The cool breeze blew through my hair, whipping it around behind my head. I tucked it behind my ear, hoping it would help some, but all it did was fly from behind my ear and whip Vilkas in the face again.

I'd forgotten how much wind the city received just before springtime. The snow around, and inside, the city had probably just recently melted, because the greens and yellows of grass and flowers that speckled the paths winding through Solitude were incredibly vibrant.

Though I was sitting next to Vilkas, my mind was not. I couldn't think about anything other than what our mother had said to us yesterday.

After several hours of visiting, Vilkas and Lydia left my brother and me to talk to our mother about that day. We had tried to ease our way into the discussion, but our mother seemed bent on not talking about it. So much like my brother, yet so different in so many ways. Finally, I had begged for an answer.

"I have to know, Ma." I said, near tears. "I just have to know why you picked him. Why didn't you choose us? Why did you let him send us away?"

My mother had shaken her head. "You two left, and that's the best I could have hoped for. He didn't send you away, but you didn't stay."

Cassius was actually crying, knowing what she meant. I didn't though. I couldn't make sense of it. "I don't understand, Ma. You picked him. You stayed with him." I had said. Seeing my brother cry was making me emotional. "How can you stay with him, Ma? He's horrible. To you and to everyone."

I couldn't stop thinking about what my mother had said to us after that. It had absolutely shattered me, and Cassius for that matter. "I did choose you. Letting you leave was choosing you." She had held the side of my face, begging me to understand. "He can't hurt you if you're not here."

After that, I had left. I was so angry, I couldn't stand to be near her anymore. I'd gone back to the Skeever, back to Vilkas, and he had held me while I calmed myself. I wasn't going to go back, not after that, but Vilkas convinced me otherwise.

"You can't abandon her, pup. She misses you. She needs you."

So another day was spent at my mother's home. Today was all small talk, having gotten all of the serious talking over with. My brother and Lydia had stayed with her, talking about their travels through Skyrim and answering all of her questions. I offered to stay, but my mother knew me all too well. She knew I was growing restless, sitting in the same spot and talking all day, so she suggested Vilkas and I spend a few hours in the city, getting groceries and visiting old friends. I was grateful for the suggestion, and I happily obliged, but I knew she only wanted to drill Cassius about me. No doubt she would do the same to him later.

It was absolutely adorable, the way Vilkas stared wide-eyed at the size of every building that towered above us. He had said it was like walking through a castle's courtyard, but shortly after realized that Solitude was exactly that. It was fun, being here with him, not knowing anybody that wandered by. Vilkas was completely at ease, and that was something I rarely saw.

We were sitting on the wall above Castle Dour's training yards, watching the guards train with practice mannequins below us. Vilkas had three bags of vegetables propped up next to him, waiting to bring them back to my mother.

"When do you think we should go back?" he asked me, noticing me looking at the vegetables.

I shrugged. "Might as well give her an hour more to interrogate my brother."

Vilkas laughed. "I'm sure that's not what's happening."

"Oh believe me, it is." I tried to do my best impression of my mother's voice. "Cassius Felstead, what has your sister been doing? Why is she wandering around with this strange man? What happened to her face?"

Vilkas laughed, running his thumb over the scar across my right eye. He was serious after a moment, but he still had a smile on his face. "Does your brother even know how it happened?"

I shook my head. "I just told him I lost a fight. Which isn't…necessarily a lie. It's just not entirely the truth."

His face fell as he brushed hair away from my face to fully expose the long, dark scar. He kept his hand against the side of my head, keeping my hair from flying back at him. "He should know." Vilkas said, looking at the mark still. "It was an important day, for all of us. He and Lydia don't even know who Skjor was."

I felt my eyes well up with tears, and I looked away. "Yes, well, talking about that day means telling him a bit more about us than I'd like him to know."

"You don't have to tell him all of it, pup. Not about the beast." Vilkas took a breath. "Skjor was so proud of you, from the first day you arrived. He wouldn't want you to be ashamed of a death you didn't cause."

I thought about that for a moment, then nodded. "You're right." Vilkas always had a way knowing exactly what I was thinking, and how to make me stop thinking it.

Vilkas gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, then furrowed his brow again, his smile reforming. "Does she really think me to be a 'strange man'?"

I laughed then, looking back up at him. "No. I'm sure she likes you a lot." I pinched his cheeks. "Who wouldn't? Look at this little face."

He swatted my hands away, rubbing his face and laughing. "Easy there." He smiled at me. "Good. I like your mother a lot."

"Do you?"

"Yes." he said. "She's a lot like you."

I put my hand on my chest, mocking surprise. "And you like me? I'm shocked."

He glared at me for a moment, then pinched my cheeks. "Well, who wouldn't? Look at this little face." he said, mimicking my voice.

We both erupted into a fit of giggles as I shoved his hands away from my face. "Keep it up, Vilkas. Apparently we're married, and I just might leave you."

"Leave me?" He said, laughing even louder. "We weren't married until just this morning, and now you want to leave me." He shrugged, turning his nose up and looking away from me. "Your loss. I'm a catch."

I poked his sides, trying to get some sort of reaction from him, but I got nothing. "You're not ticklish?" I asked him, poking him harder.

"Not at all." He looked back at me, giving his best scowl. "And you'd know that if you'd been a good wife. But no. You want to leave me."

I hopped up onto my knees, wrapping my arms around his neck from behind him and leaning against his back. I rested my chin on the top of his head. "You know I'm just playing with you." I smooshed his face between my hands. "I could never leave you. Just like you said, you're a catch."

He stuck his tongue out, licking the palm of my hand. I yanked it away, crying out in humored disgust. "You couldn't leave me if you tried, little girl."

I kept my arms wrapped around his neck though, squeezing him for just a moment. "I don't want to leave you."

"So you want to be with me then?" His cheeks were warm beneath my hand as his face blushed. He was nervous.

I understood then, and I climbed off of him. I sat back down beside him, looking up at his red face. He looked at me, then looked down at his feet, rubbing the back of his neck. I pressed my cheek against his shoulder. "Of course I want to be with you. Why would you even ask?"

He looked back at me. "We've never actually spoken about it." I could feel absolute nervousness radiating off of him.

"That's true." I said, sitting up straight and turning my body to face him. I smirked. "But Farkas already told your secret. Long ago. Though, I never heard it from the horse's mouth, so I'm not even sure if it's true." I poked his cheek to let him know I was only joking.

Vilkas snorted. "Farkas never lies, Kara." he exhaled for a long time. "It's true, the secret. But I only want what you want."

I stared at him a moment. I was utterly amazed at how selfless Vilkas was. I supposed I knew that all along, but in that moment, it became clear that everything he'd ever done was for someone else. All I wanted in the span of those few seconds was to be exactly like him. To be willing to just toss everything I felt away so the person I loved wouldn't feel obligated to reciprocate.

Of course, I realized moments later that I didn't want to be exactly like him. I just wanted him. Everything about him was everything I loved. His snarky remarks, his fiery attitude, his premature reactions, even the amount of dirt that seemed to be caked to his flesh no matter how much I made him scrub it. I wanted to spend every moment I was awake with him. I wanted to spend every moment I was asleep with him. I wanted to fight every battle, win every war, and celebrate every happy moment in my life with him. But more than anything, I wanted to have told him sooner. I felt so foolish, all of a sudden, for not allowing myself to be so happy before that moment.

"Kara?" he asked, pulling me out of my thoughts. I blinked at him, watching his face falling as he waited for me to speak. I knew he was beginning to worry about my reaction, so I decided I couldn't linger in thought any longer.

"Vilkas, I am so stupidly in love with you." I said to him, all of my thoughts spilling from my lips like warm mead. "It's always been in the back of my throat, waiting to be said, but gods, how could I have waited this long to say it? I love you, Vilkas. I want you." I leaned toward him then, kissing him eagerly on the lips. He was utterly surprised, but I could feel how happy he was. Or was that me? Us?

He pulled away from me, putting his hand against my face. "Kara, you're the only thing I've ever wanted. From the moment you walked through the door, right up to me and Kodlak, I was in love with you." He kissed me again. "Oh, thank the gods for that damned giant."

"Why did we wait so long?" I asked in between kisses. "How silly are we?"

Vilkas pulled away from me entirely then. He held my hands with his own, running his gloved thumbs over my knuckles. "We should get married."

I laughed. "Do you think so?"

"Of course." he said, his voice getting softer. "We could tell your family tonight at dinner, and we could be wed this time next week."

I thought about that for a moment. "Let's do exactly that, Vilkas. If you're as sure as I am, there's nothing to stop us."

He laughed then. "I am, pup. I'd be glad to stand by your side until the Divines take us." He brushed my hair away from my face once again. "If you'll have me."

I placed my hand over his. "I will. Together, then?"

Vilkas smiled, leaning toward my lips again. "Together."

Apparently, Lydia can't cook. Not that I judged her at all for it, because in all honesty, cooking is something I absolutely cannot do either. That's how I found myself on vegetable duty with my new sister, chopping and exchanging stories of all of the food we'd burned in our days.

"Once, I offered to cook for my brothers on my mother's birthday, so she wouldn't have to. It was a very simple stew, honestly. Carrots, potatoes, beef. Nothing fancy." she said to me, a smile on her face as she chopped leeks beside me. "Somehow, I managed to confuse beef stock with alto wine. I'd never seen my mother so drunk before."

I laughed loudly, as did my mother, who was hunched over a pot in the middle of the room. Her hair had grayed significantly over the years, but the light in her brown eyes was still the same. She had a few more wrinkles now, of course, and those were likely due to the trouble Cass and I had caused not long ago. She was happy to have us here though. Happy to have some company.

Ma looked over her shoulder at me, a smirk on her face. "Tell Lydia about the time you tried to bake your brother's birthday cake, Karalissa." From the other room, Cassius laughed. He had been in there by himself for a while, but Vilkas had joined him with two large mugs of mead in his hands. Vilkas had been hovering over me since we returned to my mother's home, but I can only imagine he decided he needed some liquid encouragement before we made our announcement.

As Lydia finished chopping her leeks, I finished the garlic, and Lydia brought both to my mother. I laughed before I began to tell my story, leaning against the table I'd been chopping at. "I really wanted to make Cass' birthday cake one year, and I insisted that Ma didn't help at all. I mixed up a few ingredients, that's all."

Ma leaned toward Lydia. "She confused flour and powdered sugar. The cake exploded." Cassius and Vilkas erupted into gales of laughter, walking into the kitchen. Lydia laughed softly, but gave me a wink, letting me know that I wasn't the only one. "I was scraping batter off of these walls for days."

Cassius put his arm around my shoulder. "That wasn't the funniest part though." He held his arm out to Vilkas, beckoning him over. "Ma and I were in upstairs, and when we heard the explosion, we ran downstairs. We were yelling for Karalissa and she wasn't answering. We were horrified."

My mother laughed hysterically. "Oh, Cassius, do you remember? We walked into the kitchen and she was covered in this yellow batter."

"Oh yeah, and she says," he did his best impression of me. "'I think I messed it up.'"

Vilkas and Cassius exploded with laughter, and my brother ruffled my hair. I wrinkled my nose, looking up at both of them. Vilkas looked slightly apologetic as he laughed, but Cassius felt no remorse and laughed harder.

Ma picked the pot up with a wooden spoon and carried it to the table. She began pouring stew into bowls, and we all took our seats. I sat next to Lydia and across from Vilkas, with my brother and mother at the heads of the table. As we all began to eat, Cassius was still laughing about the cake.

Vilkas nudged me with his foot underneath the table. "You should never let Farkas know about that." he said, a sly grin on his face. "He'll insist we try to blow a cake up ourselves."

My mother looked over at Vilkas from across the table. "Farkas is your brother?"

"Yes ma'am." Vilkas answered, nodding as he took another spoonful of stew. "Farkas loves stories, but he prefers to see things for himself. If he can test it out, he will."

"Better keep him out of earshot, then, because I will never stop talking about it." Cass said around a mouthful of stew. "In fact, I personally volunteer my kitchen for experimentation."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Then you can have all of the fun of cleaning that up."

Cass shrugged. "Worth it."

Ma tapped my arm with her finger. "Viarmo says you joined the Companions. What's that like?"

I looked over at my brother, wondering why he didn't tell her that in the interrogation. "The Companions are great. We just protect Whiterun Hold, take care of bandits and giants. Nothing too exciting."

"It sounds exciting." she said, leaning against her palm. "How do you get your work? Who's in charge of the Companions?"

I glanced at my brother again, really confused. He made eye contact with me for a split second, then looked back down at his soup and discreetly shook his head. He didn't want her to know. I'd have to revisit that.

"Well, nobody really leads the Companions, Ma. We have a Harbinger, but that's just for council."

My mother nodded, giving me a look I knew all too well. "And your brother? What does he do? I assume he just gets into trouble."

I glanced at Cassius again, who looked absolutely desperate. I felt his worry. He really didn't want Ma to know what we actually did. "Cassius is a Thane of Whiterun. Didn't he tell you?" When Ma shook her head, I shrugged. "He runs errands for the Jarl. He's really just a servant to Balgruuf himself. Isn't that right, Cass?"

Cassius coughed around some soup. He glared at me, but smiled at Ma. "That's right, Karl. I live to serve."

Ma was beaming. "I'm so proud of both of you." she said. "And Cassius, I'm surprised you got a woman as lovely as Lydia to agree to marry you."

Lydia beamed at both my mother and Vilkas, but Cassius grumbled. "What's so wrong with me? I'm not capable of finding a nice woman?"

"Clearly you are, son." Ma turned to me. "What about you Karalissa? Anyone catch you eye yet?"

I looked up at Vilkas, who had a huge grin on his face. He gave me a wink. "Actually, Ma, there's something I wanted to tell you all tonight." Vilkas bumped me with his foot under the table. "Vilkas and I—"

There were screams outside just then, and the sound of weapons being drawn. We all stood from the table, none faster than Cass and Vilkas. We all rushed to the door and out into the streets, looking around for what was happening.

People were running frantically, yelling things I could hardly understand. Cassius stopped a guard, trying to be as gentle as he could manage.

"What's going on?"

The guard shook his head, watching as a fleet of Penitus Oculatus guards flew past. "There's been an attempt on the Emperor's life. The Gourmet wasn't really the Gourmet. It was an assassin."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Cassius asked, a little louder than he should have. Thu'um rumbled in his voice, and he dialed his tone back. "The Emperor? An assassin?"

"The Dark Brotherhood, sir. They're saying it was the Dark Brotherhood."

Another guard ran past just then. "I saw the whole thing. She flew out of Solitude, right off of the wall!"

Cassius let go of the guard. "A woman flew out of Solitude? Bullshit." He turned back to us, realization in his eyes. "The Jarl needs to know. He needs to know now."

I shook my head at my brother. "Balgruuf? Why is he so important all of a sudden?"

Cassius snorted. "No, Karl. Balgruuf can go screw himself. Jarl Ulfric needs to know!" Beside him, Lydia nodded.

I blinked at him. "Ulfric…Stormcloak?"

"Yes!" he yelled. I looked at Vilkas, who was as confused as I was. "This is his time to act! The Empire is weak, and this is an opportunity I won't let him miss. Not after all of this."

"All of what, Cass?"

My brother laughed. "Karl, we have some serious talking to do. We'll take you and Vil back to Whiterun, but we need to get to Windhelm as soon as possible."

And just like that, our trip was over. Vilkas put his hand on my back, reminding me that we'd have to save our announcement for another day.