Finding Destiny While Avoiding Fate
Chapter three
I am sorry if this one is a little late, I was visiting family for Halloween and forgot to upload before I left :-( I promise to do better in the future! Anywho, here it is!
There was warm air breezing across his skin as Hjolinn began to stir. He was confused for a moment, had he forgotten to shut the door to his room last night? He didn't imagine that the inn would have such a warm cross breeze, it was almost to warm. Hjolinn sat up opening his eyes only to find horror and destruction before him; everything around him was caught ablaze. The very stones were melting from the heat of the flames engulfing them, he could here distorted screaming in the distance, somewhere beyond the darkness of the inferno. A blistering heat exhaled onto him from his left, his horrified gaze turned and met larger glowing red eyes.
"Dovahkiin!"
Hjolinn started up with a breathless gasp, he looked frantically around the room. It was quiet, the door was firmly shut, his armor still hung over a chair in the corner. He looked over to his left and saw nothing but the stone wall; no red eyes. The Dragonborn closed his own eyes in relief and let out a shaky sigh, his heart felt as though it was trying to pound out of his chest. There was a light sheen of sweat on his skin, dark brown locks of hair were matted to his forehead. He wiped away the hair, rubbing the sweat from his face as he got out of the bed. Those red eyes, those damn red eyes! They were the ones that had been haunting him since Helgen; the black dragon that had saved his life only to try to take it himself. It was shortly after his escape from the burning village that he discovered his destiny, the over weighted burden that had him aching with guilt over saving his own skin as the town and its people were burned to the ground. He could have saved them, that was his job as Dragonborn after all; he hadn't known his destiny then, but the sounds of screaming all around him continued their haunting.
He shook his head, trying dislodge the nightmare from his mind. They were not his problem, he didn't want this, none of it. All he wanted was the simple life he had lived out in the woods, where there was no one to answer to but himself. Hjolinn knew he could never go back to that life, dragons constantly seeking him out required more from him than just the skills of a hunter. That had been why he joined the Companions, so that he was better prepared; the coin wasn't bad either. He tried to tell himself that he was at least doing something, even if it wasn't preventing dragons from burning down villages; at least he was helping some people.
The Companion walked over to the chair where he had hung his armor and was pleased to see that the inn had been warm enough for it to dry out. Once dressed, Hjolinn placed his iron helmet on his head and headed out. He greeted the innkeeper and ordered some cheese with bread, eating quickly, the Companion was out the door in a matter of minutes. It was still early, but there were merchants at there carts so Hjolinn was hopeful that this 'Radiant Remnants' would be open as well. The shop was across the street, the first building closest from the main gates. There was a beggar loitering around in front of the entrance, he was missing an eye and claiming he was a war veteran. From the look of him, Hjolinn found that hard to believe. Still he gave the man a coin when he passed by, ignoring his praises as he entered the shop.
The first thing he noticed was how dark it was, there were no windows so candles were the only source of light. The air was stuffy, smelling of clothing dye and some kind of burnt stew; Hjolinn wanted to leave the minute he entered. There was an Altmer at the counter, she didn't seem inclined to greet him or even bother to meet his eyes. As he walked further in another Altmer appeared around the corner, she was older, her face was worn and cracked, set in a firm frown. There was no pretense of pleasantries, in her expression but she tried to be polite...
"Why hello! Here to buy? If you have to ask the price, you might be in the wrong store."
That was welcoming. Hjolinn attempted a smile and replied, "Actually, I am not here to buy, rather to ask some questions on behalf of the Jarl."
There was a spark of interest in her eyes, and the other woman at the counter leaned forward to listen in.
"My dear, you haven't been to the Blue Palace dressed like that have you?" The Altmer woman in front of him asked, the disdain was palpable.
Hjolinn looked down at himself, he looked alright now but apparently not up to par with their usual clientele. He replied jokingly, "If you think this is bad, you should have seen what I looked like last night when I actually met with the Jarl."
There was no humor in either woman, if anything they looked even more appalled by the thought that he could look worse than he did in that moment, "You mean to say that you wore something worse than this when you went before the court?"
"To be honest; I was not really given a choice in the matter, however if I had been able to better prepare myself I certainly would have come here for a proper outfit." Charming them might help he thought.
The pleased smile he received made the Altmer's face crack, "Why aren't you a dear, how can we help you today sir?"
"I suppose you have heard the rumors of the princess' disappearance on the night of the Old Life Festival, I'm here to find out if you might know anything or have any information you can give me on her wareabouts."
"Lady Erilana? Why yes, she was here on the day of the festival. She said she wanted to wear something different for the event this year. A bit of a fashion statement as it were. I told her it would be unwise to wear anything less than extravagant but she demanded something as dull as miner's clothes. We figured that she was trying to cause a scene, she liked doing that to the Jarl but then again I am sure most children do." The woman replied, she had walked over to where the other Mer was, looking to her to validate her story.
"Does she do those types of things often?" Hjolinn asked, following her up to the counter.
The women shared an amused look, "Oh my yes, she is quite entertaining. Lady Erilana comes in here often for clothing, never to use our wares for her pranks, but the word around Solitude is that she once bought charcoal from Bits and Bobs, and drew facial hair on all of the tenants of the palace."
They both had rather annoying laughs, the stone echoed causing a ricochet of screeching. Hjolinn patiently waited for them to calm; he thought back to what Penlen had said, it would seem that the princess was quite the mischief maker. The women settled themselves, coughing a little respectively to calm down.
"She sounds like a real wild cat. Is that all though? She just came in to purchase some miner clothes, nothing else?" The Companion asked.
This time the Altmer behind the counter replied, "That was all she bought yes, though she did pay in a rather unusual way."
"Oh?"
"Yes, that's right, she paid with jewelry." Acknowledged the first woman, "Lady Erilana said that she had been given a new set of jewels so she decided to sell her old ones."
"She didn't do that often then?" Hjolinn thought that would be something a lot of nobility would do, then again, most usually just threw their old things into the fire.
"No, but it was a rather nice change, we made quite the profit from those beauties."
The Companion had heard enough, they didn't know anything worth while other than she bought clothes and paid with gems. This was getting him nowhere and was wasting precious daylight. He smiled appreciatively at the Altmer women, "Thank you for your time ladies. I will be sure to stop in next time I am in Solitude and buy something more fitting for an audience with the court."
The woman who originally greeted him smiled again, "Oh please do dear, it would be a great honor to have such a wonderful model advertise our wares before the Jarl."
"Yes, well, if you remember any more information that may be useful to finding the lady, please send word to the palace." He said backing out of the shop.
They both bid him farewell as he exited the shop, and Hjolinn took a deep gulp of fresh air. He had been sufficating back in the shop and was instantly relieved once he was out in the open again. The beggar was still leaning against a pillar in front of the shop, he watched Hjolinn's dramatics with an amused grin. The Companion waved at him and began walking away towards the gate. There was no choice but to just go out and look for her, he only hoped that the cold weather would prevent her from getting to far away from Solitude. If not then who knows where she could end up. There was a cough behind him, Hjolinn turned to see the beggar trying to get his attention.
"Hey you!" He called out.
Hjolinn walked back over to him, "Aye?"
"You're looking for that little lady aren't you?"
The Companion nodded slowly, eyeing him suspiciously, "Why?"
The beggar gave him a look as though the Nord had drooled on himself, "Because I have information of course."
"You do? Well out with it!"
The beggar scratched his head, "You know, my memory isn't what it used to be, I've been so hungry and have sat in the cold for many nights now..."
He was obviously asking for more coin than what he had given him earlier. Hjolinn was no milk-drinker though, "If you have nothing then do not waste my time." He turned to walk away again.
The beggar, realizing that the man was not falling for his plight halted him, "Wait, wait! Ok I'll tell you what I know, but please just give me something wont you? A little ale maybe?"
Hjolinn stopped and sighed, he did need all the information he could get about the girl, and it wouldn't hurt to give up one bottle... He turned once again to the beggar, "Alright, one bottle, all the information you have and I will give you one bottle."
The beggar nodded eagerly, "Yes of course, the girl, she was headed out of the city. She didn't seem to notice me leaning against the pillar like I do for she was muttering to herself quite loudly, things I am sure she did not want others to hear."
"And? What was she saying?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"She was muttering about the north, something about Dawnstar and I think she even muttered storm or something, maybe about wearing a cloak? I'm not sure of the last part but she definitely said something about Dawnstar." The beggar said, he was holding his hands out now, waiting for the Nord to fulfill the end of the bargain.
Hjolinn gave the ale to him, and the beggar took off into an alleyway. Dawnstar. Storm? Did she manage to think far enough ahead as to prepare for some sort of storm? If she had why did she say something about a cloak but not purchase one at the shop when she bought the clothes? It made sense, Dawnstar was to the north and it was significantly colder up there then she would be used to. Still a cloak wouldn't be much against a storm, she must not have been in a storm before to think of only a cloak. To think a cloak in a storm... Storm... Cloak? Hjolinn froze. There was no way; surely she wouldn't dare! She was the daughter of King Torygg, her family were the Empire's biggest supporters in Skyrim; there was no way that she would even consider that... Could she?
The Companion thought back to all of the people he had spoken to, Erdi; who said Jarl Elisif and the girl had fought. Penlen; who said that she was wild. The Altmers at Radiant Remnants; always trying to upset the Jarl. But would the girl really go as far as to join under the banner of the very man who killed her father? There had to be some sort of mind disease affecting the girl if she thought that a wise decision, must have been dropped on her head or been drunk. He knew he had made several poor decisions drunk, maybe that was all; she could just be out in Dragon's Bridge nursing head pain's to embarrassed to come home. Yes that could very well be what was going on!
Hjolinn hurried towards the main gate, once he was outside of the city he began his way to Dragon's Bridge. If indeed she had made the conscious decision to join the Stormcloaks then he hoped that he was not to late to stop her. Who knows what Ulfric Stormcloak would do if the daughter of the late high king came before him. There was no doubt that whatever that would be, it would not be to welcome her among his armies. It would take about two hours to reach the next town so Hjolinn minded his pace, if she was not there then he would not be able to stop and rest. He sent up a prayer to Talos for the foolish girl, hopefully he was not to late to find her.
Uh-oh! Now Hjolinn's on the trail; can he reach our fair lady before she gets to far? And just how far could a sheltered noble get on her own anyway?
How was your Halloween? What did you carve in a pumpkin or dress up as? Anything Skyrim related? Or other video game themes? Personally I carved a Nightingale insignia into one pumpkin and then helped my kid sister carve the main Skyrim symbol (also known as the Legion's emblem, but I try to ignore that part XP )
Happy late Halloween and happy November 1st!
