28th of Hearthfire

I returned to the land of the living with no memory of where I was or how I came to be there. My eyes were bandaged, as was one of my hands, but my ears continued to function and the sound of a man and a woman praying quietly were quite clear. The motion of my hand as it explored the bandage on my face interrupted the prayers in mid-sentence.

"Do not stir, sister." Giselle's voice said. "All is well; or, at least, as well as can be expected. Above all, do not touch your face, or your neck or your head. And avoid using your left hand and arm."

"That is a rather extensive list." I said as I removed my undamaged hand from my eyes and concentrated on simply breathing in and out. My mouth and throat were quite dry.

"You sustained serious injuries." She replied. "Mother Helena fainted when she first saw you. They Archmage and Captain Kurst have barely left your side these past three days. You are much improved from when the Captain carried you in and placed you on this bed."

"The Captain brought me here?" I asked.

"I did." Kurst's voice replied. "I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you awaken."

"He arrived in Bruma driving a cart, having joined the Archmage and his party on the road that leads out of the mountains. He drove his cart to the front door of the Mother House. Mother Superior investigated the commotion and fainted in the doorway as he lifted your burned and motionless body from the cart. I am told she thought you were dead."

"How do you fare, brother?" I asked Kurst.

"My wounds are nothing compared to those you received. They have been looked to, and are mending." he answered. "There is not a member of our party that is not injured, but they are all being tended to."

I had not even thought to ask.

"They are all alive?" I asked.

"Yes." Giselle said. "They have an assortment of wounds and injuries, but they are mending. Your injuries are by far the worst."

I did not think I could summon the courage to ask what was foremost in my mind.

"Tell me plainly, sister." I said. "I prefer a short, sharp pain rather than a slow drawn out one. What are my injuries?"

"Your face and neck were badly burned." Giselle said simply. "Your head and arm and hand as well."

I refuse to cry. I repeated several times until I had confidence in my voice.

"I had my hand raised, casting a ward, when his fire magic breached my defense." I said. "He was quite close. And I was not wearing my helm."

"You had other injuries that were not from fire." She said. "The Archmage says they were from storm magic."

Coris' thunderbolt attack had found gaps in my defense. I thought

"I have no cause to complain, given the ultimate outcome." I said. "Did the Archmage share his prognosis for my recovery?"

"I will tell him you are awake, and you may ask him yourself." Giselle said as she patted my uninjured arm.

Kurst's hand found mine after Giselle had departed. To my surprise, his hand was shaking.

"Brother, what is it?" I asked.

"It is nothing." He said, his voice breaking. "I am so very happy to see you finally awake and speaking."

"I owe you my life, brother." I said. "I would have died of my wounds if I had not been tended to so quickly."

"You words are very kind, sister, but they do not begin to dull the pain I feel for failing to protect you." Kurst said.

"You failed at nothing, dear friend." I said as I squeezed his hand. "You yourself ended the threat to Cyrodiil. Coris is dead because of you. This cult is destroyed because of you."

"You must cease this practice of scaring your family out of its collected wits, madam." Aric's voice said from a short distance away. "I am not a young man, and my heart can only endure so much before it fails."

"Would you oblige me sir, by removing the bandages from my eyes?" I asked. "I will risk further injury if I may only see your face."

I felt him sit on the edge of my bed, and his hands began slowly to remove the bandages from my eyes.

He had bandages on one hand, as well as his arm. He bore a new scar above his left eye, and a burn of his own on the side of his neck, and he seemed to favor one leg over the other as he sat by my side. Here was the man I loved, smiling at my disfigured face as if nothing had changed.

My tears began to flow freely down my cheeks as my lips began to quiver, but I remembered Giselle's instruction and did not wipe them away.

"Please excuse me, sister." Kurst said as his eyes became damp. "I must tend to a family matter."

Kurst closed the door quietly as he left.

Aric's undamaged hand found mine.

"Shhhh," Aric said. "Do not worry, beloved. You were a sight to behold when we first saw you, but you responded well to both magical and physical treatment. Do not despair. You will have the opportunity to add your own healing spells to our efforts once your strength is returned. Until then, it is important that you maintain a positive attitude."

"How are the others?" I asked after my crying had subsided.

"We fared better that we would have if you had not thinned out their numbers." Aric said. "It was only five cultists who we confronted on the road. We found the sixth later, propped under a tree, his right leg and arm broken quite badly. They made no attempt to treat him."

"He fell a fair distance." I said. "Though nowhere near as far as his comrade."

"At least one of the remaining mages was thrown from her horse, which was panicked by your raptors attack." Aric said. "She was less inclined to fight with a broken collarbone, an injury that no one thought to heal before returning to the road."

"Restoration does not seem to be a school these fanatics value highly." I said.

"She was still powerful, and acquitted herself as best she could, but she could barely raise her right arm and was forced to fight entirely with her left." Aric said, "She employed storm magic, but was forced eventually to resort to defensive spells. She proved less fanatical than her brethren and yielded when her ward was finally broken.

It was then only two mages and two warriors that remained. One mage was fond of summoning spells, and he was as powerful as his brethren. He kept us at bay with a fire cloak while he hurled Atronachs and Daedras at us, one after another. It was Lucia who brought him down finally, drawing power from the earth before unleashing a massive thunderbolt that left little in the way of remains. She and I both found your enchanted rings quite helpful, and my and Rafel's enchantment of your three retainers armor proved effective when the second mage attacked Ensim with a thunderbolt that triggered a storm Atronach as well as reflecting a good portion of her attack back upon her, weakening her ward to the point that the Atronach needed little assistance in shattering it completely. Rigel killed her as she was defending herself from the Atronach's attack.

The first warrior fought with a long sword in each hand, and his armor had some protection that made arrows go awry. Runa and Jordis, and Rigel took turns opposing him, making him spend his energy, divided across the three of them, until even his massive frame weakened. He was a berserker to the very end. He was ringed with steel as Jordis, Rigel and Runa surrounded him, but he would not yield. He chose a warriors death, which Runa provided.

The second warrior was a spell sword. He issued a challenge: single combat to the death. It was so nobly offered that I felt it would be the height of ingratitude if it were not as nobly accepted. He was quite skilled, but still young, while I had mastered that particular dance long ago. We discarded magic at the end, when it became solely a dance of flesh and steel. Even then, when the outcome was not in doubt, he would not yield. I did not possess sufficient words to convince him that he was misguided. The anger I felt after I was forced to kill him almost overwhelmed me.

"What of the two cultists that did not fight?" I asked him, as my uninjured hand squeezed his.

"They reside in the dungeons of Bruma." He answered, "A heavily warded cell in the case of the mage. Each is receiving care for their injuries."

"Does the Bruma city guard still have a traitor in it's midst? I asked.

"No." Aric replied. "Our message sent from Chorrol was delivered. He has been in custody for some time. The Countess is quite cross. There will be a reckoning of some sort."

"I would not want her as my enemy." I said.

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

"Gods, Aric." I said. "Loga."

"She is quite well." Aric replied with a smile. "Kurst's charger, growing impatient, returned to the stable that is his home in Bruma, and Loga accompanied him. Do not be surprised if she has a fowl this time next year."

"Gods. There is something in the air here in Cyrodiil." I said.

"We had only just secured our prisoners when we heard a cart making its way down the mountain road, leading a horse behind it." Aric said. "You can imagine our surprise to see Kurst, bloodied and bandaged, driving the cart, and the precious cargo it carried. It was only then we realized that you had stayed to find the Chancellor."

"I was resolved to risk everything rather than allow him to escape." I said. "Kurst was resolved to risk everything rather than allow me to go off on my own."

"Runa cried when she saw you and then flew into a fury." Aric said. "It seemed for a moment that she would kill our prisoners, but she was persuaded that you would not approve. Kurst was beside himself with grief, thinking you had succumbed to your injuries on the journey down the mountain, and blaming himself for their extent. But you moved when I placed my hand upon you, and it was tears of joy that flowed then. It was then that we knew you would live."

"I have always said that your touch could animate a stone statue." I said.

"I cast the first healing spell there on the road." Aric said. "Lucia as well, drawing power from the earth. But she does not have your gift."

"I must have been a rare sight." I said. "Coris Blasio was very powerful. I had no idea."

"Kurst mentioned something of your plan." Aric said.

"I had no specific plan." I said. "I did not know how powerful he was. I assumed he was, at most, a common mage, and that he would attempt to paralyze Kurst, thinking him unprotected. I described to Kurst how it would feel. Maretta had attempted to paralyze me, unsuccessfully, but it caused my entire body to tingle. Kurst simple froze in place when Coris' attempt to paralyze him failed and the tingling started, and waited for the opportunity to attack. It was not long in coming, but it was long enough for me to pay the price you see plainly before you."

"That is not what now concerns me most. You are very thin, beloved." Aric said. "It is not only your retainers now who are concerned. I am also worried for your wellbeing as are Runa and Lucia and Kurst. Some of your sister priestesses believe you to be wasting away before their eyes. I cannot say I do not share their concern."

"I have been negligent in my eating habits, and much to profligate in my use of the power." I said. "It is an unhealthy combination."

"We must rectify that, and we should begin now." Aric said. "Some broth and soft bread will make a good start. I will be only a moment."

Broth and soft bread, and tender care, and the love of my friends and family aided me in regaining my strength. A steady stream of visitors kept me company. Inge cried openly during her first visit, but recovered quickly and took up the task of insuring I never lacked for food. The Countess made a single visit to thank me for the defense of her city and to deliver the promised document naming me Special Advisor to the Bruma City Council.

My sister priestesses tended me night and day as well and, once he thought it safe to do so, Aric would carry me in his arms each evening to the small chapel so that I might attend Compline with my sisters in Cybele.

The more minor of my injuries healed very quickly. The burns that I had suffered would take longer, and I still had no wish to see my reflection, or to contemplate what I must look like without eyebrows or eyelashes or hair of any kind above my neck.

"I may wear a silk head scarf to conceal my blotchy appearance." I said to Lucia when a chance reflection caught my gaze and caused me to avert my eyes.

"You must do as you see fit, sister." She said. "But there is no shame in displaying injuries that were gallantly won. And they will soon fade to nothing. Kyne would never allow such beauty to be permanently marred in her service."

Ten days had passed since our battle at the temple. Aric had sent a message to the Emperor immediately after receiving Kurst's report of what occurred. The Emperor's response came eventually in the form of thirty men, four battle mages, and a member of the Imperial Council, who delayed in Bruma only long enough to deliver letters to the Countess before proceeding to the temple.

Two of those letters found their way to the Mother House.

"Selva Varo, the Prioress of Weynon Priory, has been given notice." Mother Helena said as we sat in her small office and drank tea. "The Emperor has charged me to take the priory and all who reside under its roof into our care, and to appoint a priestess as Prioress. He is effusive in his praise of all Priestesses of the Maetreum of Cybele. I wonder where he could have formed such an opinion?"

"It is excellent news, Mother Superior." I said.

"Please call me Helena, sister." She replied with a smile. "We are well past titles, you and I. In any case, you acquire titles at such a rate that I no longer know which takes priority."

"The title of Sister will always take priority where we two are concerned." I replied. "But I am sorry to add yet another burden to the Mother House."

"It is no burden at all when compared to what you have endured during your stay in Cyrodiil." Helena Oranius replied. "And we have played host to two of their number for some weeks now. We have heard firsthand what passed for care under that terrible woman. I see this news as a blessing, not a burden."

"I prayed that those two lost doves flew here, and were safely nestled in the Mother House." I said.

"What news can you share, sister?" she asked me, "If I may ask."

"I can share the letter itself." I said as I handed the parchment to her for her to read what I had already seen.

Dear Lady,

I have only just heard news of your recent ordeal. I pray to the Divines that by the time this letter reaches you that you will have recovered somewhat from what has been described as extensive injury.

You are so young and yet you have done so much for Skyrim, and Cyrodiil, and Tamriel. You are truly a gift from the Divines to the world of men, and I will be so bold as to speak for all men and say Thank You for the care you have shown, and continue to show, for the weak, and the defenseless, and all those in need. You are an embodiment of the oath you swore as a Knight of the Nine. It is my honor, and my privilege, to call you friend.

Titus Mede II

"What a wonderful letter." She said as she returned it to me.

"I will treasure it always." I said, "Though I will have to hide it from half the population of Skyrim."

"It is there loss then." She replied. "Good deeds should be recognized, regardless of politics. One's beliefs do not change what is good and right. Goodness and Righteousness are gifts from the Divines."

"How I wish that were true, sister." I said. "But we each have recent evidence to the contrary."

"Yes." She answered, "But what a wonderful world it would be if it were true."

The seventh morning of Frostfall saw us packing our belongings into our lone wagon; but fewer belongings, and one less traveler, would traverse the final leg of our journey home.

"You are sure?" Lucia asked her sister.

"Do not make it sound so permanent." Runa said. "I will stay for a time to acquaint myself with my kinsmen and see what can be learned about my birth parents."

"Is that the entire list of persons you will learn more about, sister?" I asked.

"Is such a smile truly appropriate for an Archpriestess, or a Knight of the Nine?" Runa asked me.

"Yes on both counts." I said, "When it is shared with loving affection."

"I will not say I will miss you." Runa said as she embraced first Lucia and then me. "That would imply a long absence. But I will say that you will both be in my thoughts daily."

"What thoughts you have to spare for us." Lucia said as her eyes drifted to where Kurst and Aric were standing.

Kurst and Runa exchanged places so that Runa might have a private word with her father and Kurst could say his farewells.

"You steal my sister from me, sir." I said as I gave him a firm embrace, which he answered by lifting me off of my feet. "After all we have been through."

"I merely borrow her for a time." He said as he placed me back on my feet, "how long a time I cannot say."

"I will miss you, brother." I said to him. "Do not be a stranger to us. Skyrim is not so far away."

"And it is somewhat hard to miss." Lucia said as she embraced him.

"Can you truly sit calmly as we ride away while one of your children remains behind?" I asked Aric. I had lost count of the number of time I had turned around to look upon the city walls that now surrounded my sister.

"I have had sufficient practice." Aric said. "It is no less painful than the first time, I am only better at hiding the pain."

"I feel I may burst into tears at any moment." I said.

But my eyes stayed dry as we traveled the serpentine roads of the Jerall Mountains, passing the various locations that marked our stay in Cyrodiil in indelible ink upon our hearts, and minds, and bodies. It was strange to look ahead and see neither Runa nor Kurst, and to look back and see only Inga and her four children riding in the wagon. Stranger still was the thought that we would sleep in Skyrim tonight. Lucia would divert to Whiterun with Rigel while the rest of us would stop in Helgen overnight and make arrangements for Inga, her children, and my three retainers.

"You are all due a rest." I told the three. "Kolmas must see his family settled, and you have earned some leisure time."

"But mark me," Aric said. "Do not squander the good reputations you have so recently earned. And remember always that your actions reflect upon the Reverend Mother."

"We know, milord." Ensim said. "We serve a Knight of the Nine as well now. We never forget that."

It was almost nightfall when we passed the border crossing into Skyrim. The sky to the west was still lighted with the last remnants of day. Silhouetted against that light, welcoming us home with a distant bellow, a dragon flew casually, heading in the general direction of Markath.