Hey everyone!

To answer the question a guest left for me, have you ever noticed that even without any makeup whatsoever, a female Altmer's eyelashes always look dark? So that's why her hair is light blonde but her eyelashes are black.

Anyway, enjoy the story!


Warm...Impossibly warm...

I smiled a little in my sleepy state, curling closer to the heat. I sighed in content, almost drifting back to sleep.

Why is it so warm?

My eyes opened, and I looked up to see the sleeping face of Ondolemar. I felt a heat rising in my cheeks. I scooted back, only to find that my hands were clutching him. I removed them, pulling them close to my chest.

Ondolemar's eyes drifted open, his face very relaxed. "Good morning." He said quietly.

I was trying to think of what to say as he stared at me, seeming completely unfazed by the fact that I was wrapped around him a few minutes ago.

"Sir, are you awake?" A voice called out as they knocked on the door. Ondolemar's eyes shot to the door, and he answered "In a moment."

I climbed out of bed, my head throbbing. The Justiciar went straight to his closet, and pulled out his robes. He quickly pulled them on, and looked back at me. "There are some potions in the chest over there for your hangover. I suggest going back to sleep."

He called back to the soldier "Coming." He slipped through the door barely, not giving the soldier any view of the room.

I smiled to myself as I slowly made my way to the chest, my head hurting even more with each step. I slowly opened the chest and peered into it, my motor skills not as good as they could be. I slowly plucked out potions, reading them and carefully putting them back in.

I plucked out two identical looking potions, and frowned. The first one was the potion I was looking for. The other one was a potion I'd never heard of before. I peered at it. It had no label, so I wasn't sure what the effects were either.

I slowly put it back, and took a drink of the other potion, smiling at the fast relief of my headache. I went back to the bed and plopped down, but couldn't bring myself to sleep. I sighed, staring at the ceiling.

My thoughts went back to Faolan. He looked much like the same old Faolan I once knew, although his face thinned out considerably and matured. I closed my eyes, trying to shove away the mental images of him.

And surprisingly, they did. In their place, pictures of Ondolemar played through my mind, and I smiled a little. And my eyes opened, the ceiling returning. I sighed, frowning slightly.

I'm endangering Ondolemar... Taking advantage of his kindness...

I felt a pang of guilt. The more I thought of it, the more I wanted to get away. To leave and save the ones I care for.

Is that it? I care for Ondolemar?

The thought brought more worries to my shoulders. It just meant more people Faolan would try to take from me. And the thought of Aicantar, Calcelmo, and Ondolemar being hurt...

I shook my head, squeezing my eyes shut tightly, wiping away the thoughts. Auri-el protect them... Do what you will to me but spare them...


"Ondolemar!"

The Justiciar turned to see Calcelmo making his way over. "What do you-"

"Where is Vallisara?! Have you seen her?" The older Altmer demanded, and Ondolemar raised an eyebrow, answering calmly "Why would you think I would know?"

Calcelmo frowned, stepping up to Ondolemar. They were relatively close in height, with Ondolemar being just slightly taller. Calcelmo answered with a dark stare "Because I know if she went anywhere before disappearing, she visited you. So I'll ask again, where is she?"

Ondolemar pursed his lips. He found himself wondering whether or not to tell him that she was currently staying in his room.

"Why are you looking for her?"

The other elf's frown grew deeper. "She is my niece. It would seem normal for an uncle to worry. And with Faolan hanging around, I need to make sure she knows she needs to get out of here soon. It's only a matter of time until he grows suspicious and starts taking more...aggressive... measures of getting answers instead of his poking his nose in places it doesn't belong."

Ondolemar stayed quiet for a minute before finally answering "She's long gone. Mentioned something about a hideout in Riften."

"Liar." Calcelmo said almost immediately. Ondolemar's eyebrows raised in surprise. The wizard sighed, saying "I guess I should be glad you're willing to lie for her though. She's going to need a lot of help until we can somehow convince Faolan to look elsewhere." He looked at the Justiciar with weary eyes, but still managed to smile. "I'm surprised actually."

"By what?"

Calcelmo's eyes gleamed, responding "That you're willing to lie to another Thalmor associate to protect someone. I didn't really take you as the type." And he turned, walking away.

"Wait, Calcelmo."

The old mer turned, looking at him. "How did you know I was lying?" Ondolemar asked.

He grinned, and for a moment, he seemed much younger than he actually was. "You must think me a fool if you thought I didn't know where she's been this whole time. I'm old; not senile."

Ondolemar just stared at Calcelmo, who's eyebrow rose. "Keep an eye on her for me. And I'm expecting you to be the adult between you two and know the boundaries." His eyes gleamed again.

Ondolemar's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, not understanding what the older elf meant. And it hit him, but before he could explain it wasn't like that, the court wizard was gone. He sighed, and continued his patrols, stuck in his thoughts. He looked down at his gloved hands, his fingers twitching.

Something moved in his vision, and he looked up to see a very familiar shadow sliding along the wall. Moving in very fast strides, he stood directly behind her.

"You see me, don't you."

"Yes." And with his answer, she turned, and he grabbed her wrist, not tightly but firm enough to make sure she wasn't going to slip away as he pulled her from plain sight into a side room.

"Mind explaining why you're dragging me away, Justiciar?" Vallisara asked as he turned to face her. He looked down at her fiery eyes, and he replied "Mind explaining why I see you outside of my room?"

She pursed her lips. "That's almost sexist, Justiciar."

"I'm not joking around, Vallisara. Do you know how much danger you put yourself at when you step outside of that room?" He said sternly. He felt as if he was scolding a child, and Calcelmo's words rang in his head.

She sighed, her joking manner fading away into a serious one. "Do you know how much danger I put you in by staying in your room?"

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes, responding "We went over this already. I don't care if I'm in danger-"

"But I do!" She blurted. He blinked, looking down at her. Her eyes were frantically searching his face. She sighed and looked at her feet. "I don't want to hurt you..."

He stared at her, speechless. He didn't expect her to voice that kind of fear to him. Finally his brain started functioning, and managed to get his tongue to coƶperate.

"You don't think I worry the same thing?"

She blinked and looked up. He sighed, shaking his head. "I know my associates have done unjust things, and I understand your resent. But I don't want you to believe us all the same. I want to help you. Do you know how disturbing all of what you've told me is? This elf is willing to kill to get you. And if you ran off and he caught you... I'd feel guilty for letting you leave. Your uncle is expecting me to watch over you! I'm not going to let them tear another family apart again!"

Ondolemar didn't realize what he'd just said until it was already out of his mouth. And he saw she realized it too. She just stared up at him with confusion. "What? What are you-"

His eyes darted to the stone floor. Why'd I say that? I...

"It's nothing."

He could feel her gaze burning holes into him. "Ondolemar... What were you-"

He looked up, and couldn't hold back the glare. "I said it's nothing!" He regretted the harsh tone, but it didn't faze her. She just looked up at him, almost with a look of pity.

"Please, I just want to understand." She said softly.

He looked down. With a voice he didn't trust to not crack, he spoke. "I was just following orders. I had no choice. I was just a newly recruited Thalmor agent. We were trying to get answers, but couldn't openly torture the mer. So, I was told to take his family into custody. They... They didn't tell me they were going to torture them in front of him... They wanted me to... To... I couldn't. Not in front of the mer and his wife. So they shoved past me and did it themselves... They sat there and burned her, shocked her, froze her, and healed her just enough to keep her alive. His little girl. She couldn't have been much older than twelve. He gave us answers. They should have stopped... But, they... They turned to me... They made me finish her off... Told me that it was her or me..."

He looked up to Vallisara. She just stared at him. No prominent emotion stood out. Disgust, sadness, fear, pain, and many others swirled. She took a small step away. He didn't blame her. "So I did. I figured she deserved that little sympathy instead of endless memories of it... I convinced myself I'd saved her... It was the only way I could live with myself... It's still the only way I live with any of the things I've done... Or things I didn't do."

"You..." She stared up at him, her eyes seeming horrified. She shook her head.

He couldn't look at the horror in her eyes. The disappointment. "If it means anything, I pay for that sin every day with the memories I live with."

There was silence between them for what felt like the longest eternity he'd ever experienced. Finally, she spoke.

"I'm glad I know you now instead of then. I don't think I would've liked you much then."

He looked up in confusion. She smiled at him. "I'm sorry too. I forget that I'm not the only one suffering."

And with that, she turned and walked away. He slumped down, lost in thought.


I slipped back out of the room I'd been in, back into the hall. I sighed. Ondolemar's revelation took a lot from me. The room was filled with deafening silence as I made my way through it. I couldn't help but feel as though something wasn't right in it. I shook it off as I had almost reached the other side of the hallway.

But a voice I knew all to well reached my ears before I made it.

"I knew you were still hanging around. It's been a long time, Vallisara."

My blood felt like ice in my veins as fear struck me like lightning. I turned slowly.

"Not long enough."

He chuckled, smiling at me. "Ooh, that burns my insides a little, Val." His hand went over his chest in feigned pain.

I scowled. He just smiled at me. "Don't call me that."

He laughed. "Still as fiery as I remember. I missed you." He said. I stepped back. He stepped forward.

"You have no reason to be here."

"Neither do you Val. So why are you here, hm?" His eyes flashed, and I stepped back again. I lied "I'm just visiting my uncle."

He smirked, and answered "Your uncle's lab is down there. So I will ask again..." He stepped forward again. "Why are you here?"

I stepped back again.

"Are you visiting the Jarl? Or maybe the Orc... Or, could it be that you're visiting Ondolemar?" His eyes burnt into me, digging the answer.

"Last time I checked, it's not illegal for me to look around the keep after visiting my uncle."

He chuckled. "You're a terrible liar. So, tell me the truth."

I finally stopped stepping back, and looked him in the eye. "You want the truth?"

He didn't answer, just stared at me.

"If we weren't in the middle of the a keep full of guards, I'd kill you. Leave me alone."

He laughed, his eyes shining darkly. He grabbed me by the collar and dragged me from prying eyes. I winced as he shoved me against a wall, pinning me.

I looked into his gold eyes, the malice burning into me. But I won't let him push me around. Not anymore.

"Don't be like that, Val. You know you belong with me." He said softly, despite his harsh eyes.

I scowled. "I don't belong with you, or to you. Let me go. Now."

He frowned. "Val, don't-"

I shoved my hands to his chest before he could react, the electricity already pulsing through him. He screamed in agony, and I dodged away from him as he reached for me. I put distance between him and I.

I stared at his back for a few minutes. Then, I heard a chuckle. It kept building, soon a full blown laugh. It echoed throughout the whole keep.

"You'll pay for that." He charged towards me, and I dodged away, running as fast as I could away, narrowly missing a fireball shot towards me.

"HELP!" I screamed, and heavy footfalls sounded, and all I could think was they weren't coming fast enough.

"You! Stop right there!"

I could see the guards running towards me, and I smiled in relief. But relief soon faded when a knife buried itself in the back of my shoulder. I turned and looked to see Faolan smirking as the guards swarmed him, his hands raising in acceptance of his arrest.

I started to feel dizzy, and my vision started to blot out, spots going dark. Someone was calling me. I felt tired.

Poison... I could hear muffled voices yelling as my vision went black.


Okay, not how I was expecting this chapter to go. Oh well.

Leave a review on your thoughts, and I'll see you all next time.