Chapter 3

One week later.

The snow was falling heavily as Ayah stepped out the front door of Hjerim, her house in Windhelm. The snow hadn't let up in days and the Harbinger gave a shudder as she locked the door.

A number of the companions were staying in the city, working on jobs in the surrounding area, making it more sensible to move all operations to Windhelm temporarily. They'd been staying at Ayah's home as well as Candlehearth hall, the place Ayah was currently heading to in order to keep an eye on her ranks.

Tugging on the bear skin around her shoulders, she began to trudge through the snow, down the steps and on toward the graveyard.

The blood from the murders that had taken place in Windhelm had long since been washed away, but the memories were still everywhere.

Ayah walked silently through the resting place of many of the city's dead, her eyes homing in on a not so weathered headstone.

"Susanna the Wicked" It read.

Her stride slowed to a stop and Ayah gazed down on the grave with a cold, blank expression. The girl had been the one that worked at Candlehearth. The one that had served Ayah her first drink in the city...The one whose murder had dragged Ayah into a sticky situation with a crazed wannabe Necromancer.

She spared the grave one last glance before continuing through the cold night toward the inn to meet her shield siblings. Farkas, Vilkas and Aela had left Hjerim earlier that night, taking Kodlak with them to Candlehearth. Ayah had stayed behind to finish enchanting something, telling them she would join them later.

She climbed the stone steps out of the cemetery and turned toward the Inn, stood proudly before of her.

Ayah happened to glance over at the gates, noting two men stood talking to the guards, wearing the strangest garb she'd ever seen. Their faces were obscured by strange masks, which had tentacle like appendages coming off them at all different directions.

Her nose wrinkled slightly in disgust, but the Dragonborn shrugged and slipped into Candlehearth hall without giving them a second though.

She missed the guards finally noticing her and pointing her out to the two strangers.

-oOo-

"I feel like I've been trampled by a mammoth..." Torvar croaked from his position, face down on the table surface.

"You look like it too...Though, you always look like it." Njada grunted spitefully.

"Leave him alone Njada." Lovejoy frowned. "He's not very well..." She added, gently petting Torvar's hair. The older woman gave a sneer and glared at the little imperial but said nothing more.

"I can't believe this. You get sick every time we bring you here Torvar..." Aela huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Not every time." He argued back weakly, his voice muffled by the wood of the table. "It's just the bad weather...It doesn't agree with me."

"You're a Nord..." Vilkas snorted a laugh.

"Aye, but I come from the sunnier, less FREEZING COLD part of Skyrim." Torvar ground out as he stared hard at his full tankard of ale. It killed him every time he became sick, because he couldn't taste anything and therefore found no joy in drinking.

"All of Skyrim is freezing cold in my opinion." Hingor called over from the fireplace where he'd seated himself to keep warm.

"I must agree..."

Everyone turned to see Ayah creep in from the darkness that covered the very corners of the room. Even though she'd taken on a full role in the companions over the past few years, she still hadn't lost her assassin's temperament and still insisted on creeping around in dark shadows when given the chance.

"Ayah!" Lovejoy beamed. "You made it finally. We worried you weren't coming at all!"

"She's been fussing over that bloody sword she's been tryin to enchant." Vilkas murmured around his tankard.

"I almost had it." The Harbinger said quietly as she shrugged off her bear skin. "I think I need a grand soul gem."

"Ma!" Kodlak cried, his mouth full of sweet roll. He'd not stopped eating since arriving at the Inn and, much to his delight, the women working at Inns around Skyrim such as Candlehearth, liked to coo and make a fuss over him. More so now he was accompanying his mother and father and had his own little wolf armour.

He'd disliked it greatly at first but soon found that most women they met on their travels melted and couldn't help but fawn over him about of how adorable he looked in his little warrior gear.

This left him with an endless supply of sweet things and attention that were often heaped on him as the women fussed over him.

"Hello my little one." Ayah smiled and leant down to kiss her son in his seat. Kodlak returned the affection, leaving his mother's cheek sticky and sugar coated. "Ew..." The harbinger laughed as she wiped her cheek. "You're all sticky."

"He hasn't stopped eating yet." Ria yawned across from the little boy.

"He's been through two plates of sweet rolls, a whole line of long taffy, four boiled creme treats and a small jar of honey. His teeth'll fall out at this rate." Aela laughed lightly.

Ayah looked down at her son in surprise and without hesitation, took the honey nut treat he'd begun munching on out of his hand. "I think you've had enough son."

Kodlak whined and fidgeted in his chair, reaching for the honeyed treat. "Momma! Let me finish, please?"

Ayah shook her head and offered the treat to her husband. Farkas took it with a smile and finished off what his son had started. "I think your father should have it." Ayah told her son as Farkas ate.

Kodlak immediately began to pout. "I didn't eat everything..." He whined. "I saved you a sweet roll Momma." He sheepishly pushed a near empty plate toward Ayah, offering her the only sweet treat left on it.

Ayah couldn't help but smile. "Thank you sweet one." She kissed his cheek again and took the sweet roll. She brought it to her lips and took a large bite.

"Glad to see he's sharing something tonight..." Vilkas chuckled.

Ayah hummed thoughtfully and pulled out a seat beside her son. Once seated, Kodlak fidgeted across to curl up in his mother's lap. Without thinking, Ayah wrapped her arms around the boy, once she'd finished the sweet roll, her fingers gently stroking through his thick mane of black hair as she rocked him. She kissed his head and rested her cheek against his hair.

The little boy smiled happily and snaked his small arms around his mother's torso as far as he could reach.

"I love you so much darling." She murmured against his hair.

"I love you too momma." Came his muffled reply.

"But..." Ayah smiled. "You need to stop eating so much sweet stuff." Glancing over at her husband, Ayah reached out to prod his muscular arm with a slender finger. "And you need to watch him."

"I am watching him." Farkas frowned, scratching his stubbly chin.

"You've let him eat his way through two plates of sweet rolls. That's not watching him."

"It is." Farkas replied. "I watched him eat them."

Ayah rolled her eyes and gave a light chuckle at her husband's lazy approach to parenting.

It wasn't that Farkas was a bad father. Kodlak was his world. Well, a big part of his world. The two were very close and despite Farkas's lack of experience of what a good father should be because of his and Vilkas's childhood, the hulking nord seemed to take to it with a natural ease.

Trouble was, he was never the bad guy. If there was punishment to be dolled out, it was Ayah or sometimes Vilkas and Aela that had to do it. Kodlak got angry with them and never Farkas.

Ayah continued to stroke her son's hair as she gazed about the table. When her eyes came to rest on Torvar, her hand paused and a scowl curved her lips.

"What's the matter with you?" She asked him pointedly.

"He's feeling a little under the weather." Lovejoy answered for him, giving the Harbinger a half smile and a slight shrug.

A groan escaped her and Ayah looked over at Aela, the two women sharing a knowing glance.

"That's ridiculous. Every time we've brought you here Torvar, you end up with something wrong." Ayah snapped.

"It's the-"

"WEATHER!" A number of companions around the table shouted and burst into laughter.

"Aye well..." The Harbinger gave a sceptical look. "If you're insistent that the weather makes you sick, I'll pay a coach to take you back to Jorrvaskr and you can stay, confined to your room, until you're better."

"Confined!?" Torvar suddenly yelped, sitting bolt up right.

"Confined to your room." Ayah repeated. "If you're so desperately sick that you can't even drink your mead, you should stay in bed...and not go to the tavern...or work... With immediate effect, I'm cancelling all you're contracts and I'd like them distributed out between the whelps please Farkas." Ayah smiled over to him. Farkas smiled back and nodded without a word.

"But...But!" Torvar stuttered pathetically. "I need the money! If I don't work, I don't get the coin!"

"You're sick." Aela sneered. "Why would you possibly want the coin? You can't drink..."

Torvar growled and grunted, muttering as he glared at Ayah, then the huntress. "I'm going to bed." He huffed, getting up from his seat with a sniff before wiping his nose on the back of his hand.

"Good." Ayah called after him as he began to walk away. "Get some rest. I'll have to coach waiting for you in the morning!"

Kodlak, still in his mother's arms, tugged on his wolf skin hood while watching Torvar. Once the man was out of sight, the little boy looked up at his mother who was smiling and laughing about the whole incident.

"Are you really gonna send him home momma?" He asked her.

Ayah smiled down at her son, leaning down to nuzzle noses with him to make him giggle. "If Torvar can't work, he's not any use to us and he may get hurt."

"How about you take his contracts Kodlak?" Vilkas smirked, hunched over the table to watch his little nephew.

Kodlak's head spun around on his shoulders, a great big grin on his face. "Can I?!" He beamed. "Can I momma?" He asked Ayah excitedly, turning back to face her.

"We'll see darling." She cooed gently and stroked her fingers through his mass of hair yet again.

"What jobs did Torvar have?" Njada asked slyly. "Not that I'm interested or anything..."

"Oh no, of course not." Mog grunted from her slumped position against the wooden wall. "You're not interested in whether he's getting harder, tougher, higher paid jobs at all, are you?"

The two women shot each other angry glances and growled in unison.

Farkas, completely oblivious to the flying of sparks, rummaged around in his armour, looking for something. His tongue stuck out as he fidgeted, his hands patting his pockets and torso in search of whatever it was. Eventually, he found it and pulled out a balled up piece of paper from his boot.

Flattening it out as best he could, he wrinkled his nose as he read.

"Torvar had a couple of bandit camps to clear. A giant and a skeever den." He said, still looking at the paper. "I suppose Kodlak could take on the giant..."

Silence fell over the companions as they stared at the oldest twin blankly or in disbelief. Ayah pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed softly while shaking her head.

"How about he take's the skeevers darling..." She gently suggested.

"Aye. I suppose he could do those too once he's finished with the giant." Farkas smiled innocently, forgetting his son's age or inexperience completely.

"How about he just does the skeevers, Farkas?" Vilkas drawled, not too impressed with his brother's lack of thinking.

-oOo-

Kodlak pulled off his boots and tossed them into the corner of the room. His armour and leather trousers soon followed, leaving the little boy to crawl into bed in his cotton shirt.

Ayah smiled as she watched her son before leaning down to tuck the furs around him.

"Momma?" He asked as she sat on the edge of his bed. Hjerim was large enough that the little boy could have his very own room for once, unlike back at Jorrvaskr, where he was forced to sleep with the other whelps.

"Yes, my heart." She smiled down at him adoringly.

Kodlak fidgeted and kicked about under the covers as he got comfortable. "Can I have a story?" He yawned and turned onto his side to face his mother while he hugged his pillow.

The Harbinger thought for a moment before nodding. "Just a short one. Which story would you like to hear?" Absently, her gloveless hand moved to stroke her son's cheek.

Her son didn't hesitate with his answer, having already had it in mind. "Tell me about when we went to Sovngarde and fought Alduin!" He grinned and wriggled long ways on the bed to lay his head on his mother's lap.

With a soft laugh, Ayah lifted him and righted him in the bed. "Settle pup." She chuckled. "And you mean when I went to Sovngarde and fought Alduin and you tagged along?"

Kodlak giggled and squeezed his pillow. "Did not! We both fought him."

"I didn't see you swinging a sword out there!" His mother growled playfully and poked his side, making him squirm.

Kodlak laughed and flailed, kicking his covers off in the process. Ayah rolled her eyes and replaced them over him, tucking him in once more.

"Tell me." He smiled sweetly once he was settled again.

"Alright." She kissed his head. "But you have to promise to sleep once I finish."

Kodlak nodded and Ayah hoped he'd keep his promise...Not that you could really rely on the word of a five year old child.

She and Farkas needed some...time... And it was beginning to become difficult with Kodlak's constant need for attention. The little boy had a knack of being able to put a dampener on any kind of intimacy between his parents and it was beginning to bother his father.

"That means staying in bed tonight. All night." She told him firmly. He nodded again quickly, still grinning and snuggled close to his pillow as his mother began.

"Well, as you already know, from the countless time's I've told you before." She smirked down at the boy. "Alduin was a fierce and terrible dragon, known as the world eater because..."

"Because the world was his favourite food!" Kodlak laughed loudly. "Like blood is Babette's!"

Hushing him, Ayah nodded. "Aye, that's right. He ate worlds and the souls of the dead and all other dragon's feared him for his powerful thu'um."

Kodlak wasn't new to this story. It was his favourite. All other stories paled in comparison to the story his mother would regale to him every now and again. At his request of course. All other stories he heard were either made up or over exaggerated in order to stroke the teller's ego, but this one, he'd lived through. Sort of.

He often liked to tell the other children this story. How he'd been to Sovngarde and back.

"...You were a tiny baby within my womb and I promised your father I'd keep you safe." Ayah whispered and leant to kiss her son's nose. She could already see sleep tugging at his eyelids, though he struggled to fight it off.

"The next morning I climbed onto the back of Odahviing and left for Skuldafn, Alduin's lair."

By the time Ayah had made it to Shor's hall in the story, Kodlak had already curled up and gone to sleep. His mother pet his hair in silence as she watched his eyelid twitch and flutter as he dreamed. The ring of Hircine lay against his throat, protecting him from his beastly nightmares that the Daedra liked to taunt him with.

"Good night my little wolf." Ayah sighed and kissed his head before standing and creeping from the room.

-oOo-

The Harbinger and Assassin slipped into the master bedroom without a sound, closing the door silently behind her.

Farkas was already in bed, though he obviously wasn't sleeping. His armour was nearly propped up against the wall near his side of the bed and he craned his neck to look at his wife as her shadow passed over the wall.

"Is he asleep?" He asked quietly, his voice containing a hopeful expectancy.

"Out like a light." Ayah replied, just as quiet and began to slip out of her own armour. Her back was turned as Farkas suddenly sat up in bed and climbed out. She was down to her corset and leather trousers when she was unexpectedly grabbed around the waist.

She gasped and went to struggle, but was pressed, face first, up against the wall before she could even start.

Farkas's breath travelled down her neck before his hot mouth finally touched her skin that joined her neck and shoulder. The simple action caused her to tremble and easily submit as he pinned her hands above her head, palms pressed flat against the wood.

A feeble cry left her lips as Farkas's free hand tore at the laces of her corset and once loose enough, tore the material free. He tossed it aside without a second glance, his hand grasping at her bare breast with a desperate touch.

"F-Farkas..." She whimpered, her skin prickling at his rough touch. The only reply came in the form of a low, hungry growl as her husband began to bite at the flesh of her neck. Ayah gasped again, her eyes growing wide and every nerve in her body beginning to crackle with excitement.

Farkas's weather-worn hand left her breast, skating over the trembling skin of his wife's stomach with the lightest of touches. The callous pads of his finger's traced the silvery scars that crossed her skin, trophies of battles won.

Ayah pressed her forehead to the wall, unable to fight off her mate's lust-filled affections.

"I love you..." Farkas panted against her ear, his stubble tickling the soft skin of her ear and making her shudder. His left hand continued to creep downward while the right held her wrists against the wall, leaving her helpless and at his mercy.

She may have been his harbinger by day, but by night, he was alpha.

The softest moan left Ayah's lips as Farkas's fingers slipped under the waistband of her leather trousers. Her hips pushed back, forcing themselves against his with need. Farkas pressed his own throbbing need back against her, another growl rumbling from his chest and his teeth latching onto her earlobe.

His bare foot pushed at Ayah's inner ankle aggressively, forcing her legs apart and allowing him better access. His wife jerked and growled, his hand slipping between her legs and began gently probing.

The companion's eyes fell closed and he buried his nose in his wife's hair as he listened to her soft mews of pleasure. His fingers teased her with confidence after years of practice. He was a master manipulator when it came to his wife's body by then. He'd had long enough to explore every inch, committing it all to memory.

There was a sudden creaking of floorboards outside their room and the pair froze, their breath held as they waited for the door to open.

"Gods be damned!" Teagan cursed after tripping on the stairs, dropping his sword in his drunken state. The weapon slid back down the wooden stairs and Teagan staggered to retrieve it.

Farkas and Ayah released their collective breath and Ayah took the opportunity to break her husband's hold. With ease, she slipped her wrists from his grip and pulled his hand from her trousers before turning, her back pressing against the wall. Her hands grabbed his hips and pulled him close, her lips catching his hungrily.

Farkas smiled against his wife's lips, his hands reaching between them to open the laces of her leather trousers. He had no intention of being disturbed that night. It had been far too long.

-oOo-

Njada irritably tapped her foot as she stood waiting for her Harbinger and younger shield sibling Ria at the gates of Windhelm.

"Did you pick up the health potions?" Ayah asked the other woman, Ria nodding in return.

"Aye."

"Did you remember a map?" She continued to quiz her shield sister, rummaging through her own pack as they walked.

"I brought two!" Ria smiled, quite pleased with herself.

"Will you two hurry up!" Njada snapped, finally tired of waiting. Ayah didn't usually company them on tasks, but with Torvar being sent home, it left some open spaces. Vilkas and Farkas were getting ready to head out with Mog and Lovejoy. They planned on wiping out a population of bandits that had sprung up not fair from the city.

Ayah, Ria and Njada were going to tackle a falmer den. Aela and Hingor were to take on Kodlak's giant. And Kodlak, much to his disappointment was left with Teagan to fight the Skeevers living under a local shop.

Needless to say, Njada wasn't used to being told what to do or having someone there to direct her. She wasn't a whelp any more, but with the Harbinger travelling with them, she'd have to do as she was told.

Ayah made a snorting sound at the older companion's protesting and stopped mid step, if only to upset her further.

"Ria do you have any-!"

Before she could finish her sentence, her shoulder was firmly grasped from behind and Ayah spun to see one of the men from the day before, his macabre mask causing the hair on the back of her neck to prickle.

"Can I help you?" She ground out, pulling her shoulder free of the stranger's grip and stepping away.

At that moment, Aela, Farkas, Vilkas and the others were exciting the Inn, their attention becoming drawn to their Harbinger and the stranger in the strange mask.

"You. You're the one they call Dragonborn..." The stranger hissed, his voice laced with Venom.

"So they say..." Ayah's eyes narrowed and she watched the man reach for the sword at his side.

"Then it is too late..." The second man seemed to appear from nowhere, standing between Ayah, Ria and Njada. The two other companions instantly released their weapons, sensing something was off.

"The lie has already taken root in the hearts of men. So we shall expose them to the falseness in their hearts by tearing out yours, deceiver! " He cried and a scream rang out from a female witness as the man lunged at Ayah. Without hesitation, she dropped her pack and pulled free her glass sword to defend herself. Her masked attackers blade narrowly missed her arm and hit the blade of her glass sword with such force, it nearly took the weapon from her hands. "When Lord Miraak appears, all shall bare witness. None shall stand to oppose him!"

Ria and Njada took on the other man as Ayah fought. The second man easily dodged Ria's somewhat clumsy attacks, but while dodging hers, walked straight into Njada's more accurate strikes.

"Ayah!" Aela jumped from the steps of Candlehearth and ran toward the fighting. Ayah hissed in pain as her attacker's blade skated across her hip slicing through the soft leather there and into her flesh. stinging pain bloomed quickly, but Ayah returned the favour to the over stretched man by slamming her sword awkwardly into his gut.

The man made a gagging sound from behind his mask and blood began to dribble from under the distorted disguise, giving Ayah had just enough time to grope for the handle of her Blade of Woe. Crossing it over her body, her let out a yell before forcing the blade through the mask, the impact shattering the false face.

Behind her, Ria yelped as her mighty swing caused her to topple forward. Vilkas had spent many, many hours trying to teach her the proper way to hold her sword, but in the heat of battle, she tended to forget. She hit the floor,wincing as her elbows hit the stone. She didn't have time to notice the man she'd been attempting to hit hovering over her, his blade ready to cut her in half.

"Oh no you don't!" Njada snarled and slashed out at him. Her Skyforge steel sword easily cut off the man's head, releasing a spray of blood as his head was severed from his body cleanly.

"Ayah?!" Aela grasped the now dead man and hurled him backward. His body hit the floor with a sickening thud, the little dragonborn's blades still sticking out of the corpse."Are you ok?"

Ayah nodded, glancing back at Njada and Ria. "I'm fine. What about you two?" When the two other women nodded, Ayah turned her attention down to her side. "I think he caught me, but it's nothing serious." She murmured as she examined the slice that had split her armour.

"What was that all about?" Vilkas appeared behind the huntress, stepping over the body of the man Ayah had just killed with a disgusted expression. Farkas did the same, their young son in his arms. Kodlak looked over his father's shoulder sheepishly at the dead man, his eyes growing wide.

"He asked me if I was Dragonborn. I told his yes and he went...Well, you saw." She said, waving her hand.

Aela hummed softly, her eyes going to the first of the men. Stalking over to his body, she knelt down and began to rummage, a task usually her Harbinger was the first to undertake.

"Have you seen this?" She asked after pulling out a note from his pocket. She skimmed over it quickly, startled by what she found.

"Show me." Vilkas snatched it from her, reading the note aloud. "Board the vessel Northern Maiden docked at Raven rock. Take it to Windhelm, then begin your search. Kill the false Dragonborn known as Ayah before she reaches Solstheim. Return with word of your success, and Miraak shall be most pleased."

"False...Dragonborn?..." Ayah blinked slowly, her bran struggling to process the information The companions looked blankly between themselves, everyone trying desperately to make sense of the note.