Author's note:

Here we are with the second part of the previous chapter. Apropos, I promise that the next few instalments will be more lighthearted - after all, poor Agda definitely deserves a break.

Please let me know if you have any comment/critic/suggestion/whatever.

As always, thank you for reading!

Warning: torture, violence, description of injuries.

As Steinarius, Delphine and their friend entered the inn, Agda let out a little, relieved sigh.

Taken aback by surprise, the black-robed Thalmor broke the spell that bound her to the wall, whereas the sentinel met his death at the end of Steinarius' sword. Unfortunately, before Agda could get out of danger, the other armored elf grabbed her by the arm and pointed his dagger at her throat.

"One more movement and the girl dies!"

That scream had the same effect of a paralysis spell. Agda's allies immediately stopped fighting, whereas the black-robed Altmer produced a satisfied smile – he had been badly hurt by an arrow, but it looked as if his comrade was about to get him out of troubles.

"Throw away your weapons!", the Thalmor who was holding Agda screamed.

When Delphine frowned, the young innkeeper felt the tip of the dagger cut the soft skin of her throat. As the first drops of blood started running down the girl's neck, the Breton sighed and let her bow fall to the ground.

For a short, unbelievable moment, Agda felt the need to chuckle - she had just been tortured by the Thalmor, her favourite blue dress had been torn to pieces, the woman who had taught her how to use a broomstick was actually a dangerous warrior.

Sheogorath was definitely playing tricks on her.

As the Thalmor who held her hostage started dragging her towards the door of the inn, Agda forgot the urge to laugh - had her captor and his black-robed friends made it to the exit, they would have probably cut her throat. If Agda was going to die, she wanted at least to be avenged – and if she wanted to be avenged, she had to make life difficult for her bullies.

With the sheer force of desperation, the young innkeeper tried to examine her situation. The adrenaline of the fight had stopped her tears and lessened the pain in her right hand. As she realized that her fingers were at the same level of her captor's loin, she smiled.

Her revenge was going to be much sweeter than she thought.

Before reaching the door, the man who was holding Agda ordered Delphine to give a healing potion to his black-robed friend. As he did so, the tip of his dagger moved slightly, so that it wasn't pointing towards Agda's throat anymore. With all the strength she could muster, the girl took advantage of that moment to cast an electricity spell.

Although her magicka was still recovering from the electrocution, Agda's plan was a success. The elf hadn't expected a Nord innkeeper to use magic – and he surely hadn't expected said spell to hit him right in the nethers.

As the Thalmor fell to the ground, Agda reached for his dagger and immediately attacked him. She stabbed him once, twice, thrice, reaching all the places the mer couldn't cover with his hands or his armor, then she stabbed him again until his face became a blurred mask of blood.

Even then, Agda didn't stop – she was determined to erase that creature from Nirn and hoped that, together with him, she could also erase all the pain that had been inflicted on her.

Agda kept on stabbing the mer until her hands became crimson with blood. Before she could stuck her blade into his neck for the thousandth time, someone grabbed her by the wrist and gently took the dagger away from her.

As if in magic, as soon as the weapon slipped from her fingers, Agda remembered the broken bones in her hand, the spasms that were still wracking her body, the way the Thalmor had threatened to rape her. As she did, she broke down in tears.

The girl immediately felt strong hands around her waist, then she felt someone lift her off the ground and carry her across the tavern. Steinarius, Agda thought as she felt the cold steel of the man's armor under her fingertips. She hadn't forgotten the way he had tried to kill her, but at that moment Agda was much more troubled by what had just happened. She had shown a strength and a coldness she had never believed to possess, but now she felt like a sailor in the middle of a tempest - she was hurt and terrified and powerless and was eager to accept whatever help was being offered.

Well aware of her feelings, Steinarius took the girl to Delphine's room, then gently laid her down on the huge twinbed. A moment later he gathered her in his arms, thus allowing her to bury her face in the crook of his neck and start sobbing like a baby.

"It's over, Agda", he whispered as he softly cradled her. "It's all over now. You're safe. Now that we're here, no one will dare to hurt you".

When all the adrenaline disappeared, Agda started trembling like a leaf. Steinarius could feel her tears on his skin, her sticky forearms around his neck and her chest heaving in time with her sobs. He tried to soothe her with his whispers, but the girl was too shocked to hear him. As he softly kissed her hair, the Imperial felt a terrible anger bloom inside him. Agda was a sweet, caring and shy innkeeper, yet she had been tortured as though she was some kind of criminal.

The warrior felt the need to go back to the Thalmor Embassy and slay a few Altmers just for fun.

"Crepusculus, my blankets!"

As he heard Delphine's outraged complain, Steinarius regretted his lack of magical skills - at that moment, a silencing spell would have come in handy.

"I'll buy you another set", he hissed as he kept on stroking Agda's hair. The girl had stained the bed with the blood that marred her hands, forearms and knees.

"Oh, I suppose it doesn't matter", Delphine snorted. "If the girl has talked, a new set of blankets surely won't save us. Agda, I really do hope that you haven't revealed anything to our enemies, otherwise…"

Delphine got closer to Agda and tried to shake her shoulder. Nevertheless, Steinarius was quick to smack the Breton's hand away.

"Leave the poor girl be", he insisted. "She needs to recover from the shock".

"Everyone of us needs to recover from the shock, Crepusculus. Apropos, what am I to do with the three corpses sprawled on the floor of my inn?"

Steinarius already had an answer – after all, he hadn't become a Captain of the Legion just because people pitied his clumsiness or wanted to please his father.

"Esbern is an expert of Conjuration magic. Tell him to relive the corpses as thralls: as soon as the spell is over, they will turn to ashes. I also suggest you locking down the tavern. It will take a while to scrub the blood from the floor".

"If you think that the people of Riverwood won't notice that the inn is closed…"

"Delphine, it is almost New Life Festival", Steinarius interrupted her. "You can close the tavern and say that you were preparing the decorations, or that you, Agda and Orgnar were in Whiterun to buy as much mead as possible".

"And what if the Thalmor come looking for us again? What if Agda has talked and…"

"Had Agda talked, they wouldn't have tortured her like they did!", Steinarius said while raising his voice. He was about to lose his temper. "Search through the Altmers' robes and see if you find the usual bounty letter. If we're lucky, I'll copy the handwriting and send a fake message to Elenwen. I'll tell her that her preys are off to Bruma and that her minions are about to follow them. Elenwen may not believe us, but that trick will buy us time. And now, if you'll excuse us, there is someone who needs to stop hearing the word Thalmor".

Delphine's eyes scorched his for almost a minute, but Steinarius didn't lower his gaze. As Agda kept on crying in his arms, he felt the need to protect her from everyone and everything.

Agda didn't realize what was happening until Steinarius cupped her face in his strong, callous hands. As she looked at him, she realized that his grey eyes were circled by the usual golden circles.

"Agda, I'd like you to tell me what they have done to you, if you feel like talking", the Imperial told her with his deep, soothing voice. "We'll need to know if we are to heal you".

Agda couldn't utter a sound. She was still shocked from the rough treatment she had received and ardently hoped Vaermina had just organized a tasteless joke on her behalf. Yet, the pain in her hand was definitely too real for her to be sleeping.

Without talking, she simply raised her injured arm and showed it to Steinarius. Despite their past misunderstandings, at that moment she felt as if the captain was the only one who could help her.

Agda noticed the man stifle a curse, then she saw him rummaging through the satchel he always kept at his waist. The Imperial put a few potions on the bed, then he spoke again.

"What else?"

When Agda tried to speak, a violent spasm wracked her body.

"Electrocution?"

The girl nodded, causing the wrinkles on Steinarius' forehead to become even deeper.

As he asked her more questions, the Imperial softly touched the cut on her neck, then laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. When his eyes wandered over her cleavage, Agda suddenly remember that she was almost naked. Sensing her embarrassment, Steinarius immediately stood up from the bed and grabbed a shirt he found in Orgnar's crate. It was big and old and smelled like sweat, but Agda eagerly took it to cover her torso.

As Steinarius sat down again, he helped the girl gulp a healing potion. The vial was going to dull the pain in her hand, but could do nothing for the broken bones.

Steinarius waited for Agda to feel better, then called Esbern in the room. He quickly introduced him by saying that he was a friend of a friend, then he explained what kind of tortures the girl had endured. Esbern unexpectedly chuckled and said that he had missed repairing broken.

Agda, on the other hand, frowned.

That old man seemed as crazy as Hilde.

"Don't worry, girl", Esbern said as he sat next to Agda. He talked very loudly, as if he were deaf and couldn't hear his own voice. "Steiny here will do the hard work, whereas I'll cast a few spells to ease the pain. You'll just need to sit back and relax".

As if it were easy, Agda snorted. She was a healer, therefore she knew how things were going to unfold: the Thalmors had broken and dislocated some of her fingers - and to put them back where they belonged, Steinarius would be forced to break them again.

As the Imperial took her hand, Agda couldn't help but let out a terrified whimper.

"Come on girl, show us how strong you are!", Esbern chuckled.

Unfortunately, Agda had no wish to show Esbern how strong she was - she just wanted her problems to disappear and the nasty foul smell coming from the man to stop haunting her nostrils. It seemed as though Esbern had been living in a sewer for the last two centuries.

When Steinarius touched her again, Agda screamed as if he had just stabbed her. Esbern rolled his eyes, whereas the screams caused Delphine to appear on the threshold. The Breton was wearing an apron and had spent the previous thirty minutes of her life cleaning the floor on the inn from the Thalmors' blood.

"Are we sure that Agda hasn't betrayed us?", she asked while raising an eyebrow. "If she's screaming like that just because you're touching her wrist…"

Agda didn't know what to say. She felt mortified – mortified and pained and angry at Delphine's words. Luckily enough, Steinarius was quick to take her defense.

"I am a warrior, but the prospect of having my fingers broken twice in less than two hours wouldn't make me very happy either", he said with his singsong accent. "Now, Delphine, we'd be better off if you left us. We have some work to do, and so do you. Those New Life decorations need your help to spread their joyful colours throughout the inn, don't they?"

As Delphine returned to the main hall with an angry expression on her face, Steinarius took Agda's wrist once again. This time he was much gentler and soon began to trace little circles on the girl' skin.

As she looked at the blood on both their hands, Agda wondered what he had in mind.

"Tell me Agda, have you got any plan for New Life Festival?", Steinarius asked her after a few minutes of those gentle ministrations.

"Work", Agda managed to reply. Thanks to the Imperial's reassuring tones, she had almost stopped sobbing. "I'm an innkeeper".

Steinarius stifled a curse. He had completely forgotten that innkeepers had to work on New Life Festival. Nevertheless, he didn't give up on his plan.

"Any special present you'd like to get?"

Agda looked at Steinarius.

Was he planning to buy her a present or was he looking for ideas for another woman?

"There's a necklace I like in Lucan' shop", she muttered after a few seconds. "It's made of silver and has an enchantment".

"Let me guess: it improves alchemy skills".

When Agda nodded, Steinarius smiled. A second later, he snapped her thumb back into place. Before Agda could even realize what had happened, Esbern cast a healing spell, thus dulling the pain and helping her nerves recover from the injury.

When that first part of the treatment was over, Steinarius and Esbern repeated the procedure four other times. The Imperial tried to get Agda to talk to him and relax, but by the time he got to her third finger, the girl had sunken into a long silence. Heavy tears were rolling down her cheeks, whereas her shoulders were wracked by her sobs.

As soon as the treatment was over, Steinarius was quick to hug her and hold her close.

"It's over, Agda, now it's really over", he whispered. "I promise you I won't hurt you anymore".

Esbern muttered something about doing what needed to be done, but Agda didn't hear him - wrapped in Steinarius' strong arms, she was trying to forget all she had been through during that long, horrible day.