Broken Daggers Chapter 24: Six Years Go By, an elder scroll series fanfic

A/N: Induction week is over and I start my university lectures tomorrow. So, updates are going to be slowed down a good bit. Sorry, but that's the way it goes! Now, the way I did this chapter was a section per year of Lavinia's life, hence the title. I'm also doing one POV per chapter. Hope I don't confuse anyone.

The Lone Eagle: Glad you think so. I was worrying that the prank wasn't creative enough.

maskedpainter: I was wondering where you'd got to. An error happened to me once when I was reviewing too. Okay, I talked to Lavinia about the shrine. She thinks we're very strange but agrees to our conditions.

BloodAndDiamonds: Yep, he is a little ****, isn't he? He'll be even more so in coming chapters. Just wait and see!

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Broken Daggers

Chapter 24: Six Years Go By

Jauffre

The mist around Cloud Ruler Temple almost impossible to see it anything beyond the path directly before the gate. Jauffre was thankful that the cart that brought the Blades food from Bruma was so noisy or else he never would have known it was there. As it rolled out of the thick whiteness in front of the gate, he gave the order for it to be opened.

This was soon followed by the grunting of the Blades heaving up the crate and the cart leaving back into the white. Thankfully, it managed to get itself up without being dropped. Which had happened a fair few times in Jauffre's time with the Blades. Something else that happened sometimes was the provider's habit of putting in animals that he'd forgotten to kill.

For a moment, he thought that it had happened again as he strolled along the walls to give the usual order to the training recruits that it was no reason to get distracted and saw something moving under the cover. He sighed and rolled his eyes, I'm going to have to report to the Grandmaster about this. He won't like it. Putting a hand on his sword, he strode over, ready to skiwer whatever had been left alive (and praying that it wasn't something too big).

When the gap between him and the crate was about five yards, the edge of the cover pulled up and something black slipped out. It took him a while to realise it was not an animal but a child, "Hey!" He called, making the girl whip round. She could not see him clearly, that was plain, but she fled at the realisation that she had been caught.

His shout attracted the attention of the training Blades and they chased the small figure too. The clanging of armour on stone grew to a cacophony as more and more people pursued the intruder. This was Cloud Ruler Temple, after all, and any intrusion was taken very seriously, even on the days when there wasn't anyone of the royal family at Cloud Ruler. Like this day.

Despite the guards on the gate and the trainees after it, the child still evaded them. She was a small girl, Jauffre noticed, of perhaps nine or ten, and wearing a shiny silk black ballet dress under a dark fur cloak. She was small enough to be able to sneak into the food cart without much trouble. All stories of criminals hiring poor children to sneak into places adults could not came into his mind and he pushed his legs even harder to catch her.

The number of Blades chasing her increased as they went through the armoury, East Wing, Great Hall and West Wing. Still, she eluded them. Even when they got close, she suddenly changed direction and forced them to bump into walls, doors or each other. While his head ached from the collision with two new trainees and a stitch developed in his side, Jauffre marvelled at how ineffectual the Blades were at even catching a nine year old. He made a mental note to give the recruits more training in athletics.

As the Blades began to become exhausted, the trail of them behind her thinned. Jauffre's stitch worsened and he realised that he too needed to get into shape, Damn it! He thought, as he hurried into the Great Hall for the third time, If this is what we're like now, I dread to think what we'd do if this was a real, dangerous assassin attack! I need to make more drills for the recruits.

He stopped to try and catch his breath but, as he glared around for a sign of the girl, he realised with a cold grip of dread that she was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, the Blades around him began shouting and pointing up at the rafters. Jauffre glanced up...and then, did a double take. A little black shape was sitting on the rafters where the swords of great Blades were hung like a dark bird of prey.

It took him a few seconds to realise that the girl must have somehow climbed up on the rafters while he was catching his breath. Now, she was out of reach and perilously close to falling off. Though she was an intruder, he wanted her alive so he could question her and, with any luck, get her back to her family. Now, her hood was pulled back and he could see her face.

She was a Dunmer, making the hired-by-a-criminal theory all the more likely in his mind since Dunmers were very rarely seen around these parts. Perhaps she followed a criminal around, doing jobs for him. However, the look on her face made him doubt that theory. He expected a look of fright, defiance or emotionlessness, not a broad, bright smile, stretching her flushed cheeks. It was not defiance but a show that she was enjoying every minute of it.

Her hair, from where he could see, was a bright orange. Probably a wig or cheap dye, he told himself, Is that what's in fashion for the Dunmer now? He wasn't just thinking about the colour but giving that sort of treatment to children. It used to be banned for mer below sixteen. The Blades around him seemed less preoccupied with theories and more with wondering how on earth they were going to get her down,

"Get one of the stable boys!"

"We can't risk that!"

"What if it can't take the weight?"

"What in the name of holy Talos is going on here?"

The Grandmaster had finally stomped out of his office, making Jauffre both glad and worried. He would surely find the answer but, afterwards, they were all in for reprimands for having to resort to using his help for such a situation. Jauffre opened his mouth to explain but the Grandmaster spotted the girl first. His face went red in an instant,

"Who let that brat in?" He demanded, glaring at Jauffre as though he thought he was the one that did it,

"She wasn't let in, Sir." Jauffre answered, managing to keep his voice steady, "She was hiding in the food crate."

"A spy, eh?" He snarled, glaring up at the girl, who still wore her big smile despite all the accusations heaped on her, "Hey, girl!"

"Hello!" She actually waved merrily, making the Grandmaster grow steadily purple with rage. Jauffre stared in wonder at her. She was a fraction of his age and yet she held absolutely no fear for the Grandmaster of the Blades, "Now, this might seem like a stupid question," She went on, "but could you tell me what this place is?"

"Wh-how-This is Cloud Ruler Temple, you dumb whelp!" The Grandmaster bellowed,

"Oh, really?" The girl nodded, as though they were having a decent conversation in a bar, "Nice name. Fits really well, I suppose. Is this the top of the mountain?"

"You-you-" The Grandmaster was struggling for words and, if he became any more purple, he would start turning black. The Blades around them started backing away fearfully, knowing all too well what happened if the Grandmaster was angry. Jauffre swallowed and decided to speak up, knowing he was not so prone to temper tantrums. Besides, the girl did not seem to be lying, however odd she was. If she was, she would not ask where she was outright and someone this young probably couldn't lie that well. Keeping his voice as calm and friendly as possible, he called up,

"You really do not know where you are?"

"Not really, no. But, that's okay." She added, casually, at Jauffre's stricken face, "That's the way I like it. Get in a cart and go wherever it goes."

"You picked the cart at random?"

"It was the only one in the stables."

"Are you working for anyone?" Jauffre went on, glad that the conversation was getting somewhere,

"No." She said, without a trace of fear as far as he could see, "Burd'll kill me if he knows I'm here." Taken the wrong way, this could sound threatening but it was clear that this was a simple exaggeration,

"Who's Burd? Does he live in Bruma?"

"Yes, that's right. He's a friend of my parents'. I live with him."

"And, why did you decide to get in the cart in the first place?"
"To get away from ballet class."

"And, ah," Jauffre tried to piece this together in a logical way, "didn't you think it would be rather dangerous?"

"Oh, dangerous is fine. Dangerous is good." That seemingly permanent grin was still on her face and, to his horror, she began reaching over the rafters to grab the swords hanging from them,

"No, don't touch those!" cried Jauffre, feeling the Grandmaster's wrath almost radiating off him without having to look. Her hand froze an inch away from one,

"Why? They're swords. They shouldn't be hanging from the ceiling."

"WE DON'T NEED TO EXPLAIN OUR WAYS TO YOU, YOU DUMB GIRL!" roared the Grandmaster, actually tearing a clump of his hair out and swearing loudly, "GET DOWN RIGHT NOW AND BE THANKFUL THAT WE WILL NOT KILL YOU IMMEDIATELY!"

Jauffre winced. He waited for the girl's face to crumple into tears, as any would when faced with such anger. She, however, frowned in an insulted sort of way, as though he had said something very offensive and what she said next made the remaining Blades scurry out of the hall in fright, "Hmph! Charming. I don't think I like talking to you. You've got a fouler mouth than the Legion soldiers. He's a lot nicer." She pointed at Jauffre, "I'll talk to him, thank you."

The Grandmaster's hand was on his sword and he looked ready to cut down the rafters to bring her down. Still, the girl did not flinch. If this wasn't such a perilous time, Jauffre would have admired her nerves and audacity to say that to the Grandmaster. Seeing red, he quickly called up, "Ah, if you come down now, I'll take you back to Bruma and there'll be no trouble."

"See?" The girl turned back to the fuming Grandmaster, "If you're polite, you can get anything."
Then, she stood up on the rafters and lightly leapt off. Jauffre's heart stopped and he hurried forward, arms outstretched. He only just caught her before she hit the ground and his heart was still pounding. The girl however frowned and snapped, "What did you do that for?" as though he had done something very stupid,

"You just-you just jumped off!" Jauffre gasped, astonished at her continued nonchalance,

"I know." The grin was back. Close up, it looked almost manic, "You face was hilarious! You should have seen it."

Shaking his head, Jauffre carried her out of Cloud Ruler Temple before the Grandmaster exploded.

Andreas

Matthias retreated to his room as he always did when Lavinia came around. This didn't bother him. In fact, it was better that way. He liked being alone with Lavinia the best. She was so funny and amazing with her drawing...and many other things about her. Which is why he tried his best not to fiddle with what he wanted to give her.

Lavinia came up to him, smiling that big smile as always, "Hey, Dragon's Tongue." She greeted him with the nickname that had stuck with him every since she had come back from Skingrad. With butterflies rioting in his stomach and his cheeks going very red, he brought out the small bunch of fake tiger lilies. She grinned and accepted them graciously, "Oh, thank you!"

"I got them from Cheydinhal." He explained, awkwardly, "I saw them in a shop window and, y'know we never get flowers around here-"

"Oh, you lucky man!" She cut across him, putting the flowers carefully in her pocket, "Burd never lets me go anywhere! Mind you," She added, as though on an afterthought, "I can always go by myself whenever I want. It's just a matter of how much Burd keeps an eye on me."

She said all this in such a matter-of-fact tone. Andreas had always admired how fearless she was. Matthias called it stupidity but he knew it was fearlessness. Even though he was three years older than her, he never dared to venture too far out of Applewatch or too far away from his mother, knowing how dangerous it was to wonder on his own. She didn't think anything of these dangers and went out like a hardy adventurer whenever she could,

"So," She hauled herself on a chest of drawers (she always loved to be somewhere where her feet couldn't touch the ground), "what was Cheydinhal like?"

"Very green." Andreas started, awkwardly, in the face of her curious enthusiasm, "All the houses are all white and purple."

"Purple houses?" Lavinia repeated, giggling,

"I know." Andreas too laughed without really any cause. She was just laughing so he thought that he might as well join in, "There are loads of Dark Elves there. None that look like you, though." None as pretty as you. Andreas wanted to say,

"What did they look like?" He could have sworn he'd seen her ears perk up at the new subject,

"Mostly all with blue skin...and dark hair. They're really different compared to you. Some of them were really unfriendly...and ugly."

She tittered and, if she picked up on the subtle compliment, she didn't show it. Sometimes, there was no real way of telling if she'd picked up on things or not. Sometimes, she would not react to something but reference it in another comment. He went on describing as much of Cheydinhal as he could remember. At one point in the conversation, she said, "I'd love to visit Cheydinhal. It sounds great."

Caelia

"Alright, everyone, sit down and get out your books."

The teacher's arrival signalled a scuttering of feet and scraping of chairs. Caelia sat next to Lavinia, as she always did. What was called the 'senior class' of the chapel school consisted of everyone who was eleven years old and above. Lavinia had come into the class that term, which Caelia had been really looking forward to,

"Right, then, today, we will be studying the Emperors of the early third era. Caelia, can you tell me when Pelagius Septim the Third died?"
"Ah," Caelia jumped and felt her face flush as all the class turned to her, "...er...151?"

"Close but not quite. It was 153. Write that down so you don't forget again." Caelia hastened to copy the right answer in place of her mistake on the parchment, her face becoming hotter with embarrassment, "Right, then, we all know what Pelagius Septim the Third was also known as, don't we?"

"Pelagius the Mad, miss." chanted the class in the dull, rehearsed way it always did when repeating facts to the teacher. She gave no indication of pleasure that the class had got it right but proceeded to write the name on the board. She began rattling on about the various political failures that Pelagius the Mad committed and nothing of the more interesting and funny parts about him.

As Caelia hastened to copy everything she was saying down, she glanced over at Lavinia. Her quill was still firmly in its inkpot and her piece of charcoal was whizzing across the page. That was quite normal though. Lavinia didn't remember things that were written down, only things that were presented in pictures, so, when she was taught something new in history, she would depict it in a picture. Caelia envied her for this talent and wished she could do something like that instead of be stuck with words,

"Now, Pelagius Septim died, as I said, in 153. Lavinia, who took Pelagius' crown?"

"It wasn't me, miss!" Lavinia protested as though she had been accused of firing ink pellets at the teacher, "I never did it!"

The class tittered at this, including Caelia. Lavinia always had a great thing to say that would make the pupils laugh and the teacher angry. Again, this was another thing Caelia envied about her was her nerve to say something like that to a teacher. She certainly would have wished she hadn't said it if she had been faced with the expression on the teacher's face at that moment,

"Fool of a girl!" She snapped, "His wife, Katariah Ra'Athim, took her husband's crown."
Despite the teacher being completely serious, Lavinia actually snorted and leaned over to Caelia, saying in a stage-whisper that carried across the room, "I bet Pelagius yelled her ear off for that!"

"Ugh! Lavinia."
"Yes, miss."

"Be quiet and pay attention. Empress Katariah was one of the only Empresses that was not an Imperial. She was a Dunmer and ruled for nearly fifty years."

So, the lesson went on in that same vein. Finally, the bell rang and the teacher dismissed them. Lavinia accompanied Caelia to pick up Sibylla from the junior class (she had been most upset when Lavinia had moved out of her class). With that, they found Caelia's mother and Burd outside and they left for Applewatch. Once the grown-ups were distracted with their own conversation, the three girls picked up their tools and told the adults they were going outside to play.

Soon, the sound of wood on wood crashing together repeated in a rhythmic, repetitive way. Caelia was getting quicker and Lavinia could barely block her. Sibylla squealed with delight with every move Lavinia made. Even though she was only nine, she seemed to like seeing fights just as much as her sister. Caelia supposed that she had got it from Lavinia, who had the idea of these secret practises in the first place. Anything Lavinia did, Sibylla immediately adored. Anything Lavinia said she hated, Sibylla immediately loathed.

Sibylla's cry had distracted Lavinia and, in a moment, the thin wooden pole was thrown from her grip to clatter against a tree. Panting and her face shining with sweat, she faced Caelia, who felt as though she was glowing, "How in Oblivion...did you get...so fast?" gasped out Lavinia,

"Practise makes perfect, Tiger Lily." The other shrugged, careless, knowing it irritated her,

"Burd doesn't let me play with the swords anymore. You know that."

Scowling, Lavinia went to retrieve her pole. Since they could not get real swords and her mother would kill her if she found one in her house, they had used a wooden pole taken off a broom and snapped in half to form a weapon for each of them without the obvious risk. Lavinia, a probable expert in how to do things without others noticing, had created the rules of the fight: they were only allowed to hit the other's stick and the fight was over when one was disarmed.

It had worked so far. The only indication of their exertions was the sweat on their faces and that was no defining clue. Everyone just thought they've been running around in the woods. Then again, Lavinia was an expert on covering things up. If there was something she was not allowed to do, it made her all the more determined to do it. She did what she wanted, just sometimes in secret.

Sibylla hurried up to Lavinia and begged her to have a go with the poles. The Dunmer girl looked at her eager face judgingly and then, handed the pole over. Little Sibylla gave another squeal of happiness and seized with both hands, "Try the moves with it first." Lavinia instructed, as though she was a swordsmistress, "Just try slashing for a bit."

Sibylla threw herself into it as though all her life had been leading up to this moment. Her hair flew right in her face and made her whack tree trunks a few times. Lavinia stopped her after a while and tried to get her to slow down a little. As she began trying to hit the same spot on the ground twice, Caelia took her sister's place on the log to watch.

Lavinia had changed a lot in six years from the miserable, silent girl she had been when she first appeared. She was now strong-willed, very independant for her age and very popular in the town, despite her unruly side. Caelia had got used to the tinkling of the rings on her ribbons announcing her arrival, that sounded whenever she was running. Sibylla had tried to wear her hair in the same style but her hair was just too short and uncooperative for it. It made her furious whenever she tried. Caelia hadn't tried but thought that she would probably have the same problems as her sister,

Snow sprayed up as the pole smashed into the ground. It was amazing that it was still holding itself intact despite all the abuse it was under. Sibylla was still very aimless with her swings and large gashes were left in the snow from her attempts. Suddenly, Lavinia gasped and halted what looked like the twentieth slash, "Quick!" She hissed, "Hide! There's someone coming!"

Caelia hurried behind a rock along with Sibylla. She took no time to see where Lavinia was hiding, even though she knew that, whenever Lavinia noticed someone coming, they would always have enough time to hide. Lavinia shrugged off this ability with the fact that she was an elf with more sensitive ears than humans. Sure enough, she heard heavy footsteps and the call of her mother, "Caelia! Sibylla! Lavinia! Dinner's ready!"
It was always this; it would only be the grown-ups calling them in for their dinner. Yet Lavinia always reacted as though it was some terrible kidnapper or bandit that would kill them or worse if they got a hint of where they were. Caelia came out of her hiding place with Sibylla, hiding her pole behind her back. Her mother was with Burd and spotted her at once,

"Oh! There you are! Is Lavinia here?"

"Ah..." Caelia glanced about, knowing that Lavinia would not be anywhere in sight. Sure enough, the trees shifted ever so slightly as though a squirrel had just run across the branch and a dark shape dropped at an alarming speed for a too-high branch. Lavinia, in her dark cloak with her hood up, straightened up as though she had just walked down a flight of stairs.

Burd, however, reacted as though she had leapt from the highest branch and, with a gasp of horror, he rushed to her, "What on Nirn did you do that for?"
"I'm fine." Lavinia retorted, though Caelia knew she must have at least sprained an ankle from a fall like that. That was something she never understood about her friend. She acted as though she expected someone to attack her at any time and never once asked for help, ever. Not even in class when she was stuck on something. Now, when it was almost certain that she had an injury, she just covered up what must have been agony and even walked forward, though with a very obvious limp, as though nothing was wrong.

Burd, as always, made a big fuss over it, telling her to sit down while he found a suitable splint to put on her ankle until they could get it healed properly. And, that was another thing Caelia envied about Lavinia. Her father, being the drunken lout he had been, had never paid any attention to his children. They could have been wailing in agony and he would not have looked around. Her mother had tried to make up for this, of course, but it never felt like enough.

Burd, however, was the father Mr Draconis should have been. In fact, he more than made up for the lack of a mother figure for Lavinia. Yet, she didn't seem to see this. She did not sit still as instructed but insisted that it was nothing to worry about, even walking around to try and prove it (though the limp made that action meaningless). Burd acted as though he hadn't heard and soon found a good clean strip of wood to tie to her leg.

All the way to Applewatch, Burd kept on telling her how dangerous tree-climbing was. Not in a sharp voice but there was authority in it. All of it fell on deaf ears, Caelia could tell. For years afterwards, Caelia would regret not telling Lavinia to realise how much Burd cared for her. Maybe, if she had, what happened in the future would not have occurred.

It never occured to her to say it outright at the time, though. She just reasoned that she was young and would take things for granted. She would realise it when she was older. When they got to Applewatch, she had completely forgotten the issue. They managed to hide their poles (Lavinia had hers hidden down her shirt) and, as soon as dinner was over, they got into a conversation of what they would do when they were masters of swords,

"I'll be the Captain of the Fighters' Guild!" declared Sibylla,

"It's Master of the Fighters' Guild." Caelia argued, "And, they don't let girls in. I want to be an adventurer."

"Yeah!" Lavinia nodded, excitedly, "Going wherever you want and charging head-first into danger!"

"Didn't you say that you wanted to be a guard once?" Caelia added, on a sudden thought,

"Oh, yeah."

"But, they don't let girls in."

"So? I can just pretend to be a boy. It can't be hard."

"I will, too!" chirped Sibylla,

"What about you, Primrose?"

"Yeah, sure." Caelia had never thought of this before and it sounded like a very good idea, "I'll do it first."
"No, I will. I'll bet you I'll be Captain of the Guard before you."

"How much?"

"Twenty septims."

"You're on!"

Volanaro

The door opened and a familiar jangle of metal told him that Lavinia was there, "Hey, Big Ears." Her greeting was much more subdued than usual, making him look around, concerned. She had doubled in both age and size since he had first saw her. She was beginning to become a woman, it was clear to see. She was still recognisable, of course. Her hair was still as vibrant as ever and her skin was still the purplish hue it had always been. She was wearing male clothes, as she always did when visiting Volanaro in secret.

The slight frown on her face was something he didn't recognise though, "What's up?" He asked, at once,

"I don't know." Lavinia shrugged, flopping down in a chair, "Just irritated. Burd's being as stupid as ever. Ballet's getting worse. I can't even see you when I want to."

Volanaro, though it had been a long time since he was a teenager, knew something of how she felt, "Ah, Burd'll ease up when you get older. Don't worry," A smile split over his face as he readied himself to say the words, "Plum Ears."

"What?" All moodiness vanished and her eyes widened,

"I think it suits you." Volanaro smirked, "You call J'skar Point-Ears, you call me Big Ears so it's only fair we should call your ears something."

"They're not shaped like plums." She objected then, with a hint of smirk, added, "More like carrots."

"Yeah. But so are mine." He gestured at his own, "Yours have the colour of plums. Which I really like." He tossed her one from the bowl, which she managed to grasp. As she took the first bite, he asked "Why does he make you go to ballet?"

"He keeps saying that I'm good at it. Just because I'm good at it doesn't mean I have to love it. I've tried holding myself back but it doesn't work." Volanaro nodded at pauses, knowing that it was best to let them just rant on about things instead of suggesting possibilities, "I felt like I've tried everything in the book to get out of it but nothing works. I'd much rather be learning how to swing a sword or blow something up. Like that ballet teacher."

"Tiger Lily!" Volanaro chuckled, "Why blow her up when you can play good pranks on her instead?"

This lightened her mood instantly, "Yeah, yeah! Y'know, one time, I put butter on the soles of her ballet slippers. She was slipping around all over the place and ripped her dress all the way up to her chest. It was hilarious."

Volanaro laughed as she acted out the ballet mistress' slipping around the place,

"And, I didn't get caught, either!" She added, with a big grin, "Everyone thought it was so funny!"

"Attagirl!" Volanaro grinned, "What else did you do?"

"I put itching powder in the tutus and drew on the mirrors..." She went on with this, Volanaro laughing at every story and sometimes wishing he had thought of something like that when he was in class at the Arcane University. About half an hour later, she was back to her old self as though she had never been miserable. At one point, he heard Selena coming and Lavinia, having heard her too, did the most amazing thing he had ever seen her do.

She climbed onto the chest of drawers and leapt up into the air. Catching the rafter, she swung herself up on it and curled on it like a cat, pressing a finger to her lips as the door opened. Selena came and went without any event (and without seeing Lavinia). Volanaro had to fight down the urge to laugh when the door closed between him and an oblivious Selena,

"What was that?" Volanaro stared, as she leapt lightly down onto the floor,

"I've been getting better at that." She said, rather proudly, "No one ever sees me if I hide in the rafters!"

"Have you been doing it often?" He raised an eyebrow, I know I wouldn't be able to. I suppose it's because she's smaller than me,

"Yeah." She nodded, enthuasiastically, "Burd always goes mad whenever he sees me up there." He then noticed that she had a trickle of plum juice coming down from her mouth. He brushed it off, his face heating up, Now's a good time! Ask her! His mind urged him,

"Ah, Lavinia?"

"Yes?" She had almost finished the plum and had thrown the seed in the bin,

"Er, would you...by any chance...like to go...out someplace...with me...?"

All worries were put to rest when she gave him a glowing smile, "Of course! When?"

Narina

Narina found herself seeing Lavinia a lot more often nowadays. Her lessons were cancelled left, right and centre as her teachers were called to aid her father. He had taken ill very suddenly after collapsing in the middle of keeping court. No one knew what had brought it on but the Count was now in bed with a seemingly permanent fever, as well as other disgusting symptoms.

Not that Narina could complain. She loved spending time out of the castle and even more if it was time spent with Lavinia. They would meet around the chapel after Lavinia had finished school and either went for a walk around the town accompanied by one of the guards (her bodyguards, of course, since it was simply foolishness for a Count's daughter to go wandering around on her own) or had dinner at Burd's house.

Though it was lacking in space and colour, Narinia didn't mind the place and Burd was always very polite to her. Indeed, Burd was a very different Nord compared to the others. He did not frequent taverns or socialise with the drunkards of the town. He was exactly the sort of thing a guard ought to be, especially one that had risen through the ranks and was so well liked in the town. In fact, if he was a bit smaller and less bulky, he could almost pass off as an Imperial,

When Raeniel and the Count are gone, I'll make him my Captain of the Guard. She decided, on her third visit. She didn't say this, of course, because Raeniel wasn't anywhere near gone yet. She could always have him transferred, of course, but she didn't want to burden another city with his presence. And, what city would take him when they knew of his record and character?

Speaking of Raeniel, he was being very vocal about his dislike of Lavinia and why Narina should not associate with a 'delinquent ashborn'. She ignored him, however. Even though she was not a Countess, he had no power over her. Besides, even though word of her pranks had spread around town, it was by and large agreed that it was only harmless fun. No one really thought it was anything bad.

Lavinia herself acted with all proper manners towards her, anyway, and had never done her any harm. She was perhaps a little wild and her way of thinking differed very much from Narina's but that was to be expected. She considered herself a very close friend of Lavinia's, even though they were so far apart in social standing and she was four years older than her.

Both of them were growing up, Lavinia faster than Narina. Then again, Lavinia always acted more like an adult than Narina so she supposed that it made sense that she would grow up more quickly in body too. Something people were fast to comment on. Even Raeniel, whom she overheard one day saying to his son in a tone she did not like one bit, "With all that thing's faults, it's a pretty creature." She regretted it for years afterwards but, at the time, she thought nothing of it and only theorised that this might be leading to a potential reconciliation betweeen him and Lavinia. How naive that thought seemed to her in a few years time.

One evening, she was watching Lavinia practise ballet. She was very good at it, performing the moves with grace and seeming ease, though she made it sound like it was hard work. Narina did not understand why she disliked ballet so much; it was a beautiful dance and it took time and effort to perfect it. Besides, Lavinia was capable so she should proceed with it.

She did not voice this, however, knowing that it would irritate her and it was not proper to irritate a friend when one knows the effect it will have. When she had finished, she applauded all the same, even if Lavinia did not appreciate it. When they got outside, Lavinia turned her and said, "Oh, yeah. Rina," That was the unofficial nickname she had given to her, "would you like to sit for a portrait for me?"

"A portrait?" She had sat for portraits before, mostly wearing very uncomfortable, frilly dresses that were left in the cupboard, never to see the light of day again,

"Yeah." Lavinia nodded, "I'm getting all my friends together to sit for a portrait with me. I've been saving up for it for years. I'd love it if you came."
"Oh course, Lavinia. When can I come?"

Burd

Burd ran a hand through his hair as he sat down in the rows of benches. If discipline was a vital part of a child's learning, why was Lavinia becoming more and more unruly. It seemed the punishments only increased the amount of times she misbehaved. She was not discouraged whatsoever. No matter how many times Perennia told him that it was a phase children outgrew, he could not help but think about what would happen if she didn't.

Like with Saeniel, Divines forbid she should ever become like that. His father, Raeniel, had announced his retirement out of the blue two weeks ago and the father and son had retreated to their cabin out of town. Their lack of contact and appearances, though marvellous to think about before, were disturbing now. They had gone when the Count was at his worst health yet. Though it was baseless, Burd had a bad feeling that these events were not a coincedence.

The new captain called order and began talking to them about a new recruit, "I want you all to make him feel welcome as, not only is he joining our guard today, but he had just moved into this county. Let me introduce Alleno Hlaalu."
When Burd saw the boy, it was clear to see why he had not seen him before. He was a Dunmer and Raeniel's reputation as a Dunmer hater had spread through Cyrodiil. What struck him was that he was very young, about the same age as Lavinia. Only about fourteen or so. Then again, it was harder to tell with elves. He could be his age for all he knew.

His skin was a bluish tint, the exact same colour as the sort of make-up ladies wore on their eyelids, and his hair was dark, pulled into a braid so he almost looked like Polixones,

"It's nice to meet you all." He said, in a rather strange voice that sounded more like an Imperial than a Dunmer, "I'm afraid I'll be working nights so I won't see you a lot but it was good of the captain to arrange a meeting with you. I hope I proove myself in the coming days to be a worthy guard. Thank you."

A/N: The next chapter'll be the last of the flashback chapters. I know you've been missing Martin and the gang a lot but I will bring them back soon, never fear!