Chapter 5
Ragnthor
The moment he was out of the house he had his pipe out and was puffing away. "Shor's bones. Why did she have to walk around that corner? I know it's her duty to act as my shield but the look in her eyes. She thinks I'm a monster."
He went through the fight in his mind, trying to see if there was a better way he could have handled it. There were a few ways but they have lead to him being wounded. He took a big drag and held it for a moment before letting it go.
"I might have stopped her from running. I know I fight in a way that scares people. Part of it is the way I was taught but I really don't know where the other part comes from."
He sat down on a log by his bedroll. "Maybe this time it was because I knew she was there, just around the corner, and if I let one past he could he hurt her. What do you think boy?"
Slasher walked over and put his head on Ragnthor's leg and looked at him. Ragnthor rubbed his head.
"At least she didn't see the way you tore the throat out of your bandit. And the way you licked your mouth when you were done. If I didn't trust you I would be scared of you."
Slasher laid down at his feet while he finished his bowl. After he put his pipe away he walked over to his bed.
"Well boy it's time for bed. I would like you to sleep in front of the door in case any of their friends come back. Keep her safe. Now let's sleep." And with that he slid into his bedroll and passed out.
Ragnthor was still wired from the fight and woke up about an hour before dawn. He walked around back and grabbed as much wood as he could then made a fire and started on breakfast. It was porridge again. He sat there for about 30 minutes before he lost the nerve to face her and went outside.
The sun was just starting to break over the mountains surrounding the Throat of the World. There was a chill in the air and the scent of pine on the breeze. It was a good day to be a Nord. He was glad he was back home. Sure he had made his share of mistakes along the way, some of them big, but standing here in the place he was born, on land he owned made the stress leave his body and a feeling on peace filled his soul.
He was starting to walk down to the road when he noticed the horses had been out all night. He hurried to move them before Lydia noticed. He was sure that she would see it as a failure as a Housecarl.
He then walked down to the road to start repairing the fences of the eastern fields. He vowed to not take off his shirt no matter how hot it got. Soon he was in the rhythm of the work and was moving fast. The work was labor intensive but after you got into the flow of feeling where the stone should go there was no real need to think about it. It was the kind of work that make you feel like tired but accomplished at the end of the day. Soon he was singing an old work song his father would sing. It was a good day to be alive.
Lydia
She woke to the sound of a strong baritone voice singing a smooth, flowing song. Her room was warm so she knew that that he had made breakfast again. Went she got dressed she saw it was the same as yesterday, porridge. She ate and walked outside to see what she could do.
She saw the horses were already out and wondered how early Ragnthor had woken to do both cook and let out the horses before she had even woken.
That fight must have got to him for him to push himself to do so much. She walked around the house to see if any of the deer from last night could be saved.
It was still good. The only thing that saved it was that Ragnthor had managed to gut and skin it before the attack which allowed the meat to cool quickly in the night air. She looked around and saw a door leading into the ground at the back of the house. She tried to open it and found it was locked.
Not wanting to bother Ragnthor she picked the lock. She packed most of the meat down to the cellar and hung it on the hooks hanging from the ceiling. After she had down that she walked over to the wood block and split the remaining wood. She walked over to the horses to see if they need and care. The only thing they needed was their hooves cleaned. Then she walked back into the house and grabbed another book and sat down to read.
She put the book down around noon and brought Ragnthor some water. He stopped working and took a drink. It was a hotter day than yesterday and sweat had completely drenched his shirt and he was only about half done. She could see his face was flushed with heat as she drew near.
He must have heard my gasp and seen me stare yesterday. Good .
He gave her a thankful smile as she approached with the water. "Thank you Lydia. It is a right hot day today. This water is a welcome relieve. I'm taking a break. Would you like to sit and join?"
She nodded and sat down on a completed piece of the fence. He took another drink from the bucket and pulled out the thing he had been smoking the night before. He pulled a small bag out as well and filled the bowl on the end. He then pulled out a flint and steel and lit it and took a long drag.
"What is that?" Lydia asked.
"This is a pipe. And not for skooma or other things that mess with the mind like the Dunmer smoke. I smoke a plant that grows on the border of Cyrodiil and Black Marsh. It is a great way to kill time and reduce stress."
He looked in the bag and folded it and put it back in his pack. "I picked it up a few years ago while I think I was in Hammerfell. The redguards are decent traders and have many things in their lands. This pipe is one of two constants in my time way. But I might be forced to give it up soon. I am almost out of the dried plant and I can't grow it here and no one in town has any. The Khajiit traders might have some but they might charge too much seeing how far away it grows. If I keep burning through it this fast I will be down to only one constant. And she broke my nose."
Lydia huffed and glared at him. He smiled as he took one last drag and the pipe went out. He laughed as the he release the smoke.
"Well I guess it's time for me to get back to work. And thank you for the water." He stood and took one last drink before dumping the rest over his head.
As he handed the bucket to her he asked "Are you enjoying the books?"
She looked up at him "Yes they are very good. I like the story."
Ragnthor nodded and smiled "I'm glad. The next time I manage to get to town I will pick you up some more."
He stretched and then started to work again. Lydia was going to say something when he started to sing. It was her favorite song. He used to sing it for her when she was sad. She then turned and walked back to the house.
Ragnthor
Ragnthor finally finished a few hours later. And he was tired. It had been hotter than normal the last 2 days. And between that and 2 days of rebuilding fence he was bone deep tired. He was glad that the only hard thing left to do was out a temporary wooden fence around two 20 acre fields of grass. But that would only take a day. He would replace it with stone next year if he could. He looked around for Lydia but she was nowhere in sight.
From the smoke coming out the chimney he guessed she was inside. He went at got the horses out of the field. On his way to the stable he stopped by the well and filled the nearby trough for the horses to drink. As they drank he checked their coats and hooves to see if anything needed to be done but there wasn't. Their coats were smooth and hooves clean. Their fur was getting longer which meant that a cold snap was going to happen.
That's not good. I leave for High Hrothgar at the end of the week. The mountain is cold enough without the onset of winter. He shook his head.
When the horses finished he put them in the stable. He stood there awhile watching the sun sink to the west. Slasher came and stood by him.
"You know boy, it is a pretty good life we lead. The only way it could be better is if there was no war and I wasn't Dragonborn. But all in all I have to say I got lucky. There has been many times where I have wondered if I would make it back."
He knelt down and rubbed his belly. "And I think the reason I managed to pull myself out alive is because of the woman in the house. Now I have seen her face again I can die happy, even if she hates me."
He stood up and gave the skyline one last look. "Let's go inside boy. Maybe we got lucky and will have supper waiting for use. If not I will give you another deer leg and I will just sleep. Too tired to cook." And they walked toward the house.
When they walked in the door, they were greeted by a wonderful smell. She may hate me but Talos she knows how to cook.
He walked over and sat down. "What did you cook Lydia? It smells wonderful."
She looked at him. "It is stew like last night."
He nodded. "Well that's why I didn't remember it. I didn't really pay much attention to food last night. Never do after…things like that happen." He reached for the ladle and filled his bowl.
He ate a spoonful and his face dropped. "This is really good. Thank you for cooking, bringing me water when it's hot, caring for the horses and the other small things you do."
She nodded "Honored to serve you my Thane."
He shook his head "Please don't call me that. It takes fewer words to say Ragnthor."
She nodded. "Of course my tha….Ragnthor."
He smiled. "I was planning on painting tomorrow but I think we have some fences to build first. I have about 20 acres on each side of the farm, just past the fields. I was thinking that if we fenced them we could just turn the horses loose when we are here as long as we water them. Does that sound ok?" She nodded.
"Ok. Would you like to help? With both of us working we could be done by the end of the day tomorrow. Just using wooden posts so it will hold until next year."She looked undecided. "If you help I will build a table and chairs so we don't have to eat on the floor."
She nodded. "If it gets me off the floor I will help."
Ragnthor held out his hand and they shook. "This means I can build that table tomorrow. And maybe 2 beds for Ralof and his friend Brasella." Lydia nodded.
"Now I know I have the gift of gab but do you have anything you want to ask me? Without breaking my nose first please."
She gave a quiet snort and her shoulders jumped. "Why are you taking time to fix this place up? You are the Dragonborn and must have more important things to do."
Ragnthor nodded and replied without needing to think "I am fixing it because it is my home. As soon as this Dragonborn business is finished I plan to settle down here and farm. Like my father and his father and his father before him. It's true what they say, I may be a battle hardened warrior but farming is in my blood. Nothing brings me more happiness than doing a hard day's work growing or fixing something. And someday, if the Nine are willing, I plan to have a family and I want them to grow strong and value hard work. And if the divines always curse my crops, my animals die and I never have a family and have to turn back to the sword to live, it's good to have a peaceful place to call home. Anything else you want to know?"
She thought for a moment and asked "The scars. Where did you get so many?"
Ragnthor laughed "Where else does a Nord get scars? In battle. Since leaving I have done nothing but fight. At first as I explored Tamriel then later when learning from the Orcs. I spent some time in the Imperial City and fought in great Arena earning the title "of the Isles". I got a good many scars there. I got more fighting beasts in Elsweyr and Black Marsh. I got more serving as a guard for a lord in Hammerfell. I have been brought to the brink of death more than once and only one thing brought me back from the edge. And you know what that is."
He filled his bowl again and gave it to Slasher. They sat in silence until Slasher finished. Ragnthor then stood. "You should get some sleep. We have a lot of work tomorrow."
He walked toward the door and Slasher followed. Lydia walked to her room and went to bed. Ragnthor laid down on his bedroll and passed out. But neither of them knew what had happened that day.
While she still wondered if he was a monster, the hole in Lydia's heart was patched. It wasn't a good patch, it was rough around the edges, and it wasn't strong, any kind of conflict could tear it off no matter how small. But it was a start.
Ragnthor woke just before dawn and made porridge. Again. Talos I need to buy something else.
As soon as it was just about done he knocked on Lydia's door. "It's time to wake up. I have breakfast ready."
A tired voice came through the door "Is it porridge?" Ragnthor hung his head. "Yes."
He heard the voice again "Talos!"
Ragnthor slowly walked away from the door. A few minutes later she walked out and sat down. He gave her a bowl and took some himself.
"Are you better with an axe or a shovel?" She hung her head and said shovel.
"Ok then. I marked out the boundary yesterday. You are going to go through and make postholes and I will cut the posts and poles then we set them up."
She looked at him and growled out "The things I will do for a table."
Ragnthor laugh and downed the last of his porridge. "You take Slasher today. I think the woods have been depopulated of deer enough for the week." She just glared at him.
"Alright, I'm gone." He picked up his axe and walked out the door.
After he got outside he walked into the woods and got to work. He was making good time and thought he had a chance of beating Lydia. He got done around 2 in the afternoon. He walked out of the woods carrying the final pole and saw Lydia had all the posts set in the west field. His jaw just about hit the ground as he realized he had under estimated her. She was using Ahearn to drag a load of posts over to the east field. In a vain effort to catch up he grabbed as many poles as he could and went to the west field and started nailing them on. He made a 3 pole high fence.
Every few minutes he had to run back and get more poles. It was evening before he put the final pole on the fence. But Lydia had started pounding them on in the other field. Ragnthor admitted defeat and walked over to help. Within 3 hours they had all the poles on the fence.
They then let the horses out in the left field and used a torched to light their way back to the house. When they got there Lydia stood in front of the door and glared at him.
"No. You don't get to come in the house and eat until there is a table to eat at. I helped you not as a Housecarl but as a person. Give me the payment I was promised."
Ragnthor looked shocked. "Really, it was a hard, long day of work and I'm hungry Lydia." She opened the door and went in. He heard the sound of the lock being closed.
"Damn."
He walked over to his workbench and started work on the table. It was another 2 hours before he finished. Since he knew he was going to be up all night he made the 2 beds as well. He tried the door and it opened. He brought in the table and chairs he had made and then brought in the beds.
His bowl was beside the fire, filled to the brim with stew. He only chewed the chunks of meat big enough he could not swallow them then went back outside and passed out on his bedroll. When he woke the sun was shining. He didn't even go in the house to see if there was food but went into the cellar and pulled out paint and got to work.
Lydia
When Lydia woke she was sore. It had been over 10 years since she had done any work on a farm. And her room was cold. She quickly dressed and looked out the window and saw that the sun was shining.
"Talos. There is nothing worse than cold porridge."
She walked out and saw the new table. It wasn't just thrown together either. The legs had delicate carvings swirling up them. The top was smooth and seemed to shine. It had received the same attention as her room had even though he had made it in the dead of night. It was so large she wondered how she didn't hear it being brought in.
When she looked over to the stove she saw why her room was cold. Ragnthor hadn't come in and made breakfast. She flared with anger as went out the door and saw why he hadn't come in. He was painting the house. Her anger cooled somewhat. When he saw her he swung down from the roof and she saw why he hadn't made breakfast.
He had massive bags under his eyes and he looked like he could pass out at any moment. "Sorry I didn't make breakfast Lydia. I just woke up about 2 hours ago and decided not to wake you with my crashing around so I started to paint. If you want you can grab a brush and either paint here or work on the stable." She nodded and then walked toward the stable.
He yelled after her. "Don't put on too much. Just enough to coat the wood so it keeps water out." She raised her hand to answer.
She spent the rest of the day working on it. And she knew she would have more to do tomorrow. Ragnthor cooked dinner that night. They had rabbit because Slasher had brought some home and rabbits didn't keep too well. As they ate Lydia was careful not so spill on the table. They didn't talk much for they were still tired from working so hard the other day. After that had finished they went to bed.
They finished up the next day. Ragnthor finished first, due to having a head start. Lydia finished about an hour later. As she stood back to admire her work she hear Ragnthor.
"Good work little one." And then she felt an arm around her shoulder. She reacted instantly. She slammed her knee into his stomach and when he doubled over she grabbed his arm and forced him so to ground. She held him down with a knee and bent close to his head.
"Never touch me" she said as she let him up. She looked around and seeing it was close to dark she went into the house to make dinner.
The next morning Lydia woke to Ragnthor knocking on her door. "You can put on your armor if you want today. We are going to town. Mostly because we are out of food. I used the last of the oats in the porridge this morning. And I think you are going stir crazy stuck in this house."
She jumped out of bed and threw on her armor. When she was finished she belt on her sword and walked out to eat. Ragnthor was just finishing up his breakfast. He stood as she came out and filled her bowl.
"Take your time and eat. I will go and saddle the horses." With that he was out the door.
I really hate porridge.
She downed the last of her porridge and walked outside. Ragnthor was finishing tightening the girth strap of Black Moon. He looked over at her.
"Are you ready to go?" She nodded and got on her horse.
He swung onto Ahearn and whistled for Slasher. "Let's move fast. I want to be home before dark."
Then he slammed his heels into Ahearn's sides and took off. Lydia was right behind him. They were at town within an hour minutes. They tied their horses outside the stable and then walked into Whiterun.
"You take Slasher and visit your friends. I have a few places to stop. And I promise not to just buy porridge. Maybe some flour for bread. And a cow if I still have money, it will save some in the long run." Lydia nodded.
As Ragnthor walked toward the stalls in front of the Bannered Mare Lydia walk over to the War Maiden to talk to Adrianne. As she approached Adrianne smiled and walked over.
"Lydia! How are you? And how is your new Thane? And who is this mean looking thing?"
Lydia sat down on the grindstone. "I'm good. It has been ok living out at the farm with Ragnthor. Though I think the only think he knows how to cook is porridge. I have eaten if for breakfast 5 days in a row. And that's Slasher, he is a big softy."
Adrianne laughed "Well he is a man. And I have never met a man who can cook."
Lydia nodded and continued. "As to how he is, I really don't know. He is a hard, fast worker but he scares me. The first day I was there he killed 3 bandits by himself."
Adrianne smiled and laughed "So he is a good fighter. What's wrong with that?"
Lydia looked at her. "He did it bare handed. And in less than 2 minutes. I think he is a monster."
Adrianne shook her head. "Were you near?" Lydia nodded. "He did it to keep you safe. He moved fast and struck with precision. Most girls your age would be happy to be near a man like that. But not you, right?" Lydia smiled and nodded.
They talked for an hour or so then Lydia said she had to leave and she and Slasher walked toward the market. Ulfberth came out.
"Was that Lydia?"
Adrianne smiled. "Yes it was."
Ulfberth looked at her "Why are you smiling?"
Adrianne walked over and kissed him. "Because she has changed. I saw her smile for the first time in years. It has been 2 weeks since Ragnthor has come to town and I think, somehow, he is starting to heal her heart." Ulfberth smiled and they walked inside for lunch.
When Lydia got to the market square she saw Ragnthor walking out of Arcadia's. He waved when he saw her.
"Did you have fun in town?"
She nodded "I caught up with Adrianne. It was fun. Why were you in there?"
Ragnthor laughed and covered his nose. "After the first few days of pain I can hardly feel anything. Arcadia seems to think the nerves in my nose have been damaged and I will never feel there again. Please don't test it. I also bought a cow. Now I need to cut the grass in the east field for hay but I think I will let Ralof do that. Anything else you need to do?" Lydia shook her head. "Then let's go. I am starved."
They walked out the gates and got on their horses. Ragnthor rode around to the back of the stable and came back leading a cow. They then rode back to the farm. They met Ralof on the road.
Ragnthor shouted at him "Hey ho brother. You're a day early. And who is this lovely creature? Surely this can't be the lass I packed out of Helgen." As Brasella nodded Lydia felt a strange pang in her stomach.
Ragnthor swung off his horse. "Brasella climb aboard. I don't want a lady to have to walk. And if Ahearn could handle this heavy handed warrior surely he would welcome on such as you."
Lydia flashed with anger and it was gone as soon as it came. They all walked and rode back to the farm.
Author's note: Round 6 complete and yet another wrong righted. I can't believe I was every dreading this, Its almost as much fun as the writing itself.