Updated 20.04.2015
4.
"You're finally waking up," a feminine voice whispered.
"Brina, I brought you the things you asked for before. Wait, who is this? Why is there a stranger here? Brina, are you listening to me?" another woman's stern voice inquired and scoffed.
"Shh," Brina answered and Lio felt someone's warm hand on her forehead.
Lio opened her eyes slowly, finding a middle aged light-skinned woman with strict features and long grey hair hovering above her. Her hand gently pushed Lio's messy, loose hair out of her face and Lio turned her head, finding herself in a warm room on a bed.
"Who?" Lio croaked.
"It's alright. No need to get up," the grey-haired woman whispered. Lio noticed another brunette woman in noble clothes and about the same age as the grey-haired one standing a bit further away in front of the room's closed door. The brunette looked as strict as the other woman, except her arms were crossed and her eyes narrowed, poorly veiling how annoyed she was.
"Brina, what is this all supposed to be?" she demanded and the corner of her mouth rose, making her look even more annoyed.
Brina took her hand from Lio's hair and offered her a steaming cup.
"Drink. You're dehydrated." When Lio didn't cooperate and only stared at the two women in fear, Brina added, "it's only tea." Lio gave in and drank the hot, weird-tasting liquid. Her throat and mouth went up in flames, but she ignored it.
"Where am I?"
"I'm Brina Merilis. That one there is my good friend Veralene Ashwood. You're in Windpeak inn, in Dawnstar. Don't worry, we won't hurt you," Brina murmured and pulled a fur on Lio that had fallen on the ground.
"Brina, answer me. What's going on?" Veralene demanded once more.
"Horik found her near Dawnstar, almost dead. She was cold and she was covered in blood and dirt. We took her here. I don't know why, but I've been taking care of her for some days now. You have my gratitude for the food and tea, Veralene. I'll pay you back sometime," Brina explained and handed Lio a bowl of hot stew. It was empty in quick moments – which surprised Lio, as she had never eaten anything that fast before - and Brina stepped out of the room to get a refill, letting the bedridden Lio peek at the dark and empty inn through the open door.
"There's no need for you to pay back, Brina. I'd rather see her pay me back for all the good deeds you've done for her," Veralene scoffed and looked at Lio for a second with narrow, condescending eyes. The girl cowered under her presence and tried to look as invisible as possible under the layers of skins and furs that were laid over her. Lio snaked her hand out and searched for her bag and belongings, her heartbeat strong in her throat. She sighed with relief when her hand touched the familiar leather her bag was made of under the bed.
"I have some… gems and a bit of gold. Would they be good enough as compensation?" Lio stuttered and looked at Veralene with the most amicable smile she could muster. It wasn't her best smile; her lips didn't want to cooperate and trembled at the forced movements. Veralene scoffed once again.
"Do you really think you could pay us back just by throwing some coin and amethysts in our way? Hard labor is what will free you from your debt. Got it, you stupid little girl?"
Brina stepped into the room with a steaming bowl in her hand and threw an angry sideways look at her friend. A lute's soft tune sounded from the doorway.
"She hasn't even recovered yet and you're already commanding her to work," Brina said in a low voice, not turning to look at her friend, and gave the bowl of stew to Lio. Veralene rolled her eyes.
"She needs to pay back, is all," Veralene retorted and seemed to stare only at the wooden door frame next to her.
"What's your name?" Brina asked and put a bucket, a light purple bar of soap, and a towel next to Lio's bed.
"I am Lio, the daughter of Moricyan. Pleased to meet you," she said without thought like she was taught to from a young age. Brina's eyebrows rose and a pleased smile appeared on her thin lips, a reaction Lio had seen many times before. Lio could be extremely polite if she wanted to.
"That's where I know her from!" Veralene's voice sharply said, making Lio and Brina turn to look at her. Veralene's eyes widened and her mouth rounded.
"I knew this girl is familiar! Brina, put her hair into a quick bun!" Veralene ordered, excited. Brina looked at her with a confused frown, but did as asked and pulled Lio's hair together and twisted it behind her head, not very gently.
"Yes! You're Moricyan's daughter indeed! That face and that hairstyle, I know it!" Veralene shouted. Lio remembered how the nannies used to twist her dark hair into a neat bun each morning ever since she was a small child. The feeling of someone pulling your hair like that wasn't something Lio wanted to be reminded of.
"What in the name of Oblivion are you doing here? No, don't tell me... You ran away from home, didn't you, you little spoiled brat?" Veralene hissed and stepped towards Lio with an accusing finger pointed. Lio's jaw dropped. She frowned in shock– she hadn't expected to be recognized so early. She thought most of Skyrim's brutes hadn't even been in the presence of someone noble, let alone someone as noble and rich as Moricyan.
"No! Don't tell my father that I'm here, please!" she pleaded, pulled her hair free from Brina's grasp and put the stew away. Quickly she roamed to the other side of her bed to Veralene.
"I don't want to see him! I don't want that life!" Lio said, panic dripping into her voice. Veralene's upper lip twitched in disgust and an angry grimace formed on her face.
"Your family is wealthy! Your father is a noble! What is there to complain about? If I were your mother, you would get the beating of your life right here and right now, you pampered little horror! You're a grown woman and you ran away from your home?!" Veralene raised her hand to hit the girl, but Brina suddenly grabbed her friend's wrist, stopping motions.
"This is none of your business, Veralene. You are not her mother."
For a moment, Brina's words lingered between them. Then Veralene straightened up, jerking her hand free. A grimace of disgust appeared on her face as she turned her gaze to Lio.
"I swear I'll make this up to you! I'll work for you. I'll pay you with all I've got. I promise! Just let me stay," Lio said, forcing her voice to stay calm and calculated, and let her head down to hide the tears she could no longer suppress. Her shoulders shook in quiet sobs.
"Stupid child," Veralene spat and stormed out of the inn. Strangers quietly flocked to their room, but Brina shooed them away and closed the door.
"This isn't going to make me look any better in the Jarl's eyes, is it?" Brina murmured and covered her forehead with her hand.
"Does the Jarl have something against you?" Lio asked and sniffed. Veralene's words had been like sharp daggers that punctured her pride and confidence, but she had no time to mull over what just happened. Getting information about the land she had accidentally come to was of the utmost importance.
"I was in the legion. The Jarl, Skald the Elder, supports the Stormcloaks. Damned Ulfric. The Jarl's calling me a traitor," Brina hissed.
"I did hear that something was going on in Skyrim, but who's Ulfric? The Stormcloaks?" Lio asked, her voice more steady now. She trusted her hands not to shake to start eating again.
"Skyrim is at the brink of war. Ulfric and his army or followers or whatever you want to call them are the Stormcloaks. They stand for the worship of Talos and Skyrim's freedom, those fools. Ulfric won't be pleased until he stands in the position of Skyrim's high king."
Lio gasped in realization. "Oh, so it's because of the White Gold Concordat?"
Brina nodded.
"Not just that. He killed the last High King, Torygg, in Solitude and then, as the coward he is, fled back to Windhelm, his hold. It started the civil war in Skyrim. Ulfric hates almost all but Nords. "Skyrim belongs to the Nords" is one of the things those barbarians often yell. The Empire has no place in Skyrim in Ulfric's mind. It doesn't have a place on all of Nirn in his vision, for that matter."
Lio nodded and placed the empty bowl on a table. Brina smiled a weak but friendly smile, put the bowl away and filled the bucket full of steaming water for Lio.
"Clean yourself up. I have a plan for you, but I'll tell you later about it. My house is near the shore next to The Mortar and Pestle," she said and left the room.
Lio slowly got up and threw the warm skins aside. She took off the tunic she was wearing and looked at her body. Her toes and fingers were still moving. A suspicion rose in Lio: Brina must have had given her some healing potions when she was unconscious. Her toes surely wouldn't still move otherwise.
Bruises covered her. The ugly bluish marks stung and she winced. A sigh escaped Lio's lips.
The soap Brina had brought smelled lovely. "Lavender," she mumbled in delight.
Lio washed herself quickly so she wouldn't have to see the condition her body was in any longer. She washed off the salt, blood and dirt. After tying her messy brunette hair into two low buns she washed the bloody armor she had taken from Deekus' corpse.
She hesitated before stepping out of the closed door. Through it she could hear three women complaining. Lio could only make out that they were talking about nightmares. Once she opened the door, the inn went quiet. Everyone looked at her.
The inn had a small central hall. In the middle of it was a large fireplace, where a cozy fire was lit. Near the walls were tables and seats, platters and mugs and food already served. There were three rooms in the sides of the hall and at the hall's one end there was a bar, where the innkeeper stood, cleaning some mugs. There were people around the hall, sitting or standing, all of their eyes on the small Breton.
Their glares followed Lio as she walked through the inn in her armor and with her bag. No words were spoken, only whispers that didn't clearly reach her ears. She strolled outside and was greeted by the sharp, cold breeze.
Finding Brina's house wasn't hard. Lio's legs hurt and still weren't cooperating much, but she supported herself on some rails and pulled herself forward. The whole village looked dull and boring. Snow was falling. The sky was filled to the brim with its whiteness and it didn't seem to ever stop. She knocked on the wooden door and stepped into the comforting warmth of Brina's small house, which Lio would have rather called a shack.
"Take a seat. You look humane now, even pretty. That's good, now you won't scare Alesan if he sees you. All that dried blood and dirt covering you didn't make you look all that friendly," Brina said as she was stirring something in a pot near the fireplace. Stew again. Lio sat down and looked at the shabby house.
"Alesan?"
"A local kid. An orphan. Helps around the mines."
Lio yawned as she stretched out her cold and tender legs.
"You said you have a plan for me?" she asked and nodded thankfully when Brina offered her tea.
"Yes. I haven't talked to Veralene about it yet, but I'm sure she'll agree to it," Brina said and sat on the edge of her bed, body turned to look at Lio.
"To what?"
"To taking you with her to Helgen. She's from there, you see. She supports the Imperials in her city by giving produce from her farm to the men. I'm retired and don't have any jobs to offer you, but there are many jobs to be had in Helgen. You up to it?" Brina asked and looked at the girl with a soft smile.
"Well… Aren't you interested in how I got here? Or why I'm here? You're offering me a job without knowing me," Lio said doubtfully. She had noticed before that the villagers weren't actually afraid of her, just suspicious. She could've been a thief or a murderer, but they didn't really seem to bat an eye.
"I wasn't really that interested, since what could a girl like you do? You don't have strong arms to hold a weapon or calloused hands from fighting. You only had two dull blades on you that wouldn't cut through butter. And even if you stole the crystals and gold you have on you, I doubt you'll be able to steal here. I've been keeping an eye on you most of the time you've been here. Well, except for that moment I left you alone to wash. There wasn't much in your room anyway. As I said to Veralene, I don't even know why I took you under my care. But that's not what's important right now."
Lio understood the message. Brina didn't care what she had to say. No one really did. Lio sighed and bit on her lower lip to prevent saying something, but her need to explain herself was bigger than the need to be modest, and she couldn't stop herself once she started.
"I came from Jehenna. I hated the life I had there, studying all days, learning to play the flute and never having any friends. I didn't care for the studies or the arranged marriage I would probably have been forced into soon, so I headed out for Solstheim." Lio stopped, but Brina didn't seem to mind her yammering, and continued, "the Skinny Horker was the ship I boarded by using the money from my father's safe. Our ship was hit by a storm though. We were shipwrecked. The crew stole my possessions and I was left alone." Brina's face was emotionless as she listened to Lio's story. Lio hesitated to continue.
"And?" Brina finally asked. It was enough encouragement for Lio to go on.
"And I swam to the shore, where..." she stopped for a second. "…Where I found another shipwreck and an Argonian named Deekus. I hoped that he would tell me which way to go to find the closest village or port, but the next morning he was killed by horkers. I took his things." Lio realized how she must have sounded. Looting dead corpses wasn't a good hobby to go boasting about. She stuttered in a hurry to explain herself, but Brina shook her head and cut her off.
"Never mind, don't explain. He was dead, it doesn't matter. What next?"
"And then I ran in a random direction. Luckily I found this town. Dawnstar, right?"
Brina nodded slowly.
"Let me ask you something. What was it you were planning to do for a living in Solstheim?"
Lio hadn't thought of that. She knew she would have made do somehow, but there never were any exact plans.
"I..." she mumbled, but Brina shook her head.
"You don't know, huh?" she said and stood up.
"I don't know if you're still planning to go to that ashy and pointless island, but you won't get there from here. Ships aren't going there anymore, not from Skyrim at least. You'll need money to travel safely to other provinces. Your best chance to survive in Skyrim is to go with Veralene. If you still really want to go to Morrowind, then working for some honest money is the best me," she said and threw a sharp look at her.
"Yes. I understand," Lio nodded.
"And don't take our deeds for granted. You don't need to thank me, but you should still thank Veralene."
Lio wasn't used to that. She was taught not to thank people when they gave her praise or when they gave her gifts. She was used to other people wanting to help her to get to her father's good graces and thanking people like that was blasphemy. There were exceptions, but at those times all she said was what she had been told to say, as if she was reading a script. Saying "Thank you" for deeds done for her seemed weird and unfamiliar.
"I'm... grateful," she mumbled and finally Brina's face lit up.
"You really are spoiled. You aren't used to thanking people, right?" Brina asked, but she didn't really seem angry. Lio nodded awkwardly. Brina seemed to read her like an open book.
"You'll get used to it soon enough, especially when Veralene is around," Brina smirked and seemed to get lost in thought.
"People always did petty things for me to get my father, Moricyan, to like them. Nobody has done something so important for me like you did. Really, I mean it when I say thank you," Lio said, encouraged by her own success at saying something difficult, like a small child who succeeded at pronouncing a difficult word. Brina nodded with a faint smile.
"Don't thank me for something I'm not sure as to why I did it," she laughed and pet Lio's hair.
"That's a nice hairstyle. It suits you," she said and Lio smiled.
"Thank you."
Lio went through her bag and pulled out a sapphire and an emerald.
"Here. It's for the food and healing potions." Lio was sure that Brina would decline, but after a long pause she took the offering with a frown.
The door opened and Veralene marched into the house without a single knock.
"Brina!" her stern voice yelled. She stopped mid-step when she noticed the Breton and threw a frustrated glare at her.
"I just talked to Bjorlam. He'll take me to Helgen tomorrow morning," Veralene turned and stated then, making her way to sit down at a table.
"About that... You're taking Lio with you tomorrow," Brina said, wearing a hopeful expression as she looked at her friend. Veralene seemed to ignore Lio and didn't turn her gaze from the mug of ale she had filled for herself. A long silence lingered between them, until Brina sighed and turned to the fireplace.
Veralene was the first to surrender to the intense silence.
"I'm not going to lie. I can't stand that girl." She paused, then continued," but… since she is indebted to us then I'll take her to my farm. She'll get to taste the real life she so desperately has craved and even escaped her home for," Veralene finally said, smirked and took a sip from her mug.
"You'll have to work, understand? You'll have to work for your food, your profits, and your place to stay," Brina said, turning to Lio. "I guess it's inevitable. You won't get by here in Skyrim if you keep living the way you have your whole life."
"Just... Make it easy on her," she added finally. Veralene nodded at her friend and finished her drink.
"See you tomorrow morning, Lio," Brina said and waved at her. Lio stumbled out of the house and towards the inn, accompanied by the bewildered stares of the local villagers.