Lucia bowed her head as her brother screamed insults at the man.

It was as if the Dawnguard already had deemed the children orphans because they were sending two siblings to Honorhall Orphanage. It turned out the Dawnguard were planning to attack the vampire castle soon, so who would attack who first? Despite their father still breathing, it seemed like the hunters had already deemed themselves victorious.

"You killed our mother!" Aventus screamed.

"I know," Isran heavily sighed. "I feel as though we should take you in, but this is no place for children. You two have went through enough already and training you is…wrong." He looked at the boy. "I shouldn't have done it, but I know an apology means nothing." He turned to Freya. "Escort them to Honorhall."

The warrior dipped her head and turned to the children. "Time to go."

Lucia hated how soft and motherly her voice was.

"This is wrong!" Aventus shouted. "May Sithis curse you! All of you!"

"Walk towards the light, boy," the leader warned, glaring at him. "It's best for you."

Lucia heard about Grelod the Kind and when her brother ran away from the orphanage. He told her about the younger woman that was nicer than the old woman. Maybe she's still there? Will their father know where to find them? Is he even coming to the fort? Not having any personal belongings other than the clothes they wore and nightgowns, the children didn't have chance to leave a note to their father and were led straight out of the fort's doors. The sun was high above them in blue skies and birds were singing.

Mama always liked humming while she'd garden, Lucia remembered as they walked by the garden.

"He's going to come for us," her brother seethed beside her with tears burning in his eyes, glaring at his feet with each step. "I know he will."

Walk towards the light, boy.

Should I love my father?

Isran's and her own words echoed in her head. Should they want their own father find them? She didn't want to ask out loud. Their father told them he had always walked in a path of darkness and maybe it was destined for her brother, too, but maybe not her? Maybe another family will adopt her? Did she want some else to adopt her? Lucia loved her father and he was always so good to her and his family. She shoved the thought from her head. She just wanted to go home wherever that may be and didn't want to be separated from Aventus. Blood or not, he was still her brother.

The walk through Riften's golden and fiery-colored woods might as well have been grey for Lucia. She heard it's even grayer in Riften. Aventus told her scary stories about thieves and skooma dealers. Her father told her that it's dangerous and no place for children. Why is the only orphanage in Skyrim there if that was true? Upon entering the large gates of the lakeside city, the smell of musty wood and fish greeted the girl's nose. It was filthy and somehow seemed bleaker inside the walls just as the stories were true. They walked through the wooden and stoned town as some people were suspiciously watching them while beggars were wondering the paths. The girl kept close to Freya and peeked over the railing to the murky water below. The thought of falling into it made her uneasy. The round marketplace seemed kind of nice, though, but nothing that interested her. They walked to a building in the back of the city by the stoned keep.

Freya opened the door for the kids and they walked in. "Hello?" She called as the door closed behind her.

A young woman stepped around the corner. She almost remind Lucia of her mother, but younger. Her dark hair was to her shoulders; wearing a lovely, blue dress. "Yes?" She looked at the boy, hazel eyes widening. "Aventus?" She looked at the guard. "Are you the one who wrote the letter?"

Letter?

"Not me personally, but yes. These two are to be dropped off here by the order of the Dawnguard."

"The Dawnguard? Oh. Yes, they can stay here. We have plenty of beds."

"Thank you. Have a good day."

"You too…."

The vampire hunter left the hall without another word.

Lucia was almost expecting a goodbye, but like her real father, she was left without one.

The two children didn't look at the woman.

"I'll give you two time alone," she gently said. "I am Constance and please let me know if you need anything."

"Aventus is back?" Someone whispered.

Lucia looked at the corner where three other children were peeking over.

Constance sighed, turned around, and began to shoo the onlookers away as she disappeared along with them.

Aventus looked back at the door.

Lucia took her brother's hand. "We stick together, right?"

He looked at her in the eye, squeezing her hand. "Right."

They walked into the hall together and three children– a boy and two girls– approached them. One of the girls was a Dunmer with black hair tied in a braid.

"Aventus?" The boy, who was around their age, asked. His short, brown hair was a shaggy mess.

"Hroar? You're still here?"

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah. Oh!" He perked up, gesturing to the girls with a smile. "This is Emilee and Belisa."

"Hi." Emilee seemed to be around seven or so with blonde hair and bright, blue eyes. Her dress was simple and green.

Belisa gave a small wave with a faint smile. She was roughly their age. "Hoar told us about you and what you did."

Lucia noticed she didn't have an accent.

Aventus chuckled. "Uh, yeah. Oh, this is Lucia, my sister."

"Hi," Lucia greeted.

"Sister?" Hroar asked with baffled eyes. "You got adopted?"

They both nodded.

"What happened?" He looked at Lucia. "Wait. You were an orphan, too?"

Lucia nodded. "I was on the streets in Whiterun."

"Oh. So what happened?" He looked at them both.

The siblings looked away.

"Our mother…died," Lucia murmured. "And we were taken, then dropped off here." She looked back at him.

"Our father will come find us," Aventus stated.

"If he knows where we are," Lucia quietly added.

"Oh." Hroar crossed his arms. "I'm sorry."

"My papa killed my mama, then himself," Emilee stated, swaying her body from side to side.

Lucia and Aventus looked at her, horrified.

"I…am so sorry," Aventus uneasily replied.

"My mama abandoned me," Belisa murmured.

Lucia looked at her. "My real father did, too."

She solemnly nodded.

"So, who took you? How did that happen?" Hroar questioned.

"They felt guilty for murdering our mother and burning our house down," Lucia answered before her brother could. "They left us here, not caring our father is still out there and looking for us. We didn't get a chance to leave him a note in case he did find us."

"Wow…. That's…brutal."

"Did you watch her die?" Emilee asked.

"I did," Aventus coldly answered.

"Me too."

Lucia just wanted to go bed and sleep until their father walked through the door, but it was only one in the afternoon. "Which bed is mine?"

Belisa pointed to the two of the beds on the left side. "That one or that one."

"An extra bed?" Aventus questioned.

"We had twins here two months ago," Hoar answered. "They both got adopted quickly. They weren't even here for a week."

Aventus sadly smirked at him. "And here you are."

"Yeah," he lamely chuckled.

Lucia picked the middle bed and sat on the edge, staring at the wooden floor. Were they going to wait for their father to come find them? Assuming he would. Or would they be adopted by someone else and possibly separated? What if they got adopted before they could be found? What if the castle was attacked before then?

"Hi," Belisa squeaked.

She raised her head. "Hi."

The little Dunmeri girl sat on the bed across from her. "I hope you don't mind if I talk to you. The boys are talking and…" her crimson eyes darted to the side, "Emilee is kinda of creepy."

Lucia looked at the little girl, who was softly singing about death to her cloth doll on the floor. "She's traumatized."

"I know, but…still."

As if feeling their gaze, the little girl turned her head to them with an empty smile. "Red is a pretty color."

"Yeah," Lucia uneasily agreed, "it is."

Emilee happily returned to her doll and violent song.

Lucia looked back at Belisa. "Our father is a Dunmer. He's from Morrowind and lived here for several years now. Are you from Morrowind?"

She shook her head. "No. Mama was pregnant with me in Morrowind, though."

"Oh."

For what felt like hours, Lucia and Belisa were talking nonstop. They talked about everything. Lucia told her about living on the marsh while Belisa grew on a farm outside of Falkreath until she was abandoned at the orphanage six months ago. She had interest in magic as to Lucia's interests in alchemy. For the first time, she had actually found a friend. None of the kids in Whiterun really spoke to her because she was a street urchin. Aventus was fun, but there weren't any other children in Marthol to play with and her family was always odd because of how deep in the marsh they lived. It pained her at the thought of leaving her first and only friend. She even noticed Aventus was laughing a lot with Hroar as if he never left two years ago. Wherever they end up, she'd hope it would be in a city even though she'd prefer to stay close to her new friend.

"Do you have a doll?" Belisa suddenly asked.

"I did, but it was lost in the fire."

"Oh…." She perked up with shining eyes. "Maybe Constance can make you one! Want to ask?"

She shyly waved a hand. "No, it's okay."

"You sure? Ours can be friends." She brightly smiled. "Let me show you!" She quickly got up, went to a bed on the other side of the room, and picked up a doll that was sitting on the pillow, then returned to her spot. "This is Layla." She offered the doll.

Lucia carefully took the doll. It was soft as if it was filled with…. She sniffed it. "Is that lavender?"

"Yep! With dried snowberriy flowers, too. Constance said the scent of some herbs can be soothing. It helps me to sleep…." Her voice drifted.

Herbs and flowers in a doll? She never heard of such a thing. It was a simple doll in a green fabric that was a keyhole shape and round arm with a little black ribbon around the neck like a necklace and strands of black yarn for hair. It was rather pretty.

Lucia smiled, returning the doll. "Okay. I want one, too."

"Yay!" Belisa hopped off the bed and hugged her doll.

She followed her new friend to the back room where the door was cracked open.

Belisa gently knocked. "Constance?"

The door opened to the woman with a gentle smile. "Yes?"

"Can you make a doll for Lucia? She lost hers in a fire."

Constance smiled at Lucia with shining eyes. "Yes, of course!"

Lucia beamed with a lightness in her chest for the first time in three days.

Maybe Isran was right. This was better for them.

As the day went on, it almost felt like the siblings weren't going to stay long as if their father was going to pick them up the next day. Lucia loved her new doll that smelled like lavender and snowberries. It was made out of blue-grey cloth with Layla's matching black, thread necklace with shoulder-length, brown, yarn hair. Lucia and Belisa played with their dolls and all day Lucia has been trying to think of a name for hers, but nothing seemed to stick.

Dinner was at six. Everyone was seated at the table and Constance served a lovely horker stew with milk, then they read for as long as they want, but not before thirty minutes. After reading, they can go outside in the little fenced-off yard, but had to be in before sunset, then at nine was bedtime.

While laying in bed, Lucia held her nameless doll close. Belisa was right about the herbs soothing, but she still couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop thinking. Where was her father? Where were the Dawnguard? She just wanted to be back in his arms. She wanted to whisper to Belisa, but her friend was across the room. She wanted to go outside to clear her head, but the side door was locked. Eventually, sleep took over.

In the morning at seven, the children had a choice to go outside for a bit to get some morning air and Lucia did just that. She went outside with Belisa and Aventus. The sun was up for an hour and the city seemed restless. Guards and others kept looking at sky as if expecting something to happen.

Her brother went up to the fence as a guard passed by. "Hey! Did something happen?"

The guard turned to them. "The sun…it-it was strange."

Belisa stepped forward. "What do you mean?"

"It was black and red. Swirling."

The children looked at each other.

"Eclipse?" Aventus wondered.

"No," the guard stated. "Something unnatural!" He shuddered and walked away.

Aventus and Lucia looked at each other. "Auriel's Bow."

"What's that?" Belisa blinked.

"Nothing," Aventus murmured. "Nothing.