26
Itagaki.
The return journey to Riften was sombre and without incident. It was also almost silent. None of the three remaining companions had much to say, Tilly least of all. Itagaki understood the dark elf's feelings, but cutting herself off from the others would not help her to accept the loss she felt.
Itagaki was no stranger to loss. Death had surrounded her most of her life. It was a warrior's burden, if they survived long enough, to see friends, family, comrades die. After enough time, it became a numbing experience. The loss still felt, but easier to accept and move on.
It wasn't the case this time. Losing Revna had hurt her far more than she had believed it could, yet she continued. She ate every day. She slept every night. She moved on even as she held the memories of her friend close to her heart. It was all that she could do. It was either that or allow herself to collapse into a morass of grief and guilt and she had had enough of guilt for a lifetime.
Riften had not changed in the interim. It was still bustling and loud. The Nords still drank and sang and fought with each other as they had always done. There was a tense air about the place as the Three Banners War had flared up once again, with soldiers on rotation from the front lines in Cyrodiil adding their voices to the usual tumult.
The Jarl was true to his word and they had received the handsome payment for saving his daughter's life. He paid his respects to Revna's memory, offering to give her the posthumous honorific title of Thane of the Rift while asking what they wanted to do with the Khajiit's share of the reward.
"Do you have an orphanage in Riften?" It wasn't surprising that Tilly would come up with the idea. Not anymore. She wasn't the person she had been before all that had happened.
"We do. A fine one, if I may say so." Borgun crooked a finger towards William of Anvil, calling him forward. "William will see to it the orphanage gets the money and that everyone knows who donated it."
"The money will only be used for a Khajiit orphan." Tilly addressed William. "No other. Even if it's ten, twenty, thirty years until there is one. Only a Khajiit. If I find it has been used for anyone else, I will not be pleased."
The dark elf stepped towards William, leaned in close and whispered something in his ear. Itagaki couldn't hear what Tilly said, but, with a shocked look and a face that lost all its colour, William's reaction showed that it was not something pleasant.
All that remained to do was to remove the binding. Itagaki considered whether it would be better to continue being bound to Tilly and Öenthir, as a constant reminder of the friend they had lost, if for no other reason, but Tilly immediately fell in when Dirgan called them forward. There was no blinding light, or strange feelings. It was anticlimactic, more than anything. Dirgan held his hand over theirs, concentrated and she felt the binding lift. She no longer felt connected to her friends.
Without any ceremony, Tilly turned and left the great hall of the longhouse. Itagaki and Öenthir bowed and were about to follow the dark elf.
"Just one more thing, for you, Öenthir RiverFall." Dirgan handed the Öenthir a folded and sealed letter. "It's your choice, girl."
Itagaki wondered what was in the letter, but didn't ask. If Öenthir wanted to share the contents, she would, but, for now, she placed the letter into her satchel.
They found Tilly outside the Jarl's longhouse, preparing her horse. She was leaving. If they had spent much longer in the Jarl's presence, she may have left without even saying goodbye. Itagaki wished that she could help the dark elf, to be the shoulder that she needed, but she doubted Tilly would take up such an offer. At least, not yet.
"Don't leave yet." Öenthir placed a gentle restraining hand on Tilly's. "Stay. If only for tonight? Let's have a drink for Revna. I'll even drink mead. Stay. Please."
Itagaki thought Tilly was going to ignore Öenthir. For a while she kept testing and tightening the straps on her horse's saddle, not looking at the Bosmer. She did stop, though, and tilted her head to look at first Öenthir and then at Itagaki herself.
"Alright. Just the one, though. For Revna." Tilly took the reins in her hand and waited.
It seemed only appropriate that they should end their time together in the place where they had first laid eyes on each other. The Shadehome Inn was almost exactly how they had left it. There were fewer broken tables and chairs, less blood on the floor and all the patrons seemed to be less interested in caving each others' skulls in than drinking as much mead as they could.
They found a rare empty table and soon had four flagons of mead before them. Itagaki took the first toast.
"To Revna Astadottir. She was my sister. A great warrior. A great friend." They all drank and Itagaki sat down as Öenthir stood, raising her flagon.
"Revna. She was sweet and kind and was always there for us. Every time." Again they drank. Öenthir returned to her seat. Their eyes turned to Tilly. She didn't stand.
"To that big, stupid, bloody fool oaf of a Khajiit." Tilly seemed lost in thought before shaking her head and coughing. "Revna. She was my friend. Which is more than I can say for you two idiots."
Itagaki and Öenthir exchanged glances, unsure if Tilly was serious or not and then the dark elf winked at them both, holding out her flagon for the others to touch with theirs, then tapping the lip of the fourth flagon.
One drink turned into another, turned into three, then four. Itagaki played her Shepherd's Pipe that Revna had made for her. She had, in the quiet moments and with stealth, been practicing ever since she had received it all those weeks ago, but she thought she had started to get the hang of it, playing 'Red Diamond' to the noisy appreciation of all.
It was a good night and Revna would have loved every second of it.
ii. Tilly.
The morning light cascaded through the window falling upon the sleeping form of Itagaki, giving her a look of Aedric divinity. In that light, Tilly could see the varying shades in the Redguard's black hair, falling soft across her face, covering the scar.
Tilly moved the strands aside, smoothing her lover's hair and then trailed a finger over the scar. It did nothing to spoil Itagaki's beauty, only highlighting the smoothness of the rest of her skin. When she slept, the Redguard tended to wear a tiny smile, something she would hide if she were awake, and Tilly found herself smiling too at the little chink in Itagaki's armour.
Taking a last, lingering look, Tilly slipped from beneath the covers and collected her clothes that they had thrown upon the floor in their passionate haste. She was soon dressed and opening the door. Pausing as Itagaki shifted in her sleep, Tilly waited until her lover had settled before leaving the room.
"If you leave without saying goodbye, it'll break her heart again." Anyone would think Öenthir had been waiting outside the door, standing there in a crisp, shiny blue dress. Now they were once again in civilisation, the Bosmer had returned to the clothes she preferred.
"I think our hearts are already broken." Tilly closed the door behind her, as silent as possible. "But I'm not leaving. Not just yet."
"Then why are you sneaking out of the room?" The Bosmer had also returned to her haughty attitude, her hands clasped and resting against her stomach.
"She had her nightmare again, last night. She deserves to sleep while she can." She remembered Itagaki's soft cries, denials of betrayal, assertions of mercy. Tilly had held her tight until the nightmare had passed. "I'm going for breakfast. Joining me?"
Öenthir nodded and fell in beside Tilly. Tilly noticed the concerned look that the mage gave towards the room where Itagaki slept. In some ways, Öenthir was very like Revna. Her concern for others being one of them. The other was the rage that the Bosmer rarely allowed to surface. The difference between Revna and Öenthir was that Revna had a reason for that rage. A history that informed it. As far as Tilly could tell, Öenthir's rage wasn't informed by anything. It was a part of who the mage was.
The breakfast food was not anything special. Tilly had a bowl of porridge, sweetened with honey and slices of apple. Öenthir ordered a full breakfast, with a plate filled with fried food that almost made Tilly retch. Sausages and bacon, half a tomato, fried egg, a thick slice of the local blood pudding and a portion of beans in a rich tomato sauce. Tilly didn't know where the little Bosmer put it, especially after the amounts of mead they had drunk the night before.
"Can you keep a secret?" Öenthir mopped up the remaining sauce with a slab of bread before wiping her mouth with delicate touches of a handkerchief. "You have to promise you won't tell anybody. Not Itagaki. Not anybody."
"How do i know I can keep the secret if I don't know what it is?" She found her scowl met by Öenthir's unflinching eyes, daring her to deny the request for secrecy. "Alright. I promise. That good enough?"
The wood elf made a conspiratorial sweep of the room with her eyes. Satisfied that no-one was listening or watching, she reached into her satchel and pulled out a folded piece of cloth and placed it on the table before Tilly. She clasped her hands together and rested them on the table, waiting for Tilly to unfold the cloth. She did so and immediately re-covered what she found.
"Mara's lily-white knickers! Where did you get that?" Tilly copied Öenthir's conspiratorial look and pushed the folded cloth back to her. She continued in a whisper. "How do you still have a Gem of Unison?"
"Dukhat gave it to me before all Oblivion let loose." The mage picked up the folded cloth and slipped it back into her satchel. "He said he was sorry. He thought he was doing the right thing. He told me to keep it secret and safe."
"He's put a bloody target on your back. That's what he's done." Tilly wished she had an ale, or a mead, or even wine. "If Tiirakan finds out you have that ... You have to hide. Hide or throw that thing in a volcano or the ocean. You can't keep it!"
Tilly looked in Öenthir's eyes and saw that the Bosmer was never going to throw it away. She'd seen that look before when Öenthir had first read the books Tilly had 'found' for her. It was lustful. A lust for the power the books could give her and now the power the Gem could give her.
"Don't worry. Arrangements have been made. I'll be safe." Öenthir looked over Tilly's shoulder and smiled. Tilly followed her eyes to see that Itagaki had joined them.
"Safe from who?" Itagaki slipped onto the bench beside Tilly and dipped a finger in the half-eaten bowl of porridge, sucking the oats from her finger with a wink at Tilly. Itagaki, winking!
"From me." Tilly glanced at Öenthir, the mage watching her as she spoke. "Safe from having to hear me singing along to your beautiful music. She's threatened to learn a silence spell for the next time I try."
"That seems a little extreme." Itagaki frowned at Öenthir in a playful fashion.
"Not with her singing." Öenthir laughed and tried to grab the attention of the serving girl.
Tilly played with her porridge, stirring the congealing food, her mind elsewhere. With an un-cursed Gem of Unison in her hands, Öenthir had either become prey for all the dark mages throughout Tamriel, or she had received the potential to become one of the most powerful mages of the age.
She only hoped that Öenthir would take her advice. Something like that Gem was better destroyed or lost beyond the possibility of ever falling into the wrong hands again.
iii. Öenthir.
It was all she could do to hold back the tears. This was it. The final time that the three of them would be together. Itagaki and Tilly were holding the reins of their horses, waiting for Öenthir to join them. As she approached them, she couldn't begin to believe that they were going.
She hugged Itagaki first and then Tilly, before clasping both their hands and squeezing. She didn't want to let them go. Letting out a little, strained laugh, she took one last look at them both. They had all come through the quest, but they found themselves diminished by the loss of Revna.
"So, Windhelm, eh?" She clung to their hands.
"To start with." Tilly didn't even pull her hand away. Things were different between them now, this was certain. "From there, I don't know where I'm going. Maybe the Gold Coast. See some old acquaintances."
"I will be returning to Hammerfell." Itagaki glanced at Tilly to see if there was a reaction. "I hear the Abbey of the Blades is being rebuilt. Perhaps I can find solace there. And you?"
"I'm waiting for a portal." She didn't want to say anything more than that. It was better that few people knew of her plans.
"You return to the Mages Guild?" Itagaki frowned in surprise at the destination. "Do you think you still have a place there?"
"The Mages Guild. Something like that, yes." Öenthir released their hands and Tilly began climbing into her saddle. "I'm going to miss you both."
"And I will miss you, Öenthir Riverfall. Perhaps we shall meet again. I certainly hope so." In one graceful movement, the Redguard jumped into her saddle.
"You know you were the 'little elf' of the group, don't you?" Tilly leaned over her saddle.
"I know. But it wouldn't have been as funny if she'd called me it." They exchanged grins before Tilly and Itagaki turned their horses and began to ride away.
She watched them until they turned the corner of a building and that was that. She sighed and brushed down the front of her dress before wiping away an errant tear.
With little time left before the portal opened for her, she walked with speed to the nearby carpenters workshop. She hoped that they had managed to do what she had requested. She found the carpenter sat outside his shop, eating a thick ham sandwich. Upon seeing her approach, he put the sandwich down, wiping his mouth and hands before ducking into the shop. She followed him inside.
"I have that order for you, milady. Reinforcing the butt was easy. That'll last a good while." He had already retrieved her staff and pointed at the metal affixed to the bottom. "As for the other thing, well, it almost seemed a shame to do anything to such a lovely but of carving, but I did it. I don't know what you'll be able to hide in there."
Before handing her the staff, he showed her the top, where the carvings representing her spells were and, at the very too, he showed her where the screw plug was. He unscrewed it and showed her the little hole that the screw revealed.
"You'd be surprised what I can hide in there." She gave him a couple of extra gold coins which the carpenter appreciated with a quick forelock salute.
Leaving the shop, she felt the familiar tingle of magicka in the air. The portal was about to open. In haste, she took the folded cloth from within her satchel and took the Gem of Unison from it, dropping the Gem within the hollow at the top of the staff before replacing the screw plug.
She almost didn't make it in time. The portal opened before her with a flash, surprising several bystanders. Shimmering with a pearlescent light, the portal wavered and flared awaiting her. She paused for a second, looking around at Riften. She had grown fond of the place. It had a simple charm to it, but she was glad she was leaving. It would forever be a memory of the friend she had lost.
The abrupt change in temperature made her shiver as she stepped through the portal, her feet coming to rest on crunching snow. She found herself before a tall Nord woman, dressed in formal mage robes, standing before an arch that led to a ramp that, itself, led to a high sturdy bridge.
"Öenthir Riverfall?" The Nord mage asked, holding out her hand. Öenthir almost took the hand to shake it before realising that wasn't what the woman wanted. She rummaged in her satchel and removed the folded piece of parchment Dirgan had given her.
"I have been sponsored by Dirgan Oakenheart of Riften." She passed the parchment to the woman and waited as she read the contents, making several angry glances her way.
"And what do you seek to gain from the College of Winterhold?" The Nord mage handed back the parchment.
"Power." There was no point in beating around the bush. The mages of the College would soon see past any falsehoods, if the ones at the Mages Guild were anything to go by. It was best to be honest.
"Good. We shall see if you can handle it." The woman turned and began walking up the ramp, not even telling Öenthir to follow. Expecting that she was smart enough to know her sponsorship had received their approval.
Öenthir looked up towards the great edifice that was the College, towering, even looming over the city of Winterhold, its towers covered by cloud. If she was going to be able to control the Gem of Unison, this was the place to learn and, when she had learnt enough, she would find Tiirakan, Dukhat and the mysterious third Head of the Dragon. And kill them all.