Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Oblivion or any characters, plots or other elements there within, and I gain no monetary profit from the writing of this story. I do claim responsibility for Elowyn Demark and one or two random characters scattered throughout the story.

Chapter 37

Dazed, weakened and reeling from fury and disbelief at what had just occurred – what he had allowed to happen – Thedret could do little more than stare as Elowyn stood and brushed dust off her knees. Her curse seemed all but nonexistent as she tossed her beaded braids over her shoulders and offered Thedret her hand to help him to his feet with a bemused smile playing across her lips. She looked completely and utterly human once more.

"I…" Fury flooded through him suddenly. The faint stench of her formerly charred skin lingered on his clothes and nearly made him gag. His fingers flew to his neck where she had bitten him, but they came away clean. Though the skin was slightly damp from her mouth and the pain, the likes of which he had never suffered before, still lingered, there was not a drop of blood on his skin or on her lips. "You…"

"I hope you're not expecting an apology," Elowyn all but purred, her blood-colored eyes bright with curiosity and madness as she stared pointedly down at him. Thedret ground his teeth, ignoring the hand she still offered him, and used the wall to push himself to his feet. He wobbled unsteadily for a moment as dark spots swam across his vision, and the woman in front of him added, "I did warn you, you know."

Thedret opened his mouth to spit out a furious reply, but Carodus brushed between the two of them and bent to retrieve the forgotten torch from the cave floor. In his anger, Thedret had all but forgotten about the other men. The Imperial surveyed the shattered potion bottle and he was obviously hiding a grin when he faced the pair again. "If a pretty woman pinned me against a wall like that, I don't think I'd be looking for an apology," he commented with a knowing wink.

Elowyn's coy grin left Thedret balling his hands into fists. Her bravado was infuriating. "Not all men appreciate aggressive women," she told the Imperial, but her eyes never left Thedret's face.

Carodus snorted, "Those men are fools."

The silence that followed his statement went from casual, to awkward, to downright tense as Thedret stared hard at Elowyn's cocky expression. The young squire, Lathon, shifted his weight from foot to foot and cleared his throat, and Brellin and Carodus exchanged a baffled glance. Neither Elowyn nor Thedret moved. She seemed expectant and he could not help but do what the crazy woman seemed to be waiting for him to do. He should have done it sooner.

"I should have told them long before now," Thedret voiced his thoughts solemnly, his voice carrying easily in the narrow cave.

"Then do it already, hmm?" she murmured with a challenging tilt of her head.

He could read nothing from her expression aside from a strange, simmering excitement. Did she really expect him to spill her secret? His fear that she was dangerous was proven true, or so it seemed, and his conscience now screamed even louder than the other knights deserved to know whom they were really following. Would she turn on them as well if another such situation arose?

"Uh…" Carodus scratched the back of his neck uncertainly, interrupting Thedret's confused musing. "You know, we don't really need to hear the details…"

The corner of Elowyn's mouth twitched into a wider smile that made the man standing opposite her utterly furious. "Thedret seems to think you do."

"No, that really won't be necessary," Brellin spoke up, his soft voice also awkward. "We, uh…we already had a betting pool on when you two would finally give in. Had it for a while, actually..."

Thedret glared in icy anger at Elowyn for a moment longer before the Bosmer's words sank in. "You…" he tore his eyes off the smirking woman and stared in dumb confusion from one sheepish knight to the other. "Give in to what?"

"Well, you know," Carodus answered with a defensive shrug, "each other. It's not like it was unexpected…"

"You two spend so much time together," Brellin added helpfully.

"And it's nothing to be ashamed of or anything. It's kind of romantic, really. Two knights falling in love while saving the world from evil and all that."

"And you make a nice couple."

Thedret shook his head in distress. "But, we're not…" started to protest, but he was quickly cut off by Elowyn's raucous laughter. The woman clutched at her sides and slumped to sit on the floor of the cave, leaving the confused men to share looks and shrugs. All except Thedret, who tightened his jaw and stared coolly down at her.

"Oh," she managed between fits of shoulder-shaking giggles, "I'm so proud of this moment, really I am." She wiped at the mirthful tears in her eyes and stared up at Thedret with an expression of rapturous amusement. "Go on, my darling love! I'm certain you have something you're just dying to tell them, hmm?"

Thedret felt his fists clench again. He was so angry with her. How could she have violated his trust? After everything they had been through, he had truly begun to open up to her, and to believe that the gods were not wrong in trusting her with this most important task. But he had been faced with a side of her he had not wanted to think about. A side that could rise up at any time, against anyone. She could so easily have killed him.

But she had not.

In fact, he realized with disgust, he had allowed her to feed off of him. He had stopped fighting after the initial shock…why? Because he believed in the gods' plans for her, he told himself. Because despite the many confusing and infuriating things the gods had demanded of her, she had carried the weight of the burdens and insisted on pressing forward. As much as he wanted to hate her, to see her purely as a monster as she had claimed she was, he could not let go of his faith so easily. Because if he believed she was nothing but a beast, then he would have to also believe that the gods had made a phenomenal mistake.

Yes, that was it. That must be it. It was a matter of faith and nothing more.

Elowyn must have read the change in Thedret's expression, because her amusement faded until it was replaced by a faint, sad smile. His eyes danced away from that look. He did not want to forgive her. He did not know if he could trust her, but the gods did, and until that changed, he had to stay silent.

"Where is my armor?" he abruptly demanded of no one in particular.

"I…it's on your horse," Carodus piped up. "Outside."

Thedret gave the man a curt nod and headed for the entrance of the cave. Behind him he heard Elowyn climb to her feet and ask playfully, "So. Who won the pot then?"

"Ah, Gukimir, I believe," the Imperial answered. "Lucky bastard. He always wins."

Thedret tuned out her answering laughter, and barely heard Lathon as he murmured to Brellin, "Is this…normal behavior for this company of knights?"

Brellin chuckled and patted the squire on the back. "No, friend. Usually things are a little crazy."