Author's note:
First of all, a huge thank you to all those who are keeping up with this story/following it/favoriting it. You really are the best :) Moreover, I thank reddevil47 for their review. It really lifts my spirit to know that you liked the previous chapter, and I hope you'll like this one too. Of course, I also thank Guest for their review about chapter 7. I know that that instalment was quite weird, but it was very useful to build up my characters' personalities.
As for the delay in the updates, I want to reassure my readers that I haven't abandoned this story; simply enough, real life has caught up with me and from now on this fanfic will be updated more sporadically.
Anyway, back to business ;) After Steinarius finally told Agda that he's the Dragonborn, I thought that our favourite innkeeper could use some free time to enjoy the celebrations for New Life Festival. Therefore, here's a long chapter before the story continues at a faster pace.
The ending is told from Steinarius' POV and may be a bit confusing, but all will be explained in due time.
Warning: alcohol.
1st of Morning Star, 4E 202
For the first time in her life, that year Agda could enjoy the holidays without arguing with her relatives or panicking because her friends still hadn't decided where to get drunk on New Life Festival; moreover, she finally felt as though she didn't have a care left in the world.
In the days after her long talk with Steinarius, Agda could get over her misunderstandings with the Imperial, the tortures she had endured, the way that she had taken a Thalmor's life. Those memories still haunted her dreams, sure, but during the day the young innkeeper didn't feel in danger anymore: she no longer burst into tears while attending to the patrons and had even regained her usual happiness.
Agda mainly had to thank her friends for her newly found peace.
Adaeze had wished to surprise her by turning up in Riverwood a few days before New Life Festival – and just as the Redguard had predicted, her plan worked out perfectly. The two girls spent the night of their reunion chatting and chuckling and eating the sweets Adaeze had brought in from Riften. They fell asleep at the counter of the inn, causing Delphine to roll her eyes and Steinarius to carry them both to the Breton's huge bed.
Adaeze hadn't shown any hint of embarrassment at meeting the clumsy Imperial – on the contrary, she had immediately asked him whether he had enjoyed her drunken note. Steinarius had chuckled, but hadn't given her an answer. Considering that many Companions were famous for boasting about their love conquests, Adaeze had been surprised by that silence. Steinarius clearly didn't enjoy talking about his private life and the Redguard felt obliged to find out why.
Adaeze soon noticed that Agda was hiding something as well: she seemed reluctant to talk about her broken hand and had very frequent nightmares. In this case, however, the Redguard decided not to enquire – after all, she was just as hesitant when it came to answering Hadvar's questions about her job.
The young soldier adored New Life Festival and, since his good conduct had earned him some days off right before the beginning of the new year, he had immediately taken that chance to visit his family. When he discovered that Adaeze was in the village too, the shy Nord felt like the happiest man on Nirn.
During the days that led to New Life Festival, also Steinarius seemed to forget the whole Dragonborn business: he often chatted with Hadvar, listened to Embry's bad jokes and laughed every time Adaeze told him one of her funny anecdotes. The Imperial had a booming and contagious laughter that always managed to bring a smile on Agda's lips.
Now that she knew that Steinarius was the Dragonborn, the young innkeeper felt very protective towards him: she cooked him his favorite meals, brewed him useful potions, tried to change the topic of conversation whenever her patrons talked about the dragons. In return, Steinarius gave threatening looks to everyone who enquired about Agda's broken hand or mentioned the Thalmor when she was around. He had also taken the habit to pinch the girl's cheeks or play with her blonde curls, something that always managed to make Agda blush.
The Nord loved the mischievous smile that accompanied those gestures and adored tousling Steinarius' hair in revenge.
Agda didn't know how to interpret the behavior of the Dragonborn, but one thing she knew: she always felt good when she was with Steinarius and sincerely hoped that the warrior felt the same way about her.
Steinarius' constant presence in Riverwood soon raised some questions.
Eventually, when the rumors about him and Camilla became particularly irritating, the Dragonborn did something very cunning – he visited Hadvar's family and revealed them that he had left the Legion.
"I didn't enjoy being ordered around like a puppet, so I quit", he said at the end of a glorious dinner prepared by Sigrid. "Right now I'm trying to become a sellsword. Given that all the other inns of Skyrim have already been taken, I've decided to set camp at the Sleeping Giant".
Poor Hadvar was shocked by the news, just like his uncle Alvor. Sigrid, instead, immediately reported the rumour to the rest of the village.
In few hours, everyone found out about the new occupant of the Sleeping Giant – and whereas Camilla called Sigrid a liar and kept on claiming that Steinarius was madly in love with her, the other inhabitants of Riverwood started treating the Imperial with a mixture of respect and deference.
Everyone seemed to love that weird sellsword – the only, remarkable exception was a Breton woman named Delphine.
The experienced warrior was simply mad at her uncooperative Dragonborn. She had worked hard to preserve the memory of the Blades, hiding and waiting and living in a web of lies and disguises for more than twenty-five years. Yet, now that she and Esbern finally had the chance to restore their Order, the only person who could help them seemed much more interested in chatting with a few bumpkins than saving the world from the dragons.
Delphine had mixed feelings towards Steinarius. On the one hand, she had to admit that the Imperial was the strongest warrior she had ever met: he was good with a bow, had an incredible stamina and was incredibly lethal when he could fight with his sword and his shield. On the other hand, Delphine couldn't help but feel that Steinarius wasn't the flawless Dragonborn she had always dreamed of: he didn't trust her, had an annoying respect for the Greybeards, was always ready to defend the weak and the poor and the oppressed. But most of all, Steinarius was clearly frightened by his destiny and deeply craved a boring life made of simple habits and dull distractions.
Unfortunately for him, simple habits and dull distraction had nothing to do with the calling of the Dragonborn.
On the morning of New Life Festival, all the people of Riverwood gathered in the Sleeping Giant together with the local guards and the few hunters who usually roamed the roads around the village.
Agda, Orgnar and Delphine were busy serving mead for the whole day, but were happy to see that Sigrid and Gerdur had cooked some food for the occasion, too. Apparently, the celebrations had managed to make the two women forget about the troubles caused by the war.
At first Hadvar seemed unnerved by the presence of Ralof' sister, but Adaeze was quick to make his worries disappear. The two of them spent most of the day drinking and chuckling and smiling dumbly at each other, causing Agda to wonder how much it would take them to end up in the same bed.
At some point during the evening, Faendal started singing a weird elven song, Hod and Alvor began to dance with their wives, Embry kissed Delphine on the cheek. A few minutes later, after she regained her usual composure, the Breton made a surprise announcement: she would leave the Sleeping Giant to Orgnar and go back to High Rock, where she would finally retire and spend the last years of her life together with her family.
Agda knew that Delphine had made up that lie to hide her departure for Alduin's wall, but couldn't help but feel a lot of tenderness as she watched her employer hold back the tears.
Apparently, over the course of time the Breton had grown to love her little inn in the middle of nowhere.
However, as she noticed that Agda was about to cry, Delphine rolled her eyes and gave her a threatening look.
"If you make me burst into tears, I'll skin you", she warned the girl. Yet, as the young Nord pulled a terrified face, Delphine chuckled and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I was joking, Agda. By the way, it's time for you to have fun. Since you've been working all day, from now on Orgnar and I can take care of the patrons by ourselves".
Prompted by Delphine's words and by the combined approval of Orgnar and Esbern, Agda couldn't stifle a grin.
It was high time she enjoyed the celebrations too.
Steinarius was watching the dances from a corner of the tavern. As Agda approached him, he raised his cup of wine and gave her one of his crooked smiles.
For some reasons, the girl thought that he looked very sad.
"I'm fine", the Imperial reassured her when she asked him how he was doing. "I was just reliving some memories from my past. Moreover, little Dorthe asked me to dance. As you can imagine, I'm afraid I might have scarred her for life".
Agda chuckled. Hadvar's little cousin had insisted so much that Steinarius had eventually yielded to her desires and offered her a little dance. He had taken her hands, then he had goofily waltzed with her across the room. Unfortunately, by doing so he had stepped on the Dorthe's feet more than once.
"That brat called me lanky goblin", Steinarius revealed with a lot more sternness than necessary.
"You are lanky", Agda pointed out.
"But I'm no goblin".
Agda chuckled, then grabbed Steinarius by the arm.
Everyone inside the inn was happy and careless and smiling and she couldn't wait to be part of that joyful atmosphere.
As Steinarius realized that the girl wanted to dance, however, he immediately tried to protest.
"Agda, I'm not sure this is a good idea. I'm a terrible dancer and…"
Before the Imperial could finish that sentence, Agda had already dragged him in the middle of the tavern. She was an awful dancer too, but was set on spending some time with her hands on Steinarius' body.
By the time Agda and her partner started to prance across the tavern, Sven had lent his lute to Embry, who had begun to play something that vaguely reminded a wild, chaotic waltz. The bard was enjoying those rare moments of freedom by dancing with Adaeze, whereas Hadvar was tenderly stroking one of the tavern's pillars.
Agda had never seen anyone so drunk.
As she began to dance with Steinarius, the girl smiled. Wrapped in a long dark dress, she felt beautiful and happy and serene.
"See?", she told her friend. "Now that you have a partner who is almost as tall as you, dancing isn't that hard".
"Yeah, but I can't understand who of us is leading".
Agda frowned. To her, the concept of leading was completely foreign.
As she asked Steinarius for explanations, both of them temporarily forgot what they were doing. Nevertheless, they remembered about it as soon as one of the nearby couples let out a curse.
Somehow, Steinarius had managed to step on the feet of both those dancers, thus making them tumble and fall face first on the floor.
Before Agda could properly appreciate that masterpiece born out of drunkenness, clumsiness and bad luck, she was unexpectedly dragged out of the door. Running like mad, Steinarius took her to Gerdur's lumber mill, then halted his crazy escape from the tavern. A moment later, as Agda looked at him with a mixture of shock, confusion and murder (her physical shape didn't allow her to run at such a high speed), the Imperial tilted his head backwards and burst into the loudest and happiest laughter the girl had ever heard in her life.
When the two angry dancers finally stopped looking for him, Steinarius sat down under the roof of the lumber mill, so that the falling snow wouldn't bother him too much. He immediately motioned for Agda to do the same, then he gently draped an arm around her waist, causing the girl to scoop closer and enjoy his body warmth.
The two friends quietly talked about the holidays, Hadvar's crush for Adaeze, the way Delphine had almost burst into tears as she'd announced she would leave the inn. Then they fell into a comfortable silence.
Prompted by the mead she had drunk and the relaxing atmosphere around her, after some minutes Agda rested her head against Steinarius' shoulder. When he didn't protest, she smiled and closed her eyes in bliss.
The girl felt as though she was living in a fairytale: clad in snow, that night Riverwood looked like the most beautiful place in the world; the snowflakes were tracing lazy patterns in the air, whereas the sudden gusts of wind carried the smell of fire and mead and food. Agda could hear the music coming from the inn and could see a couple of deers on the other side of the White River. But most of all, at that moment she could focus on the way Steinarius' body felt against her own. Agda could feel his welcoming warmth, his taut muscles, the slow rhythm of his heartbeat. She could see the little puffs he produced with his breath and could see the way his grey eyes mirrored the landscape around them. Moreover, she could enjoy the gentle circles the Imperial was tracing on her arm and the spiced scent coming from his skin. Steinarius smelled like juniper, lavender and nightshade, like mead and smoke and fire. But most of all, Agda thought, he smelled like home.
As she noticed how calm and thoughtful the Imperial looked, the girl suddenly felt the need to caress him. Yet, as soon as she motioned to reach for him, Steinarius unexpectedly pulled away from their hug. Agda wanted to ask Steinarius why he'd done that, but the little envelope in the Imperial's hands soon gathered all her attention.
The mighty Dragonborn had bought her a present.
A few seconds later, as she looked at the precious necklace in her hands, Agda frowned.
At first, the joy and the shock and the surprise for that gift had had her throw her arms around Steinarius' neck, causing him to chuckle. Now, however, the innkeeper felt embarrassed by the expensive present the man had bought her.
That necklace was entirely made of gold and had the strongest alchemy enchantment Agda had ever seen.
As she thought about the lame sheath she had bought for Steinarius, she blushed and lowered her gaze.
"Steinarius, this is the most expensive thing I've ever seen. It's a wonderful present, sure, but I can't accept it. I don't deserve it".
The Imperial frowned.
"You don't like the colour?"
Agda shook her head.
"It's not the colour, Steinarius. You know, this necklace is the best gift I've ever received, but..."
"And you are the sweetest innkeeper I've ever met", Steinarius said with a low chuckle. "I'd say that we're even".
Unfortunately, Agda had a very different opinion: she couldn't understand why Steinarius had bought her a golden necklace rather than a silver one and felt both flattered and embarrassed by that fact.
She went on to protest until the Imperial stopped her with an exasperated sigh.
"Agda, I've bought this present for you, and for you only", he calmly told her. "You'd make me very happy if you accepted it".
Those words finally did the trick. Agda muttered the hundredth thank you of the evening, then watched Steinarius with an unusual intense gaze. When her eyes lingered for a few seconds on his lips, the man hastily stood up.
"The others will be wondering where we're hiding", he said as he pointed towards the inn.
Agda seemed slightly surprised by his remark, but immediately stood up and followed Steinarius without protests.
As he noticed the way she was absent-mindedly toying with her new necklace, the Imperial felt a weird feeling in his gut - and said feeling resembled a strange mixture of guilt and sadness and longing.
Although it was well past midnight, the inn was still crowded by a lot of very drunk people. Some of them were feeling so bad that Orgnar had been forced to tuck them in the beds Steinarius and Agda usually slept in, whereas others had collapsed on the floor of the tavern.
As though that wasn't enough, there were loud cries of pleasure coming from Delphine's room.
When she recognized Adaeze's voice, Agda grinned. Yet, when she saw that Hadvar was sleeping by the fireplace, she immediately deadpanned.
A second later, as the young innkeeper heard Sven's grunts, she promised she would have a long talk with her Redguard friend. Steinarius, on the other hand, took it upon himself to help Hadvar with his broken heart.
After making a few comments about that situation and chuckling at Delphine's outraged look, Agda laid down on the floor of the inn. The area behind the counter wasn't the most comfortable place in Tamriel, but at least it was remotely clean - and given that her bed was already taken and that it was well past midnight, the girl didn't mind spending the rest of the night there.
When Steinarius took place beside her, the girl scooped closer to him, then rapidly fell asleep. As every other Nord innkeeper, she definitely wasn't sensible about sleeping on the floor.
While he looked at her calm expression and the way she was clutching to her new necklace in her sleep, Steinarius couldn't help but think about the time he and Agda had spent together until that moment. As the cries from Delphine's room became louder and lourder, the Imperial realized that part of him wished to discover whether Agda closed her eyes when someone kissed her, whether she whimpered when someone nibbled her neck, whether she blushed when someone slowly undressed her.
Unnerved by that realization, Steinarius turned his back to Agda and tried to ignore the feelings that were racing through his mind.
Lust, melancholy and some sad memories from his past formed a weird mixture that kept him awake for most of the night. Yet, by the time the first rays of sun finally shone upon the village, the Imperial had finally made up his mind.
He deeply cared about Agda and was ready to do everything to prevent her from falling for the wrong man.