The next morning, Lavanthia would wake to a small, neatly-written letter for her beside her head, laid nicely on one of her small pillows. Down on the floor, her older companion still rests before the sun begins its rise over the horizon and banishes the two moons from the sky. The penmanship is excellent, the signature at the bottom signed with a beautiful red ink that almost glistens in the light of the young woman's bedside candle. On the letter, it reads:
"My dearest Lavanthia,
I am writing this to tell you that my work here in Stonefalls in complete, specifically in Davon's Watch. I will be moving on to continue my odd jobs in other parts of Tamriel, and while my vocation may take me far from you physically, this past week we have spent in each other's arms will remain in my memory forever. I regret a great many things, but most of I regret not having told you more about myself when we were together. I love you, Lavanthia, and I hope desperately and pray to the Tribunal that our paths may cross again.
Forever yours, Reyne Taale"
Lavanthia widens her eyes and let's the letter fall on her lap, shoulders slumped and eyes tearing up...
Fionghall stirs on the floor, the old man's shoulder pains acting up as his body is roused from sleep by the young woman's quiet sobs and crying. Slowly and carefully, he rises to his feet before walking the short distance to her bed, sitting down beside her. The bed creaks and strains with the effort of holding up his immense weight, and the old Nord puts a large, sympathetic hand on Lavanthia's small shoulder. "So, I assume the young man has left, then? I did not think he would be in town for much longer..."
Lavanthia turns and buries herself into his side, careful of his shoulder, nodding with a whimper. Oh how her aura, that usually sang with happiness and embraced every living being with the gentle presence, is now filled with a sadness and longing. But also there was hope. Hope she could be reunited one day...
Fionghall shakes his head, something in the back of his mind telling him he should have expected this. No matter what the young man's true feelings were, he had sparked a fire in Lavanthia and ignited something in her that clearly would not simmer down for a long time. He could only hope that she learns how to control her emotions and pick the right man next time. He tries to console her, but with little enthusiasm. "Life is like this sometimes, dear. Maybe you will meet him again soon."
Lavanthia buries her face into his tunic, nodding slowly. The poor little Bosmer... But he's right. She might find him one day... And perhaps learn what he was hiding from her all this time. A small hiccup, and she cuddles in closer into Fio's side.
Fionghall sighs softly and hesitantly strokes the young woman's head, brushing his fingers protectively through her thick locks of scarlet red hair. Somehow in just the past couple weeks he had grown to care for her and despite his disgruntled attitude otherwise, she knew he could not deny her if she wanted to come with him to Eastmarch. The trip would be long and difficult, but perhaps along the way she might meet another, better man with whom she could spend her free time. Thoughts of his daughters' previous lovers float through his mind, and how those relationships were necessary for the two girls to grow in their own ways.
Lavanthia's sobs quiet into soft cooing, just resting now after the overflow of emotions. Eyes now closed, her breathing more even. But she doesn't release her grip on his tunic, as though afraid he might disappear. It's clear she wants to be right by his side... for who else could she go to? Where would she go?
"Shhh, shhh. It will be alright, my dear. Tell you what: we will stay right here for the rest of the day and rest up, and in the morning, we leave with a caravan to Eastmarch. I will not stop you from coming with me if you choose." He sighs heavily, smiling faintly at the small woman who had sobbed into his tunic and emptied herself of all her sadness. Her first heartbreak...
She nods again, looking up with her face stained in tears, "I will go with you, Fio. What all will we need for the trip?" Another sniffle.
Fionghall thinks for a moment, realizing that this would be a good opportunity to temporarily distract the girl from her heart ache. "Well, firstly we will need food supplies. Caravans are good about providing safety in numbers but aside from stopping at safe spots for water, everyone will be responsible for carrying their own food stuffs. Seeing as how we will be moving into colder territories very quickly on the journey, we may need warmer clothing as well."
Lavanthia reaches back to pull out her coin purse and see how much she has. In these past few days, she's been doing odd jobs here and there to come up with some coin. "How many days would this trip take?"
"Hmmm, I'm not sure. Hopefully no more than a week, honestly. You have been busy, but the past couple days my stomach has not been agreeing with me." Fionghall winces in a small amount of pain, holding his hand to his stomach as the pain rolls through him, and he fights off the urge to vomit. "But if the trip is not too long, I can... manage."
Lavanthia leans over to grab a clean bucket and hold it up to him, "What's wrong? Why is your stomach not agreeing with you?" Then takes off one of her gloves to put a hand on his forehead, feeling for a temperature.
Fionghall groans softly and winces again, nodding as he takes the bucket from the young woman just in case. He waves a hand to his satchel, full of medicinal herbs and little pouches of cures. For an old man like him, it was essential that he know how to make his own medicine, and he beckons Lavanthia to give him his herb bag.
Lavanthia gets up to pick up the herb bag, handing it over to him. Eyes are filled with sympathy for her companion as she wished she had the ability to cure whatever ails him... As this thought crossed her mind, her markings make their appearance. This would be the first time Fio has seen them...
"Thank you... Hmm, something is different about you just now. My Magicka enables me to see auras of living things but nothing else, and your energy just pulsed."
"Oh?" She looks down at her hand and widens her eyes, shutting them as she struggles to get her energy levels back down...
Fionghall raises his eyebrow curiously at her as she quickly takes measures to quell whatever energy signature she had been giving off, and he goes back to rooting around in his bag of herbs. Just judging by texture and smell alone, he was able to pick out a few packets of dries leaves, removing them from their rough paper packaging. Taking a small pipe out of one pocket in the satchel, he drops a pinch of the herbs in his pipe, striking a coarse match on the stone floor beneath him to light the pipe. Within a few minutes, the rumbling in his stomach begins to calm significantly, and he groans heavily. Nirnroot... he would have to be careful not to take too much of the stuff. "I... ugh, I think I just ate something that disagreed with my stomach. I will be fine, my dear."
Lavanthia sighs as she finally manages to calm her Magicka, smiling in relief at Fio when she notices his own relaxation, "Okie! But let me know when it acts up again? Please?"
Fionghall grunts and nods at her earnest warning. He knew how to take care of himself, but it warmed his old, cold heart to know she cared as well. After finishing his smoke, he puts the pipe bag in the satchel and ties it all up again.
"Maybe I should learn more about healing...?"
The old Nord smiles up at the girl, patting her hand with his. "Mmm, I could teach you the basics of Alchemy along the way, and one technique I use in a pinch. It costs a lot of Magicka so you have to be careful, but it's helpful in emergencies. And it's always good to know how to mix brews and potions..."
Her face brightens the moment he suggests this and nods frantically, "I would love to learn them! If it means helping you and others!"
The excitement and eagerness to help... makes her aura start pulsating again. Seems her magicka is recovering nicely!
Fionghall squeezes the young woman's hand, before rising from the bed to grab a pencil and his notebook, writing a short list of the things they would need with them: Nirnroot, thick coats, extra shoes, and a small list of food stuffs. Fionghall also jots down the rough measurements for his clothes before he hands the list to Lavanthia.
Lavanthia takes the list, looks over the items, then comes in for a big hug before parting, "I won't be long, Fio! Rest easy!" Then she starts hopping down the stairs, taking the letter with her!
The old Nord smiles as the girl goes, laying back on the bed to get some more rest. The pit in his stomach is still there, though the smoke earlier had settled his nerves considerably and calmed his sickness. If really must have been something he had eaten. He closes his eyes, and decides to wait for Lavanthia to come back.
Lavanthia returns about an hour later with supplies balanced between five bags between both arms. She carefully sets the bags down beside the bed and leans over to check up on him...