Hullo, everybody! Happy reading! Please review, and I hope you enjoy! -LR

I don't run out of the room; I walk.

Danica seems confused, as if she can't see how I'm able to keep from running to the front room. But, Shazaa knows I can't and won't do it; he takes his sweet time, straightening his shirt and slipping on his boots. Segen knows I can't and won't do it; I am a Redguard mother.

I reach the room, and he's there, standing straight. His heavy black cloak hangs from his shoulders; he seems so tall.

Whose child is this?

It's terrifying me; he doesn't look like himself. My mother used to have the same to say, when we had been out playing for most of the day, that we no longer looked like her children. We had, by the time we'd returned to her, met strange new people, seen different things, and therefore were different. I know that feeling now, that my child has become strange to me.

I hate it.

"Are you alright?" I ask, my voice cool and clipped.

"Aye, Mana," he tells me, mismatched eyes level. "I'm alright."

I nod, my relief evident. "Good." I slap his face soundly.

He keeps it turned, cheek against his shoulder. His eyes are hard, breaths are hard as he heaves them softly, his brow narrowed.

I am a Redguard mother.

We don't coddle. We teach.

Segen turns his face back to me, accepting his crime, against me and my orders as his mother. The facade of his impassivity breaks, his lower lip trembling just slightly and his brows pushing together. I can relent now, and I open my arms to him. He closes the distance between us in two steps, pressing the top of his head against my stomach.

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "I'm sorry, Mana."

"Me, too," I say softly, drawing him close. "Me, too."

Discreetly, I look him over, ignoring his reassurance that he's alright. I notice that his cloak is mostly clean, only muddied at the bottom corners' edges. He's been on horseback. I kiss him in the middle of his head, and ruffle his hair, leaving him to open the door.

Kematu stands under the shelter of my stable by his horse, staring back at me through the heavy snow fall.

I see it now.

I see it all.

He somehow got a hold of Segen in Whiterun. And, he kept him away from me, to give Shazaa a chance to confront me. Strategically speaking, it was an ideal time for Shazaa to make his case to me because I had no husband. The only way it could be better was if I had no son.

Kematu held on to my boy, to give Shazaa his chance.

I narrow my gaze as he breaks eye-contact, fussing with his horse's tack.

Something made him change his mind, though. He's brought Segen back too early, otherwise this plan would have been perfect.

Again, strategically speaking.

It was most likely guilt that made him hold Segen and help Shazaa, considering it had been my tryst with Kematu that Shazaa believed separated he and I. Now, my thought is that maybe guilt has made him bring Segen back.

Kematu throws a wool blanket over his horse's back, and drags one down for himself, rustling straw into a pile to lay in. I can't help my smile; I know that it's guilt. He feels he's wronged me and my son, and so won't ask for my hospitality.

Why else would he be bedding down in my stable in a raging blizzard instead of asking to be let in?

"Oh, Kematu."

By midnight, I manage to coax him into the front room.

As big as he is, he looks boyishly ashamed, dark eyes downcast and hulking shoulders sagging.

"Can you ever forgive me?"

I study him, snow peppering his mohawk of dreadlocks, dripping at his cloak and soaking his leather boots. His brow is still and straight, as he focuses his attention on my feet. Beyond me, in the house, Segen sits on the stair, aware of my awareness of him and uncaring of it. Shazaa looks on from his guest room. He must be furious, but he hides it well.

Kematu is at my absolute mercy.

He could not feel any lower if he were buried under the manor.

I cock my head to the side, surveying him.

"Forgive you? Why, whatever for?" I turn on my heel, throwing the inside door to the main hall wide open and striding into the kitchen. "Come in and change," I call over my shoulder. "Before you track snow and straw through my halls."

"I got the impression that he thought Iman was Segen's mother."

I sputter into my mead, laughing hard.

"He what?"

"He met the boy in the city. Apparently, he came up on his own. Looking for you."

I shake my head in awe, looking up towards his darkened room, smirking.

"That kid."

"Takes after his mother," he says with a wink. I roll my eyes but I can't hide my grin. Kematu waits a beat before adding, "His father, too." My brows pull in and I glance at him hard. "They grew very close in those hills, Rontu. Very close. I think…" He leans closer, "... I think he might know who his father is."

I jolt up from my chair, shaking my head furiously, knuckle between my teeth.

"HOW."

"Rontu-"

"How!"

He sighs.

"According to the boy, he… he found a letter. Hidden away, behind a stone in that refugee house. A letter, he said, from you." I shut my eyes against his words. I wish the ground would open up and swallow me. "After that, he did everything in his power to get his father to learn to read." His shoulders lift and fall. "If he was successful in that endeavor, it stands to reason that Marrick knows that Segen is his son."

"If he knows that Segen is his, then he must know that Segen is mine," I mutter. "Even if he's been with thousands of women these past years, it's simple arithmetic to know I'm the mother."

We sit in silence, thinking over all these things, the crackling fire before us and the screaming wind outside the only sound.

"It's not so bad, Rontu," he says gently. "It's not so bad."

I shake my head no.

"Everything I've fought to maintain is falling apart around me. I can't save it. I can't save it, and it's nobody's fault but my own."

Kematu covers my hand with his, and I turn my wrist so I can hold it.

"Rontu. I know you're in pain," he tells me. "But, there's always something that can be done. I was wrong for bringing Shazaa here to you; I broke my word. I fouled my honor." He shakes his head. "But you and I both know, that whatever words you had with him, were long overdue. Almost a decade overdue." Kematu leans closer to me, counting of on his fingers. "Safety? Comfort? Happiness? Sometimes, these things are just a conversation away. Just a matter of getting everyone on the same page."

He raises his arm and points towards the door.

"Out there, is another conversation that never came to be. And, I could not call myself your friend, Rontu, if I didn't beg you not to let it be another five years before you speak to this man. Not with the crimes you've committed against him."

I jerk my hand away from his.

"Against him?" My brow is drawn in my chin raised challengingly. "Do you dare to say that to me? Do you know what this man did to me? How can you sit there and take his side like-"

"Because, I know what it's like!" he bellows. I fall silent. "Do you think yours is the only imperfect love story?" His hand reclaims mine, his gaze trained on mine beseechingly. "I know what it means to lie in order to protect who you love the most. For years, I had to abandon my wife and my sons to throw the Dominion off their scent, so don't you dare sit there and tell me otherwise. For all you know, it's the same way for him. Maybe worse." I sink my teeth into my lower lip, glancing away bitterly. "How dare I?" He shakes his head vehemently. "That question? And, to me? No, my dearest sister. How dare you."

"Kematu, I . . ."

There are no words I can say.

He nods up the stairs, towards Segen's room.

"What you've experienced these past weeks, is nothing- nothing, compared to the pain that boy's father must feel. You've robbed him of something that is equal parts yours and his. They belong to each other just as much as Segen belongs to you, and that man is five years robbed of that." He half laughs in wonder. "When I tell you that they grew so close in such short time together . . . it's no exaggeration. And, to think with a connection like that, he wasn't there during your pregnancy. He wasn't able to ever hold his child. His son. Was never able to see him hold his first sword or string his first bow- by the grace of Stenndar, I can't even imagine." He puts his fist to his teeth, bewildered. "What a cruel and heartless woman you've become, Rontu O'Naharis. Don't get me wrong; I know very well that your life has made a wounded woman out of you. But, don't ever think it hasn't made a wounded man of him, too."

I swallow hard. Some things, you forget when you're absorbed in your own world.

"I'm sorry," I whisper. It's all that I can say. "I'm sorry, Kematu, I-" The tears come hot in my eyes and down my cheeks. "I don't know what to do."

Kematu's hard look relents and he reaches over to thumb away a stray tear.

"Have the conversation," he tells me. "Have the conversation, first with your boy. Truly, it is the only thing you can do."

Kematu raises his brow at me expectantly, and I nod, "Oge."

He smiles.

"My Attic Flower," he says softly. "Don't take for granted what I and others like me would gladly kill for. Don't take for granted the chance to have your whole family together." I nod again, and he smiles again before leaning over to kiss my face and rising abruptly to his feet. "I will see you again soon," he says, resolved.

"What?" I'm started out of my feelings. "You just got here; there's a blizzard raging!"

"What's so different between it and the sandstorms of home?" He shrugs. "This is partly my fault, for encouraging Shazaa."

I stumble after him as his quick strides take him into the front room.

"Kematu, wait! Kematu, where are you going?"

"I have unfinished business in Whiterun," he announces, pulling open the door. The cold strikes me, and he turns suddenly, taking me aback. He studies my face for a few moments before smiling wide. "Business between myself, and another father. And, more accurately, between myself and a man who has wronged someone I love dearly. There are two sides to every story, after all. It's time someone got his."

"Kematu . . ."

He nods towards the inside door behind me.

"You have a conversation of your own to have with your boy," he says, his eyes warm and serious. "There are two sides to every story, after all."

Just like that, he's gone.

My tears and my smile are not.

I'm not surprised to find, when I climb the stairs, that Segen is not asleep.

He sits, wide awake, his back to me, on the edge of his bed. Na'el sits pretty between his parted knees, her head perched on his knee as he strokes her face.

"All this time." He shakes his head and his shoulders rise and fall. "All this time, I didn't even know his name. You didn't even . . . even tell me his name." Those shoulder tense and his voice grows sharp. "You didn't even give me his name!"

I say nothing. I wait for him to finish.

"I mean, I- I thought you told me that he sacrificed being with us to save Skyrim. You said he loved me; loved me all to pieces." He's trembling, head shaking. "He didn't even know I existed!" He gives a harsh laugh through his tears. "And, let's not even bring up Saadia. Mana, did he even know you? You said he loved the both of us, but I don't see him worrying about your life the way you-"

I snatch him by the nape of his neck and whirl him around, jerking him close to my face.

"Don't you lose your tongue, little boy. Not with me," I say, my voice calm and cool. "Everything I did, I did to protect you. I did what I needed to; don't you ever, ever forget that." His lower lip trembles as his eyes dance back and forth between each of mine, discomfort ever-present as he now faces my truths. "So, no. He didn't love me anymore. Probably not ever." I let my shoulders rise and fall, and cock my head. "Are you satisfied?"

Segen shakes his head. "No," he whispers hoarsely.

I keep my face in his a few moments more. "I thought not." I relent and let him go.

He seems shocked still, at both his own words and at mine.

"Why didn't you tell him?" he asks, helplessly. "Why didn't you tell him I was coming?"

I shrug again, just as helpless.

"I didn't want to trap him in a family with a woman he didn't love. If my child was to have a father, he would be there out of love for us." I shake my head, "Not from obligation. I didn't want you to know that pain. It was the same that your father had with his parents. I couldn't do that to either of you."

Segen's mismatched eyes fall downcast.

"Oh," he says softly.

I wet my lips and sigh, before sitting down on his bed.

"Come here, baby," I say, reaching for him. "Come here, my little Chaos." Without hesitation, he clamber up onto the bed and into my lap; I hold him close. "I am so sorry," I say against his hair. "I thought that I was doing what was best, for both you and him. But, I didn't give either of you the choices you both deserved as father and son." His grip on me tightens, and I sigh again before kissing his forehead. "So, I hear you grew pretty close to him," I smirk, jostling him a bit. "What'd you think?"

He shrugs, "Well, he is a hero," he admits. "A lot of people are safe and warm and fed because of him."

I smile softly, "Yeah? What else?"

"His hair is so long!" he exclaims. "And, we have matching eyes! Well, my one matches his two. Oh! And, he's really brave. He was going to go to Swindler's Den all alone, to feed the refugees."

"Yeah? What else?" I chuckle.

"He's a pretty amazing thief and a good leader. Everybody listens to him. He's really smart, too. He picked up reading in just over a month!"

"Yeah?" I grin through my tears. "What else?"