Kureeth was thankful for his new gloves when shipping day rolled around, a few days after Astene and Angrenor's confrontation. The veteran Nord had gradually slowed his work over that time, though Kureeth had as yet not been able to tell whether the man's wound was paining him, or whether it was a deliberate act of protest. But as he stacked the ingots of iron and quicksilver outside the mine, Kureeth's attention was diverted elsewhere.
Markus, Winterhold's carriage driver for a couple of years now, was approaching the mine to take the supplies down the Windhelm to be sold. And he had a passenger: the Archmage of the College, Vash gro-Nul. A youthful orc devoted to restoring Winterhold, he had, through the course of an adventure with Kureeth, Falin, the Dragonborn, and others, returned from a brief jaunt in Oblivion with his beard permanently stained ash-grey.
The Archmage dropped lightly from the carriage before it had come to a complete halt and strode quickly over to Kureeth. The two locked wrists but did not speak; Vash respecting Kureeth's preference for silence. He did, however, greet Masa verbally.
"Astene not with you?" asked the overseer.
Vash's eyebrows went up a little. "I assumed she would be here already," he said.
Masa grunted and said, "What brings you out here, Archmage?"
Vash's gestures became expansive as he explained. "As you might have heard, the Jarl and I have plans to set up a forge in town. We're still looking for a good blacksmith to run it, but in the meantime we need raw iron for the construction, which we're hoping to begin as soon as possible." He pulled a jingling pouch from within his robes and Kureeth noticed both Relbray and Ingarth both get a hungry sort of look.
Vash trailed off to stare at Ursula.
"What?" she asked, taking a step back.
"Sorry," said the Archmage. "It's just you don't seem like the usual miner type."
Masa was looking over the stacked iron in its crates, some already being loaded into the back of Markus' wagon.
"Most of this is already spoken for," they were saying, "but I can let you have a dozen for the usual rate."
"By all means," said Vash. He counted out the gold while Masa directed a grumbling Ingarth to load the dozen ingots into a sack. None of them, not even Kureeth, would have been able to lug that sack all the way back to Winterhold—a problem that had clearly been on Masa's mind.
"How are you going to carry it?" they asked, for Markus and his carriage were heading south to Windhelm and business.
"Not a problem," said Vash. Wisps of orange light escaped from his left palm and encircled the sack. It gradually rose from the snow and floated to hang just beside him. "Pleasant journeys to all of you," he said. He strode northwards, the sack trailing along through the air with him. Ursula watched his departure with a slight frown.
Masa's displeasure seemed to heighten with each passing moment that Astene did not appear. It was her job to conduct the business in Windhelm, while Masa remained to oversee the mine. Kureeth looked to the north road but could only make out the retreating form of Vash.
"You didn't wait for her?" asked Masa, looking up at Markus in his carriage seat.
"I waited like I always do," said the driver. "But she didn't come."
Masa grunted. The expression on their face shifted to what Kureeth thought could be called worry.
"Where in Oblivion is Angrenor?" asked the overseer suddenly. "I told him to get that last load."
Everybody looked around, but the big Nord was nowhere to be seen. Masa gestured to Kureeth, who started walking back into the mine. Thankful to be out of the wind, he soon found Angrenor curled on his bedroll, his face scrunched up in pain. Kureeth crouched beside him and scuffed his feet to alert the man to his presence. Angrenor gave a wet cough.
"Wound must be actin up," he said between ragged breaths. "Don't tell Astene."
Kureeth nodded, though he did not think Angrenor saw. He found the crate of iron ore a little further back in the mine. Angrenor had clearly dropped it when the pain had come on and the ore had spilled across the ground. Kureeth gathered as many pieces as he could find and returned them to the crate. He hefted it up and carried it outside, ignoring the questioning looks that came from some of the others.
Masa, perhaps thankfully for Angrenor's future job prospects, was too preoccupied with scanning the north road to ask any questions. There was still no sign of Astene. Kureeth heard Masa mutter something about Oblivion under their breath. The overseer turned back and hauled himself up next to Markus. Kureeth placed the last crate in the back of the wagon.
Masa surveyed the gathered miners for a moment. Kureeth anticipated the decision a moment before it came and felt his heartrate increase.
"Kureeth!" said Masa. "Til I get back, you're in charge." They gestured to Markus and the carriage started moving southwards.
"You?" said Relbray. "He chose—no." He spat in the snow and stomped back into the mine. Ingarth chuckled but stopped when Kureeth looked at him. The Nord man raised his hands.
"Hey, no need to tell me what needs doing," he said. He turned and followed Relbray.
"We're a little, uh, short-staffed," said Ursula. Kureeth gestured towards the mine opening and the two of them started walking inside. He wondered if this, at last, was a situation where he could argue for an increase to his pay. A one-off bonus, at least, that would offset the gold he'd spent on the gloves.
"Then we make do," he said.