Irina had dragged herself all the way back to castle Volkihar with thoughts of Lydia plaguing her, she had wanted many many times to turn back hire a carriage to Riften and find her housecarl in Fort Dawnguard. Irina knew that that would be an idiotic thing to do while she was injured, so she trekked to Castle Volikar instead. She felt her shoulder begin to sting and placed a hand atop her armor where her wound would be. Begrudgingly she had dealt with the on and off pain throughout her journey; she supposed having a sword that was made to kill vampires would slow her healing process a touch. Her feet moved over the stone bridge while her hand moved to her neck pulling up the leather that stopped below her throat as much as she could.
The bosmer's neck was exposed just a little, but enough for one to notice the hickeys that dotted her flesh. The elf rubbed her skin and mumbled "that damn Faida..." though, despite her tone there was a smirk stretching across her face. Irina, once to the front entrance of the castle pushed open the doors and made her way to the main hall. Upon descending the stone steps she took notice of Serana's absence. Irina looked to one of the tables and felt her shoulders slump in relief when she saw Dexion sitting idly in a chair. The moth priest noticed her eye and brightened at the sight of her.
She gave a swift nod in his direction and looked to the center of the room, there standing was Harkon who drank from a blood stained golden goblet with Garan Marethi at his side. They spoke in low voices and upon sensing Irina's eyes the dunmer abruptly stopped. The dovahkiin's mind filled with suspicion but she controlled her countenance, Harkon didn't spare her a glance and waved off the dunmer who bowed and walked off. Irina's eyes did not follow.
Harkon's eyes found hers and set the goblet down on the table behind him. The wood elf took that as her cue to approach him, Harkon waited for her to stand in front of him and when she did he took in her disheveled state. "Well done, somehow I knew it would be you who found our moth priest" the bosmer nodded in appreciation while his eyes bore into her cut lip and bruised jaw "I trust his capture was not too difficult a task?" emotionally, it was torture for the wood elf but she held her composure and said "the Dawnguard had found him first, they pose no threat as a whole, however their leaders are a different matter"
"Yes I can see you had some trouble, we must talk more of that later... well, your thrall awaits and we've given him the elder scroll. Command him to read it and let us hear the words of prophecy together" the woman glanced behind her back to see Dexion looking at her patiently, she excused herself from the nord and walked over to the scholar. "I've a new task for you, one I'm sure you'll like...I need you to read the elder scroll that you were given, loud so that we may listen" Dexion rose from his chair and nodded eagerly, "of course, master, I must admit I've been looking forward to this"
"Then you may begin" she said removing her helm and holding it within her arm, she winced at the stinging feeling from her shoulder. Dexion moved to the center of the dining hall where eyes watched him curiously, "now if everyone would please be quiet, I must concentrate..." Irina watched the moth priest passively as she leaned against the wooden table. Personally, she felt as if as though the nordic lord hadn't an idea of how serious all of this talk of putting out the sun was, or if he did he wasn't thinking about the consequences too thoroughly.
Harkon is a fool. That was unquestionable.
"I see a vision before me, an image of a great bow. I know this weapon, it's Auriel's bow! Now I hear a voice whispering...among the nights children a dread lord will rise. In an age of strife, when dragons return to the realm of men, darkness will mingle with light and the night and day will be as one" Irina bit her jaw. A dread lord rising... and the time of strife where dragons returned to the realm of men; that was now. Harkon was clearly the dread lord but Auriel's bow... how in the world does an arcane weapon fit in?
"but wait, there is more here... the secret of the bow's power is written elsewhere. I think there is more to the prophecy recorded in other scrolls" Irina's attention was turned back to Dexion and she held a horn on her helm tightly, she herself owned an elder scroll and she couldn't quite remember if Harkon recalled her mentioning that when they had first met. "Yes, I see them now, one contains the secrets of the dragons and the other speaks of the potency of ancient blood...m-my visions darkens and I see no more"
Harkon moved over to where Irina was and spoke to her prompting the elf to casually stand up straight "that was not as useful as I would have liked...but even so you did well" Irina cleared her throat and asked "do you've any idea where the other scroll is?" Harkon eyed her for a short moment before saying, "my traitor wife stole one of them away and then disappeared, as for the other...last I heard it was lost in the bowels of a dwemer ruin" the wood elf decided to just say she had the scroll since she didn't want him to realize she'd already mentioned it before. "my Lord, I've an elder scroll on my person in my enchanted bag, we've only a need for the other scroll"
Harkon smirked and then spoke "very good Irina, I knew you were reliable" the man excused himself and walked away and up some stairs to his chambers. Irina watched him go and placed her hand over her left shoulder, the pain before was dull and bearable but now she could feel it beginning to ache to the point of burning. It wasn't as if the castle had a healer on deck so she begrudgingly walked to the castle's forge and hoped to see Fura. As she entered the forge she noticed another woman slightly younger tending to the forge, the sound of swords slashing straw was heard from her left and there she found the undead nord practicing her swordsmanship.
The two of them took notice of her rather quickly and before Fura could speak the younger nord asked, "did you need something, sister?" her voice was like that of the nordic women from Windhelm, Irina took a liking to it. "I was wondering if you had any healing potions...my arm's not fairing so well and I've a wound that might fester soon if I do nothing" Hestla didn't spare her a look but motioned for her to come closer with her hand. The young blonde had a thin sheet of sweat on her forehead from being so close to the flames of the forge and she had Irina swallow nervously when the nord wiped the sweat from her brow in a provocative manner.
"Ok, remove that armor and let me take a look at it" Irina raised her arms up in defense but quickly winced feeling the muscles in her shoulder twist and cramp, still she spoke "It's quite alright, I just need a potion and then I'll be on my-" Fura chuckled at the sight of Hestla getting in Irina's face. The older nord turned her back on them and continued practicing on the straw dummy. Hestla had an intimidating presence, "If you have a wound that might fester, that means it's open- a single potion won't help you" the elf's eyebrow twitched and she smiled nervously, she was right- better to please the woman than to deny her "as you wish..."
Her breastplate came off easily and her new shirt was seen. Her left shoulder was stained with a dark crimson which made the elf frown, Faida had given her this and now it was ruined...meanwhile Hestla shook her head, "how did you not notice you were bleeding?" the elf shrugged and seated herself on the table near the stairs. She comfortably placed her feet on a chair as she did so. "I didn't realize it, it was just aching is all" Fura stopped her practicing and set her sword down atop some barrels before descending the steps.
Fura crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow when she spotted bruises along the dragonborn's neck. "someone had a bit of fun while they were away, I suppose that explains why the scholar showed up before you did" the elf shrugged when she realized what Fura was looking at, "it happens, though this time was a bit different..." Hestla pulled out a chair for Fura to sit in and turned back to Irina, "how was it different? did you get it from behind?" the sarcastic question made Fura laugh and Irina roll her eyes. "right, get that shirt off too"
Irina managed to remove her shirt by herself, leaving her bra in place. Fura squinted at the bandage that covered her shoulder. It was soaked with her blood, even some droplets managed to slither down her chest. The woman clicked her tongue "that should've been changed hours ago, Irina" Hestla said nothing while she undid the bandages, when they were off the two nords widened their eyes. "how in oblivion are you still alive?" Fura asked the dovahkiin with sincere shock to her voice. Her wound was horrifyingly gruesome. "I was treated by a mortal in Dragonbridge"
Hestla asked Fura to bring water and rags, doused in alcohol along with some string and a needle. Fura nodded and quickly walked away to do her task while Hestla looked at the elf's wound and placed her hand near the open hole of teared tissue. Irina winced as the blonde pushed her fingertips into her shoulder, the tissue didn't seem so damaged. "sorry, I know this must hurt- your muscles here, they're going to be bruised by the time this...hole closes" the bosmer took in a breath, she regretted letting Celann do her in like this.
"How long do you suppose, until my shoulder heals?" the elf asked her with half her mind half-focused on her question. "i'd say around two weeks if cleaned regularly, but it needs stitching" the bosmer's shoulders slumped, two weeks was too long. Before she planned on getting the last elder scroll for Harkon she wanted to retrieve Lydia from Fort Dawnguard. The task was not going to be easy, and she doubted she could do it alone. Irina didn't know the Dawnguard very well, she mainly kept to herself when had she'd been a vampire hunter. She knew some were jealous of her status and power but they wouldn't have any other reason to hurt the nord... Irina swallowed a lump in her throat.
The elven woman hadn't a single idea of what they'd do to Lydia, and the thought unsettled her.
Hestla waved a hand in her face "oi, did you hear what I just said?" the dovahkiin blinked in confusion at the nord's close proximity and moved back with her ears tinted pink. "no, what did you say?" the nord shook her head at the elf and said "I know a little bit of restoration magic, from back in my days of being a companion I figured it was useful to learn a thing or two about it" Hestla saw the dovahkiin's eyes light up a little and she smirked.
"Move your arm forward, I can't completely close it- but I can make the time for it to heal shorter" Irina nodded and eagerly did as told. She scooted more to the edge of the table to hold out her arm in anticipation. Hestla placed her hands atop the woman's teared flesh and focused magika into her hands, light seeped into the wound while tissue fibers repaired slowly. The dovahkiin watched with silent appreciation, the nord had no cause to do this kindess for her and yet she did it all the same.
"Thank you...-" Irina trailed off, she didn't know the woman's name.
"My name is Hestla, and you're welcome" she said her eyes not even going to her once. The elf's eyes moved to her face and took in her features, full lips and thin face. Her eyes were the same as Irina's if not lighter, and her hair was a blonde that looked almost brown in the dark. Irina found her to be beautiful, her beauty rivaled that of Serana, which was hard to do. Irina was shaken from her thoughts when the light dissipated and Hestla took in a breath to regain her lost composure. "I'm sorry, five minutes is all I could manage"
"It doesn't matter, I am grateful for the help" Irina spoke while looking to her arm. It was still sore and sensitive so the elf dared not touch it, but, now thanks to the nord the wound was- tighter, for lack of a better word. The tissue fibers were pulled closer together now and less pink could be seen- which was fine by her. Hestla nodded and turned her head to the sound of footsteps, Fura was seen with two rags and a small bucket filled with water. The elf eyed one of the cloths that was tinted a light brown, she knew it was alcohol and remembering the stinging feeling from Faida's gentle touch made the bosmer uncomfortable.
Of course, the first was to clean her bloodied arm, Hestla was quick to work on cleaning away the dried blood that had crusted all over her breasts and shoulder. Her hands gripped the edge of the table while Hestla cleaned her shoulder, her wound wasn't touched but any contact around it had the elf in pain. Though the pain didn't last long, it had only taken the smith a few minutes to scrub away at the crusted blood. She doused her rag in the bucket of water and wrung out the blood that stained it, the water took on the color of crimson in a matter of seconds.
Irina uncomfortably shifted when her hands moved over her breasts, there was a pink tint to her cheeks that made the urge to hide a smile hard for Hestla. The smith moved over her breasts with grace and bit her lower lip when Irina let out the tiniest of sighs when a water droplet moved down over her nipple. The water was cold and her bra was becoming just a little wet, Fura remained oblivious to their tension and pulled out her dagger finding more interest in that. Well, thank the gods for that because after about twenty seconds the elf's bra outlined her breasts with two nipples poking through the fabric.
The nord and elf said nothing of it though Irina knew it was hard to ignore.
Once she was done after an agonizingly slow three minutes, she moved over the wound with the alcohol and winced at Irina's countenace. The elf bit down hard on her jaw from the pain. Just like that, the sexual tension had been destroyed and now agony filled her once more, Fura put down her dagger and watched with mild disgust at the amount of pink tissue exposed.
The wound stung five times worse than last time and judging by the smell of the alcohol she knew why. "is this spiced wine?" Fura looked to her, both her eyebrows raised in slight shock. "yes, actually" the bosmer narrowed her eyes at the nord and bit down on her jaw harder when Hestla wringed the soaked cloth over her wound and had it's contents seep into her shoulder Irina groaned loudly and hissed in pain.
"so I recall you said you used to be in the companions?" Irina asked in a strained voice, trying to distract herself from the searing sensation- it did not work.
"yes some time ago, it's a long tale" Hestla began as she dabbed at her shoulder gently, "anything to get my mind off this" Irina said in a strained voice as she Hestla wrung more spiced wine into her wound. As Hestla was about to speak a voice called out in the forge room.
"Irina?"
The familiar voice caused heads to turn and Hestla to remain quiet and focus on the task at hand, it had been Lady Serana "I think I'm going to go now, Lady Serana seems to want an audience with you- I left the string and needle there, Hestla" the eldest nord said pointing to the table's edge. Hestla nodded and focused her eyes back on the bosmer's shoulders. Fura walked away from them and bowed slightly to Serana on her way out, Serana acknowledged her with a nod and hurried over to the elf. Irina glanced to Serana and smiled sheepishly.
"I didn't have the pleasure of seeing you when Dexion read the elder scroll" Irina spoke casually, the nord blinked at her comment before her eyes moved over to Hestla who pricked the woman's skin with the needle and begun to sow. The elf's jaw tightened while the needle and string pulled her tissue together, the daughter of Harkon watched with a hand to her mouth in disgust. Hestla muttered apologies to the dragonborn while she worked and once finally done, Irina thanked her, albeit it was reluctant and watched her leave the forge.
"what happened?" Serana asked with an annoyed tone, her back faced Irina to shield herself from the sight of Hestla stitching her shoulder together. The elf sucked in a breath trying to lighten the situation "I did what your father asked me to" normally that would've been the correct answer, but she merely scoffed. The undead nord spoke "I'm not an idiot, Irina, I know you did this on my father's command- I'm asking how that happened" she turned around and faced the elf pointing to her shoulder, the forges fire was almost gone; another twenty minutes and it would be gone until Hestla tended to it, meanwhile the room was dim.
"It was Celann, he stabbed me, I suppose it looks bad but you shouldn't trouble yourself over it, if I died Harkon would eventually find someone to retrieve the scroll" Irina said placing her hand atop the stitched flesh, having Serana look at it would only make the nord feel worse.
Serana's next words caught the bosmer by surprise, "I don't care about those stupid scrolls, I care about you! By the blood of my ancestors… you… you could have died?" Serana had mumbled her last words at spotting the bruises on the elf's neck. At seeing them the nord pursed her lips tightly and tore her eyes away.
"A mortal healed me as I was returning to Dragon-bridge, I'm alright"
"why didn't you take me with you?" she asked softly, the elf averted her gaze and she didn't respond. Serana took in a breath and turned around facing the bosmer, and what Irina saw made her chest tighten when it shouldn't have. There were small droplets of tears formed on the nord's eyes; Serana had tried her best to not let them fall but one did anyway, when the tiny droplet fell off her chin the bosmer looked away.
"Irina, why didn't you take me with you? If I had come with you-"
"The outcome would've been much worse with you there, Serana" it was true, it would have. Irina had lost her will in the cave, sure, she was alive now but if Serana was there with her Celann would have aimed for her heart and quickly hurried to fight off Serana; he'd have wasted no time in trying to kill them both and would not have given Irina the chance she had then. Nonetheless Irina's words struck the nord harder than the slap said nord had delivered to her cheek only moments after.
The sound resonated within the forge and Irina stared at the nord, absolutely stunned. Her cheek stung and she felt the vibrations in her head, did she actually just...? While Irina tried to wrap her mind around what had just transpired Serana wiped at her eyes violently. Dragonborn, hero of legend and the savior of Skyrim, who knew that she was so dense?
Serana calmed herself, somewhat, and locked eyes with Irina who had stared at her stupidly as if she hadn't the slightest clue as to why Serana was so furious. The taller of the two took a step closer to the elf and spoke "you do not get to say that when you're sitting here, in stitches. I could have helped you, I could have…- done something!" Serana scoffed and looked at Irina who closed her mouth and listened in silence. Seeing how upset she was made the elf's chest tighten into a tight knot and made it difficult to breath, Serana's eyes were tearing up again.
"Serana-"
"Quiet, Irina. I refuse to listen to anything dismissive you have to say about yourself, like how you were going to be replaced, because you can't! You're too important to my father and to…" It was almost as if her train of thought had been disrupted by her own words. Serana's cheeks reddened as if she'd just embarrassed herself. Irina's own countenance couldn't help but sport a blush.
"-to me, you're important to me. I care..." Serana finished with a timid voice. Irina blinked a few times in surprise and couldn't find the words to respond. Serana took a deep breath and supported herself on the table Irina sat on. There was an unsteady silence with neither of them knowing what to say or do, Irina stayed frozen in place and her mind was piecing together every small interaction they had and Serana's reactions to everything.
"Serana, are you alright?" Irina asked reaching forward to place her hand atop the nord's. Serana blushed at their contact and sighed quietly as if she wanted to relieve herself of something.
"I… I think that I've gotten too attached to you- I mean that, I'm… falling in love with you…"