Author's Note: Hey guys! So I always write while listening to music and there was this song I really wanted to use, it's "Paddy's Lamentation" by Nuala Kennedy. There's only one video on youtube of Nuala's version and the other version's aren't the same at all.

I'll post the song I used on to my page, I tried to find a lyric video but there was none so I had to settle with this awkward live one, the song in the vid is perfectly fine, it's just an awkward performance. I would really like it if you checked the song out though! I had to make some lyric changes to fit this fic, but I think it really ties in well with what I wanted to convey in this chapter. (I do not own the song or any of the lyrics)

This chapter doesn't have any major drama but in the next one all hell is gonna break loose so I hope everyone's ready for some angst/sadness. But I wanted to give them some happy times before that and so this chapter was born!

Lydia

We'd set out on our way hours ago for Riften, the sun had set a good while ago and the moon now hangs high above us. Not that we can see it, however, tree tops hide any trace of the night sky, making it so dark I can barely see where I'm steering my horse.

Luckily my horse needs no guidance as she continues on down the dirt road that carves through the thick forest. I look back to Markus who is leaning on his horse's neck, humming along to a tune in his head. His hood is pulled up over his face, leaving only his jaw and lips exposed.

His head lifts slightly as he notices me watching him, and a small smile crosses his face. "What's that tune from?" I ask, feeling slightly nervous from that mischievous smirk of his. His adam's apple bobs as he clears his throat to speak.

"Just an old song, 'Paddy's lamentation'," he says with amusement in his tone. He nudges his horse forward and comes to walk alongside me to my right.

"I've never heard that one," I say, turning back to the darkness ahead of us, "how does it go?" A quick chuckle escapes his mouth.

"I'm not sure you'd like it," my gaze flicks back to him as he gives his horse a pat on its thick, broad neck. I must have a determined look on my face because he just sighs, clears his throat again, and lays back on his horse, his head resting on one of his arms which is propped under him. He closes his eyes, his face looking up to the trees above us.

How he finds it comfortable to lay back in his saddle like that, I'll never know. He begins to hum the same verse as before,

"Well it's by the hush, my boys, and that's to hold your noise,

come listen to poor Paddy's lamentation,

I was by hunger pressed, and by poverty distressed,

So I took a thought to leave the elven nation."

His voice is clear an crisp, though the song is obviously meant to be sung with a much higher voice, he makes it sound just as well, maybe better.

"Well I sold me horse and cow, my little pigs and sow,

And from this plot of land I soon departed,

And me sweetheart Dae Laree, well, I'm sure I'll never see,

For I left her there that morning broken hearted,"

I watch as his adam's apple rises and falls, keeping in pace with Markus's tune and song. Normally, I don't like making lots of noise in the open at night, but I enjoy listening to him sing, it calms me, though I can't really say why, it might be because it's just nice to see him being his cheery self, or maybe it's just nice to hear a song on the road.

"So here's to you boys, now take my advice,

To Skyrim, I'll have you not be going,

There's nothing there but war and the murderin' armies' roar,

And I wish I was at home in dear old Daerlin."

His clear voice stops singing, and his head turns to look at me, to gauge my reaction, maybe. His hood is pushed back, allowing me to see the glimmer in his eyes as they look back at me. I look away, anger rising slowly within me. "It was written by a wood elf who left Valenwood when the Thalmor began pushing into the Valen," he says with just a hint of irritation behind his voice.

When I don't say anything, he continues, "When he went to Skyrim it was right when the first rebellion against the empire broke out, that's what he's talking about." At first anger pours into me, but is quickly replaced with pure sadness.

"We haven't come very far since then, have we?"

There's nothing there but war and the murderin' armies' roar

Markus's voice echoes in my head, I turn my head when he doesn't say anything. I look to see him still laying back, but his face has a saddened look to it now. He quickly sits back up, keeping his emerald gaze on me. "I told you, you wouldn't like it." He says in a small voice.

"It's not whether I like it or not," I take a breath, "it is what it is." I look back to the gloomy road ahead, seeing what looks to be the end of the forest's line. The thought of Skyrim slowly being torn apart by itself kills me, and the more I think of it, the blurrier my vision becomes. I feel the sting of the tears in my eyes, but I make no move to wipe them away, hoping he won't see or that he'll ignore it.

"It doesn't have to be," he says, a childlike innocence in his voice. I feel a single tear run down my cheek, luckily it runs down the right side of my face, so he can't see.

A bitter huff escapes my lips and as I open my mouth to speak I taste a single salty tear, "It's how it's always been," I look over to see his jaw set, eyes staring intently back at me with his brows raised slightly; a look of pity. I look away once again, "and I'm not sure that'll ever change."

I see him turn his head back to the road ahead of us as he thinks on my words. When he says nothing, my mind screams at me to ask, "Is that really all you think there is here? War? Fighting?" I keep my head straight and listen closely as he takes a deep breath before answering.

"No," he says finally, in the corner of my eye I can see him staring at me with a soft expression, "let's see, there's horkers and there's trolls, and hag ravens, and…" his gaze shifts to the ground as he thinks, "there's frisky blacksmiths," I can't hold back a small laugh and I turn to see him leaning on his stallion's neck with his arms crossed, a small, charming smirk on his lips, "and then there's the dragons," his green eyes shine even in through the darkness, "but I think my favorite thing about Skyrim is it's beautiful housecarls."

My smile fades as my eyes grow wide, my heart beats faster under his emerald gaze. I open my mouth as if to speak but find no words. Luckily, we've reached the end of the forest, and emerge under the open Skyrim night sky. Markus's eyes shift from me toward the sky, his eyes growing wider as he sits straight up in his saddle. He mumbles something under his breath as he stares, but it sounds like nonsense to me.

I follow his gaze to the sky, finding nothing but the moon and the northern lights winding through the night, illuminating it with blues, purples, greens, and yellows. I look back in confusion to see Markus still staring in wonder. "Lyd, are you seeing this?" He asks in disbelief.

"What, the northern lights?" I ask, looking back quickly to make sure I'm not missing something, a dragon maybe? But there's nothing there that hasn't been there all my life, nothing out of place, and no dragons to take note of.

I look back to see Markus is gone, his horse standing with no rider. I turn my head wildly, trying to find where he might've gone. "My thane?" I say timidly. A branch near the tree line we'd just emerged from shakes high above me. I look to see Markus climbing impossibly quickly to the top of the tallest tree along the edge of the forest.

He reaches a thick, sturdy branch and walks out on it as far as he can before he squats low on the branch and looks back down to me, an excited smile on his face, the smile of an adventurous little boy. "This is amazing!" he calls, his voice ringing through the treetops. He looks back to the lights as he calls out again, "How often does this happen?"

"You mean you've never seen it before?" I call back to him. He looks down to me, his smile fading slightly as he shakes his head.

"No," he yells back, "never." He adds in a smaller voice. He just sits there for a few minutes, staring at the lights from his perch. I try to remember the last time I'd taken the time to watch the northern lights, but can't think of a single time. The thought leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

A few minutes later, Markus makes his way down quickly and easily, jumping and swinging from branch to branch as if he'd climbed that very tree hundreds of times. He mounts his horse, his eyes still focused on the aura above us as it shifts in waves of color through the sky. "Sorry," he breathes, only slightly out of breath, "I wanted to get a closer look."

I can't help but let out a laugh; he reminds me so much of a little boy, out on his first adventure.

Markus

Her laughter chimes in my head and I turn to see that captivating smile of hers. She's obviously laughing at me, and I'm sure that to her I look like a dumbfounded fool, staring at something she'd seen all through her life. I let out a small laugh and look down in embarrassment, realizing how much of an idiot I must look like.

After a moment or so of listening to her laugh, she breathes in and speaks, "So, my thane," she says in a soothingly sweet voice, "shall we set up camp for the night?" My back is stiff from riding so long and my abdomen aches from the constant motion, I think it over and open my mouth to answer when a noise breaks the night's silence.

A bird's song sounds from the trees behind us and I turn to see a nightingale looking down at us. "That's odd," Lydia says as she stares at the bird, "I've never seen a nightingale out at night, they're morning birds…" At that, the bird pushes itself from its perch and flies on ahead of us.

"Yeah," I say, still watching the bird as it puts a growing distance between us, "strange." I say in agreement. My mind races back to Nocturnal and her words at the inn, and I barely catch what Lydia's saying.

"So what do you say?"

"Huh?" I ask, my head snapping back to Lydia's questioning glance.

"Should we set camp for the night?" I sigh in disappointment, I really do wish we could just stop and rest, but as the nightingale pushes on, so must we.

"No, let's keep going for a while longer," I say with a heavy voice, "I want to reach Riften as soon as possible." She just nods in acknowledgement and before long, we're riding at a gallop on a dirt path that cuts through an open plain.

After a while, a question pops into my mind and I feel the need to ask, "Hey, Lyd?" she looks over, her blue eyes shining as always. "I was wondering, what do you think about the war? Skyrim's a stranger to me, I know only what I've seen, but you grew up here," her eyes dull at the mention of the war, it's clear this wouldn't be her topic of choice, "I just want to know your opinion."

"My opinion doesn't matter," she says as she looks over the empty plain that surrounds us, "I'll follow you against any enemy," she looks back to me, "whether that be the Stormcloaks, or the Empire."

"Yes but, what do you think?" She sighs deeply as she thinks of what to say.

"I'm a Nord, through and through. I worship Talos, and I hate how I must always hide my faith from sight or else be persecuted for it," she says with anger rising in her voice, she takes a breath before she begins again, this time speaking more evenly, "but I'm unsure about how I feel of Ulfric, he seems to love Skyrim just as much as I do, but his methods are….questionable."

I say nothing for a few moments, letting the idea sink in. "So if you were to choose between the Empire or the Stormcloaks….?" I end with an uncertain tone, I know what she'll say, but I just need the confirmation.

"As I said, I stand with you." She looks over to gauge my reaction. I must have an unpleased expression because she quickly sighs and adds, "But if it ever came to it," she says in a small voice, "I would side with the Stormcloaks."

I just give her a small nod and turn away to look over the fields of tall grass that sways in a cool breeze.

Then let's just hope it never comes to it.

Meanwhile in the Palace of Kings…

The sound of heavy chinking of metal plates echoes through the stone hall, filling it with a dysfunctional tune. Ulfric, Draener, Galmar, along with other members of Ulfric's most trusted officials sit at the long wooden table that sits at the center of the hall. They all feast on horker meat, bread, grilled leeks, and sweet rolls as they carry on with discussions of the war, as they always do.

The source of the metal chinking, a simple soldier, rolls his eyes at the feasting horde of those who give people like him orders daily. He brushes that thought from his head as he approaches the head of the table where Ulfric sits, chewing on a hunk of meat, with his seemingly ever-present two; Draener and Galmar. "My lord," the soldier says as he bows, Ulfric turns from his meal, though he continues chewing the meat, "the soldiers are ready, we are awaiting your order."

Ulfric gives a satisfied look but before he can speak, Draener begins, "Are you certain this is necessary?" He asks to Ulfric in an uncertain tone. Ulfric gives Draener a stern look.

"He remains indifferent to the war, he's seen how it's ravaged Skyrim, how it continues on with no end in sight, there is no more time for waiting." Draener sighs and sets his jaw, looking down to the table with a reluctant expression. "This must be done." Ulfric says with a decisive voice, though behind it is the same hesitation Draener feels.

Ulfric turns back to the soldier, "Tell them to set out immediately, I want this done quickly," the soldier nods and almost turns away, "and as soon as it's over tell them to haul their asses back here, we can't have the Dragonborn having any suspicions."

The soldier nods, "Of course, my lord." Is all that he says as he turns away from the table and begins to make his way to the barracks, and to the small battalion of soldiers awaiting word from the Jarl of Windhelm.

As the soldier's armor once again begins its unharmonious clanking, Draener's appetite seems to fade away as quickly as his hope for redemption.

Ulfric sits back in his chair, certainty written on his face. He'd given the order, the Dagonborn couldn't ignore the war now. He'd done what was best for Skyrim, what needed to be done…right?

Lydia

"My thane," I say loudly as I look back to fins Markus laying back once again in the saddle, asleep. "My thane," I say louder, this time he stirs, sitting up with a big yawn. "We're here." I announce as our horses trot slowly toward the gates of Riften.

He stretches his arms as he speaks, "Finally," his voice is rough from sleep, making his words sound more like a rumble than an actual word.

The journey here had been surprisingly enemy-free, as if Talos himself was watching over us. As we approach the gate, a bird calls from atop the great stone wall. I look to see yet another nightingale looking down at us. The sun had just begun to rise, illuminating the gate and stables in a warm, inviting light.

We dismount and set our horses up at the stables before turning to the guards at the gate. "Halt there," one of the guards says as he holds up a steel plated hand, "if you want to go in, you'll have to first pay the visitor's tax."

"Visitor's tax?" Markus echoes, his face twisted in confusion.

"You're obviously not from here, and we can't just let everyone into Riften, so visitors have to pay the tax." Markus shakes his head and lets out a huff of frustration.

"This is obviously a shakedown," Markus says as he begins walking toward the gate.

"Wait," the guard steps in front of Markus, "fine, you can go on in, just keep quiet." Markus just rolls his eyes and pushes to guard to the side. I follow him quickly in through the gate and into Riften.

We walk into the streets, which hold only a few wandering townspeople, and I find whatever inviting feeling I had is now gone as I look to see a man leaning up against a wooden post, glaring at us as we enter.

Markus takes no note of the man and begins twisting his shoulders left and right in an attempt to stretch them properly. "What do ya' say we just grab some food and then sleep for a few hours?" I nod and he begins talking again with excitement in his voice, "I have the biggest craving for an apple right now that I just can't explain…"

"They might have some for sale in the marketplace." I offer, he nods and within a few minutes of wandering around the streets we come to a wide open circle of stalls. Much to Markus's happiness, one of the stalls is a fruit stand. I stand to the side of the stand as Markus buys his apple, he asks me if I want one, but right now I'm more tired than I am hungry.

As soon as Markus turns away with his apple, a cry erupts from one of the stalls. "THIEF!" Markus goes into a panic. He grabs my hand and before I know it, I'm running alongside him through back into the streets. He turns us into an alley and peeks around the corner.

"What'd you do that for?!" I ask loudly between puffs of breath. He doesn't answer me, he just keeps peeking around the corner. "What? What is it?" I whisper, I come to peek around the corner behind him. A shape runs from the marketplace, trying desperately to leap over the stone wall that encircles the circle of stalls.

"STOP! THIEF!" Another voice screams. But before the thief can make it over the wall, an arrow shoots forward and sticks him in the back, causing him to fall to the ground, leaving him unmoving on the cobblestones below.

Markus doesn't move, just keeps staring at the dead thief lying on the ground. "You're not as smooth as you used to be now are ya', lad?" My head snaps up to the rooftop across from us to see a man in dark armor sitting with one leg dangling off the roof, one arm resting on the other leg's knee, a hood is pulled over his face, concealing his face. "Or perhaps I'm wrong and you've stolen the true treasure of the day." The man nods his head towards me.

I turn to see Markus with a huge smile on his face, "Bryn!?" He says loudly. The man just gives a smirk in response. "Bryn, get your ass down here!" Markus calls loudly as he runs over to the building's wall and climbs it in a blink of an eye.

"Markus, no-" the man protests, but it's too late, Markus reaches up and grabs the man's leg, yanking him down into the alley below and then letting go and falling back down himself. Markus lands on his feet with ease, while the other man lands in a heap on the ground. Markus holds out his hand to 'Bryn' and the man takes it with a chuckle.

Instead of just pulling him up, Markus pulls the man into a quick hug. "I'd heard word from our sister guild in Cyrodiil that you'd gone missing, but I just assumed you'd given up on life and locked yourself in a brothel somewhere," the man says after Markus released him from the hug, the man pushes his hood back, revealing long reddish-brown hair and a short beard, "how in oblivion did you end up here?"

Markus just sighs deeply and laughs, "It's a long story," is all he offers in response.

"Well," the man sighs after he looks back to the marketplace, where guards are now hauling the thief's body from the ground and into a cart, "I've no other engagements currently…." Markus follows Bryn's gaze and his smile fades slowly.

"What was that about anyway?" he asks, nodding toward the scene of the crime.

The man gives a small smile, "Another long story," Markus matches the smile on his own lips and shrugs.

"Well, we just got in from the road, and we were trying to find somewhere to rest." Markus says with a disappointed tone.

"Well, I might have a place for you to stay, though I don't think we have enough beds for both of you…." Markus's face lights up a little bit. No doubt he's excited for an excuse not to go to sleep.

"That's fine, I expect you and I will be busy telling our stories for some time, am I right?" He says with a laugh.

"Aye, lad, I suppose we will." At that, Bryn finally turns and takes note of me, prompting Markus to speak.

"Oh, uh, Brynjolf, this is my housecarl, Lydia, Lydia this is my friend Brynjolf." Brynjolf's eyes go wide as he looks at Markus.

"Housecarl?" Brynjolf echoes, Markus simply nods, "Well, this makes me want to hear your story all the more." He turns back to me, "Nice to meet you, lass, and let me offer my condolences." Brynjolf gives a subtle nod in Markus's direction, prompting Markus to give him a slap on the back of his head. "Ow," Brynjolf breathes, "anyway, follow me."

Brynjolf walks ahead of us, allowing me to whisper to Markus, "How do you know him? You've never been to Skyrim."

"He's the one who recruited me into the guild, he came to Cyrodiil one day to check up on the guild there and saw me steal a necklace or something from some merchant, I made a clean getaway and Bryn asked me if I wanted in," Markus shrugs, "so I said 'sure'."

We follow Brynjolf off of the streets and into a graveyard, Markus looks at the gravestones and says, "Not the kind of sleep we were hoping for, Bryn." Brynjolf just lets out a quiet chuckle as he walks to a small shack-like structure.

Markus

Brynjolf steps inside and I let Lydia go ahead of me, I hear the shifting of stone and almost go in, but a fluttering noise above me catches my attention. I look to see the nightingale.

I shake my head, hoping that whatever reason Nocturnal wanted me here would pass soon enough. We end up weaving our ways through dark tunnels for a few minutes before arriving in a huge, wide open room with what appears like a little lake in the middle of it.

Brynjolf turns and walks backwards for a few steps, his arms open wide, and with a large grin he says, "Welcome home, Markus."

Author's Note: Soooo? What did you think? This is a really slow-going romance mostly because I don't think Markus realizes how much having Lyd around means to him yet. But don't worry...that's gonna change reeeaaaaallll soon. I might just make the next chapter a really long one so I don't have to break it up into two, but who knows? There's just so much I have as far as plot is that I might need to break it up.

I uploaded this right after I finished it so I hope there's no outstanding errors... -_- I'm sorry if there are...

At any rate, I'd just like to say a big THANK YOU! At this point there are 74 follows on the story and I never thought I'd get even a fraction of that...Your support is much appreciated and I hope everyone is enjoying Markus and Lydia's slow-going love story, I promise I'll give you guys something good between them soon for all your support ;)

Make sure to fav, follow, review yadda yadda yadda... :) Have a good day everyone!