He was striking to look at. Vanya had gotten used to the nuances of Dunmer faces so it was not those features that had surprised her, it was the fact that those features were arranged in such a way that he actually looked...handsome?

She scrubbed the plate in her hand, tossing it into the rinse bucket before grabbing the next.

It wasn't that she thought Dunmer were ugly by any means, it's just their looks were so foreign to her eyes she found them more interesting than anything. Now that she thought about it, perhaps Dreyla would be considered beautiful. And Captain Veleth was not unattractive. They would make a very cute couple once Fethis came around and let her go.

She finished washing the stack of plates and began pulling them out to dry with a rag.

If Roggir and Erik were typical of Nordic men, then a woman would certainly be spoiled for choice. Why am I even thinking like this?

She stacked the plates on the shelf as she dried them, her mind drifting to vivid ruby eyes, the large irises ringed with the darkest crimson. The ridge of his brow was accentuated by a symmetrical dark violet tattoo that curved up the sides of his forehead before cutting in sharply over his cheekbones. There was more on his bottom lip and chin, like two arrowheads pointing downward. She had not noticed the tattoos when they'd shared water on the way to Raven Rock, though she had been a little overwhelmed at the time. His unique look was topped off, literally, by a jet-black mohawk. That had certainly been a shock, but she felt she had done pretty well at not showing it. She smiled, imagining him as a rebellious punk in her world. All he needed was a spiked dog collar and a Slipknot shirt.

"Ahem." Geldis cleared his throat just behind her causing her to jump and whirl around, clutching the plate in her hand to her chest with a squeak.

He seemed amused as he addressed her, "As I was saying, I need you to fetch some spices from Fethis on your break today." He held out a small paper with a list.

"Of course," she replied quickly, taking the paper and folding it into the pocket of her pants.

"Something on your mind?" he asked, the edges of his mouth quirking upward.

Vanya set the plate in her hand on the shelf. "Not really, well, actually...I was thinking I should pay that rescued woman a visit." She really had thought about that earlier, so it wasn't a complete lie. "I want to see if I can help."

"Ah," he replied, his expression sobering a little. "I'm sure Milore will appreciate that. Good work, as usual." He gestured to the now cleaned kitchen. "I will see you in a couple hours." With that, he headed down to his bedroom.

Vanya focused her mind on gathering items to take to Niyya, attempting to not letting it wander to black stubble covering an angled jaw that led to fine smirking lips. Jesus Christ, what's the matter with me. She chided herself, ramming the heel of her hand against her forehead a few times as if to physically dislodge her inappropriate thoughts.

She had put together a small basket for Niyya with a few necessities, a change of clothes she hoped would fit, and some food. She hung the basket on her arm and headed out the door of the Netch to Milore's house across the market. When Vanya approached the house, the dunmer was outside looking through a chest full of compartments of ingredients, her short black hair coming loose from its tie at her nape. "What I wouldn't give for some vampire dust..." she muttered. Vampire Dust?

"Milore?"

"Oh! Hello Vanya." Milore looked up briefly before continuing her search. "I'm having a bit of a conundrum here." She rifled through a compartment. "Trying to nurse this poor woman's ills but all I have is garlic, chaurus eggs, and some nordic barnacles. See my problem?"

"Ummm..."

Suddenly she stood up and grabbed Vanya's shoulders. "Oh! Oh! I've got it! Vanya, does Geldis have any jazbay wine?"

"Yeah, a little."

"Bring a bottle at once," Milore ordered before turning and gathering her ingredients to go inside the house. "Yes, it will be just the thing," she said more to herself than Vanya as she shut the door behind her.

Vanya turned, bewildered, and hurried back to the Netch. Geldis would not be happy to just give away a bottle of wine. She supposed she could buy it from him, but jazbay wine was not cheap. She huffed a sigh as she walked down the stairs into the tavern, wondering what she should do.

She approached Geldis' bedroom and knocked on the door that was slightly cracked open. "Come in," he answered. He was at his desk writing in his ledger as he often did.

"Uh, I have kind of a weird question."

He put his quill down and looked at her. "Alright."

"I was talking to Milore and she seems to think she needs a bottle of jazbay wine to help Niyya's condition."

He blinked a couple of times. "So what is the question?"

"Um, can I take one to her?"

Geldis stood up and walked over to her, crossing his arms. "Vanya, those bottles are seventy-five septims a piece. Did Milore offer to pay for it?"

"She was in kind of a hurry, I didn't ask. I'm sure she will, but I can put some money in for it."

"That's generous of you," he chuckled.

"I think she's trying to save her life, you heard what Roggir said. She is in bad shape."

"Hmmm." He walked back to his ledger and flipped a few pages. He ran his finger down a line and thought for a moment. "Take the bottle and see how much she uses, I think we can work it out later...Ah!" Geldis cried as Vanya threw her arms around him, careful not to hit him with the basket she still carried.

"Thank you!" she squealed. "You're the best!"

He waved her off, trying to look annoyed. "Yes, yes, go on."

She ran from the room to retrieve a bottle. Nesting it in her basket, she took off for Milore's house once again.

She knocked on the door, catching her breath a little. Milore opened it, her eyes brightening when she spotted the bottle. "Oh, wonderful. Come in, come in!"

Vanya entered, closing the door behind her as Milore hurried to a table sprawled with what looked like an elaborate science experiment. Next to the table that was strewn with bottles and bowls of powdered ingredients hung the tiniest cauldron she'd ever seen over a small fire pit. The smell of garlic was strong in the air as the cauldron steamed.

Then she saw Niyya, lying on some blankets that were sprawled on the floor with pillows supporting her head and legs. She had rich dark brown skin and reddish blonde hair that was a matted mess. Redguard, Vanya thought immediately. She had purchased a book from Fethis that was all about the different races of Tamriel. Based on the description of the Redguard she reasoned Niyya had to be one. Vanya could see nothing physically wrong and she seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

"What's the matter with her?" Vanya asked, looking to Milore who was ever so carefully adding a pinch of something to the cauldron.

"I'm not sure," she replied slowly, dusting her hands off once she completed her task. "I thought at first she was suffering from some kind of poison, but a potion to cure poison did absolutely nothing. Uncork that bottle, would you?"

Vanya obeyed, setting her basket down and pulling up the bottle to open it and set it on the table.

Milore continued, "Cure Disease, Health and stamina potions do nothing, neither does magic healing." She stirred the bubbling mixture gingerly with a slotted spoon. "She seemed to be suffering a high amount of discomfort and weakness despite no visible ills so I gave her a sleeping draught to calm her while I thought about what to do."

Vanya gazed once more at the sleeping woman. "What have you decided?"

"I've decided that it may be something she will have to endure but, in the meantime, I believe I can keep her alive by giving her a strong elixir to fortify her vitality." She dipped her finger in the potion and touched it to her tongue, giving an approving hum. "The problem is that the ingredients I have for this particular brew will also poison her magicka."

"Oh." Vanya hadn't realized that was possible.

"I mean, it won't kill her but I'm not sure how long she will have to take this and I'd prefer not to do anything to add to her suffering." She picked up the bottle of wine and poured a bit into a small cup, taking a sip and then handing the cup to Vanya. "Try it."

Vanya took a sip, humming in approval. It was a rather strong dark wine, a bit on the dry side. She liked it, though she usually preferred sweeter varieties.

"In this form, it won't do much more than make you drunk." Milore picked up a wooden measuring spoon and filled it. "But I'm hoping that steeped into this mixture it will counteract the poison effect. It's a bit of an experiment, I'll admit." She glanced at Vanya before emptying the spoon into the cauldron. They both looked at the bubbling brew for a few moments. Vanya wondered if something was supposed to happen.

"Let's give it a little time, shall we?" Milore said as she approached Vanya. "What else did you bring in your basket?"

Vanya pulled out the items she brought, Milore humming in approval as she looked through them. "Oh yes, these clothes are much softer. I'll have her change once she wakes up. That reminds me I need to boil some water for her to bathe."

"I can fetch it for you if you'd like." Vanya offered, eager to find something she could actually do.

"Oh, Vanya, you are a treasure. Really. That would be so helpful." Milore pointed to the other side of the room. "The buckets are over there."

"Great! I'll do it now."

Milore had returned to the cauldron and was again tasting it. "Hmmm, perhaps just a touch more of the wine..."

Vanya left her to it, gathering the four buckets near the door and heading outside to the well.


Teldryn sat in a chair in the shade by Glover's house, puffing on his long pipe as he watched Vanya pull the second bucket up from the well. Modyn leaned against the wall next to him complaining about something but Teldryn had stopped listening, grunting during pauses to keep up the appearance of paying attention. The captain always had something to complain about, whether it was the lack of support from House Redoran, his lazy guards, or the fact that Fethis would not grant him Dreyla's hand. Teldryn had heard it all before.

Vanya was pulling up the third bucket. He'd decided to relax outside while he waited for Glover to mend his helmet and he'd seen her going back and forth to Milore's house, figuring that she was helping care for the redguard woman. Now she was pulling up the fourth bucket, wiping her brow as she started to sweat a little.

Modyn flicked his ear and he flinched. "Ow!" He glared up at the captain who was grinning smugly.

"You're not listening."

"Think of something new to say and I might. S'wit." Teldryn looked back to Vanya as she struggled a bit to pick up one of the full buckets.

"Looks like she could use some help." Modyn nudged Teldryn's arm, pushing the tip of the pipe out of his mouth.

He dumped out the tobacco and stood up. "You're a fuckin' pest, you know that?" Modyn only laughed as he stalked toward the well, tucking his pipe into a pocket.

He approached the woman as she was carefully attempting to lift a bucket with each hand. She was fully capable, he reasoned, but he could certainly accomplish the task much faster. "Can I help you?"

She looked up at him, lowering the buckets back to the ground. "Oh, hey Teldryn," she smiled. "Sure, do you want to grab those two? I can take these."

"Here." He stepped toward her and picked up the first bucket sliding it onto his right forearm, then doing the same with the second. The plate of his armor kept the handles from digging into his skin so it was far more efficient to carry all of the buckets at once. She stepped back as he turned to grab the third, adding it to his arm. The last bucket he simply carried in his left hand.

"Wow." She looked at the buckets and then at him, her eyes wide. He enjoyed her admiration way too much. He smirked and began walking to Milore's house and she joined him. "I wish I could do that. It would make the mornings so much easier."

"Geldis makes you carry all the water in?"

"Oh no, he does most of it actually. But I help, of course. I can basically only carry one at a time, though."

They reached the front door and Vanya led him inside after checking with Milore that he was allowed to come in. He placed the buckets against the wall where Milore directed. "Thank you, both of you," she said. Teldryn nodded. He looked across the room and saw Niyya sleeping, or at least he hoped she was.

"Please let me know if you need anything else," Vanya said. "I'd better be going but I'll come back after lunch to see how she's doing."

He followed Vanya out of the house, shutting the door behind him. "Will she be alright?" he asked as they strolled toward the Netch.

"We don't know." Her expression was grim. "She can't figure out what's wrong. We'll just have to wait and see."

"I'm not surprised. There was some strange necromancy going on in that place. She's likely endured some unspeakable experiments."

Vanya was silent, looking deep in thought. When they reached the inn she turned to him, meeting her eyes to his. "Thank you." He felt that she was thanking him for more than just carrying water as she disappeared through the door.

"Any time," he said before heading back toward the blacksmith to see if his helmet was ready.