A NEW DAY
The Leader
"Eve, are you sure you want it this way?" Bryn raises and eyebrow to me. I just give him a baffled look.
"Of course, what? You don't want a turret tower?"
He shakes his head, "I do, but isn't this sort of…overkill?"
I looked over our budding house. We were close to complete. The main build of the house was finished, just had to get this tower in. "I want it." I say.
Bryn just laughs and goes to cut more wood. We need a lot for this project. It's been a few months since all the shit went down with the Night Mother. With nothing left to do I made good on that promise I had with Molag Bal. Bryn and I were building a house near Falkreath. Called Lakeview Manor. I thought about changing the name, but Bryn thought it had some charm. Lakeview it is.
Oliver and Barbas bounced around me along with Cupcake and Jolly, two other dogs we found. Sheogorath told me I had to make good with my debt to him, I had no idea what that was, but he was still a little pissed I burst into Pelagius's mind back in Solitude. So, I had him name Cupcake. She's cute, a little white dog younger than Oliver.
Jolly, with his slick auburn coat, was found around here. He was a stray and in desperate need of food. I gave him as much as I could from afar. Eventually he warmed up to me.
I pet them now, wondering what all the commotion is. "Mind if we have a drink or two?" A male voice sounds. I look up and nearly break out into tears. I haven't seen him or the others in forever.
In front of me stands Gabriel, he's lost a bit of weight, making him look younger in a sense. His smile is still as bright as ever. I crash into him and hug him as hard as possible. "You're okay!" I exclaim.
"Thought the Night Mother might smite me?" He jokes.
"No, I thought the alcohol might." I whisper.
"Not a big problem anymore. I've had support. Good support." He nods behind him. I break out into a smile. He brought the whole crew: Iona, our housecarl in Riften, Wujeeta, my good friend from Riften, Vex and Delvin from the Thieves Guild, and behind them Vorstag and Serana.
I beeline into the crowd and hug each and every one. I didn't know how much I missed them. I haven't seen them in so long. Well, some of them. Until this month we were holing up in the Ratways with the rest of the Thieves Guild incase shit hit the fan. We didn't know if the Imperials would strike back, or the Night Mother would somehow return with a vengeance. Nothing happened so Bryn and I left Vex and Delvin for greener pastures. They were the first to greet me.
"This house, didn't know you had all this money." Vex quirks a brow, "Are you still stealing?"
"Sometimes." I give my own wry grin.
Delvin pats me on the back, "Good job with the Night Mother, maybe now we can have a proper Dragonborn."
I laugh, "A man can dream."
Gabriel saddles up next to me. "Heard there was a feast around here."
I smile, it's a little fake but more so because of my own sheepishness. "There is a feast here, just haven't gotten around to it yet. I might need some help…"
They all knew what we needed. Wujeeta promptly ran into the kitchen to see what we were dealing with. We had a lot of nice kitchen appliances, so it was like a paradise for her. "What are you going to make?" I ask her over the commotion of getting everyone drinks.
"Don't fret! Nothing that will sink your fragile heart." She jokes about the last time she made me some Argonian food. Open faced fish with the bone still intact.
Iona brushes past me to place a bowl of whatever she's cooking on the counter. "Forgive me, thane, but I can't find the eggs."
"Oh, there's some outside in the pen. I can get them for you." I begin to move that way, but she waves me off.
"I'll do it." She notices my tense expression and smiles at me, "Don't worry, I've practiced this vanilla cake with Sapphire about five times now. I'm much better about it. Especially the frosting."
I laugh, "Good. Good, can't wait for it. By the way, where's your new boo now?"
Her brow furrows at the weird pet name I have for spouses at times, "In Riften helping Penny pack, she wanted to come but I figured we could make our way here in a few weeks or so. We'll get more time to explore the forest anyways."
I agree to that. In reality, Iona probably left Sapphire at home because she was the wolf in this group. Iona was meant to defend the Thieves and Gabriel, especially, on their way into Falkreath and didn't want her girlfriend caught in any battles. Can never be too careful these days. I was also excited to hear Penny was getting ready to make the trek over. I told him he could stay and help the Thieves Guild, but he wanted to come help us out. He might move back and forth. We'll just have to wait and see. There weren't really any rules here.
Iona promptly left to find some eggs and I ran into Vorstag and Serana. They were smiling at the display Delvin and Gabriel had going. They were playing charades by the fire with Bryn. Vex sat nearby, drinking like there was no tomorrow.
"I like your style." Serana mentions, studying the art I had installed around here. Tons of landscape and portrait paintings. Kind of reminded me of my home back in Daggerfall.
"Thanks. They were harder to get than you'd think."
Vorstag gives me a winning smile, "I hope they were acquired legally?"
"Here and there." I shrug.
He chuckles, "I figured."
"Hey, you can take a girl out of the Guild, but you can't take the thief out of the girl. Or something like that…"
"So, you'll stay here you think?" Serana broaches. I can hear her tone dipping a bit.
"Yeah, in a week we'll head over to Whiterun for Mjoll's wedding. But otherwise, we'll be here putting the finishing touches on this place." I marvel at the interior of our masterpieces. Shelves lined the remaining walls not covered in art, holding books and potions. "You two have anything planned?" I ask her suddenly. There was a reason for her tentative tone.
"Going to find mother. Hopefully she's still kicking." Serana jokes. I can feel that dark cloud centering over her mind though. I know she wants her mom back, but she probably is sad her home was blown to kingdom come.
"I'm sure you'll find her." I say, "Molag Bal wouldn't just lock her up there and let her rot…"
She gives me a small smile, "You would know, sounds like you finally crossed over to the dark side."
"Sort of." I laugh our conversation soon deteriorates when Gabriel, stone cold sober, grabs me for a dance. Vorstag gets the memo and begins to play a lute he brought along. Good thing he remembered. I laugh as Gabriel twirls me around. We dance for a while. It was much more coordinated than it had been before and soon the feast is ready.
Before I can get over to the table, there's a knock at the door. I hold up a finger to Bryn who is just passing plates to everyone. When I get to the door I nearly squeal. They made it. On the other side stands Teldryn Sero and the brave rieklings who followed me from Solstheim.
"Need more plates, Bryn! And chairs." I yell before hugging Teldryn. The rieklings race around me in circles then I feel their nails dig in as they try to climb up my armor.
"You're hard to find." Teldryn invites himself in.
"Just how I like it now." I add.
"Duck! Duck!"
"You guys want sweetrolls?" I ask them. They squeal and race over to the table. Teldryn follows at a slower place. "Nice building you have here. I forgot how elaborate Nordic carvings were."
I follow his gaze to some of the carvings around the edge of the door. "Oh, yeah. That took two days to do."
He gives me a look, but I just wave him to the table. "Come on and eat."
He grins, "Sure, might have to head out in the early morning. The next ship to Solstheim is in a few days and it takes so long to get to Windhelm with all that snow."
I blink, "I thought you were staying here to look around?"
"Oh, I am. I just have to get the rieklings back. They need to be with their clan."
That's understandable. I'm sure they're feeling lonely without their true chief. I sat down to a table filled with the works. We had everything. Any roasted vegetables you could think of. Meat, potatoes, sweetrolls. Some strange but really delicious Argonian dishes. I sat and conversed with my friends. Each one with their own stories and experiences in the past few months.
Wujeeta moved another plate as the others started discussing who might win in a match. Flame Atronach or master mage? I knew the answer but before I could blurt it out, Wujeeta got my attention.
"By the way, just wanted to let you know I got a job." She smiles, her Argonian grin was beautiful with her newfound joy.
"That's great!" I exclaim, racking my mind and remembering her own job wasn't so amazing. It's where she got her skooma from and it took awhile to get over that addiction. "What is it?"
"The orphanage." She licks her spoon full of potatoes. "I never thought I liked kids, but it's been so fun! Even get my own room." She glances at me and hastily adds, "Don't worry, the new owner is nothing like Grelod was. Not at all. And I'll be the first to deal with her if she goes that way." She laughs.
"Good. I'll keep you to that promise." I remember the day I had to kill Grelod. I still don't regret it. Even though it led me on the path to the Dark Brotherhood, that woman was pure evil and had it coming for her.
"Girl! I have news of my own." Gabriel crows from across the way. "I'm on a mission."
My brow furrows, "Huh? What do you mean?"
He holds up his Rosy staff given to him by Sanguine. "This. I'm supposed to go find some like it. Don't know where that will be but Sanguine will follow me around."
"As long as he doesn't turn you into a trashy party animal again." I joke.
His face fills with mock horror. "Of course not! My party days are over…now it's fighting and reading and hunting." He lays the staff down to finish his meal.
"Quest. Like going to another province?" Delvin asks around his own food.
"Sort of. I'm not sure yet, the lad hasn't said. All I know is I need to get on a ship soon." Gabriel shrugs.
The rest of the night is nice. We all talk, dance, play games, and enjoy each other's company. There's a moment where I pause. I look around at each face and realize I won't see all these people in the same room again for a long time. I'll live forever, if I can help it, so I should see them all again. But this is a rarity based on the adventures everyone is headed on. I don't let those thoughts drag me down, just live in the moment and enjoy it to the fullest.
Thankfully, I had someone aiding me in that. Sanguine had randomly appeared by Gabriel, whispered something devilish to him, and soon his pie he was eating was smack dab in my face.
"That's it. I told you Gabriel! If you wanted to pick a food fight, I was the last one you choose." I growl at him.
His face fills with horror as I scoop up my vanilla cake and beam him in the head with it. He crows in laugher and soon the room is filled with a food pandemonium. People dodge food left and right. Only a select few played this immature game: Me, Gabriel, Delvin, and Sanguine, oh and the rieklings. They had the advantage of a smaller height, so my pants got completely plastered with Iona's prize cake. Everyone else stayed out of the way and laughed at us.
It was great. I got the others with their faces covered in food. Only my armor was. When the night came, I let everyone clean up and got them all blankets and pillows. Based on how long it took to get here they were welcome to spend the night.
With everyone now snuggled up in their makeshift beds, I drew closer to Bryn in our own bed. It was nice to have it back. It was as big as the bed we had in Proudspire Manor. Which, I had just checked out the week prior. When Ulfric took over, the city was slow to clean itself up from the carnage. I checked in on Proudspire Manor and saw it avoided most of the fires. It was safe. But being in there brought out some bad memories. Now, I'm toying with selling it. I'll get a hell of a lot of money for it and no more bad memories. But it's only something I'm thinking about.
"That was nice tonight." Bryn kisses me on my forehead, moving lower and lower.
"It was." I murmur around his lips. He keeps on kissing me.
"What are we doing tomorrow?" He asks me.
I smile, "More of the same, unless you're tired of all this?"
"No. Not yet. I can live this sort of life for a long time." He tells me.
"We have a long time." My hands get more frantic. I begin peeling off his clothes, slowly. But he soon gets impatient and begins to help me.
"Some people have sensitive hearing here," I caution him.
He laughs, "Let them hear then, they're in our home."
"They might be grossed out." I say back.
"If they are, they can go take a lap outside, get some fresh air." He goes back to kissing me. I get caught up in the bliss of it all. This is too perfect. Right where I need to be.
We go on like that for a bit. Undressing and kissing all we can. It's almost like that night I first got back to Riften, almost like the night after I sent the Night Mother off, when we were free and unburdened by the world's problems.
We make the most of that now. Consuming each other. At the end, I fall into deep and peaceful sleep in his arms.
The next morning, I come downstairs to find everyone eating pancakes. "Damn, who made these?" I ask.
Iona raises her hand, "It was I, thane. There are plain and chocolate chip ones."
I was making a beeline for the chocolate chip when I found they were nearly gone. Only two left. Oh well, looks like I get the best of both worlds. I pile them on along with some plain ones, then add a whole whopping of syrup.
When I head back to the group, I spy the rieklings with a suspicious amount of chocolate smeared all over their faces. "Thought you had to get out of here at the crack of dawn?" I raise a brow to Teldryn.
He grins around his fork at his chair near one of the large windows. "We decided they'll take the next ship. These pancakes are a once in a lifetime opportunity."
I sigh and slam down my plate of plain and one or two chocolate filled pancakes. The rieklings look at me expectantly.
"Here." I pass them the rest of my specialty pancakes. They start stuffing their faces. "Duck!"
I poke at my food and soon find I wasn't missing anything. These were so fluffy and sugary only a god could have perfected them. We all fall into conversation. Savoring the last morning all together before we part ways. But I know I'll see everyone again soon. If the vampires didn't have to leave, I know they'd be at Mjoll's wedding next week. As it was, Vex and Delvin were invited. Vex isn't really into those things so she gave me a present to take to them. Delvin wouldn't miss it for the world.
"Single women and free booze and cake? Of course, I'll come!" He laughs.
I briefly wonder if my other friend will show up. "You coming too?" I ask Gabriel.
"I might, if I'm allowed," he chuckles. He pokes around as his pancakes some then broaches the topic. "What happened to the lad? The jester? He got away?"
I thought about telling my friend he was dead. Gabriel was never too excited around Cicero. He was a little scared of him. But I settled with the truth. "He's with the Night Mother, taking her somewhere else. I don't know where. But I doubt you'll run into him again unless you're still carriage driving?"
He laughs softly, "No. No, those days are behind me. I'd rather go adventuring like you." He nudges me with his foot. "Have any more adventuring you want to do? You can come with me."
I shake my head. "Love to but I need some downtime, I might go back out there someday. But rest assured, you'll be the first I contact."
"Good." He holds up his orange juice, I hold up my coffee mug. "To my best friend! The savior of all Tamriel! Let us have a toast! To Eve!" He yells over the crowded room filled with many voices.
Everyone pauses their conversation. It's a bit awkward but once everyone gets their drinks in the air they cheer. We all toast again and take a drink. I can't help but hide my small smile. I'm glad to have friends like these.
Cicero's Journal Entry
13th of Morning Star, 4E 203
Leader has quite the home. It's large and cushy, large enough for a whole family of people. Cicero has seen how many have come and gone. Certainly, she would have room for Mother.
Last morning before the commotion came, Cicero was sitting on a nearby rock. He saw Leader come out to feed the livestock. Cows, chickens, dogs. Maybe even cats. He held his breath. Waiting for her, in her new mud colored armor, to turn her pretty head my way. She never did. It's like I'm a ghost to her now. She's not looking over her shoulder for me anymore. How foolish. Cicero isn't dead! He's here, with Mother, with her only living daughter. How could she not know? Was the bond severed that deeply?