your endeavours." I then bowed my head lightly and stepped back, the priest and Helena giving me stern faces, but kept quiet as the priest once more began.
"By the witnesses here, and by right as a priest of Arkay, let your spirit move on, to the land that is Arkay's domain." the priest then stopped and pulled out a torch, lighting it with his magic and then using the torch to burn the funeral pyre.
Helena and I watched as the extreme heat encircled our mother's body, further swallowing it in its great flames, sending a smoke cloud up towards the heavens to send word to the surrounding villages that this person, was dead.
Y: 201 4E M: Morning Star D: Loredas the 21st
A few hours went by before me and Helena decided to head back to the mansion, although Tragri and Virani where probably waiting for us. As we made our way to the mansion's front doors, Helena stopped, seemingly frozen in place.
"Helena? What is it Sister? Something wrong?" it was a stupid question, I know, but it was the only one I could think of.
"it's just... Raddin, we're all that is left of our family, what are we going to do now? Even if your plan had worked, what would have happened once we left? No money, no clothes, no food!" Helena then looked up at me, small tears going down her eyes awaiting my answer.
I breathed, one thing that Virani did teach me a few weeks ago was to breathe under the most stressful situations, and this unfortunately was one of them.
"Helena, we're going to be fine, with the lessons Virani taught me about business and politics so far, we should have ourselves a good living situation once we leave. It might be a bit before we can get to that level but it can work, you'll see." I tried to give her a gentle smile but she turned away. I sighed as I took her hand gently and led her back into the mansion. Tragri was on the front steps of the stairs was waiting for us.
His eyes where narrowed and directed towards me, then he stood up and walked over to us, his usual smirk was now a stone cold glare. A few minutes went by before he said, "Get out." I blinked for a couple of moments before shaking my head.
"Excuse me? Mind repeating that again?" I asked in a very confused manner, wondering if I heard Tragri, this Altmer correctly.
"You heard me. Get out of my house now, or I will be forced to call the guards on you for trespassing." Tragri then turned towards the stairs. Virani was nowhere in sigh so I asked, curiously:
"By what grounds are we to leave? Last I checked we where still the 'servants' of this household." Tragri looked back at us, now with a more darkened expression.
"It's because of you, you filth have corrupted this house long enough, and now that corruption has gone to Virani's head! I am releasing you of your tie with us, so long as you don't come near this house or our family again. Be thankful I am being merciful, and not sending you to the executioner's block. Now leave! I won't tell you a third time!" with that Tragri ran up the stairs slamming, from what I could tell, his bedroom doors.
I blinked a few more minutes, standing there in utter befuddlement. Tragri, the Altmer that had approved for slaves as a good source of labour, the Altmer that looked down on any race who wasn't of Elf blood, had let us go free? Helena pulled on my ragged shirt, pulling me out of my trance as I looked down at her. Her smile was as wide as an excited child and to my surprise it felt very contagious as my own smile started to widen. I looked up at the empty hallways of the mansion and then to Helena as I quickly said, "Well, I think we better leave before he decides to change his mind!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Helena and I went to the old servant's quarters and started packing the few belongings and supplies we would need for the next couple of days. It was like a dream come true! We're free, actually free from these Witch-Elves, no more scrubbing floors, no more bending knee to these 'High-Elves', no more! It then hit me as I had stopped my packing, I looked up to one of the mirrors of the room I realized what this also meant. As strange as it sounded, we had just been ripped from what we have considered home, for the past twenty-two years of my life and the 17 years since I became a working slave, this place as tormenting as it was, felt like home to me. But it also meant I wasn't going to have the education that Virani promised me. Tragri had made it so that we would be left out in the cold, and with no way to support ourselves, this random act of kindness, was actually a ploy to get me and my family dead within a few weeks.
Looking over at Helena, who was oblivious to our current state of affairs, was packing all she could, fur clothes, some spare food, and something small in her hand that was just out of my line of sight. I shook my head and told myself:
'I can't tell her that we're in a tight spot now, she's too happy. She's free, and for Talos' sake let her be.' I breathed and smiled at Helena who smiled back.
"Helena, you know what this means, right?" I asked her, smiling and trying to ignore the grim circumstances that Tragri had put us in, and focus on the good.
Helena just smiled and said, "Of course! We're free, and that means we can be whatever we want to be now. Merchants, traders, soldiers in the Imperial army, who knows?" her happy expression soon faded when she looked at me. I was in turn looking back at her confused as I asked:
"What about that place mother told us about? Solstheim wasn't it? Don't you want to see why she asked us to go there?" Helena shrugged as she countered:
"You can if you want to, but to be honest Raddin, I don't want to go to a place that would remind me of mother, to me it's too soon..." I looked at her with a furrowed brow and then closed my eyes. I couldn't make her go with me, we weren't kids anymore and it wouldn't have been right to force her to come with me.
"Alright then, we'll go to the docks, get ourselves hired, and stay up till we reach the Imperial city. I don't know where you'll end up, but I myself am heading towards this Solstheim for the sake of Mother's memory." We both looked at each other long and hard with a sigh breaking the silence between us.
Looking over my shoulder, I saw Virani looking at the both of us, her eyes glistening from sadness as she said:
"So, you two are going then? May I join you?" she asked, picking up what looked like a expertly made backpack that seemed to glow a bright green when lifted. Her attire also looked more of an adventurer's, as well with an elven dagger, a sword on her waist, and a bow with a quiver of arrows. The clothing she wore had golden pads along her shoulders, knees, and elbows with her shirt and greaves a dark maroon red. The boots she wore looked as though they were made from the wings of an eagle basking in the sun's light.
Taking her entire being in I shook my head and asked:
"Why come with us though? You have a good life here. Food, a bed, a career waiting to bloom." she shook her head at me and smiled sweetly.
Walking over to me she kissed my lips gently and said softly:
"You ask why, it is because despite you being free of me, I don't think I will ever be free of you. What good is food if there is no one you love to share it with, what good is a bed if I lay awake at night thinking about the love that left, and my career can be anything I make it out to be, a politician that has to look at boring paper work or an adventurer who is more than willing to give her life and resources to the man she loves." Silence took the whole room up. I breathed slowly and nodded as I said:
"Tragri is going to come after you for leaving, you know. He's going to want to keep you here, locked up in this house if you do go through with this in the end." She just smiled and hugged me tightly. Helena who was in the background wasn't so keen on the idea, I could feel her glare on my back.
"And just what prey tell can you offer us Virani, that would help us escape this place?" Helena asked coldly to which Virani quickly replied with:
"Simple. Connections at the docks and a private ship with five other shipmates ready for someone's orders." she then turned to me and smiled mischievously as she asked me, "What do you say Captain Raddin? Ready to sail?" I looked at her for a moment and gave a small laugh.
"Batten down the hatches mates, It's going to be one hell of a ride!"
As always I would like to thank you guys for reading this story and Lorcain and Heiwako (who sadly by my account the last chapter she will be helping edit) but I still wish the best for in her endeavors for helping me edit the crap out of this thing XP as well as my new editor Lorcain who has agreed to help me out which I am greatly thankful for ^^. I do hope your enjoying the story of Raddin and his adventures so far!