p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"He waited for four days to ask about Mercy; by then, most of the warmth had returned to his limbs and he had recovered from the bone-chilling sickness that had caught both him and the Khajiit. Frea had refused to even hear his requests at first, only relenting when the healers said he was as well as he had been before./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""I wish I could say she has recovered as completely as you have. This sickness... I had not seen it until this winter when the wraiths came. It pierces down to the bone and kills from the inside. She is very, very sick, and I do not know if we can help her any further; it's too cold here, she needs warm sunlight. You may need to take her back to Skyrim, but I do not know if she will make it through the boat trip." The shaman admitted./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""If I bundle her as warmly as I can, do you think we'd make it?" He asked, feeling a tinge of desperation./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""I think it may be your best chance." Frea conceded, quietly opening the door of one of the other huts./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"An older woman smiled at them both, gesturing them in./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""How is she?" Frea asked. The woman muttered something so thickly accented that Ralof couldn't understand, but the shaman seemed to comprehend the healer's meaning perfectly, and sighed./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""She is awake, though, I doubt she can understand anyone right now. Over here." She pulled Ralof over to a small sleeping-pad by the fire./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"His heart lurched as he recognized Mercy, buried as she was under the furs. Her eyes were wide and glassy, and he could tell by her sweat-matted fur that she was caught with fever. She still didn't shiver, which bothered him (fevers usually had people caught with a chill, he remembered that from when Frodnar had been sick), but he didn't understand why she wouldn't be able to understand him./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""May I try to reach her? I know what you said, but…" He trailed off, glancing from the Khajiit up to the shaman./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""But you still have to try. I understand; I will go fetch a few of the villagers, and we will help you get her to the docks in Raven Rock. From there, I would plead that you take her somewhere warm, whatever need be. She will not survive Skyrim's winters in her current state. For now, do what you can, perhaps you will have better luck." Frea said nothing more, instead turning and exiting the hut./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"Ralof turned his focus to Mercy again. Gently, ever so gently, he brushed a stray strand of her mane from her sweat-slick face; she twitched under his fingers./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""We made it, Mercy… We're back in the Skaal village, safe and sound. but… I'm sorry for convincing you to move on. We should've stayed in the cave, like you suggested. I should've listened to you, listened to my instincts instead of my stubbornness. Please… please wake up. I don't want my foolishness to cost you this dearly. I'll take us somewhere warm, alright? I don't know if I can get us to Elsweyr, since I doubt Nords are welcome in Cyrodiil right now and the other way is incredibly long, but I can at least take us to Hammerfell. I'm sure Ulfric won't mind; we need all the allies we can get against the Thalmor." He sighed, folding his hands in his lap./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""You're a walking contradiction, sometimes. You said back when we first spoke that you knew you couldn't change the minds of men, yet look now. You've allies in every hold of Skyrim, and across the entire island of Solstheim. I even heard a rumor that the ban keeping Khajiit out of the various cities might be lifted. It'd be a hold-by-hold basis, of course, but it's still something to consider. You're the gentlest person I know, yet you're the most deadly when you're protecting someone or something. You have an innocence about you, yet your eyes… gods. Your eyes speak of untold years of pain. Or… they did. Now they don't say anything."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""Please, Mercy… wake up. It feels as if the world itself will come undone without you."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"He closed his eyes, then, and prayed. He prayed that any one of the gods would listen, that anyone who could hear would listen, and answer, and save the Khajiit. She looked… frail, sickened as she was./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""You love her, then?" The healer croaked from behind him./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""What?! N-no! She's my friend, my shield-sister. I… I don't know her well enough to l-... to think of her as anything more than that."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"A soft murmur came from under the furs, drawing his attention then./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""Mercy?!" He swallowed, forcing himself not to shout./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""If you wish to ask questions, this one will answer honestly. My head hurts too much to lie right now." The khajiit murmured, closing her eyes. Ralof swallowed, thousands of questions burning up in an instant./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""I… how do you feel?" He stuttered, adjusting so the fire wasn't at his back. She blinked at him, her eyes struggling to focus./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""This one feels as if a dragon has decided her chest is its new favorite seat. My head pounds as an orcish drum, my breath refuses to be caught, and my vision is blurring so much it is almost a waste of time to try and see you. Come now, Ralof. Surely there are secrets you wish to know about me." She gave him a pained approximation of a smile, closing her eyes and knitting her brows together. Ralof sighed./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""...very well… How is it that you are so skilled with a lockpick, yet you are not a thief?"/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"Mercy laughed outright, then coughed for several minutes afterward./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""I never said I wasn't. More than that, I'm one of the Guild's elite. I just pick my jobs carefully. I don't harm any who have done no harm themselves, or retrieve items stolen against our creed."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"Ralof snorted, trying to mask his doubt. "Thieves have a creed? And how many marks have you had to kill?"/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""None. We take gold, gems, and glittering items, not lives. That's the Dark Brotherhood's affair." She sighed, letting the vehemence die from her voice. "Thieves do have some honor. If a person is marked to be left alone, we leave them alone. We do not kill unless we have no other choice, we do not steal from those who cannot spare the coin. If there is a need somewhere, if there are people taxed to starvation, we step in and return what belongs to them by right. Thankfully…" she trailed off, swallowing another set of coughs. "Thankfully we have not seen such need in Skyrim, not in many centuries."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""And the skill in the tombs? What of that?" He pressed./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""This one has been sent to various tombs for various things. She has gone to Ustengrav by the request of the Greybeards, and to others for various mages at the College in Winterhold. There were words of power that were guarded by the ancients, and there were times I was merely curious."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""Fair enough...They're going to help me get you back to Raven Rock, alright? We'll go back to Skyrim, to Riverwood, and you can stay as long as you need to."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""No. I… I need-" She started to sit up, then broke off in coughing. Ralof sighed, waiting to be heard./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""You need rest. I've seen how you can be, Mercy; you'll kill yourself if you keep pushing on through all of this! Gods, I didn't even know if you were going to wake up for the past four days!" He tried not to shout the last bit, but he was honestly so exasperated with her that he didn't know what else to do. Mercy shrank back, leaning on her elbows with her ears tucked back against her skull./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"Behind him, someone cleared their throat./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""He's right, Dragonborn. Alduin may be dead, but you're still needed. Take some time. Rest. Recover. Whatever you needs must do will still be there when you are well." Frea turned her cold gaze from Mercy to Ralof./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""We have a sled prepared if you two are finished. I will be waiting outside."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"Ralof nodded, hearing Mercy rumble in frustration./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""This one isn't a cub to be coddled and hushed when she is sick." She muttered, otherwise relenting. Ralof sighed, offering her a hand up, then catching her when she stumbled./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""But you are someone who needs to know when to let others help her. C'mon. Let's head home." Ralof replied, forcibly keeping his voice neutral. Mercy didn't respond./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""I wish I could say she has recovered as completely as you have. This sickness... I had not seen it until this winter when the wraiths came. It pierces down to the bone and kills from the inside. She is very, very sick, and I do not know if we can help her any further; it's too cold here, she needs warm sunlight. You may need to take her back to Skyrim, but I do not know if she will make it through the boat trip." The shaman admitted./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""If I bundle her as warmly as I can, do you think we'd make it?" He asked, feeling a tinge of desperation./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""I think it may be your best chance." Frea conceded, quietly opening the door of one of the other huts./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"An older woman smiled at them both, gesturing them in./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""How is she?" Frea asked. The woman muttered something so thickly accented that Ralof couldn't understand, but the shaman seemed to comprehend the healer's meaning perfectly, and sighed./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""She is awake, though, I doubt she can understand anyone right now. Over here." She pulled Ralof over to a small sleeping-pad by the fire./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"His heart lurched as he recognized Mercy, buried as she was under the furs. Her eyes were wide and glassy, and he could tell by her sweat-matted fur that she was caught with fever. She still didn't shiver, which bothered him (fevers usually had people caught with a chill, he remembered that from when Frodnar had been sick), but he didn't understand why she wouldn't be able to understand him./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""May I try to reach her? I know what you said, but…" He trailed off, glancing from the Khajiit up to the shaman./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""But you still have to try. I understand; I will go fetch a few of the villagers, and we will help you get her to the docks in Raven Rock. From there, I would plead that you take her somewhere warm, whatever need be. She will not survive Skyrim's winters in her current state. For now, do what you can, perhaps you will have better luck." Frea said nothing more, instead turning and exiting the hut./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"Ralof turned his focus to Mercy again. Gently, ever so gently, he brushed a stray strand of her mane from her sweat-slick face; she twitched under his fingers./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""We made it, Mercy… We're back in the Skaal village, safe and sound. but… I'm sorry for convincing you to move on. We should've stayed in the cave, like you suggested. I should've listened to you, listened to my instincts instead of my stubbornness. Please… please wake up. I don't want my foolishness to cost you this dearly. I'll take us somewhere warm, alright? I don't know if I can get us to Elsweyr, since I doubt Nords are welcome in Cyrodiil right now and the other way is incredibly long, but I can at least take us to Hammerfell. I'm sure Ulfric won't mind; we need all the allies we can get against the Thalmor." He sighed, folding his hands in his lap./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""You're a walking contradiction, sometimes. You said back when we first spoke that you knew you couldn't change the minds of men, yet look now. You've allies in every hold of Skyrim, and across the entire island of Solstheim. I even heard a rumor that the ban keeping Khajiit out of the various cities might be lifted. It'd be a hold-by-hold basis, of course, but it's still something to consider. You're the gentlest person I know, yet you're the most deadly when you're protecting someone or something. You have an innocence about you, yet your eyes… gods. Your eyes speak of untold years of pain. Or… they did. Now they don't say anything."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""Please, Mercy… wake up. It feels as if the world itself will come undone without you."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"He closed his eyes, then, and prayed. He prayed that any one of the gods would listen, that anyone who could hear would listen, and answer, and save the Khajiit. She looked… frail, sickened as she was./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""You love her, then?" The healer croaked from behind him./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""What?! N-no! She's my friend, my shield-sister. I… I don't know her well enough to l-... to think of her as anything more than that."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"A soft murmur came from under the furs, drawing his attention then./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""Mercy?!" He swallowed, forcing himself not to shout./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""If you wish to ask questions, this one will answer honestly. My head hurts too much to lie right now." The khajiit murmured, closing her eyes. Ralof swallowed, thousands of questions burning up in an instant./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""I… how do you feel?" He stuttered, adjusting so the fire wasn't at his back. She blinked at him, her eyes struggling to focus./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""This one feels as if a dragon has decided her chest is its new favorite seat. My head pounds as an orcish drum, my breath refuses to be caught, and my vision is blurring so much it is almost a waste of time to try and see you. Come now, Ralof. Surely there are secrets you wish to know about me." She gave him a pained approximation of a smile, closing her eyes and knitting her brows together. Ralof sighed./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""...very well… How is it that you are so skilled with a lockpick, yet you are not a thief?"/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"Mercy laughed outright, then coughed for several minutes afterward./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""I never said I wasn't. More than that, I'm one of the Guild's elite. I just pick my jobs carefully. I don't harm any who have done no harm themselves, or retrieve items stolen against our creed."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"Ralof snorted, trying to mask his doubt. "Thieves have a creed? And how many marks have you had to kill?"/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""None. We take gold, gems, and glittering items, not lives. That's the Dark Brotherhood's affair." She sighed, letting the vehemence die from her voice. "Thieves do have some honor. If a person is marked to be left alone, we leave them alone. We do not kill unless we have no other choice, we do not steal from those who cannot spare the coin. If there is a need somewhere, if there are people taxed to starvation, we step in and return what belongs to them by right. Thankfully…" she trailed off, swallowing another set of coughs. "Thankfully we have not seen such need in Skyrim, not in many centuries."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""And the skill in the tombs? What of that?" He pressed./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""This one has been sent to various tombs for various things. She has gone to Ustengrav by the request of the Greybeards, and to others for various mages at the College in Winterhold. There were words of power that were guarded by the ancients, and there were times I was merely curious."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""Fair enough...They're going to help me get you back to Raven Rock, alright? We'll go back to Skyrim, to Riverwood, and you can stay as long as you need to."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""No. I… I need-" She started to sit up, then broke off in coughing. Ralof sighed, waiting to be heard./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""You need rest. I've seen how you can be, Mercy; you'll kill yourself if you keep pushing on through all of this! Gods, I didn't even know if you were going to wake up for the past four days!" He tried not to shout the last bit, but he was honestly so exasperated with her that he didn't know what else to do. Mercy shrank back, leaning on her elbows with her ears tucked back against her skull./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"Behind him, someone cleared their throat./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""He's right, Dragonborn. Alduin may be dead, but you're still needed. Take some time. Rest. Recover. Whatever you needs must do will still be there when you are well." Frea turned her cold gaze from Mercy to Ralof./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""We have a sled prepared if you two are finished. I will be waiting outside."/p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;"Ralof nodded, hearing Mercy rumble in frustration./p
p dir="ltr" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""This one isn't a cub to be coddled and hushed when she is sick." She muttered, otherwise relenting. Ralof sighed, offering her a hand up, then catching her when she stumbled./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 15.8003997802734px;""But you are someone who needs to know when to let others help her. C'mon. Let's head home." Ralof replied, forcibly keeping his voice neutral. Mercy didn't respond./p