Chapter 3

13th of Second Seed 8:03am

The morning was still young and Eldrin couldn't sleep so he finished all his chores early. When his parents got up and left the house he stayed behind to read on his cot so he could enjoy having the house to himself.

The silence and enjoyment was broken when he heard rustling outside the half open window. He got up and sighed, already knowing who it was. "Come to mock me some more, Zuryl?" He heard a pair of small giggles and rolled his eyes, "Oh good, Kadriel's here too..."

Eldrin walked back to his cot to continue his laying and reading. The girls forced the window open and let themselves in. Without moving his cold blue eyes from his book, "Please come in ladies."

They laughed fairly loudly this time. Eldrin let out a long sigh. In between laughs Kadriel managed to mock the lizard more, "You should be honored the guard knows you. It means they care."

Eldrin put down his book and glared at the wood elf from his laying posture. Zuryl chimed in, "Or it means you are a poor thief." They both laughed again.

Zuryl pulled a motionless animal from a pocket on her person, "Look, Zuryl brought the lizard a dead skeever because he is too hopeless to feed himself." Sure enough she dropped the dead animal at the foot of his cot.

Eldrin glared at both of them without moving his head. "Oh come on Elly, you haven't left home in days," Kadriel sat down next to him on his cot. Annoyed, he asked, "What do you want?"

The wood elf took the book from Eldrin's hands and put it down on his parents' bed. "Well besides your forgiveness for what was necessary to keep you safe, we would like to talk about what happened." She sounded cross but not enough for it to be sincere.

Eldrin only continued glaring at her. Zuryl sat on the other side of the cot, "This Khajiit only wants what is best for her friend… and seeing Eldrin without clothes made her heart feel strange." Giggling, Kadriel pushed the cat off the cot.

"No really Elly, we're sorry that our solution to a bad situation was imperfect." Kadriel rested a hand on his shoulder. He sighed again, "Fine. What do you want to know? Besides that I didn't scout properly." He decided they weren't going to leave unless he talked to them.

"What happened first of all? What do you remember happening?" Eldrin blinked a few times out of displeasure, very bored with the conversation already, he took a deep breath, "I was scouting the camp and I fell down the hill. I landed in the water on top of a Dunmer." The girls both stifled a giggle.

Eldrin rolled his eyes, "When I pulled him to the surface of the water, I noticed my father's sword protruding from his chest. Another Dunmer screamed and I ran." Kadriel patted him, "So you don't know who he was?"

Eldrin scoffed, "I didn't at the time, no." Kadriel's expression changed from curious to tender, "Oh but you do now?" He nodded and she continued, "Well we figured it out shortly after you'd been taken into custody. His subordinates brought his corpse to the Tribunal for a proper burial. They made a huge deal out of what an idol he was to Dunmer everywhere in which they actually listed all his crimes as evidence."

Eldrin's anticipation grew as Kadriel paused for dramatic effect, "We've been telling everyone what a hero you are! And what good you've done for slaves across Morrowind!"

They both leaned in and hugged him. He quickly shooed them away, "Excuse me, what?"

The girls looked at each other, "Eldrin heroically crushed the heart of Dunmer Slave Trader then washed his hands with the blood of slaver associates!" Zuryl exclaimed.

Eldrin stood up and started to get angry, "No no no it was an accident!" Kadriel tried to comfort him, "You killed a slave trader, we didn't see what happened but we did see the body. Why throw away our chance to be wealthy if not for heroics?" He sneered, "I don't care about being heroic. Murder isn't in my nature."

Kadriel snapped back, "Does it matter? The slaver is dead and you're a hero." Even more upset with her callousness the boy shouted, "Yes it matters! I killed a mer and you two are celebrating!"

Kadriel looked confused, "Elly… it's not just us who are celebrating. This news has spread through the whole city and possibly will keep spreading to all of Tamriel."

Argonians were never very expressive but he was feeling particularly frustrated and his face reflected it, "So I accidentally kill a slave trader, you two decide that it must have been on purpose despite my telling you what actually happened. Then, because we had no idea who he was at the time, you two, again, decide that I cannot return home bloody, proceed to beat me unconscious and leave me to be found by the guard. After that, you two find out who the Dunmer was and decide to tell all of Mournhold that I heroically took his life, again, despite the fact that I keep telling you two it was accidental."

The pair nodded and Kadriel began looking very pleased, "We never thought you were capable of such things. We were upset you squandered our chance to be wealthy at first but now… We're very proud of you."

Eldrin backed himself up against the wall and sank to the floor. He buried his head in his hands, "I'm not."

Kadriel took on a confused look again and knelt next to the lizard, "You're not... proud?" He retorted, "I'm not capable of such things."

The wood elf shuffled closer to Eldrin and hugged him, "It's alright. You need only to stop running from it and embrace it." She pulled away and gestured to the Khajiit back to the window to make their exit.

Zuryl took the dead skeever with her on their way out. He sat on the floor for a long while trying to figure out how he was going to 'embrace' this. He heard his parents on the porch and he quickly hopped onto his cot and opened his book.

Rutalu entered the cabin and smiled when she saw her son. She walked over to him and he bowed his head in anticipation of her kissing the top of his head.

"Are you going to read all day?" Haevyn asked.

"I was planning on it," Eldrin didn't even trouble himself to look at his father.

"We need a few things from the market. We thought it might be a nice chance for you to see your friends too," Haevyn's suggestion was more of a command.

"It's been a little rou-,"

"I'm not asking," Haevyn interrupted. The Argonian stood up and grabbed the list as well as a coin purse from his mother's outstretched hand. As he was leaving, Rutalu handed him a basket too.

The Argonian had learned to sew his own clothes early on so he didn't have to wear Dunmer style outfits but for the first few years of his life, he wore what his mother gave him. He was getting more stares now than he ever did before in those awkward times in embarrassing elven clothing.

The boy examined the stones on the ground on his way through the city, trying to avoid looking into peoples' faces. When he got to the market district, his first stop was always the fruit stand.

The Argonian that ran the fruit stand was a friend of Eldrin's since he was a child. She knew his situation well and tried as best she could to help Eldrin grow up and help him understand what it was to be Saxhleel.

"Ah Eldrin, I haven't seen you in a while, your scales staying moist?" Eldrin smiled at her, "Nam-Na, I hope your scales are moist as well." He handed her the basket with the list inside it and she began to gather the fruits on the list, "I hear you have experienced a change in the course of rivers."

Eldrin looked down again, "Oh… you heard about that?" She continued to put fruits in the basket and smiled, "Yes but I never thought of you in such light." He smiled and looked up at her. Just as he took a breath to say something another Argonian grabbed him by the shoulders frantically.

"Slave hero! Many of my egg brothers were taken from their nests by Dres butchers! The butchers are too powerful for me, they need you! They are being held on a plantation just southwest of the main gates."

Eldrin was mortified and it conveyed onto his face. The Argonian was so close to his face, barking demands at him that he lurched a little. Eldrin took a step back and removed the foreign hands from his shoulders.

"I… uh.. need to get my market errands done?" He handed a few coins to Nam-Na and took the basket from her. The Argonian stranger took the basket from him.

"I'll take these back to your nest for you." The stranger handed Eldrin a sword and took off with the basket. "It appears the Hist is calling on you for greater things, Eldrin." Nam-Na smiled.

"I.." He sighed, "Did he say southwest?" Nam-Na nodded and Eldrin turned away, walking slowly out of town so he could watch for his friends. Maybe they could help for once.