Izra woke up with a splitting headache and a dry mouth. She rolled over onto her back and pulled the pillow onto her face with a groan. She hated mornings. She hated hangovers. Slowly, she peeled the pillow off of her face. The room was still dark. Someone had closed the shutters. Had she done it? She thought back, trying to remember. There had been a dinner at the Blue Palace, and she had gone with Sorex, hadn't she? The entire night had passed in a whirlwind. There had been...wine. Lots of wine. And Izra remembered pulling Sorex down the hall. Her face flamed and she let out another groan. I should go talk to Sorex. Or, alternatively, never speak to Sorex again, she thought bitterly.
She drifted in and out of a hazy sleep for another three hours before she finally rose. Someone had, at one point, filled the wash basin in her room with fresh, cold water, and left a small jug of cold milk along with a platter containing a couple sandwiches and a sweetroll. Izra couldn't stop her smile as she splashed the water on her face. Her headache had faded to a dull roar in the back of her mind, which was much more bearable. She sat on the edge of the bed, pulling the platter closer, and drained the milk. She almost snorted. I'm the Dragonborn, and I'm literally a milk drinker, she thought, but there was no way in Oblivion that she'd have drank any sort of alcoholic beverage today.
After she ate, she realized she stank like a meadery. She wrapped her cloak around her shoulders and opened the door. The hallway was much brighter than she had expected, and Sorex was sitting at the table just outside, enjoying a meal of his own. He looked up at her as she exited, amusement glittering in his eyes. "Nice of you to join the land of the living," he teased. "I don't think I have quite yet. I need a bath. Could you, ah, help with that?" she asks, sliding into the seat next to him. "Of course," he answers, standing. He stops for a moment, stooping down to kiss the top of her head. Izra stares after him as he walks down the stairs, a small smile gracing her lips.
Ten minutes later, she was sinking into a sinfully warm bath. She let herself relax into the water for a long moment before she began rigorously scrubbing at her skin. She still stank like a meadery, after all. Her headache had all but faded away, too. Today wasn't going to be so bad after all. After the water had gone cold, Izra finally toweled off and dressed. She wore a simple outfit she'd picked up along the road somewhere, with dark trousers and a shirt that was too large. It might have been a men's outfit, but it fit well enough and it was comfortable.
She had begun to drag the tub towards the door when it swung open. She almost fell from the shock, and only managed to catch herself before she fell. Sorex was there, of course, his hands reaching out to catch her. "You startled me," she said, after a few moments frozen in place. Sorex smiled at her. "So it would seem." Slowly, she straightened, her wrists still in Sorex's hands. "Careful," he warned, tugging her closer. She smiled up at him hesitantly. It would be easy, she thought, to press her head against his chest and wrap her arms around him in a hug. So she does, and Sorex tights his arms around her back and kisses the top of her head.
She stays in Solitude for a long time, long enough that the seasons change. At nights, sometimes, after everyone has gone to bed, Izra lies in Sorex's arms in front of the fireplace. "I don't want to leave Solitude," she says, after a silence where they had simply been enjoying each other's company.. "And I don't want you to go," Sorex answers, his fingers threading through her hair. "Is it wrong?" she asks, after a few moments where the only sound was the crackling of the fireplace. "Why would it be?" he asks, sitting up to hover over her as best as he could while she was curled up in his lap. "I'm the Dragonborn. There's still the world to save. And I'm ignoring it," she says, swallowing heavily. "You cannot save the world if you don't make yourself happy," he told her, and she smiled up at him, because when they were together like this, she could almost believe it.
The next night, her thoughts are just as morbid. "Say we got married, but something happened and I...never came home, what would you do?" she asks. This is something that had been bothering Izra for awhile, ever since she had first considered the idea. There is a long silence before Sorex answers. "I would mourn you. I would never forget you, and I would never let the world forget you," he says, lacing his fingers through hers. Izra wonders if that's what I love you sounds like. He presses a kiss to the top of her head, another to her forehead, and finally he kisses her lips as her eyes flutter shut. "What brought this on?" he asks. "I'm going to have to leave again soon," she says, and the lapse back into silence.
A week later, she met with another Bosmer in the Winking Skeever. She unloaded the majority of her pack to him, and told him not to lose anything. He swore he wouldn't. She promised she'd get out of the embassy with everyone alive. Sorex approached her afterwards, leaning against the bar after she'd sat down on the stool. "That a friend of yours?" he asks, concerned. Izra sighed heavily, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand. "No. I'm back to that whole saving the world business," she mumbled. "That means you're leaving?" he asked. "Only reluctantly so. If it helps, I won't be far away," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Where will you be?" he asks suspiciously. She bites her lip, tensing in his embrace. "You won't like it if I tell you," she says. "I'm sure I won't. Where are you going?" he repeats, more firmly this time. "The Thalmor Embassy," she answers, and Sorex freezes. She braces herself, sure that he is about to try and dissuade her. "Be careful," was all he said, pressing a brief kiss against her lips.
