Chapter 2:
Dila stared at his eyes. He had just killed two men. Did he not have any sort of guilt? His smile indicated that no, he didn`t. She reluctantly grabbed his hand and he pulled her up to her feet.
- Thank you. – Dila said, eyes still fixed on him. – But why did you saved me?
- I don`t know. I was passing by and heard a scream. It seems that my arrival was timely. – he said, in an accent that just barely hinted he was not from the land.
He turned to see the bodies of the other members of the caravan. Dila followed his gaze, and found herself staring at Dro`Marash`s lifeless grey eyes. As she did so, she remembered the times she had had with her. Playing on the dunes of Elsewyr, talking about going to Skyrim, their time in the…
She couldn`t bear to continue. Tears had just began forming on the sides of her face. The Argonian noticed and rushed to her side.
- Hey. Are you okay?
"What a stupid question" Dila thought.
- No.. I… - she sobbed. – I…
The Argonian helped her sit down. She buried her face on her hands…paws… and began to cry.
- Do you want me to go look for help? – he said, worried.
She nodded negatively. All she needed was some time.
As a few minutes passed, her pain began to become bearable. She lifeted her head and looked at the bodies again.
- They wouldn`t me to cry. – she said to herself, drying a tear with her finger.
- You know, Riften is just up the corner. – the Argonian spoke. He was leaning on a tree, having put his sword on it`s scabbard. – Do you want to go there?
- Yes, I`d like that. – she said, lifting herself up. – But first I should bury my friends. They deserved a better ending, though I doubt they will be complaining.
The Argonian nodded, and went of to find the head of the male Khajit guard. He found it lying beside a tree. He picked it up and brought it to an opening in the woods. He then went back to near the road to help moving the bodies.
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About an hour after, they had finished. Luckily, there was a shovel in the goods the caravan was going to sell in Riften. If it had not been there, they would have taken a whole day to dig three holes for the burial. After laying her friends to rest, the Khaji seemed ready to continue onward.
" Good " Siris thought. That way, he could be soon back to the city and see if Black-Briar had any jobs for him.
- So, are you ready to move? – Siris asked.
- I guess. – the woman said, turning around. – Are you coming with me?
- I just went out for a stroll. I have no business outside of Riften. And, besides… - He pointed upwards, to the sky. The red Aurora was beginning to become apparent in the darkening sky. – The roads are dangerous for people who walk alone in the dark.
She didn`t say nothing, and merely strode up the hill, her bow swinging on her back, along with her quiver of steel arrows. He ran up the hill to catch up with her.
- Hey! – he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She turned and stared at him. He stood for a second, not sure of what to say. She lifted her brow as if to say "What?" – You didn`t even told me your name.
- Why don`t you tell me yours? – she asked him back.
- I`m Siris of Black Marsh. – he answered, over dramatically bowing. – And it is a pleasure to meet you, mistress…
She didn`t answer, and continued to walk down the path of dirt, leaving a very embarrassed Argonian behind her. He sighed and released the bow. He checked his scabbard to see if his sword hadn`t slipped like last time.
"Strange. That show usually makes them at least giggle." He thought to himself. He rubbed his temples "I need some mead", he completed mentally, striding forward to accompany her.
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The "Bee and the Barb" used to a pretty quiet inn. That was, right until that Maramal nutcase started preaching about love and beauty and all that sugary gibberish. Siris had no idea about why Keerava or Talen-Jei let him stay there. Still, it was comfortable enough to him so that he could call it his "home" in the city.
- Siris! – Talen-Jei said, going to meet him at the door when he entered. The Argonian had a darker skin then Siris`s own scales, and his eyes were yellow, but he was harmless enough. – I thought you had left the city.
- Something made me change my mind. – he said, nudging toward the Khajit, who had been distracted by the bard.
- Oh, I see. – Talen said. – So, may I get you your table?
- Please, I would like that. – Siris said, civil as always. – Show it to her, please. I will go to speak to Keerava.
- To Keerava? – Talen gagged, tripping in his words. – Wh..What do you want to…
- Relax, marsh-brother. – Siris said, putting a hand in Talen`s shoulder. – I will only speak to her. I know of your little… sympathy… for her.
- Thank you, Siris. I will show it to her.
As Talen went to one side, Siris went over to the couter to speak to Keerava, the other Argonian who ran the place.
- Hello, Keerava. What do you tell me of knew?
- Not much, Siris. – she said, lifting her eyes of the counter to pay attention to her friend. – The same news I told you about four hours ago, perhaps?
The white scaled Argonian looked toward the woman that had come with him.
- Siris, Siris… - she began, nodding her head with a smile. – I didn`t figure you would be the kind to befriend Khajit…
- Very funny, Keerava. Before you make any more assumptions, I would like two rooms, please.
- Two? Are you sure you don`t want the one with the couple bed?
He pinched her arm and turned around worringly, afraid that the Khajit might have had listened. Luckilly, she was just looking at the fire, mulling on some question on her head. Keerava gigglrd, then gave him the keys of the rooms.
- Upstairs, for the love-birds.
Siris angrily took the keys from the hands of Keerava and walked to the table where the Khajit was sitting. Talen-Jei was still talking to her.
- What are you two discussing? – Siris said, pulling a chair and sitting in front of the woman.
- Nothing special. – the other Argonian, said. – I was just explaining the drinks for her.
- I`ll have a White-Gold Tower. – the Khajit ordered.
- And I`ll have a Velvet Le-Chance.
- This round is on the house, Siris.
As Talen walked to Keerava, Siris turned to talk to the woman.
- So, what has brought you to Riften?
The caravan had business here. We usually forsook Riften in favour of Dawnstar, but we had already struck a good deal here once. We thought about changing for a bit… - she lowered her eyes to the table and chuckled emptily. – Look where it got us.
- Hey, at least you are alive.
- Yeah. I guess that`s something. What about you?
She had lifted her gaze. Siris noticed that her pupils had rounded up. She was calmer now.
I needed to run a few errands for a friend of mine in Riften. Still do – he leaned closer to her and whispered – But don`t let him know. – he pointed to Talen-jei, and the woman giggled. He then reassumed his normal voice tone. - Figured I would stay here for a few days, then hit the road to Whiterun.
- Here you are. – Talen-jei said, bringing two flagons full of liquid, one red, one yellow. He put the red one in front of Siris and the yellow one in front of the Khajit. – Enjoy.
Siris took a gulp of his drink, while the woman merely stared at it.
- Aren`t you going to drink it? – he asked, concerned?
- I really shouldn`t drink it. – she said, carfully watching the golden liquid.
- Come on – Siris, said, downing another gulp of his flagon – What could happen?
- I guess you are right. – she said, picking up the flagon and slowly approaching it to her mouth. She cautiously sipped a lttle.
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She knew she shouldn`t have drinked .
Merely five minutes after drinking that sweet, delightfull beverage, she was already laughing out loud and toasting everyone in sight. She felt her body out of control.
- And a toast to this fine gentleman! – she shouted, hanging in Talon-Jei`s shoulder. – Let`s all toast to him, this gen… gen… what was the word again? – she said, before chuckling and drinking a large quantity of that thing… what was it called? Yellow-Silver Tower?
- Hey, knock it off! – Tale-Jei shouted, while Keerava and Siris were both laughing too hard to do anything. – I got other clients to tend for!
- But there`s no one on the bar! – Keerava shouted, between bouts of laughter.- Even Maramal got tired!
She released the shoulder of the Argonian, and suddenly felt the ground approaching the back of her head.
"Strange." She thought, as best as her foggy mind would permit her "The room wasn`t flipping when we arrived. Or was it?"
She closed her eyes for the impact, but she felt like she fell on something else. Something scaly.
She looked up and saw that Siris had caught her with both his arms . He began saying something to the other Argonians before walking toward the stairs, all the while she was laughing hard.
- You had one too many. – he said, grinning.
- Dila. – she said, lifting her leg up.
- Sorry? – he said, smile fading in his face.
- My name is Dila. – she said, before falling asleep in his arms.
As she felt that he was moving through the satirs, she heard him whisper to himself:
- Nice to meet you, Dila