Author's note:

My dear readers, after a rather stressful week here I am with a new update and the hugest thank you of the world for each and everyone of you - your response to chapter 49 was simply amazing!

As well as thanking all my readers/followers/favoriters, I'd like to mention all the people who've reviewed my story over the last few days - therefore, a special shout-out goes to Scepta101, MeanE, Maz1X, Elspeth, kaibaeskyrimer and Valtieri.

As for Scepta101, I'm really glad you're enjoying my story; also, your reactions to chapter 25 and 36 were really amusing (yeeeeeees!). I do hope the following chapters will live up to your expectations!

As usual, Maz1X, Elspeth, MeanE and Valtieri's reviews brought a wide smile on my face. I'm actually proud I could make a grown man squeal like a little girl - and that part of Maz1X's review proved once again that gamers are wonderful people with a fantastic sense of humor. Also, that review had me wonder: if Agda is a fire-breathing butterfly (loved that image) and Stein is a goofy golden retriever, what are Ancano and the other characters from my story?

Just like MeanE, Elspeth and Valtieri pointed out, Agda has got veery sassy over the previous instalment - and poor, clumsy Stein actually doesn't know how to handle that new side of her personality. Apropos, I wonder how he hasn't been scorched to death by a dragon too - also, in my headcanon there is an important part of his past that is actually connected with Rannveig's Fast. I hate that place!

Speaking of Steinarius' past, I really must thank kaibaeskyrimer for their kind words. I'm so glad you're in love with my story! As for your questions, I'd actually like to write a sequel and a prequel to this fic - the prequel focusing on Stein's relationship with Vigdis and the sequel talking of events that will take place in year 214 of the 4th Era. Would any of you be interested in reading that?

Last but not least, I was really happy when Valtieri and MeanE noticed that Agda's attitude is causing a few troubles in her relationship with Steinarius; in other words, the two of them need to stop fighting, have a chat and get some sense in both their heads - and this chapter will help them do just that.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!


21st of Hearthfire, 4E 202

For the umpteenth time in a worringly short amount of time, Agda regained consciousness in a foreign environment. As she slowly opened her eyes, the mage grimaced more than once: her face felt as though it was on fire, whereas her limbs were overrun by violent shivers; on top of that, her whole body was in great pain.

When she realized how bad she was feeling, Agda mentally cursed. The girl perfectly remembered venturing into Labyrinthian, just like she remembered ignoring her tiredness just in order to impress Steinarius. When she noticed the bed she'd been carefully laid upon, however, Agda understood that something in her "let's kill more enemies than the Dragonborn" plan had likely gone wrong - the physical efforts from the previous hours and her abuse of magicka potions had namely caused her to pass out.

The first thing Agda saw when her eyes got used to the dim light of the chamber was the old bed she was laying on. Thanks to that detail the mage realized that she was in one of the smallest areas of Bromjunaar, in the very same room where an unlucky enchanter had met his end. Agda immediately wondered how she'd ended up in that place.

The girl found an answer to her question when a rather worried Steinarius appeared into her visual field. The man had shed his cuirass, so that now he was wearing only a pair of light breeches and a white shirt. Under his clothes Agda could see the bandages he had clumsily wrapped around his injured shoulder.

"It's good to see you awake", the man said when he realized that Agda was watching him. His grey eyes were full of tiredness and caution. "How are you?"

Agda scoffed. What kind of silly question was that?

"I'd feel much better if I hadn't passed out while trying to cure you", she hissed in pain.

Steinarius visibly cringed, but nonetheless ignored those words.

"I've placed a cold cloth against your forehead", he said instead. "Also, I've taken off your mage robes because they were damp and dirty. I was about to help you out of your trousers and boots too".

Agda made to sit up and protest against that treatment, but the simple act of raising her gaze caused her to feel dizzy. Sensing that the girl wasn't fine, Steinarius carefully helped her lay down again. Overrun by a sudden feeling of sickness, Agda whimpered in discomfort.

"You shouldn't move", the Dragonborn said when confronted with Agda's pained expression. His tone was firm and gentle at the same time. "I'm not an expert, but I believe you collapsed because of exhaustion. Also, you've drunk too many magicka potions and had an allergic reaction to them - at least, that's what that reddish rash around your neck suggests. On top of that, your old scars have resumed bleeding".

Frowning in worry, Agda tried to touch the rash Steinarius had just mentioned. To her great shock, moving her arms caused another painful shiver to run through her whole body. When he noticed her distress, Steinarius was quick to lay a hand on her shoulder and comfort her.

"Let me take care of you, Agda", he told the young mage. "I promise I'll do a good job".

Without waiting for a reply, the Imperial moved towards the end of Agda's bed, then began tugging on her left boot. When the girl gave him an outraged look, Steinarius explained what he had on his mind.

"I may be an adventurer, but I'm an Imperial at heart - and that's why I believe clean sheets to be incredibly important while venturing into ancient ruins", he said with a surprisingly stern tone. "That's why I'm cleaning you up: your current clothes are damp and dirty, so I want to help you out of them before I tuck you into bed. Also, you'll feel much better once we put you in one of my warm and dry woolen shirts".

As he spoke, Steinarius never stopped working the laces on Agda's boots. When he succeeded in taking the shoes off, Agda realized she was very grateful for that: she was too weak to shed her boots herself and her feet were hurting because of all the miles she'd faced over the previous hours.

"You forgot the first rule for adventuring", Steinarius said after noticing the many blisters on the girl's feet. "Wear comfortable shoes".

Agda frowned at that comment: she had been forced to borrow those boots from Nightcaller Temple, so it was obvious that they weren't a perfect fit. Upon noticing her irritation, however, Steinarius was quick to soften his tone.

"I didn't mean to tell you off, Agda: I often forget that rule too", the Imperial said before the girl could express her thoughts on the matter. "That's why I often carry a soothing balm in my knapsack".

Agda was surprised by those words, and she was even more surprised when Steinarius started taking care of her blisters by applying a weird greenish paste to each and everyone of them.

"I can do that myself", Agda sheepishly protested. To the young mage Steinarius' behavior was embarrassing and confusing at the same time: it was the first time he helped her with such intimate problems and, considering the many arguments she and the Imperial had had over the previous hours, Agda couldn't understand why he was being so nice to her.

"You ran away from Dawnstar without telling anyone, didn't you?", the Dragonborn asked out of the blue, thus snapping Agda out of her thoughts. When he realized that she was about to get irritated again, Steinarius immediately clarified the reason behind his question. "I'm asking this just because your scars still haven't healed - and if Erandur allowed you to leave his temple despite that problem, I'll make sure to pay him a visit and tell him how irresponsible he was".

Agda didn't say anything, but the guilty look in her eyes allowed Steinarius to understand the truth.

"Just like I thought", he said, the ghost of a smile on his lips. "I may be stubborn, but you're far more obstinate than me, Agda".

While speaking, Steinarius stood up and and grabbed some bandages. A moment later he returned to Agda's bed and laid a gentle hand on her knee.

"I'm afraid your trousers need to come off too", he said, thus changing the topic of conversation. "As I already told you, dry clothes will make you feel much better".

Agda blushed at that, but nonetheless allowed Steinarius to replace her mud-soaked trousers with a pair of comfortable baggy breeches. When the man pointed at her undershirt, however, the young mage was overcome by uneasiness.

"I've already taken off your mage robes, but I didn't feel like releasing you from your undershirt without your consent", Steinarius explained. The Imperial seemed rather embarrassed too. "Unfortunately, the bandages on your back and your chest are soaked in blood, so we need to change them. Also, I'd like to check whether your rash has reached other parts of your body besides your neck".

There was a long moment of silence during which Agda couldn't find the strength to look Steinarius in the eyes. Her former lover was planning to undress her as though she were a baby and, as predictable, that awareness was enough to make her feel the urge to escape Labyrinthian altogether; yet, the young mage told herself that Steinarius was simply doing what had to be done - her clothes were damp and dirty, whereas the bandages beneath them were soaked in blood; as a consequence, changing them would only do her good. Unfortunately, those rational thoughts could do nothing to easen Agda's embarrassement.

"Those robes won't come off of their own", Steinarius said when he noticed that Agda was seemingly thinking of something else. A moment later his grey eyes found the mage's, whereas his hands went to her hips. "Yet, if this makes you uncomfortable..."

Agda was surprised by the way Steinarius had sensed her uneasiness; unfortunately, when the man trailed off, she understood that she had no way out of that situation. Unfortunately, that realization caused a few tears to fill her eyes.

Over the previous few days Agda hadn't had any time to think about the way Ancano had tortured her; yet, now that Steinarius was about to help her shed her undershirt, she suddenly became very self-conscious. The Imperial had seen her naked when they were together, of course he had, but over the previous few weeks Agda's body had been permanently altered - and whereas her legs had luckily escaped Ancano's wrath, her torso definitely hadn't. Agda didn't know whether Steinarius had helped Erandur treating the wounds on her chest while she was unconscious, but one thing she knew: the simple thought of having him see those scars while she was awake appalled her to no end. She wanted Steinarius to remember her because of her smooth and soft skin, not because of the horrible motifs Ancano had engraved in her flesh!

To Agda' surprise, the Dragonborn immediately noticed that something was off - and when he did, he leant towards her and clumsily laid a hand on her cheek.

"Are you in pain?"

Agda scoffed at that. Of course she was in pain - but most of all, right then she was terribly embarrassed.

"I don't want you to see me", she eventually admitted while fighting back the tears. "It... it makes me uncomfortable".

"I suppose you're wearing bandages under your shirt", Steinarius calmly replied while brushing his thumb against Agda's cheekbone. The girl's answer hadn't surprised him in the slightest. "As a consequence, I won't see you bare; and then, it's nothing I haven't seen before".

The Imperial gently smiled, but his words only managed to worsen Agda's mood. When she heard them, the girl namely recalled the many moments she and the Dragonborn had spent together in Riverwood - and along with that, she remembered Steinarius' surprised tone after one of their first nights together.

I adore your skin, the man had said after they'd made love in Agda's dimly lit bedroom. It's smooth and soft, whereas warriors are usually full of scars and bruises. That's why I prefer you to them.

Agda had reacted to those words by raising an eyebrow.

You like me better than your fellow warriors just because of my skin?

Steinarius had laughed at that, then he'd pinched the tip of the girl's nose.

Of course I do, he'd jokingly lied. I thought it was obvious that I like you just because of your skin. I hate to admit it, but your sweetness and your kindness and your wonderful brown eyes get the second place.

At the time Agda hadn't given much value to that conversation, which had been ended by a jokeful shove on her part; yet, now that her skin had been scarred once and for all, Steinarius' words had been playing in her ears more times than she could count.

"My chest is nothing like it was before", the mage faintly murmured after a long moment of silence. "Ancano scarred me, he whipped me, he..."

When Agda trailed off and looked away, Steinarius could only murmur her name and caress her once more. There was another long moment of silence, then the Imperial eventually came up with a plan.

"Let's do it this way", he slowly said, his eyes fixed on the Agda's troubled expression. "I'll help you sit up, then I'll remove the clips that keep your bandages in place; after that I will stay behind you while you position the new bandages on your chest. In that way I can help you wrap those things around your torso, but I won't see anything you don't want me to see".

Agda pondered the plan for a second, then wearily nodded - sadly for her, she could see no other way out of that situation.

The young mage whimpered in pain when Steinarius helped her sit up, but nonetheless managed to fulfill her task. Agda was very surprised by the sweetness Steinarius put in assisting her with that delicate procedure - and she was even more surprised when, after he'd helped her wrap the clean bandages around her torso, the man covered her with one of his warm woolen shirts and used a soothing balm to lessen the pain coming from her wounds. Yet, despite that kindness - or maybe right because of that kindness - Agda suddenly felt on the verge of tears.

Sadly enough, Steinarius' ministrations had succeeded in reminding her of everything she'd suffered at the hands of Ancano.


Steinarius had tried to keep Agda' spirits up while helping her with her bandages - he'd made a few jokes, he'd caressed her spine, he'd distorted her gaze from her torso whenever he could. Yet, when he turned to look at her after putting his soothing balm back in his knapsack, the Imperial immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Agds", he tenderly said when he noticed the tears in the girl's eyes. Steinarius didn't need to ask her why she was crying: he knew what Agda had been through, he knew that Ancano had used her while she was unconscious, he knew how bad her new scars were - and as predictable, the fact of getting undressed in front of his former lover had caused the poor girl to remember everything that nasty Thalmor had done to her.

Agda tried to pull away when Steinarius sat down beside her and gently caressed her cheek; yet, when the man carefully tucked her in and covered her with a clean blanket he'd just retrieved from his knapsack, she finally allowed him to comfort her by leaning into that contact. Steinarius caressed Agda until she seemed to feel better, then he slowly got up from his place on her bed.

"We need to rest now, little one", he gently told her. "If you feel bad during the night, call me immediately, okay? And don't cast any spell, not even a magelight one: you're too tired for that".

Agda frowned at those words and immediately asked Steinarius where he was going.

"I'll lay my bedroll in the corner of the room", the man explained her. "In that way you'll have the whole bed to yourself. Don't worry, however: I'll hear you immediately if you call my name. Also, I've placed a trap right behind the door to our room, so we don't have to worry about enemies sneaking in while we're asleep".

Agda frowned when Steinarius mentioned the enemies that still lurked in Labyrinthian; at the same time, she realized she'd feel much safer with the man by her side.

"This bed is big enough for the two of us", she murmured while blushing in embarrassement.

There was a long moment of silence during which Steinarius' eyes filled with doubt and indecision. Although Agda didn't know it, Frida had told him everything about the way Ancano had used her after torturing her; as a consequence, the man didn't know whether sleeping in the same bed as the young mage was actually a good idea.

Despite those thoughts, all of Steinarius' doubts disappeared as soon as Agda softly called his name. The man had been really worried when the mage had lost consciousness and was now keen to do everything he could to make that poor girl feel safe and protected - and that obviously included sharing a mattress with her.


When Steinarius shed his shirt and laid down next to her, Agda wondered whether asking him to sleep with her had actually been a good idea. At first the mage felt rather unease at having her former lover by her side; yet, when she realized that the Imperial' skin was warming her although they weren't close, Agda understood that, all in all, sharing her mattress with Steinarius wasn't that bad.

As the Dragonborn tossed and turned in order to find a comfortable position, Agda took a good look at him. The man was wearing only his breeches, so that she could get a glimpse of the many newly formed scars that adorned his chest; at the same time the young mage could see that the Imperial had a black eye, a few bloody cuts on his cheeks and a nasty bruise on his temple; but most of all, Agda noticed that Steinarius' grey eyes were full of tiredness.

When her body was shaken by a sudden shiver, the young mage let out a pained whimper. Before she could even realize it, Steinarius sat upright and cast her a very worried look.

"Are you cold? I can get you another blanket if you want".

Agda turned down the man's offer by simply shaking her head. A moment later, however, another shiver had her voice a request she would have never uttered under any other circumstances.

"The scars on my back hurt", she meekly murmured. "Would it... Would it be a problem if I slept on my side?"

At first, Steinarius seemed surprised by that question, as he couldn't understand why Agda was asking for his opinion about that topic. Yet, when he realized what the girl really meant, the Imperial was quick to give his consent. Steinarius knew how much Agda loved sleeping with her head on his chest - and despite his injured shoulder, he didn't feel like depriving her of that little luxury.

"Come here", the Dragonborn told the young mage after helping her on her right side. "You'll be warmer if we stay closer".

Agda nodded, then she carefully approached Steinarius. The man allowed one of his arms to sneak under her neck and around her left elbow, all while keeping his injured shoulder perfectly still.

"I may be sick, but you don't look too good yourself", Agda faintly said when she realized the attention Steinarius paid to his sore arm. "I bet that if you weren't a werewolf, you'd be feeling much worse than me".

Steinarius let that slight critic go - after all, at that moment he didn't feel like discussing the perks of his beast blood.

"You could reply to me, you know", Agda told him at that point. "Perhaps I'll find out why you're being this kind to me".

Here we go again, Steinarius wearily sighed. Now that she was feeling better, Agda seemed determined to question his behavior, his choices and his personality once again - and to the Dragonborn, that thought was rather depressing.

"Agds, I know you have a few reasons to be angry at me, but this adventure of ours is not a competition - it's a mission to save Winterhold", Steinarius said after thinking his reply through. "Unfortunately, this afternoon we forgot about that and behaved like two stupid brats for the whole time. I've been an asshole to you for quite a while, fine, but today you've behaved as an asshole too: you pretended you were fine, you didn't stop when I suggested you to, you even gave me a few nasty replies when I actually didn't deserve them".

Agda made to protest, but Steinarius stopped her with a gesture. The woman looked irritated by his words, but the Imperial couldn't care less - right then, he just needed to get a very heavy weight off his chest.

"I know what you're about to say and I'll admit I was an even bigger asshole than you, Agds", he announced before the girl could speak her mind on the matter. "I namely knew that you were very tired, yet I kept going because I wanted to show you that I was a better adventurer than you. Now, however, I'd be very relieved if we could call a truce and stop fighting for some time. I don't know how you feel about this, but I honestly can't go on arguing with you for the rest of my life".

"Yet you didn't have any problem being mean to me this afternoon", Agda readily replied. "You even asked me whether I got these new scars because they were fashionable".

Steinarius cringed at that, but did his best to keep his emotions in check. The Dragonborn didn't want him and Agda to argue again - quite on the contrary, he wished he and the young Nord could finally stop bickering.

"And you called me a monster, Agds", Steinarius said as soon as the mage stopped talking. "Yet, that doesn't matter now. As I already said, we were very childish this afternoon - and I was worse than you, I admit it. If we want to survive this place, however, we need to change our attitude and start working together to defeat our enemies. If we keep fighting against each other, we'll end up dead in less than a day".

There was a moment of silence during which Agda's hand slowly traced a line across Steinarious' bare chest. Until then the girl had been perfectly still.

"Until a few hours ago you wanted me to leave this place and head back to Winterhold", the mage whispered after pondering Steinarius' words at length. "Now instead you want me to cooperate with you. Why have you changed your mind?"

Steinarius heavily sighed at those words, then he took Agda's hand in his. The time had come to bare his soul to that young mage.

"The last time I went adventuring in Solstheim, I almost risked to die", the Imperial explained while intertwining his fingers with Agda's and looking straight into her deep brown eyes. "After a week I came back to Skyrim only to discover that someone had tortured you; a few days later, Adaeze almost died on me while we were on a quest together; now instead I have to see you suffering once again. I think there's only so much a man can take before losing his mind or jumping off a cliff - and I'd say that for this month I've had my fair amount of sufferance".

"I still don't get it", Agda replied while shaking her head. "We broke up ages ago, Stein, and you also told me that this afternoon I gave you a few replies you didn't deserve. Why are you helping me then? This is my fight, not yours! You don't even have any friend in Winterhold!"

"This is not my fight, it's true, but I can't stand back and watch while the Thalmor destroy a city", Steinarius replied. "That's why I'm helping you. Also, right now I'm taking care of you because it was my fault if you fainted: I wanted to stop because I was tired, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want you to get sassier than you already were. Unfortunately, weariness had me falling in that pit - and hadn't you been there to aid me, I would have likely died. I was a fool, Agda, and I'm sorry you had to pay for that".

"We were two fools", Agda weakly murmured when confronted with those words. After listening to them, the mage realized that she wasn't talking to the arrogant warrior who'd once wished her brother to die - quite on the contrary, she was speaking to a common man with a very heavy burden on his shoulders. "You had your faults, Stein, but I should have been less reckless while venturing into this place", she later admitted.

"As you said, we were two fools", Steinarius smiled in reply. "Let's try and be more careful now, alright?"

Agda nodded at that, then she felt Steinarius give a gentle squeeze to her hand. From her position the young mage could feel the warmth of the man's body, his steady heartbeat, the soft paths he was tracing on her arm with the tip of his fingers. Thanks to those sensations, for a brief moment the young Nord was able to forget her pain.

"I didn't mean to call you a monster", she said out of the blue after enjoying Steinarius' ministrations for a while. "I was simply angry".

"I know that you didn't mean it", the Imperial replied with a little smile. His expression however immediately turned stern. "As for me, I never meant to hurt you, Agds - I didn't mean to hurt you this afternoon, I didn't mean to hurt you that day in Dawnstar, I didn't mean to hurt you when we broke up in Riverwood. I just seem unable to get on with the people I truly care about".

Agda watched in confusion as Steinarius ran a hand across his face. Right then the Imperial was pale and looked surprisingly frail.

"By the way, you were right calling me a monster", the Dragonborn continued, thus elaborating his words from earlier. "I've noticed I'm getting snappier and snappier as the days go by - and from what the Greybeards have told me, it could be because of my dragon blood. Unfortunately, the more souls I absorb, the more I end up thinking like an ancient, powerful and extremely unkind dragon - and if you add my inner wolf to the mix, you'll understand why I often behave like a heartless jerk".

"That isn't the only reason, though", Agda pointed out. "I'm afraid your personality has something to do with it too".

Steinarius welcomed the girl's remark with a nod.

"You're perfectly right, Agds. I was always rather blunt and indelicate, so I would lie if I blamed my dragon blood for all my problems; yet, my powers do make it easier for me to lose control. Unfortunately, I seem to have a defensive mechanism that causes me to get angry at the people who care for me, as I don't consider them a threat because of their kindness and their support. When I'm with an enemy or someone who isn't that friendly, I'm much more careful with words".

As she pondered that discovery, Agda remained silent for a while: after all that time, she finally had an explanation for Steinarius' rudeness.

Mistaking the girl's thoughtful expression for tiredness, the Dragonborn closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. When Agda talked, however, he was quick to reopen them and look at her.

"Do you think we'll manage to save Winterhold? Or am I just causing you to lose time?"

Steinarius was moved by the worry in Agda's voice - and he was even more moved when he noticed that her eyes were once again full of tears.

"I need to rest too, Agds, so you don't have to worry because of this little break", he reassured her. "Also, I'm sure you'll feel better soon - I have my fair experience with collapses and exhaustion and believe me, they'll stop bothering you very quickly".

Agda nodded at that, but Steinarius could feel that she was thinking of something else.

"Have you ever been tortured?"

The question striked him as strange, but Steinarius immediately realized how important the answer was for the girl who was resting beside him.

"No, Agda", he admitted. "Luckily for me, I have never been tortured".

"And have you ever tortured anyone?"

"You're asking that because I'm a former Imperial soldier, aren't you?"

Agda nodded, causing a sharp feeling of nausea to run through Steinarius' body - the Legion was formed by honorable men and women, but the Emperor's alliance with the Thalmor greatly damaged the public image of its loyal soldiers.

"I've never tortured anyone", the Dragonborn said after a brief moment of hesitation. "At first my superiors wanted to train me for it, but then they understood that there was no point in it: weird as it may sound, I'm not a violent man and I couldn't bring myself to hurt powerless people". Steinarius saw Agda relax at the news, but he nonetheless felt the urge to tell her the whole truth.

"Sometimes, however, I did have to deal with important prisoners who needed to be questioned. On those occasions I would send them to the Thalmor Embassy, where some specialized officers took care of interrogating them. Only now do I realize that it would have been much more merciful of me to torture them myself".

"It certainly would have", Agda confirmed. Steinarius noticed that the girl had tensed up once again.

"It's not something I'm proud of", he faintly murmured in reply.

There was a long moment of silence during which Agda shivered uncontrollably for a few times. Feeling sorry for what he'd just told her, Steinarius tightened his grip on her.

"I wanted you to know the truth", he whispered, his voice thick with guilt and regret. "I didn't feel like lying about this - not to you, at least".

Agda nodded, then she reached for Steinarius' hand and squeezed it again. When she murmured a faint thank you, the man pressed a light kiss on her temple.

"Whenever you feel like talking about what that Thalmor did to you, just know I'm here", the Imperial murmured when Agda whimpered in reply to his displays of affection. "I'll always be there for you, you hear me? And when we finally face that bastard, I'll make sure he gets what he deserves".

Agda didn't say or do anything in reply to those words, a fact that Steinarius didn't know how to explain. Yet, when the girl fell asleep in his arms, the Imperial immediately felt reassured: despite his confession, Agda seemingly wasn't angry at him.

As the young mage began snoring softly beside him, Steinarius tucked her hair behind her ears and laid a gentle kiss on her scarred forehead. The Imperial had been very saddened by the way Agda had almost burst into tears when he'd made to shed her shirt; moreover, he'd felt sorry for the problems her new scars were causing her. At the same time, however, during that long evening Steinarius had realized that Agda was much stronger than he thought - actually, that little mage was probably much stronger than him. Spurred by that thought, the Dragonborn finally understood that Agda had turned into a wonderful warrior with a will of ebony - and if the Thalmor thought they could break her, they were clearly in for a nasty surprise.