23rd of Hearthfire
"It will take a good portion of the day, but it will correct a serious error on my part." Aric said. "I should have delayed our departure when last we were here until my work was truly completed."
"I have not your skill in enchanting, but I will assist you in any way possible." I said.
It was mid-morning when Aric and I emerged from our room for our late breakfast, a breakfast that was nearly concluded when Runa joined us for an even later meal.
"What is the matter with your neck?" she asked me as she sat down.
"My neck?" I asked as my fingers searched for the source of her concern.
"You have been bitten by something while you slept." She said.
My fingers identified the suspect area.
"You are only partially correct." I said, the memory of the incident in question bringing my face into a grin. "I was not asleep when it occurred."
"Gods." Runa answered with a small shake of her head.
It was then that Aric announced how he would spend a good portion of the day.
"I will impose on Rafel's generosity and add special enchantments to the armor of your three retainers." Aric said to me. "I should have done it earlier. We were fortunate that none of them were injured by these cultists."
"Has that horse not already escaped the stable?" Runa asked. "Is it still necessary?"
"It will ease my mind." Aric said. "And it will protect them from magic during combat, wherever it is encountered."
"What enchantment will you use?" I asked.
"An enchantment that will reflect a portion of any magical attack." Aric answered. "But Rafel had an idea he wished to attempt; an idea for which he has you to thank. He has become quite enamored with your unique rings, and the bindings and enchantments that they employ."
"He knows they have no magic." I said. "They cannot trigger such devices."
"They will not be the trigger." Aric replied. "Magic of sufficient force striking their armor will act as the trigger."
"That is brilliance itself." I said. "The man is a genius."
"Best we hold our praise until his efforts are completed." Aric said.
"You have your work ahead of you then." Runa said. "Kurst wishes to introduce me to the Countess and show me the city."
"You were confined to bed for most of our last visit." I said. "There is much to see. But be cautious. The memory of those two assassins is still fresh in my mind."
Runa smiled as she drank her tea.
"Any brigands or assassins who did not scatter at the sight of your approach yesterday are imbeciles." Runa said. "I will wager that, during your stay, Chorrol is the safest city in Tamriel."
"I know you only tease me out of sisterly love." I said to her. "At any rate, no one in their right mind would accost someone with shoulders such as yours."
She did not answer, but simply looked at the tabletop as she drank her tea and smiled.
Gods, I know that look. I thought. It is not my compliments on her figure that pass through her mind, and it takes no gift in divination to know the source of that smile.
Three armored figures arrived, as did one Imperial Captain.
"We are off." Aric said, as he kissed me and Runa.
"I must fly as well." I said to the two members of the Fair-Shield clan as Kurst sat down next to Runa. It was not a lie, not really. "I must visit the temple, and my sisters in Cybele."
I did not glance back at the two figures as I departed.
"It is the sword that the Emperor presented to me, and that Kurst held, at the ceremony." I said to what appeared to be all the occupants of the temple of Cybele as I displayed the naked blade before returning it to its scabbard. "It requires a final sharpening, which can wait until we return to Whiterun. It will travel in the luggage for our return to Skyrim."
"You look quite impressive, sister, with your hips girded with such a weapon, and your staff of authority in your hand." Said Ysara, the priestess that I had met when we were last in Chorrol.
"You would be more impressed still if you had seen her wield that staff in battle." Giselle said.
"I do not understand." Ysara said.
"It is a topic for another time, sisters." I said. "We depart tomorrow, at which time we will deprive you of eight of your residents."
"The house will seem very quiet this time tomorrow." Suretta said.
"Let us not dwell on it now." I said. "We will busy ourselves with laundry and packing. Tomorrow will arrive in its own time."
The small courtyard at the back of the temple resembled a village on washing day. Clean, but still damp, clothes of various shape and size hung from lines that crossed the small square in several places. The summer heat and the steady breeze would see them dry well before the sun set.
We all took our ease in the shade of the drying laundry and were conversing about various topics when Kolmas arrived.
"Kolmas, I see the Archmage has not returned your armor to you yet." I said.
"He has not, your Grace." Kolmas replied. "He has sent me to fetch your new sword. He will give it the final sharpening and enchant it before departing the guild hall."
"He takes too much upon himself." I said as I unfastened the belt that held the sword in place.
"He has certainly missed lunch, and his diner will be quite late at this rate."
"He seems quite happy, your Grace." He replied. "He and Rafel and Jordis take turns telling stories while the Archmage and Rafel work."
"Jordis?" I asked.
"Yes, your Grace." He said with a smile just as his wife and children appeared. Kolmas picked up his daughter using only his free arm, my sword, scabbard, and belt firmly in the grasp of his other hand.
Gods, man I thought as I glanced at Suretta, do not say more than you have.
"It must be lonely for her, in service to such a man as the Thane." Inga said. "A life in service to a great man can leave no time for a family of her own."
She receives ample attention from the Thane. I thought to myself before it occurred to me what Inge truly meant. Jordis certainly enjoyed her share of Aric's attention, but not his love; not, at least, the love he felt for me, or Lydia or Elisif. That Aric loved Jordis was beyond question, but it was the love for an old and dear friend and companion.
It was the deeper love that Jordis and Rafel had begun to explore. They had not yet had sufficient time to test the depths of their feelings for one another.
And it would break Suretta's heart if their feelings for each other proved genuine.
"Service to any higher calling can be, at times, lonely." I said, steering the conversation towards a different destination. "Unless one is fortunate to have friends and family that share your calling, as your husband has friends that share his service to me."
"As we are ourselves fortunate to have each other." Giselle said as she found Maliyah's hand. "We serve Cybele, but we also serve each other."
"What a wonderful sentiment." Suretta said. "I will miss you all terribly when you leave."
"I believe that my first act when I arrive at my cottage will be to weep at my solitary state." I said. "I have grown quite unaccustomed to being alone."
"You won't be alone, your Grace." Kolmas said. "You will have the three of us."
"My cottage is not nearly large enough to house three retainers." I said, my words mixed with laughter. "But never fear. You will not be very far away. We will find accommodations for you in Whiterun. And, dear Inga, I believe you and your children would do quite well in Helgen."
"Thank you, Reverend Mother." Inga said. She seemed to wish to say more, but hesitated.
"What is it, dear lady?" I asked.
"Must I part with Olaf and Olda at Bruma?" she asked.
"Do you not wish to part with them?" I asked.
"No, your Grace." Kolmas said. "We want to keep them. We want them to be ours, and we want to be theirs."
These were the two children that Kolmas, when his name had still been Dirge, had carried on the road through the Jerall Mountains.
"The children cling to Inga as if she was their true mother." Suretta said. "They are quite attached to her and her own children."
"Then they must certainly accompany you, Inga." I said as I fought to retain my composure. "If both of you are certain that this is what you truly wish. The Thane has adopted ten children. He must certainly be able to recite the legal document from memory. The Jarl of Whiterun will not hesitate to sign such a document and, as you will reside in Whiterun itself, that should suffice."
Inga had begun to cry before I had finished speaking, which released my own tears, and those of my sisters. Kolmas comforted Inga, releasing neither his daughter nor my sword.
"Come, Kolmas." I said as I stood and held out my arms. "Give me your daughter and embrace your wife. Then complete the mission given to you by the Thane."
It was while walking back to our Inn that I encountered another member of our party.
"Reverend Mother." Toinen said. "All of your books have been collected into three parcels, and those parcels double wrapped, and in the custody of the stable master, who was informed indirectly that his life might be in danger if anything were to happen to them."
I laughed out loud at his words before remembering myself.
"I should do penance for my reaction to hearing a man threatened so." I said. "But surely hyperbole is not a grave sin. I know that I inconvenienced our entire party, distributing my books among all of us. I will take an oath that Loga reproached me constantly, her eye always returning to the small parcel of books behind my saddle. I do not think she raised her ears once during our journey here."
"Five or six books don't mean nothing compared to a man in full armor, your Grace." Toinen said. "But if you want to know for sure, the Archmage can ask her."
Our laughter rang across the broad avenue of Chorrol.
"He would never overlook the opportunity to concoct some fantastical response and attest that it was word for word Loga's answer." I said.
"That's always the problem with foreign languages." Toinen said. "You have to take someone else's word for what was said."
"How many languages do you speak, Toinen?" I asked.
"Including the common tongue?" he asked.
"Yes." I replied.
"One." He answered.
It was the second time in as many minutes that our laughter echoed off of the buildings lining Chorrol's main thoroughfare.
Afternoon became evening as the shadows from Chorrol's taller buildings lengthened in response to the setting sun. Aric had returned a short time earlier and fallen into our bed and would have fallen asleep immediately if not for my intervention.
"Do you intend to sleep upon this excellent bed without first removing your boots, sir?" I asked as I began to unbuckle and remove his boots.
"My intention was to rest my aching neck and shoulders, madam." He answered, never opening his eyes as I tugged at his heavy footwear. "And then, using the least effort possible, request that our dinner be prepared."
"I can be of some assistance with the first item in your list." I said as I began to unbutton his tunic. "But only with your cooperation."
"Mmmmmm" Was his response as I manhandled him enough to remove his tunic and belt and position him on his stomach.
"The Gods help anyone who must carry you." I said as I straddled his lower back and began to massage his neck and shoulders. "This shirt must also go." I said before drawing the garment up and over his head.
"Mmmmmm" Was again his only response as my fingers progressed from his neck across his broad back to his shoulders.
"I recall someone warning you that you take too much upon yourself, but I cannot recall her name." I said playfully as my hands and fingers continued to work.
"You have me in your power madam." Aric said, his face buried in the pillow and his voice muffled. "You may do with me as you wish, but in the name of the Divines, do not stop. It is the most wonderful feeling in the world."
"I have no choice but to stop for a moment." I said, "This robe is far too warm for such exertion."
"There." I said after I resumed my place, dressed in only my shift. "I have a newfound respect for any baker that spends their entire day kneading dough. I do not know how they accomplish it."
"Mmmmmm" he replied.
We were quiet for a short time, as my hands continued their efforts, and as the pressure of my hips upon his back, and the slow motion of my body as I massaged his shoulders began to drive my thoughts in another direction.
"Mmmmmm" I said, as my body responded to his, and my lips replaced my hands on his neck and back.
"Mmmmmm" he replied, as a smile began to form on his face, his eyes still closed.
"Mmmmmm" I answered as I lay forward onto his back and my lips found his.
Other sounds soon escaped our lips, at increasingly shorter intervals, until our room once again became quiet, and the God of Sleep, finding the two of us entwined and inseparable, took us both into his quiet embrace.