Easily the most popular gathering place in Whiterun, the Bannered Mare was crawling with all sorts of visitors, many drawn out of their regular routines by the enticing scent of food and wine, and others right in the midst of theirs when Niruin took one look at my armour and dragged me inside, declaring that I had a story to tell.

A protest barely squeaked past my lips before I was bundled through the doors and ushered into a seat by the bar and the crackling fire pit, fending off his attempts to buy me a drink while I gathered myself.

"Still here, Niruin?" the smooth voice of the Redguard purred, empty tankards in hand. "I thought you were heading home today."

"I ran into a friend just outside," he grinned. "Kasha, Saadia. Saadia, Kasha."

"Pleasure," she said, flicking her black hair over her shoulder. Her eyes gleamed in a way much like Niruin's did, and I automatically knew why he liked her. I wondered if my eyes showed as much mischief.

It took several more minutes, but I convinced the both of them that I was exhausted, and yes, I would gladly accept a meal, but pass on the drink, thanks though. After Saadia delivered my food, Niruin and I chatted for a bit. He tried to get me to tell my story, while at the same time insisting that I had been replaced by some doppelgänger when I refused his offer to buy me a bottle of mead. However, despite his prodding and pestering, I managed to finish my meal, and rent a room. Even then, it was only with promises that I would tell him later of what had transpired in the past few weeks that he stepped off and allowed me to retire.

The next time I woke up, it couldn't have been past five in the morning. I had slept in much needed peace and dreamlessness. Niruin was asleep in a chair, face down at the foot of the bed with his nose buried in the blanket and his still-hooded head framed by his arms. I smiled fondly at him as I pushed myself upright. It was actually a little strange not being disoriented when I woke up. I had almost forgotten what it felt like to not be tired.

Receptive as always, Niruin began to stir as I edged out from under the covers in spite of my best efforts not to wake him.

"You could have slept on the bed, y'know," I said softly. "Or rented another room."

He mumbled something unintelligible, muffled by the bed, and I chuckled.

"What was that?"

"Do I get to hear your story now?" he repeated sluggishly.

"Are you awake enough to listen?"

"'Course," he said, rubbing his eyes.

"No, you're not. Let's go get something to eat first."

We had both fallen asleep with our gear on, so all I did was place an encouraging hand on Niruin's shoulder and steer him out of the room. It was like leading a child; he was entirely made of dragging feet and unintelligible mumbles. I couldn't recall ever seeing Niruin so exhausted. Our profession required lots of late hours and many sleepless nights, so after doing it for a while, our bodies eventually became accustomed to strange sleeping schedules, and waking up wasn't usually an issue. It worried me a little, but he seemed content. A tired, lazy smile graced his features.

The Bannered Mare was lit only by the slowly burning coals of the fire pit and some lamps. It was too early for most of the regulars to be there, but the smell of baking bread wafted throughout the room, and I could hear someone going about their chores before the morning rush.

The whisper of a dress in motion, soft footsteps and a dark figure in movement told us it was Saadia.

"You're up early, Saadia," I said politely.

"It's part of the job," she said, her dark eyes glinting in the dim firelight. "The place needs to be cleaned, food needs to be baked, fire needs to be stoked… all before the morning rush."

"May we trouble you for some breakfast?" Niruin mumbled.

"You may," she smirked. "We've got some fresh bread baking at the moment if you don't mind waiting a bit. If you do, there's bread a couple days old. Dried horker meat, cheese, and fruit too. You name it."

The thought of freshly baked bread made me salivate like a dog, and so we did; we named ourselves a hearty breakfast, and chowed down in famished silence, each bite of food going into our stomachs making us feel more and more awake. Another customer entered the inn while we ate, but as soon as we finished, Niruin set about badgering me. I rolled my eyes at him, but obliged with the usual theatrics.

The next half hour consisted of a monologue, interspersed by only the appropriate reactions from Niruin. I was a little shocked by how politely he listened. Then again, my adventures were an engrossing story if nothing else. Saadia, too, listened as she went about her chores, occasionally taking a break to listen more intently.

I told them about Sam, and the potent, rose flavored drink he had given me, and waking up in the Temple of Dibella. I acted out my role in catching Margaret's murderer, and boasted of my sleuthing. My voice lowered dramatically so that they had to lean in to hear of my battle with Nepos the Nose and Uaile, to which Niruin proceeded to strip me of my left glove and trace the scars on my palm and on the back of my hand. He was suitably outraged when I told him I had been tossed into jail, feverish for weeks.

Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better audience.

"And then the dragon! Oh, Niruin you were right. Dragons! Who would have thought?"

"I thought," Niruin muttered.

"That's right. You've been out of commission for a few weeks," Saadia said, leaning over the counter. "I guess you don't know about the Dragonborn then."

"The Dragonborn?"

She nodded. "I haven't seen him though. He was here for less than a day. Appeared out of the blue, killed the dragon at the Western Watchtower, and then immediately set out to High Hrothgar to see the Greybeards after the Jarl made him a Thane."

Niruin frowned. "I heard the Dragonborn was a woman."

The Redguard simply shrugged. "I've heard a lot of things about the Dragonborn. It's even hard for me to decipher what's true and what's not. For all I know, the Dragonborn could be a Khajiit."

Niruin laughed at that, but I frowned, a blurry memory coming back to me.

Khajiit…

"Question," I said abruptly. "Is Ysolda that merchant woman who wants to work with the Khajiit caravans?"

Niruin and Saadia exchanged a look.

"Yes, actually," the Redguard said, a little confused. "She comes in here occasionally, but she usually wanders the market. Why?"

"The man in Rorikstead said that she could probably help me find Sam."

"Do you think we can find her there now?" Niruin asked the Redguard, his expression dark. He met my gaze out of the corner of his eyes, and I could see a sudden layer of anger beneath his usually mischievous golden irises. I averted my eyes.

Saadia shrugged. "It's possible. It might be a little early, but it's possible."

And just like that, our discussion came to a close. We finished up, grabbed our stuff, said our farewells to Saadia, and then set out, but to say that we found Ysolda would be a lie. It was actually she who found us, not fifteen minutes after we'd left the inn.

A wispy morning fog had settled over Whiterun. Niruin had been in an odd mood ever since I'd brought up Sam again, and was being strangely silent. I already knew the source of his mood so I didn't inquire about it, but the tension was so thick in the air nonetheless that we both jumped when a slender hand tapped my shoulder.

"You're finally back," the owner of the hand said. She was a pretty thing, with short brown hair, and a look that positively screamed 'merchant'.

"Ysolda, I presume," I said.

She nodded. "Look, I've been patient, but you still owe me."

Of course.

I sighed. "I've been getting that a lot lately."

"It's not about the money, really. I wouldn't have given you the wedding ring on credit if you weren't so obviously in love."

I blinked, and looked at Niruin. His face was carefully neutral save for a slightly surprised raise of his brows.

"Excuse me?" I said, turning back to her.

"If there isn't going to be a wedding, the least you can do is give the ring back. It was one of my best pieces."

I definitely did not have a ring. I would know if I had a ring. "Um. Do you know what I did with it?"

Ysolda's cat-like eyes narrowed. "You went right out to give it to your fiancée. Don't you even remember where you left her?"

"I don't remember a lot of things," I said, my voice displaying my bone-deep weariness at this wild-goose chase.

"And after you told me that sweet story of how you met at Witchmist Grove? I can see why she left you."

"She?" I asked.

"Damn, Lightfoot," said Niruin."I didn't know that about you."

"Neither did I," I grumbled.

Niruin draped an arm over my shoulders lazily, and caught Ysolda in his golden stare. "We're trying to get to wedding now, actually. Think you can help us?"

"I'm sure your friend's bride-to-be can tell you where the ceremony is," she said disdainfully, immune to his charms. "If she still wants to marry you after you tell her you can't afford the ring, that is."

I felt anger bubble in my chest at that. "Listen you," I growled, undraping Niruin's arm from my shoulders as I took a menacing step towards her. "I have been to Oblivion and back since the time you gave me that stupid ring, and to be honest, I couldn't care less about it. I swear by all the gods that if you don't tell me about the ceremony and what I said, I will break every finger on your hand. We can see how much use a ring will be to you after that."

Her eyes widened at that, and I could see her gaze flickering back and forth between me and Niruin, trying to figure out if I was serious or not. Neither of our expressions gave anything but seriousness away, so she finally raised her hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Alright, alright," she said. "Gods. You're mean when you're sober. I'll just take an 'I owe you' and you can settle your debt later."

I scowled at her.

"You said your ceremony was going to be held in Morvunskar," she continued, relatively unphased. "You also said your friend Sam was going to be your best man. Happy?"

I sensed rather than saw another moody flash from Niruin. I was beginning to get a feeling that he wasn't altogether too fond of Sam.

"Exceedingly so," I said, and walked away with Niruin on my heels.

"We'll negotiate about the ring the next time we see each other," she called after us. I didn't bother to deign her with a response.

As we left Whiterun, I realized that I had just sort of assumed that Niruin was going to accompany me to Morvunskar. I hadn't actually asked him. A part of me wanted him to join me, but another part of me really didn't want him to meet Sam. Niruin would throttle the poor man before he could even introduce himself.

I stopped midstride at that thought.

"What is it?" he asked.

I hesitated. "You don't have to come with me, you know."

"I know," he said, and kept walking. When I didn't follow, he sighed deeply as if I was being irrationally stubborn and turned, placing his hands on his hips. "What?" he repeated.

"I don't know," I said, because I didn't. "I guess it's just been a long journey, and it's weird having a companion again."

"Well you'll just have to deal with it. Besides," he continued, turning and beginning to walk again. "I have a good feeling about this. This Sam fellow will definitely be in Morvunskar."

This time I followed. I had determined as soon as Ysolda had divulged her information that, Sam or no Sam, Morvunskar would be the end of it. I was tired of following a trail that faded with every passing day, and only seemed to get longer. But I, too, had a feeling that Morvunskar would be the place where I found Sam.

I just wish I could say the feeling was a good one.