Chapter 3 - An Old Friend

The rush of excitement that I always got when walking into the gates of Whiterun was something I looked forward to every time I visited. Right away, I could see Adrianne Avenicci on the right picking up her forgery tools and carrying them into Warmaiden's. I briefly recalled looking at several high-quality bows she had up for sale years ago that were all far beyond anything I could ever afford. Up ahead there were countless Whiterun residents roaming about, chatting along the cobbled pathways as they likely made their way to their respective homes. The evening sun had almost completely vanished, with the western sky just faintly glowing over the walls of the city. I could also see faint slivers of the auroras rippling across the sky here and there.

We made it all the way to the doors of The Bannered Mare without really being stopped or spoken to by anyone, which of course would never have been possible in a town as small as Riverwood. Whiterun, on the other hand, was just accustomed to strangers and visitors, I supposed. Ysolda did wave at us from afar, but she was mostly just smiling at Cal as she did so.

The four of us walked into the warm glow of the The Bannered Mare, immediately being greeted by the warmth of a large fire in the center of the room where dozens of people were gathered around talking, yelling stories and insults at each other with boisterous laughter, and dancing to the music that was being played by a Bard. A few of the people seemed to know Borrin as they shouted his name and raised their glasses to him when they saw him. Elrindir, the man who owned the hunting supplies store in town, recognized Jol and I as he shouted "Ay, my two favorite hunters! It's been a long time!" We acknowledged him and waved back, expecting him to come over and talk to us, but it appeared that he may have had one too many glasses of The Bannered Mare's infamous mead.

It seemed that the inn was more packed than it had ever been, but we eventually made it to the counter and ordered some meads for ourselves from Hulda. She prepared the glasses and brought them over to us, saying "Here you go, boys. It's good to see you three again, we've missed you around here!" She gestured to me, Cal and Garren as she said this. She gave Borrin a sort of side-glance, but he was already turning away to walk towards the fire.

I said back loudly, trying to speak over the noise of the inn, "I know, it's certainly been awhile. Sorry we haven't come to visit in a long time. We've all been busy working as of late back at home. Well, most of us have, anyways," I said sarcastically with a grin, looking over at Garren. Garren gave me a light punch in the arm, and Cal and Hulda laughed.

Cal asked suddenly after scanning the room, "I don't see Saadia anywhere. Is she not here tonight?"

Hulda's smile quickly shifted to a worried look, "I really have forgotten how long it has been since you boys were last here."

"What do you mean?" Cal questioned, now bearing his own worried expression.

"Well," Hulda began, looking down at the countertop for a few moments, "About a year ago, right around when all of that business with Dragonborn was going on, a couple of Redguard men came through here. They hung around for a few days, poking around the city and whatnot, but I never found out why exactly." Now she looked us in the eyes, "Right at the same time that they left town, Saadia disappeared. I haven't seen her since. No one has, in fact. Not around here anyways."

"You don't think they took her, do you?" Cal asked intently. He and I were leaning into the counter now. Garren was completely oblivious to the conversation as he was looking around the room, and Borrin had gone over to talk to someone near the fire.

Hulda leaned in as well, "They either took her forcibly, or they were very persuasive and she left with them on her own. But you two should know more than anyone that Redguard men aren't necessarily known for smooth talking." Cal and I smirked, but Cal's face quickly turned back into a frown. She continued, "There was one other strange thing. One of the first times Dragonborn came through here, he and Saadia went off into the kitchen here for just a few minutes. When they came out, they both looked very worried."

Cal questioned further, almost sounding heated, "What would the Dragonborn want with her? Did Saadia say what he wanted?"

"She didn't tell me anything about it, and I normally try to mind my own business most of the time, honestly." She bore an empathetic expression as she looked at Cal, "Look, I don't know what Dragonborn said to her in that room. At the time, none of us even knew who he was, not even Saadia. But I don't think he would have done anything to hurt her. It looked as if she were the one leading him into the back, anyhow."

"Perhaps I'll ask him myself if he actually shows up in town tomorrow." Cal said, standing up straight with his eyebrows furrowed.

Hulda still had her empathetic look as she advised bluntly, "Cal, I know that you have feelings for Saadia, or at least you used to. But you can't just go walking up to Dragonborn and asking him those kinds of question."

"And why is that? He's just a man after all, even if he can shout his way to the mountain tops." Cal's fist was now tightened. I noted that he didn't even try to dispute Hulda's remark that he had feelings for Saadia.

"Just trust me on this. It's not quite that simple. And besides, I'm sure Saadia is fine. You should know that she's a fighter. Lots of strange things happened around Dragonborn's arrival. All kinds of people were running off and joining armies and what have you. I wouldn't be too worried about her. She's a full-blooded Redguard, for the Divines' sakes." She placed a hand on Cal's arm, and Cal nodded with a short smile. He looked at least somewhat reassured.

"Jol and Cal Al'Kri, I thought that was you two!" a familiar voice said suddenly from behind us. Cal and I turned around, and not three feet away was a girl named Kaira Rosia, a friend of ours that used to live in Riverwood many years ago.

She ran up and gave Cal a hug, and then afterwards wrapped her arms tightly around me, holding herself there notably longer than she had with Cal. I saw Cal smirking at me as she and I embraced. She eventually pulled back, but not completely, as we still held each other's arms. She looked me up and down rather non-discreetly. She then spoke again in her soft yet lively voice, "You've really grown up! Is that the beginnings of a beard I see growing?" Her face bore the same big smile that I remembered from years ago when she was up to something.

I laughed, looking her up and down as well, "It's not quite a beard yet, but I'm working on it. You've certainly grown up yourself."

"I can hardly believe how long it's been. Why haven't you come to visit?" She asked, tilting her head and looking at me with her dark eyes, still smiling.

I wasn't quite sure what to say, "I've just... been busy with working and everything. Trying to earn a living, you know?"

"Earn a living in that small town?" She asked with a hint of playful mockery. Kaira and I suddenly became aware that Cal was still standing there and that we were still holding each other's arms. Kaira let go of my arms softly, proceeding to smooth the sides of her dress even though there were no wrinkles that I could see. She spoke again, "Would you like to walk with me through the town? It's far too loud in here, and I could use some air." She then turned to Cal, "You can come too, of course!"

Cal smirked at us both this time as he said, "That's alright, I think I might go see what trouble Garren's getting into over there with the Bard. You two enjoy your walk."

Kaira and I watched Cal walk over to Garren, and just then Garren noticed Kaira from across the room, bearing his childish smile and waving to her. She waved back, saying to me somewhat quietly, "I don't suppose Garren has changed one bit, has he?"

I said with a smile, "Not a bit. Maybe an inch or two taller than the last time you saw him, but that's about it."

"Good," she said as she let out a small laugh, "Something has to stay consistent with all of the things going on in the world these days."

Kaira and I pushed our way towards the door of the inn, eventually stepping out into the now-moonlit streets. We headed arbitrarily towards the center of town, reaching the Gildergreen tree and walking around it aimlessly as we conversed.

"So, who's the friend you arrived with?" Kaira asked curiously.

"That's Borrin," I answered. "He's just an adventurer. He showed up in Riverwood last night, and we ended up talking to him at the Sleeping Giant. He invited us to travel here with him so we could see Dragonborn."

"An adventurer?" she asked as we now slowly walked up the steps that led to Dragonsreach.

"Yes," I responded, recalling Borrin's words from the night before, "He says he just travels around and likes to meet new people and see new places. That sort of thing, you know?"

Kaira looked at me, almost coming to a stop as we walked near the water, "Jol, no one is just an adventurer. You can look at him and know that."

"What do you mean?" I asked, slightly confused.

"His armor. That sword? An 'adventurer' could never afford those. He either earned a lot of gold somehow, or those were issued to him by some sort of wealthy guild." Kaira said this as if it were an obvious fact.

"I don't know," I began, "Maybe he found them somewhere, in some old ruins or something. Wouldn't an adventurer find treasure like that?"

Kaira laughed before saying, "Oh, Jol. You really do need to get out of Riverwood more." I didn't see what was so funny, but I just smiled. She then asked, "How is your father doing?"

I said plainly, "I wouldn't know, he's been gone again for over a year. Last I heard, he's out with the Legion handling all of the remaining rebellion armies on the outskirts of Skyrim."

This time, Kaira came to a complete stop and bore a concerned expression as she said, "When did you hear that?"

"I don't know, towards the end of the year last year. Why?"

Her face grew more worried, "Jol, there hasn't been any fighting with the Stormcloaks in a long while. After the Legion and Dragonborn killed Ulfric, the fighting stopped almost immediately."

"Right," I acknowledged, "I know about all of that. He's just out dealing with the smaller rebel factions who are still trying to keep the war going."

"That's just the thing. There aren't any small rebel factions or anything like that. There have been no reports of anything like that, especially not recently. The Civil War is completely over." Kaira looked at me sympathetically as she watched me realize that my father may not have told Cal and I the truth about why he was gone.

"How do you know all of these things?" I asked, still trying to puzzle out why my father might have lied.

"As I said," Kaira began, "You need to get out of Riverwood more. You learn a lot just being in a bigger city, and even more if you travel. I've done a small bit of traveling myself, and you pick up on news pretty quickly when you move from inn to inn."

All I could feel was anger. It was bad enough that my father would be gone for so long, and it just made it worse that he may have lied about why he had to leave. My fist was clenched tightly as I thought about this, but then I felt Kaira's hand touch mine, and I relaxed my hand. She held my hand softly.

Kaira spoke quietly, smiling, "It's no matter. We can puzzle that out later. I just want to be happy that you're here with me." She bumped her hip into me playfully, and I lifted my eyes back up to meet hers, returning the smile. "I have a place here, you know," she said suddenly, "It's not much, just a small cottage really. But better than those filthy rooms at the inn." Her smile grew, again having that look that she was up to something as she gripped my hand and pulled me towards what I assumed was her cottage.