The ride back home from Solitude was actually very boring. Karl slept the whole time, curled up against Vilkas like a lovestruck puppy dead set on making me vomit. Lydia and Vilkas both nodded in and out of sleep too, so I was left with my thoughts.
My thoughts were nowhere other than Windhelm. Ulfric and Galmar needed to know, sooner rather than later, and I wanted to be the one to bring them the word. After our wagon-ride together to Helgen, Ulfric and I had actually become sort of friends. Of course, I'd always admired the man, but actually getting to know him was different. He was incredibly level-headed for a rebellion leader. Though, nothing in the world compared to knowing someone who shared the same abilities as you.
The Voice is an incredible power, and it wasn't difficult for me to master. The feelings that came with it, though, the emotion, the hunger to use it again. It's difficult to find someone who can relate to it. Ulfric Stormcloak, however, was nothing but understanding.
After our meeting at High Hrothgar all those years ago, Ulfric and I hadn't remained in touch. Though I sided with him, doing whatever he wanted to cease the fighting so I could go to Skuldofn, after Sovngarde I wanted peace of mind. I wanted to spend my days in Lydia's arms, warm and silent.
The Nord in me wanted to fight, though. The dragon in me wanted blood. The thought of the Emperor's downfall was far too exciting for me, and I wanted to get to Windhelm as soon as possible.
As we climbed the steps of Jorrvaskr, I had already began my itinerary. Just ahead of us though, Karalissa and Vilkas exchanged a look, then bolted for the front door.
"What the hell?" I mumbled to Lydia, who only shrugged and followed behind them.
We pushed the door open, eager to see what was so important. Apparently, they'd heard the fight before us.
Aela was squared up to Njada and Farkas was holding her back. The majority of the whelps and Companions were scattered, but focused on the fight. Karalissa and Vilkas had made their way to the scuffle before we could, tossing their bags to the side.
Karalissa stepped up first. "What is the meaning of this?"
Aela laughed. "She's testing me, Lissa. She wants a fight."
Njada scoffed, her arms crossed. "I was just making an observation."
"It's none of your damned business, whelp." Aela spat through her teeth.
My sister pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why are we doing this again? Can we not act civilized? Can we not keep to ourselves?"
Njada snickered. "Keep to ourselves? That's funny, coming from someone just as bad as Aela."
Vilkas stepped forward, his hand on my sister's back. "What are you getting at, whelp? Spit it out or shut up."
Farkas tightened his grip around Aela, who was damned near ready to swing. "Calm down. It doesn't matter." he said to her.
"Keep to ourselves, you say?" Njada asked Kara, an eyebrow raised. "A very interesting suggestion from someone who also climbed the ranks of the Companions because the men here lust after you."
I felt my jaw drop, as did Lydia's, but Karalissa only laughed. "This is a truly pathetic display, Njada. I highly advise you stop now."
"Is it not true? You and Aela are part of the Circle because the twins are infatuated with you two." Njada pointed at Vilkas. "It doesn't matter who fancies them, who cares for them. As long as they get exactly what they want." Her gazed returned to Farkas. "Isn't that right, big boy?"
"I'm not going to warn you again, Njada." Aela said. Farkas' grip around her was steel.
Njada laughed, getting in Aela's face. "You slept your way into the Circle. You're too ashamed to admit it, but it's exactly what you did. Skjor died. You and Lissa killed your lover, and you had to find a new one so you could hold your position." She stepped back. "Good thing Farkas is dumb enough to fall for it."
My jaw was practically on the floor, but Lydia's hand on my arm kept me from moving at all. Vilkas was shaking, trembling beside Karalissa, who only stood with her arms crossed. Farkas and Vilkas exchanged a look, a nod. Then, Farkas just let Aela go.
Aela pounced on top of Njada, tearing off her helmet and beating her absolutely senseless. She had a good grip on her hair with her left hand, holding her head steady as she pounded against her face with her right fist.
Njada managed to get an arm free, backhanding Aela. It didn't bother her in the slightest, and she continued to pound against the whelp. After a moment, Njada wiggled to freedom, grabbing Aela's hair and shoving her back onto the ground. She smacked at Aela's face only once before Aela over powered her again, rolling her on her back and punching her repeatedly.
They tussled around for a moment longer, the Njada finally yielded. Aela got in one final blow before she was satisfied, then stood. As she wiped the blood from her face, she spit on Njada. Then, after fixing her tangled hair and straightening the skirt of her armor, Aela strode nonchalantly back to the living quarters, Farkas close behind her. No one in the room moved to help Njada, or even looked at her kindly for that matter. The faces of the room were filled with disgust and hatred, and even sadness.
My sister, who only squeezed Vilkas' arm to calm him down, walked slowly to Njada. The whelp had managed to pull herself off of the ground, and was sitting up, wiping blood from her nose. Karalissa leaned down to her and spoke, just loud enough for the whole room to hear.
"On the topic of holding your position, if you'd like to remain a Companion, you'd be wise to never say such a fucking terrible thing again. Don't even think it for that matter, and if that's an issue for you, you can leave. I won't tolerate anything like that. Ever again." Njada just blinked, seemingly as surprised at my little sister's bravado as I was. "Do we understand each other?"
Njada was silent for a moment, then she looked away. "Yes, Harbinger."
Karalissa nodded, then picked Njada's helmet up off of the floor and handed it to her. Then, she nodded to the rest of the Companions and retreated to the living quarters. Vilkas grabbed a tankard off of the long table as he passed, following behind Karalissa.
As she passed me, all my sister said was "Have fun in Windhelm."
I walked back through the halls of Jorrvaskr after going home for a while. Lydia had dragged me out of the mead hall, convincing me that everyone needed some time to simmer before I stuck my nose into everyone's business.
At home, Lydia and I had talked a bit about what we'd seen just hours before. She had told me all that she heard from Vilkas about Skjor, how the three had gone out hunting and he hadn't returned. But the things Njada had said, it made things a little confusing.
I wanted to talk to my sister, not to get information, but to make sure she was okay. I'd never, in my entire life, heard her say anything so menacing. I had no doubt she was stewing in silence, thinking about the fight.
As I approached her door, I waited for a moment, listening for movement or voices. When I heard none, I pushed the door open. Karl was inside at her table, her nose in a book and a loaf of bread in her hand. Judging from the amount of crumbs on the table, it wasn't her first loaf. Or her fifth.
She looked up, startled by my sudden entrance. She looked between me and the loaf, and she quickly tucked it away behind some papers on the desk.
"Stress-eating?" I asked, grabbing one of her other chairs and pulling it up to her.
"No." she said, shrugging. "Just a snack." My eyes darted between her and the crumbs, and she brushed them onto the floor. "Okay, maybe stress-eating."
I laughed a little. "Want to talk about it?"
She glared at me for a moment, then her face relaxed. "I don't know what to do with her."
"Njada?"
"Yes. This isn't the first time she's lashed out at Aela, and it's not the first time Aela's had a fight with her."
I felt my brow furrow. "So kick her out. Don't keep that kind of negativity in your house."
"It's more complicated than that, Cass." Karalissa said to me, leaning against her fist. "There's a lot to factor in."
"Well what she said wasn't true, right?"
Karalissa's face fell. "Well, no. Not all of it." She smiled at me for just a moment. "Aela and Skjor were in love, more in love than I've ever known anyone to be. What Njada said about Aela wasn't true. But…" Tears sprung to her eyes for a split-second, then she forced them away. "I do feel responsible for his death, Cassius. So much happened that night that was out of our hands, but the night wouldn't have happened if I hadn't gone along."
I felt my heart pulse with sadness, seeing my sister in tears. I knew my sister was an emotional person; she always had been. But I'd honestly never seen her so defeated, so guilty.
"Karl, that can't be true. Don't think that."
She sniffled. "I do." She looked away from me, down at her hands in her lap. "I feel responsible for a lot of the wrong that's been done to the Companions. Vilkas tries to convince me otherwise, and I try to convince myself. It just doesn't feel right." She blinked twice. "I'm lying to myself if I say it's my fault, but I'm lying to myself if I say it isn't."
I shifted uncomfortably, knowing what had to be done. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Karalissa looked up at me, her brows furrowed and her eyes watery. "You don't like to talk about things."
I shrugged. "Well, that's true. But I love you, Karl. I don't want you to feel like you can't tell me things. I don't want you to feel like I shut you out."
Karl thought for a moment, but she nodded. Then, she launched into the tale of her last year with the Companions. She told me about her arrival, her initiation. She told me the story of Skjor's death, and about how broken Aela had been, how my sister helped her kill the bandits that killed him. Karalissa told me that afterwards, the bandits had retaliated and killed the previous Harbinger.
I furrowed my brow at that note. "This all happened, right before I met Farkas and Vilkas?"
She nodded. "A month or so before."
"It's still fresh, then." I put my hand on her shoulder. "Karl, why didn't you tell me?"
Karalissa shrugged. "You were so excited. Your big journey ended the way it was supposed to. You defeated that dragon." She waved her hand, not remembering the name.
"Alduin."
"Yes, Alduin, sorry." She laughed a little. "You won the battle, you got married. Your story got a happy ending." She shrugged again. "Ours didn't."
I couldn't help myself, and a small laugh escaped my lips. "'Happy ending?' You spend too much time with your nose in a book, Karl. There's no such thing as a happy ending."
Karalissa looked dumbfounded. "Yes there is, Cass. You can't tell me that you didn't get everything you've always wanted." She smiled at me again. "You got the glory, the power, the woman of your dreams. It's exactly like a book! A book with a happy ending."
I shook my head at her. "You're the Harbinger. That isn't a happy ending?"
Karalissa sighed. "It didn't end the way it was supposed to. Skjor was supposed to be the next Harbinger. They weren't supposed to die, Cassius."
"You can't blame yourself, Karalissa."
My sister snorted. "You sound like Vilkas."
I rolled my eyes. "Then maybe Vilkas is smarter than I credit him for." I put my hand over hers. "Karalissa, everything you just told me is not your fault. So your story is a little darker than mine, but that doesn't mean it's over. You didn't get a happy ending, but maybe you get a sequel."
Karalissa laughed. "A sequel? I thought you didn't like books."
"I don't." I said to her. "But you do, and I want to help you write your happy ending. Come to Windhelm with us."
She looked confused, but she smiled. "Windhelm?"
"You and me and Lyd. We'll start a new story." I thought for a moment. "You can bring Vil too, if you want."
My sister was thoughtful for just a moment, then she nodded. "We'll have to wait until my meeting with the Jarl is over, but we can leave right after."
I smiled at her. "Anything for Balgruuf, right? A meeting tomorrow, and we can leave on Middas."
"Alright, I'll talk to Vilkas." she said with a smile. "A new story, then."
My chest blossomed with satisfaction, pleased to have my happy little sister back. "A new story."
