Sundas, 17th of Last Seed, 4E 201

It was night when Castras finally reached the tavern, the Bannered Mare, according to the sign outside. As soon as he stepped inside, his nose was ravaged by the smell of dank mead and unwashed, warm bodies. He covered his nose with his hand as he walked to the bar, ignoring the glances from strangers at his robes. Let them stare, he didn't care, he was proud of his ancestry and gladly showed off who he was.

"I need a room, some wine, and something to eat," He said firmly to the barkeep, smirking at her expression to his accent.

"That'll be.. 'Bout thirty septims, I'd say," She said," Ten for the room, ten for the food, and ten for the wine. Wine isn't cheap these days and the produce is hard to get since the farmers keep raising their prices due to the war."

"Yes, yes, I don't need an explanation. Just get me the food please, I'm starving," He said, noticing the Redhead and her friends from earlier entering the Inn. Her eyes met his and he swore he saw a hint of interest before it turned cold.

"So, you're here, I'm here, Farkas is here, and you owe him something," The Redhead said, walking up to him and leaning against the bar, her arms crossed and a smirk playing across her pretty face.

"I do not owe him anything, thank you very much," Castras said, turning back to the bar as the innkeeper placed the bowl of stew in front of him, looking nervously at him and the woman.

"Yes you do," Came a voice from behind him. Castras halfway turned in his seat to see a thinner version of Farkas behind him, wearing different armor. He looked like he actually had a trace of intelligence in his head.

"No. I don't. Why do you fools think that I do?" Castras asked, exasperated. He did not owe the man anything, why did they keep insisting that he did?

"Yes. You do. You owe him an apology for doing whatever the hell you did to him near the Pelagia Farm," The fiery-haired woman said, leaning closer. "And if you refuse to give one, his twin, Vilkas, wishes to have a word with you about it."

"You know, I know his name, he's Farkas, and him, he's Vilkas, but you... I don't know your name even though you are giving me quite the interesting day," Castras said, giving up on the hope that he would be able to eat in peace and turning to the woman.

"Me? I am Aela the Huntress, my family has been apart of the Companio-" Aela started.

"Yes, yes, I only wanted your name, not a history lesson," Castras interrupted, noting that the twins face's paled at seeing someone have the guts to interrupt her. "Now, Aela, listen here, and listen close, for I am only going to say this once. I am only here as a favor to an acquaintance who needs help. I do not wish to be hauled to the dungeons for murder. Please let me eat my food; sleep, deliver my message, get supplies, and repair my equipment. I promise that after I'm done with my business here, I'll leave as soon as my two feet can carry me. If that doesn't work for you, oh well, I'll probably have to contact my uncle for help and he wouldn't be too happy about that. No, he wouldn't indeed. So I ask this of you, let me do my thing, you do yours, and we both stay out of each other's lives, okay? Sound good? Great. Now leave me be. Farkas, I am dearly sorry for the pain I inflicted upon you earlier today, I was only defending myself. I see you were only trying to protect your friend here and I understand, and respect that. Now please, the three of you, leave me to my food," At that, he turned his back on them and returned to his food, making slight slurping sounds as he ate.

"Come on ice-brain, come on Vilkas, leave the milk-drinker be," Aela muttered to their great surprise. She started to walk away before turning back to the twins with an irritated look on her face, "What are you two doing? Are you going to stand there and gawk at him all night or are you going to join the rest of the group?" They broke free from their surprised and followed her over to the rest of the Companions.

"Just so you know Aela," Castras yelled over to her over the sound of the Inn, finished with his stew, "I don't drink milk, I drink wine."

"That's basically the same thing, elf; the only thing worth drinking is some good, Nordic mead," She replied stiffly, looking at him.

"Whatever you think, now if you'll excuse me, I am going to retire, goodnight Companions," He yelled over his shoulder, and without waiting for a reply, walked up the stairs to his room and closed the door.

Farkas leaned over to Vilkas and whispered in his hear, "How in Oblivion did he get Aela to leave him alone? I need to learn his secret."

Morndas, 18th of Last Seed, 4E 201

Castras didn't like mornings; especially not the one after his encounter with Aela.

First thing that went wrong was that he was rudely awoken by the bard singing a song from Morrowind horribly, which prompted Castras to go to the small balcony overlooking the common area and throwing a bowl at the man's head, knocking him out.

Second thing that went wrong was the fine he had to pay for assault with a bowl. There went forty septims down the drain.

Third thing that went wrong was the Imperial Companion from yesterday, Ria, if he remembered correctly, had passed out at the bar. The Innkeeper couldn't get anyone to take the woman back up to Jorrvaskr and so, feeling bad for the woman, Castras volunteered, hoping he wouldn't have to see Aela again. Of course when he knocked on the doors to the mead hall, the redhead opened the doors and took the woman, giving Castras the strangest of looks that he could not figure out.

Fourth thing that went wrong that morning was the local priest, Heimskr, apparently thought Castras a Talos worshiper for some reason and gave him his full sermon for over an hour. It was like the Nords had conjured up a new form of torture. When he finally managed to get away from the man, he had learned far more than he needed to know about Talos than he had ever wanted to.

Castras' morning was not a good one in his books; he could not remember one as bad as it before. He nearly considered murdering that priest based solely on that sermon. The man was so loud, he could hear him even from his room in the Bannered Mare. He discarded the thought of murder after realizing that in no way could he get away with it, everyone would notice the disappearance of the priest, considering you could hear him halfway across the Province.

He sighed, stepping out of the inn, and looked up toward the keep. Now was as good a time to deliver the message to the Count- Jarl, the word was Jarl- as any. Hopefully his morning would get better after delivering it. He smiled as he walked down through the town, thinking of the gold he might get for giving the message.

To Be Continued...

A/N: And so another chapter to my story! I've noticed that my chapters tend to be short.. They seem so long on the document but when I release them, they look so short.. Anyways, good people, I hope you like the story so far!