Disclaimer: I do not own the "Elder Scrolls" universe. Characters you do not recognize were created by me for the purpose of this story. Comments and constructive criticisms are appreciated; I hope you all enjoy this latest chapter! - Fallon.

Chapter Ten

It was cold, so incredibly cold.

Ariella forced her eyes open, wincing slightly as her frozen eye lashes parted. She was not sure how or why she was alive, or if she should be happy at finding herself so for that matter. Every inch of her ached, whether from the fall or the cold she was not sure, but she found herself relishing the sensation.

A voice in the back of her head told her to move, and she reluctantly obeyed, rolling over in the snow and propping herself up on her elbows. Her vision blurred and her head ached fiercely. She looked around her, trying to figure out where she was. The temple was not within her sights but she supposed she was not too far away.

Ariella managed to get to her feet, only to be brought to her knees from the pain.

Too disoriented to know why she felt such pain, she simply crawled through the snow like a wounded animal, trying to find somewhere safe to lay low.

After crawling for what seemed like hours, she came across a cave.

She did not want to go in, but the wind was picking up and she knew she needed to find shelter as soon as possible. She dug her nails desperately into the snow, trying to get herself into the cave as soon as possible.

The worn wooden door opened easily and she crawled inside. She found a dust covered cot in the corner of the small room and heaved herself onto it.

Ariella trembled on the bed, knowing she should not fall asleep but unable to fight it off any further. Unconsciousness took her.

When she awoke hours later to the sound of wind gusting outside the cave, her head didn't ache as it had and she decided she should check herself over for injuries. She tentatively rubbed her legs and whimpered as she found the source of her previous pain.

Both of her ankles and her left knee were swollen to triple their regular size and her legs were marred with various scrapes and bruises, some more serious than others. She figured she must have rolled through a rather rocky patch with little snow after her initial fall. Nothing seemed to be broken, which was a small miracle she partially attributed to having landed in snow. The rest was probably pure luck.

It was getting harder for her to breathe, and she suspected she had broken a few ribs. Her arms ached, which panicked her, but then she remembered she had dragged herself into the cave.

Something snarled at her from the shadows and she curled up in a ball in an attempt to hide from whatever it was.

A rather large wolf emerged; teeth bared and drool dripping from its lips, clearly not pleased she had invaded its den. Its fur appeared silver in the dull light of the cave and its eyes were a startling yellow. Ariella realized with a heavy heart that the beast had probably been drawn to her by the smell of her blood.

She could not believe that after everything she had been through that her demise would come here, in some god forsaken cave at the claws of a wolf.

It pounced, springing from its hind legs like a triggered bear trap. She whispered a prayer to Talos just as it's claws reached her flesh.

She had brought her hands up in reflex, but she did not expect it to do much good against a wolf. The wolf swiped at her face and, though her raised arms deflected some of it, it sliced across her nose and down her cheek.

It roughly batted at her, cutting her arms and hands in its attempts to get at her throat. The wolf stepped on her knee and Ariella gave a strangled squeal. It was so heavy against her and she hurt so much she never thought it would end.

Then, as soon as it started, the wolf's weight disappeared from her.

She opened her eyes and saw someone had pulled the wolf off of her with their bare hands. Her hero was staring down the beast, sword in hand. Ariella was not sure where the sword had come from, but she was glad her hero had a weapon. She tried to make out the face of the stranger, but her vision was becoming blurred again.

The last thing she saw before she passed out from exhaustion and pain was the stranger and the wolf wrestling on the ground.

Ariella awoke to the soft crackle of fire. She felt a warm, soft mattress under her finger tips and she decided it was safe to open her eyes.

She was in the healing room of the temple.

"Good day to you, Ariella."

She turned and saw Eriadne wringing a cloth out beside her. The woman pressed the hot cloth to Ariella`s cheek and she winced at the contact.

"Stop complaining." Eriadne said with a smirk. "You are lucky to be alive."

"How..." Ariella started.

Eriadne nodded to something beside them and Ariella turned her head to look. Ilmeres lay on a mattress. His chest was bare, save the bandages that had been wrapped around his abdomen. She would have sworn he was dead if she could not see his chest rise and fall.

"I discovered you were missing, and soon after the Blades found the gates propped open." Eriadne explained. "Svan told us about your ring, and we suspected you went out in
search of it. Jauffre was organizing a search party, but Ilmeres ran out after you before anyone could stop him. Idiot."

Ariella could tell he was badly hurt. "How did we get back?"

Eriadne soaked the cloth again. "Pelagius and Caroline found him swaddling you outside some cave less than a mile from here. They brought you both back."

Ariella stirred and Eriadne quickly urged her back. "I need to find them, I need to thank them."

"Later." Eriadne ordered. "Now tell me, what were you thinking leaving the temple alone?"

"I-I needed to recover my ring. After Ilmeres..." She swallowed hard. "After he said he did not care for me I decided I needed to retrieve it, though I admit I did not care if I
lived or not."

Eriadne shook her head. "Well, I suppose it is safe to say he cares for you now."

"Maybe..." She wanted Eriadne to be right, but she also did not want to get her hopes up only for him to dash them again. She figured his reason was strictly guilt, and that finding her was in an effort to alleviate that.

"Get some sleep dear, your injuries need time to heal." She brushed hair out of Ariella`s face. "You will have scars from the wolf, but you are lucky, a few inches over and you would have lost your eye. And that, my dear, is not something easily covered up my make up!"

Eriadne left the room and Ariella turned to look back at Ilmeres, falling asleep a few minutes later.

After a few days, Ariella was allowed to continue resting in her own room. She was able to find Pelagius and Caroline, who seemed embarrassed by her thanks. Svan and Jauffre visited her, and Diana took care of Laena, but she had still not seen Ilmeres since waking up in the healing room.

It was in the late afternoon of the fifth day since her fall, that she was startled from her book by a soft tap on her door.

"Come in." She said.

The door creaked open and Ilmeres slowly stepped in. She watched him in silence as he shut the door and sat onthe edge of her bed, all while avoiding direct eye contact with her. He moved carefully, the wounds on his chest still causing him some discomfort.

"It is good to see you are well." He finally muttered.

Ariella sat her book aside. "How can you tell, you can't even look at me."

He tensed, but still could not bring himself to look at her.

"Am I that revolting?" She said, her voice strained and hurt.

He finally raised his eyes to meet hers. "N-No, it's not that."

Ariella sighed. "I am sorry; I should be thanking you for saving me and here I am being mean."

"You do not owe me any apologies; it is I that owe you." He hung his head.

His obvious regret and hurt dulled her anger. "You could start with telling me the truth."

"The truth?"

Ariella flushed, suddenly very nervous to hear what he would say. "About how you feel...about us, about me."

"I-I love you."

"But you pushed me away..." Ariella felt her lips tremble. "all because of a dream."

"I thought I was protecting you, turns out I pushed you straight into danger." His fingers clenched his knees as he remembered finding her near death in the cave. "I do not expect you to forgive me, but perhaps you can learn to trust me again..."

She reached out and touched his hand. Ilmeres smiled, bringing her hand to his lips and placing a gentle kiss on her palm. "I love you, Ariella." He whispered. "With all my being."

Ariella sat up, ignoring his attempt to stop her. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pressed her forehead to his. Their noses touched, and she closed the distance between them, kissing him firmly.

He moaned into the kiss, wrapping his arms around her and keeping her close. With her lips on his, he forgot the pain in his stomach. She was perfect, soft and gentle, just as he had imagined her to be. That one kiss they had shared the night before she freed him was so long ago he had trouble remembering her scent and her sweet taste. But now he remembered, and he vowed never to forget it again.

Warmth spread throughout his entire body. Ilmeres nibbled her lower lip and she parted her lips to allow him access. Their tongues touched and she sighed happily, pressing her chest against his.

He hissed and pulled away, even though every inch of him screamed for him not to.

"I'm sorry!" She said quickly, terrified she had only harmed him further.

He recovered quickly and stroked her cheek, his free arm wrapped chastely around her waist. "It's alright. I wish these damned wounds would heal faster though."

Ariella could feel the desire flowing from him; he wanted her just as badly as she wanted him. "I thought if I got closer to you I would only get hurt?" She joked.

He frowned, clearly taking her more seriously than she intended. "I have no intention of hurting you..." He whispered, a hint of sadness present in his voice. "But I understand if you don't want to risk it. Gods know I have hurt you enough already..."

Ariella touched his cheek and made him look at her. "You saved me, Ilmeres; you pulled that wolf off of me. You got Laena and I to the temple, just as you said you would, and you came back for me in Skingrad."

Ilmeres stared at her intently, his red eyes glimmering with desire and hope.

Ariella smiled. "You pulled me from the fire Ilmeres..."

He looked at her, and she could tell he was not convinced, that he was uncertain and perhaps even scared.

Ariella caressed his cheek. "I do not want to imagine a life without you Ilmeres. The very notion of it makes my heart ache. When you said you didn't care for me, I felt hollow, like someone had torn my heart from my chest. But here with you now...I feel whole again."

Ilmeres tentatively touched his hand to her chest, right above her heart. Ariella wanted to melt, to surrender completely to him then and there. "Ilmeres..." She whispered, not sure what his silence meant.

He finally cracked a small, hesitant smile and kissed her forehead. "Your words are too sweet for me; you deserve a far better man..."

She knew he was asking her if she was sure, if she truly wanted him over all others. Ariella knew the answer, and she was confident it was one her heart and soul agreed on. "I want you and only you, Ilmeres. I want to grow old with you, and love you until the breath leaves my lungs -"

He cut her off mid sentence with a fierce, possessive kiss.