Cearbhail: A very short chapter. I guess it's as long as I need it to be.

Dear journal,

I can't believe it. I'm attending my own daughter's funeral…and she's not even born yet. Is this what the future entails? Is this the magical power of fate? That I see my daughter, who came back in time, die? I wonder how that affects the future? Will, I never know? Will she bow to me when I tell her to go back in time…just so I can never see her again? I mean, she only went back in time because I told her to. What is so important that I would send my own daughter back in time just to see her die?

No one is happy. The Thalmor was more than pleased from all of our expressions, the pure hatred in our eyes, that he left without question. Well, after he spat on her corpse, he left. He looked at Asger and gave him a look that said that he was next on their list. I guess they still know his face well enough. I'm surprised that he didn't start something with Asger as well.

Anyway, the night Cecilie was beheaded Asger and I just spent the whole night comforting each other. We didn't really talk as much as just held each other close. It didn't help any. I became so close to that child that when I saw that sword come down, I felt my own head get chopped off. I don't think I'll ever be the same.

Lydia…

…

I wrote that entry hours ago. I wrote it as soon as I woke up. I was certain that I was going to be a wreck all day long. I was right. Not even minutes from leaving my room, Ruby nodded to me.

"You look like me when you first met me." She offered up with a small smile. She was dressed in a black robe that she was given by the Jarl. I could see the tear stains in her fur, where she tried to cover it up with dirt.

I petted her on the head. "Come on, Ruby. We have a funeral to attend."

So the two of us walked outside, joining the rest of the town as they gathered around the plaque. Asger was already ahead of us, playing a somber tune on his lute. He was also dressed in a dark robes.

Esbern joined us shortly, already packed and ready to leave. Once we were done with this funeral, we were leaving straight for Riverwood. I could not wait to be done with this town. This entire place was nothing more than a curse on us. Dawnstar. It had such a promising name, but it delivered nothing but empty promises.

Now, we were all behind White Hall, looking at the four statues. They were all statues of Cecilie, carved in ice. Ice that would never melt because we were as far north as we could be. Here we were now, in a group, looking down at a grave. This was no ordinary grave, though. This was a memorial site. It happened like this.

"IISS!"

Ice flew out of Asger's mouth and covered the entire area in front of him. When the ice cleared, you could easily see Cecilie as she was when we first saw her. She was covered head-to-toe in heavy armor: the very look that made her so impossibly cute yet…not intimidating.

"IISS!"

A statue right next to it was a little different. It was Cecilie smiling and pointing her finger, like she always did when she was getting ready to tell me something involving her past…and by past I mean stuff that will not happen until later in my life.

"IISS!"

In between the statues was a plaque. Asger actually unsheathed his knife and started carving into the ice plaque.

Here lies Cecilie Battle-Born

Beloved daughter of Asger the Dragonborn and Lydia Battle-Born

Born sometime 4e 205 died Last Seed 7th, 4e 201

Don't ask us how…we don't know either

Look behind this plaque

Of course, behind the plaque was another plaque. This one was carved in a glass material. It went on to explain Cecilie's role in saving Dawnstar, helping the Empire and finally ending with her being executed for being a witch. Asger created more ice sculptures of her in the stocks and one of her standing on a plank, preparing to be pushed overboard. He believed that even if this event was as upsetting as it was, it was just the reminder this city needed to have. A constant reminder of how they let all this happen in order to not push any buttons. Jarl Skald was more than happy to let us create the memorial for her. We needed it.

So, we all gathered around a small group to grief. I allowed myself to cry. Asger hugged me close and I could see him cry as well. Neither of us had anything else to say, though. There was no humor to be found here. Hadn't been all day. All the crazy stuff we'd been though meant nothing at the moment. It was at times like this that I expected Asger to give one of his bardic speeches to lift my spirits. It seemed that he was just as disheartened as I was. He couldn't even talk. Those Shouts he did were so forced that I doubt he could talk.

Ruby stood quietly by my side, as was Esbern. Ruby wasn't crying, not really, but I could see the pain on her face. I mean, she really didn't know Cecilie that well, so I couldn't hold it against her. Esbern was stone-faced. It seemed that he'd seen too much pointless death to let this one affect him any more than before. Rikke and Hadvar were a different story, though. They were openly grieving for their lost friend and ally. She worked for them for at least a week before resigning to be with her parents. Not even a month had passed she was already dead.

No speeches were given. No one talked about her past.

Well, until Asger stood up in front of everyone. I almost wanted to stop him from saying anything, but this was exactly the crazy event that I needed. Maybe he was going to say something stupid like 'pancakes'. Or maybe he was going to give an empowering speech to get people's spirit's up.

When he got to the front of the group, he cleared his throat. "I'm sure that most of you don't know this but…"

His words were cut off as he slipped on some loose ice. He was instantly off his feet and on the ground. "Thalmor's word! That hurt." He said, rubbing the back of his head.

He stood up and cleared his throat. "For all of you who did not know…Cecilie was my daughter. She came from the…"

I stopped him. I actually walked up and threw my hands around him. I held him close and leaned into his ear. "No. Asger, now is not a good time to tell everyone about what's going on. If we want to honor her memory, we'll keep it to ourselves."

Asger nodded and went back to his speech. "She came from Whiterun to see us. She was a powerful seer, one that the Thalmor feared. That was why they wanted her dead. Now…I will not stop until the Thalmor was dealt with. They've caused me too much pain. I am the Dragonborn and I swear this: I will save Skyrim by getting rid of our enemies. The Thalmor just barely make it to the top of my list, right below the dragons plaguing us."

Everyone nodded. They seemed to understand him. I smiled in return. This was the sort of thing I wanted to hear. Asger was turning this funeral into a rally. He was getting everyone up on their feet, preparing for some cause. In this case, he was trying to get this town rallied against the Thalmor. I almost wanted to raise my hands and cheer as well. I really wanted to get these Thalmor for what they did, but it didn't feel right.

Then my thoughts went back to this town being destroyed. My daughter told me that this town did not exist in her time, so I had to believe that this was the thing that was going to get the town destroyed.

Asger raised his fist up and clenched it tight. "No one has the right to kill an innocent child. She wouldn't have been a threat if there was nothing to threaten. If these Thalmor were so honorable, why did they have to fear an eleven year-old girl?" Asger shook his head. "No, no more running, no more hiding." He looked over at Rikke, "We will need the Empire," He looked over at the Jarl. "We will need the Stormcloaks. If we join together and fight the Thalmor, we can kick them out of our country once and for all!"

Rikke nodded. She looked over at Asger and said, "I'll see if I can get General Tullius to agree to it. The Thalmor will not get away with this. General Tullius would have never agreed to this execution. Not to an Imperial Seer."

Jarl Skald looked slightly worried. "Sure, we will do just that." He walked up to me and Asger. "Can I see you two inside? I have to tell you both something." He looked around everyone. "In fact, you all need to know this."

He pointed us to look at the back entrance to the White Hall. The door opened up and Madena walked out. She was holding someone's hand. She poked her head out of the doorway.

She smiled and said, "Mommy? Daddy? I'm sorry for deceiving you both."

Cearbhail: Ok... not sure how many people I got with my prank. Step one: seem upset and consider closing my book series. Step two: make it look like Cecilie's going to die. Step 3: fake her death. Step 4: have a funeral. Step 5: at the end of the chapter reveal that she's alive. Not sure how many people I fooled or even planted a seed of doubt.

(sigh) If only I were so easily unweathered... but anyway, I tried my best to play a joke and I cannot wait to hear the hatred mail for this one. I'm sure to be laughing my own arse off for once. :P