Chapter Summary: Miranja's plans to enroll at the College of Winterhold are completely derailed from the moment she arrives in Skyrim. The next few weeks are a blur of activity, but the one constant is her unrequited crush on Faendal.
^O^O^O^O^O^
When Miranja had first reached Riverwood after her and Hadvar's harrowing escape from Helgen, one of the first people she met after Hadvar's family was Faendal. He was living the quiet life of a lumber mill worker and hunter, pining for Camilla Valerius, the local shopkeeper's lovely sister. Camilla must have certainly been aware of his feelings for her, as women are always sensitive to such things, but she seemed to be enjoying playing hard to get to keep both him and Sven on leashes. Camilla had certainly given Faendal the impression that she either didn't know or didn't care about his feelings for her, and he was concerned that she felt only a bond of friendship with him.
Miranja had to admit that Camilla was very pretty, and she, too, had a bit of an attraction to her. Camilla chatted openly with her, perhaps feeling a bond because they were both from Cyrodiil, telling her a bit of her background and how she had come here to help her brother and hopefully make a better life for herself in Skyrim, and how Sven and Faendal had almost immediately started plying her with poetry, favors, and gifts. Miranja knew that if she herself had two handsome men vying for her attentions, she would bask in it, too – she had, in fact, been doing so ever since reaching puberty, when her breasts and hips had swelled and started drawing amorous attention from several of the young men in and around Bruma. Indeed, as she'd grown into womanhood, she'd had a veritable buffet of men from which to choose, and she'd always leaned toward the "bad" boys who convinced her to do the things her parents had advised her not to, who made her body feel exciting, delicious things.
There was no question who she would favor if she was in Camilla's place. Miranja had had a fine Bosmer lover – Arendor – back home in Cyrodiil, and she had a particular attraction to elven men of all varieties, preferring them over human men. Her Imperial upbringing had made her see other races as the people they were and not as lower creatures, like animals, the way many Nords seemed to view them.
Therefore, it was a given that when both of Camilla's suitors tried to involve Miranja in their little battle, she sided with Faendal. She was not impressed with Sven's attitude, and it became apparent where he got it when she spoke to Sven's mother. Hilde referred to Faendal as a "filthy elf" and lamented that Skyrim was full of "cats, lizards, and elves." Miranja was stunned that someone would be so openly disdainful, even hateful, toward people of other races.
Being new to Skyrim – she didn't count visiting her Nord grandparents in the Rift a few times when she was small – and still working on developing her magic and weaponry skills, Miranja was more than happy to accept Faendal's offer to repay her for helping him make Sven look bad in Camilla's eyes. She had been warned by the border guards before she even traversed the Pale Pass that Skyrim was an altogether different place and she should be prepared to defend herself. Already she had begun to discover what a dangerous place Skyrim could be. An elven archer sounded like a pretty good type to have along on her travels, especially since Camilla and her brother wanted her to look for their stolen golden dragon claw in Bleak Falls Barrow, which Hadvar said had given him nightmares as a child and still made him uncomfortable even now. Of course, it didn't hurt that Faendal was very nice to look at.
"There is something you can do for me, but I think it's a much bigger favor than the one I've done for you, so I'll understand if you don't want to," she told him.
"Whatever you need," Faendal insisted.
"Camilla and Lucan think the thief who took their golden claw may be holed up in Bleak Falls Barrow, and I rather rashly offered to get it back for them. To be honest, I barely have a septim to my name, and I'm looking for any way I can to earn some money. I'm kind of afraid to go by myself. But if the thieves have a stash of gold or anything valuable, I'd be happy to divvy it up with you. And you'd not only be helping me, but you'd be helping Lucan – and Camilla." She smiled teasingly as she dangled the name like a carrot before his face.
"That's not that far," Faendal said amiably. "And a thief or two doesn't really sound like much of a challenge, at least not to me. I'd be happy to be your escort. Of course," he added, eyeing her long bow, "I could teach you a little something about archery while we're at it."
He made sure that Hod and Gerdur would be okay without him for the rest of the day, and then they were off to the barrow.
As Miranja had suspected, Faendal was a dead shot with that bow, and he could take out bandits without even having to get close to them. The first time he saved her life, they hadn't even reached the barrow yet. The wolf had come at her from behind, and by the time she heard its growling and turned, it was falling dead at her feet. Her debt to him was already exceeding any debt he may have felt he had to repay her for. Putting in a good word with a woman in exchange for her life? There was no comparison.
At the watch tower and in the barrow itself, which turned out to be much larger than either of them expected and contained not only bandits but far too many draugr, Faendal was invaluable. She had never seen draugr before, though her mother had told her frightening tales about them as a child, and she nearly peed her pants when the first one assailed them – her childhood nightmares come true. Faendal was confident about fighting them, telling her that they were slow and clumsy, and hardly a match for a man like himself. She had to smile to herself at his endearing cockiness. He told her that it was more important to fight her fear than anything else. He provided her not only protection and backup but also archery tips and a little comic relief. She enjoyed his twisted sense of humor because it matched her own.
The wall at the end, covered with writing like scratches and pokes in the stone, seemed strangely familiar to her. One word in particular jumped out at her and she felt she understood its meaning although she didn't know the language. It was as if the wall turned black and enveloped her in invisible arms as the word glowed and sizzled and filled her consciousness.
But she didn't have time to really reflect on what had happened, because as the reality of her surroundings returned and she stepped away from the wall, the strongest draugr they'd yet met burst from the sarcophagus before them, and she shrieked in surprise, fumbling for her sword. They had already walked past that sarcophagus without incident, so neither of them suspected it contained a live draugr. It had taken both of them to bring it down. Faendal had attacked it savagely and with confidence, and Miranja had hacked at it almost blindly in terror, narrowly missing Faendal more than once, but they did it. With the draugr finally and truly dead at their feet, they stood panting and checking each other out for wounds, and at that moment she'd wanted to throw herself upon him and kiss him with unrestrained passion.
When they'd returned to Riverwood with the claw, Miranja found herself incensed on Faendal's behalf that Camilla chose to focus her gratitude on Miranja, as if Faendal hadn't even been a part of it. She pointed out that Faendal had done more of the work than she had, and Camilla had favored him with a coquettish smile, a kiss on the cheek, and a "Thank you, too, Faendal." Miranja had never yet seen Faendal's face so red. That kiss had taken away any sting of indignation he might have had.
It had taken the whole afternoon on Morndas, all night, and part of Tirdas morning for them to get to, get through, and get back from the barrow, and she took a long nap at the Sleeping Giant for the rest of the morning. Alvor had urged her to share the news about the dragon with the Jarl, so Miranja selfishly kept Faendal with her for another day to accompany her to Whiterun, in case she ran into trouble. She became more infatuated with him when he protected her from another wolf and when he charged in with her to attempt to help the Companions take down a giant at Pelagia Farm. Miranja still tended to panic when fighting enemies, while Faendal cockily yelled insults and challenges. He fired his bow from a distance whenever possible, but he was brutal with a melee weapon, as well, and his ferocity both stunned and aroused her. He seemed like such a laid-back, gentle guy on the surface; it was outrageously sexy to her to know that he had a deadly strength just below the surface and he employed it for her protection. As long as that aggression wasn't focused on her, it was very appealing to the primal Nord side of her.
As promised, Faendal gave her archery tips, and a few close combat tips, as well. But most of the time when they were undisturbed on the road, it seemed all he wanted to talk about was Camilla: how smart and beautiful she was, and how, as an Imperial, she was more accepting of him and other non-human races than many of the Nords he came into contact with. He told her all the things he'd learned about Camilla so far: her favorite foods, her hometown, the names of her parents, her favorite subjects in school, what she liked to do for recreation, et cetera. It rather broke Miranja's heart; even though Camilla had told her that she wanted to find a good man and start a family, Miranja nevertheless had the distinct impression that Camilla had no intention of choosing a man – at least not for a long while. She wondered if Camilla even knew that much about Faendal. If Camilla wanted to string him along indefinitely, then Miranja wanted to confess her own attraction to him, but she was afraid he would either distance himself or laugh in her face – maybe both.
It was Tirdas afternoon when they left Riverwood and dark by the time they reached Whiterun, so they stayed at the Bannered Mare, sharing a bed, which made Miranja crazy. They slept in their clothes, but even so, Miranja wished she could just snuggle with him and feel his warm, strong arms around her. She lay awake for a while after he fell asleep, listening to his quiet breathing and imagining what it might be like to spend every night with him, loving each other.
The next morning, Faendal accompanied Miranja while she explored Whiterun before going to Dragonsreach, meeting various citizens, the shopkeepers, the stand owners, the priests at the Temple of Kynareth, the Companions, and finally the Jarl's court. Despite the seriousness of the news Miranja had to share about the dragon at Helgen, she couldn't help but notice as she spoke that Jarl Balgruuf was quite a handsome, middle-aged Nord. As she followed him to Farengar Secret-Fire's quarters, she breathed in the pleasant scent of his fancy soap – here was a man who could and did bathe regularly, unlike many of the commoners.
While she was speaking to Farengar, a commotion arose and she, Farengar, and Faendal went to see what was going on. A guard had reported a dragon near the western watchtower, and the Jarl wanted Miranja to join Irileth and her cadre in investigating. The dragon attacked while they were out there, and when they'd succeeded in killing it, something strange had happened, and the guards had explained to her the legend of the Dragonborn.
Word made it back to town ahead of her, and just as she entered the city gates, there came a thunderous shout that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once: DO-VAH-KIIN! Back at Dragonsreach, the Jarl and his housecarl told her about the Graybeards and that the shout was their summons, and she should go to them. He named her Thane of Whiterun on the spot.
When Miranja was given her own housecarl, she figured she'd taken Faendal from his home and his job long enough, and grudgingly released him. She'd traveled around with Lydia for a couple of weeks, having adventures she never thought she'd end up having when she'd come to Skyrim simply to enroll at the College of Winterhold. She spent those two weeks visiting the Greybeards, nearly being killed by cultists in Ivarstead, visiting the hold capitals, retrieving the horn of Jurgen Windcaller at Ustengrav, killing the dragon Sahloknir at Kynesgrove, buying what would be the first of many homes in Skyrim, and pulling off a dangerous espionage job at the Thalmor Embassy. While in Solitude, she managed to find time to write her parents a quick letter, even enclosing a hundred septims, and gave it to the courier's office. Her parents had asked that she write as soon as she was settled at the college; they would be quite surprised when they received her news.
Miranja was enjoying Lydia's company and combat coaching and secretly found her attractive, but she missed Faendal. She'd met plenty of other fine elven men along the way. She'd flirted with both Anoriath and Elrindir, the handsome Bosmer brothers in Whiterun. She'd met a happy, sweet, and handsome young Bosmer in Ivarstead, and in Markarth she'd become acquainted with a handsome young Altmer mage and his equally handsome uncle. There was a very sexy – and sweet – Bosmer man in Riften who made her ache with lust, but alas for her, he was only interested in men, so she had to settle for an affectionate friendship with him. She'd met so many handsome Dunmer in Windhelm she couldn't even decide who she liked best, but she'd made herself a friend in the shopkeeper, Revyn Sadri, when she'd helped him unload a ring he suspected was stolen. And she'd eyed a handsome Altmer at the party at the Thalmor Embassy but hadn't spoken to him, partly because he was a Thalmor justiciar and he was quite intimidating, and partly because she was pressed for time and had to duck out unnoticed to complete her mission. Those long leather robes, though… she couldn't deny that they were very sexy. She could never bring herself to have an actual relationship with any member of the Thalmor, but this man was very attractive to her and she would have loved to just have a rough and wild little fling with him. He seemed like he could be the type. And then, Elven men aside, there was that irresistible Redguard fletcher and the scrumptious Nord bard at the Winking Skeever in Solitude… Still, even after meeting all these attractive people, she longed to have Faendal back at her side.
Between all of the traveling and flirting, she'd also been busy making friends by doing favors and running errands for people. She'd started to accumulate some money from bounties and rewards, so she was looking forward to buying furnishings for her new home in Whiterun. Most important to her, and closest to her heart, was the work she had started doing for the priestess at the Temple of Mara in Riften. Her favorite Divines were Mara and Dibella – goddesses of love and pleasure. Miranja was a ridiculous romantic, and it brought her great joy to help Lady Mara unite troubled couples and help them realize true love. She had done two of the Lady's missions so far, and had been tasked with a third: to reunite the spirits of a dead couple who couldn't rest until they were together. She was anxiously awaiting the opportunity to get to western Whiterun and do that. She didn't even care about getting a monetary reward for these tasks; she just hoped that Lady Mara would favor her and lead her to her own true love, and that Dibella would allow her to have some fun along the way. So far, since coming to Skyrim, she'd been too busy to have any fun other than occasional flirting, but she had a growing list of people she wanted to have fun with.