Fic trivia: Way back at around chapter fifteen I mapped out a rough plan of the rest of this story. I intended to have it all wrapped up by chapter twenty-six. Har har. Right now I'm hoping it will be done by chapter forty. Morrowind is owned by Bethesda Softworks. –D

"What the hell are you talking about?" Winterbell managed to grit out between clenched teeth as she pulled the blade from her shoulder. Eydis, for it was she who lurked at the top of the stairs, gasped audibly in surprise.
"What are you doing here?" the fighter snarled.
Winterbell gave a pained chuckle, "So I'm not 'your love'. That is good to hear." She didn't want to waste magicka by healing her wound so Winterbell merely tossed the blade aside and looked up at Eydis. "I'm here to find out what you rigged with Dren's fight."

The Nord didn't seem to react to Winterbell's words. In fact, she didn't seem interested in the mage at all. She shook her head and bounded down the stairs.
"I haven't time or inclination to talk with you." She brushed Winterbell aside.
"I'm not giving you a choice," Winterbell ground out. She grabbed Eydis's arm and attempted to lever it behind her back.

As Winterbell had anticipated she was no match for the superior strength and speed of the Nord. The warrior turned like lightning and smashed Winterbell against the wall, holding her hand above her head.
"Leave me alone, you old hag." Her face was twisted in hate. Winterbell started muttering something under her breath. Eydis jammed her forearm against the mage's throat.
"No spells."
"Are…you sure about that?" Winterbell managed to choke out, her eyes flicking upwards. Eydis looked up and blanched. Floating in the air above them was the contents of a nearby weapon's rack. Eydis relaxed her grip slightly.
"I drop, they drop," Winterbell grinned. Eydis snarled.

Winterbell was bluffing, of course. The floating objects would stay there for a minute and then drop, whether Winterbell was conscious or not. Still, she was fairly confident that Eydis wouldn't know this.

The warrior still seemed distracted.
"I don't need this," she muttered.
"Tell me what you've done to the combat event," Winterbell insisted.
"Will you shut up?" Winterbell grimaced in frustration. It was hard to be threatening when you couldn't even hold the other person's attention.

"Leave her alone!" A familiar voice floated down the stairs.
"Finally!" Eydis dropped Winterbell like a hot coal. The mage looked up the stairs and massaged her throat.
"Estir?"
"Hello Winterbell, I'm sorry you got involved in this," the Altmer apologized.
"You! Betrayer!"
"I never betrayed you, Eydis! I told you why it could never work; you just couldn't let it go."
Winterbell frowned, uncomfortably aware this was a scene she wasn't supposed to see.
"You said we were perfect!" Eydis hissed.
"Look at what Ranis turned you into. You're so full of hate."

Winterbell took a deep breath, "Excuse me!" She quailed under the glares of the combatants, "We need to find out what she's done to Dren."
"Eydis?" Eistirdalen asked.
"He'll be fine. It's just to scare him." Even she didn't sound convinced, and fear flickered in her eyes.
"What have you done?" Winterbell asked again.
"We were just told to sneak this Orc into the competition. It's just to scare him!"

Winterbell started up the stairs, "I have to go. Will you be all right?" she asked the other mage.
Estirdalen nodded, "You do what you have to. This is my business." The weapons dropped around Eydis, who didn't even flinch.

With a vicious slash Marayan disarmed his opponent. The young Kaijit hissed as the Dunmer's steel opened up her knuckles.
"Yield?" Marayan asked. The Kaijit nodded and walked from the ring, clutching her paw. Marayan nodded to the crowd but frowned uneasily. This was his second qualified match and Winterbell hadn't shown up yet. He was disappointed and puzzled; he assumed she'd be there, even if only to watch him bite the dust.

Face streaked with grime and sweat, he collapsed into a chair to await his next round. He hadn't taken any serious injuries, but he had more than one bruise that was going to hurt like hell the next day, and his armour was beginning to look a bit ragged.

He glanced over at the row of seats where his friends sat and noticed Estirdalin was missing as well. He nodded and waved at Galbedir and again scanned the rest of the crowd.

"Next round!" the judge called. "Third qualified round, Marayan Dren verses Baramb gra-Molgo. The winner of this round will be placed, so put your hands together for our challengers."
Marayan shook his head and cleared his mind for the next match. He strode into the ring and then glanced quickly at the judge, convinced there was some kind of mistake. His opponent did not look like an amateur.

The Orc was easily a head and shoulders taller than Marayan, and the scars on his arms suggested that he belonged in the professional events. His face was covered by an iron helm, but Marayan felt his opponent was vaguely familiar. The Orc carried a massive Orcish axe and he hefted it easily in one hand.

The bell rang and Marayan slid into a fighting stance, waiting for his opponent to make the first move. The Orc waited a beat to see if his opponent was going to attack first and then charged. The ring was only ten feet wide, and Marayan only just managed to duck out of the way. He flicked his sword back at his opponent as he passed, but it grated harmlessly off the Orc's armour.

They ducked and weaved about the ring some more, the Orc always on the aggressive, but never quite managing to land a blow. Marayan was yet again scrambling out of the way when the Orc growled,
"Recognise me yet, traitor?"
"Boss!" Marayan nearly choked. What was the Cammona Tong ex-boss doing here?
"Good, now you'll know why you won't be walking away from this fight."
"But I'm a Dren. Orvas won't be happy of you put me out of commission." Marayan parried, catching the axe with the hilt of his sword. To his dismay, the hilt started to crack.
"After you helped those prisoners escape I'll never be able to show my face to the Tong again anyway. I'm gonna enjoy watching you pay."
"At least I know I don't have to fight fair then." Marayan disengaged their weapons and kicked the Orc in the side.

The crowd howled at the obvious foul but Marayan ignored them, his eyes on the Orc. The kick had landed well, but the Orc seemed to shrug it off, and Marayan wondered if he'd done more damage to his foot than to his opponent.
"No foul!" the Orc roared and a wave of excited chatter swept over the crowd.
"Dren!" Marayan turned to see Winterbell pushing her way through the crowd, her face pale and grim. Her shoulder appeared to be soaked in blood. She took one look at the Orc shook her head urgently, obviously wanting Marayan to try and end the fight.

The tension left Marayan's frame as he looked from Winterbell to the Orc. Whatever fear he held melted away in the face of a wall of rage. He shook his head at Winterbell. With one movement he flew across the ring to bring his sword down on the Orc's relatively unprotected shoulder.

Instead of blocking, as Marayan had expected him to do, the Orc took the attack and brought his axe up into Marayan's side. Most of impact was expended in throwing Marayan across the ring, but as the mage got to his feet he could feel warm blood pooling on the inside of his cuirass.

To his relief his effort hadn't been wasted. The Orc was having some difficulty lifting his damaged arm. A telling blow, for the axe was most effective when wielded with both hands. Marayan glanced over at Winterbell and felt mildly irritated. Rather than worried she looked cranky, and seemed to be trying to get him to do something by sheer force of will. Marayan didn't have time to try and decipher it; the Orc was moving again, more cautiously now.

Marayan brought up his sword again and the combatants started circling each other, their blood mixing with the sand. Marayan feinted and slashed the Orc across the chest. The Orc swung his axe viciously, welding the axe with one hand as if it had been designed for it. Marayan ducked and weaved, but he was getting tired; he had been moving around a lot more than his opponent.

The crowd gasped as Marayan slipped. He brought up his sword to block again. He twisted, deflecting most of the force of the attack away from him. As the Orc brought his axe down the sword was torn form Marayan's grasp. The Dunmer rolled out of the way, and made a lunge for his sword. Only to have it fly away from his grasp.

"Telekinsis!" Marayan watched in amazed horror as his blade flew to Winterbell's outstretched hand. Unarmed he dodged out of the way of another attack, trying to get closer to Winterbell, who had her eyes shut as she held the sword.
"Dren, catch!" Winterbell tossed the sword back. Marayan caught it one-handed and sliced at the Orc, who had left his flank unprotected. Dren was still moving out of the way, so his attack only grated against the Orc's armour, but the Orc gave a snarl of pain nonetheless.

Marayan skidded to a halt and looked at his sword. The edge glistened with ice.
"I shouldn't have doubted," he muttered to himself, and, gathering the last of his strength, pressed home his new advantage. Now he no longer needed to get past the Orc's armour he resorted to quick, light attacks that left the Orc numb and frozen. Marayan attacked once more, and the battered blade finally broke, sending shards of ice skittering into the audience. With a groan like a dying stilt-strider, the Orc fell.

Marayan was vaguely aware of Winterbell proclaiming loudly that the Orc was Cammona Tong, but he no longer cared if he was banned from the competition or even arrested. All he could think about was the warm, welcoming darkness that swirled around the corners of his vision.

"You two make a pretty good team," Estirdalin said, looking down at Marayan, who rested in one of the Guildhall beds, his torso swathed in bandages.
"He's just lucky he dropped his weapon." Winterbell replied, sipping at some tea. "And how about you? All sorted?"
The Altemer sighed, "Not really. You know how these messy break-ups are."
"Hmm…" Winterbell said noncommittally.
"Anyway, I'll spare you the experience of explaining all this to the guards. I'm sure they'll want some account of what went on today." Estirdalen turned and left, and Winterbell nodded her thanks.

"Quite a team, huh?" Marayan's eyes opened, and he smiled weakly. "Is your shoulder all right?""Yes, yes, it's fine," Winterbell waved her hand airily, "Kidnapping, attempted murder, is there anything your brother won't do?"
"You said Eydis thought he wasn't supposed to kill me. I think they just underestimated the boss's desire for revenge."
"Maybe," Winterbell said, plainly unconvinced.
"You could have given me some idea of what you were going to do."
"I'm sorry, next time I'll write you a letter," she replied sarcastically.
"All right, I take your point. I think my heart stopped when you stole my sword though."
Winterbell chuckled. "Anyway, I suppose I won't ask for my gold."
"What? If I was still mobile we would be dancing right now."
"Are you kidding? You didn't even place. I came third."
"I defeated a Tong captain!"
"Yes, yes, you're a wonderful warrior. You still lose the bet."
"Don't patronise me just because I can't do anything about it."
"Oh please, I'm not patronising you just because you can't do anything. I'm patronising you because it's fun."
Marayan sighed and changed the subject, "No matter what role he actually had to play, I'm going to have to see my brother. And there's the Grand Council Meeting in a week. That should be fun."
"You'd be better off ditching them, you know."
"Winterbell, I know you don't want to talk about it, but you must have, at least at one point, had a family. You know it's not that easy."
"You're wrong, Dren. It is that easy. It might be a…a 'messy break-up' but believe me, it can be done."
Marayan shook his head, "I've known you for a year, Winterbell, and yet sometimes I feel I don't know you at all."
"Oh, I think you know me quite well, you just don't know much about me. You're friends with the person, not with their past."
A strange look stole across Marayan's face, "We…we're friends?"
"Well of course we are." Winterbell stood and put her teacup away, "If we weren't I certainly wouldn't be here now."
"Heh…that's," he yawned, "that's really nice to know."
Winterbell nodded to herself and then crept out, leaving him to sleep and heal in peace.