In the weeks that passed after our return home, a lot had changed.
For beginners, everything was almost back to normal. The Companions were a thriving group again, since all of the damage from the Battle for Whiterun needed repairing. Though they would prefer to be warriors, I had struck a deal with the whelps: whoever did the most repairs in the city got first pick of the new jobs, and there were some good ones.
Farkas finally moved out of my shadow and back into Aela's arms. When he told me about the visions he'd had, the Hunting Grounds waiting for him in the distance, I'd thought he'd need a little while to recover. He needed a bit more than that, it seemed, but after talking with Aela, the two were absolutely inseparable. That was working in our favor, as well, because it was hard to pull one over on Farkas, and this time, we really needed to.
Once Vilkas let slip that he and his brother had a birthday coming up, I went absolutely nuts. I'd always loved parties of any variety, but birthday parties more than anything. So Aela and I went to work planning a surprise birthday for the both of them.
The walls of Jorrvaskr were paper thin, though, and it didn't take Vilkas very long to figure out what was going on. I remember the look on his face exactly, so exasperated with me but still so humored. As it turned out, he hated celebrating his birthday, but he was more than willing to help plan to surprise Farkas. He had begun composing a shopping list of party supplies a few days earlier.
"It's exactly what he needs to lift his spirits. I'll make a list of things he likes to eat."
When their birthday finally rolled around, Aela took Farkas out of the city to distract him. I didn't know what they were doing, and I didn't care to know, as close as they'd become. Vilkas and I had gone to my brother's home to make the cake.
Since Lydia couldn't cook and I had a brutal history with birthday cakes, Vilkas was the one cooking. She and I sat, wide-eyed and amazed, as Vilkas showed off his impressive culinary skills. He was mixing with one hand, adding ingredients with the other, and still carrying on a conversation with us.
Both mine and Lydia's jaws dropped as he cracked an egg with one hand and added it to the bowl.
"What the hell? How did you do that?" Lydia shouted at him.
Vilkas jumped, startled at her loud question. "Do what?"
I pointed to the bowl. "You cracked an egg, and you didn't get any shell in the mix!"
Vilkas looked between the two of us, his eyes darting back and forth as he continued to mix. "Yes, pup. That's what you're supposed to do."
Lydia snorted. "But how did you do it?"
Vilkas stared at us like we were insane. "You just…crack it. I don't know how to explain this to you."
I rolled my eyes at him and turned to Lydia. "I couldn't do that even if I was trying. I almost did once, but I got so excited that I dropped the whole shell in, and then it didn't even count." I rested my head on the table, suddenly feeling very disgruntled.
Lydia nudged me. "I can't even figure out the correct amount of force to put on the egg to crack it. I always end up smashing them."
Vilkas was still mixing, but he was using his other hand to prepare a pan. He was rubbing butter along the sides, then dusting it with powdered sugar.
"What's the butter for?" Lydia asked.
"To keep the cake from sticking to the pan." Vilkas responded.
"And what's the sugar for?" I asked him, raising my head to look into the pan.
Vilkas stared at me for a second, then he squinted at me. He stopped mixing, holding the pan in front of my face. "This is flour, Kara. Talos above, it's an entirely different substance."
I felt my jaw drop. "They look exactly the same!"
"Sugar is granulated, Kara." Vilkas said, returning to his mixing. He added two more eggs.
"Not the powdered kind!" I countered. "Sorry I'm not fit to be the Gourmet, like you."
"They're both white baking things." Lydia added from beside me. "Who gives a damn about it being granulated?"
Vilkas snorted. "And this is why I'm making the cake."
Lydia rolled her eyes. "I'm going up to Jorrvaskr to see how the decorating is coming along." She stood, then noted to Vilkas. "Please don't let her cook. She'd blow my kitchen up."
"Your kitchen is safe with me." Vilkas said with a nod. Lydia patted my back before leaving the house.
I leaned against my palm again, watching Vilkas pour the batter into two circular pans. He walked them into the room under the staircase, which held an oven instead of an alchemy table, a small change Cassius had made a few months prior. He slid the pans in, then I watched as he walked back to the kitchen and began mixing things again. Vilkas lifted a different bag and held it toward me.
"This is powdered sugar, Kara." he said, one eyebrow raised.
I rolled my eyes. "Looks exactly the same." Vilkas laughed, scooping some out and adding it to a bowl. "What's that for?"
"Cakes need icing, don't they?"
I scoffed at his snarky remarks. "Give the man a spatula and all the power goes straight to his head." I leaned toward him. "Maybe if you spent less time with a ladle and more time with a blade, you'd be able to match your brother in battle."
Vilkas snickered. "Easy there, little girl."
I sighed. "Is there really nothing I can do to help?"
Vilkas glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. "You're being a great help right now."
"I'm just sitting here."
"And that's about as helpful as you can be in the kitchen. Just don't touch anything, and that's the biggest help in the world."
I dropped my head to the table, making very dramatic groaning sounds. I was so bored, I couldn't even watch him cook anymore. Usually, I would find something to do with my brother, but since he was still out in Windhelm with Jarl Ulfric, he was missing the party and the cooking show.
I lifted my head again. "I feel like I'm being unfair, though." I said to Vilkas. "It's your cake. You shouldn't have to cook it."
Vilkas gave a sharp exhale in substitution for laughter. "It's Farkas' cake."
"It's your birthday, too."
He shook his head. "I don't celebrate my birthday."
I cocked my head to the side. "So you've told me, but you have yet to explain why."
He shrugged. "The only thing a birthday celebrates is another year you've managed not to die. Why should I celebrate having enough common sense not to get myself killed?"
I stared at him for a while with a disgusted look on my face. "That's the most morbid thing you've ever said. Why are you such a sour man?"
"Someone has to be." he said, adding berries to the frosting. I watched as it changed in color from white to a vibrant blue. "Birthdays are just an excuse to get drunk and eat sugar. You can do that any day without a hoard of people singing to you."
I stood from the table, walking around to Vilkas. "You're such a grump." I said as I wrapped my arms around his torso and pressed my face into his back. "Fine, if you don't want to celebrate your birthday, I can't make you. At least tell me what you want as a present, though."
Vilkas finished mixing and set the bowl down. He put his hands over my own, leaning back against me. "I don't need a present."
I groaned, mashing my face into his back in utter defeat. "Nobody needs a present, Vilkas. That's why it's called a present." I let go of him, headed back to my spot.
He grabbed my arm, dragging me back to him. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and pulled me back against his chest. I rested my head against his shoulder.
"Why are you so hell-bent on getting me a gift?" he asked, his face pressed into the top of my head.
I rolled my eyes again. "Why are you psycho-analyzing me? Just let me get you a damned gift." I groaned. "You're so odd."
Vilkas laughed, then he took a deep breath. "You want to give me a gift?"
"Yes." I said, growing tired of the topic.
"Hmm." he said into my hair. "Marry me."
I snorted. "We already—"
"On Loredas. Marry me on Loredas."
I felt my own heart flutter, almost going unnoticed over the sound of his heart pounding in his chest. I looked up at him, my brow furrowed but a smile on my face. "That's in five days."
Vilkas shrugged. "You said you wanted to get me a gift. That's what I want."
I grimaced at him. "Fine. I'll marry you on Loredas." He smiled down at me, giving me a quick kiss on the lips. "Happy birthday."
"Yes it is." he agreed.
The morning after the party, I lugged myself out of bed. I hadn't had that much to drink, but I had eaten a copious amount of Vilkas' cake. It was incredible, a vanilla sponge with blueberry frosting, and I couldn't stop myself from eating three slices. That morning, though, my body reminded of what a terrible idea that had been.
I groaned as I sat up, clutching my swirling stomach. I hadn't had so much sugar in such a long time, and it wasn't sitting well with me.
Sticking to the bare minimum, I ran a brush through my hair. I'd grown to really enjoy not having to spend several minutes combing it, let alone the time I saved when I washed it. I got dressed and left my room, eager to see if the others were in as much trouble as I was.
I headed to Vilkas' room first. His door was already cracked slightly, and I peeked inside. He was still asleep, snoring loudly from underneath his pillow. I still didn't know why he slept like that, with his face buried under the pillow, but I noted how adorable it was and moved on.
Farkas wasn't in his room, but Torvar and Athis were. They were both passed out, slap-drunk, in the middle of Farkas' floor. I had no idea why they were in there, but I could only assume they were stealing back the wine Farkas had previously stolen from their quarters.
I walked down the hall toward the guest room, opening it just enough to be punched in the face with the smell of vomit. I wrinkled my nose, but poked my head in to see Lydia hunched over a bucket in the corner, heaving her brains out.
"Gods, Lydia. How much did you drink?"
She grunted at me. "I don't know." She squinted at me. "What time is it?"
"Early." I said to her, watching as she heaved again. "Do you need help?"
Lydia waved her hand at me. "I'm fine, Karalissa. Thanks, though."
I nodded, closing the door behind me. I stepped across the hall to Aela's room. Inside, she and Farkas were cuddled up together, fast asleep and far away. I shut the door, not wanting to investigate too far into it.
I turned back to the hall, eager to head upstairs and put something that wasn't sugar in my stomach. As I rounded the corner, I saw my brother coming down the hall.
"There you are." I said, a smirk on my face. "You missed one hell of a party."
He scowled at me. "Is my wife here?"
I pointed over my shoulder. "She's puking like crazy in the guest room."
Cassius pushed past me, headed toward Lydia. Right on cue, she rounded the corner, bucket in hand and headed for the exit.
"You alright, Lyd?" my brother asked, putting a hand on the small of her back.
She nodded. "Partied too hard, I guess." She shrugged, passing him and headed home.
I nudged my brother. "It really was fun. How was Windhelm?"
He shrugged too, following behind Lydia. I trailed behind him, not too close. I could feel that he was irritated, but it seemed like it was directed at me.
Up in the mead hall, I stopped him. Lydia kept going, wanting nothing but the comfort of her own bed, I assumed.
"Are you mad at me or something?" He glared down at me, his jaw set and his fists clenched. "You are mad at me. What did I do?"
He laughed, shaking his head at me. "So now you want to talk to me?"
"What?" I asked, genuinely confused. "You've hardly been here."
"I've just been trying to stay out of your way, Karalissa. Since all you want to do is run off with Vilkas and have kids and let Farkas train them to be warriors. That reminds me, does he turn into a big dog too?" He turned back to the door, adding over his shoulder, "Don't let me stand in your way. Woof woof."
I stared at him, my mouth agape as I watched him leave. It dawned on me then that he'd heard every word Vilkas and I exchanged at our camp in the fields of Skyrim so many nights ago. He was angry with me, about the beast, about Vilkas, about the secrets.
And he had been going to Windhelm to avoid me.
