This chapter took a while to put together because I wanted to make Martin's story as detailed as I could make it. I also had a fun time making this one.

Please do keep on posting reviews. I really appreciate it! :)

This next chapter will reveal Martin's dark secrets in his youth as well his relationship with Sonja continuing to grow.

Enjoy! :)

Chapter 9 - A Dark Past

"Sonja…? Sonja…can you hear me?"

When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on a bedroll and the campfire was lit. I looked up at Martin, who had a look of concern on his face.

"Brother?" I said weakly.

Martin sighed with relief. "Thank goodness you're alive. You lost a lot of blood. I didn't know if you were going to make it."

"Where are the horses?"

"I have them tied up and secure. They're both okay."

"W-what about the bandits?"

"Oh don't worry about them. I took care of it. And I'll have to admit. It was a pretty cold battle."

I tried to sit up, but the wound on my shoulder was incredibly painful.

"Don't sit up yet," Martin said as he gently made me lay back down. "I'm still trying to stop the bleeding."

Martin had been putting a cool wet cloth on my shoulder while I was asleep. I didn't even feel the arrow being pulled out. Since I was awake, I did wince a few times when he put the cloth on my shoulder. He continued to tend my wound until the sun had set. The bleeding did stop eventually, but the wound was not completely healed.

"Almost done," Martin said. "Stay very still now."

A bright light appeared in his hand as he placed it on my injured shoulder. After around five seconds, Martin removed his hand and the wound was gone.

"How did you do that?" I asked.

"Priests and priestesses are masters in the art of Restoration."

Then Martin turned his attention to my bandaged right arm.

"What happened here?"

"A Daedra attacked me back in Kvatch."

He carefully removed the bandage to reveal the three long cuts. There was still a tiny bit of bleeding, but not as much as before during the battle against the Daedra. He took the wet cloth and pressed it against the scratches to stop the bleeding.

"This is definitely the work of a scamp," he said.

"A scamp?"

"The Daedra that attacked you was a scamp. They are among the weakest of Daedra and yet their claws are extremely destructive."

"Where did you learn that?"

"I've done a lot of reading."

Martin repeated the same thing he did with my shoulder. He cleaned the blood off my arm and then he used the healing spell.

"Let me ask you something," I said. "Did you really defeat every single one of those bandits by yourself?"

"Yes I did," he said with a small smile. "I told you I knew how to fight."

"Well…I'm impressed." He helped me sit up.

"Thank you. I haven't used Destruction magic since…"

He didn't finish his sentence. His smile fell. And his eyes moved in the direction of the fire. I got concerned. I could tell that something was bothering him.

"Since when, Brother?" I asked.

Martin's attention quickly reverted back to me. After seeing the look of concern on my face, he almost struggled to speak until he was able to say one word. "Nothing."

His sudden change of expression slightly alarmed me. "No, tell me."

"Nothing." He got up and walked to a different part of the camp.

"Brother, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong."

"I don't believe you."

"I'm being very honest."

"Not honest enough. Tell me what's bothering you."

"Nothing is bothering me."

"Don't you lie to me."

"I'm not."

"Brother-"

"Nothing is bothering me!"

I didn't know what got Martin to act so strangely. I felt bad for constantly asking him for the truth, but he had me concerned. There was something he was hiding. I had already told him as much as I could about myself. Was there something about himself that he didn't want to tell me?

"Brother," I said. "we are still miles away from Weynon Priory. If we're going to be traveling together for a while, the least you can do is trust me enough to tell me something about you. I trusted you enough to tell you everything that has happened to me up to today. Why can't you trust me?"

Martin took in a deep breath. He knew I had a point. He sat back down next to me, but he kept his eyes on the fire. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke.

"I haven't always been a priest," he said. "Years ago, I followed a different path. I know more than I want to about the seductive power of Daedric magic…but let's just leave it at that."

"What kind of path?" I asked sincerely.

"I-I'm not sure if we should continue this conversation, Sonja. If we do,…I'm afraid you'll think differently about me. You probably would regret saving me from Kvatch."

"Try me."

Martin took another deep breath and continued his story. "When I was fifteen, I enrolled in the Arcane University in the Imperial City. It's the headquarters of the Mages Guild. It's also a school where people go to learn magic. When I was growing up as a boy, my adoptive father told me that I was special. I was always different from the other children. You see, the magic I used to defeat the bandits was something I was born with. Since I've been in the Mages Guild, my powers have gotten stronger. I excelled in Restoration, Destruction and Alteration."

He paused his story for a moment to show me his dagger. He continued.

"This dagger was a gift from the man who was Arch Mage at the time. I've forgotten his name, unfortunately. But he was a good man. Anyway, I was just promoted to Conjurer. And this dagger was a reward for my progress. But, you see, what's special about it is that it's enchanted, as you probably know by now. There are three elements in Destruction; Fire, Frost and Shock. I, personally, enjoy using Frost magic. But this dagger has a Shock enchantment. And do you want to know something funny? While most enchanted weapons have unique names, I decided to call this dagger simply a 'Dagger of Sparks'. Heh. Despite all that, this dagger remains at my side until I need to use it."

He sheathed his dagger while still continuing his story.

"Anyway, I think I've talked too much about magic…at least good magic."

Martin took a deep breath before he started telling me what he didn't want to tell me.

"When I was nineteen, around the same time I was promoted to Conjurer, I was starting to grow impatient with the Guild restrictions, as did many of my fellow mages and friends. That was when we threw ourselves into the riddles of Daedric magic. We hungered for forbidden secrets. Knowledge and power were our gods. We eventually started a cult dedicated to Sanguine, the Daedric Prince of Debauchery. We called it the Order of the Dark Rose. It just so happens that the symbol for Sanguine is a rose. But that isn't the case. Once we started the cult, we fell into temptation and sometimes humiliation. We became sinners. That's usually how Sanguine works. He brings out the dark side in all of us. We did terrible things. We slept with women, one right after the other. We stole. We drank. We gambled. We did almost anything that was sinful.

I didn't sleep with any women, but I was a player. I didn't steal. I did drink but not as much as the others. I didn't gamble. I was the level headed one. But that didn't make any difference. As for magic, we focused on the art of Conjuration. Most conjurers, like myself, specialize in that particular art. Conjuration is also considered to be Daedric magic. We were able to learn how to summon creatures from other worlds, but we also learned how to summon Daedra…which now brings me to the night that I had promised myself not to remember."

The story was getting interesting, but I really wanted to know what happened in his past that haunted him so much. He continued on after swallowing hard.

"One night, we decided to visit the Shrine of Sanguine. We wanted to see if we could talk to him and we were successful. All we had to do was make an offer of Cyrodilic Brandy. When our call was answered, the statue that stood in the center of the shrine became the Daedric Lord himself. He was glad that we summoned him because he had chosen one of us to be his 'champion'. Surprisingly…he chose me."

"Why did he choose you?" I asked. "You didn't even do a lot of the things that the others did."

"I don't know," he said. "He didn't say why he chose me. All he said was that he chose me. And as a reward for my deeds, he bestowed upon me his sacred artifact. The Sanguine Rose. It's not really a rose, though. It's a staff that only looks like a rose. I accepted the gift without thought. At that time, it was a thrill to have the Sanguine Rose in my possession…but I was soon to regret it.

After my friends and I left the shrine, we went over our heads with the staff. We started taking advantage of its power. The one who possesses the staff has the power to summon a random Daedra. But the possessor never chooses. Each of us got a chance to use it. Some of us summoned scamps. Others summoned clannfears, another type of Daedra. But…when it was my turn,…I summoned the most dangerous Daedra of all…a Xivilai.

It attacked us as soon as it was summoned. We tried fighting against it but it was so strong. Even I wasn't strong enough to stop it. It was so strong that it threw me against a tree, knocking me out."

Martin's voice started to shake. And tears started to form in his eyes.

"When I woke up the next morning,…my friends were dead. Every single one of them. Dead. I was the only one left alive. At that moment, I regretted accepting the staff and I renounced Sanguine. I didn't ask to summon a Xivilai. It was the staff that summoned it, not me. Angered, I broke the staff in half and threw it in the closest river. Then I ran. I just ran. I had to get away. Next thing I knew, I had fallen into the dirt. I had tripped on a tree stump. I laid there for hours…sobbing. My adoptive father was already dead at that time and there was no way I could go back to the Mages Guild. There was no one I could go to. I was completely alone. Believe it or not, I didn't really think the other cultists were my true friends. They were…sort of good to me, but still. I always felt like I was alone.

Then,…suddenly,…a light shined above me. And that light…became Akatosh…the Dragon God himself. I was frightened at first, but he was trying to comfort me. 'Do not fear me, my child,' he said. 'I am Akatosh, Dragon God of Time. I am here to help you.'"

"You actually saw Akatosh with your own eyes?" I asked.

"Yes, I did," Martin answered. "It is very rare for a Divine to be among mortals. And yet Akatosh was standing before me. He saved me. He brought me back home to Kvatch. That was when I met Ilav and Oleta. They took me in. They brought me to the Chapel of Akatosh. And that's where I stayed.

I confessed my sins to Ilav and I was forgiven. Later, I knelt at the altar and thanked Akatosh for redeeming me. He blessed me with a new home and family. And I was grateful.

A year later, I had completely devoted myself to Akatosh…and became a priest. Since then, I had put aside the dark arts. But the workings of fate may be seen in this, too. 'The Gods can turn anything to good', or so I piously told those who came to see me for advice. Perhaps I may yet come to believe it myself. I just don't know when.

Be that as it may, since I've been a priest, the memories of what happened that terrible night had disappeared. I made better friends. And I became a better man. Everything was so much better…until the Daedra attacked.

The skies were red. There was fire everywhere. People were frightened. I managed to bring as many people as I could inside the chapel. When dawn came, I looked outside…and Kvatch was gone. There was still one Gate to Oblivion blocking the gate to the city. We were trapped. Memories of Sanguine started to come back. The guilt started to come back. I prayed to Akatosh for a long time. I kept asking him not to forsake us and to save us. The longer I prayed, the more hope I lost. I thought Akatosh was going to let me die…until you came…and saved us all."

After a moment of silence, Martin turned his attention from the fire to me.

"There," he said. "Now you know the truth. Now you understand why I didn't want to believe that I was the Emperor's son. How…can the people of Tamriel…look up to someone…who is a murderer?"

Martin looked down at his hands as he silently started to cry.

I never realized that Martin went through all of this pain. I felt sorry for him. My heart broke for him. And to think I've been through hell and back. Martin had it worse. But not once did I ever regret saving him from Kvatch.

When I took his hand, he looked back at me. Tears had already fallen from his eyes.

"Brother," I said. "I don't regret saving your life. Besides…the boy you were then…is not the man you are now. And you are not a murderer. You are a good man. I know you are. And…you shouldn't let the past get to you. I, myself, am trying to let go of the past. My father was murdered and my home was destroyed. But…I've come to realize that it shouldn't hold me back. Because there is so much to look forward to. I was a stable girl…and now I'm the Hero of Kvatch. You were…well, still are a priest of Akatosh…and now you're the Crown Prince of Tamriel. People aren't going to care about what you did in the past. I know that I don't care. Besides, you saved many lives yourself. You saved families. You saved children. And you saved my mother.

My brother is the new head of our family and yet he's stuck at Cloud Ruler Temple. Before I left home, my mother was all I had…and you saved her. And you saved my life too. That is not the work of a murderer, Brother. That is the work of a hero. Hell,…you're more of a hero than I am."

Without thinking, I wiped the tears from his face.

I was being very honest with Martin. He did save my life. He did save my mother. She would have been dead if he didn't save her. I would have succumbed to my wounds if he didn't tend to me in time. I owed a lot to him and I wanted him to know that. Martin was already forgiven for his sins. He just needed to be reassured.

No one had ever called Martin a hero before. He never even thought of himself as a hero.

When I said all that I needed to be said, Martin slowly began to smile through his tears. It was the first time that I had ever seen him truly smile. I almost felt my heart leap a bit…because it was the most beautiful smile I have ever seen.

Just as another tear fell down his cheek, Martin took my hand in both of his.

"You are a noble woman, Sonja Valus," he said. "You have a strong and humble heart. I tell you my darkest secrets…and yet you still see me as a good man. And I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, but I have never ever had a friend who understands me the way you do."

"Friend?"

"Despite the few hours I've known you, you have proven yourself a person that I can trust with my life. Therefore, I truly consider you a friend."

I couldn't help but smile. It was the first time I ever smiled since the days when Kvatch wasn't in ruin.

"Well," I said. "I must say that is awfully kind of you to say, Brother."

"Martin…please,…call me Martin."

"Martin…"