"I normally like to seduce my victims before I kill them but I'm on a tight schedule and my Valentine will get jealous," explained Sofia to the male vampire she was trying to stab with her sword all the while throwing a ward up to keep the vampiric drain from depriving her of life essence.

As for me, I was also throwing up a ward. I had been getting somewhat capable with wards, but I was also rather disappointed with the quality of the Iron Skin spell. I had worked like a dog to get to the point where it was three times as powerful but I still went down with a single hit. And only rapid restoration magic was able to get me back up. I was getting sick and tired of being so vulnerable. Accordingly, I was behind Sofia throwing fire bolts into the creature's face and deciding that given the hairy quality of fights we were engaging in now (vampires tend to sober you up when you find yourself fighting them routinely) it was time I stopped ignoring that one rude woman in Riften, name of Grelka, and take light armor lessons from her. Problem was, that was going to cost money, of which we had very little of. Two more fire bolts and a slash across the chest and that one was down. We pushed forward to our next target. That was a female vampire, pressing hard against a younger Dawnguard who was looking rather frightened by the snarling intensity of that horned ridged face and long teeth.

"Yo! Sweetie pie with the long teeth!" I called out to her. "I think I love you!"

The female vampire hesitated for a second, since that's not the sort of thing women on the battle field normally hear from behind them, and then she found herself immolated in fire from both me and Sofia. She turned to face us and that's what the young Dawnguard needed. He ran his blade through the small of her back. She looked down at the protruding blade and an expression of shock and horror filled her features before she crumpled into a pile of dust upon the ground.

I did a quick scan of the battle field. The three vampires in my vision were starting to fall back while the dozen or so Dawnguard were advancing, centered around the brilliant sunlight nimbus of Isran. I fired off a few more fire bolts, and the remaining half dozen vampires turned and ran. The Dawnguard, cheering, pursued while Isran paused, and, as if to say he was more dignified than that, began walking back to the gate of the castle.

"Look at this, I should have known it was only a matter of time before they found us. It's the price we pay for openly recruiting. We'll have to step up our defenses," he grumbled.

"But the victory we just got from them will make them think twice before they try that again," I countered, jogging up behind him.

He turned to me. "I don't suppose you have some good news for me?" He queried.

"I have news," I sighed. "But I wouldn't call it good."

"Of course, why could I suppose differently? Fine, tell me what you know. So what was in Dimhollow Crypt?" asked Isran.

"Besides the corpse of Vigilant Tolan?" replied Sofia.

"The vampires were looking for a women who had been sealed up," I replied. "She turned out to be the daughter of a powerful Vampire Lord. And so we took her home to her father to get the lay of the land. We now know where their headquarters are, and got a good grasp of the power behind this operation."

"And so you delivered her to them," groaned Isran in that tone which suggested that I had failed him. Of course that was the tone Isran had with everyone.

"Well if you wanted us to die taking down as many of the hundreds of vampires mobbing us as were in that castle, not to mention never knowing what we had done or gone to, you could have asked?" replied Sofia.

"We did quite a number of things," I replied. "We got to know this vampire girl. Her name is Serana. We noted she had an Elder Scroll on her back, which of course set off a lot of alarms in my head. We discovered she was holding on to a lot of her humanity and thus was very polite and well mannered, even after we cast all those dispel magics on us to make sure we were not being enthralled. And we got the impression that she didn't care for her father that much, nor he cared much for her."

"An Elder Scroll," groaned Isran.

"Could be worse," I retorted. "They've got it but they can't read it. As it was, Serana managed to keep her father from doing horrible things to our blood cell count, referring to us as her saviors and friends. So instead of feeding us to his court, we were merely banished. This after we decided we did not wish to be turned into vampires."

"Just because I'm a night person doesn't mean I'm that much of a night person," Sofia added. "Not to mention that the rules for the club require you to give up mead."

Isran was a good commander, and he understood that his charges would have to make decisions on the field when he was not around. While he might not have immediately approved of the fact that we had kept our reconnaissance mission strictly reconnaissance, he quickly grasped that we had actually managed to penetrate (without fangs no less) the inner circle of the forces arrayed against us. In short, because we had not done what he would have done, we ended up doing something far more important. Of course his tone conveyed nothing which remotely suggested approval of our initiatives.

"So they have everything they wanted. By the Divines, this couldn't get any worse. This is more than you and I can handle," he grumbled.

"So we give up?" suggested Sofia with a rather sarcastic tone.

"We are going to do something I presume," I broke in trying to pour oil on the potential rough waters. "You didn't do all this to stop now." I continued gesturing to the vast towers and walls of the castle.

"Well of course we will, I'm old, not stupid. We're just going to need some help. If they are bold enough to attack us here, this might be bigger than I thought," reflected Isran. He paused for a moment, "Gunmar, big brute of a nord. Got it into his head that his experience with animals would help. and Sorein Jurard, whipsmart and a tinkerer. They will give us the edge we need. Get them."

And with that he turned and walked back into the castle. I looked at Sofia. She looked at me.

"Not another fetch quest. Do we even get to sleep here tonight?" She asked.

"Of course," I replied opening the door to the castle foyer. "I even recall that there's a guest double bed up on the second story." We found it, fenced it off with some rope and hanging blankets for privacy and settled in for the night after I had made a few inquiries among the fellow members of the Dawnguard.

I woke up the next morning, sat up and stretched. Sofia was still asleep so I got out of the bed and got my robes on and then proceeded to go down stairs to the back area and there, on a work table, began to adjust the leather armor which the vampires had been wearing. It was going to take three sets to first, fit it to my frame, and second, repair the rents and tears from weapon damage. But I was determined that I was going to be armored shortly so I could start taking the point and protecting Sofia from any future peril.

"We have our own style of armor," suggested Durak, walking in as I was busy starting to fit the pieces. He was one of the local orcs who was pretty well up in the Dawnguard ranks.

"But it's heavy," I countered. "I need something lighter to move in."

"We have light armor," answered Durak. "If I saw you coming up the valley in something like that I would hack your head off and found out my mistake afterwards."

"Let's see your light armor," I answered.

Durak left for a moment and Sofia came down, looking rather . . . well queasy was the best expression of her expression.

"Valentine," she groaned. "I wanna throw up and I'm not even drunk."

I knew I had seconds to act. I had a bucket in her hands just three seconds before she lost it. Then Durak showed up holding some square stud leather armor.

"Did you have to do that in here?" He groaned. His nose wrinkled in disgust.

"I didn't ask to throw up!" snapped Sofia. "It just happened. And now I'm starving!"

I sighed. "Getting sick now with a flu Sofia, is not a good idea. We're in the middle of a mess and besides, if you are carrying a child . . ."

"If she's carrying a child? You mean you only think she might be pregnant?" roared Durak with laughter. "Well doubt no more! She's got morning sickness. I remember both my wives spewing all over the floor."

"Oh that's right," groaned Sofia. "This happened the last time." Then she looked at me with just a little trepidation.

"I didn't run away when you said your period was late," I said with a smile. "Why would I run now?"

She simply walked over and hugged me, rather tightly, for a second.

"I'm going to be there for the child, Sofi," I whispered. "And forever afterwards. We are married after all."

"I really am going to have a baby this time," she whispered back. Then she looked up at me. "And she'll be pretty just like me, clever just like me, grow up to be an adventurer just like me."

I cleared my throat. "There's a fifty fifty chance it's going to be a boy," I suggested.

"Then he'll be good looking just like me, clever just like me, grow up to be an adventurer just like me."

"What about me?"

"Well he might . . . He'll have a wondering singing voice . . . Just like you . . . And me."

Durak cleared his throat. "This is all very touching," he suggested. "But here's the light Dawnguard Armor for you to try out." He handed over three sets of the riveted iron plated leather and proceeded on some other errand.

"Thanks," I said. I began to examine the pieces. Sofia looked over my shoulder.

"Personally? I think I look better in the vampire armor and you look more manly in the Dawnguard armor. Of course neither one is easy to remove which could prove to be problematic tonight when I decide you need to be seduced."

"When you decide I need to be seduced?"

"Well of course. I can always tell when you need that. I mean, have you ever said no when I started being seductive?"

"You mean like when you say, 'Now give me all your clothes or I'll kill you'?"

"When have I ever said that?"

"Well there was that night in Ivarstead after we left Riften with Esbern. Then there was that evening in the Nightgate Inn before we went into Dimhollow, and let's see, has there been any further . . ."

"Just forget it," she sighed.

It wasn't easy, but I managed to work out the various pieces so that at the end of a few hours, Sofia was looking like the vamp in red toned leather armor and skirt while I was looking somewhat riveting in my rust colored vest. I didn't care for the fact that the arms were bare. But then it dawned on me that I could wear a shirt underneath it. Once that was settled, I was ready to go. So we set out.

"Where are we going?" asked Sofia.

"We are going to find Gunmar first," I said. "I asked around last night and he's been seen around Ivarstead hunting bears. And that way we'll get to check up with the Greybeards on that shout which Esbern told us we need to learn."

"Oh great, those 7,000 steps again. And I didn't pack my warm underwear. Last time it almost killed my legs. And it gets cold in the southern parts if you know what I mean. But after those geriatric dragon slayers, the Greybeards seem almost wonderful in comparison," She sighed. "They are a strange bunch though. Imagine having to sit there in silence all the time. I couldn't do it. I struggle staying quiet for a minute. What's the point of being able to shout and not shouting? If I were Dragonborn shouting would take on a whole new meaning."

It was back up the road by the Treva River and into Ivarstead where we found Gunmar by a small cave just north of the town. He agreed to go back to speak with Isran provided we first helped him take out a very nasty bear which he had tracked to that cave. Sofia complained that she could barely handle it and I swatted her on the backside for good measure. We finished that, took the pelts, and headed back to the Inn. There Sofia rather seductively asked if I wanted to see her bare chest and when I replied yes, she proceeded to lift up the bear fur and pointed to it's chest. I swatted her on the backside yet again.

Well that took care of Gunmar, and so we spent the night in Ivarstead, playing as usual for room and board. More tips. Then, it was up to High Hrothgar where the 7,000 (lies all lies) steps were packed with the usual menagerie of belligerent bears, wolves, and trolls. That made the trip less of a spiritual journey which was the whole point of the steps in the first place. But once again I was rewarded with Kynareth's blessing and entered the great grey monastery for the third time. And then it got dicey. Yes, as if the trolls were bad enough, there was a new wrinkle in the shirt. The Greybeards it seemed, did not like the Blades. But not only that, in the middle of Arngeir's chewing me out for even suggesting that I needed to learn the Dragonrend shout a theological debate broke out among the Greybeards and it was all in the Dragon Tongue which made the entire place shake. So even though I could not understand a bit of it, there was nothing remotely boring about the debate.

The rattling and shaking and shouting unsettled Sofia way more than me because at least I was able to withstand the power unleashed thanks to my Dragonborn blood. But she had no such advantage and so not only was I trying to stay on my feet, I had Sofia's weight to contend with as well since she saw the most effective way of not falling over consisting of leaping up on my back and hanging on by wrapping her legs around my waist and arms around my shoulders.

"Don't you dare say, 'ride 'em horsy' because if you do, I'll made sure you don't taste mead for a week," I groaned.

The debate ended with the decision that as I was Dragonborn and possessing my own special destiny, the pacifistic approach to shouting which was the Greybeard's practice did not apply to me. So they taught me a new shout, one which cleared up the local weather issues and with that, I was able to ascend to the top of the Throat to meet their head.

The head of their order turned out to be something I had never encountered before; a friendly dragon. His initial impression was one of sheer intimidation since he was the first dragon I had ever encountered who was happy to see me and landed close enough that his arm length fangs were within inches of my face. Other than that he was more than polite. His name was Paarthurnax and was one of those chaps who liked to talk. As a result, we spent several hours up on the top of the mountain, speaking to him and meditating on the words he had given me for shouting. But the most important information was that the Dragonrend shout was of entirely human origin. It had been made to defeat Alduin and once Alduin had been 'defeated' the shout had no more purpose and had been forgotten. But what I also learned was that the shout was only part of the puzzle. Alduin had not been thrown down by the shout. He had been made to experience mortality which had weakened him enough so that with the aid of an Elder Scroll, he had been just thrown forward in time. And it was at the top of the Throat where that rift in time had taken place.

So not only did I need to learn the Dragon Rend Shout. I needed an Elder Scroll and it was only through the Elder Scroll that I would be able to learn every thing I needed to set up what was becoming an increasingly complex ritual to confront Alduin.

"So the leader of the Greybeards is a dragon?" began Sofia as we started to descend the mountain past the various corpses of trolls and ice wraiths we had to dispose of between shouts to dispel the simply awful weather. "Well that explains a lot. So I guess we need an elder scroll then? Is that all? Well that shouldn't be hard. I mean they are just laying all over the place. There was me thinking he was going to say that we had to do something difficult."

"Serana has an Elder Scroll," I mused.

"So we just sail back to Castle Volkihar and knock and say pretty please while I flutter my eyelashes?"

"That only works on me," I observed.

"Since when?"

"I'm here every day for you, or haven't you noticed?"

"You mean that the reason why you and I are married is because I fluttered my eyelashes?"

"That and a few other things," I continued. "But Lord Harkon doesn't sound like the sort who cares for fluttering eyelashes. Pulsing throbbing throats are more his thing."

"You know? I think I noticed that," she remarked. "Those long teeth of his were a big giveaway."

"Funny how that works."

And then it was off to Sky Haven Temple to talk to Esbern about the Dragon Rend shout. Sky Haven was only a bit out of the way since according to Isran, Sorien was just at the north end of the reach, in the far western portion of Haafingar. That took the next day of travel. Delphine and Esbern were both spending their free time meditating on dreams and visions which they had experienced on the temple's porch, which was on top of the mountain and presented an absolutely drop dead gorgeous view of the reach. The view was only slightly marred by a comment from Sofia.

"You know," she observed. "It's a pity Jordis isn't here with us. You could demonstrate that Fus Do Rah shout and see if it would propel her into the river below."

"Then she wouldn't be able to babysit," I pointed out.

"I've thought about that. Jarl Elisif can babysit. That's not beyond her competency."

"The Jarl of Haafinger has way more important things to do than babysit our children, Sofi."

"Oh? Such as?"

"There's only the entire hold to administer."

"That's what Falk and Sybille are for, and the thanes like you and me. Well you anyway, I've got more important jobs I'll be doing."

"Such as?"

"Well I need to be in the Winking Skeever drinking with the little people to make sure their views are listened to and acted upon."

"I see," I replied. "How could I have imagined you doing anything else?"

And it was apparently my turn to be kicked hard in the backside.

From Sky Haven we set out to traverse the Reach, heading mostly north up the river. Our chief issue during the trip was mudcrabs which were not a particular challenge. The Forsworn on the other hand, were more than a nuisance. They were fond of shooting with bows and arrows from behind rocks and up in cliffs and crevices. I was grateful I had manage to learn the Fireball spell. What was irritating was that I could get only two of them off before I had to suck down magicka potions. Just the same, explosions tended to unnerve the Forsworn who were more than happy to scream "Victory is yours! I submit!" and run if I managed to score some direct hits. It was a full day of walking the foot trails and what passed for roads before we got up into the headwaters and highlands in the far western reaches of Skyrim near the borders of High Rock. And there we found Sorine. She was mostly short and to the point, complaining that her satchel of dwarven devices had been stolen by mudcrabs. I had a hard time accepting that. Mudcrabs suffer from an acute sense of territoriality and are quick to attack anything which comes to close to where they were busy grazing. But to suggest that they would deliberately steal a leather satchel was somewhat of a stretch. So Sofia and I started looking.

"You are always trying to satisfy other people," began Sofia, grumbling because she found looking for specific items incredibly boring. "It's a shame you never try and satisfy me."

"What?" I sputtered. "Are you confusing me with Horsa again?"

"What? No I didn't mean it like that. I meant as in trying to please me . . . Uh . . . No . . . That sounds even worse. *sighs* I'll just shut up now. . . . And Quit Laughing!"

After about an hour, Sorine's satchel was delivered to her and she set off for Isran's secret hideaway. She was not surprised he was still working on it.

"Isran is, if anything, stubborn," she commented.

We went to the Four Shields Inn, sang for our super and room. Then the next morning, walked on to Solitude where we unloaded and found Jordis moved in. I formally welcomed her and told her to make herself at home and likewise gave her a run down on who was and who was not free to drop by and visit. We were a little more wealthy thanks to the bits and pieces of stuff we had been able to pick up off of the various animals and monsters and Forsworn we had been dealing with. Once I had left the Dawnguard castle and was on a circuitous route home, it was no more calm spells for the flora and fauna. We needed money and attacking animals were fair play. So it was off to the tanning rack to turn all the spare leather into boots which were sold to the blacksmith Beirand, off to the enchanting table to learn any new enchantments, and then enchanting on all the found jewelry we had scooped up, which increased it's value, and then off to the various shops where what was left was sold off. At the end of the day I was able to deposit 500 septims into Sofia's lap at the dining table.

"Shall we give some of our hard earned money to the poor?" she queried with an impish grin on her features while she scooped the septims from her lap and put them into her side pouch. "Nah, let's spend it on mead."

"And get drunk and do something we will later regret and pass out?" I added. "That is your usual proposal."

"If it's in our bedroom, we've never done something I've regretted," she countered. "Not for lack of trying though."

"How about on the Dining Room floor underneath the table?" I queried.

"What? I'm not even drunk yet."

"Even better."

"VALENTINE!" she cried as I scooped her up and settled her down on the carpet beneath the table. I don't think I need to elaborate further.

The next day we set out once again for Dawnguard Castle. And we took the carriage. As it was, we got there just as Isran was doing his first briefing with the Dawnguard now that Sorien and Gunard were present. Every one was seated at the dining tables in the kitchen area as it was large, spacious, and there was food for munching on while plans were made to free Tamriel from the fanged menace . . . Or was it peril? Gunard was instructed to start taming trolls while Sorien was instructed to work on that new crossbow design she had been talking about. Then Isran looked at me.

"And you will now explain why a courier brought this letter to us addressed to you," he said with a glance and tone which suggested suspicion or hostility. Of course it was hard to determine if Isran was mad at you specifically or just the whole world or if he was just suffering from sore muscles due to his intense workout the day before.

I could feel all the eyes of the Dawnguard upon me. And not all of them were expressing simple curiosity. I took the letter Isran gave me. It was addressed to Sofia and Valentine Florian, it was a single sheet of paper rolled up, pressed flat, and sealed with a very vivid deep purple wax and it smelled slightly salty and rusty. The ink was red.

"Why would any one send a letter to us here?" I asked.

"Especially if it was a vampire," added Isran.

"How could you possibly know that?" I countered. "This seal is clearly not broken."

"Can't you smell it?" snarled Durak. "That's blood ink that's been used. That's the sort of letter vampires send when they are expressing friendship and affection. It smells sweet to them."

"You mean like a perfumed letter?" I queried.

Isran and Durak nodded while much of the rest of the Dawnguard frowned.

"I'll kill her," muttered Sofia.

"Well," I said, trying to make the best of a bad situation. "Let's read this letter out loud so everyone knows what in oblivion Serana is trying to do."

"You mean you know who sent it to you?" said Durak with that angry orc growl tone in his voice.

"There's only one vampire we know that would dare express affection to us," I replied breaking the seal and unfolding the letter. "The one who had the Elder Scroll and apparently knew so much I didn't dare kill her since, as you no doubt know already, vampire dust does not elaborate very well. That gave us the time to get to know her, appreciate her good qualities, hard to believe I freely admit but she does have them, and gives me and Sofia hope that we'll persuade her to be cured."

I cleared my throat and read it out loud to the entire Dawnguard. And it went like this.

My darling Sofia and friend Val,

I will be meeting you in Solitude at the house since I suspect that the Dawnguard would kill me before I had the chance to talk with you. I kind of accidentally on purpose deliberately forgot to return the spare key so I will let myself in. I say this so you won't get upset and do something rash to mar the very pretty walls and furniture of your home should you walk into a dark house and spy a pair of glowing eyes. If Jordis has already moved in I'll connect with Sybille first so that she does not panic when I show up because I just can't work up the enthusiasm for arriving at say, noon?

I will be bringing the Elder Scroll since it's part of the reason why mother locked me up in that stone tomb. I'll explain more when we get back together. Once you have the full picture, hopefully we'll be able to persuade the Dawnguard to assist, or at least not do something painful to my girlish figure. I figure since they're vampire hunters and that there's an awful lot of us, they'll content themselves with those which are presently trying to destroy the world, or at least make it a pretty rotten place. I'll elaborate when we meet.

It's possible that this letter will not reach you before I do. I'm sending it to the Dawnguard castle since I figured you would be using that as a base given your present vampire hunting careers. I know it's supposed to be a secret hideout but father and the rest of the court are quite aware of both it's location and strength of numbers.

I remain your dearest,

Serana.

I looked at the collected assembly.

"Now explain why I shouldn't instruct you and your wife to kill that woman the moment she shows up at your house?" stated Isran.

"Well," I began with a weak smile. "It wouldn't exactly be hospitable."

There was a bit of nervous laughter. Hearing the words being read aloud had reminded the entire assembly that there wasn't a single vampire that had not started out just a human being like the rest of us. I made sure Serana's trust and affection for us had come out in the letter.

"So?" queried Isran. "You didn't give her permission to come did you?"

"Well to be frank we kind of did," I replied. "Isran," I continued quietly as everyone was looking at me with a mixture of surprise, shock, and amazement that I could, on the surface, be that stupid. "Do you for one moment suspect that I don't know that beneath that nice tone and polite manner, that comic sense and friendly affection, there's a monster lurking?"

"So you agree she's a monster," said Durak.

"Very much so," I sighed. "There is nothing more monstrous than a Daughter of Coldharbor, but we have to remember how Daughters of Coldharbor are made. Not all of them are willing. And I suspect there's a little corner in each and every one of them that they retreat to scream in disgust and horror over what they experienced, or even willingly participated in."

"Then killing them is a favor," reasoned Isran.

"I won't argue with that," I replied. "It clearly is a last resort however. If we just hunt and kill them, are we not more like them that we should be?"

"You're sounding soft," snarled Isran. "Soft killed the Vigilants."

"Obviously Isran," I answered. "I saw Tolan's corpse and I heard the vampires laughing over the ease at which they disposed of him. But I wish to make a point. If you were hunting a vampire and that vampire was heading towards that wizard in Morthal, the one who knows how to cure vampirism, would you kill that vampire?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Is not a cured vampire a greater victory than a dead one?"

There were several murmurs in the assembly.

"Vampires killed both my wives!" shouted Durak, slamming his hand on the table. "There's no cure for death and the grief which comes from it!"

"I'm not asking you to spare those who attacked your family, Durak," I countered. "Killing them is justice or at least well argued vengeance. And only an idiot with a death wish comes between a strong orc and his just revenge. But a vampire who had done you personally no harm? Will you strike them down as they are seeking a cure?"

Again there were murmurs and a few raised voices and Durak himself simply growled. Orc growls are hard to read. He might have been in agreement. He might have been annoyed that I was proving right. He might have been deeply pondering what he was going to have for dinner. Like all twists which make the simple more complex, there were those who grasped immediately and those who were slower or just plain stubborn.

"Here's what we are all up against," I continued. I stood up and began to pace around the tables, trying to look into each of the Dawnguard's eyes. "We are up against a plot so insidious and evil that even vampires are wanting to make an alliance with us . . . US! You think vampires are monsters and evil? So do I, but what do we then do with a scheme which is even more monstrous and evil? If we are to believe Serana's letter."

I was holding the letter above my head for the flourish of it. What can I say? I'm a Bard and I know my theatrics. I had everyone's attention now.

"I'm the dragonborn," I continued. "Every single dragon I've run into has been the sort to incinerate farms and villages and my friends. I've killed . . . Damn I lost count a month ago . . . Yet, if it were not for a single dragon, the Greybeards would not have been there to guide me in the way of the voice. One dragon . . . One Dragon . . . Perfectly capable of killing half of us should it fly in here . . . Took pity on man and taught the first dragonborn the voice. He did so with the help of the gods. Now if the gods are willing to forgive one dragon who was, before then Alduin's chief lieutenant, am I just going to kill a vampire that comes to me in trust and begs us . . . The Dawnguard . . . To save the entire world from something nasty?"

"The letter did say it was a plan to destroy the whole world," mused Gunmar.

"Could be exaggeration," warned Isran. "Vampires are deceitful, treacherous, this could be all a plot to so that she might infiltrate our base and then betray us to the rest of her kind."

There were more than a few nodded assents.

"It's a risk," I admitted. "I have reasons to trust Serana. Reasons which have to do with the simple fact that the times she has had to suck me dry she has not chosen to avail herself of. She's the most cunning and patient of vampires I've encountered if that's been her whole plan. For this reason I'm willing to make a deal. My life in exchange for yours. If she proves to be treacherous in any fashion with the rest of the Dawnguard, then you can chop my head right off. My life for yours. Fair?"

"Valentine?" whimpered Sofia. "ARE YOU CRAZY!" she shouted.

"Done," said Isran. "As far as we are concerned, she has safe conduct in the Castle. But she's not to be trusted. She's a resource, an asset. And if she lays so much as a finger on anyone, you will pay."

I nodded my assent.

"Valentine?" came Sofia's voice. "We are going . . . To have a talk . . . NOW!"

I meekly nodded and we headed off towards a quite spot.

"The dragonborn, whipped into submission by a woman," groaned Isran. "As if things were not already bad."

"Humans are soft," grumbled Durak. "My wives would not have commanded me to have a talk . . ."

"They would have beaten you into submission?" suggested Gunmar with a grin.

There were chuckles over that one.

"Valentine!" stammered Sofia the moment we were safely out of earshot . . . "How could you do this to me?"

"What are you so upset about?"

"I . . . I have to trust a monster with the life of my husband!" she whimpered. She was literally on the edge of tears.

"This is Serana we're talking about," I countered.

"I know I know but . . ." Tears were beginning to roll down her cheek. Then she held on as tightly as she could. "I've lost one man already when I was carrying a baby. And he didn't even love me like you do . . . Valentine if I lose you I'll DIE!"

"I'm not going to die," I whispered. "Not yet. I was picked by the Gods for a reason. This has nothing to do with Alduin . . . I hope . . . Sofi Sofi Sofi . . . You know we need both the Dawnguard and Serana if we're going to get this figured out. And don't forget Sofi . . ." And here I lifted her chin up so I could look into those sapphire eyes of hers. "We're in this mess because vampires infected you twice and I was going to make sure that didn't happen to you again. I'm doing this so I don't lose you. Because if I lose you . . ." And then I was holding on to her as tightly as possible.

"If you start to cry on me now I'm going to kick you so hard . . ." muttered Sofia. "If I'm crying you're supposed to wipe away my tears and make me happy. Not join me."

"Alright alright," I said smiling in spite of my sudden sense of sadness. I gently brushed the tears off her cheeks.

Needless to say, we turned in early and made love before we fell asleep in each other's arms.

The next day we walked to Rifen, once again chartered a carriage, and on the evening of the 23rd, rode into Solitude.

"I hope our next trip doesn't require us to cross the entire length of Skyrim yet again," sighed Sofia as we got out of the carriage and started up the road to the gates. Then she staggered briefly and walked over to a bush and threw up behind it. She didn't throw up every day, but she was feeling queasy routinely.

"I'm not sure which I hate more, the cramps I get from having a period or this nausea I'm getting because I'm carrying a baby," she groaned.

"Well look at the bright side," I suggested. "Once you have the baby and start to breastfeed, that will keep your periods away for another eighteen months or so. So you have that to look forward to."

"If my baby . . . our baby is anything like my mom said I was, my nipples will be so sore from all the chewing . . ."

"Of course," I sighed. "I forgot it sucks to be Sofia."

"If you're trying to give me sympathy, wipe that grin off your face," she grumbled.

We approached the gate and I turned around and looked back. Sofia looked at me.

"You know? A month ago we were walking down this road on our way to get in the carriage to go to the Thalmor Embassy," I observed. "A lot can happen in a month."

"And three months ago I was sleeping in the Whiterun stables and you came up and asked to share my hay," observed Sofia. "A lot can happen between summer and fall."

"Any regrets?" I asked.

"Only one, well two. I could have gotten drunk a few more times and starting making love to you earlier."'

"That's it? What about trusting me sooner?"

"I was being cautious," she replied. "A woman of my qualities can't be to careful these days."

"Okay, so you get drunk with and make love to men you've don't entirely trust yet because you're just being careful," I mused.

"Valentine, why do I hear sarcasm?"

"Could be because I'm being sarcastic?"

She kicked me. And it was with a slight limp that I walked into Proudspire manor that evening. Jordis was there to greet us with a rather pale face and nervous disposition.

"Jordis?" I queried. "What's the matter."

"I've been having a hard time getting to sleep these last two nights," she replied.

"Any reason?" I continued.

"Well?" began Jordis.

Just then Serana came up the stairs.

It's been a very relaxing two nights," she said with a big smile, the sort that displayed her two fangs more prominently that some women's outfits and posture display their breasts. "I really appreciate all the blood potions we made the last time I was here."

Jordis kind of shifted her eyes in the direction of Serana. I nodded.

"I understand completely," I said while Sofia took Jordis' hands and held them in sympathy.

"Though I wouldn't have been surprised if you had not been expecting me," Serana added.

"My," I said with a bit of a smile. "What a big Elder Scroll you have on your back, Serana."

"The better to stop my father with, Val," replied Serana returning the subtle smile.

"We'd better gather around the dining room table," I said. "Get yourself a potion or two Serana. Jordis? Pull out a couple of bottles of mead. This is going to be a talk. And Jordis? You'll be joining us of course. You'll need to be brought up to speed as well." I paused. "Damn, Jarl Elisif is going to need to hear this as well. So that means tomorrow we're going to have to pay a visit to the court."

"Oh my thane?" intruded Jordis. "Jarl Elisif was hoping to formally install you this week if she could."

"Right, we can do that. We'll need to plan anyway. Jordis? Screw two bottles, bring up a bag of everything."

"Very good my thane," she replied with that 'I'm sworn to carry your burdens' tone that Lydia was so fond of using. Serana sat down on the side next to the fire while Sofia and I sat on the other side of the table.

"That fire won't be uncomfortable will it?" I asked.

"I like fire," replied Serana. "It's nice to feel the warmth."

Jordis came back upstairs with a set of blood potions, and mead bottles. I passed out fluted glasses and realized that clear glass was not necessarily a good idea since Serana poured part of a bottle of her blood potion into her glass and that thick red liquid which was mostly blood filled it. She took a gentle sip, reached for a mead bottle, poured a bit of that into the mixture, and took another sip. It was very civilized and delicate but not a sight for those eyes which were squeamish at the sight of blood.

"It all comes back to my father," She began with a sigh. "I guess by now you've figured out that my father is not a good man, even by vampire standards."

"Well his behavior at our first meeting was not the most enjoyable first impression," I replied.

"But he wasn't always like that," she said wistfully. "I remember when he loved me and mom and we had so much fun together. But there was a turn. He discovered this obscure prophecy and he became lost in it . . . Obsessed . . . Twisted."

I waited for her to continue.

"It was a prophecy in the Elder Scrolls about how vampires would no longer have to fear the sun. For someone who envisioned himself as vampire royalty, that's pretty seductive. He wants to control the sun, and by controlling the sun, vampires would be able to control the world. Well my mother and I didn't feel like inviting a war with all of Tamriel, so we tried to stop him. That was why I was sealed up in that tomb with the scroll."

"I'm a little vague on the whole sealing up in the tomb thing," sighed Sofia. "It sounds really boring to be locked up for that long. Why you and why the Elder Scroll?"

"The Elder Scroll has something in it which would help my father achieve control of the sun," began Serana. "And I would believe that would also let us know what we need to do in order to prevent that. As for why I was locked up . . . I don't know. Mother sounded so right when she did it, I didn't question her."

"So all we do is open up the scroll and read it and then we'll know what to do to stop this plot," observed Sofi, her sarcasm starting to bubble. "Who would have thought it would be so routine."

"Finding a Moth Priest," sighed Jordis. "Not going to be easy. They don't drink at the Winking Skeever often."

"Well it could be worse," I sighed. "As it is, there are Moth Priests in Cyrodiil at the Imperial City. And I know how to get to them if I have to. But I don't want to have to do that if we can avoid it."

"Why not?" asked Jordis. "I'd love to see the Imperial City."

"My legs would be so stiff," groaned Sofia. "That's going to be a real walk."

"Back before . . . You know. I would have thought the College at Winterhold would have some information on that. They know all sorts of things people are not supposed to know," suggested Serana.

I sat for a moment pondering things over in my head.

"Jordis?" I asked. "Do you remember where I've been storing the maps?"

"Yes my Thane."

"Bring up the map of Skyrim and the map of Cyrodiil, both of them by the cartographer Flavius. He drew everything to the same scale and so we'll get a better grasp."

Jordis left to fetch the maps from upstairs while Sofi began girlish small talk with Serana about life in the Volkihar castle after we had be kicked out. I looked at the two of them. Both women had suffered tragedy in their lives. I was working on giving Sofi a happily ever after, but Serana was going to be trickier I suspected. I began to reflect on the history of Vampirism.

Lamae Beolfag was the first. Raped by Molog Bal in the early dawn of time, she had risen from her funeral pyre and savaged the Nedic tribe which had tried to tend to her wounds. From there the tales varied. Some say she had been a priest of Arkay who had abandoned her after her rape. That made no sense. The Gods do not abandon those who are victims of the Daedra. But it did not surprise me that such a tale would spread. Many of the Daedra hate the Gods and tell lies about them all the time. But from then on, that particular event had been played out again and again in the long and weary history of Tamriel. But always the women who had been given to Moleg Bal had been presented. It was supposed to be an honor.

Jordis returned with the maps and we spread them out on the dining table.

"Okay, here we are in Solitude," I said. Then I ran my finger towards the right hand top of the map. "And there's Dawnstar, and on to Winterhold, where the college is." I paused. "Problem is that there is no ship that will take us to Winterhold. Nothing there but cliffs and glaciers and icebergs. We can take a boat to Dawnstar but from then it's walking along a rather narrow and unfriendly shore. And it's the winter's grip land and we all know winter is coming along quickly. If we're lucky, the college will have a Moth Priest visiting."

"And if we're not?" asked Sofia.

"We are told politely that we need to go to Cyrodiil," I replied.

"Given my life so far," suggested Sofia. "We might as well start the trip to Cyrodiil. I don't think the college will let me back in anyway."

"Let you back in?" queried Serana.

"I came up with this spell that makes people naked?" began Sofia. "It's got to be one of my favorites. I could demonstrate it if you like?"

"No thank you," replied Serana in a very soft spoken and polite tone.

"Well they kicked me out after that. Some people just don't appreciate my genius."

"In that case," I began tracing my fingers down the map. "Our route takes us through Dragon's Bridge, on to Rorikstead, south to the Half-Moon Mill, over to Helgen, what's left of it anyway, and then south into the Pale Pass to Bruma. From there it's a southern road to the Nibben where we turn west, or right, through Aleswell and south to the great bridge by the very tiny village of Weye, and into the City at Talos Plaza. Then we'll have to say hi to Dad and my brother and sisters or they'll never forgive us. That and we need to keep Serana from meeting up with the Order of Virtuous Blood."

"And they are?" asked Sofia.

"A rather eccentric collection of vampire hunters," I answered. "Although they were originally founded a few hundred years ago by a vampire who was using them as a front to hide his own vampiric tendencies."

"Sounds positively intriguing," replied Serana in a tone I found vaguely troublesome.

"You sound like you have a problem with Vampire hunters," suggested Jordis.

"And you are surprised?" replied Serana.

"Oh!" gasped Jordis in a cross between embarrassment and sudden comprehension.

"As it is," I said. "It's going to be a trip no matter how we slice it. And . . ." here I looked at Serana. "I suspect your father has figured out by now that his little girl has flown the roost with the thing he desired most and we're going to have to be careful. Because if your father is capable of thinking at all, he is also looking for a Moth Priest."

"But I have the Elder Scroll," Serana objected.

"Your father knows that. And we know that your father knows that. And he knows that we know. We are all very knowledgeable on that subject." I paused. "We'll want to be here for a week. Jarl Elisif wants to formally install me as Thane. Publicity will draw the vampires here, but likewise . . . Jordis? Think you can play thane's home in such a fashion as to make people think that we and Serana are still in Proudspire for a few days after we slip out?"

"You mean walk around with a haggard expression from overwork and discovering that there's a vampire sleeping on the floor underneath my bed?"

"Underneath the bed? You do these things on purpose don't you?" I asked Serana, struggling to not grin at the humor in the situation.

She smiled. "I couldn't resist," she said. "Being who I am, I've always wanted to do that to someone."

It looked like Serana was back into the adventure with us.