Chapter Twenty
A Week Later…
Rohan could tell Kiraya was deeply hurt and angry at her father for leaving her behind. Especially when he promised to take her with them to see the Greybeards for an answer to their problem and broke it. For the past week, Rohan had been trying to cheer her up, even staying over at Jorrvaskr for a couple of nights. Last night though, he stayed the night in his home, wanting to keep his sister company since Farkas was going on a quick errand in the morning.
Even though she wouldn't admit it, Rohan knew Avyanna hated it when Farkas went on jobs without her. He could understand her feelings, often finding himself anxious whenever Kiraya went somewhere without him.
"Papa go?" Trystane's voice asked as Rohan walked down the stairs and found the boy in Avyanna's arms, looking at Farkas with a confused look.
"Aye, but I'll be back befor supper," Farkas smiled at his son, ruffling his hair. "Until then, can I trust you to look after Anna?"
Trystane tilted his head to the side briefly before nodding, a grin on his toddler face. Farkas then kissed Avyanna softly, whispering something into her ear and she nodded, pursing her lips slightly.
Watching them, Rohan wondered if he would have a similar life someday, a happy one like Farkas and his sister. Immediately, Kiraya came to his mind with her bright eyes and smile. Lately, he had begun looking at the Harbinger's daughter more than just a friend. He wondered if it were just Kiraya or maybe he was just noticing women in general.
Sometimes he would look at older women such as Saadia from the Bannered Mare and Olfina Gray-mane to see if he got a reaction similar to what he was experiencing with Kiraya. The result was nothing, sure they appealed to the growing man in him, but not like Kiraya.
He had yet to deduce an answer.
"Rohan?" Avyanna frowned at her brother, snapping him away from his thoughts and he noticed Farkas had left for the errand. "Are you alright?"
"Aye, just thinking," he answered, shaking his head slightly and she smiled at him as Caleo flew from his perch on Avyanna's alchemy table and onto his shoulder.
"Come on, let's head to Jorrvaskr. I need a distraction," Avyanna sighed, shifting Trystane onto her hip as they left Sparkshire, heading up to Jorrvaskr. Along the way, as they passed the markets, Mila beamed as she spotted Rohan walking with his sister.
"Rohan," she ran over to him, her eyes twinkling. "Do you want to hang out later when I'm on my break?"
Rohan was a little taken back, seeing how eager Mila was. In the corner of his eye, he could see his sister smirk in amusement and wanted to glare at her.
"Uh…today I was actually going to train with Aela a bit more," he told her and she pouted slightly.
"But you'll be gone for two weeks! Besides, I want to give you your birthday present."
An idea came to his mind and he smiled gently at her, noticing the slight blush creeping onto her face. "You didn't have to get me anything."
"O-Of course I did! After all, we're friends and…" she trailed off, embarrassed and Rohan swallowed and patted her head. Mila looked at him in surprise at the gesture, her blush becoming more apparent.
"I'll bring Kiraya around later then and we can hang out," he offered, noticing her eyes filling with slight disappointment that she tried to hide as he withdrew his hand.
"Sure…" Mila said sadly before heading back to the stall. Rohan frowned in confusion as Avyanna chuckled beside him, resuming their walk to Jorrvaskr.
"What's wrong with her?" Rohan asked, looking at his sister for an answer as an amused look was planted firmly on his sister's face.
"You have a lot to learn about women, Han," Avyanna answered simply, opening the door and walking into the mead hall. Rohan just raised an eyebrow before shaking his head, going straight to the training yard.
As he opened the door, he heard Kiraya say his name to Erendriel and Ria as they tried to babysit the twins. "I'm going to do what, now?"
"You're going to help me watch Lyanna and Faolan," Kiraya explained, shooting him a look. "Erendriel hurt his arm, and Ria needs to take him inside to patch him up. Get it?"
Rohan looked at Ria and Erendriel for a second, confused, but then his hazel eyes brightened as it clicked. "Oh, yeah, right. Aye, I'll help Kiraya watch them."
"Well, I guess if there's two of you, it'll be alright," Ria reasoned, passing Faolan to him. "Eren, let's get you inside and fixed up."
Erendriel nodded and followed Ria into the mead hall, Rohan catching the Bosmer shooting Kiraya a grateful look as he passed. Once the doors were closed, Kiraya turned to Rohan, a proud smile on her face and flicked her tail.
"Look at you," Rohan chuckled. "Playing servant to Mara and helping Erendriel talk to Ria."
"Aye, well, Papa prays to Mara a lot and so does Aunt Rina," Kiraya mumbled, toeing at the ground, Rohan noticing her cheeks becoming red. "I guess it's rubbed off on me and I'm just a sucker for love."
"Not a bad thing to be a sucker over," Rohan agreed, recalling his sister and Farkas this morning. Rohan was caught up in his thoughts for a moment that he missed Kiraya's blush as she turned to the lookout.
"Lyanna, do you want to see the view?" Kiraya asked her cousin.
"Nay," the little girl answered, though her smile said otherwise.
Rohan chuckled at Vilkas's daughter, shifting Faolan's heavy weight. "I'll be glad when she learns some new words. She's been saying 'nay' nonstop for days."
"It's because everyone is encouraging her by laughing every time she says it," Kiraya explained as she walked to the look out, Rohan walking beside her. "Kind of like how everyone in the Circle laughed when Randulf's first word was 'wolf.'"
"Randulf doesn't even say it right. He pronounces it, 'woof.'"
"He's a baby; he doesn't need to pronounce it right so as long as he gets a lot of laughs."
That got Rohan thinking as he looked at his friend, peeling his eyes away from the view. "What were your first words?" he asked curiously.
"My first word was 'Ahnurr.'" Kiraya answered, a little surprised by the question.
"That's not a real word," Rohan arched an eyebrow.
"Maybe not in the common tongue, but in Ta'agra it means 'father.'"
"Oh right, I forgot you speak the Khajiit language."
"It's called Ta'agra, Rohan."
"Right, sorry," he said sheepishly, a little embarrassed for getting it wrong and then recalled something. "I remember when I first heard you speak it that time we went to Solitude and visited the caravans outside."
"Aye, Ri'saad prefers to speak in Ta'agra'iss, and I do too, whenever I'm around other Khajiit, at least," Kiraya paused before looking at him. "What was your first word?"
A warm, happy smile crossed Rohan's face as he recalled what Avyanna had told him when he was eight years old. One of the shop keepers had a toddler who spoke their first word and he was curious as to what his was.
Eight year old Rohan rested in Elisif's arms, sitting on the High Queen's lap as Avyanna and Torygg played chess with each other. Whenever Torygg and Elisif had a moment of peace, the High King would often find ways to challenge Avyanna both physically and mentally. Today was a game of chess with the loser having to give up a week's worth of sweetrolls.
"Anna, what was my first word?" Rohan asked curiously, recalling one of the shop keepers gushing about their daughter saying her first word.
Avyanna paused, looking over and her brother. "What brought this on?"
"I dunno," he shrugged in the typical eight year old fashion. Avyanna pursed her lips in thought, quickly moving a piece and knocking Torygg's over, grabbing it and placing it on her small pile.
"It was 'Anna,'" she answered after a while, giving him a sad smile. "And Roran's was 'Ivy.'"
Elisif chuckled lightly at the memory. "He could never pronounce the start of your name, your brother," she told Rohan who beamed at the mention of his twin brother.
Torygg smirked, knocking over Avyanna's queen piece and taking it as hostage. "Your sister's was 'rack off,' taking after your father."
"Dillon never knew when to curb his language," Elisif said with a slight frown and Avyanna rolled her eyes.
"That was the curbed version, Aunt Elisif," Avyanna told her dryly, shaking her head.
"My first was 'Anna,'" he answered, smiling at the warm memory, not noticing the blush on Kiraya's face as she giggled before raising her cousin a bit more so she could see over the wall.
"Look, Lyanna. Isn't the view pretty?"
"Nay!" Lyanna replied.
Kiraya rolled her eyes and pulled Lyanna back from the wall to adjust her grip. Rohan kept his grip, showing Faolan the view and watching the toddler's eyes as he looked in awe at the sight.
A moment later, Kiraya's Talos amulet was thrown off the edge and Rohan's eyes snapped to his friend.
"Lyanna!" Kiraya shouted at her cousin, looking over the edge for her amulet. "How could you do that? The Greybeards gave that to me! It was just the same as Papa's!"
Lyanna began crying at her cousin's raised voice as Kiraya placed her onto the ground, running to the Underforge. Rohan stayed where he was, not wanting to leave the children unsupervised.
"Kiraya, where are you going?" Rohan called out after her, ignoring Faolan squirming in his arms.
"I'm going down there to get my amulet back!" Kiraya hissed back, hitting the hidden switch to open the Underforge and disappeared. Rohan placed Faolan beside his sister on the ground and looked over the edge, his eyes trying to find Kiraya.
Eventually, his eyes spotted her as she waved at him before running along the side of stone foundation that supported Whiterun and looked around the rubble. Finally, sighing with relief, he saw Kiraya pick up amulet before his eyes trailing further ahead.
His heart dropped.
"Kiraya! Get back inside!" Rohan shouted as loud as he could, waving his arms madly to grab her attention. Kiraya looked up at him, obviously hearing him shout. "Bandits!"
When she turned, discovering the bandits herself. Rohan swallowed the fear in his throat and watched in horror as the bandit grabbed Kiraya's collar of her jerkin.
I need to help her! Rohan realised, leaving the twins and began heading to the Underforge when a roar echoed through the air. Rohan's blood went cold, knowing that sound anywhere. Realising he would need help, Rohan ran back to the mead hall.
"There's a dragon outside and Kiraya's trapped!" Rohan shouted, finding Avyanna, Finverior, Erendriel and Ria already standing, no doubt hearing the roar from inside.
"What?!" Avyanna exclaimed, running over to her brother and checking on him as the others ran out of the mead hall, heading to the Underforge with their weapons drawn. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" he snapped, slapping his sister's hand away and instantly regretting it, seeing her paled face. "Sorry…I just….what if something were to happen to Kiraya?"
Avyanna didn't say anything but there was a hard look in her eye before there was the familiar distant look she got whenever she had a vision. "The wheel of fate has begun to turn. A dragon's soul trails along the line of death, the final gamble shall begin."
Suddenly, Aela screamed out in pain, falling to her knees and clutching at her torso. Rohan stared at the huntress in shock as she stared at her violently shaking hands, almost as if she expected to see blood on them. He was about to ask her what was wrong when her body jerked and the light left her eyes as she lost consciousness and fell to the floor.
"Aela!" his sister gasped, coming out of her own daze and rushing to her side.
"Is she alright?" Rohan asked, worried.
"Aye, she's still alive, but I have no idea what could have made her pass out like this unless-" his sister suddenly stopped speaking and the color left her face. "-unless something happened to Einarr."
Rohan's blood chilled at his sister's words and he ran outside without another word. Just as he ran to the entrance of the Underforge, Farkas and Vilkas appeared, carrying Einarr, unconscious and bleeding profusely.
"Einarr!" he gasped as the men walked past him, heading into the mead hall. His hazel eyes then trailed to Kiraya who was being carried by Finverior. "Kiraya….is she alright?"
"She's just a little beat up, kid," Finverior answered. "She'll be fine, but I'm not so sure about Einarr."
"Kiraya…" Rohan frowned and stared at her in concern.
Her hand flew to her mouth as soon as Vilkas and Farkas stepped in with a bleeding Einarr. "Oh gods, Einarr…" she gasped, swallowing the nausea down as Farkas looked at his wife.
"Take him downstairs," Danica's voice barked in an order, appearing beside Avyanna as the men took the Harbinger down stairs. "Now is not the time for your emotions to get in the way, Avyanna."
Nodding, Avyanna followed the priestess downstairs as they placed Einarr on his bed. Immediately, the two women moved into action, healing his massive wound as best as they could.
"Farkas! Grab as many health, magicka and stamina potions as you can!" Avyanna ordered her husband who disappeared to fulfil her request. She ripped his shirt as Danica continued to heal. "We need to get his heart rate back up."
"What do you need?" Erendriel asked, wanting to contribute.
Avyanna felt Danica's questioning eyes on her as they healed him together. The priestess may be a healer but when it came to specific ingredients or anything alchemy related, the priestess usually left it up to the Nord.
Her mind went to all of her studies under both Sybille and Arcadia. "Where the potion stock is there are a couple of jars labelled. I need the ones saying 'Crushed Snowberries,' and 'Minced Garlic,' along with petals of a red mountain flower," she told him as Farkas returned with the potions requested.
"Anything else?" Farkas asked, seeing his wife in her state and she nodded.
"I need you to go into the storage room and grab my small pot and herb grinder."
Farkas left the room once more and Danica looked up at her, impressed. "What will those do?"
"Mixed in with five drops of a health potion and boiled, it'll help keep the blood flowing with a weak heart," Avyanna answered, feeling the drain of magicka and saw it would take more than just her and Danica to heal Einarr. "Vilkas, grab Lassarina."
Vilkas realised what his sister-in-law was thinking and left the room as Farkas and Erendriel returned with the items requested before being shooed out of the room by Danica.
You must save him, Avyanna, Azura urged her, invading her mind along with Meridia.
Without him, there is no one to stop Alduin! Meridia pointed out and Avyanna gritted her teeth, ignoring the pounding in her head.
I will, I won't let him die, Avyanna vowed as the door opened and she looked up, finding Lassarina standing there. "Lassarina, we need some help. Grab a magicka potion."
Lassarina nodded, chugging down the potion before moving to Avyanna's side and casting the spell. Avyanna quickly grabbed one and drank down the bitter contents, handing one to Danica before resuming her work.
Each woman was silent, Lassarina sobbing quietly beside her and a few stray tears leaving Avyanna's eyes. Danica remained emotionless, focusing more on healing Einarr.
Kiraya wouldn't open her door, making Rohan worry to no end. So he did the next best thing possible; get Finverior to pick the lock. The Bosmer did it with ease and as soon as the door was opened, Fang ran inside with Rohan right behind him.
"Learn to pick a lock, a kid," Finverior told him. "It doesn't always have to be used for illegal means. Sometimes it can be used to save your life."
"Thanks, Finn," Rohan breathed before walking over to Kiraya. "Are you alright?"
"My Papa is lying in the next room, possibly dying," Kiraya replied snappishly. "What would make you think I was alright?"
Rohan flinched a bit, looking over his shoulder at Finverior. The Bosmer shrugged his shoulders and closed the door. Out of habit, Rohan shifted a bit nervously, unsure of what to say. "I-I meant if you were okay…physically," he mumbled. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," Kiraya hissed, drawing her knees up to her chest.
Rohan saw through that lie, spotting the injuries from where he was standing. "Liar. Your arms are all scraped up and bleeding."
"I'm fine. I deserve these injuries anyway. Because of me, my papa's going to die. The dragon should have gotten me instead. I should be the one in that room right now, not him."
A dark anger washed over Rohan as his eyes narrowed dangerously and he reached out, grabbing her wrist in a strong grip. He yanked her off the of bed and made her stand before slapping her across the face. If he weren't furious at his friend for the words she spoke of, he would have apologised immediately.
I've lost too many people to death, I won't loose another!
"You…you hit me," Kiraya whispered in disbelief.
"Don't ever wish you were dying!" Rohan shouted at her, his voice shaking as he thought of his mother and father, his twin he barely knew, Uncle Torygg. "Ever!"
"Why?" she demanded, her voice catching on a sob. "I would deserve it!"
"No, you wouldn't! No one deserves to die!"
"I do! I deserve it for causing my Papa to get hurt!"
"You made a mistake, Kiraya! We're still kids! We're going to make mistakes our entire lives, but we have to learn to deal with them!" Rohan shouted, remembering the words his father spoke to him one time he went to the hunting lodge with Avyanna and Farkas on their usual trip.
Kiraya's legs weakened and she sat back on the bed, burying her face into her hands while Fang curled up behind her, letting out a sad whimper. Rohan clenched his fists before sitting beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Kiraya wrapped her arms around his waist and cried into his shoulder.
It felt natural to do this, understanding why Farkas often did this to Avyanna or why his own sister did the same when he was younger. "I'll always be here for you," he murmured soothingly, stroking her hair in an attempt to comfort her.
"You're father's going to be fine, Kiraya," Rohan told her, believing in the words he spoke. "Anna, Lassarina and Danica are in the room with him using all their power to save him."
"But he lost so much blood and his body is all broken," Kiraya said, her voice muffled by his leather armour.
"They can heal him. He'll be fine, I promise."
"I should have waited. I should have asked someone to come with me to get the amulet back. I knew it was dangerous. I knew that Farkas and Vilkas were getting rid of some bandits nearby. I messed up so bad, Rohan. Papa moved in front of me, that dragon was supposed to attack me."
"He's your father, Kiraya. He'll always throw himself in front of you if it means he'd be protecting you. It's his job to make sure you're safe."
Kiraya continued to sniffle and cry into his shoulder and Rohan waited patiently for her to calm down, stroking her hair and rubbing her back to sooth her. Finally, she calmed down and her eyes were red from crying, but they weren't as ominous and dark as before.
Instinct came over him as he flashed her a reassuring smile and gave a small kiss to her forehead. When he felt her stiff beside him, he pulled back and realised what he had done.
"Why did you do that?" Kiraya mumbled, ducking her head from his view and scooting back a bit.
Rohan's cheeks turned a slight red and he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "I don't know….thought it might make you feel better."
The room grew silent and tense, an awkward feeling between the two. Rohan almost sighed out loud when the door knocked. Rohan rose to answer it, but Avyanna stepped inside, looking sad and exhausted.
"How's Papa?" Kiraya asked immediately.
"Danica and Lassarina are still healing him," Avyanna explained, walking over and sitting on the bed beside Kiraya, clutching her head. "They asked me to stop for now because Danica said if I over-strain myself, it could hurt the baby. So I came to check on you and see if you were hurt."
Rohan saw Kiraya cross her arms over her chest in an attempt to hide the scrapes. "I'm fine."
Rohan's sister rolled her eyes, nothing getting past her. "I already saw the scrapes, young lady, so let me have a look at them."
Kiraya reluctantly showed Avyanna her injuries, hearing his sister grimace at the sight of the badly scrapped skin.
"Rohan, could you get me a washcloth to clean her up?" Avyanna asked her brother. Rohan quickly obeyed, and brought over the washcloth and lugged over the washbasin that stood in the corner of Kiraya's room. "Thank you."
Rohan watched as his sister gently attended to Kiraya, ignoring Kiraya's winces and crying out at the pain. Avyanna spread a salve she prepared for Einarr later onto Kiraya's injuries to sooth and numb the pain and wrapped her skin in some bandages. Once she had finished the arms, Avyanna poked and prodded Kiraya's torso.
"Ow!" Kiraya growled when Avyanna hit a certain spot.
"I think you might have a cracked rib," Avyanna sighed. "I'll have to wrap it for now, so take off your jerkin."
Kiraya looked at Rohan who tipped his head when he caught her staring and gave her a confused look. "What?"
"Get out!" she hissed, annoyed, and then it dawned on him.
"Oh! Right, sorry," Rohan blushed and quickly left the room.
Avyanna shook her head at her younger brother's innocence as Kiraya took off her jerkin and Avyanna began examining and poking her. "Aye, definitely a cracked rib. You're already starting to bruise," she murmured, wrapping Kiraya's chest tightly with some bandages and reached over to her satchel that Farkas had brought when he ducked back home.
She handed Kiraya a health potion, rubbing her stomach slowly her eyes fluttered shut and opened. "You should get some rest," Avyanna told her, stroking Kiraya's hair.
Kiraya shook her head. "I want to stay awake so I can learn if Papa's okay."
"I promise I'll have Rohan wake you up if there's any news. So get some sleep, and when you wake up, I'll be able to heal you up."
"Could I just heal naturally?"
The question surprised her. "Why, don't you want me to heal you quickly?"
"Nay, I want to heal naturally. The pain is a lesson for me, so I won't do something stupid again," Kiraya replied, laying on her side and pulled her doll close to her chest. Avyanna thought about Kiraya's words before kissing the top of her head and quietly left the room.
"How is she?" Farkas asked quietly, taking his exhausted wife into his arms as she leaned her head on his chest plate.
"A few scrapes and a cracked rib," she answered tiredly, feeling Farkas hold her close. "She wants to heal naturally, a lesson for the future."
Farkas kissed Avyanna's hair, pulling back slightly and staring into his wife's eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"Like shit," she sighed, ignoring the migraine pounding in her head. "I need to start on the mixture."
"I've already taken it to Arcadia and she's upstairs making it," Farkas informed her and Avyanna shot him a grateful smile. "Come on, you need to rest and eat."
She allowed Farkas to guide her back to the mead hall, sitting on a seat as Tilma handed her a place filled with apple slices, cooked deer and a mug of goat milk.
As she ate, she couldn't help but think of the vision she had earlier today. Einarr's going to be battling more than just his life…
It is how he returns from his battle, determines whether or not he can succeed in his destiny, Meridia whispered into her mind and she had to agree with the Daedric Prince.
Then allow his heart to rest as he battles whatever demons he must conquer, Avyanna prayed in her mind, closing her eyes. Divines, watch over your champion. You wanted him to accept his destiny and now you owe him. Send someone to guide him…
Disclaimer: I do not own the following - Lassarina, Einarr, Kiraya, Faolan, Lyanna or Trystane as Mirage159 owns them. Erendriel belongs to Lady of Dov and Finverior to BrunetteAuthorette96