I stood rubbing the bridge of my nose trying to fight a growing irritation. Nelcara had come home a few minutes ago, which normally would have brought some type of happiness not this searing headache I was now acquiring.

"What were you thinking?" I asked in a low enough tone, so the child at the other end of the room wouldn't hear.

"I was thinking that she needed a home and that we had plenty of space" she answered, smiling as if that would fix and win her way out of this.

"Children aren't puppies, Nelcara" I said sharply. "You can't just decide to get one."

She tried to say something, but my irritation was growing and I cut her off. "Did you even think about it? Or about asking my opinion?" Really. How could she be this irresponsible? Who just shows up with a child and says 'oh, this is ours now'?

She huffed, her patience running thin with me. It would seem it was in short supply with us both.

"Moth, I know you're upset…." she started. Upset didn't begin to cover it. We didn't need this right now. She had a world to save and I had work to do. There was no time to raise a child.

She placed her hand on my arm, "Please don't be mad" No. No, don't look at me like that. Shit…

"I'm not mad." I grunted, letting out an exasperated sigh. "I just…wished we had talked about this first."

"I know. I'm sorry." She apologized, turning to look at the child, who was now staring at the bookcase. "She was sleeping behind the Bannered Mare when I found her. Her aunt abandoned her outside the hold." Her face had grown solemn as she spoke. "No child should have to go through that" She said looking back at me.

It wasn't that I didn't agree. I did. What happened was horrible. But it didn't change the fact that all of this had been sprung on me in a matter of minutes.

"Can we just….can we just try?" She asked, with that pleading look. Damn it. She knew I couldn't say no. "Please?"

What could I say to that? I definitely couldn't say no and be a monster. But I didn't know anything about children. "Fine."

She smiled tentatively as she leaned in to kiss my cheek.

"You can have a few weeks, but if it doesn't work…" I warned.

She nodded. "Understood, I'll look for a new home."

Several weeks had passed since Nelcara had brought Lucia home. She was a good child I suppose, though it was hard to consider her a daughter. I was always so busy with work that I rarely saw her. She was also very quiet and shy. I think my presence intimidated her. But with Nelcara off on another mission, we were both going to have to get used to each other.

I was on my way to work, taking Lucia with me. Nelcara had insisted she go with me instead of being left alone. She claimed it was too dangerous. I tried to convince her that a little danger made strong children. She didn't like that.

Now, I was walking up the multiple staircases to work. As I looked to my side, I realized Lucia was not there. Turning around, I saw her several stairs below. She had fallen behind. I walked down to her and offered her my hand. She hesitated for a moment before taking it, looking at me with these big eyes. As we preceded, she got slower and slower. It wasn't her fault. These were a lot of steps for someone who wasn't used to them, especially someone with such tiny legs. But she didn't complain. Not once. After our pace slowed to a crawl, I decided to just pick her up and carry her.

As I placed her on my side, holding her up with my arm, she said "I'm sorry"

"No reason to be sorry Lucia" I said carrying her the rest of the way. She was always so apologetic with her head down, avoiding your gazes. It was almost….saddening, to see her that way. I sat her back down as we entered the Keep and watched her with a slight amusement. Her eyes grew wide as she looked the place over, astonishment gleaming in them. As we walked through the crowds of people going back and forth, she grabbed my hand and kept surprising close.

When finally I made it to my workspace, I left the girl to her own devices. She awkwardly took a seat in the far corner of the room as I brought out my tools. As I worked, I couldn't help but feel her eyes on me. Every once in a while I would glance over and notice her staring at me intently, her head moving to follow my actions. "Something wrong?" I finally asked.

She froze, apparently unaware that I had noticed her. She tilted her head down, averting my gaze. "I…I just wanted to watch." She answered meekly.

My eyebrow raised in confusion, "You find this interesting?" I had thought the girl would have been completely bored. But she nodded. "Would you like to learn?" I offered. She immediately sat up, eyes widen with excitement. "Really Papa?" she asked in disbelief. I nodded and waved her over. She eagerly ran with the first smile I had seen on her face in days. I couldn't help but smile back.

I was showing her how to temper a blade when two guards walked in. "Just dropping off supplies" Karlof explained as the other guard sat the box on the floor. I didn't recognize him, he must have been a transfer. "You orcs' gettin' your apprentices early ain't ya" He said referring to Lucia. Definitely a transfer. "Mind yourself. Might be you can insult the blacksmiths up in Windhelm. But not out here." Karlof warned. "Hey, least in Windhelm we let our children grow up a bit for we let 'em 'round tough brutes. No 'ffense"

He wasn't going to last too long in Markarth. I walked forward, standing directly in front of him, and stared down. "That's my daughter." I finally grunted. His face scrunched up in confusion as he looked between me and Lucia, who was now hiding behind my leg. "And you're interrupting her lesson."

"I..um.." he stuttered as he tumbled back. Karlof grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him towards the door. "Nice to see you as always Moth. Now move it boy or you'll see what the 'brute' can do." He quickly led him out. I looked down to see Lucia clinging to my pants leg and already looking up at me. "Do we have to stop now?" I laughed to myself. "No" I patted her head and turned her around. Back to work.