Chapter 15:
Siris felt something brush on his face. At first he ignored it, then he swatted at it when it insisted. He opened his eyes and saw that Dila was lying by his side, smile on her face, her tail swinging in front of his face. He laughed.
- Finnaly, you woke up ealier then me…
- You snore…
- Huh?
She smiled, before they both burst out, laughing. The day didn`t even show signs of appearing. The stars were still shining in the sky. Dila ran her fingers through his chest, drawing aimless forms on his bare skin. He kissed her.
Then he opened his eyes again, and it wasn`t Dila he was kissing. It was Krona that was laying with him in his bed, back at the Shaodwscale base. He jumped back, but he was bound to the bed. Krona neared him, yellow eyes fixed on his own. She slowly wrapped her hands around him. They were so cold it made his skin hurt. She went in to kiss him again, but her skin desintgrated, and all that was left was her skeleton…
Siris shot up, gasping for breath. He looked to his sides, getting his surroundings again. The candles illuminating had had the flames blown out of them by Siris when they laid to sleep, and the night was still dark. Dila was sleeping by his side, her back turned to him. He could hear her light, cute snore. He patted her back. She sighed, without waking up, and turned to him.
"Another nightmare." He thought, slowly lying down again.
Dila pressed herself closer to him, feeling his body. His eyes slowly began to close.
"Why is she creeping on my mind…"
He couldn`t finish the thought, as he was fast asleep. In the corner of the room, the Ebony Blade glew a dim red light.
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Dila woke up and stretched her arms with a mighty yawn. She hadn`t slept so well in what seemed like ages. She reached for the side of the bed, and her fingers stumbled on a piece of paper. She picked it up and read it, grumpy that she had to strain her vision in the morning. The letter read, in a simple, yet effective calligraphy:
"Love,
I had to go to Dragonsreach early to take care of a few issues with the Jarl. Apparently, drinking as much as you did last night can be bad for you. Who would have thought?
Siris
P.S.: You snore when you sleep."
Dila laughed at the letter`s content, before realizing what the last thing Siris had written meant. Did he just say that she snored? She gently laid down the letter, with a smile playing on her lips. He would see who would laugh last…
She dressed herself and took her time to get out of the inn. On her way to Dragonsreach, she saw a few soldiers had dropped asleep where they stood, probably too drunk to go anywhere. She wasn`t feeling at her prime either, but she could manage. Instead of opening the doors like she usually did, she knocked and waited for a guard to open the door for her. As he did, she entered the castle. The dinning table was filed with untouched food, probably the Jarl`s, as he was not quite in the mood to eat.
Siris was by his throne`s side, helping a probably hungover Balgruuf drink some water. The Jarl had a small towel on his forehead, as opposed to his usual crown. Dila almost laughed at the scene, but she held herself, merely so that her head didn`t hurt. Siris turned to her, and he was divided between his want to kiss her good morning or tending to his friend, who didn`t seem to be in a very good situation himself. Siris ended up leaving the Jarl for just a second, just to hug her. She gave him a quick squeeze, before Balgfruuf fell from the throne. He shouted something Dila could not – and did not want to – comprehend. Siris rushed to his side and helped him up. Balgruuf put his hand on Siris`s shoulder, letting his friend help him up.
- Dila?.. – the weak Nord said. – Is that you?
- Yes. – Dila said, helping him up too. – It`s me. Sorry. This is all my fault.
- Please, don`t talk so loud…
Dila shut herself up. They put Balgruuf in this chair again.
- No, it isn`t your fault, Dila. – he said, after a few moments. – I drank too much myself.
- I told you were going to regret it…
- You didn`t.
- I did.
- You didn`t.
- I did
- You di…
They were interrupted by Dila`s laughter. She was laughing so hard she had to double over. Siris quickly caught her laughter, much to Balgruuf`s displeasure and pain. He put his hands in his ears. He was in too much pain to yell a shut up to both of them.
- SHUT UP! – came a voice from up the stairs.
They all turned, now silent, to a much angry Irileth on top of the stairs. She had her hair all messed up, but she had seemingly not forgotten to bring her sword.
- I want to sleep. – she said, in a menacing tone. – If you want to argue, go take it somewhere else!
She walked back to her room, grumbling something about "fools" and "mead". Siris and Dila stood there, not sure of what to do. Then, Dila thought it was the perfect time for her revenge. She walked to the table, Siris following her.
- Siris? – she asked, to confirm if he was behind her.
- What?
She spun and smashed a pie in his face. He stood there, with the cream dripping on the ground, eyes closed, smile on his face.
- Revenge is sweet. – she said, triumphant.
Siris tasted the pie.
- And tastes of apples. I probably deserved that.
They both let out a controlled chuckle. They didn`t want Balgruuf nor Irileth sending them both out of the castle. Siris wiped his face with a towel, before flinging a little bit of the topping at Dila. It landed on her cheek. She wiped it from there and tasted it.
- Tastes of you… - she said, earning her a fit of controlled laughter from Siris.
Then they heard the Jarl call them.
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- Siris. – Balgruuf said to him, seeming a little bit better from his hangover. – I have a new mission for the both of you…
- What is it?
- You have to go to Dawnstar. The Legion sent a letter. They need the Jarl to cooperate. If not… - he passed his fingers by his throat. – It is better if you go together. After last time`s fiasco, I can`t risk one of you getting captured.
The Jarl then sent them both away with a flick of his wrist, clearly wanting to be alone for a moment. Siris was most happy to comply. He had been in Whiterun for two days now, and already the city was boring him. The Pale would be a a breath of fresh air for him: while he never took much interest in the small, cold hold, he knew that Dila knew those lands. It would be good to see her in her own element.
Dila didn`t show anything other then a slight smile on her face. The thought of being truly alone with Siris again was a nice hope, even if they did have to go to that freezing place called Dawnstar. They stoped by the inn to pick their weapons and equipment up. Once they were ready, they went back to Dragonsreach to say goodbye to the Jarl, but they were warned by Proventus, who had dealt with his hangover more quickly then the others, that the Jarl had gone back to his bed, much to Siris`s surprise. Balgruuf had never been so mad after a drunken night; he usually recovered before Siris himself.
- Just tell him we sent our regards, Proventus. We are leaving now.
Proventus nodded, and went up the stairs to take care of his own business. Siris began saying:
- So, I guess we should…
Dila was already on her way to the door, though. He scratched his forehead.
"In a hurry, aren`t we?"
He spun on his heels and went after Dila. Soon, they were both walking through the prairie. Unconsciously, they were holding hands, and Siris was quietly humming a tune he had learned a long time ago. He couldn`t remember the lyrics, but the tune was nice. Dila seemed to like it, as she quickly began humming it with him. The Pale was far, probably a two day trip. They could make it in less time, but they did really want to take their time.
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Whiterun had disappeared from their view a long time ago, and they had found a nice spot to pass the night, under a small but firm rock. They had a little bit of firewood, and Dila had managed to kill two rabbits. Less then they usually had, but they could manage. The night was begging to get colder. They were both waiting for the rabbit to get cooked. Dila`s stomach was rumbling. She was eyeing one of the rabbits, the fatter one, with hungry eyes. Siris noticed this.
- Are you that hungry? – he asked. She snapped out of the trance and nodded her head slowly. Siris laughed. – It`s a shame we didn`t bring in more food. Actually… - he said, digging his hands on his bag. – I am almost out of money. We will need to watch out with what we spend, all right?
- I never spent anything!
- The daggers in your belt beg to differ…
She blushed and retook to watching the rabbits. Siris stood up and calmly walked to her side. He sat down.
- What is on your mind? – he asked.
- Nothing much, really. – she answered. – I guess I am just tired.
- Want a potion? I`ve got plenty of those to spare.
- No, thanks. I can manage. I`m not that tired.
Siris just nodded and stood up, walking to the opening on the rock. Then he looked up to the sky outside. He smiled and turned back to Dila.
- Hey. – he said, flexing his fingers in his direction. – Come see this.
She got up and walked toward him. She looked up, and what she saw was mesmerizing.
The sky was of a pale color, thanks to the gigantic Blue Aurora that stretched for as far as the eye could reach. The stars were barely visible between the various lights. It was a really beautiful sight to behold.
- I had never seen a Blue Aurora before.
- They are pretty rare. – Siris said. – Say what you will about Skyrim and the Nords, but they have a magnificent view…
- I don`t intend to spare them of what happened because of it, though.
- Never said I would…
A question suddenly made it`s way to Siris`s mind. He wasn`t sure he should ask it, though…
"Ah, what harm could come out of it?"
- Dila… - he began. She tilted her head toward him. – Where do you come from?
Dila though that the question was strange. She had already answered that many times before. Had he forgotten it?
- I hail from Els…
- …weyr. Yes, I know that. But I have told you about my time in the Shadowscales. Can`t you tell me something about your past?
- Oh! – she said, suddenly realizing what Siris was asking for. – That…
- Come on, tell me! – he said, trying to be playful – I just want to know more about you.
She quietly sat down and searched her bag. She picked up the circlet Siris had given her. She stared deep inside the main ruby on the centre. Siris sat by her side.
- I was a poor child back in my homeland. – she begun. Siris was hearing, very interested in knowing his lover better. – I was abandoned, in a poor street of Dune, a city in the middle of Elsweyr`s desert plain. I was raised by thieves.
Siris was just listening. She was eyeing the fire now. Her pupils were slit. She was tensing up. Did he do the same when he told her about his past?
- I had very few friends. Actually, only one. She was one of the people you saw being slain by the bandits. Her name was Dro`Marash.
Siris remembered. She was the Khajiit wearing Steel armor. Had she not been exhausted from the storm, he was sure she could have had taken the bandits.
- We were very close and good friends. We were like sisters, you could say. – she said, lifting the small amulet of Dibella from her neck. She played with for a few moments, before continuing with the story. – We knew we weren`t going to get a better life in any place of Elsweyr, so we decided to move to somewhere else…
- And you decided to come to Skyrim?
- Yes. We thought we could have gotten jobs as soldiers. Dro was always good with maces, and you have seen my skills with the bow.
- That I have…
She chuckled lightly.
- But it took much longer to us to get out of Elsweyr. We were fifteen when we decided to come to this land. We only did so five years later. But, no such luck…
- What do you mean?
- We were caught by a few bandits. Ironically, none of them were Nords. All Bretons and Orcs. They locked us up in cages. They were slave brokers, and they were going to sell us. In the cage I was in, I met Kharjo, that other guard of the caravan. He helped us escape. WE ran in the middle of the night, but not before we slit a few of their throats.
Dila was sobbing. Siris was surprised by how fast she went from relatively unhappy to depressed.
- I miss them all so much… - were the words that came out of her mouth, meekly. Siris hugged her. – My friends… they are all dead…
- Shh… - Siris whispered, with his arms around her. – You haven`t lost all your friends. You have Balgruuf, Irileth…
- And you, Siris. – she said. – I have you.
She was calming down. Siris could feel her breath on his neck. The rabbits were already charred from the fire. They didn`t care. The Aurora was still shining.
Later, in bed, Dila hugged Siris tightly…
- Just hold me…
- You sure? – he asked.
- Yes.
She was soon asleep, in his arms. Siris felt his own eyes weighting. He fell asleep soon, not before smiling and nuzzling his muzzle in Dila`s hair…
"I love you, Dila" he slugishly thought, slowly drifting away to the land of dreams.