(Selene/Farkas
Setting: a camp somewhere between Riften and Winterhold.)
"Selene?"
"Farkas."
He stayed quiet for another moment, and she stopped eating to actually look at him.
"Vilkas says you killed Kodlak." He scraped his spoon across across the bottom of its bowl. "Did you?"
Honestly, she felt she expected this line of questioning but didn't mean she was ready for it.
"I—Yes."
"Why?" He demanded.
"I didn't mean to!" The words came out in a rush. "It was…an accident."
"But he's still dead."
"Yeah, I know."
They were silent for a moment before Farkas spoke. "Vilkas said he saw you casting magic, too."
"I was."
She could almost hear his brow furrow. "Felix told us about magic, but I didn't understand it… Something about the art of subtlety…"
"I doubt anyone understood it, he's terrible at explanations."
"Could you explain it?"
Now it was her turn to be confused. "Why?"
He shrugged.
"It is about subtlety. If one thing goes wrong, the whole spell can go awry. It requires concentration. Just like sword-play. Take the Restoration school: it can used, not just to heal damage, but to cause damage. Usually that happens when the mage gets… distracted. Something that was once whole can be… destroyed in a second of neglect and…"
Farkas thought for a moment. "Is that what happened with Kodlak?"
She nodded. "After he was wounded I— The sword had come close to his heart, but not close enough. I could have— but someone hit me and…" She paused to push her hair behind her ears. "The next thing I know: I'm… covered in his blood."
After a moment of silence Farkas got her talking about magic again because 'it brought your heart rate back to normal,' but he fell asleep during her talk of the difference between illusion and alteration magics.
Which was fine, she thought. Because it meant she got to share the warm blankets with him.
"I don't think it was your fault."
"What?" She stopped walking.
"Kodlak." He stopped too. "It doesn't feel like your fault."
"I thought Vilkas said—"
"My brother is not always right."
"Thank you, Farkas."
He beamed like an excited child and said, "Let's find a dragon."