(AN: Lol, sometimes you have to do some research to uncover some things about what happens in your story, and if those tags ever got out, people would probably think i was weird. But I needed to know of a certain point at which this would be a problem for her, because while Danica Pure-Spring might have had some magical way of telling Mjoll that she's pregnant, someone who was not in the know at that point [meaning people other than Mjoll, Danica, Eirik and Lydia] would have to have visual cues. So far we've had a few other cues, but nothing really substantial. Now it gets real.)

(Okay, i want to ask you, dear readers, a question for which i want everyone who is reading to give me their most honest answer: do you care about what happens with Eirik, Lydia and Mjoll in the story? I feel that despite all that i've put Eirik through so far and despite the two of them being torn apart and going through quite a bit, my audience doesn't really care. And if they don't care, then why should i?)

The Threat

Mjoll tried to remember how long it had been since she was captured. Lucia had told her that Tarvis had taken her off the streets of Whiterun on Tirdas, the tenth day of First Seed and that they had only slept along the way for one night. This meant that she had met her some time on the eleventh or twelfth of First Seed. Thinking back as far as she could, she recalled that it had been the twenty-fifth day of Morning Star, a dreary Sundas morning whose previous night had been wracked by nightmares, when she parted ways with Eirik. From this she determined that she had been imprisoned for almost three months.

She now began to fear for the safety of her unborn child. Lucia was the first one to know, after Mjoll had complained about her armor being too tight and asked for her to help loosen it. To help Mjoll, whom she now always called 'mama', keep her secret hidden, she had asked Tarvis, who, despite what Mjoll said, she still called 'papa', for a blanket for the two of them to rest under. The caverns were, after all, very drafty and sometimes after long talks or a meal together, they would fall asleep in each other's arms. Tarvis complied and now Mjoll was able to hide for a while under the blanket, lying on her side to keep her swelling stomach hidden.

It so happened one afternoon that Mjoll and Lucia were together again in the cave chamber. Mjoll was lying on her side while Lucia talked about a run-in her friend Brenuin had with the Whiterun guards. While the little girl found the situation all very humorous, it bothered Mjoll.

"I can't believe," she said. "Such a nice girl could end up with such a dishonest man."

"What do you mean?" Lucia asked.

"Well, from what you told me," Mjoll continued. "All he did was beg for money or steal it and then drink himself into forgetfulness. Who would even want a life like that?"

"Sometimes I wish I could forget," Lucia said sorrowfully. "Does that make me a bad person?"

"No, dear Lucia," Mjoll returned, with a hopeful smile. "Sometimes I wish I could forget the day my brother Mani died. That does not make you a bad person."

"But I knew Brenuin," said Lucia.

"That doesn't make you a bad person, child," Mjoll said. "That just means that you've had an unfortunate life. But that's all going to change."

"When you get out of here," Lucia said.

"Yes," Mjoll nodded. "And I'll take you with me to the house that we're building. A nice big house by Lake Ilinalta, with big forests to go hunting in. And I'll teach both how to be strong."

"And papa will be there?" Lucia asked hopefully.

Mjoll, however, did not answer immediately. She did not have an immediate answer for her. So far little Lucia had been helping Mjoll because she had been nice to her and that she was now her new mother. But she was still seeing Tarvis as her father since he had adopted her. She wondered if, when she escaped, she would ever forgive her or if she would ever come to accept Eirik as her new father?

At that moment, while she was thinking up of something to say, there were heard voices and footsteps coming down the tunnel leading into their room. Mjoll instinctively turned to see who it was, then turned back as she realized her condition and instead laid back down. Lucia meanwhile got up when she saw Tarvis walking into the room. She ran towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist as she was still small. He laughed and patted her on the head.

"There's my precious girl," he said, kneeling down to come eye to eye with Lucia. "How have you been? Have you and mommy been getting on?"

"Mhm," she returned, nodding vigorously.

"I love hearing that," Tarvis returned with a smile. "But now it's time for us to leave. We've got to move to another place."

"Will it be above ground?" Lucia asked.

"I'm afraid not," Tarvis shook his head, then planted a kiss on the top of her head, stood up and turned to Mjoll.

"We're leaving shortly, love," he said. "I'll send some people in to bring you to the carts."

"No!" Lucia suddenly spoke up. "She's very sick. I'll help her get to the cart."

"That's very considerate of you, Lucia," Tarvis said. "But let daddy take mommy to the cart."

"No, she's really weak," Lucia returned. "She hasn't been feeling very well, not had enough to eat, I think."

"Why is that?" asked Tarvis, a worried concern in his yellow eyes. He then walked over and knelt down besides Mjoll, who tried to scoot away from him as best she could.

"Don't be afraid, my love," he said in an assuring tone. "I'm quite skilled in healing magic as well as alchemy and potion-brewing. Whatever I can do to help you, I will most certainly do it."

"No," Mjoll said, trying to scoot away. Tarvis placed his hand on her forehead, which caused her to shiver slightly.

"Hmm, you're a little warm, but not warm enough for a fever," he said. "Perhaps if you removed this blanket..."

"No!" Mjoll returned. "I need the blanket. It's cold in here."

"But you won't need the blanket out tonight," he said. "It's a warm spring afternoon. There won't be any need for blankets until we stop tonight, and I'll give you a blanket then."

"Just let me have it," Mjoll returned.

Tarvis chuckled. "What is so important? It's just a blanket!"

"Please don't argue in front of Lucia," Mjoll said. "Just let me have the blanket."

But Mjoll had no means of keeping the blanket over herself, since her hands were still bound with a knot so tight and complicated that Lucia couldn't untie them, even after Mjoll had gained her trust. She watched in horror as Tarvis reached over and removed the blanket, then felt the change in his eyes as he saw her loosened breast-plate and her swollen stomach.

"By the Hist!" he exclaimed, then turned swiftly to Lucia. "Darling, would you please give mommy and daddy some time alone? Go out into the main room with the others. They won't hurt you."

Lucia shook her head.

"Daddy says go," he said, his voice firm but still gentle.

"But what about Mo'Raj?" she asked.

"I've sent him on an errand," said Tarvis. "He won't be there. Now, please, go."

"Will mama be alright?" Lucia asked.

"Yes, she'll be just fine," he returned. "Now go outside and wait for me, darling."

Lucia turned to Mjoll, who nodded at her, then walked out of the room. She did not go far, for she was still curious about hearing what would happen between mama and papa. She was not wholly as innocent as her round face and button nose: she had spent several years with Brenuin on the streets of Whiterun and once followed him into the Bannered Mare and saw the bard Mikael and the large warrior woman Uthgerd get into a fist fight over what Brenuin had calling "grabbing what wasn't his." Hiding against the wall of the cave tunnel, just outside of sight, she listened to what happened next.

"When were you going to tell me this, love?" papa asked, but his voice was not sweet but serious and worry-stricken, as though he was very sad or fearful. Mama made no response. "Whose child is this? Is this his, that snow-back monster who stole you from me?"

"He is my husband," Mama finally said.

"I am your husband!" said papa, anger in his voice. "Damn that brute for what he has done to you! Oh, if only I had rescued you sooner, before he defiled you so..."

"No one in all of Tamriel," said Mama, anger in her voice. "Man, mer, Khajiit or Argonian, could ever defile me! I chose to have his child."

"Under his spell, no less!" papa retorted. "I will not stand for this! You are my love and he will surely die for this wicked deed! He's corrupted you with his foul seed and now..." He paused.

"Yes?" asked Mama. "Now what?"

There was dead silence, after which papa finally spoke.

"I will await until the time appointed," he said. "Eight willing, the child is stillborn. If it lives, I will kill it."

"How dare you threaten my child!"

"Lucia is your child!"

"They are both my children!" Mama said. "And if you really loved me, you wouldn't threaten my child, which I chose to bear of my own free will!"

There was only silence in the room beyond when suddenly Lucia felt a leathery hand clasp around her mouth. In the dark there was a gleam of red eyes and a voice shushing her softly. Lucia knew exactly who those eyes and that hand belonged to and it filled her with dread.

"I promise," she heard papa say at last. "I will not rest until I have removed that cruel man's seed of rape from your pure body. I'll be back for you shortly."

Mama did not respond, but Lucia did not like the sound of what papa was saying. After the incident in the Bannered Mare with Mikael and Uthgerd, Brenuin told her that when little girls grew up, boys stopped teasing them and started acting strange around them. Some boys, he had said, were not nice about it and forced themselves on girls. Had this strange, faceless evil one done just that to Mama?

Just then papa appeared through the tunnel, looked at Mo'Raj for a moment, then departed into the depths of the cave. Mo'Raj gave her a shove and went on his way, leaving her to look after papa with a look of sorrow. He had told her that Mo'Raj wouldn't be around and yet he was. Why did papa lie to her?

"Lucia?" she heard Mama's voice call out to her. "Are you there? Please come here."

Sheepishly, she walked out from where she was hiding and back into the cave room. Mama seemed to be unhurt, but she, Lucia, could still hear their raised voices ringing in her ears long after they had halted. Why were they so angry at each other? Was it because of Mama's secret? As she walked close to Mama, she saw that there was sadness in her eyes. She knew it because she had seen the same sadness in her own eyes, reflected in the waters of the canals around the Gildergleam in the Plains District of Whiterun.

"What's wrong, Mama?" she asked, kneeling down at Mama's side.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," said Mama.

"Did papa say something to hurt you?" Lucia asked.

Mama nodded. "He threatened to hurt my child."

"I won't let him do it," Lucia said defensively. This made Mama smile.

"Thank you, Lucia," she said. "I know that one day you'll be very strong yourself."

"I wanna be strong, Mama," Lucia said. "Strong like you, so I can protect you and your baby."

Mama smiled. "And you will be. Now come here. If something happens to us when we leave this place, I want you to remember that I will find you and bring you home. That is a promise and I always keep my promises."

"Is something bad gonna happen?" Lucia asked.

Mama shook her head. "No, my dear. Nothing will happen. I still have a plan, and even as I am now, I might yet be able to carry it out." Just then, Lucia saw mama pause for a moment and look down at her stomach.

"What's wrong, Mama?" she asked again.

Mama shook her head, but there was a smile on her face. "Come over here. Put your hand on my stomach."

At first she looked at Mama, who then nodded, a smile on her face. With her little right hand, Lucia slid between the heavy carved steel plate of the breast-plate and touched the warm leather jerkin. Suddenly she felt something move just beneath the leather shirt: it was so small she felt as though its head was little bigger than her hand. She gasped with surprise and then giggled as she felt it move just beneath the shirt. She saw that Mama was beaming.

"Do you feel that?" Mama asked.

"Yes!" Lucia squealed happily. "It's so strange. How does it feel? Does it hurt?"

"Not very much," Mama replied. "It fills my heart with joy. I just wish..." At this Mama stopped and her smile faded.

"What?" Lucia asked. "What do you wish, Mama?"

"I wish that Eirik could be here," Mama said, her voice twinged with sorrow.

(AN: I know this scene might be a bit too sentimental for such a story, but i got tired with fight and sex scenes, so i tried my hand at something that would show Mjoll's softer, caring side, which i feel is still canon since she's that way in the game, even towards the complete strangers/people of Riften.)

(Lots of interesting stuff, like the sudden switch in perspective, etc. Don't forget to review)