The long, bright main hall of Jorrvaskr was almost completely empty when Farkas stepped inside, shutting the door a little more forcefully than it was necessary. Tilma barely looked up at the noise, sweeping the floors and shaking her head disapprovingly. While he rushed across the room, Farkas' eyes met with his brother's, who sat by the end of the table, a book lying open in his lap. He stopped near him and poured ale into a tankard, before he gulped down the drink without taking a breath.

With an arched eyebrow, Vilkas watched as his twin filled his tankard again. "Isn't it too early to call it a rough day?"

"Trust me, it isn't." He replied, emptying his tankard for the second time. Vilkas opened his mouth, but before he could even utter a word, Farkas spun around and stormed away.

He swallowed back his swelling anger. It should have been easier, but dealing with the beast blood was a fight itself, and sometimes even the smallest things triggered the wolf inside him. He couldn't even exactly tell why he was so angry, but he needed to calm down—he knew Kodlak wouldn't like to see him like this; breathing heavily, his cheeks flushed, his hands balled into fists, shaking with anger, stinking from alcohol. The tea that Adara made earlier truly helped his headache, but he ruined it under the blink of an eye after he drank a half jug of ale.

He rested his back and head against the cold, damp stone wall, taking in slow and deep breaths. The anger vanished as quickly as it came.

"Come in." Kodlak said even before Farkas could knock against the wooden door. It made him smile as he stepped into the Harbinger's chamber. He was sitting by the round table, writing his journal. Farkas would have given a lot of things to read his notes. For once, it would be nice to know what was going on inside his head.

He sat down across of him, resting an arm on the table. "How did you know I was coming? Is that some kind of special Harbinger-insight?"

Kodlak smiled and stopped scribbling down his thoughts. He put down the quill and closed the leather-bound journal, before he looked up at him, "Your steps are thumping so loudly they could even hear you in Markarth, boy."

Farkas forced a smile, but it vanished quickly, and he stared at the burning candle on the table instead of looking into Kodlak's piercing blue eyes.

"What's troubling you?"

No answer. Farkas wanted to say something—in fact, he wanted to say a lot of things, but it wasn't rare that the words stuck in his throat.

Lucky for him, Kodlak knew him well enough by now. Sometimes even better than he knew himself. "How was the trip to Bleak Fall Barrow?"

"We found the stone for the Court Mage. There wasn't any trouble except for a few bandits and draugrs." Farkas started, even though he knew very well Kodlak was interested in something else. Or, better to say, in someone else. Their eyes met, but the Harbinger said nothing, so the young Companion went on after a deep breath. "She was better than I expected. Smart with those ancient Nordic puzzles. Unexperienced on the field, but curious. I can tell she's afraid but she doesn't let it control her. She killed her first man."

"How did she take it?"

"She doesn't show it, but she's struggling with it." Farkas said. It was more like an intuition, but he was more than sure.

"Good," Kodlak nodded. "Only a monster can kill without remorse."

Farkas said nothing, and avoided Kodlak's gaze again. None of them said anything for a while, and it was the Harbinger who broke the silence again. "Is there something else?"

He ran his fingers through his dark hair and drew a sharp breath in. He trusted Kodlak with his life, yet Farkas hesitated to speak. After all, it wasn't his secret tell. He didn't know what Adara would say if she knew he told her secrets to Kodlak.

But then again, between the Companions, there shouldn't be secrets. Especially like these. "I just learned Adara's father was a thief. From the Thieves Guild."

"Is that so?" Kodlak asked indifferently. "Why is that important to us? Just because her father was a thief, doesn't mean—"

"It isn't just that," Farkas said, and he could practically feel his brother's burning gaze on his back for cutting Kodlak off, even though Vilkas was nowhere around. "One of his friends killed his father, her mother, and her little brother too—"

"Wait," It was Kodlak's turn to cut him off. He raised his hand, his eyebrows knotted. Silence. Farkas didn't say anything, and he could tell the Harbinger was thinking about something real hard. He slowly lowered his arm. "Is she Gallus Desidenius' daughter?"

"Yeah… how do you—did you know him"

Kodlak didn't take his eyes off him, but he was silent for long minutes before he finally spoke again, slowly, quietly, "Yes. Of course I did. Everyone knew Gallus. Guild Master of the Thieves Guild."

Farkas raised his eyebrows in surprise, but stayed silent, impatiently waiting for Kodlak to continue.

"Gallus managed to connect most of the factions and important families in Skyrim. You see, people usually don't trust thieves – for obvious reasons, but Gallus was always true to his word. This is why the Companions could work with them, too."

Farkas couldn't even hide his surprise. "We worked together with the Thieves Guild?!"

A tiny smile lifted the corner of Kodlak's lips. "We didn't work with them on a daily basis. If they needed us, or when we needed them, we helped each other out, but it mostly happened with a very risky, very tough job. You were very young when Gallus died. Fifteen, sixteen maybe. You didn't get involved in jobs like those back then."

The fact that the twins practically grew up with the Companions never changed anything. They had to prove themselves as much as everyone else. They had to take jobs that seemed petty, they had to go through the Trial, and they had to go through everything like the other whelps. When they were younger, it annoyed them sometimes; they were teenagers, full of themselves and proud of the fact they were inside the walls of Jorrvaskr longer than they could remember, but now, years later, both Farkas and Vilkas could see it was better this way.

"I still don't understand how we could work with them," Farkas said. "Our job is to protect the people in Skyrim. What the Thieves Guild is doing is nowhere near to that. How could we assist them in anything?"

Kodlak smiled. Farkas' good heart never cease to amaze him. "What the Thieves Guild is doing now and what the Thieves Guild was doing when Gallus led them is almost impossible to compare to each other. I know it is hard to see this now, but there was justice in what they've done."

Farkas frowned. Thievery was thievery, and he couldn't see honour in it, but if it was Kodlak who said it…

"When Gallus died, the news spread through Skyrim like a wildfire. The fact that one of his own murdered him was enough to destroy the ties he built up so hard, by years of hard work. The next Guild Master tried to rebuild it again, but no one trusted them after what happened."

Farkas could understand. Frankly, he had found it hard enough to trust them without even knowing about Gallus.

"We also heard they killed his family."

"Yes," Farkas nodded, then cleared his throat—it felt dry. "Adara's mother and brother were killed too."

But Kodlak shook his head. "No, Farkas. His entire family."

He fell silent, and it took a few seconds until Farkas understood his words. "They think she died on that day."

"Yes," Kodlak gave a slow nod, his voice low and deep. "Everyone who knew Gallus had children, they think both of them are dead," he said, then added after a little pause, "Except us."

"And except some people in the College, "Farkas said. "And except the person who murdered her family."

At the thought, Farkas balled his hands into fists so tight his knuckles were white, without even realizing. He let out a long breath. "Do you think they're still alive?"

"I don't know," Kodlak said honestly. Yes, they all felt sorry for Gallus, but it was not their fight. The Companions had their own problems to deal with.

"Adara says she didn't know her father was a member of the Thieves Guild."

"And you don't believe her?"

Once again, no answer, and Farkas couldn't hold his gaze. Sometimes he felt like the old man could see through him by looking into his eyes.

"Why don't you trust her?"

Farkas heaved a sigh. It was a very good question, and only now, when Kodlak asked him, he finally started to see the answer. "I do trust her. Actually, it scares the shit out of me sometimes how much."

Kodlak nodded. "You're afraid you'll be disappointed."

It wasn't a question, but Farkas nodded in answer, still staring down at the table.

"I told you before, my boy. Don't let your past cast a shadow on your future."

"It isn't just about me," Farkas said, finally looking into the icy blue eyes. "I don't want to risk lives again, just because I trust too easily."

Kodlak gave a sympathetic smile. "I understand. But I'd say you don't have to be afraid. You can trust this girl."

Farkas snorted weakly. "How could you know?"

"I just know."

When Adara returned to Jorrvaskr, it was still deserted. Even Tilma had left, preparing some food in the kitchens, while Vilkas still read by the table. He looked up and watched as the girl crossed the room, stopped at the table, and poured a goblet full of wine.

Vilkas raised both of his eyebrows. He opened his mouth to ask, but then closed it and shook his head. No, he didn't want to get involved in this.

Adara almost reached her quarter when she ran into Farkas in the dimly lit basement. They both froze for a second, and Farkas could see her eyes were shining with tears.

"Adara—"

"Listen, Farkas," she cut him off, her voice surprisingly strong. "I know I promised we could talk, but I don't really want to talk right now. About anything. Can we just… I just want to be alone now for a while."

If it was Vilkas, or Skjor, or even Aela, they wouldn't let her go so easily. But the relationship between Farkas and her was something deeper. He hesitated, but then gave an understanding nod, and Adara left. It's fine, he thought, it can wait, after all.

But they didn't talk later. Or the next day. Or the day after. Farkas wanted to say the same he told Kodlak – that he trusted her, but he wasn't sure how he should bring it up. He felt she had more important issues now.

Days turned to weeks, and it started to seem more and more unimportant. It would work out. They would overcome this, sooner or later. And he wanted to let Adara to work this out first; he wanted to give her time to think it through. Farkas knew one thing for sure about Adara: if she wanted to talk about something, she never hesitated to bring it up.

It amazed him how quickly she managed to pick herself up from the floor. After she returned from Farenger, Adara looked devastated. She spent a whole day in her room, but by the next morning, she almost looked like nothing happened. Nothing, except she became more distant. Not too much, but enough for Farkas to notice, and he wasn't happy about it.

Adara tried her best to keep her thoughts away from the Thieves Guild. During the first few days after she talked to Farengar, it crossed her mind too many times that she should leave the Companions and go to the Thieves Guild – wherever that might be – but as the days passed, the thought got weaker and weaker. What was the point? Revenge? Maybe she would just chase the trails of a dead man, and loose the only thing that was important to her now in the process.

She was disappointed Farkas couldn't trust her, but accept the fact maybe he had a reason, and that reason wasn't her. She accepted, yes, but it still hurt.

Even though she still couldn't take jobs by herself, after Bleak Falls Barrow, she always went with someone. It was good to gain some experience, and also, to see more of Skyrim.

When Farengar walked down from the Jarl's palace to the courtyard of Jorrvaskr and saw Adara training with Farkas, he was sure he was seeing a completely new person. She wielded the sword like she was doing this for years, not months. The mage smiled, and approached them.

"That's quite impressive."

Adara turned her head towards him only for a second, never stopping clashing her sword against Farkas'. "Uh… thank you," she panted with a frown. Farengar was never an admirer of… what was the phrase he loved to use? Brute mercenary.

As they moved around the courtyard, Farengar followed them, but after a minute of staying in silence, it started to annoy Adara.

"Farengar, I'm a little busy here."

"Yes, yes," he said. "I uh… I was merely thinking if I could perform some tests on you."

Adara's eyes widened, and he barely managed to lean away from Farkas. "Don't even think about it," he said, knowing right what he was capable of. It wouldn't be the first time to perform tests on a human in the sake of his research. At this point, Adara was sure Farengar would gladly make experiments on a living dragon too, if he met one. The thought sent a cold shiver down on her spine, despite of the fact that she was sweating.

They clashed their swords against each other's a few more times, then Adara raised her leg and kicked Farkas in the chest to push him away. He extended his arms questioningly, but smiled. He always smiled when she took him by surprise. She returned the gesture, then turned to Farengar, panting.

"What is this about?"

Farengar looked at Farkas from the corner of his eye. He wanted to speak with Adara alone, but somehow he felt he never left her side. Lucky for him, Skjor just called him away.

"So?" she asked again, impatiently wanting to know what's gotten into him.

"A few weeks ago you told me about that… invisible force you produced," he started, and Adara nodded with a frown. She almost started to forget about it. "Well, I've made some research."

As he didn't continue, Adara shrugged. "And?"

Instead of giving her an answer, Farengar asked a question. "Have you experienced anything strange about yourself lately? Something like… anger issues?"

"No," Adara said after a little pause, but as the word left her lips, she knew it was not true. Yes, sometimes it was hard to control herself lately—but it wasn't anything new. It happened when she was a child.

"Any strange dreams?"

"None," another lie, but this time, she couldn't keep her face so straight. Dreams of a dragon haunted her mind since that day in Helgen, and she hadn't talked about it with anyone before. She didn't want people to know she was taking it so hard, because what else could have been the reason?

Farengar narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure?"

She swallowed hard, then heaved a sigh. "Okay. I have dreams about a dragon since Helgen."

The brightness on Farengar's face made her angry. "Listen, Farengar. It isn't funny—"

"No, no, of course it is not," he cut her off, then cleared his throat, his voice more serious. "Is it the same dream? Or always changing?"

She fell silent for a few second before she said quietly, "Same dream. Same dragon. The one I saw in Helgen."

Since Farengar only watched her without a word, she spoke up again,

"Would you tell me what is this about?"

"I'm not completely sure yet. I still have to—"

"Make some research, yeah, I know." she said tiredly, rolling her eyes, before she walked to the rack to place her practice sword down. Dealing with Farengar wasn't easy.

Farengar left with hope, but he still needed more answers. He didn't want to tell her too much just yet. Maybe he could talk to Delphine.

Just as the mage left, Farkas walked back to Adara. "Good to see he didn't blow you up or something."

Adara smiled. "You're joking but he'd actually do it."

Farkas let out a short laugh, though he didn't find it funny at all. Mages. He turned to her, a smile playing on his lips. "I talked to Skjor. He says you're ready for your Trial."

Her jaw dropped. "Really? When?"

Farkas shrugged, still smiling. "Tomorrow, a week later… Whenever you're ready."

Adara smiled too, her heart banging hard against her ribs. She was excited, she felt she was ready, but she was scared too. It would be the best to get over with it as soon as she could.

Tomorrow.