They arrived back in Whiterun before dawn, and Vilkas immediately took off for Jorrvaskr, leaving Siri and Beirir alone.
"He's an odd one, your friend," Beirir observed as they watched Vilkas walking away.
"It takes a while to earn his trust," Siri replied. "He also holds his beliefs very strongly…I think your chosen profession has done little to endear you to him." Beirir shrugged, and the two continued walking along the road, bound for the Temple of Kynareth.
When they had finished Beirir's errand, the brother and sister wandered around the city. Siri took him to her home, though it was still sparsely furnished, and they sat in the square talking and laughing until lunchtime, when they headed over to the Bannered Mare for some mead. For a while they simply sat in silence, each enjoying the other's presence. It was Beirir who finally broke the silence.
"So tell me, Siri," he said, gesturing to the barmaid to fill his tankard once more, "how long have you been in love with your friend Vilkas?"
Siri smiled sadly, her eyes fixed upon her mug. "I never could keep a secret from you, Beirir," she said.
"Well, what are meddling big brothers for, but to stick their noses in their baby sisters' business?" he quipped. "And now that I am back in your life, expect it to happen a lot more often."
She sat silently, and Beirir took a long draught from his mug before giving her a peculiar look.
"You know, you can't let a good thing like this slip away," he said. Trailing his fingers under the amulet's chain, he pulled the emblem out over her dress. "A lost opportunity…it's a damaging thing. I can attest to this from personal experience. It's a pain I hope to save you from." Siri looked curiously at her brother, realizing that there was so little she knew about his life in the intervening years since she'd seen him.
"What do you mean?" she asked, putting her tankard down.
"I lost someone very dear to me recently," he said. "My darling Gabriella…oh, how her face lit up at the mention of murd—" he faltered. "Eh, but that's not important. What matters is that I never took advantage of the opportunity I had. She was killed, and I lost my chance to be with her, the woman I loved. I don't want you to suffer the same pain."
Siri smiled at her brother, putting her hand on his. "I have missed you so, Beirir," she said.