The Adventures of a Dragonborn – Sixty Years of Solitude

by Systemfel

The Second Great War is over and the time of noble intrigues has arrived. Aurora is now Jarl of Solitude and does her best to control a changing Hold, fighting Thanes and her own nightmares which has only grown worse since defeating Alduin. Olfina/Harrald/Nilsine/Idgrod the Younger/Ingun/Cyrodiil nobility

18. 29th of Hearthfire, 4E 203

p class="MsoNoSpacing"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"29supth/sup of Hearthfire, Vittoria Vici's hourse/span/em/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Vittoria had a rough start to her morning. The uncertainty of the last year had begun to take its toll on her, and even though the Second Great War had been over for half a year, a new, /spanspan style="font-size: 17.3333px;"ambiguous/spanspan style="font-size: 13pt;" status quo had arisen. The power struggle between the East Empire Trading Company and Skyrim's High King grew more intense by the weeks. Before this point, Vittoria and Ulfric's stand off had remained latent, but now had slowly begun to escalate./span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Ever since the war, Vittoria had been working intensely on securing new contracts and analysing different markets throughout Skyrim's different Holds. Now was the time to execute her plans and start deliveries. This phase required less of a heavy workload from her, which finally gave her some time to rest./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Her attention had turned to the new Jarl of Haafingar, who was obviously inept at governance, and who had picked an incompetent Stewardess. Aurora was still an annoyance, though, for she seemed to wish to change matters which had remained the same for years. She did not seem to trust her Thanes – either one of them, according to Erikur, at least. That meant Vittoria had no way of influencing the new Jarl, for now./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Asgeir suddenly emerged from the bedroom and entered the library where Vittoria was working. She had a particularly bad temper toward him that morning./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Did you answer the letter from the investors?" she asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Her husband looked at her. "I forgot."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""How would you forget?" she exclaimed. "Do you realise how important this deal could be? There is a deficit of metal for building materials, yet we have loads and loads of swords and armours… just scrap metal waiting to be turned into a product!"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I will write tonight," he said as he was moving towards the other door./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""You won't have time to write it tonight," she hissed. "My mother is coming over for dinner."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Her husband looked at her just as he was about to open the door, annoyed. "I'll write it as soon as I finish this report," he answered and held up a piece of parchment./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Thank you."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"As Asgeir opened the door and took a step out, he almost knocked over a maid who had been standing there. The man mumbled something to express his annoyance while the young woman made a curtsy and looked down to the floor. Vittoria followed her with her gaze./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Lady Vici, Orgir is here," she said, barely looking up to meet Vittoria's eyes./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"The maid stepped aside and let in Vittoria's Orchimer housecarl, who casually walked into the room and sat down in a chair opposite the lady's table./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""What is it?" she asked as she looked down into the business ledger in front of her./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Do you remember the silk delivery that should have been here by now, Lady Vici?" the Orc asked in his usual, brutal voice./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Yes," Vittoria answered angrily, still reading the numbers in the ledger in front of her./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Well, I tracked it," he said. "Some idiot sent it to Morthal instead of Solitude."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Vittoria looked up at her housecarl. "That's a relief," she said. "Who in Oblivion sent it to Morthal? They are destitute, for Gods' sake! They won't buy silk!"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"The Orc grinned. "The merchants from Elsweyr got lost in the archipelago and thought Morthal was Solitude."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Vittoria had been very upset. The delay had reached a fortnight by then, and it costed the East Empire Trading Company a lot of gold. And what morons they had to be if they thought Morthal, a town built entirely of wood, and even lacking walls – was Solitude. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Get them here, immediately!" she said. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 13pt;""I've already taken care of it, lady Vici," he said. "I sent two of our /spanspan style="font-size: 17.3333px;"mercenaries/spanspan style="font-size: 13pt;" over."/span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Vittoria smiled. "I can always count on you Orgir," she said. "Thank you. Will you stay for lunch?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Vittoria called in her maid again and informed her that lunch was to be served immediately. Some ten minutes later, a handful of servants brought soup, meat and vegetables to the table. Silver knives, forks and spoons were laid together with snow white napkins. Vittoria was pleased with her housecarl's service – he was one of the men she could always trust. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Have you noticed that the Goldwines are in town?" she asked as the last servant left the room. "They were at the Burning of Olaf festival."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""The Kvatches?" Orgir asked, taking a sip of Breton wine./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Yes," she said. "Both the older and the younger brother."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 13pt;""They have /spanspan style="font-size: 17.3333px;"traveled/spanspan style="font-size: 13pt;" far," Orgir said./span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""There has to be a reason to it," Vittoria said. "And I've only come up with two possible scenarios: either they want to export their grain to Haafingar, considering the volumes they grow each year, or they plan on courting Aurora, hoping to form an alliance through marriage. I am not fond of either of these ideas." /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Shall we take action?" Orgir asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""What action?" Vittoria asked, leaning forwards. "What em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"can/em we do – forbid them? I am simply stating that this is irritating."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Orgir chuckled deeply. "Neither one one of them is known for their diligence, but it appears like they are not idiots."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""No, not like the Jarl, or the High King," Vittoria muttered./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Idiot? The High King, milady?" he asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"The woman threw an annoyed look at him. "Yes. I do not understand what he saw in Aurora. She is plain in every aspect apart from fighting."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"The Orc leaned forward and lowered his tone. "I am sorry, milady, I do not follow. Do do imply the High King…"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 13pt;""It is a badly kept secret for the Skyrim elite," Vittoria stated dryly. "He risked the entire war to make Elisif look like a traitor and be able to divorce her without much of a scandal. Obviously his /span/spanem style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;"love/emspan style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 13pt;" was not repaid, since Aurora merely wanted the Haafingar throne without committing to a marriage to Ulfric," she continued, leaning back in her chair. "That is her only true accomplishment – /spanspan style="font-size: 17.3333px;"outmaneuvering/spanspan style="font-size: 13pt;" Elisif. But what an outstanding /spanspan style="font-size: 17.3333px;"maneuver/spanspan style="font-size: 13pt;" that was. Well, that just made me more convinced men are idiots. They cannot separate feelings and business." She was thoroughly upset and not particularly skillful in hiding it as her face was turning red. "Do you know what else is irritating? Aurora has no bloody idea of how to run a Hold. She hadn't even heard of that horrible trade tax Ulfric imposed on us. And look at her new Stewardess – she's an amateur." /span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I've noticed Lord Goldwine is a frequent guest of her office, milady," Orgir said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Yes, that drunkard em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"poet/em, or whatever he calls himself. Bogdan Goldwine is a moron, and I guess birds of a feather stick together."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""No, milady, the older Goldwine brother," he said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Vittoria looked at him. "What, Ratibor? Are you sure?" She leaned further back in her chair and looked at the window. "So he is courting her after all… But why would he allow his younger brother…? It doesn't make sense." Vittoria turned her gaze back at the Orc. "Have him followed. I want to know what the purpose of his visits to her office is."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="text-decoration: line-through;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Aurora read the letter from Ulfric. It had been on her table as soon as she entered her cabinet late that morning, and she had immediately opened it. Reading it did not make her any wiser, though, as Vittoria had told her that the badly kept secret of a tax rate on the East Empire Trading Company was the cause of the recent price hike on necessities. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 13pt;""What's wrong?" Nilsine asked, /spanspan style="font-size: 17.3333px;"obviously/spanspan style="font-size: 13pt;" noticing Aurora's frowning expression./span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""It doesn't make sense," Aurora said and laid the letter down on the table. "He says that there indeed is such a tax, but listen to this... em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Sadly, it seems like the East Empire Trading Company, led by Lady Vittoria Vici, is not cooperating with the central authorities/em."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""That's just another way of saying that lady Vici isn't fulfilling her end of the deal," Nilsine said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Isn't it?" Aurora asked, letting the letter fall to the table. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Can it be so that Lady Vici is not fully sincere about the volume of trade, which is what the tax is based on?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Of course that bitch is lying!" Aurora hissed. "If even Ulfric is unable to get to her money… We must arrange an inquisition!"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Nilsine looked very stern. "What exactly, my Jarl?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Who is responsible for the collecting of taxes, isn't it Istar Cairn-Breaker?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Indeed it is."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Tell him to send his troops to the trading company headquarter tomorrow morning and inspect the bookkeeping. Make sure it will be a surprise and that you get the real one – and not the one she would want us to see. Vittoria shall not know of this before it's too late for her to come up with a counter measure."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""This is a serious act," Nilsine said. "Lady Vici will not be happy."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""That bitch has probably been lying to me and to the High King!" Aurora said. "We have no other option."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Nilsine nodded. "I will arrange so that Istar takes some guards there early in the morning tomorrow."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Good," Aurora said. "You can go now, I'm heading to Proudspire with Idgrod and Olfina, and then we'll get something to eat."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Nilsine stopped. "Aurora, about that…" She walked around the table, closer to Aurora. "I heard that the Earl of Kvatch has been… assisting you in your work."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Yeah, so?" Aurora asked. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Nilsine did not quite seem to know how to express herself./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I just want to warn you," she spoke quietly. Aurora must have appeared surprised, for Nilsine decided to get to the point. "Look, he represents a county in the Empire. His main task is to do what is best for his land, and your what is best for Haafingar."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I trust him," Aurora said. "And it's not like he is giving me advise on matters which would place him in a dilemma of choosing what is best for Kvatch and Haafingar."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Yet," Nilsine said. "em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Yet/em, Aurora." The Jarl remained quiet and Nilsine sat down next to her. "Look, this would be really bad for you if it came out. You are perfectly entitled to be friends with other Jarls, Counts and heirs. There is nothing wrong with that, but when you make them your advisors… I thought you knew this."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I didn't," Aurora said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""With the Olfina situation…" Nilsine began./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""What Olfina situation?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Well… you employed me as your Stewardess, even though you have been friends with Olfina. Everyone knows the two of you fought together, and she was your choice of soldier in the war."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Nilsine, the Grey-Mane clan only recently became rulers of Whiterun Hold. Olfina's father is a blacksmith, and her uncle a former Companion. Olfina is a soldier – she has no idea on how to administer land. I will not be a corrupted leader who appoints her friends to positions they are unworthy of."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Nilsine nodded. "I respect that… Well, now you know what the Goldwine situation looks like. I'm not saying that you should stop asking him for advise… just… be careful."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Aurora nodded but did not utter one more word. Nilsine sighed, hoping that she had managed to get her message across while walking up to the door. As soon as she opened it, Idgrod was seen awaiting the Jarl. "Aurora, we're going now," she smiled. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Aurora got up from her chair, walked past the chairs in front of the table and took her coat. It was becoming rather evident that the winter was there to stay, as snow was now everywhere. Throwing her coat on, she could only think of what had just happened. Ulfric's formal tone, the fact that she apparently could not openly ask Ratibor for advise while feeling completely lost in the whole Vittoria situation. Idgrod was saying something, but Aurora did not pay attention until Olfina met up with the women downstairs by the entrence doors./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I don't even know why you insist on us visiting em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"them,/em" Olfina said, appearing to be in a bit of a mood./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Egor has some lovely paintings even you would enjoy," Aurora said, her mind being only half-present. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Aurora held up her hemline as they went outside. There was a chilly wind blowing at them, bringing snow up in their faces. The entire situation felt unusual to her, as she had never worn a skirt while walking in snow. That day, she wore a blue dress with golden decorations, she thought they were /spanspan style="font-size: 17.3333px;"lilies/spanspan style="font-size: 13pt;". Nilsine had good taste, the Jarl decided, as it was the Stewardess who had them ordered for her. Olfina wore a green one, not unalike what Vittoria Vici was often seen in. Idgrod, on the other hand, wore a leather corset-like coat and an ordinary white dress underneath. It was quite apparent her hold did not have as much gold./span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Oh, and Aurora," Olfina said. "I must do some sword training, I'm beginning to lose my…"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Not today," Aurora cut her off. "Have you not noticed the weather?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Olfina /spanspan style="font-size: 17.3333px;"complained/spanspan style="font-size: 13pt;" loudly about the fact that Aurora was never up to train nowadays, but Aurora's mind was still somewhere else. Meanwhile, the women struggled through the snow. With immense discomfort, they reached Proudspire manor. /span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Wow, this house is huge!" Idgrod exclaimed as they approached it. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Play it cool now, Idgrod," Aurora said and placed one of her feet on the stairs leading up to the door./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"She noticed the entrance open and a dark figure leap down the stairs. He was tall, wearing exclusively black, and he almost hit Aurora. It was Vecheslav, who had just been on his way out, and he caught the woman as he ran into her./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I didn't see you," Vecheslav said. He managed to balance both his own weight as well as Aurora's./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""No problem," Aurora smiled as he let go of her./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Lady Idgrod, Lady Olfina," Vecheslav said and bowed his head as he threw a quick look on the other women./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Vecheslav, right?" Idgrod asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Yes, that's indeed correct," he smiled warmly towards the future Jarl of Hjaalmarch./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""It's nice to see you again," Aurora spoke./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"The man turned his gaze toward the Jarl. "You too," he answered, still with a smile on his face. The front sections of his armpit-length hair had fallen in front of his shoulders, thus framing his face and emphasising its length and narrowness. He must have recently shaved, for his usual five o'clock shade was nowhere to be seen, and his attire was nicely put together. Aurora noticed that his socks were white rather than black, and his trousers, which were slightly longer than to the knees, were in fact of a dark green colour rather than black. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Olfina rolled her eyes upon noticing the events unfold in front of her. Idgrod, on the other hand, decided to /spanspan style="font-size: 17.3333px;"inconspicuously/spanspan style="font-size: 13pt;" hit Olfina's arm./span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Where are you heading?" Aurora asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Just to the Winking Skeever," he said. "I have some writing to do."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Stop it!" Idgrod hissed at Olfina./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Good luck," Aurora grinned at Vecheslav and pulled the badly behaving girls up the stairs towards the mansion. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"As Aurora entered the living room, she noticed Bogdan reading on the sofa. He appeared to be alone on that floor, for no sounds were heard from the kitchen. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Bogdan," Aurora said, "is Egor here?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"The man turned his curly, wine read head toward Aurora and looked up while still keeping his neck on the armrest./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I'm here!" Egor yelled from the stairs leading down to the cellar. He took an elegant leap over the edge. "Hello, ladies," he smiled charmingly./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"The man was wearing a rather odd piece of clothing. It looked like a thin, black jacket and fitted, fine trousers had been sown together. It was slim in the waist and had a rather deep v-cut in the neck, exposing part of his chest. As opposed to the Goldwine brothers, particularly the older, there was no hair on it. Running from the edge of the shoulder, diagonally towards his chest, there was a fold which probably contained a pocket on each side. The top of this pocket was sewn with a golden thread. Aurora lowered her gaze slightly and noticed that Egor was wearing ankle-high, black boots with a small heel. Even though the clothing and shoes were simple, it was evident they were of good quality. Aurora wondered why on Nirn he would have ordered such a piece of clothing to be made./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Turning her gaze, she noticed that Idgrod smiled too. Ratibor was a charming man, but he appeared more sloppy in his appearance due to his long hair and being unable to get rid of the short stubble which emerged within an hour of him shaving. Egor dressed very well, but his style of clothing was unusual and eye catching, and his gestures and body language felt much more approachable than the older Goldwine brother. Aurora knew better than to fall for it, though. She felt Egor behaved like a man who jumped at every opportunity to sleep with a woman, and made sure to create plenty of such opportunities. He flirted constantly, whether he knew it or not, and Aurora did not particularly appreciate such men. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Just down here if you'll follow me," he smiled at Idgrod./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Only for a minute," Olfina said, blatantly pushing Idgrod to the side as she passed her on her way to the stairs. "I'm hungry."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Egor was just about to bow to her and reach out for her hand as Olfina nonchalantly walked past him too. He caught Idgrod's gaze and grinned as he chuckled once as if to gesture "what was that?"./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Aurora turned her eyes at Bogdan, who had been looking at her. The man gestured for her to come to him by /spanspan style="font-size: 17.3333px;"twitching/spanspan style="font-size: 13pt;" his head slightly. She could see Olfina, Idgrod and Egor walk downstairs and hesitated for a second, but then decided that they would be able to entertain themselves for a few minutes, and thus, she went for the sofa Bogdan was lying in./span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"As he noticed that she was approaching him, he quickly sat up and placed the book he had been reading next to him. Aurora sat down next to the man and picked up the book. "What are you reading?" she asked, observing the cover./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""The Crossing, by Vadic Bodouof," he said. "I heard someone was hungry."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Aurora threw the book down on the table in front of the sofa and looked at Bogdan. "Yes, Idgrod, Olfina and I were planning to go to the inn, but Egor promised Idgrod a personal tour of the paintings in the cellar."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"As she spoke the last words, she brought her chin up in the air and used a playfully superior tone./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Bogdan looked at the woman and grinned with his characteristic drunken smile, exposing the gaps between his teeth. "How is the future skooma dealer?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""The what?" Aurora asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Katia is her name, I believe?" Bogdan asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Aurora chuckled. "Katia is fine, but she is not a future skooma…"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 13pt;""I'm kidding," Bogdan smiled. His eyes were half closed again, giving him an almost sardonic grin. His red tunic, which he rarely changed for something else, and trousers in a matching colour, were truly eye catching. They looked at one another in silence, the woman observing his attire, and Bogdan staring at her face. Aurora did not notice it, but he carefully observed her features – running from her slightly rounded and wide forehead, to the ridge of her nose, /spanspan style="font-size: 17.3333px;"nose tip/spanspan style="font-size: 13pt;", upper and lower lips and chin. Remembering his attire from the festival, she suddenly remembered their waltz./span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I did not expect you to know your waltz steps as well as you did," she smiled and raised her gaze to meet his eyes./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"He grinned too. "Having a father interested in balls helps."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""You mean being a Count's son?" Aurora chuckled./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"He looked at her, still with the drunken smile. "Sometimes, ballroom dancing is quite a pleasurable experience," he said. "When one can do so because one wants to, not due to the fact that you have to be a good host or guest."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Aurora looked at him. "You do have an inner earl in you after all."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Suddenly, they heard the sound of a door being shut. Bogdan and Auroroa turned around in the sofa and noticed Ratibor walking down the stairs without a tunic on, exposing his stomach, chest and arms. Aurora noticed that while he did not have a stomach which stood out compared to the rest of his body, he did indeed have what resembled puppy fat. Every part of him was wide./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Who's here?" he asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Olfina Grey-Mane and Idgrod the Younger," Aurora said. "Egor's showing them his paintings."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Ratibor brought a hand to his forehead and rubbed his right eye. The man walked slowly and appeared to feel somewhat ill. Perhaps he was hungover, Aurora thought as Ratibor sat down with Aurora and his brother in a chair next to them. The man was indeed big boned, Aurora thought as he sat down and leaned forward, resting his lower arms on his knees. The older Goldwine brother had a somewhat wide neck, a wide and large chest. It was rather hairy, albeit not black as his hair, though, but instead it had a brown colour. The dark circles around his eyes perfectly caught the colour of his black, silk trousers which, as opposed to Vecheslav's, were long. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""The women from the party?" he asked with a tired expression. It became obvious to Aurora that he had bought quite a few drinks the night before. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Aurora nodded and looked down at his shoes as she did so. However, suddenly and out of nowhere, Bogdan yelled. Aurora reacted by covering her ears immediately./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""What was that good for?" Ratibor complained, gripping his head in pain./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""To check how hung over you are," Bogdan smirked with his characteristic grin. "Where were you last night?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Ratibor cursed at his brother, or at least Aurora thought so, as he whispered something unintelligible. "With Olivia," he said, in a rather low tone./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Second night in a row, interesting," Bogdan said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Shut it," Ratibor replied. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""You should write a play about that, brother," Bogdan laughed. "How a noble walks through the rough quarters each morning, from his prostitute lover."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Ratibor raised a killing gaze toward his brother, but he refrained from saying anything as by then, a muffled sound was heard from downstairs. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Why are we letting in women we aren't sleeping with?" Ratibor asked, wrinkling his forehead./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Aurora looked at the man. "What?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 13pt;""Oh," he said. "We have a policy of not taking women who aren't at least our /spanspan style="font-size: 17.3333px;"mistresses/spanspan style="font-size: 13pt;" home. You are an exception, of course, considering the fact that you own the house," Ratibor said./span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""What a stupid rule," Aurora said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Hey, it's brilliant," Ratibor said. "Oskander and I imposed it after Bogdan started taking home drug dealers and his friends who were prostitutes to our apartment in the Imperial City when we were young."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""What's all the noise about?" Egor asked as he walked up the stairs./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Bogdan decided to challenge my patience," Ratibor said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""And his headache," Bogdan filled in happily./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""That's unorthodox," Egor said. "Ratibor, couldn't you've put a tunic on, we have guests."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Olfina, who emerged just behind Egor did not seem at all impressed. Idgrod reached the top of the stairs two seconds later and stopped very suddenly, as if she did not know where to look./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""No one wants to see your ugly corpus," Egor laughed./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I have the body of a God!" Ratibor exclaimed./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Maybe that of Malacath," Bogdan whispered, for which he received a slap from his brother./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Olfina rolled her eyes, Idgrod but was evidently entertained, considering the fact that she did her best to /spanspan style="font-size: 17.3333px;"suppress/spanspan style="font-size: 13pt;" a laughter./span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Aurora, can we go now?" Olfina asked in an annoyed tone, looking directly at her./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Ratibor, noticing Olfina's frustration, turned his attention to her./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""A new mouse, Egor?" he asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Oh, come on Ratib..." Egor began, throwing his arms out./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""You know the rules," Ratibor said as he got up from his chair. "If we're not sleeping with them, they're not welcome at Proudspire." Ratibor was obviously provoking Olfina, but at the same time, he looked as if his head was killing him. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Idgrod opened her mouth, but Olfina was quicker./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""That might explain why there are only prostitutes walking through those doors," she said angrily./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Ratibor and Egor looked at her with wrinkled foreheads, but the silence was broken as Bogdan burst out laughing. Aurora chuckled too./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""We're decent men," Egor said sternly./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""You, maybe, but that one looks like he needs a bath!" Olfina exclaimed rather loudly. She looked at Ratibor./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Lord Ratibor Goldwine's reputation is immaculate," Idgrod smiled./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Would you keep your voice down, lady Grey-Mane?" Ratibor asked Olfina, almost whispering./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Don't tell me what to do!" she hissed./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Calm the fuck down," Bogdan spoke calmly and looked at his brother./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""What's even going on here?" Egor asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I think it's time we go out for lunch," Aurora said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Yes, I think it's for the best," Idgrod said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I'm coming with you," Bogdan said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""No!" Olfina hissed./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Stop it, Olfie," Aurora said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Bogdan got up first and headed towards the door before there could be further protests. Olfina walked before Aurora, and Idgrod closed the line. As Olfina approached the door, Bogdan stepped aside and held it door open in a casual manner – Aurora doubted he had put much thought into it./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Olfina suddenly stopped, causing Aurora to walk straight into her. "Think you're being such a gentleman?" she asked sarcastically./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Bogdan rolled his eyes. "Just walk through the door, will you?" he asked in an annoyed tone./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I am perfectly capable of opening doors on my own!" Olfina exclaimed as Bogdan was about to lose his patience./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Olfina, come on," Idgrod said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Olfina crossed her arms. "I can..." she began. At that moment, Aurora pushed her hard in the back, making her leap forwards./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"The Jarl smiled smugly as she walked past the Grey-Mane. She let Idgrod pass her and move down the outer stairs. Bogdan came though the door last, but followed Idgrod down the stairs, leaving Aurora and Olfina at the top./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Oh, come on now, Olfina," Aurora said. "I know you're hurt, but you are being impossible."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Olfina threw an annoyed gaze at Aurora as Bogdan set off, leading Idgrod towards the Winking Skeever. The Jarl walked behind Bogdan and Idgrod and listened to their conversation. The woman was asking plenty of questions to a nonchalant and slightly rude Goldwine. Meanwhile, Olfina was making it very evident that she felt insulted and disrespected – something Aurora would not care about./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""How is Kvatch like?" Idgrod asked Bogdan, looking at him as they hurried through the snow./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Bogdan walked with his hands in his pockets. He was never a man to run, however, the chilly wind made him hurry as much as the ever so lazily moving Imperial could without putting too much effort into it. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""There are worse towns," he answered nonchalantly. "Why don't you go there yourself?" he asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Perhaps I will," Idgrod smiled./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Aurora noticed Idgrod looking at the Imperial man. She had a warm and friendly expression, while Bogdan came across as completely unresponsive. He had reached the door to the Winking Skeever and opened it for Idgrod, who had placed herself just in front of it. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""My brother would love to accommodate you," he said with a tone which Aurora recognised as sarcastic when coming from him. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Idgrod had passed through the door, an Bogdan followed her closely, not bothering to hold it for Aurora, who chuckled at Bogdan's un-lordly behaviour. He was freezing and not hiding it, albeit neither was he bringing it up. Aurora pushed the door hard so that Olfina too would have time to run past it before it closed. Meanwhile, Bogdan was looking through the inn, deciding where to sit down. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""And you, milord?" Idgrod asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Bogdan was barely listening to her, being busy finding a table large enough to accommodate four people, however, her unexpected reference to him as "lord" awoke him somewhat. Aurora knew him well enough to see this was the case as his facial movements changed. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I'm not planning on ever moving back," he said before setting off toward a table close to the bar, leaving the women./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""He doesn't want to have you over," Olfina said, pushing her shoulder and following Bogdan./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Idgrod ignored her. "Why?" she asked, having hurried past Olesia and quickly reaching a chair./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Aurora looked around the Winking Skeever as she knew Vecheslav was bound to be somewhere there. She found him sitting in a corner, leaning over what she could only assume to be a parchment roll. She stopped for a while, observing him, before taking a seat next to Olesia and opposite Idgrod. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Because I'm not Lord Goldwine," Bogdan said as he leaned back in his chair. "I'm just a writer."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"The girl whose father owned the place walked up to Aurora and made a curtsy. "What are you serving today?" Aurora asked in a low tone./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Soup and stew," she said. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Four stews, and a bottle of Redguard wine, please."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"The girl, who was about twelve or thirteen, nodded before quickly setting off towards the kitchen. Idgrod and Bogdan appeared to be involved in a discussion, or rather, something resembling a hearing, as Idgrod was the one asking all questions. Olfina had crossed her arms over her chest and was showing with all her facial movements and body language that she was not pleased being there./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""But you are second in line to the throne," Idgrod said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I have an older brother who'll eventually be forced to marry and produce an heir, even though my father takes a considerate position when it comes to Ratibor."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""How old is your brother?" Idgrod asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""30."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""He's old to be a bachelor," she stated./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I guess that's what father thinks too," Bogdan said. "Although he hasn't protested yet."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Your father is allowing him to marry out of love?" Idgrod asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I guess so, but Ratibor is probably challenging his patience."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""And you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I care not for power or inheritance," Bogdan said. "And Ratibor will always pay my debts regardless of my father's wishes."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""You're lucky," Idgrod smiled./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Bogdan was not happy./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Yeah…" he said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Olfina, put on a neutral look at least," Aurora whispered./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Bogdan crossed his legs and lit a smoking stick on the candle that was burning in front of them. Idgrod had probably noticed that Bogdan was short in his answers to her questions and did not quite know what to say. Olfina was still bitter and not particularly talkative./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Was Egor's exhibition of any interest?" Aurora asked to get the conversation restarted./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""It was alright," Olfina said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""You liked it," Idgrod said. "And so did I. He is very talented."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Oh, Egor's one of the best contemporary painters in all of Tamriel," Bogdan said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""And the other one, Vecheslav?" Idgrod asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""He's not a painter, he's a poet, and without any hesitation the best one. Well... at least the most popular one."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""News don't reach Skyrim very fast," Idgrod said. "I'll have a look at his work. Do you know where I can find it?" she asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""He's over there," Bogdan answered and tilted his head toward the corner where the dark haired man was indeed working, not understanding, or at least ignoring Idgrod's hint./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 13pt;""And your reputation, Bogdan Goldwine..." Idgrod began, /spanspan style="font-size: 17.3333px;"twitching/spanspan style="font-size: 13pt;" her head and smiling. /span/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Yes, what about it?" he asked in a stern, almost annoyed manner./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Is it true?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Bogdan looked at her with a tired expression. "What do you want to know?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""How many women have you had?" she asked./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"He rolled his eyes. "Why?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""No... just..."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I'm afraid I will disappoint you," he said. "I don't really know what you are implying. Yes, I drink. Yes, I don't work from a nobility's perspective, as writing novels isn't seen as a real job for someone of my background. Some would say I'm a lazy bastard."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Oh, that's not what I've heard at all!" Idgrod exclaimed. "But there are rumours of…" she leaned over. "Women of the night."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Bogdan smiled, yet again with his eyes half closed and his face becoming even rounder as he did so. His sideburns were truly hideous, Aurora thought. His redeeming features, the almost turqoise eyes and beautiful, narrow, long nose did not manage to distract from the poorly chosen facial hair style. "I am friends with them, not a client. They have never made gold off me," he chuckled./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Sincerely?" Idgrod asked, wrinkling her forehead in disbelief. "Why?"/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I feel a belonging to them. To all outcasts of society. The poor, the drunken, the abandoned," he spoke calmly with his usual, soothing voice which was quite pleasant to listen to as he blew out smoke. "Prostitutes are excellent people, and far more honest than nobility."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Idgrod did not know what to say and Aurora understood he had crossed the line. Olfina had not really grown up in that society, and Idgrod came from a very poor hold. The people Aurora believed Bogdan was talking about were old noble families with money. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""For being em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"so/em open minded, you are quick to judge nobility," Olfina said, crossing her arms./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""I'm not saying there is no one honest among nobility," Bogdan replied, still calm as ever. He was sitting with one arm on the backrest, one leg over the other, and holding the smoking stick with three fingers. "Aurora for instance. Or if to take an example where the person was wealthy from birth, Eupaxia, who now is Countess of Chorrol," he spoke as he exhaled smoke. "In fact, she is liked by both nobility and the intellgensia alike. Father and I hoped Ratibor would propose to her. Such a shame, really."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Aurora remembered meeting her at the party in the Imperial City. She was the most stunning woman the Jarl had ever encountered, and she immediately felt self-consious when thinking about her. Eupaxia was witty, funny, and completely self confident. Bogdan also spoke of her with such praise in his tone that Aurora felt even more perturbed. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Olfina used to be a barmaid before the civil war," Aurora said. She wanted Bogdan to know that Olfina was not as arrogant and spoilt as his impression of her probably was./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""How appropriate then that her uncle is now Jarl of Whiterun Hold and she is the only unmarried female relative. Close friend of the Jarl of Haafingar too. She can pick and choose her suitors, without ever having to worry about everyday problems like many others," he replied, calmly as ever, still smoking in the same position as before./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Yeah, but without freedom!" Olfina hissed. "Not everyone's head of family would allow their children run around, making friends with prostitutes and do nothing for a living." Olfina looked as if she was boiling with rage./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""What do you mean?" Idgrod asked Olfina./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""It's just unfair," she said./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Life's a dance on roses for some," Olfina said, looking at Bogdan./span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Bogdan stared at the table. "My life a dance on roses?" Bogdan asked. He looked severe. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""You can do what you want, which is to get drunk all the time, keep whatever lowlife friends you want, and never having to worry about anything."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""That's a deceitful picture, isn't it?" he asked. "The roses are beautiful, soft and smell of perfume. A carpet of luxury and beauty. But what's beneath it all? Razor sharp thorns that tear through the soles of one's feet, adding the colour of blood to that of the roses. Then the likes of you come: em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"dance/em, they command. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Dance, for there is no blood, merely flowers. Everything you feel is a lie/em." Bogdan was throwing a boiling gaze at Olfina. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Can you two please stop accusing each other of things the other knows nothing about?" Aurora asked. "I am way too tired to handle this, and only wanted a nice lunch with my friends."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"The atmosphere had grown immensely tense and Aurora did not quite know how to steer the conversation into the right direction. She felt that both Bogdan and Olfina were being impossible with one another and had decided to be as mean as possible. The food arrived as the group sat in total and complete silence, with Aurora and Idgrod being uncomfortable and the other two seemingly boiling with rage. /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Lord…" Idgrod began. Bogdan rolled his eyes in irritation, and she lowered her voice. "Bogdan, I mean… I'm sorry for us simply walking in like that. We did not mean to catch your brother without... his clothes."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""Didn't Egor warn you that we were coming?" Aurora asked, thankful that the subject had at least changed. "Egor invited Idgrod during the Burning of Olaf festival party."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;""No," Bogdan grinned. "It's typical of him."/span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;" /span/p
p class="MsoNoSpacing"span style="font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: 'Verdana',sans-serif;"Olfina still looked at Bogdan as if she could kill him any minute. /span/p