Chapter 5

The week seemed to fly by. Sigtrygg worked with his father every single day to rivet the mail. Askel focused on the shirt while the younger Nord riveted the links together to form the separate hood. It took a great deal of time and precision. Despite his articulated and precise chiseling, some of the iron rings proved to be feeble and bent when he tried to rivet them. More than once, he needed to make more soft iron sheets from surplus ingots they kept around the shop. Such a process, of linking, riveting, discarding weaker pieces, and forging new ones, was very tedious and very frustrating.

Yet Sigtrygg worked as hard as he could, bustling back and forth across the dusty floors of the shop. Sweat ran down his face and back constantly even without his shirt. Many times he was without enough space as their little smithy was quite cluttered with materials, tools, reserved items, and discarded creations. More than once, he was forced to work on the floor. His knees became red as he hobbled on the floor to his different stations. Scrapes were common and his sore knees became covered in scratches. It became so bad he crushed Kaja and Askel both Aloe Vera Leaves from the local alchemist, crushed them and mixed them in water, and dampened clean cloths with the concoction. At night, Sigtrygg stayed up longer than he normally would to press the pads against his knees. It was soothing, but time consuming.

Both his parents were pushing themselves as well. Even after Sigtrygg went to bed, the pair returned to the shop, stoked the fires, and returned to work. It was not the mail or the partial plate they busied themselves with, however. As the days dragged on, they began to fall behind on their usual orders. Workmen needed their tools repaired and materials for their projects. Many of the surplus items they kept stocked on the shelf were sold but not replaced. Knowing they would lose business if they kept up at this rate, the two Nords stayed up long into the night to catch up. Sometimes they would not return to bed until it was very late and only managed to get three or four hours of sleep.

Sigtrygg wanted to come and help them during those terrible hours. They pretended to go to sleep around the same time he was. Although he did his best to stay awake, his eyelids eventually grew heavy and the toil of the day caught up with him. As he fell asleep, he heard the door to his parents' bedroom creak upon. Both Nords crept as quietly as they could to the shop and began working. Sometimes, when the boy Nord woke up for a few moments in the night, he could hear the bellows, sounding like the deep, ferocious breaths of a dragon. Other times, he heard the hammers falling. While the wall between the bedrooms was thin, the wall between his room and the shop was quite thick. Such hammer blows sounded faraway, like listening to someone pound steel on the other side of the Niben. Occasionally, he thought he possessed enough strength to rise from his bed and join them. But each time he thought he was able to swing his legs out, he drifted back into sleep. It was hard not to feel weak-willed because of that. He reconciled that by resting and saving his strength he could work even harder the next day.

All three were tired but they were still determined. With every hour, they came closer and closer to finishing the suit. By the Fredas, much of the mail was taking shape. The shirt was almost finished and Sigtrygg was working on the ventail of the mail hood. He took leather and stripped it down to make the short belts used to fasten the ventail as well as the necessary buckles for adjustment. All the while, Kaja kept shaping the partial plate. Both gauntlets were completed, the steel shimmering in the forge fire and candlelight during the evening hours. As well, the cuirass was complete and fitted with the space needed for the gambeson and mail in mind. Now, she devoted her time to making the helm. She planned to make a lightweight, open-faced sallet to accommodate the mail hood and padded hood underneath.

Nobody spoke throughout that Fredas morning as they were all consumed in their work. Breaks were seldom taken and even Sigtrygg forgot to take periodic drinks from a water skin. As he knelt on the floor piecing together the mail, he heard click, click, click on the floor. M'Krinna came over to him with a small jug of water. Instead of handing it to him, she popped the cork out and held the neck near his lips. Tilting his head back, Sigtrygg opened his mouth and allowed his friend to pour him a little water. It wasn't until he swallowed did he realize how thirsty he was. She noticed his eyes fall on the jug again and she gave him another drink. Nodding his thanks, Sigtrygg returned to his work. With her nails click, click, clicking on the floor, M'Krinna scampered back to the counter.

She was a great boon for the Ver family. Knowing the Ve's were going to be overtasked by the contract contest and their usual orders, Karro and Krraesh allowed their daughter to continue assisting the Nords in their business. With the cub working the counter, the smiths were free to focus on the armor set entirely.

"This one thanks you! Please come again!" M'Krinna chimed as another patron walked away with a newly forged hammer and a bag of nails.

The Khajiit quickly counted up the Septims on the counter and placed them in the appreciate lock box slots. She opened another box and began counting through the Septims inside. First, she laid coins out flat on the table and counted them off with one finger. Her one extended black nail clicked against each one before she slid it off to the side. After jotting down the number on a sheet of parchment, she arrayed the coins into a stack and pushed them aside.

She was meticulous but very quick. Numbers were easy for her to understand. Counting coins was always a simple task for her. M'Krinna was very organized and never once came up short. Even her own parents were impressed with her adept mercantile prowess. Not only could she play the part of the dutiful merchant keeping track of their income, she was an excellent saleswoman. Using her dialect and speech to her advantage, she was always able to entertain a patron and make them feel good upon their arrival. Although it was somewhat genuine, it was meant to sell more as well. Customers who felt good at a shop tended to be a little less frugal with their purse.

As well, M'Krinna was an able bookkeeper. When she didn't have to deal with patrons and finished counting up the totals, she patrolled the shop to make lists. Every item that could be sold or exchanged was registered on a scrap of parchment. The condition, amount, and price of the item were all noted. Everything from the amount of surplus nails to what kind of ingots were in the supply chests were noted. When the list was completed, it was translated in greater detail and finer penmanship to the main logbook. If there were any changes, corrections were made almost immediately.

Watching her work was always fascinating and more than once Sigtrygg found himself looking up from his work to watch her. M'Krinna didn't seem to notice as she scampered about the shop updating her list again. She seemed like she was having a good time even though her eyes were drawn in concentration.

Just as he was about to look away, M'Krinna was in front of him. She offered a big toothy smile. "Keep up the good work!" She tugged the cork out of a flask of water and pressed the neck to his lips. He drank a few gulps and then nodded. After she plugged it, she pulled out a cloth to wipe the soot and sweat from his forehead. Tossing it away, she scurried back to the front counter to keep working.

The morning folded into afternoon. Everyone got ready to break for the midday meal. Sigtrygg and M'Krinna sat near the counter and undid the knots to a cloth bundle. Inside were a few slices of bread and cheese. Both of them cut pieces of the cheese onto the bread and began chomping on them. As they ate, they noticed Kaja walking out.

"Ma, where are you off to?" Sigtrygg asked. "Won't you eat?"

"This day I fast for Zenithar and go to the chapel instead of sitting at the table," she said with a big smile. "You children must eat though."

Sigtrygg and M'Krinna exchanged a glance, then hopped off the stools, and hurried after Kaja. She must have known there was no deterring them, so she just laughed and led them to the chapel.

It was a grand gray building which stood long before the Oblivion Crisis. Its tall, proud spire pressed against the blue sky. Sunlight made the stained glass glow deeply; it seemed that otherworldly lights and sparkles seemed to radiate from the blue and orange glass. Its buttress and abutments were strong but elegant. Whenever Sigtrygg looked up at it, he felt a great comfort, the very same emotion he indulged when he visited the Great Chapel of Mara in Bravil.

The tall, wide, heavy wooden doors were already open. A few citizens were coming out while several entered. When he passed through the threshold, he felt calmer. No matter how hot the days grew in Leyawiin, the Great Chapel of Zenithar always remained cool. In the cooler, rainy seasons that constituted winter in southern Cyrodiil, it was warm. Perhaps it was Zenithar himself, ensuring his patrons were comfortable in his house.

Many of the pews were empty; midday was a time when the least amount of people came to visit. Most were sitting down for their lunch while others were still hard at work. For those who managed their time wisely, it was a time in which they were free to pray without having to sit shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of other people.

Walking on either side of Kaja, Sigtrygg and M'Krinna followed her to the altar. Together, they knelt, and made the customary prayer of the greeting. Then, they sat in the front pew which was empty, bowed their heads and began to murmur another prayer.

"O' lord, I asketh thee who give fortune to those who pay it tenfold with good works and labor," Sigtrygg said, "to bless us in this time of hardship and toil. We shalt not spend thy offerings foolishly. All shall be paid to proper dues and will only allow us to work ever harder, ever longer. My patron Zenithar, grant our prayers, so that we may not be cast to the streets. We wish to live and remain in your light, and the light of the Eight."

He felt something bump against his shoulder. M'Krinna had sat down next to him instead of Kaja. While she was in prayer, she was so tired she dozed off. Her head now rested on his shoulder. For a moment, he thought about jostling her awake. But upon hearing her quiet little breaths, he decided to carefully put his arm around her shoulders to keep her from slipping off.

As he studied the stained glass windows lining the chapel walls and observed the priests reciting incantations at the pedestals of holy water, he felt very calm. And rejuvenated too; having pushed himself all morning, he was already spent. Zenithar was revitalizing him. Of course, the Divine did not seem to be doing the same for little M'Krinna.

"When we win this competition," Kaja whispered, "we shall give a good share to M'Krinna and her family. They have been good to us ever since we first came here. If we have it in our power to help others in their lives, to lift people up, then that is what we must do. Wealth should never be hoarded."

Kaja sighed and smiled sadly. "In our village of Ve, no one went hungry and no one had a tab at the tavern. We were the richest family and with that comes rights, but we saw no reason to keep it all. Charity is so important and does so much for both the self and for the people you aid." She looked down at Sigtrygg and ran her fingers through his hair. "So long as they are good, people are worth helping. Some citizens look at someone like M'Krinna or Has-Many-Horns and see but beasts. But to judge someone by those lines is to judge someone by, say, their eye color. Will we let colors and scales and fur define how we see people?"

"No, Ma," Sigtrygg said resolutely.

"We are Nords. The Divines made us a proud people but that does make us the greatest. We all belong to the Divines; we are equal in their eyes so long as we do good. Yes?"

"Yes, Ma."

"Good. Wake the little cub and let us go."

Sigtrygg shook his shoulder a little. M'Krinna opened a sleepy eye.

"I wasn't asleep."

The trio gave their last respects to the altar before going back outside. Sigtrygg was bombarded by the heat immediately. As they crossed the plaza, they could see one of the guards poking his head through the service window of the shop. Kaja took both children by their hands and trailed them behind her. Sigtrygg looked past her but his mother's grip was very tight.

"I'm just giving you fair warnin', Nord, there's plenty of reason to share."

The guard removed himself from the window just as Sigtrygg was able to look past his mother. His blood ran cold. It was the same grisly looking fellow who took his single silver Septim. Briefly, the Imperial's dark eyes met with Sigtrygg's and he grinned. There was a scar on his lip the young Nord hadn't noticed before and it exposed a little more of his front teeth. It gave him a rat-like appearance.

When he left, Kaja immediately brought the children into the shop. Askel was sitting on the stool and appeared very unimpressed.

"Did he try to take some of our money?" she hissed.

"No, he wants a portion of the winnings. He threatened that he'll drum up some excuse that'll see me tossed in the cell for a time if he doesn't get anything. I'd rather take a stint in the dungeon then give that fool a single copper."

"We might be poor but we are respected among the community. Whatever he says will hold no water to those who know."

"The community? Tis the poor and the workers who respect us. Those with clout care not for any of us. Come, let us back to work."

###

They worked hard until sundown Knowing they were coming close to the end, as the suit was almost complete, they decided to end earlier that day. While Askel and Kaja cleaned the shop, Sigtrygg was tasked to walk M'Krinna home again. Having hurried around all day, she was even more tired than before her little nap in the Great Chapel. So Sigtrygg hefted her onto his back and carried her all the way.

When they were halfway there she tapped the side of his head.

"Let's go to the docks first," she whispered.

"The docks will be under guard soon."

"Don't you want to see the last light on the water?"

There was a pink-orange hue in the sky as the sun began to sink towards the horizon. Quickening his pace, he jogged to the dock yard. There was a little cut in the right side of the old wall which led to the gate. For years, attempts to block it were thwarted by tenacious thieves and curious children. When the entire garrison or most of it was present in the city, a guard was permanently posted to it. But with the majority of fighting men and women on the expedition to Bravil, it was up to the gate guards to patrol back and forth.

Although Sigtrygg didn't like to sneak around like that, he too wanted to see the sunset that he and his friend enjoyed so much. Waiting in the shadow of a nearby house, they waited for the guard to return to the main gate before darting through. After hiding again to make sure they hadn't been spotted, he trotted between the stacks of locked crates over the yard until he came near a jetty. Standing just in front of it, he had a good view of Niben Bay.

The still surface of the bay mirrored the orange and pink of the setting sun. Shimmering in the waning light, it looked right out of a painting, as if the creator gently swept their brush back and forth creating that swathe of color before defining the rippling current with golden lines.

M'Krinna sat up on his back, rested her arms on his head, and then planted her chin on them. Sigtrygg knew she was smiling and he couldn't help grinning himself.

"We're going to win and we're going to be rich," Sigtrygg said. "We can help all the poor people in the city."

"Our families could have a big house together, wouldn't that be nice?"

"And we could live like one family. You and I would be brother and sister."

"Of course we would," she said in a low tone.

"And we'll save a bunch of money and make our own shop one day."

"I thought you wanted to be a knight."

"Can't a knight run a business, too? It'd be silly if they couldn't."

"Would it be a smithy?"

"It could be anything we wanted!" Sigtrygg said, tilting his head back to look at her. She leaned forward, her snout nearly touching his nose. He smiled as wide as he could. "Do you want to go into business with me? I could bring back what I find from my adventures and then we can sell them!"

"Only if I get to come on some of the adventures."

"Agreed."

M'Krinna slid off his back and the two shook hands. As the light finally winked away, Sigtrygg glimpsed his friend's face. It looked as though she wanted to say something but just before she did, they could hear some guards tramping down the dock towards them. Both of them fled through the crack before they ever arrived, though.

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