Author's note:
As usual, I deeply thank all my readers for sticking around this story. In particular, on this occasion I'd like to send a special thank you to jfrost22792 for their review to chapter 15. I completely agree with you: Adaeze had it coming when she chose to sleep with Sven rather than with Hadvar!
The other shout-outs of the week go to Valtieri, msyendor and Elspeth for their opinions about chapter 41. Since that instalment caused a lot of questions, I'd like to try and answer them.
As far as Vigdis' personality is concerned, from your reviews I could see that Steinarius' former fiancée comes across as a rather dislikable person. Although it may sound weird, I was really happy about it: I namely wanted to depict Vigdis like a common woman who has made a lot of mistakes, not like one of those flawless heroes who are ready to die for the sake of others.
While talking about Vigdis, I must confess that in my mind I always compare her to a wild wolf with very strong primal instincts - hence her impulsive and contradictory personality. A sample of that? As Valtieri underlined, that woman claims that she's recently built herself a new life, but is unable to stay away from Steinarius for more than a month.
As well as being a very confused person, Vigdis does have a tendency for taking drastic decisions - after all, she's the one who eloped from Whiterun rather than telling her man something on the line of "Hey, I think our relationship isn't healthy anymore; mind if we take a break?"
While talking about Vigdis' personality, I also need to mention her thoughts about the Civil War. As Valtieri correctly guessed, in my head-canon that woman doesn't team up with any faction; she is namely a very disenchanted person with a tendency to criticize everyone who fights for something they believe in.
As far as Vigdis' decision to partially erase Agda's mind is concerned, from your reviews I could see that it caused very different reactions: some readers were happy about it (Elspeth), some were utterly enraged (msyendor), others couldn't understand the reason for such a drastic measure (Valtieri). As far as the latter point is concerned, in my imagination Vigdis has lots of difficulties in trusting people. In the end, it was this fact that led her to erase Agda's memory rather than risk Steinarius to find out about their meeting. At the same time, however, I want to underline that Vigdis believed her decision to be an act of generosity towards a girl who was likely to be traumatized for life by the tortures she'd endured. Unfortunately, the road to hell is paved with good intentions - and just like msyendor suspected, Vigdis' potion will cause Agda to suffer from her damaged memory much more than from her physical injuries.
Before I end this huge author's note, I'd like to answer Valtieri's interesting question about the Jagged Crown quest. I think that on that occasion the end justifies the means - after all, Galmar and Ulfric believed they could help hundreds of Nords by robbing just one old grave; also, Nords tend to believe in facts rather than in ideas, and that should help the Stormcloaks forget about the way their leader got hold of that crown. This is just my opinion - if anyone else wants to express theirs, I'll be glad to listen.
After this long introduction, it's time we finally got down to business. This update provides us with a very important reunion; also, it sets the premise for the next few chapters.
Enjoy!
As a loud snore escaped Erandur's mouth, Steinarius Crepusculus cursed. The Imperial thought he'd given up that habit in Solstheim, but he'd been wrong: upon returning to Skyrim, his potty mouth had immediately come back to him.
To say the truth, right after reaching his country the Dragonborn had been too weak to speak, let alone curse. Steinarius hated ships and was thankful that he'd chosen to stop in Dawnstar rather than sail all the way from Solstheim to Windhelm. The crew of the Northern Maiden were thankful for that too, actually: ever since a thunderstorm had hit their ship halfway through their journey, their only passenger had spent most of the time in his room, feeling sick and coughing up his soul once every ten minutes. At a certain point, a very pale Dragonborn had even asked whether it was possible to die of sea sickness. The men of the crew had chuckled at his naivete, but they'd all been forced to admit that Steinarius looked really bad after his first two days at sea - and he'd looked even worse upon his arrival in Dawnstar.
Gjalund usually wasn't one to waste time for his passengers. Yet, when his ship had reached Dawnstar on the previous evening, he'd taken it upon himself to escort Steinarius to the local inn.
When the bulky Nord had helped him out of his bed, Steinarius had seemed on the verge of fainting; then, after saying some slurred sentences about his hatred for ships, the Imperial had staggered towards the docks of Dawnstar. As soon as he'd reached his goal, Steinarius had fallen on his knees and tried to kiss the snowy land of Skyrim. Luckily enough, Gjalund had stopped him before the Dragonborn could cover himself in ridiculousness.
Ironically enough, facing the short distance between the docks of Dawnstar and Windpeak Inn had been one of the worst experiences in Steinarius' life. The Imperial remembered Gjalund insulting him for being unable to support his own weight, then he remembered throwing up on the man's boots; next thing the Dragonborn knew, he was in a bed with a very strong headache.
I had to take you out, Gjalund had admitted when confronted with Steinarius' confused eyes. You weren't cooperating at all. By the way, the healer will be in few seconds.
Steinarius had tensed at the mention of a healer. As a warrior, he was used to getting stitched up and cured very often; yet, that didn't mean he enjoyed it. When Erandur had made his appearance on the threshold of his tavern room, however, the Dragonborn had sighed in relief - the Dunmer wasn't his favourite person in the world, but he was someone Steinarius trusted.
The Dragonborn spent the first night after his return to Skyrim in Nightcaller Temple; after feeling slightly better thanks to Erandur' spells, Steinarius had namely decided to follow the priest to his den. The Imperial had immediately fallen asleep, but shortly after midnight he had been awoken by Rustleif's powerful knocks on the door to the building.
Help me!, the blacksmith of Dawnstar had screamed. My son has a weird rash on his back! You must save him!
Erandur had mumbled something about over-apprehensive parents, then he'd left for Dawnstar. Steinarius, on the other hand, had simply turned his back to Rustleif and his problems: luckily enough, curing infants was one of the few things people still hadn't required him to do.
After Erandur's departure from the temple, Steinarius had succumbed to sleepiness once again. Considering his newly found health, the Imperial was hoping to enjoy a good night rest before reaching the Greybeards and asking them for information about the Dragonrend shout. Also, he was planning to ask Erandur whether he was interested in joining the Blades. Unfortunately, Steinarius' projects were destroyed after his kind host returned to Nightcaller Temple and fell asleep on a bed in the same room as the Imperial. Erandur' snores were namely making it impossible for the Dragonborn to get back to sleeping.
Sighing, Steinarius looked at the ceiling. His Dunmer helper had got back to their room half an hour earlier and had immediately started snoring as loud as a cave bear. The Dragonborn usually didn't have problems with people who snored; Erandur, however, made him jolt awake every time he exhaled in his sleep. Whenever the Dunmer did that, it namely sounded as though the Red Mountain had moved somewhere between his throat and his nose.
When another one of those ungodly sounds reached his ears, Steinarius muttered another curse and sat upright on his bed. Frowning, the Imperial tried to force Erandur to change position, he tried to close his mouth, he even prevented the air from entering his nostrils by covering the priest's face with his hands; nonetheless, all those efforts were useless. Erandur seemed unable to wake up - but most of all, he seemed completely unable to stop snoring.
Rolling his eyes, Steinarius stood up and decided to find himself a new resting place. That plan, however, was completely unsuccessful: thanks to his heightened senses, the Imperial could hear Erandur' snores in every single part of Nightcaller Temple. Sighing in defeat, the man eventually chose to venture into Dawnstar - since he was perfectly awake, Steinarius was keen on getting himself a good breakfast and find a courier who could bring most of his luggage to Solitude.
As soon as he entered the only tavern of Dawnstar, Steinarius was abruptly reminded of the downsides of being the Dragonborn. By the time he reached the counter of the inn, at least three people had namely walked up to him and asked him for help. All of a sudden, the Imperial felt a sharp nostalgia for his quiet life back in Solstheim.
Stifling a couple of tired yawns, Steinarius listened to the requests from his many admirers. By the time the sun appeared in the sky, a sailor had already asked him to find some weird alchemy ingredients, whereas an old woman had complained to him about her new neighbour and his string of lovers. A miner instead ranted at length about his former wife. When Steinarius asked him what he was supposed to do about that, the man not-that-subtly suggested the Dragonborn shouted poor Beitild off a nearby cliff. Taken aback by that request, Steinarius wondered how someone could mistake him for a member of the Dark Brotherhood.
While the Imperial was busy explaining to Leigelf that no, he wasn't available for killing former wives, a very worried Rustleif made his appearance inside Windpeak Inn. The Dragonborn knew the local blacksmith pretty well - when he'd first joined the Legion, Steinarius had namely been asked to fight the Stormcloaks in the Pale. Since his campsite was very close to Dawnstar, the Imperial would often visit Rustleif' shop in order to have his weapons repaired or improved. As a consequence, when he saw him that morning, Steinarius greeted the blacksmith with a very warm smile.
"I heard that you've recently become a father", the Dragonborn told Rustleif after ordering some food and finally telling his beseechers to leave him alone. "I hope everything's fine with you and Seren. I know that Erandur was at your place tonight".
"Seren and I are fine, thanks for asking", Rustleif replied with a proud smile. "Our little Kolas is fine too, actually. He's our first son, so we worry a lot about him. Poor Erandur does his best to reassure us, but we often get scared at the drop of a hat".
Steinarius bitterly smiled at the memories those words brought up. He briefly remembered tormenting Danice Pure-Spring every time Eidan did something weird or surprising, then he locked those thoughts in the usual, neglected corner of his mind. It was very early in the morning, so the Dragonborn had no intention of spending the rest of the day thinking about his late son; after all, those thoughts couldn't bring Eidan back: as a matter of fact, they only succeeded in causing Steinarius to get drunk or burst into tears.
When the Dragonborn didn't say anything in reply to his words, Rustleif cleared his throat. All of a sudden, the blacksmith looked very embarrassed.
"Listen Steinarius, I was wondering... I know that you're a busy man, but there's something I wanted to ask you. Seren would love to raise our son in the Redguard way and knows a good book about how her people educate their children. Unfortunately, it seems that there are very few copies of it left. I'd be very happy if you could retrieve one of those rare tomes on my behalf - if you're not too busy, of course".
Confronted with Rustleif' sheepish request, Steinarius couldn't stifle a bitter chuckle. He'd really forgotten how it felt to live in Skyrim: in that damned place, no one ever approached you unless they wanted to ask you a favor - and sadly enough, that was particularly true if you had the misfortune of being the feared Dragonborn of legends.
"I already told you about that book yesterday evening, but you probably weren't listening", Rustleif added. The blacksmith had been confused by the way Steinarius was staring into the void rather than accepting to retrieve that rare tome on his behalf. "To tell the truth, back then you looked a bit greenish and had troubles walking. Actually, you still look a bit pale. Also, that blackish welt on your face is quite scary. Have you by chance..."
Steinarius sighed at that neat description of his adventures from the previous evening, then gestured for Rustleif to stop talking.
"I didn't wrestle with a giant squid", he explained while thinking of the scar Hermaeus Mora had left on his face. "It was a Daedra, actually".
As soon as he heard those words, Rustleif pulled a terrified face. Amused by his shocked expression, Steinarius stood up from his chair before the blacksmith could ask him for explanations.
"As for that book, consider it done", the Imperial announced. "I'll be back by midday".
And with those words, the Dragonborn left the comforts of Windpeak Inn and faced the first of the many tasks that still awaited him in Skyrim.
Steinarius was very tired as he made his way to the hill where Nightcaller Temple stood. The sky was clear, but the wind was causing his cloak to float behind him. In that situation the Imperial felt particularly ridiculous; also, he felt particularly annoyed every time he thought of the problems he'd encountered while retrieving that cursed book on Rustleif's behalf. Not only had Steinarius been forced to venture into a very nasty Nordic ruin - on his way back to Dawnstar, the Dragonborn had also slipped on the iced shore of the ocean and ended up taking an undesired bath in the Sea of Ghosts. Given that his hair were still damp, Steinarius felt on the verge of coming down with a flu; moreover, he was angry because Rustleif had paid him just half of the agreed price - after all, the blacksmith hadn't expected his precious book to dive in the ocean together with its clumsy rescuer.
While walking towards Erandur's den, Steinarius hoped he could get himself a warm bath and finally change into some dry clothes. As he eventually reached his destination, however, the man stopped dead in his tracks and immediately forgot about his wishes. The trolls that usually roamed the courtyard of Nightcaller Temple were dead, a fact that deeply surprised him; moreover, the Imperial was taken aback by the foul smell of human blood that was reigning in that area. Thanks to his heightened senses, Steinarius realized that a pool of that substance had stained the steps outside the entrance of the temple. A moment later, the Dragonborn noticed a scent he hadn't smelled in more than three years - a scent that reminded him of the meadows around Whiterun, of the honey farms outside Riften, of the wild flowers near Karthwasten.
Feeling as though his heart had just done a couple somersaults in his chest, Steinarius realized that he'd just smelled Vigdis' unmistakable scent.
Steinarius stormed into Nightcaller Temple like a fury. His heightened senses immediately noticed that Vigdis' scent was much fainter there, whereas the smell of blood was disgustingly strong.
Before the Imperial could head for the inner rooms of the building, a very nervous Erandur appeared in the main hall.
"Thanks Mara you're here!", the usually calm priest cried out. "I need your help, child: you must go to Frida at The Mortar and Pestle and ask her to bring me all the healing potions she has in her shop. Also, tell her to come here at once. You won't believe what happened this morning!"
Steinarius' eyes widened in a weird mixture of confusion and fear and anxiety.
"You found someone on the steps of the temple, right?", he asked, his voice full of nervousness. "It was a woman, wasn't it?"
When Erandur pulled a surprised face and nodded, Steinarius felt on the brink of fainting.
"She's a warrior, isn't she?", he asked before the priest could say anything. "She's got a tall figure, dark hair, black eyes. Moreover, she's very pale. Is that right? Is that right?"
Erandur shook his head, causing Steinarius to feel utterly disappointed.
"The poor thing is very pale, but doesn't look like a warrior at all", the priest explained while furrowing his brow in confusion. "In addition, she isn't particularly tall and has got dark blond hair - and even if you didn't ask, she isn't doing well at all".
Steinarius felt as though his chest had just been pierced by a lethally sharp sword. At that moment the Imperial was overwhelmed by a hurricane of feelings: disappointment at Erandur's words, confusion at the way his senses had betrayed him, pity for that mysterious stranger. At last, the Dragonborn felt angry at himself: he had returned to Skyrim less than twenty-four hours earlier, but he was already allowing his past to undermine his future.
Spurred by Erandur's conceited requests, Steinarius made his way back to Dawnstar and led a very grumpy Frida to Nightcaller Temple. Rather than following the alchemist inside the building, however, the Imperial spent some more time in the courtyard, where Vigdis' scent was at its strongest. Sighing, Steinarius recalled the many nights he'd spent with that broody woman; he remembered the way her hair tickled his nose every time she was asleep in his arms, he remembered the pleasant contrast her pale skin created with his tanned hands, he remembered the feeling of her soft lips pressed against his chapped ones. Eventually, the man remembered how Vigdis' scent used to engulf him whenever he laid down on their huge bed in Breezehome. Steinarius adored that sweet smell and would recognize it amongst thousands of others; as a consequence, there was no way his senses could deceit him.
With a frown, the Imperial recalled that Vigdis' trace was particularly strong every time she went hunting in her werewolf form. Fueled by that memory, the man studied the way the frost trolls near Nightcaller Temple had been dispatched. Much to his surprise, he discovered that the creatures had been slaughtered by an animal with unbelievable strength - and all their wounds seemed to point in the direction of a werewolf.
Confused by that realization, for a long moment the Dragonborn didn't know what to do. Over the previous three years he'd often had the feeling of being followed by someone who had the very same scent as Vigdis, but all of his enquiries had led to nothing. This time, however, Steinarius was sure that he was on the right track. After all, his senses were conveying very clear information - and said information warned him that Vigdis was alive and had probably been nearby less than half a day earlier.
At last Steinarius understood that, if he wanted to be at peace with himself, he needed to follow Vigdis' scent. Unfortunately, it was easier said than done: Vigdis had seemingly worked hard in order to leave her smell all over the courtyard of Nightcaller Temple, thus making it impossible for an eventual chaser to realize which direction she'd gone after reaching the building. Annoyed by that discovery, Steinarius decided to follow the clearest of the traces he could smell at that moment.
As he reached a very old lighthouse, Steinarius frowned. His heightened senses told him that Vigdis had been there, but the man didn't know whether the woman was still lingering inside the building. That situation made Steinarius really uncomfortable: a part of him wished he could come across his former fiancée, kiss her, tell her how much he'd missed her over the previous three years; the other part of him, instead, deeply feared that possible reunion.
What if Vigdis has forgotten me and found herself another man? What if I'm chasing a ghost for the umpteenth time in the last three years? But most of all, what if the Divines have allowed me to track her scent only to discover that Vigdis is dead?
At that moment, those were only few of the questions that haunted Steinarius' mind. Eventually, however, the man defeated his fears and decided to enter Frostflow Lighthouse - he'd come all the way from Dawnstar and had no intention of backing down just then.
When he first walked inside the building, Steinarius was taken aback by the lifeless atmosphere of the main hall. Moreover, the man realized that Vigdis' scent was even stronger inside the lighthouse, meaning that the woman had probably spent a lot of time there; sadly enough, the same went for the blood the Imperial had already noticed in Nightcaller Temple. Upon that discovery, Steinarius feared for the woman to have been badly hurt by some mysterious creature.
Before the Dragonborn could properly work on that theory, a weird noise caught his attention. As he turned his head, Steinarius barely dodged the violent attack of a chaurus. When another insect appeared, the Imperial did something he hadn't done in a while: he relied on his beast form.
As he shifted into a werewolf and easily dispatched the two creatures, Steinarius noticed some pools of blood leading to the cellar of the lighthouse. At that point, he took an important decision: he wasn't going to leave that place until he discovered what had happened to Vigdis and to the other people who once lived inside that building.
It was the middle of the night when Steinarius finally returned to Nightcaller Temple. The Imperial was angry: he was angry at the way a few Falmer had killed the inhabitants of Frostflow Lighthouse, at the way Habd had ignored the worries of his family, at the way two innocent children had suffered a horrible death in the safety of their own house. But most of all, Steinarius selfishly admitted, he was angry at himself for hoping that Vigdis was alive, that she was close to him, that she still cared for him. That woman had left him and had never come back - and it was high time he finally accepted reality.
As he reached the courtyard of Nightcaller Temple, Steinarius happened to think of the mysterious girl Erandur had found on the steps of his house. If the smell of blood around the building meant anything, the poor thing had probably been in desperate conditions upon her arrival in that place. Frowning, Steinarius remember about Arondil, a necromancer who'd become famous for luring innocent girls into a Nordic ruin near Dawnstar and turning them into his own slaves. The Dragonborn deeply hoped no one had copied that idea.
As he pushed open the door to Nightcaller Temple, Steinarius was welcomed by Erandur and Frida. The two old healers were sitting in silence at a table in the main hall. If Frida's presence in the building meant anything, the girl Erandur had found was in need of very strong and complicated potions.
"We could have used your help today", Erandur tiredly said when Steinarius took place beside him and asked how the mysterious girl was doing. "The poor child has suffered from very serious injuries. Had you been here, we would have asked you to get to Winterhold and buy some healing potions from the College".
"I was out on a quest", Steinarius lied while fighting against a strong feeling of guilt at the pit of his stomach. "Had I known you needed me, I would have stayed here. By the way, I could get to Winterhold now: I've been told there are quite a few good healers around there".
"The healers from the College are good, but they hate leaving their warm and comfortable seat", Erandur sighed. "Also, I don't think they can do much for our poor child".
"Are her conditions that desperate?"
Erandur slightly nodded, whereas Frida let out a long sigh.
"By the time that poor child got here, someone had already tended to her injuries", the priest revealed. "Unfortunately, many of her wounds later got infected. Right now that unlucky girl has a very high fever and is still losing blood. Her life is in great danger and she may not make it to tomorrow".
"But what happened to her?", Steinarius asked, pity well evident in his voice. "Was she attacked by a troll?"
"Actually, we think she's been tortured: she has a few broken bones and angry red welts all over her body. Moreover, someone disfigured her with an enchanted dagger. The poor child definitely went through a lot before finding shelter in this place".
Steinarius furrowed his brow. He was well acquainted with the way the Thalmor treated their prisoners and he believed the stranger's injuries to point in their direction. Before accusing the members of the Dominion, however, Steinarius wanted to find out more about the unlucky girl who had recently turned up on the steps of Nightcaller Temple.
"Does the stranger look like a Stormcloak?"
Steinarius' question was welcomed by a clear answer on Frida's part.
"That girl looks very weak and frail, therefore I don't think she's involved in the Civil War".
Upon receiving that reply, Steinarius' expression grew even sterner. After all, he had been expecting a very different answer.
"Did she wear anything related to Talos?"
"I couldn't tell", Erandur admitted. "When I found her, the poor child was completely naked".
Confronted with that news, Steinarius felt a rush of rage and disgust run through his body.
"Do you think someone forced themselves on her?"
Erandur shuddered and looked at Frida. When Steinarius did the same, the alchemist sighed.
"I honestly couldn't tell", she admitted. "We'll have to ask her, if and when the poor girl wakes up".
There was a long moment of silence, during which Steinarius rubbed his temples with his slender fingers. That day had been a total failure: he'd witnessed the death of a whole family, he'd been deceited by his own senses, he'd forsaken all his plans to save the world - and now he was confronted with the fate of a mysterious girl who'd been tortured by someone he didn't know. Steinarius had no idea as to the identity of the stranger, just like he didn't know who had treated her so badly: although the girl had seemingly been tortured by the Thalmor, she namely didn't seem one of the usual targets of the Dominion. Confused by that fact, the Imperial had no idea what to think.
"Steinarius, I was wondering whether you could take a look at that poor child", Erandur said after a few minutes of silence, thus snapping the Imperial out of his thoughts. "I know that you never tortured anyone, but I also know that the Thalmor work in close association with the Legion. As a former officier, I thought that you..."
When the priest sheepishly trailed off, Steinarius sighed. Erandur had likely come to the same conclusion as him.
"I know what you mean", the Imperial said in reply to the Dunmer's request. "Let's go see this girl, then".
Nodding, Erandur stood up from his chair and led the way towards the room where the mysterious stranger was resting. As he and Steinarius left the main hall to the Temple, Frida murmured a quick prayer to Arkay: in her opinion, the unfortunate girl was likely to die in the following hours.
The stranger Erandur had found earlier that morning was resting in one of the warmest beds of Nightcaller Temple. Her room was little and comfortable, but it was also very messy: there were bloody bandages on the floor, empty vials on a table, an old blanket near the fireplace.
Steinarius frowned as he realized that the girl' scent reminded him of Vigdis. It's just your imagination, he told himself while taking a step closer to her bed.
The injured woman was covered by many blankets. She was sleeping, but she wasn't at peace: her breathing was irregular, whereas her hair were covered in sweat. Thanks to his heightened senses, Steinarius realized that her heartbeat was worryingly frantic.
When he reached her bedside, Steinarius noticed that the girl's face was completely wrapped in bandages, just like her body. The only parts of her that he could see were her broken nose, the tip of her left ear and her bloody lips.
As he gently peeled the blankets away from her torso, Steinarius realized that there wasn't an inch of the woman's body that wasn't covered in newly formed scars or nasty black bruises. Also, the smell of blood completely hid the scent of her skin.
When the air of the room brushed against her now bare arms, the girl whimpered in her sleep. Wearing a pained grimace, she slightly moved her neck to the right, as though she was trying to get away from the cold. It was a small movement, but it was enough to uncover part of her face.
When some bandages fell out of place, Erandur let out a sigh. Steinarius, on the other hand, deadpanned - there was something very familiar in the shape of the poor girl's eyes, just like there was something very familiar in the line of moles across her right cheek. Frowning, the Imperial lent down towards her and gently stroked her hair - curly, dark blond hair just like Agda's. When he noticed that similarity, Steinarius felt panic wash over him.
You must be dreaming, the usual voice on the back of his mind immediately told him. Agda is in either Wayrest with her family or in Riverwood with Orgnar. She has no reason to be here, just like there is no reason why someone should have tortured her like they did with this poor girl. You've had a tiring day and you've spent most of the afternoon thinking of your former lovers, that's why you've mistaken this unlucky stranger for Agda.
Willing to put his own mind at ease, Steinarius tried to find more elements that could help him understand that the girl in front of his eyes definitely wasn't Agda. The Imperial suddenly remembered that the young innkeeper had got herself a tiny little scar back when they were together - a tiny little scar she'd caused by burning her ring finger with a fire spell.
Steinarius perfectly remembered the day when Agda had shown him that little scar. Now I am one step closer to becoming a battered warrior like you, she'd joked. Despite his worry, Steinarius had burst into laughter at the pride in the girl's voice; a moment later, he'd gathered her in his arms and carried her to bed. He and Agda had remained under their blankets until a rather exasperated Orgnar had knocked on their door, thus suggesting they stopped the unmistakable sounds coming from their room.
Frowning at those memories, Steinarius grabbed the hand of the unconscious girl and gently removed the bandages from her right hand. As he did that, the man ignored Erandur's questioning gaze. The Dragonborn knew he was acting weird, but he also knew that he needed to run a quick test for the sake of his mental health.
As soon as the girl's hand was freed from its bandages, blood immediately started dripping from an ugly scar on its palm. Steinarius grabbed a tankard of water and used it to wash away the dirt, then he used his heightened senses to analyze the skin of that unlucky stranger. As he found what he was looking for, the Imperial felt as though his heart had just stopped beating. The unlucky girl had a little scar in the shape of a moon on her ring finger; also, now that Steinarius was close enough to ignore the blood covering her scent, he noticed that her skin smelled like the wood of an alchemy lab, like the pages of a new book, like the sunflowers along the Golden Coast of Cyrodiil.
Feeling himself on the verge of fainting, Steinarius knelt down on the floor and took his head in his hands: while he was busy tracking a ghost, Agda was fighting for dear life in the very same building where he'd slept that night.