Blue Palace, 12th of Hearthfire 4E 203

The door opened and Aurora looked up as Nilsine's head emerged. "Jarl Aurora, there's a woman here to see you."

Aurora placed the quill she had been holding back into the ink container and glanced at the parchment roll in front of her. "Let them in."

The woman had a slight headache from working intensively through the morning. She placed her hands on her face and pressed the fingers against her eyes, rubbing them. Nilsine stepped aside and allowed a short, blonde woman inside Aurora's cabinet.

"Actually, there are three of us. I'm Aggrippina. We spoke on the party," she spoke with her irritating, squeaky voice and quickly entered the chamber, hurrying to Aurora's table.

The Jarl sighed deeply, understanding that her ears would not thank her for the conversation, which was to come. As Aggrippina stated, two other women followed. One of them appeared to be somewhat older than both Aggrippina and the other woman, perhaps already in her thirties. Her stripy, rat coloured hair reached her shoulders, and like Aggrippina, she acted as if she owned the place. She had a high forehead, rather small nose and thin lips, but no where near a beauty. She had a stern expression and wore ordinary, merchant class clothes.

The last woman was probably the same age, or slightly older than Aggrippina, blonde and friendly looking. She was of average height, but shorter than the oldest of the three. She stood with her hands in front of her like a schoolgirl, almost hiding behind her colleagues.

"Yes, I remember you. How can I help you?" Aurora asked Aggrippina.

"The land you promised us..."

"Yes, sorry. I've hadn't had time to get to it. Let me see..." Aurora began as the trio walked closer to the table with the city planning. "Here," the Jarl pointed, showing a narrow section of land between the outer and inner city walls.

"Um," Aggrippina began. "Don't you have anything... bigger?"

"Eh, what she meant was... Hello, milady. I am Engrid Ice-Cairn, here on behalf of Euwulf the Elder who is too weak to attend in person, and I'm sorry about my friend Aggrippina," the oldest looking of the three spoke, pushing her rat coloured stripes of hair away from her face. "What she meant was that we aim to move our publishing business to Solitude. We will employ twenty people, and that together with book storage, paper, quills... it takes a lot of space."

Aurora lowered her head, pushing her chin towards her chest whilst looking irritably at Engrid. The Jarl was rather unimpressed with the trio coming to her Hold, demanding land in Solitude. Engrid, who was slightly more observant to Aurora's reaction than Aggrippina, noticed the silence that had arisen.

"Look, we have enough gold to pay for the construction ourselves. You would only have to issue us the building permit."

Aurora raised her eyebrows. "You can afford it yourselves?"

"Yes."

The Jarl thought for a while. She was truly unsympathetic towards the trio who showed too little respect for authority, according to Aurora. She was baffled by their way of walking into her office and directly, shamelessly, asking for favours. On the other hand, it appeared as if they could contribute to the economy of Haafingar, diversifying it. Twenty people, working in a skilled profession would raise the purchasing power, thereby consuming more goods, meaning more tax revenue for Aurora's Hold. She silently leaned back in her chair, looking towards the right wall of her cabinet.

"Tell me about yourself," she demanded, turning her gaze at Engrid.

"Well, I am Engrid. My mother hails from Falkreath, my father was an Imperial from the Imperial City. When I was twelve, I became apprentice at a book binder's – the man I still work for. Everything I have, I've accomplished it myself," she said, straightening her back in pride as she spoke.

"And what do you want to do?"

"I wish to publish books, milady. As I said, I've employed twenty people."

"And the others?" Aurora asked, gesturing at Aggrippina and the other woman as if they were annoying flies.

"They are my friends. This is Aggrippina, she is a young writer..." Engrid began, looking at the short woman from the party.

"Pamphlet writer. I wish to publish weekly news pamphlets," Aggrippina interrupted in her usual, irritating manner.

"She studied at the Imperial University, milady, and she has a very sharp pen," Engrid grinned. "This is Marienna, a young historian from the University of Gwylim. I publish them both."

Aurora gazed at the somewhat shy, blonde woman who had been hiding behind Aggrippina and Engrid before feeling that she was losing her patience. "Fine," Aurora spoke. "I will grant you the space of two townhouses. But be prepared for the property tax."

"Thank you!" Engrid grinned happily.

"Milady, we would like to welcome you to a club we have. The Book Club," Marienna suddenly spoke.

"Thank you, I will step by when I see progress with the building," she said and gestured for the women to exit her cabinet.

Marienna and Engrid both curtseyed before turning around, whilst Aggrippina merely nodded towards Aurora. The Jarl leaned back in her chair, placing her right elbow at the armrest and bringing her knuckle to her lips. Neither Engrid nor Aggrippina had formed a particularly good impression of themselves – not because they were incompetent, but Aurora did not like their attitude.

Aurora was in a particularly bad mood that day. Even though it had been a night she had planned to sleep, nightmares had forced her to stay awake from the early morning. Working was a way of keeping herself occupied and thinking of other things, but it had started to feel overwhelming to work after nights like those. The woman began to question is she was truly the one defeating Alduin, or if he had killed her mentally. She was tired, but afraid to go to sleep.

Aggrippina's stupid voice did not make the situation any better.

A knock on the door was heard, and moments later, Nilsine entered.

"Ah, Nilsine, have you heard anything about the dresses I ordered?"

The woman looked somewhat confused for a few seconds. It appeared as if the Stewardess had been thinking of a subject for a while, and suddenly being forced back into the surrounding world. "No, my Jarl," she said after a while.

"That's a shame. I really look forward to wear them," Aurora said.

Nilsine nodded, wishing to change the subject. "Thane Eirikur said Lord Goldwine came around about an hour ago."

"Oh?" Aurora asked. "What did he want?"

"I don't know, my Jarl," Nilsine said. "He didn't state his purpose."

Aurora let her arm down and leaned her head back, looking up in the ceiling. "Perhaps he was simply looking around at town?" she asked. "Are we speaking of Ratibor Goldwine?"

"Yes," Nilsine said. "Do you want me to call for him?"

Aurora suddenly grinned, before lowering her gaze back at the Stewardess. "It's fine – I'll go and pay the Goldwines a visit myself."

The woman got up from her seat and passed her table. She had snuck back to the palace from Proudspire early in the morning, not quite knowing how her relationship to the Goldwines, and Ratibor in particular would develop from then on.

"My Jarl…" Nilsine began. "I must warn you that it might come across as if you have to run after him, and not the other way around."

"I appreciate your concern, Nilsine," Aurora said, stopping as she passed her Stewardess, turning towards her. "However, I am the owner of Proudspire, and I have the right to visit it as I like," she smiled.

Aurora continued through the door and towards the staircase. She did not quite remember how the evening prior had ended – the last thing she knew was that she was smoking nightshade on the sofa with Vecheslav's head resting in her lap. Ratibor had been sitting on the floor, leaning against her knees and chuckling upon hearing anyone speak. She did not have any memory of where Bogdan and Egor had been and what they had done – only that she had awoken on that sofa early in the morning, alone.

It was a good sign that Ratibor had come to the Blue Palace looking for her, she thought as she passed the main entrance. It was even better that she had been too busy working to meet him. She had a great time with him the night before, and since he was not avoiding her, she probably had not gone too far. Aurora had worried a little that she had affected her reputation in a bad way by getting that drunk with the men. She was a Jarl after all.

It was an unusually warm day. The sun threw a soft, warm light, meaning the fact that Aurora had forgotten to take her coat with her was no issue. As she passed Bryling's house, the Jarl was already in a better mood. The Goldwine brothers were both rather amusing to be with – each in their own way. Bogdan may not be as talkative and charming as his older brother, but Aurora quite enjoyed his quirkiness. In fact, he was a fresh breeze in the world of nobility Aurora had been thrown into upon becoming Jarl of Haafingar.

Ratibor, in turn, was the epitome of decency and charm when surrounded by others, and immensely entertaining when with friends. Aurora respected this in Ratibor almost as much as she appreciated Bogdan's brutal, and often blunt honesty. The woman found this maladaptation to society adorable.

As she approached Proudspire, Aurora heard the brothers' voices from the balcony behind the manor. She adjusted her tunic, pushing it into her leather trousers and pulling the sleeves into place before leaping up the stairs to the veranda. Bogdan and Ratibor were sitting by a table with at least five or six books, quite a few parchment rolls, ink containers and quills.

"Hello Goldwines," the woman said happily.

Bogdan, who was sitting with his back towards her turned slightly in his chair. The man's hair was not quite as messy as it usually was, and actually appeared rather decent, being divided at the right side in a straight parting. His cone like cut became apparent, and the man looked less like a mountain troll than he usually did. His eyes appeared even rounder as he smiled at her, exposing his odd looking teeth with space between every single one of them.

Aurora looked at Ratibor, who lowered his head, looking up and smiling inconspicuously at her. He had been sitting opposite his brother, and had seen the woman already as she emerged behind the corner of the manor. The man stood up and walked up to her, taking her right hand and bringing it to up to his lips in an informal and affectionate manner, rather than bowing down to meet it. Aurora felt very pampered and chuckled a little as Ratibor led her to a chair, holding it out for her and then ensuring she was sitting comfortably before taking his seat.

Aurora grinned like a child as she examined the books on the table. "What's going on?"

Ratibor, who was now sitting next to the woman reached for a book in front of him. "I'm writing a play based on this," he said and handed it to Aurora.

The woman took it and immediately recognised it as one of the books she had found in the Goldwine apartment in the Imperial City the time when she woke up in the foot end of Ratibor's bed, which he had been sharing with another woman. Ratibor and Vecheslav had gone to a shop, leaving her alone with Bogdan in the apartment. As Bogdan took a bath, she had gone through the books in their library and found the very same, dark blue book she was now holding in her hands.

As Aurora looked up at the younger brother, she realised that he appeared rather uneasy and irritated. He was looking at his brother, frowning, then to the table, pushing his shoulders forwards. "Is something wrong?" Aurora asked.

"He wants to change my story," Bogdan said.

"I don't! I'm just saying that the audience will have a trouble understanding the main character's actions. He sort of comes across as... a maniac," Ratibor answered in an annoyed manner.

It became apparent to Aurora that the brothers had been fighting, and that she had interrupted them in the middle of the heated discussion. Ratibor looked as if he was asking the woman to excuse his brother before turning towards Bogdan.

"And I've told you time and time again that..." Bogdan began.

"Normal people don't understand this logic, brother."

"I don't care."

Ratibor sighed and pulled his hand through his wavy, black hair. The thick locks bounced elegantly against his shoulders as he did so, and the movement made Aurora feel the pleasant scent of his soap. The woman placed her right elbow on the table in front of her and leaned her chin against her knuckle, observing Ratibor with her head slightly tilted.

He had rather unusual features – they were not manly in the Nord sense of the word, yet there was something rather virile in them. Aurora thought for a while and concluded that it was his nose together with the wideness of his jaws that gave that impression. His mouth was unusual due to the lower lip, which almost hung downwards, though the corners were pointed neither upwards, nor down. A small shadow was always present just above his chin due to this.

"Well, it is my play, and I don't want any... Hey, let's ask the lady," the older brother demonstratively said, turning towards the woman.

Aurora felt as if she had been brutally awoken from a dream. Suddenly, she felt both Ratibor and Bogdan's gazes and straightened up in her chair, leaning back somewhat baffled. She did not really know what they had been arguing over, and definately did not want to get involved.

"What would you think of a person who hangs and torments animals, beginning with rats and mice and ending with chopping up horses?" Ratibor asked with an annoyed tone, with the question directed at Aurora and the tone at his brother.

"You can't explain it like that! It makes perfect sense if you read the book," Bogdan argued.

Ratibor immediately turned towards the younger Goldwine. "But normal people won't have read the book, Bogdan! I'm not saying that it is wrong, only that the audience will have trouble understanding this..."

"Perhaps I should go," Aurora said, feeling that she should return some other time.

Just as she was about to get up, Ratibor instinctively threw his arm out towards her. "No, I'm done for today," he said in a softer tone, looking at the woman. He reached for the book they had been working with as well as the others, which were lying on the table. "I'm dropping these off. Let's have lunch afterwards."

"Alright," Aurora smiled, leaning back into her seat again.

Ratibor balanced all five books in his right hand and reached for one of the ink containers before walking into Proudspire, leaving Bogdan and Aurora on their own.

Bogdan looked away the whole time. "The bastard ruins my novel..." he hissed in a low tone just as Ratibor disappeared behind the door.

"Why don't you produce the play yourself then?" Aurora asked.

The man turned his head and looked at her with amazement, as if she had just said the most silly thing on Nirn. "Because I have no idea how to do that. No way, I'm not doing it."

Aurora chuckled a little over the man's behaviour. It was amusing to hear him speak in such a manner considering his very mature looking beard. When she last saw him, in the Imperial City, he had a clean shave, making him look like a sixteen year old. Now, however, with the massive beard, he looked closer to thirty from a distance. Due to his soft cheeks, he appeared considerably younger from a closer view – making it difficult to estimate his age.

She looked at all the parchment rolls Ratibor had left all over the table and suspected that at least some of them were not his, if not all. "What's this?" Aurora asked and unrolled one of them.

Bogdan was sitting with his left shoulder against the backrest of the chair, holding the corner of it with his hand. He had been looking out over the landscape as Aurora spoke and turned his head towards her as she did. "Those are my poems."

Aurora found a few couplets written in a messy handwriting, not appearing to be part of the same poem. She read them quickly before unrolling another parchment and going through it too.

"Why don't you preform? Why not reading them to the public?" she asked, lifting her gaze as she held the roll in her hands.

"No... I'm not particularly fond of standing in front of people..." Bogdan began.

"But these are great! And besides, you'd get a lot more recognition if people heard these..." Aurora said, lowering her gaze and reading another of his pieces. "Hey, let's arrange an impromptu reading by the gallion tonight."

"It's a horrible idea!" Bogdan said, trying to grab the parchment roll from across the table.

Aurora chuckled and defended the roll by holding it further out. "Why? What's your plan for life?"

Bogdan met the woman's gaze. "As I've told you – poetry, Skooma and women," he answered defiantly.

"And how are you going to afford it?" Aurora asked, calling off his bluff.

"What do you mean? I'm a Goldwine."

"Yes, but you're not the heir to Kvatch. Your brother is," she said complacently.

"And?" Bogdan asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Don't you wish to support yourself? I'm not discussing this with you, you're going," Aurora grinned.

The same moment, they heard the door open and saw Ratibor emerge. "Let's go," he said.

He walked up to Aurora and offered her his right hand. Her chair was turned slightly more to the other side, meaning that she forced him to stretch as she tried to get up. It made her feel lightly stressed, causing her to stumble as she took her first step towards him and hit the leg of the chair with her foot. "Careful," Ratibor automatically spoke and quickly turned his gaze to Aurora from his brother as he raised his right arm, ensuring that the woman would not fall to the ground.

"Where's everyone?" Bogdan asked.

As Aurora walked up to Ratibor, he switched his right hand for his left, leading the woman to the other side. "Egor went to the Bards College and Vecheslav is apparently too busy for lunch," he spoke. "And I could eat a Netch, let's go."

Ratibor placed Aurora's hand on his left arm by directing the woman's hand with his right. The Jarl looked up at him from the side, amazed over his completely effortless and natural movements, which managed to convey an affectionate friendliness without making it appear as if it was something extraordinary, which Aurora felt it should have been. The brothers and Aurora walked down the stairs without the woman taking her eyes off Ratibor. "Thank you for yesterday," she grinned.

He turned his gaze at her and smiled too. "It's us who should thank you," he said as they emerged at the road. A moment later, he slowed his pace down and leaned closer to the woman. "Didn't know you were so wild," he grinned with a charismatic spark in his eyes, exposing the lower half of his straight and pearly upper teeth.

Aurora looked straight ahead with her smile stretching from ear to ear. "That was nothing," she chuckled. "I've done wild things whilst living in Whiterun."

What the woman had in mind by saying so was the time she embarrassed herself in front of the Companions by clinging to Vilkas in front of everyone. Aurora pinned it to being young and foolish – she was but a teenager back then, but a nagging feeling that it might have contributed to Vilkas' forming a negative view of her made her feel uneasy. Damn, she missed Vilkas, the woman thought. At least Ratibor seemed to find her reputation remaining intact after the previous night…

"You're still a saint compared to me," Ratibor said.

Aurora turned her gaze to the older Goldwine brother, who had suddenly placed his right hand on her left, which was holding his arm. He probably did this to catch her attention, but it also had a soothing effect on her. He looked at her as if to stress the words he had just uttered.

Thinking of the past made Aurora emotional, and being met with such kindness from Ratibor's side even more so. He did not ask her anything, but managed to silently declare that it was alright. For the two or so seconds the man and Aurora kept eye contact, the woman felt as if the world stood still.

"If only father knew," Bogdan spoke behind them, interrupting Aurora's state of mind.

Both Aurora and Ratibor they turned around and gazed at him. The woman was almost upset with him for breaking the moment she had shared with Bogdan's older brother. Upon turning her eyes back at Ratibor, though, she realised that he looked to be very much present in the real world. The man grinned at his brother in a manner, which Aurora doubted could have changed that quickly, and started to doubt whether she had been mistaken in her assessment.

"Hey, be careful," Ratibor said in a teasing manner and pointed at his brother's chest. "You come across as worse."

Ratibor's grin always looked to be more controlled than his brother's. The older Goldwine usually pulled one of the corners of his mouth to the side and thereby exposing only parts of his upper teeth. He took good care of them as well as the rest of himself, and together with his unpretentious, but sophisticated dressing sense, this made him appear rather mature and charming. Bogdan, on the other hand, grinned with his whole face as if he had no sense of self control. His eyes looked almost drunken, with his lower lids becoming more emphasised as he smiled, and the way he exposed his entire set of upper teeth was almost childish. The hair might have appeared good on its own, but the unkempt inch long beard made him look less noble.

Aurora realised it was time to return from her own thoughts as she apparently was the only one valuing the spiritual connection she thought to have established with Ratibor. The woman did not know if she was disappointed with him, or simply with how the situation had unfolded – and with the fact that she felt that emotion at all. She was frustrated that a mere gaze had affected her so

"How do you like Proudspire?" Aurora asked, giving the brothers a forced smile as they passed the tower.

"It's great," Ratibor answered, apparently not noticing Aurora's insincere mood. "I hired a maid called Enya this morning, so it feels like we're set with all the practicalities."

"You did what?" Bogdan asked and immediately stopped. "I'm not comfortable with someone going through my things!"

Ratibor rolled his eyes before continuing forwards, thereby making Aurora do the same, as she was still holding his arm. "Why this sudden change?" the older brother spoke with his gaze set straight ahead.

"What do you mean?" Bogdan asked from behind.

"You did not complain about our last one, in the Imperial City."

"We had a maid?" Bogdan exclaimed.

Ratibor turned his head as far to the side as he could, trying to look at his younger brother. "Who do you think cleaned the place?"

Bogdan produced a surprised oh whilst Ratibor chuckled. The trio then continued the walk in silence, observing the daily life of Solitude as they passed the blacksmith and market stalls. The woman began to calm down after a short while, and by the time they entered the Winking Skeever, everything was alright with her mood again.

Ratibor led them to a free table and habitually held the chair out for Aurora, who turned her gaze slightly upwards and thanked him. The woman expected him to sit down next to her, but the older Goldwine brother walked around the table and took the seat opposite her instead, leaving the chair next to her to Bogdan. A moment later, a waiter placed three bottles of ale in the middle of the table. Ratibor immediately began to pour the drink into a glass, then handing it to the woman.

"Aurora," Ratibor spoke. "Oh, I hope you don't mind…"

"Of course not," Aurora spoke. "I consider both of you to be my friends," she continued and winked happily at Ratibor.

The man pulled the right corner of his mouth to the side, grinning in his usual manner. Aurora was quite happy with him referring to her by her first name. She noticed that he had not used the usual 'milady' when speaking to her, but he had also avoided simply saying 'Aurora' – at least when sober. The woman was satisfied with the fact that he had decided to become informal.

"As you can imagine, I'm not simply here for the fun of it all," he said.

With that comment, Aurora's smile died out. She looked down to the table, realising why he had opted for sitting down opposite her rather than taking the chair next to the woman. To her surprise, Bogdan said exactly what she was thinking.

"Ratibor!" Bogdan sighed. "Must you speak of business right now?"

His older brother looked at him warningly. Aurora did not say anything, but agreed fully with Bogdan. It was not apparent whether the older Goldwine brother noticed the woman's disappointed expression – perhaps he did, but as usual, he did not make it apparent with his behaviour.

"Kvatch is looking for new markets for its grain," Ratibor spoke.

Aurora was just about to protest against his timing, but stopped. She remembered the East Empire Trading Company's murky ways and the recent price hike on all sorts of food. If the Goldwines were interested on exporting their county's grain, the prices should drop in Haafingar due to the higher supply. That way, she could have a partial revenge on Vittoria who was obviously cashing in, taking full advantage of the current situation.

"Go on," she said, much to Bogdan's surprise.

Bogdan rolled his eyes whilst the older brother leaned forwards. "Well," he said. "Solitude is growing into the region's trading centre, and it would be in Kvatch's interest to be allowed to send grain into the city. We could establish a trade route from south to north, and then the port could function as a gateway to High Rock and the eastern provinces of Skyrim."

Aurora grinned. "Alright," she said. "Prepare a draft and give it to Nilsine. I'll hear what she has to say regarding the matter, and then perhaps I'll sign it," she explained in a content manner.

Ratibor looked somewhat baffled. "I must say…" he began and leaned forwards, turning his gaze at Aurora. "I didn't expect it to be this straightforward."

"Oh, it's alright," Aurora answered. "There's a bitch who tries to threaten me. This would be good for Haafingar and bad for her."

Ratibor raised his glass, looking the woman in her eyes. Aurora winked and raised her glass towards his, not breaking eye contact before taking a sip and returning the glass to the table.