Aurora went to Proudspire in the late afternoon after a non-productive day's work. She had been unable to focus on the tasks she had before her but tried to push herself to concentrate. After many hours of torturing herself, the woman decided to give up and look for a good time at the manor instead. As she knocked on the door, no one opened. She knocked again, but to no avail. A minute or two later, she just entered.

The first floor of the house was empty and no candles were lit as far as she could see. The Jarl looked around before deciding to have a look on the upper floor. She pressed the wine bottle she had brought, and walking up the stairs, she thought she heard a sound from one of the bedrooms, which made her smile a little. She walked past Ratibor's open door and approached Bogdan's closed one. If someone was home, it would probably be him, Aurora thought.

She leaned in and put her ear against Bogdan's door, listened for a few seconds, then knocked. A few moments later, he opened. He looked calm, matching the atmosphere in his chamber, as he let her in. Aurora entered and felt a warmth – the red fabrics and golden details created a sensual, pleasant mood, and the soft candlelight almost made her sleepy. Candleholders were spread out across the room, some standing on top of the many book towers Bogdan had built as the shelves were completely full – with books being pushed together in an uncomfortably tight manner.

"Are you the only one here?" she asked, turning around to face him.

"Ratibor dragged me with him to the Winking Skeever to write this morning – I barely got myself free. Egor and Umbranox are out eating," he said and dumped a book on his table.

The man was waring a large, white tunic, which was tight at the cuffs and loose elsewhere. There were ruffles on the neck, just like on Egor's shirt the other night at her dinner party. Looking down, Aurora noticed that the trousers were from his blue outfit, which he wore seldom, but the woman was certain she had seen him in before.

"White today?" she asked.

"Well, I must prove Egor wrong, must I not?" he grinned and threw his arms out to the sides, but in a slow and controlled manner.

Aurora chuckled for a moment before losing her smile and breaking eye contact, looking down to the floor.

"What are you up to?" he asked.

"I've been called to Whiterun," she said and looked up at him again. "A Jarls' meeting."

He observed her, wrinkling his forehead. "You don't want to go."

She shook her head. "But I have no choice. We're going to discuss the regulatory development."

"Sounds boring," Bogdan said.

Aurora turned her gaze toward his table again, wishing to change the subject. She gestured toward three books which were lying there as if someone had just thrown them there. "Are these yours?" she asked.

He nodded, and she walked up to the table, caressing the front of one of the novels. "Will you read for me?" she asked and held up her bottle, smiling. "I brought wine."

Bogdan grinned sardonically, then came up to her, placing himself a few inches behind her. He too drew with a finger over the face of one of the books."My novels won't make you whole," he spoke in a low tone over her shoulder. "They didn't make me."

"One can always hope and dream," Aurora smiled and turned her head as far to the right she could, in order to see at least part of Bogdan, who was still standing almost directly behind her.

"I wonder if my dreams are aware that they are supposed to come true?" Bogdan replied, to which both chuckled.

He looked at her with his eyes half-closed, standing so close to her that he could probably feel the scent of her newly washed hair. Then his grin grew wider and he took a step to the side and leaned down, pulling out a drawer under his table, and retrieved two glasses. He placed them on one of the books before reaching for Aurora's bottle of wine. She let go of it, and he neatly opened the cork by biting it and pulling. It opened with a clonk.

"Let's bet," he said as he began pouring. "Whoever finishes the glass last has to do the reading."

He poured to the top of the glass, with the wine nearly spilling over. Aurora never drank wine like that and was laughing at his technique. "Hey, it's pouring over!"

He chuckled as he placed the bottle on the table and looked at Aurora. He gestured with his hands toward the glasses, then leaned in to suck at least some of the liquid, enabling him to take the glass into one hand and finishing the rest. Aurora was quicker, though, and less careful about spilling.

Bogdan knew he had lost about half way in, as he was looking at the woman while drinking. Upon finishing, he chuckled and reached for the bottle again, refilling their glasses and thereby emptying the bottle. He then took a step closer to her, lowering the distance between them to roughly a foot while grinning. Looking each other in the eyes, they both drank, this time slower, but still emptied the content of their glasses in one go.

He smiled while looking at her, drunkenly and intensively. "I am still sober, but promise to return."

She looked at the man for a while before understanding his joke, then broke out in a wide grin. He followed suit before gesturing toward the bed.

Aurora turned around and placed her glass on the nightstand before jumping up to the bed and crawling toward the headrest, finding a comfortable position. Bogdan reached into a drawer in his table for another bottle of wine, then joined the woman. Aurora was leaning her head against the headboard in a half-sitting position, keen on having a cozy evening in an atmosphere she loved. As Bogdan began reading, she closed her eyes and imagined the scenes he was describing.

It had been many hours as Bogdan turned the last page, red the final paragraph, and closed the book. Aurora was lying on her right side with her cheek resting on her hand. She turned her gaze up to Bogdan's face and smiled at the man. He had slid further and further down as the evening progressed, and was lying almost flat on his back, with only his head being sort of vertical against the headboard.

It was a bit past midnight and the candles were burning out. Aurora reached for the book with her left hand and pulled it away from the man, placing it behind herself. Bogdan looked at her as she did so. "Why are you doing this?" she asked.

"What?"

"Reading to me. So often when I have bad nights in front of me," she spoke with a soft voice. "What do you get out of it?"

"Someone actually reads my work," Bogdan grinned down on her.

She smiled. "Is that the only reason?"

He observed her for a while, no longer smiling, apparently being in his own thoughts. His hair had been flattened at the back of his head from resting it on the headboard, and his eyes were barely seen from underneath the large upper eyelids as he was placed higher than Aurora. His white shirt had creased, and the ruffles were positioned in all kind of different positions.

"It is relaxing," he spoke after a while. "If I weren't with you, I'd either be high on frost salts or, at best, at the Dockhouse – drinking," he continued before looking up in the ceiling. "Reading for someone gives my mind some form of structure to focus on, rather than having thoughts senselessly run around in my head."

"Why are we only reading your own work?" she asked.

He chuckled. "You don't like it."

"Oh, that's not it. I'm just curious to why you are reading something you already know everything about."

He looked at her again. "Perhaps, like all people, I seek validation."

He was serious, but not stern, as he spoke. The woman looked at the man's face and tried to dig deeper into his soul – Bogdan was such an interesting person, and she knew there was plenty more to learn to know in him. She respected his intelligence and rich inner life, which was on a level she had not encountered before. To her, he was some sort of mystery, which unfolded in front of her very eyes if she asked the right questions or steered the conversation in a direction where he had something to say – something new in Aurora's world.

He turned to his left side and slid down completely, so that his head was on a pillow, and on the same level as Aurora's. The woman moved closer to him so that they were only three or four inches apart with their faces. She felt inexplicably relaxed and at ease – the cozy atmosphere in the room and the dim light from the candles surely contributed a great deal, but the calm nature of the man was contagious.

Aurora looked down and realised that their knees were almost touching as they lay sideways, facing one another. She then turned her gaze back to his eyes. "Why from me?" she asked. "Why not from your brother, or society, or…?"

"I do seek validation from the world around me," he answered calmly. "In different forms. But why I spend hours reading to you…? Well, you are a willing victim of hearing my novels."

She chuckled. "They are amazing. It is as if you have entered the mind of a different person and can tell everything about him – every last detail of their insecurities, ambitions… Even those the characters are not aware of themselves. It's so… rhythmic and flowy…"

"Oh, Ace," he smiled. "Although I'm happy to hear that they don't bore you… This is not what I am out for. Your active participation speaks more than words. And the most important thing for me is just… You're here."

She looked him in the eyes and smiled. The pair had been drinking throughout the evening, and both were tipsy, which contributed to Aurora's feeling of being happy and calm. Just listening to the sound of his voice was soothing, but learning about philosophical concepts, historical events and references to other works of literature was a pure joy. Bogdan was immensely well-read, and it became very obvious upon spending hours and hours hearing him read his novels.

He looked beautiful as he lay in front of her – almost as if arisen from one of Egor's paintings. Having shared an intimate evening together, in complete openness when it came to Bogdan giving Aurora access to his intellectual and spiritual life, and him feeling so familiar and close, she felt a strong connection to him. She felt secure and safe, respected and wished for, and his gaze at that point… It must have been one of longing – one of wishing to be as close to her physically as they were mentally. They had merely looked at one another in silence for a long while, and Aurora wondered whether he would kiss her. She wanted affection – she wanted the physical contact and love.

The woman lowered her gaze, almost entirely closing her eyes, and moved closer to him – touching the tip of his nose with her own. Bogdan was looking at her with his usual, drunken expression and eyes half-closed.

"Ace," he whispered after two seconds. "You act like a drunkard," he smiled. Kindly – there was no gibe in his tone.

Aurora opened her eyes and wondered how to save face in that situation. "Oh, I'm the drunkard?" she exclaimed a moment later, chuckling.

Bogdan smiled in his usual manner. He had not retracted from her, though, and their noses were still almost touching. Aurora felt how her pulse had gone up from being ever so slightly nervous about having done something wrong. Perhaps the man sensed this change in her, for he leaned up on his left underarm, rolling on top of her with his right shoulder and part of his chest. He placed his forehead against hers, having his eyes closed.

"Bogdan?" she asked in a low tone, with her eyes closed.

"Mm?"

"Thank you for reading to me."

She could hear how he broke out in a slight, but still evident smile. A moment later, he tilted his head so that their foreheads were no longer touching, and instead rubbed his nose against hers. She could sense his breath as he did so, and the warm, somewhat sharp tip felt like caressing. He had put his right hand softly over her left ear and held her head. "How about tea?" he asked tenderly.

"How about wine?" she chuckled.

Bogdan laughed, and she could feel a short touch of his beard against her chin. "Either way, we'll have to move downstairs."

She smiled and opened her eyes, thereby meeting his gaze. He gave her a wider grin before retracting and leaning back on both his lower arms. "After you," he said.

Aurora grinned. "Oh, so we're being a gentleman today?"

Bogdan chuckled and then pushed her hard in the side. "Get up."

Aurora threw her legs over the edge of the bed and followed his instructions. She approached the door slowly, but did not hear his steps. As she reached the door, she turned around and saw that he was still in bed, leaning forward, as if in the process of getting up. "I'm coming, I'm coming," he said and gestured for her to continue.

Aurora chuckled and went toward the staircase. As she touched the stair railing, she noticed voices downstairs and stopped for a moment, trying to recognise whose it was. Bogdan approached her from behind, however, so she continued to descend, and some steps later, she saw all the remaining men of Proudspire in the living room. Ratibor was half-sitting, half-lying in one of the armchairs, Vecheslav lying flat in the sofa, and Egor was standing with a glass of wine in his hand not far from the staircase.

"Hey, guys," Aurora grinned as she walked down.

"Oh, you are here," Egor smiled. "We thought we lost Bogdan to drunkenness but I assume he's upstairs… ah, you're still here," he added, looking at the younger Goldwine brother, who had just appeared behind Aurora.

Bogdan grinned and pointed his index finger at Egor before bursting out in laughter. Aurora turned her head to look at Bogdan for a short while before descending the last few stairs and walking up to Egor. "What have you guys been up to?" she asked.

The painter grinned. "Vecheslav and I have been drinking with Ataf from the College."

"Drunk?" Aurora asked.

"Tipsy," Egor grinned.

Bogdan entered the room, wingling down the stairs with a sarcastically flirty gaze towards Egor, who winked back at him.

"Ignore them," Ratibor yelled from his armchair without raising his gaze.

Egor, Bogdan and Aurora broke out in laughter. The younger Goldwine embraced Egor while the woman approached Ratibor in his armchair. She sat down on the armrest and fell back over Ratibor's legs, hurting her back against the other armrest in the process. This caused her to giggle at her misdemeanor while the man gave out an "woah!" and put his left arm around her shoulders way too late to save her from hurting herself.

She was in a playful mood and enjoyed the fact that he had, albeit too late, tried to protect her. The woman leaned in on him and placed her right cheek on his shoulder, looking up at him. "Hi," she grinned.

He had his left arm around her back, and gathered his hands on the lower part of her left ribs by also covering her stomach with his right arm. A part of his hair had flown forwards as he tried to catch Aurora, and she pulled at this with her head as she leaned on his shoulder. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" Ratibor asked as he pulled his head to the right in order to free the piece of hair which was stuck underneath the woman's cheek.

"I was promised wine," she spoke with a dreamy tone.

Vecheslav was looking at them in a perplexed manner while Egor and Bogdan were talking about something with their arms around one another and being in an excellent mood.

"What have you men been up to?" Aurora asked Ratibor, sitting up straight with her head turned towards him.

"I've been writing, as was Vecheslav planning to – until that guy showed up and they got drunk instead, chattering about Bruma," Ratibor replied in a positive, casual manner as he looked toward Egor who had bent over double, laughing at something Bogdan said.

She observed the man whose lap she was sitting on. His dark hair had grown even longer now. It smelled pleasantly of snowberries and held his waves nicely. She decided to draw the fingers of her right hand through it. Ratibor looked at Vecheslav and grinned as he answered her gesture by placing the palm of his right hand on the back of the woman's head and making circles with his fingers on her scalp. Aurora drew her shoulders up to her ears and closed her eyes. She loved the sensation – it was as if a warm, tingly stream had gone through her and stopped the time.

"In all fairness, Ratibor, I had been writing for five hours straight when Egor arrived. So I think I deserved a glass or two," Vecheslav replied.

"Or a bottle," Egor had exclaimed from the base of the staircase, grinning, with Bogdan still clinging to him.

Aurora was still observing Ratibor, and particularly his facial features, which she found agreeable. Something inside of her felt anxious, and she longed to be close to someone to deafen that feeling. She kissed Ratibor on the cheek. He was surprised, but did not protest.

"What on Nirn are the two of you up to?" Vecheslav asked.

"I'm being abused," Ratibor spoke nonchalantly.

"For real, guys..." Vecheslav said.

"Why are you only asking them?" Egor asked. "I thought we'd caught your attention," the man continued while standing shoulder to shoulder with a grinning Bogdan, with one arm around the other man's back, and placed the other hand on Bogdan's cheek. He quick kissed Bogdan on the mouth as the trio's gazes were turned to them, and then began to chuckle like pigs together with the younger Goldwine brother.

Vecheslav looked sternly at Egor and Bogdan, as if he was holding back an eye roll, then turned back to the pair in the armchair. "Ratibor? Aurora?"

"She's only fooling around with me, I'm just as surprised as you are," Ratibor said, nonchalantly again.

"Hey, be grateful for my attention," Aurora said with her face close to his.

Ratibor looked at her and gave out an obvious fake smiled. "I'm the only sober one of you lot."

"He doesn't appreciate it like I do," Bogdan yelled from afar and smirked a little with the right side of his mouth.

Aurora caught his gaze and smiled too, while Vecheslav completely ignored the painter and the younger Goldwine brother. "You'd be a good pair," he said.

Aurora and Ratibor both looked at him with killing gazes. As it turned out, Egor did something similar by rolling his eyes.

"Wish to marry me, Aurora?" Ratibor asked, ever so indifferently.

"No," she answered quickly.

"See? Nothing either one of us can do," Ratibor said while looking at the tall man in the sofa.

"You didn't ask her right."

"Oh, pardon me. Aurora, do you wish to sleep with me?" Ratibor asked as he turned his head to Aurora and raised his eyebrows as he made an amusing grimace.

"Right now, I'd sleep with just about anyone," she said and collapsed in laughter in his arms.

Ratibor looked at Vecheslav – probably with a gaze pleading for help, but the man was not planning on helping his friend out. "She does have a thing for older men," he smiled instead.

"I do not!" Aurora exclaimed, suddenly looking up at Vecheslav.

"How much older are you, Ratibor?"

Now the older Goldwine looked up with a killing gaze once again. He tried to free himself from Aurora's grip. "Go and shit yourself," he muttered to the man in the sofa as he pushed the woman's legs upward before pushing himself off the armchair, leaving her piled up in it.

"It's six years, isn't it?"

"If you like her so much, why don't you ask her instead?" Egor asked.

Vecheslav ignored him.

"I hate marriage planners," Ratibor said, now standing up.

"Both of you are supposed to marry and produce an heir, you especially," he said and looked at Ratibor. "You're 30."

"Thankfully, you aren't my father," Ratibor replied and walked into the hall. Before he disappeared out of view, he stopped and turned around. "If something would happen between Aurora and me, I'm sure you'd be the first to know," he added and walked to the right. A moment later, they could all hear the entrance door being opened and closed.

Aurora expressed her frustration by bashing her palms onto the armchair. No one wanted to cuddle with her and she hated the negative feeling which was creeping up on her.

"Now's your chance!" Egor exclaimed to Vecheslav, laughing.

She threw off her coat and began to unfasten the hooks and ties which held her dress together while the tears were burning in her eyes. The corset would not untie, and the feeling of yet another thing going wrong made her cry out loud as she was pulling on the strings. It just would not untie, so she gathered both her hands on the string and pulled as hard as she could until it snapped and she started pulling at different places on the corset to free herself. The woman then slipped out of her overskirt and threw herself on the bed. She felt so alone, and was completely miserable about it. She felt she had not been enough for Vilkas and wondered what she did wrong. Not even the men currently in her life found her attractive.