Farkas carefully disentangled himself from Aurelia and slipped out of the bedroll that they were sharing. He was the first to sleep, so it didn't surprise him that he was the first to wake.
He wandered into the next room. They had cleared it out the day before and he remembered that there was a shelf lined with mushrooms. While he was perusing, he was startled by a voice behind him.
"If you're wondering if any of them are edible, the Fly Amanita and Mora Tapinella should be fine. The Glowing Mushrooms are good too, although I'd understand if their appearance makes you uneasy."
"Sorry, Aurelia, didn't mean to wake you."
Aurelia shrugged. "You didn't. I had too much on my mind to sleep. "
"Did you figure out what to do?" Farkas said as he stared at the shelf with a frown.
Aurelia picked up a few Fly Amanita and handed them to him. "About what?"
Farkas turned his frown from the shelf to her. "About protecting your mind from the Elder Scroll. Isn't that what you were thinking about last night?"
"It's one of the things I was thinking about." Aurelia said as she started gathering her own mushrooms.
"What else is there to think about?"
"Well, Fastred and Agmaer seem to have feelings for each other. I was trying to think of how to get them to admit it." Aurelia spoke in a hushed tone, even though she was fairly certain they were still asleep in the other room.
Farkas groaned as he started heading back to the base camp. "I wish you wouldn't waste time thinking about insignificant things."
"It's not insignificant. Fastred is my friend, and her happiness is important to me." Although, if Aurelia was being honest, it was the most insignificant thought on her mind. In fact, it was precisely because it was the most insignificant thought that she fixated on it as a distraction from the heavier thoughts. "But if it makes you feel better, I did think of a possible way to protect my mind, but I don't like it."
"What is it?"
"I've heard that vampires have innate illusion magic. Maybe if Serana had control over my mind, it could be protected." She said sourly.
"Ah, I see why you don't like that idea."
"It's just a thought. I don't even know if it would work, I know admittedly little about vampiric abilities and illusion magic. I'll have to talk to her when I get the chance."
Farkas nodded gravely. He hated the thought of subjecting her to mind control, especially to a vampire that they've only known for a few days. He was impressed that she even considered it. She must have been as afraid as he was of reading an Elder Scroll unprotected.
When they returned to their base camp, Serana and Agmaer were still asleep in their bedrolls, but Fastred was sitting up in hers. When she saw Farkas and Aurelia reenter the room, her sleepy expression turned into a cheeky grin.
"So, what were you two doing all alone in the other room?" Fastred teased.
"Getting breakfast." Farkas deadpanned as he offered her some mushrooms. "Would you like some?"
Fastred's cheeky grin dropped. "Thanks."
"Did somebody say 'breakfast'?" Agmaer's voice was still rough with sleep as he sat up.
They passed around the mushrooms in addition to the rations they brought with them. Though Serana didn't partake of the food, she still joined them when she woke.
"So you two were really just getting mushrooms while you were away?" Fastred said before plopping one in her mouth.
Aurelia rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Yes, Fastred, we were just getting mushrooms."
"If you say so. Still, it's great that you two finally got together. When we met, you insisted he was just a friend, but even then, I could tell there was something more."
The wheels in Aurelia's head began turning and she had to suppress a mischievous smirk. "Say, would you like to hear about how we finally got together?"
Fastred sat up straighter. "Yes, I would."
Agmaer and Serana looked on with interest as well.
"We were battling a werewolf together. During this battle, I was mortally wounded. As I felt myself losing consciousness, I didn't know if I would wake again. I didn't want to die without telling him how much he meant to me." Aurelia gave Farkas's hand an affectionate squeeze. "So, with what I thought was my last breath, I told him I loved him."
Fastred clasped her hands together. "That's so romantic!"
The mischievous smile that Aurelia had been trying to suppress briefly surfaced. "It is, isn't it? Obviously, I survived, but it's funny, we push away those we want to be with because we're afraid of the pain of losing them. But when you're actually in death's grasp, you regret pushing them away. You think about all the time that you wasted being too afraid to love them with everything you have. Death comes for us all and we'll lose them someday anyway. So it's better to make as many memories with them as you can before it's too late."
Fastred and Agmaer wore matching introspective expressions. Serana, however, was smirking.
"I… I guess I never really thought about it that way." Fastred said slowly.
Aurelia nodded, satisfied with the push she gave them. She didn't expect them to confess their feelings now, but perhaps when they had a moment alone. "Well, if we're all done eating, we should get going. I was hoping to reach Blackreach before we rest again."
The party scattered to pack up their belongings. As Aurelia was packing up her bedroll, Serana came over to help her.
"Very smooth." Serana said in a hushed tone. "Was all of that actually true?"
Aurelia chuckled. "More or less. I really did confess my love before collapsing in battle. But I hadn't been hesitating all this time because I was afraid of losing him. It just took some time for me to acknowledge what my feelings actually were. I don't become infatuated easily."
"Well, it seemed to get them thinking, anyway. Only time will tell if it actually worked."
Aurelia nodded. "So, um, there's actually something else I want to talk to you about."
"What is it?"
"As a high-ranking vampire, you can do mind control, right?"
"We prefer to call it 'charming the mind' but yes, it is essentially mind control."
"Do you think it's possible to us these abilities to protect a mind?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, if someone were to do something dangerous to the mind, like say, read an Elder Scroll, would having said mind under someone else's control protect it?"
Serana bit her lip in thought. "Hm, I don't know. I've never thought about using it that way. Ask me again later."
Aurelia nodded and stood up, her gear packed up and properly secured. "Thanks."
/
The party trudged up the stairs with heavy feet, weary from spending the day fighting through even more Falmer and automatons. Aurelia, who was leading the party, stopped in her tracks and spread her arms to halt the rest of the party when she was halfway up.
"What is it?" Farkas whispered.
Aurelia inclined her head towards the large golden head and torso peaking over the edge of the stairs and whispered loud enough for her comrades to hear. "Centurion. We should move quietly, I'd rather not fight it."
Aurelia crept forward with her eyes on the centurion and a hand on her sword. While she was fairly confident in her own ability to sneak past it, the four sets of footsteps behind her shook that confidence.
They had successfully made their way to the outskirts of the large open area atop the stairs when they heard the hiss of steam and the creak of moving metal.
"I'll go in, try to keep its attention." Farkas said.
Aurelia nodded. Though she hated the idea of him bearing the brunt of the attacks, he was the best person for the job. "I'll keep an eye on you and heal you if necessary. The rest of you, damage it from afar." It was the best plan she could come up with on such short notice.
Anxiety flashed through Aurelia's veins as she watched the man she loved charge towards a machine that towered over even him. He caught the centurion's steam gust of steam with his shield, but he grimaced beneath it. The ice spike and arrows that struck it from afar didn't seem to faze it.
When the steam attack let up, the centurion pummeled the shield with its hammer arm, which caused Farkas to stagger back. Aurelia's instinct to attack was momentarily halted by confusion. How was she supposed to attack it? This wasn't like an organic creature who would bleed out if cut in the right places. Nor was it like the spiders and spheres who were small enough that simply crushing them disabled them. So she threw a firebolt at it and hoped for the best. The flames seemed to warp the metal somewhat, but it didn't stop the centurion from dealing another blow to Farkas. Either the centurion attacked with more force this time, or Farkas was getting tired, because while he did block the strike, it impacted with so much force that the shield collided with his head and left him dazed. Apparently, he had enough sense left to dodge the next blow from its axe arm, but not enough to dodge it properly. While the axe missed his head, it struck his shoulder with enough force to bring him to his knees.
"Farkas!"
Aurelia ran to him and got behind him. When she saw the centurion rearing up for another attack, she gripped the back of his armor and pulled back. Her muscles strained, but she only summoned enough strength to bring him from his knees to a sitting position. When she saw the arm coming down, she made one more desperate heave. To her surprise, and relief, he actually moved backwards several feet, and just in time to avoid the axe. She hadn't noticed the extra pair of arms that had gripped Farkas's armor around her. She turned and saw that it was Agmaer who had come to help her. She smiled at him in gratitude, but his eyes were trained on Fastred.
With its axe arm stuck in the floor just before them, Fastred rushed in and slammed her axe into the automaton's now lowered head and left a noticeable dent. As the centurion straightened, it punched Fastred in the gut. She let out a hard exhale as the wind was knocked out of her. She flew back and hit the stone floor head first.
"Fastred!" Agmaer called out as he saw the blood seeping from her unconscious form. He tried to run to her, but Farkas grabbed his hand.
"Don't lose focus." Farkas said, whose speech was a little slurred from the hit on the head. "Aurelia will look after Fastred."
Another downward axe strike forced Agmaer to pirouette out of the way. Farkas took this opportunity to shakily get back up.
Aurelia, seeing that Agmaer and Farkas were keeping the centurion busy, hurried over to Fastred. She lifted her head and cupped the back with her left hand so she could perform her healing spell. While she was fairly certain she stopped the bleeding, Fastred didn't wake up. Not that she expected her to. Aurelia's knowledge in restoration was only enough to treat artificial wounds.
"I don't think I'm doing much with my ice spikes, what can I do to help?" Serana said as she came over to Aurelia.
Aurelia reached into her bag and grabbed two potions, one to restore health and the other to restore magicka. She handed the restore health potion to Serana. "See if you can get her to drink this."
Aurelia gulped down her potion and got back to her feet. By the time she drew her sword and got behind the centurion, she had regenerated enough magicka to summon a flame cloak. The centurion finally began weakening under the assault of flames and three different blades. When her flame cloak dissipated, she knew now was the time to end this.
"Farkas, we're going to do Dustman's Cairn!" Aurelia shouted.
Farkas looked confused for a moment, but recognition dawned on him when he heard Aurelia's next words.
"FUS ROH DAH!"
It didn't quite work out as Aurelia planned. The centurion was so large, that instead of forcing it forward into Farkas's blade, her Shout merely swept its legs and forced it backwards. Aurelia was not able to move out of the way in time. It was a good thing she had top quality armor, otherwise her bones probably would have broken under the weight of this machine. Her aching limbs flailed, but she was immobile.
Fortunately, the centurion was just as defenseless as she was. Farkas and Agmaer didn't hesitate to take advantage. With a few more hacks and slashes, the centurion went limp.
Serana and Agmaer lifted the centurion's body while Farkas dragged her out. Aurelia couldn't help but notice that he winced as he did so.
"Are you okay?" Farkas said as he knelt beside her.
Aurelia sat upright. "A bit sore, but fine. What about you? That was a nasty blow to the shoulder that you took."
"I'm fine, I'm more worried about Fastred."
Seeing that Aurelia was okay, Agmaer and Serana had already made their way over to the still-unconscious Fastred. Farkas and Aurelia joined them.
"Will she be okay?" Agmaer said, his voice tense with worry.
Aurelia knelt beside her and turned to Serana. "Did you get the potion in her?"
Serana nodded.
"Then I'm fairly certain she'll be fine. I stopped the bleeding with my restoration magic and the potion should have mitigated any concussive damage. I'm just not a skilled enough healer to get her to wake up. She'll wake up when she's…"
The sounds of clashing blades and grunts of exertion could be heard just above them. Aurelia and Serana cautiously crept towards the stairs that led to the sounds. Farkas and Agmaer hoisted Fastred between their shoulders and followed behind them.
At the top of the stairs, a man in Imperial armor was battling with a Redguard woman in steel-plated armor. The party looked on in confused silence until the Imperial plunged his sword into the Imperials' gut and ended the battle. Then he turned his bloodthirsty gaze onto them. Aurelia backed up to stand in front of Farkas, Fastred and Agmaer and drew her sword. Serana, the least injured of the party, stepped forward.
"Who are…?"
But Serana was interrupted by her need to sidestep away from the man's downward strike. He overshot his strike and flew forward, leaving his back exposed to Serana. Red wisps of energy flew in a steady stream from the man's body to Serana's hand. He chased her down, but Serana backed away quickly but deftly. Since the man was already injured from his previous battle, he fell in only a few seconds.
"What was that about?" Farkas said.
"I have no idea." Aurelia said.
"Haven't any of you been reading the journals?" Agmaer said. "That must have been the leader of the failed expedition here. He seemed overly concerned with not sharing the glory of this discovery with anyone else. I guess that also included strangers who just happened to wander in."
"So none of them survived because of his greed? How tragic." Aurelia said with genuine sympathy. "But I think we found what we were looking for."
In the center of this room was a platform with a round receptacle. Aurelia placed the spherical key that Septimus had given her into the receptacle and backed up when she heard mechanical whistles and clicks. It was a good thing she did, because the floor beneath her collapsed into descending stairs. She smiled.
"I think we're close. As soon as we find a good place for shelter, we'll rest and recover."
The rest of the group wearily nodded before following Aurelia down the stairs. The staircase led them directly to a double door that Aurelia pushed open enthusiastically. Well, as enthusiastically as her injuries would allow. When she stepped through the door, her jaw dropped. She walked a few paces forward to get a better look.
"Oh my… Farkas! The rest of you! You've got to see this!"
Glowing mushrooms the size of trees illuminated the otherwise black expanse before her. Iridescent crystals dappled the cave ceiling like stars. Shadows of ancient structures loomed in the distance.
"That's… that's…wow!" Was all Farkas was able to say.
"This is pretty amazing, but I'm more interested in that." Agmaer said as he pointed to a small building a short distance away.
Aurelia shook herself out of her reverie. "Right, we should rest and tend to our wounds first. We can gawk later. I have a feeling we will be here for awhile."
They had only walked a few paces when Aurelia spotted a figure gliding through the shadows. Though it was hard to tell for sure, she was fairly certain it was a dwarven sphere. She pooled her magicka into her hands to form a fireball. The fireball cut through the darkness as it sailed towards the figure. When it became engulfed in flames, Aurelia could see that it was, in fact, a sphere.
The others could see it too. Agmaer slipped out from under Fastred's arm (Farkas could easily carry her on his own) and sent a bolt into the automaton. A single ice spike from Serana was enough to finish it off.
They hurried towards the shelter before anything else hostile showed up. When they opened the door, they were greeted by a lilting hum.
"Ugh, what is that?" Agmaer groaned.
"Nirnroot." Aurelia and Serana said at the same time.
Aurelia targeted the potted plant and plucked it to silence it.
"Interesting, I've never seen a red one before." Aurelia mused as she examined it.
"Um, we're not alone in here." Agmaer said uncomfortably as he stared at a skeleton lying on the floor.
Aurelia picked up the notebook that was clenched in what remained of his fingers and skimmed through it. "This is Sinderion, an alchemist famous for his work with nirnroot. I didn't know he met his end down here. What a pity, I was an admirer of his, you know. He says he wants to collect thirty samples of them. I don't know if I'll be able to do that, but if anyone sees any more of these, please give them to me."
"Sure, but if you don't mind, I'm going to take his remains outside and hopefully find a good place to bury them. I'd rather not share sleeping arrangements with a corpse." Agmaer said, but he grimaced as he knelt down to collect the bones.
"Hold on, let me handle this." Serana said. She waved her hand and the skeleton stood up. "He can walk to his own final resting place. And while we're at it, we should patrol the perimeter and make sure there aren't other enemies lurking around. Agmaer, since you and I are the least injured, you should come with me."
Agmaer nodded before following Serana and Sinderion's skeleton out the door.
Farkas shuddered when the door closed behind them. "That whole 'raising the dead' stuff still creeps me out."
Aurelia chuckled. "Yeah, but you have to admit, it's useful."
Fastred groaned as Farkas laid her on the stone bed, but she remained unconscious.
"She's making noise, that's a good sign. I'm sure she'll be fine. Farkas, take off your armor."
Farkas's eyes widened. "Are you sure? Fastred could wake up any second, or Serana and Agmaer could come back."
Aurelia furrowed her brow, but then laughed when the meaning of his words dawned on her. "As tempted as I am to do something more fun, I need you to strip so I can get a look at your injury."
Farkas's cheeks pinked. "Oh, right."
As Farkas began taking off his armor, Aurelia sat down on a chair in front of the cooking pot and pulled a healing potion out of her bag. She couldn't tend to Farkas if she was injured herself. She gulped it down and waited a few moments for the soreness to ebb.
She turned to see if Farkas was ready. He had just taken off his shirt to reveal dark bruising on his chest and shoulder.
Aurelia grimaced. "That looks painful, come here."
She took off her gauntlet and placed her hand on his chest. It glowed with magicka as she concentrated on repairing the blood vessels beneath his warm skin.
His heartrate quickened as her hand slowly, gently caressed his wound. He knew she wasn't trying to excite him, but it had been some time since they had been alone together and he was getting frustrated.
He placed a hand on the small of her back and drew her in closer. When her eyelids fluttered and her lips parted, he knew that she had been craving his touch as well. He took her parted lips as an invitation and pressed his own lips against them. She let out a satisfied moan as she returned his kiss. They remained in their embrace for a few moments before they released each other.
"So, um, I guess you're feeling better then."
"Mhm. Hoping we can feel even better soon." Farkas said suggestively.
Aurelia sighed. "So do I, but now's not the time. Like you said, Fastred could wake up or Agmaer and Serana could come back at any second."
"Do you think we can sneak away sometime?"
Aurelia pursed her lips in thought. "Maybe? If the opportunity presents itself, I'd certainly take it, but I'm not holding my breath. Just do what I do. Whenever I feel frustrated, I tell myself that we can make love to our hearts' content after Alduin is defeated." If Alduin is defeated, but she kept that thought to herself.
"Have you given any thought as to what else you'll do after Alduin is defeated?" Farkas said, trying to sound casual.
"It's hard to think about the future when the present is as cluttered as it is. Although I have thought about offering alchemy classes at the College of Winterhold."
"Oh." Farkas said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "You haven't thought about other things?"
"Like what?"
"Like starting family?"
Farkas felt his face grow hot when she didn't say anything and her expression was unreadable. He promised himself he wouldn't bring up stuff like this until after Alduin was defeated. He should have listened to himself. "Sorry, forget I said anything."
Aurelia's lips flapped wordlessly a few times before any actual words came out. "It's just… It's not… I should go outside and check on Agmaer and Serana. Look after Fastred, okay? I love you."
She was out the door before he could say anything back.
/
The surreal feeling of being surrounded by glowing spores was enough to take Aurelia's mind off of her last conversation. That, and her need to be vigilant as she searched for Agmaer and Serana. As she wandered in no particular direction, she heard grunts of exertion and the clicking of mandibles. She grimaced as she recognized the latter sound; a chaurus.
She rushed in the direction of the sounds, a firebolt spell already in the palm of her hand. Agmaer was holding off the already battered creature with his axe. When Aurelia released her firebolt, it let out one last shriek before collapsing to the ground.
Agmaer gave her a weary but grateful smile. "Thanks, Aurelia, those overgrown insects are tough."
Aurelia nodded. "Indeed. You should go back to the house. I've healed myself, so I can patrol for a bit. Fastred was stirring, I believe she'll wake up soon, and I bet your face is the first thing she'll want to see."
Agmaer had been wiping the blood from his blade, but he looked up sharply at her words. "Really? You think she's going to be okay?"
Aurelia nodded with a smile.
Agmaer's cheeks pinked. "And you really think my face is the first thing she'll want to see?"
"Of course, she clearly cares for you a lot."
Agmaer's cheeks darkened from pink to red. "I care for her a lot too, in fact, it's more than just caring for her."
"I had a feeling that was the case. You should tell her how you feel about her."
Agmaer snorted. "Easy for you to say, when you confessed, you didn't know whether or not you would have to face him afterwards."
Aurelia laughed. "Well, I had a pretty good idea of what his response would be if I did confess. Before I confessed, he kissed me." Among other sensual things, but she kept that thought to herself.
"What? So it was actually Farkas who made the first move?"
"I suppose, yes."
"Hm, maybe I should get advice from him."
"I think you should. People have always said he's not smart, but to me, he's wise in ways I could never be."
Agmaer nodded. "Ok, thanks again for everything. Be careful, and don't stay out here too long."
As Agmaer hurried towards the house, Aurelia continued wandering with just enough attention on her surroundings that she could pick up on any dangers. The rest of her attention was inside her own mind. She had done everything she could to get Fastred and Agmaer together, the rest was up to them, and maybe Farkas. But she supposed it didn't matter what she or Farkas did. If they were fated to be together, they'd be together.
Her mind suddenly felt constricted by her thoughts of fate, much like fate itself made her very life feel constricted. She desperately reached for something else to think about. She was supposed to be thinking about ways to protect her mind from the Elder Scrolls, but she was still waiting for Serana to get back to her with her thoughts. She tried to think about her relationship with her parents, but the only thought that came to mind was the fact that their relationship probably couldn't be repaired. Even if it could, she couldn't do it from in here, so that train of thought crashed quickly.
And out of the wreckage of the thoughts of her family were the thoughts of starting her own family. An image of Farkas and herself holding a baby and sitting in front of the hearth at Breezehome formed in her mind. To her surprise, much like herself in her mental image, she was smiling.
Her smile quickly fell when she remembered that she had just awkwardly run out on Farkas when he brought the subject up. What must he be thinking right now? For someone who was called a genius most of her life, she sure was acting like an idiot. She hurried back to the house to speak with him.
/
Farkas looked up quickly when he heard the door to the house open. He was both relieved and disappointed to see that it wasn't Aurelia.
"Hey Farkas! How are you feeling?" Agmaer said as he took a seat next to Farkas in front of the cooking fire.
"Better, thanks."
"It's a good thing we have a decent healer in the group."
After a comfortable silence fell, Farkas could see Agmaer biting his lip out of the corner of his eye. "Something on your mind?"
"Aurelia told me that before she confessed to you, you kissed her?"
"Yep."
"Weren't you nervous?"
Farkas chuckled warmly. "I would have been if I was your age, but it gets easier when you get older."
"I bet being a Companion makes it easier too. Warriors are more desirable than farm boys." He said bitterly.
Farkas turned to face him. "First of all, you're a member of the Dawnguard, and a good warrior. Second, I've been rejected plenty of times. In fact, my first confession ended in failure. I had a crush on the local blacksmith's apprentice, Adrianne. But when I confessed to her, she shot me down."
"Really? Why would she reject you?"
"Because she was seventeen and I was twelve."
"Oh, well that hardly counts."
"How about this then? About a year before I met Aurelia, I tried flirting with the local fruit merchant, Carlotta. She shot me down too."
"Really? She didn't want a Companion?"
"No, she didn't. Do you know why?"
Agmaer shook his head.
"Because none of that stuff matters. It doesn't matter if you're a warrior or a farmer. If a woman is happy when she's with you, then she'll want to be with you."
Farkas couldn't help but notice that Agmaer glanced at Fastred with a question in his eyes before turning back to him. So Aurelia was right, Agmaer and Fastred did have feelings for each other. Well, at least Agmaer did. This morning he had considered Aurelia's concerns about them to be relatively insignificant, but now that he saw it too, he was beginning to root for them.
"But how do you know for sure whether or not she's happy when she's with you?" Agmaer said.
"Well, you don't know for sure, but if she smiles a lot or is always looking out for you, she probably likes you."
Alarm replaced Agmaer's warm, hopeful expression when he heard groaning from the direction of the bed. He and Farkas turned to see Fastred sitting up and clutching her head. Agmaer nearly tripped on his chair as he scrambled out of it.
"Fastred! Thank the Divines!"
"What happened? Where are we?" Fastred said in a scratchy voice.
"I'll let you fill her in." Farkas said as he stood up and headed for the door. "I better go check on Aurelia and Serana."
Agmaer sat on the bed as the door closed behind Farkas. "You hit your head pretty hard during that fight with the centurion. We're actually in some ruins in Blackreach now."
Fastred sharply looked up as her memory returned. "That's right! Are you okay? Is everyone else okay?"
"Farkas and Aurelia got pretty banged up too, but they're okay now. You got the worst of it."
Fastred sighed and began rubbing her temples. "Gods, my head still hurts. I always hated wearing helmets, because they were uncomfortable and hard to see out of, but I think I better learn to work with them."
"I hope you do, the fact that you never wore one always made me nervous. I don't know what I'd do if something worse happened to you." Agmaer felt his cheeks burn at this admission and wondered how she would take it.
Fastred's cheeks were a bit pinker than they were before, but she just shrugged. "Probably the same thing if something happened to Serana, or even Aurelia or Farkas."
Agmaer shook his head. "No, it wouldn't be the same. I care about the others, but not in the same way I care about you."
Fastreds cheeks darkened from pink to red at these words. Her lips parted, but she said nothing.
Agmaer took a deep breath, but his voice still thickened with every word. "Ever since we met, you've always been by my side. Even though we've been spending our days training and fighting vampires, it's the happiest I've ever been." He took another deep breath and spoke faster than he intended to. "And I hope that even when all this is over, when we're out of Blackreach and the vampire problem is taken care of, that you'll still be by my side."
There was hope behind Fastred's guarded expression. "Agmaer, what are you saying?"
Agmaer forced himself to look her in the eyes. "I'm saying I… I…"
Fastred must have seen the answer in his eyes, because she interrupted him by planting her lips on his.
"Aurelia was right." Fastred said as she withdrew. "I don't want to waste any more time not being with you."
Agmaer's face was alight with joy as he initiated a slower and more thorough kiss.
/
Farkas hadn't walked more than a few paces away from the house when he saw Aurelia walking towards him.
"Farkas! I'm so glad you're here, can we please talk?"
"Sure, but not in the house. Fastred just woke up and I think she'd rather be alone with Agmaer right now."
A satisfied smirk crossed Aurelia's face. "That's great. Just walk with me then."
Farkas had been so engrossed in his conversation with Agmaer that he had nearly forgotten about the one he had with Aurelia. However, the knot in his stomach untwisted at her next words, though he still wasn't as placated as he would have liked to be.
"I just wanted to say I'm not opposed to the idea of having a family with you, you just really caught me off guard."
"Oh? You've never thought about it since meeting me?"
"I haven't thought about it with anyone in my entire life." She said defensively. "Did you forget? I lived a very solitary life before I came to Skyrim. The thought never crossed my mind because I didn't think it was even possible. I didn't think I'd meet anyone who would want that with me."
Farkas nodded. He did remark how lonely she was when he first met her. Of course she never would have thought about it. "That makes sense."
"But, I would only want one child, maybe two. Three is definitely too much." Aurelia spoke quickly. "And I wouldn't want to do it right away. I still haven't seen Hammerfell or High Rock yet."
"That's fair, but I don't want to wait until I'm too old."
"That's right." Aurelia chuckled. "I always forget that you're five years older than me."
"Didn't you just turn twenty-six?"
"I did. So I guess it's closer to four and a half years. Alright, well, I guess it will happen when it happens."
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. "Okay."
