Chapter 10
A/N I've been thinking...and yes it hurt. I might change things round so Kodlak can attend the wedding, because I don't know about you guys, but his death made my in game wedding so sad. So He wont be dying yet ;P yayz!
Now, enjoy.
It was hard trying to read with a slab of steak over his eye. Vilkas had tried it for hours, hoping the swelling on his eye would go down but it only seemed to hinder his reading.
Eventually, He dropped the meat onto a plate and sighed before going back to his book. He had to give it to Ayah. She had a killer right hook.
"Vilkas?"
The familiar soft voice needed no visual confirmation for Vilkas to know who it was.
"Yes Ria?" He asked flatly, refusing to look up from his page.
He heard the door open a little more and then squeak shut behind Ria. She remained in front of the door, her hands still grasping the handle behind her back.
"Are…Are you ok now?"
Vilkas looked up from his book in irritation. His black eye had bloomed and there was an off coloured bruising around his temple. "Do I look ok Ria?" He snapped.
The younger woman bit her lip and shrugged sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to come and see. That's all."
"What? And gloat back to Ayah how she's roughed me up? No thank you Ria…." He growled bitterly, returning back to his book with a face like thunder.
"Gloat? I wouldn't…!"
"Bull Ria!" Vilkas snapped his book shut and glared at her. "That's what Farkas has been doing, isn't it? Why would you be any different?"
Tears rose but Ria held them back with everything in her. "Vilkas, No. I'd never do that. I just wanted to see if you were ok. Really."
Vilkas huffed and opened his book again, but having lost his page, growled and tossed it back onto the table.
"I'm fine Ria." He ground out. When the younger woman did not budge from his doorway, Vilkas rubbed a gloveless hand over his face. "Really Ria. Thank you for coming to see, but I am fine, other than this black eye and a splitting headache."
"Do you regret that kiss we had?"
The question nearly went over Vilkas's head and it took a moment or two of thought for him to realise. Looking at Ria in shock, he could see the bright red flush that coloured her cheeks. Her eyes were turned away from him but he could see she was tearing up out of embarrassment maybe. Or perhaps regret.
He had to be honest to himself. He wasn't sure how to answer her question. He didn't regret the kiss at all, but he questioned himself. He questioned whether he was in the right state of mind, or whether he'd done it out of the loneliness he'd felt at that moment.
"No. I don't." Vilkas thought it best to keep things simple.
"Neither do I…." Ria whispered and turned back toward the door. She opened in quietly and left without a second glance back toward Vilkas.
-oOo-
Kodlak had sent Ayah and Aela out to clear some falmer from some caverns under a small mining village to the west.
They weren't the best choice for the task, what with Ayah preferring to stalk to prey first and Aela liking to fight from a distance instead of close up, something of which she'd have to do in the cramped caverns, but the Harbinger felt the women very compatible together and Aela needed some social time. She'd become withdrawn and reluctant to be in people's company since Skjor's death. With Ayah and Farkas's upcoming wedding, Kodlak hoped it would bring her out a little more.
"So, let me get this straight…" Aela let fly another arrow, the poison treated steel tip piecing the falmer's throat. "You want to invite your cousin, the bandit, to your wedding."
Ayah grunted as another monstrous falmer fell to her blade. "Aye."
"And how exactly do you expect to find him?"
There was a hiss and growl from behind Ayah before she was struck by a falmer weapon. She let out a cry before she hit the dirt and rolled to try and get some distance. However, she didn't manage to make it to her feet before Aela shot an arrow into its chest, quickly following the first with three more. The Falmer's lifeless body crumpled to the ground and the huntress rushed to pick her shield sister up.
"Ugh. What did I tell you about not dying before the wedding?" She grumbled as she pulled Ayah to her feet.
"Sorry Aela." Ayah's winced. The Falmer's primitive blade had cut into her armour on her back and left some shallow wounds.
"Turn round." Ayah did as the older companion asked. Reaching into a side pouch, Aela produced some sort of lotion and began to massage it into the cuts. "Farkas would be heartbroken if you died before he'd managed to put a ring on your finger." The huntress continued to grumble.
Ayah fidgeted and wiggled away from Aela when you burning sensation of the lotion got too much. "Ah! What's in that?"
"Standard stuff, with an added extra ingredient."
The huntress tucked her lotion away and stalked off down another passage, Ayah following close behind.
"As I was saying…" Aela went into a crouch and edged her way down the near black trail. "How do you expect to find this cousin of yours?"
"I'll just have to go on the way he looks and hope I just bump into him while I'm wondering Skyrim. That or I might need you to check with the guards of the other holds."
Aela scowled and glanced back at the other hooded woman. "Your joking right?" She whispered. "If you remember him having a beard, long hair, with muscles and a bad attitude, you'll be talking about ninety per cent of nord men in Skyrim. And that percentage probably goes higher when you start talking about male nord bandits. You'll never find him!"
"He never had a beard." Ayah insisted in reply. The two women reached an open room and peered over the rock ledge, down toward a small collection of falmer huts. The creatures could be seen scurrying from one to the other. Glancing between them, Aela stepped back to allow Ayah to do her thing.
Inhaling deeply, she opened her mouth to release a flurry of fire that rained down on the falmer and their homes. They screamed as they burned and the stench of burnt falmer flesh tickled Ayah and Aela's noses.
After picking off the few remaining survivors, the companions began to make the long climb down the rock face to the bottom.
"I remember Teagan never liked beards. He used to say they made everyone look the same. Uniformed. He hated it."
"Ok, so we're looking for a beardless bandit. That narrows it down. Not by much, but it narrows it a little nonetheless." Aela muttered and jumped the last few rocks to the bottom. Ayah soon followed and the pair began to loot the falmer's huts.
"I don't know if it will help…" Ayah called from a hut where she was picking the lock on a chest. "But he's a serial self-harmer too."
"A what?" Aela leant out of her hut and looked in the direction of Ayah's, unsure if she'd heard correctly.
"He self-harms." She called again. "He's been doing it since he was a child."
"Why?" Aela grimaced.
"He just likes it."
"Sick bastard." Aela shook her head and went back to shaking down the falmer's bodies, finding more than enough gold on them. She'd always wondered why they carried gold. It wasn't like they used it to trade.
"When he was ten, he pieced his own ears with an embalming tool, and then put in two bands of gold, which he had a smith weld together so they could never be taken out by his father without cutting his ears off." Ayah appeared from the hut and dusted herself down. "I found this shield. You want it?" She offered it out to Aela, who took it with a nod of thanks.
"There appears to be something seriously wrong with your cousin's mind." Aela's expression was one of disapproval.
"Maybe, Maybe not. Personally, I just think he really likes defying people."
"Either way, I really think you should reconsider bringing him to the wedding."
"Aela, he's my cousin and this is my wedding. Farkas already said its ok."
Aela stared back to her sceptically. "Does Farkas know what a nutcase your cousin sounds?"
"No…not really." Ayah bit her lip and scuffed her feet as she walked toward the way out. She heard her shield sister sigh behind her.
"Alright. Whatever. So we're looking for a beardless bandit, wearing gold earrings and has a self-harming problem."
"He has a crown on his chest too."
"A crown?" Aela shifted the shield from one should to the other.
"He carved a crown into his chest when he was fourteen. He said it meant he was going on to bigger and better things and he was meant for more in life."
"Ayah, I don't know how many times I have to keep saying this…" Aela grasped Ayah's arm tightly and pulled her to look at her. "Your cousin sounds crazy."
Ayah scowled and looked the other woman dead in the eye. "You have no idea what crazy is." Her mind wondered back to Cicero and the trouble the brotherhood had had with the ridiculous clown. "My cousin isn't crazy Aela. I want him there and that's final. Please, you have to help me with this. You have contacts with the guards."
Ayah's expression was heart wrenching. Her pale eyes seemed to melt and seep into Aela's soul. Just as she had done to Farkas, Ayah made Aela squirm under her wide eyed gaze.
"Ok! Ok. Enough already!" Aela snapped and pulled herself away. "Against my own judgement, I'll send word out to the other holds and see if they know of him…Just stop with the look. You remind me of a lost puppy."
-oOo-
It was another week before any word from the other holds arrived. The wedding was in its later stages of planning. The date was set for the Friday of the next week, as was traditional. The feast was being collected and foods like cheese and some meats were being prepared and smoked. Eorlund was well into the making of Farkas's armour, occasionally calling the husband to be up to the Skyforge to be measured and re-measured.
Ayah's armour was being prepared at Warmaiden's near the main gate to Whiterun. Adrianne was busy with the fine detail Ayah had requested. When she'd gone to the lady smith, she'd handed over her recently acquired Nightingale armour and asked for a similar piece with the same fit and décor but in white glass. Adrianne had given her a strained, desperate look but had agreed. Since then, she'd been working on it none stop and it was coming together nicely.
Vilkas had surprised everyone by taking to his best man role with gusto. He'd been work on his speech for days and was up late trying to perfect it. Ria visited him and had relayed with glee to Ayah as they trained one morning how Vilkas had asked her to accompany him to the wedding and dance with him. Ayah had been pleased for her and both giggled like adolescent girls as they talked.
The night was a cold one and the companions had crowed into the main hall to dine and chat about the day's events. Ayah had tired herself out and was curled up against Farkas on a bench away from the main table.
Ria had taken Farkas's seat next to Vilkas and had coxed him into a conversation, even though she was still doing most of the talking.
Athis watched Torvar shine his boots for the eighth time that day alone.
"You'll wear the hide away." He warned.
"I need them clean for the big day!" The blonde nord grunted as he rubbed at the left boot fiercely.
"It's over a week away!" Njada scowled. She'd been away for the past week, up in Solitude on a job for a well-respected family. She'd been stunned by the news of the wedding and had silently slipped away without comment.
"So? I want my amour clean and good looking. I need to impress."
"Impress? Impress who?" Vilkas shot him a look. "You're likely to get drunk and embarrass yourself. Who will that impress?"
Torvar chose to ignore him and continued shine his armour.
"I have news! Ayah! I have news!" The back doors to Jorrvaskr opened and Aela entered. Everyone turned to look up at her except Ayah, who barely stirred against Farkas.
"Ayah?" The huntress crossed the room and knelt beside them. Farkas nudged Ayah softly, causing her to groan and pout. "Ayah, I have news. Wake up."
"What?" She whined.
"I've found Teagan."
Immediately, Ayah sat up, still groggy and tired, but eager to hear the news.
"Where is he?"
"Before I tell you anything, I just want you to know, he has a pretty big bounty on his head. He's a wanted man Ayah."
"I don't care. Where is he?"
"He was caught trying to attack some merchant caravans a few days ago. His bandit brothers ran and left him to take the heat, so currently, he's cooling his heels at the Jarl of Dawnstar's expense."
Swinging her legs off the bench, Aela's raven haired shield sister stood and stretched.
"I have to get to Dawnstar."
"Ayah! You can't. The wedding!" Ria stood, her hands over her heart.
"Ayah, it'll take you days to get there and days to get back. You won't make it in time."
"We can always move the wedding to another day." Farkas stood and wrapped an arm round his soon to be wife's shoulders.
"This is ridiculous. All this for some bandit!" Vignar huffed.
"That bandit is my family. I want him at my wedding." Ayah retorted.
"If Ayah goes, I go with her." Farkas said defiantly. "So the wedding wouldn't be going on anyway."
"If Farkas goes, I go too." Vilkas piped up.
"And I'll have to come to make sure none of you die." Aela sighed, unimpressed by the whole situation.
"I'd like to come too." Ria added weakly. Vilkas touched her hand and smiled at her reassuringly.
"I may as well come too. Make an event of it." Torvar chuckled.
"I don't need you all coming with me." Ayah's shoulders slumped. "I'm only going to Dawnstar. I don't need an entourage. I have to pick up Babette and Nazir anyway."
"You're inviting the vampire child?" Vilkas's face dropped.
"Yes. I'm inviting the vampire child….is there a problem with that Vilkas?" his soon to be sister-in-law challenged.
"A vampire child, a bandit and more than a few assassins….what a spectacular wedding reception this'll be." Njada commented sarcastically.
"And thieves." Ayah added.
"Thieves too?" Vilkas looked horrified.
"I have some very varied friends Vilkas."
"Clearly…" Athis muttered.
-oOo-
It took two days of constant travel to reach Dawnstar. When they finally made it, it was a clear day with blue skies and even the sun made an appearance, though it did little to warm the bone chilling air that whipped around the companions as they climbed off the carriage they'd taken from Whiterun.
Ayah gave a visible shiver. Despite being a nord, the cold weather still continued to bother her where as it did not the others. She'd bunched herself in a large fur coat and clung to Farkas's side as they'd travelled. Her love showed no sign of being cold, even in his simple armour, a fact that astonished Ayah.
Aela led the way to the barracks and the jail. True to their word, Ria, Torvar and Vilkas had come with them and all of them piled into the small jail block, only to have the guards kick all but Aela and Ayah out again.
"His fines sum up to over one thousand gold." The guard told Ayah as he found out the key to Teagan's cell. "And that's a decrease because you're a companion."
"I don't mind." Ayah shook her head. "I'll pay, just let me see him."
The guard led the way to the furthest cell and allowed Ayah to look through the bars.
Sure enough, sat in the back of the cell on a pile of straw, was a burly, long light brown haired nord, covered in scars with one particularly obvious one on his chest.
"Am I a side show now? Going to cart me round Skyrim charging gold for people to stare at me are you?" He snapped at the guard with a strong nord accent. He clearly did not recognise his younger relative who gazed in on him. His armour had been taken and he sat at the back of the cell in his loincloth.
He looked just as Ayah remembered him. His hair braided, his face shaven and even the gold rings that hung from his ears. The crown on his chest had been added to with some more carvings that had scarred, leaving a mural like picture across his naked chest.
"Teagan?" Ayah called to him. He glared back and toyed with a bit of straw absently.
"Who's asking?"
"Ayah, that's who." She shot back, grasping at the bars.
"Ayah?" Teagan stood and went to move forward, toward the bars. "Little Ayah?"
"Stand back!" The guard yelled and pulled his sword. "Stand back from the bars prisoner."
"It's alright!" Ayah pleaded with the guard. "It's alright, honestly." The Dawnstar guard eased up, but still hovered nearby.
Teagan slipped his arm through the bars and cupped Ayah's face as he marvelled at her.
"By the Gods. Little Ayah, I didn't recognise you! Look at you?" He gasped and chuckled. "You've grown so much."
"Teagan, listen. I'm going to pay off your fines. We'll talk more when you're out. "
Ayah pulled away from her cousin's hand and turned to the guard. Gold was exchanged and paperwork was filled out and handed over. Another guard released Teagan from his cell as all the paperwork was being done and handed him his hide armour, but not his weapons. He dressed quickly and Ayah and Aela ushered him out of the jail before he could protest about his weapons not being returned.
"Well…" Teagan glared back to the jail house. "You were the last person I expected to save me."
"You were hard to find." Aela mentioned.
"You've been looking for me?" Teagan's eyes flittered between Aela and Ayah and then the mountains.
"Yes we've been looking for you. We haven't got much time either. And stop looking at those mountains. Try running and I'll have Aela put an arrow in your back." Ayah told him coldly after seeing his expression.
Teagan's eyes widened as he turned back to his little cousin. "Whoa! Someone's grown into their bones. What happened to the sweet little child who used to like flowers and sunshine?" He chuckled.
"She came to Skyrim." Ayah said flatly.
"And became a nord instead of a khajiit."
"A nord and a Companion." Aela murmured from just ahead.
"You're a companion?" The bulky bandit burst into a fit of laughter. "You're a companion little Ayah? Well, grandfather would be pleased at least. What does Uncle Andrelheim think?"
"My father's dead Teagan."
"Dead." His pace slowed until Teagan came to a total stop. "Since when? How?"
Ayah shrugged and continued to walk. The idea wasn't pleasing to Ayah but she knew she'd have to tell him about her parent's death in the end.
"They were killed in High rock nearly a year ago." She shook her head and turned back to her cousin. Aela continued to walk, the others coming into view outside the tavern where they'd congregated after being kicked out of the guard barracks. Walking back to him, Ayah linked arms with Teagan and began to walk with him. "We were coming back to Skyrim. My father's last request before he died. He was very sick Teagan. He wanted come home and die here. He and mother never made it though."
"What happened?"
"Some freak accident. The caravan overturned on a cliff edge. I was in a nearby settlement at the time getting supplies."
"Lucky. You could have perished with them." Teagan said quietly. His eyes were turned toward the ground and remained there until they reached Ayah's other shield brothers and sisters.
"Ayah? We're going to go in and get some rooms, ok?" Ria informed her once she was close enough.
"Aye." Ayah sighed and let go of Teagan's arm, offering him a soft smile instead. Farkas watched from the steps, the pang of jealousy twisting his gut.
"Get a double room for me and Ayah." He called to Ria, loud enough for Ayah and Teagan to hear.
"Oh!" Ayah caught sight of Farkas on the steps. "Teagan, I almost forgot." The offhand comment made her fiancé scowl bitterly. "Teagan. The real reason I got you out is because I'm getting married." Ayah climbed the wooden steps and stood beside Farkas, her arm winding round his waist.
"Damn…" Teagan stared at his little cousin and her hulking new husband with his blackened eyes and battle armour. "Now I wasn't expecting that."
Slender, cold fingers slipped between Farkas's armour and teased his skin, making it prickle and his hair stand on end. "This is Farkas. The man I'm marrying." Ayah said softly.
"He's a big lad." Teagan stepped up to them both and stood a short distance away, both nord men eyeing each other warily.
"He's not as bad as he looks." Ayah smiled, her fingers still under Farkas's armour, trying to keep him calm.
"I'll take your word for that." Teagan cocked an eyebrow and stepped around them, heading into the tavern. When the door closed behind him, Ayah sighed.
"I thought you were going to hit him."
"Don't tempt me." Farkas said angrily.
"You don't like him, do you?" Ayah bit her lip sadly.
"I don't know what to think of him yet. I'll give him a little time though. But only because he's related to you."
Cupping her face, Farkas leant in, catching her lips in a possessive kiss. Ayah hummed against his lips happily and skimmed her tongue against his lips.
"Get a room!" A couple of guards on the patrols whistled and cheered.
"Get on with your job!" Farkas yelled back with a smirk. With Ayah clinging tightly to his side, Farkas opened the door to the tavern and entered.
-oOo-
Farkas's hungry mouth feasted on Ayah's neck. His teeth scraped her skin and his tongue lapped at the red welts his teeth left.
He'd managed to drag Ayah away from Teagan, much to her annoyance. He dragged her to their shared room and pulled her onto the bed with him. Struggling, Ayah had snarled and angrily lashed out, but Farkas batted all her attempts away and groped and grabbed at whatever he could. As always, it had worked and Ayah had eventually melted against him, surrendering to his hands and mouth.
"You're evil." She purred lazily and arched against his body while sat on his lap with her back to his chest.
"How am I evil for wanting time with my woman?" He murmured against her flesh and took another tentative bite.
Ayah gasped and whimpered softly, the mere sound sending shivers through Farkas's body.
"I was talking to Teagan." She moaned and wriggled on his quickly hardening crotch.
"You can talk to Teagan later…" He rasped against her ear, feeling her quiver. "Right now, your husband would like some attention."
Before he could stop her, Ayah had turned in his lap, coming nose to nose with him. Her eyes burned an eerie blue flame, reflecting her burning arousal. "You're not my husband yet." She purred. "And you have my attention a large majority of the time. You're just jealous I want to talk to another man."
"I am not!" He snapped, his anger at being called on his feelings flaring.
"Don't lie to me Farkas." Her lips skated across his and his anger disappeared. He allowed Ayah to initiate the kiss and then quickly took over as their lips became hungry and the kiss became heated. Farkas swelled with joy. He loved Ayah to play rough and take the dominate role, even if he'd never really admit it.
Ayah bit his lips and tongue fiercely, causing him and moan and whimper. The beast blood made everything more intense. Battling. Their personality. Sex. Aela and Skjor were well known in Jorrvaskr for their howling while at it. It had gotten so bad, even the guards around Whiterun had commented to Kodlak about controlling the hounds and it had become an inside joke. Farkas had every intention of making Ayah howl just as loud, if not louder.
He'd just slipped his hands into her leather trousers when there was a shout and a crash from the main room of the tavern.
Ayah sprung from Farkas's lap and wrenched open the door to their room. "What by all the Gods is going on out here?"
Teagan was sprawled out on the floor, coughing and spluttering as he held this throat.
"I told you not to touch me! I warned you not to touch me!" Aela snarled down at him.
"Teagan!" Ayah screeched. "What did you do?"
"Nothing!" He hissed between his teeth.
"He tried groping me. More than once!" Aela fumed. "I told him Ayah! I warned him not to! Why do they never listen?"
"Teagan." Ayah growled from her doorway. "Touch Aela again and she has my permission to put a dagger through your throat. In fact, try anything with anyone while I'm around and I'll put a dagger through your throat!"
"What's going on?" The door across the room opened and Vilkas appeared, red faced and trying to casually hold up his leather trousers. All eyes went to him and he shifted uncomfortably under everyone's gaze.
"Do I even want to know what you're doing?" Ayah asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Hey…Where's Ria?" Torvar slurred from beside the fire. As if summoned, she appeared from behind Vilkas, attempting to desperately right her armour. Her face was bright red and her hair a mess.
"Y'know what? I regret asking already." Ayah groaned and shook her head, wishing she didn't know what they were doing. "I actually regret seeing this too actually." She added in a muttered and dragged a stunned Farkas back into the room, slamming the door behind them.
-oOo-
Ria slumped down on the old bed in her and Vilkas's shared room. She couldn't get the look Ayah had given her out of her head. Putting her head in her hands, she sighed. She wished Vilkas hadn't talked her into it. She wasn't even far into her self-loathing when two muscular arms wrapped round her waist and Vilkas's lips touched her shoulder.
"Come on Ria." His fingers touched her cheek softly. "It's alright."
"Ayah thinks I'm disgusting…." He whined into her hands.
"Why? Why would she think that? Because you're sleeping with me?" Vilkas crawled off the bed and sat beside her, his arms still holding her tightly. "Ria, there is nothing more disgusting in this world than having to listen to your brother and his woman screaming and rutting in the room across from yours." Vilkas mentally cringed as he through back on all the nights he'd been kept awake by the sound of Ayah and Farkas across the hall. How was it even possible for someone to pant that loudly?
Leaning into his arms, Ria huffed. "Maybe I should get a separate room."
"No. Ria, please?" Vilkas's arms tightened around her, holding her in place. "I don't know how to convince you to stay, but please."
Burying her face against his naked chest, Ria took in his scent. It was mucky with a soapy undertone. His chest hair was soft against her nose and she smiled. "I'll stay."
Absently, Vilkas let his lips crack into a smile and pressed his cheek to her hair. "Thank you."
-oOo-
Ayah slipped out of the tavern in the early hours, cloaked into her dark brotherhood armour. She'd promised to meet Babette and Nazir at the entrance to the brotherhood's sanctuary with their things, ready to leave for Whiterun.
She'd just made it past the Iron-Breaker mine when a loud crash came from behind her, like falling armour, followed by a long string of curses.
Spinning mid-step, she was horrified to see Farkas lying on his back on the snowy ground, surrounded by mining equipment he'd obviously fallen over.
"Farkas!" She hissed and rushed to pick him up. "What are you doing?"
"I was following you." He groaned, rubbing his head. "I felt you get out of bed and I wanted to know where you were going."
Ayah had to roll her eyes. She just had to. It was almost funny, but not quite. "It doesn't matter where I'm going. Just go back to bed; I'll be back in a little while. I promise."
"No." Farkas huffed stubbornly. "I want to come with you."
"No Farkas. You can't."
"Why not?"
That left her stumped. Ayah really had no reason why he shouldn't come with her. It was only a short walk round the coastline toward the brotherhood lair. It wasn't like she was putting him in danger either.
"Farkas, I'm going to the sanctuary, that's all. Please go back."
"Can I come?" Her plea went straight over his head.
"No."
"Why?"
"You….You just can't. Now go back to bed."
"I'll follow you, no matter what you say."
Ayah bit her lip against the torrent of abuse she felt boiling up in her throat. Why did he have to be so awkward?
"Stop being so stubborn Farkas."
"Why don't you?" He countered, much to her surprise.
"I don't need you to escort me everywhere. I've been to the sanctuary too many times to count."
"Then at least let me come and see. Please Ayah? You said I could come with you when you go exploring."
"I'm not exploring!" She felt like she was arguing with a stubborn child. "I'm going back to the sanctuary!"
Farkas pulled a face; much like a child would when refused something sweet by their parent. "I'll follow you then."
His refusal to budge was quickly breaking Ayah's spirit to fight him on the subject. With sun only a few hours away, Ayah no longer had the time to argue either. "Fine!" She snapped. "But be quiet and stay close to me."
Farkas practically bounced beside her as they walked, like it was all some great adventure. She could see the childish side of him clearer than ever.
"Why's it so bad for me to come with you anyways?" He asked as he kicked some stray rocks into the water.
"You're about to walk into the Dark brotherhood sanctuary Farkas. A place full of highly trained assassins who are all very protective of their secret home. You'd be dead if you weren't with me and even I can't guarantee you'll be safe. I mean, you haven't even brought your long sword!"
"But I don't sleep with my long sword." He replied with a blatant silliness in his tone.
"But you sleep in your armour?" She pointed out, not in the mood for his games. "Seriously Farkas, this is a dangerous situation. Act your age."
"You're as moody as Vilkas in the mornings." He commented and stopped bouncing as she glared.
"It's bad enough I've had to get up this early to come and get Babette and Nazir. Now I have you in toe, making jokes at my expense. Please Farkas, don't push me." She ground out.
The eerie black door seemed to darken everything around it, like a void into a black unknown. It made Farkas shiver just from looking at it. Ayah stepped forward and whispered to the door and it cracked open. A deathly voice welcomed them and Ayah and Farkas slipped inside.
"I think I shouldn't have come." He frowned once inside.
"Too late now dearest!" She called back sarcastically from further down the stone hall.
"There aren't any spiders in here, is there?" He whimpered, the thought of them lurking in the corners of the room making his want to run back to the door and smash his way out.
Ayah didn't hear him. She was already down the stairs and sat at the long table in the centre of the room, Nazir and Babette sat either side of her.
"Farkas!" Babette cried when he appeared at the top of the stairs. She sprung from her seat and ran up the stone steps to hug him. Ayah wasn't sure until that point, whether Farkas was a spritely mover in such heavy armour. But as he jumped back to avoid the vampire child and ran down the steps to hide behind Ayah, she quickly made up her mind that all his training had paid off.
"Babette, leave Farkas alone. Some people would rather not hug you. He's one of them."
"Awww, you're no fun Farkas." Babette pouted from the top step.
"Not for you demon child!" Farkas spat, still hovering behind Ayah's seat. Babette simply smiled sweetly.
"Ready to go?" Ayah asked Nazir.
"I am. Babette? Are you ready?"
"Almost. I can't decide which shoes to take."
"Take a comfortable pair to dance in and a formal pair." Ayah advised.
Babette squealed and clapped her hands. "Yes! Oh I do so love weddings!" She cried and ran to pack her shoes.
-oOo-
The companions and their guests returned to Whiterun the next day and went back to preparing with the upcoming wedding.
Teagan was jumped on by the Whiterun guards almost immediately upon entering the city and Ayah was left to pay his fines yet again.
"I'll be working right up to my wedding day to make up for all the coin you've cost me Teagan!" She fumed as they left the jail.
"Won't that husband of yours help you out?" Teagan grumbled, straightening his armour he'd had taken from him yet again. He was convinced all the guards were just perverts who wanted to touch him up.
"No! Out of the question. I will not ask Farkas to help pay for you."
"I thought that's what being married was about…" Teagan scowled. "Least that's what my old lady copped me for."
"You're married?" Ayah looked at him in surprise.
"Was…still am kind of." He shrugged. The cousins walked down the steps from Dragonsreach and toward the market. Ayah had been carting about too much stuff for days, unable to sell it anywhere. She had the most dreadful habit of picking up pretty much anything and it weighted her down, unless she was with Farkas, in which case, she dumped stuff on him.
"How does one manage to be 'kind of 'married?" Ayah scoffed.
"Well I'm still married. Be about seven years now. We have three girls together too. But I never see 'em." The regret in his voice was clear.
"And the trend of bad fathering goes on I see." Ayah added flippantly and led the way into Belethor's general goods.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Teagan asked in a hushed tone as they entered the store. Belethor was hovering about the counter, watching them both with eager eyes. He seemed to forever be looking for coin, but had no grit to go out and fight for it.
"I used to read the letters Val used to send to my mother and father." Ayah replied quietly as she began to empty her bag out on the counter. "Give me roughly the average price for all of it. I'm not interested in haggling with you today Belethor." She said flatly to the Breton. "Oh and Belethor?" Ayah placed her blade of woe on the counter threateningly. "Don't even consider trying to short change me because I'm talking…..understand?"
"Like I'd do that Ayah!" He laughed nervously and began looking through the items, keeping an eye on Ayah and her company at all times.
Teagan was staring angrily at a spot on the wall, the mention of his sister bringing back painful memories. "Val used to write to you?"
"She used to send the letters to a little port on the coast of Elsweyr. My father would pick up the letters every other day when he'd go fishing." She told him. "I know how bad your father was Teagan. I know how he'd get drunk and beat your mother and you."
Behind them, Belethor had paused in his examination of the goods and was listening intently. He had to admit, he loved a bit of family drama.
"My father was a monster." Teagan snarled. "He made my mother lose children more than once because he couldn't control himself."
Seeing Belethor listening, Teagan slammed his fists down on the counter, shaking it and the Breton behind it. "Mind your own business Breton before I mind it for you!" He barked over the counter.
Belethor fell backward and scrambled into the back room, stuttering an apology.
"Now that wasn't nice…" Ayah cooed sarcastically.
"He was listening to our conversation." Teagan ground his teeth together in anger. It was an old habit Ayah's father said seemed to run in the family.
"To be fair, we are in his store." She shrugged. "Now, you were saying."
"I don't want to talk about it anymore."
"You can't cut off our conversation just like that Teagan. You know more about our family in Skyrim than I do."
"What's there to know?" Teagan asked, throwing his hands in the air. "My father was a dirty dog; my mother was terrified of him and me? I took it upon myself to rebel against him. He cut me from his will, you know that?" He laughed a bitter and disbelieving laugh.
"You got absolutely nothing I take it?" Ayah's brows rose and she leant against the counter.
"Not a thing." Teagan chewed his thumb for a moment or two as he thought. "He paid the guards to keep watch for me too. Said if I came near Markarth to dispute it, I'd be thrown into Cidhna mine and would never see the light of day again."
"How pleasant." Ayah muttered and rounded the counter. She peered round the door to the back room to find Belethor sipping a strong mead, trying to calm his nerves. "Can you pay for my stuff now please? We're done talking."
The Breton yelped in fright and dropped his mead. "Yes! Yes of course!" he spat quickly.
Ayah was handed a bag of gold and satisfied, she and Teagan left Belethor's general good without a fuss.
"Can you return to Markarth now he's dead?" Ayah asked out of curiosity.
"I'm not sure. I don't wish to try my luck either." Teagan replied, eyeing Alfhild Battle-Born.
"So what will you do once you leave here? Return to being a bandit, or go and see your little girls?"
Teagan followed Ayah from stall to stall, watching her talk and exchange smiles with nearly everyone.
"I don't know what to do after this." He said honestly after she'd finished talking with an older woman. "I suppose I might stay here for a little while."
"I won't let you fall into bad habits if you stay here Teagan." Ayah warned.
"Ayah!" Teagan and his cousin turned to see another elderly woman dressed in a yellow dress approaching, carrying a basket of wild flowers.
Ayah smiled warmly and greeted the woman with open arms. "Fralia!" She embraced the other woman before pulling away a little.
"I'm so glad I caught you. I was just going up to Jorrvaskr to give these to you." The grey-mane elder said, handing over the flowers. "I asked Eorlund to take these with him this morning when he started for the forge, but the silly man never remembers anything but his tools."
The younger woman took the flowers and looked them over. There were a great many, all different colours and types. Ayah had seen a few of them on the plains, but they were hard to come by.
"Oh, Fralia, you didn't need to. Really."
"Nonsense." The older woman waved her hand. "I'll be getting more for the wedding. It gets me out the house and they look beautiful."
"Thank you. I'm very grateful." Ayah embraced her again. "I hope to see you all there, Thorald too."
"Eorlund got word to him just last week. He said he'll try and be home for it." Fralia laughed joyously.
"Wonderful." Ayah grinned. The two women wished each other well and Ayah turned back to Teagan, who was leaning against the well in the middle of the square.
"Someone's popular."
"I saved her son. Her Husband works the Skyforge. Vignar's her brother-in-law. We're all connected somewhere." She shrugged.
"Being a companion does that then I guess."
"So does being Thane." Ayah murmured and checked the flowers, careful not to damage any. It was the first time she'd ever been given flowers and wished to keep them in good condition for as long as possible.
Teagan laughed from beside her. "Pull the other one Ayah."
"Who said anything about pulling something? I didn't." She began to walk toward the Bannered mare. "You don't believe me? Ask someone."
They were stopped again once inside the tavern, this time by Hulda, the owner.
"I need a count on the kegs of mead. How many will I need?"
"Well, you need to supply the whole town, so I suggest using everything you have." Ayah said, sitting at the bar and placing her precious flowers down on the wooden counter top.
"I was thinking maybe five kegs for the main table. That's Farkas and you and the other companions."
"Pfft!" Teagan snorted. "Five kegs are nothing!"
"Teagan's right." Ayah agreed. "Farkas, Vilkas and Torvar will go through that many, if not more within the first couple of hours."
"Then what, Ayah? You think I need to order in more?"
"Aye. Do that." Teagan nodded. "It'll save you from being the cause of any rioting when the drink runs dry."
"Alright." Hulda sighed. "I'll contact the meadery."
"Thank you Hulda."
"Ah, just one quick question." Teagan leant over the counter toward Hulda. "Is she the Thane here?" He asked, pointing to Ayah.
"Aye, she is. Why?"
"Just proving a point." Ayah shrugged and stood, taking her flower basket with her as she left the tavern.
"I hope you're not planning on wearing that to my wedding." Ayah called over her shoulder to Teagan as he ran up behind her.
"What?" he glanced down at his hide armour, unsure of what she was talking about.
"That armour. It's a mess."
"That's because it's armour Ayah. It's not meant for display purposes. It's meant to save my life."
"That may be true." She sighed and stopped in her tracks. Turning, she pulled out the bag of gold she'd gotten from Belethor and handed it to him. "Go. Get some new armour for the wedding. Something nice enough to wear for the day and then maybe out in the battlefield afterward."
Teagan stared at the bag of gold in awe. "I…wait; you're just giving me this?"
"Aye. I am." Ayah nodded.
"….Why?"
"For armour. I told you."
"No. I mean, why are you just giving me this gold?"
"Because you're family Teagan. Even if you are a milk drinker." She teased and began a slow walk back to Jorrvaskr.
-oOo-
Ayah handed her Flowers to Ria and went to change, stripping off her armour and replacing it with a soft cotton shirt and trousers. She climbed the stairs back up to the mead hall and out the back doors. Vilkas was sat at the table, scribbling away at his speech and didn't even glance up as she passed. Torvar was sat beside the training equipment in the shade of the Skyforge and Njada was taking out some pent up anger on one of the dummies.
"Where's Farkas?" Ayah asked from the steps.
"Skyforge…." Vilkas murmured absently, still scribbling away.
"Eorlund wanted him to try his breast plate on once more to make sure it fits." Torvar yawned.
"Farkas!" Ayah yelled up at the forge.
"What?" He peered over the edge of the forge at her. His face was freshly washed and missing its usually dirty black war paint and his dark hair was tied up in a short ponytail.
"You're a milk drinker!" She laughed.
"Wench!" He called back and disappeared from view again.
"Any need for that?" Vilkas finally put down his quill and glanced over at her.
"Nope. None what so ever." She smiled. "It's what normal people call 'friendly banter' Vilkas. You should try it sometime. It helps you make great things called 'friends.'"
"Patronising wench." He grumbled and returned to his paper, growling softly at the sound of Torvar's laughter.
A/N Thank you all who read my fic. ^^ You are truly epic!
A special shout out to Thu'um. I'm so honored you have found my writing inspiring. ^^ I hope your writing goes well and I hope you enjoy the rest of my fic.