Argis and Lydia guided their son, walking beside him and gently holding his elbows as they led the blindfolded young man along. Edla, grinning from ear to ear at the fun, brought up the rear. They'd put the blindfold on Dovi before leaving the house, spun him around several times in the street after descending from the front step at Breezehome, and then taken him on the half-mile walk up and down hill, twice across the river.
It was silly, of course. He'd traversed this path from their home to Dragonspring Farm, or to the Luxury Suite beyond, thousands of times in his 18 (just) years of life. But he went along with it in good spirits. It wasn't often his so-serious parents did anything this frivolous, and he wanted to show them that he appreciated it.
Dovi knew from the smell that they were passing Dragonspring Farm, the manure from their cattle pens always an element in the scent along this stretch of the road. Oh, good! If they weren't going to the Farm then the party must be at the Suite, which was a cut above. He'd have been happy enough with a gathering (outdoors, in today's fine weather) at the farm, with Mina, Andi, and their family. But unless his parents and sister were planning to walk him, blindfolded, all the way to Windhelm (just a little unlikely), there was shortly going to be music, dancing, and fine food at the Luxury Suite to celebrate his attainment of the age that, in this part of Skyrim, meant he was now an adult.
Sure enough, they soon led him up the wooden steps onto the porch. His feet had trod here so often he almost didn't need their guiding hands. The doors swung open, the small party stepped through, and Argis (now slightly shorter than his strapping son) removed Dovi's blindfold to reveal the common room of the inn packed with his friends. "Surprise!" everyone yelled, and he grinned at them in amazement. What a crowd!
Mina was the first to come forward and give him a hug and kiss. In this mob, it was considerably more restrained than some she'd given him over the past year-plus, since they'd finally reached an understanding. She had grown a lot in that time, and was now only around seven inches shorter than he – both more slender and more voluptuous (in all the right places!) as her body matured. Though Dovi had gotten over a lot of the shyness he'd felt when he was younger, the sight of Mina in snug-fitting armor, or the nicely draped knit dress she wore today, still brought a flush to his cheeks.
"Happy Birthday, Dovi," she murmured in his ear – then presented him with a small package wrapped in a scrap of velvet cloth and tied with a ribbon. "I made it myself, both the amulet and the enchantment," she assured him quietly. Mina's father Wyll, despite being an enormous and muscular man capable of cutting a bullock in half with a well-placed blow of the Ripper sword that was his favorite weapon, also had a deft hand with jewelry – and clearly he had taught his daughter much. The amulet on its leather cord was beautiful and exquisitely wrought, yet masculine in design. After opening the package he handed it to her and bent his head so she could slip it over his neck.
Immediately Dovi felt a surge of well-being, beyond the happiness he felt being here at the Suite for his 18th birthday and surrounded by friends and well-wishers – including the beautiful Mina. "Wow!" he said, "what's in this thing?" "Mom helped me learn the enchantment," she confided with a little smile. "It increases your health and stamina, and it also increases the rate at which they regenerate. You should be able to sling a hammer all day without getting tired, or mow down a few dozen bandits without breaking a sweat, as long as you wear it."
"Thank you, Mina!" Dovi exclaimed, and folded her to him for a much more enthusiastic kiss and hug. "I'll never take it off!" he promised. The assembled crowd voiced a collective "OOOoooh!" at the gesture, embarrassing them both – but not for long. They had not yet become lovers, and that was a source of tension in their relationship. But Mina was still a few months short of her 16th birthday, after all.
What they had become was much better friends, two people who could talk to each other about anything. With Andi gone so often, first with the Falmer Initiative and now studying with Rezira at the College of Winterhold, Dovi saw more of Mina than he did of his lifelong friend. It had drawn them much closer together.
Next Andi came forward. He, Rezira, Anders, and Gylabris had all fast-travelled here from the College in order to be here for this special event. He enfolded his friend in a hug. Dovi had overtopped him since they'd been old enough to stand upright, and apparently that situation was going to continue for the rest of their lives – though he stood only a couple of inches shorter. More noticeable was the muscle mass Dovi had accumulated as he continued to do construction work while Andi had been busy running diplomatic missions and studying magic.
"Happy Birthday, buddy!" Andi declared. He peered up at his friend. "Are you still growing?" he asked suspiciously. "I think this is it," Dovi said, gesturing at his nearly 6'5", 230-pound frame. "Unless you've got some spell to make me bigger?" "Divines forfend!" Andi declared. Then he added, "Hey, I made you something."
Of the Dragonspring children only Andi so far had taken up smithing; but his many other interests had prevented him from developing the level of mastery he would have liked. Then for the past two years a lot of his time had been taken up working with the Falmer Initiative. That project was pretty well complete, now – with all of the tribes contacted and many of them now operating the Dwemer ruins they occupied as a source of revenue – acting within Skyrim's human society, instead of hiding beneath it and being killed off by treasure-hunting adventurers.
Andi had therefore gotten a lot of help from his mother in making this gift for the young man who had been his best friend from the time of his earliest memories. He had labored on it in his spare time for most of the past year, and it was by far the best work he had ever done. While it seemed likely that Dovi might end up becoming a builder instead of a soldier or an adventurer, this gift was a token of the love the two of them had always had for the old tales of valor, and of the adventures they'd shared.
Dovi looked around. The frisson of added vitality Mina's amulet had provided still had him feeling on top of the world. "Well, where is it?" he asked. The crowd parted and a troop of Andi and Mina's adolescent siblings stepped forward, carrying among them a complete set of Daedric armor. Dovi gasped. Such a thing, if one could find it at a shop (unlikely in Whiterun), would cost several months' wages for a construction worker. And this had been lovingly hand-crafted to his precise measurements by his best friend! No wonder Andi was concerned about whether he was still growing!
Dovi enfolded Andi in a bear-hug, to a creaking of ribs. "Thank you! This is magnificent!" he roared. It was almost enough to make him want to go kill off a few bandits, or join the Companions, just to put it into use! Remy Caron, the inn's head innkeeper, stepped forward at this juncture and said, "Food and drink are waiting outside, folks! Come on, let's party!" More people from the crowd, many of them Dovi's fellow workers on Hegmar's crew, surged around him with back-slaps and raucous congratulations, and he was swept along with them on a wave that spilled out the Suite's back doors onto the deck.
One of the Suite's semi-portable cooking tables had been set up along the south side, and a wonderful smell of grilling meat filled the air. Beside that another table was laden with every sort of food – fruit, pastries, fried potatoes, breads – and the crowd began milling around them in a hungry throng as bottles of chilled ale and mead were dispensed, wine was offered, and a group of musicians stationed in the far corner struck up a lively tune.
Dovi could scarcely remember seeing his parents so relaxed and joyful. The Steadfast family had a good and comfortable life, and Lydia and Argis weren't without humor. But the pair of them had always possessed a certain gravitas, a reserve, that he hadn't seen much at Dragonspring House except occasionally from Andi's father Anders. And even he was a positive party animal by comparison with Dovi's own folks.
Dovi was completely oblivious to how much he shared those traits, of course. Even his sister Edla, a bright little soul, had chosen Meri Dragonspring as her best friend – a girl from a race of Elves that were famously reserved and formal. Though Meri, of course, was considerably less so than most of the Falmer.
Everyone ate and drank, danced and sang. Many people hugged Dovi and congratulated him, and there were numerous small hand-made gifts presented. Birthday celebrations (or any celebrations at all, really) were rare enough in Skyrim that this was the party of the year for most of the participants. After everyone had eaten their fill and then danced it off again there was cake, and ice cream (a rare treat usually only available here at the Suite).
Dovi was sitting at the Owner's Table with Andi on one side, Rezira sitting beside him, and Mina on his other. They were holding hands, and glowing with happiness and pleasure. This had been the most wonderful celebration of his life! As they sat now digesting their dessert, and feeling wonderfully content, Lydia and Argis arose to stand in the area of the mezzanine between the Owner's Table and the one next to it. Then Katja, Wyll, and Anders joined them. They were all facing toward Dovi.
Oh ho, what was this? In the confusion Dovi had scarcely noticed that neither his parents nor their very wealthy friends and one-time benefactors had given him any gifts. If he even thought about it he'd assumed that this party, which had obviously taken a lot of work to put together and cost a significant amount of gold in food, drink, and the closing of the inn to its usual afternoon custom, was their gift to him – and he was perfectly content with it.
Though all five of them were standing up there looking pleased as punch, it was Argis who took the role of spokesman. "Son," he said in a commanding voice that reached throughout the room and halted the chatter of the crowd, "eighteen years ago we welcomed you into our family, and you have been a joy to us ever since." (Small hoots and cheers were heard around the room – everyone was feeling pretty mellow.) "For the past three years," Argis went on, "you have been learning the builder's trade with us on Hegmar's crew (more hoots and cheers), and you have learned well. I think that I am not alone in saying that you have truly become a journeyman builder, and we are proud to have you on our team."
A chorus of "Yeah!" and "Dovi!" was heard around the room, coming from his fellow builders. Argis waited for the noise to die down, then continued: "Now that you are a man, there is one thing that you have yet to do, the masterwork that will prove to the world that you are truly a master of our craft: and that is to build your own home." Dovi's eyes widened. Build his own home? He'd been fantasizing about doing so for much of the past year, since his relationship with Mina had deepened. But the money to buy land and materials, and time free from work (the income from which, once he left his family's home, would be needed for little items like food), were things he wouldn't be able to have for years yet.
All five of the older people standing near the table were now looking at him with pleasure and anticipation. Mina, gazing up at him to see his reaction, squeezed his hand. She had an idea what might be coming, though she had not been let in on the plot. Argis went on, "Thanks to help from the Dragonsprings, Dovi, your mother and I are pleased to present you with this gift." With a flourish, he took the rolled paper Lydia had handed to him and spread it out before handing it over to his son. It was a deed!
"This is the deed to a 10-acre plot just west of the current bounds of the city of Whiterun," Argis explained. Dovi knew the area well. He and his father, and the rest of Hegmar's crew, had been erecting houses out there during most of the time since he'd begun working construction. "This plot has a little bit of elevation to it, and a small year-round stream runs through it. It will be suitable for a little light farming, if that is what you – and whoever you will share it with – want to do." With that Argis cast a glance at Mina, and she stiffened. Hey wait, who said I wanted to be doing farm chores for the rest of my life? Who said Dovi and I are even getting married?
Dovi was so caught up in looking at the deed, visions of his dream home spinning in his head, that he failed to notice Mina's less-than-enthusiastic response. He glanced up again, as his father began speaking again. "You also have this draft in the amount of 10,000 gold, to be used for purchasing building materials and other necessities while you're building your home. I'll work with you on the drawings, and I'll be happy to volunteer some labor to help you when I have free time. I'm sure many of your fellow members of Hegmar's crew will be happy to assist when they can, as well." There was another chorus of assent. Though Dovi could be a little intimidating at times, he'd been well-liked by his fellows on the crew.
Argis handed the second piece of paper to his son, beaming with pleasure. It was a draft on the coffers of the hold, which could be redeemed for cash on presentation to the Jarl's steward. "Happy birthday, son," he concluded. Dovi surged to his feet, tears in his eyes and a huge grin on his face, and hugged his parents, Aunt Kat, Uncle Wyll, and Uncle Anders. This was a gift beyond belief, an amazing start to his new life as an adult! Then he turned to Mina, who was smiling somewhat fixedly, and swept her up in an embrace.
"We can build it together!" he said, emotion surging in his voice. "It'll be just like we want it!" Mina hugged him back, tears in her own eyes. Oh, Dovi! What were they getting into? She loved him, truly she did – but she wasn't ready for this! She wasn't even 16 yet, and other people were already writing the next chapter of her life for her? When was there going to be time for her to set responsibilities aside and just spend some time learning who she was, what she wanted to do?
Andi, as oblivious as Dovi was to Mina's hesitation, rose to his feet, glass in his hand. "A toast!" he declared joyously, "to our friend Dovahkis Steadfast! Happy birthday, and here's to many more!" A fresh ale was put in Dovi's hand and he took a big swig, delirious with happiness, as glasses were raised around the hall. What an absolutely wonderful, totally perfect birthday!