Day Eight Part One

I awoke drenched in sweat. I tried to get up but my abdomen protested as if I was nailed in place. I collapsed back into the bed.

"That bandit must have kicked you in some vital place," Lydia said from a chair next to the bed. "You've been moaning in your sleep since Orgnar dragged you in here."

She got up and I noticed she carried out a bowl and a rag. She returned with a tankard of cold water and made me drink. I did and I felt better even as the liquid eased my burning throat.

"Did you stay with me all night?"

"Someone had to, and I am sworn to protect, remember. I alternated between moping your feverish head and stuffing the rag in your mouth to silence your cries. You must see the healers in Whiterun. I hear the priestess of Kynareth can work wonders."

I managed to sit up with her help. "No healer can help me. I'll be fine. It's just something I need to deal with. Thank you for staying with me."

"You're welcome, Thane. So, if you won't see a healer, what are your plans for the day?"

I struggled to stand but pushed her hand away. "Nothing has changed. We're still going to Ustengrav after a quick stop in Whiterun to see about a house."

"You can't be serious?" Lydia said. "You can barely stand."

"You'll find I'm full of surprises, girl. Your role as nursemaid is no longer needed. Food and drink, that's what I need now."

Lydia straightened and said, "Fine." She left the room.

Something told me everything was not fine, but who understood the minds of women?

We had a quick, silent breakfast of chicken breasts and green apples. I drank two meads and the pressure in my head lessened. I figured a slow walk in the crisp air back to Whiterun would be the best thing for me. The air was refreshing and we even began joking about sending some Acolytes of Dibella to the Greybeards to see what would happen.

We came around the first bend along the river and I spied an Argonian lurking next to a boulder. He saw me as well and crouched. Despite Lydia and I both being obviously armed, he unsheathed a steel sword and dagger and stalked towards me purposefully.

The Argonian sprinted the last few yards then spun lightly on his feet, his thick tail forcing me to back up, then followed through with first his dagger then his sword. His dagger glanced off my greatsword, sending sparks into the air. It moved my weapon just enough, however, for his follow up sword strike to bite deep into my leg.

Lydia, who was behind me, circled around for a clearer shot with her bow, but the thief kept moving as well. She finally managed to land a hit and the Argonian visibly slowed, a green aura briefly appearing around him. I tried a power swing but his quick hands lashed out with the dagger and my momentum was broken, as were several straps from my armor. He must have been spinning a lot because it was difficult to focus my eyes and land a decent blow. He cut me again but I also landed a nice slash across his arm then pressed the attack, keeping my swings short and precise. Another arrow appeared, this time in the Argonian's head. He attacked quicker, probably out of desperation. I blocked but I could not stop his smaller, quicker weapons completely and they drained my strength even more. I used my greater weight to pummel his face with the butt of my sword and he finally staggered back in the dirt. I was nearly out of breath and energy but I mustered enough of both to finally cut him down for good. His breath hissed from his throat then was silent.

I fell down next to him, grasping my leg. Lydia knelt beside me.

"How bad is it?" she asked.

"Should I be able to see blood pumping out?"

Lydia looked around frantically, "Where's your pack?"

"It was cut loose back there." I could say no more so great was the pain. The air itself seemed to be eating away at my leg. I clamped both hands over the wound and tried with my last bit of consciousness to will it closed. All of a sudden my hands began to glow a warm orange and I could almost feel something leaving my mind and surging through my hands to my leg. I wanted to stop but the pain in my leg had disappeared and I could breathe easier. The glow finally vanished as the flow from my mind ceased on its own. I moved my hands to inspect the deep wound. All that was left was the blood on my hands.

"What in the Nines just happened?" I said. I looked to Lydia for an answer. "I am no soul-forsaken mage!"

Lydia knelt beside me again and looked at my leg. "You used your healing magic. Nicely done, too. Better than I usually do."

I stared at her bewildered. "Why are you so calm? I just used magic and I don't even how I did it."

Lydia sat back, her foot tucked underneath her. "Everyone can do basic healing magic. You didn't know? That explains why you never used it during or after a battle. I assumed you disliked mages so much that you refused to use magic like they do."

I tried to calm myself. "My family was... simple, though prosperous. We worked, we traded, we farmed a bit. Magic was never needed and my parents did not engage it. I believe my father feared it and, as it turned out with my brother, rightly so. Wait, you mean you know magic, too?"

"I've learned to heal myself, but only after I've taken a lot of damage do I use it. I just back away from the fight, do some quick healing, then stagger back for more. So how did it feel?"

"Odd, like my brain was draining into my hands, then it stopped. I'm still not sure how I did it. Or if I want to."

Lydia stood and offered me her hand to help me stand. I tested my leg once I was up. It felt fine, though the healed wound tingled a bit.

"It just takes practice. After a while you'll be able to fight and heal yourself at the same time. Look, think of it this way. You won't have to buy so many healing potions. They are pretty expensive."

"I would save a lot of septims. I could put that money towards strengthening my empire. I imagine dragon saddles would be pretty expensive."

Lydia wiggled her fingers in front of me. "And you could buy more pretty rings and such to beautify your personal Housecarl to make the other jarls jealous."
I laughed at her. "What? You're pretty enough."

"Really? You think I'm pretty?"

Uh oh. "What? That silver ring was free, so I just let you have it. I meant I won't be giving you anything else."

"Because you think I'm already pretty?" She actually smiled and batted her eyelashes at me.

"Sure, whatever. Hey what's up with this Argonian? His tail is still moving."
I used my skillful diversion to rummage through the thief's belongings and take what I wanted. Besides his quality weapon, I found an amethyst, a couple hundred septims, and a note. Reading the note sent a chill down my back. This was no road robber. He was an assassin hired by the Dark Brotherhood and someone named Astrid. The note named me personally. I handed it to Lydia.

She read it and whistled. "Seems you've succeeded in making a name for yourself. In fact, here it is, right after 'kill by any means necessary'. Congratulations. Someone sees you as a threat."

"Well, they'll need more than a single lizardman with a sword to take me out," I said as I pushed the assassin off the road with my foot. I felt a sharp pain in my stomach and realized I still had a craving that was growing. I had hoped the healing I did took care of it but I had only been distracted. "Let's hurry to Whiterun. I have some business to conduct with Avenicci."

I found Avenicci in Dragonsreach in a large training area. He was speaking with a huge brute by the dining table. Apparently the brute was a weapon in human form and wished people to unsheath him. Pass.

I pulled Avenicci aside and reminded him the jarl said that I was able to buy property in Whiterun. He grudgingly recalled something to that effect, then asked me if I was ill. He suggested I see the priestess of Kynareth. I said I was fine then told him I was interested in the dwelling called Breezehome next to the blacksmith. I also pointed out that as Thane I should get the lowest price possible. Also, the price should be lowered considering it is next to a noisy blacksmith that will be banging and hissing all day and night at the forge. Through grated teeth he told me the price was set by the jarl at five thousand. No haggling allowed. I decided to buy it anyway and after checking out the booklet that came with it, asked him to set it up with a living and dining room. He said the preparations would be ready later this afternoon.

Before I left, I informed him of the thief I had disposed of on the road, leaving out the assassin part. He thanked us for ridding Whiterun of such vermin then mentioned a bounty placed on some bandits by the jarl. Having spent most of my coin on the house, I agreed to look into it. He marked the location on my map and called it Halted Stream Camp. Our business concluded, Lydia and I had lunch at the Bannered Mare then headed to Breezehome to see if it was ready.

Avenicci's men worked fast. The house was ready and they had even gotten a strong fire going in the living room to warm the place. I made a quick inspection. There was definitely more room for improvement but I would need more coin for that. Perhaps I would go after that bounty. I used the weapon rack near the door to store my Axe of Whiterun then placed the couple of books I had kept on smithing and archery on the bookcase next to that.

By now I was feeling weak and sweating again and not from the fire. I took a seat near the fire and Lydia sat in the chair next to me. I drank half a bottle of mead and waited for the pain to ease. I had tried the healing again while I was alone upstairs but I could not get it to work again, either that or it had no effect on my intense cravings. I needed to find a healer if I wanted to investigate this healing magic further.

"Now that I've got a house to care for," I said to Lydia out of the blue, "I think you should stay here in town and look after it. Keep it clean, keep it stocked, stuff like that."

Lydia sipped at her bottle of mead as if pretending not to hear me.

"So what do you think?" I asked, "Is that something you can handle?"

"What are you doing?" she asked finally.

"What do you mean? You're a housecarl. Shouldn't you take care of the house, then?"

"And what will you be doing?"

"Well, I've got this bounty for bandits to take care of."

"Bandits? Bandits that have caught the jarl's attention and you're going to go after them alone? In your condition?" She laughed and finished her mead.

"I'm fine, I can do it by mysel..."

My chair suddenly tipped over backwards. I laid sprawled on my back and I heard a bottle smash. I felt Lydia land on top of me. The air was knocked out of me, then I felt something sharp at my throat.

"What are you doing?" I gasped, my chest barely able to move.

"I'm about to kill you with a broken bottle. I'm a woman, half drunk on mead, and I don't want to hurt you, and look what I was able to do. Now imagine I was a gang of four or five desperate bandits, armed with swords and bows and magic, and I want nothing more than to see you dead, or worse. If I let you leave here alone, you'll be killed by the end of the day and I will have failed," she stood and allowed me to breathe. "And I do not intend to fail."

Lydia sat back down and began drinking another mead. I picked myself up, avoiding the pieces of glass on the floor. I set the chair right again and sat back down. I gripped the arms of the chair to hide my shaking hands.

"You could have just said, 'No, I'm coming with you'," I told her.

"Would you have listened?"

"I might have. Possibly. That's not the point."

"That's exactly my point. You only listen when you have to, Thane."

"All right, fine," I said. I stood so she could see me. "Then you listen. I don't care what your job mandates as far as protecting me. I know destiny is on my side and I will prevail over this land. But if by some divine intervention I should fall, I order you to give up your duty to me and return, alive, to Whiterun. You're too valuable to lose over a corpse."

"Fine. But I'll let you in on some information. Do you know why Jarl Balgruuf assigned me to you? He said you and I would get along because we are so much alike. I see what he means. So tell me, Thane. If I were to fall, would you leave me and return to Whiterun to continue your quest?"

I straightened as best I could, then looked at Lydia. I snorted and looked away. "Absolutely."

Lydia put down her bottle and headed for the door. "Well then, let's hope we won't have to find out anytime soon. I guess we're not as alike as I thought. I'll be at the gate when you're ready to leave, Thane."

I did not make her wait long. We started out but right away she showed me a shortcut up a ramp towards the lookout towers. At the top of the ramp she hopped over the wall. I thought she was crazy until I saw she is standing almost level with the wall. I looked over and the ground was only a few feet down.

"I know what camp the bounty is referring to," Lydia said, "It's been deserted for years but I guess someone has moved back in. If we hug perimeter of the walls, we'll come right to it."

I followed Lydia until she held up her hand to stop me. She pointed down at a rocky overhang, almost a cave.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I thought I heard a horse, so I slowed down and I spotted the horse. Look over there. Bandits. Three of them."

"They're not the ones we're looking for?"

"No, that camp is farther up. With all the crates and barrels, I'm assuming these guys are black market."

I grabbed my sword my from back. "Sounds like a job for the Thane of Whiterun."

"You're the boss," she responded and strung her bow for the attack.

I took one step toward the cave and I noticed a man running towards me from the side. I thought I was spotted and prepared to fight but the man started talking to me instead.

"You there," he said, "I need you to hold something for me." He handed me a leather helmet.

"Keep it down, skeever-brain," I said to him. "You'll give us away to those bandits. And take back your stupid helmet."

"Just hold on to it. If you tell anyone where I went, you're a dead man."

Lydia moved to correct his language but he ran off to a small hillock.

I looked over at the cave. One of the bandits seemed to be edging closer, but I did not think he saw us. I decided to go a little further around when another man ran up to us.

"Honestly," I said, "We're not even near a road."

The man was a hunter, judging by his leather armor and bow.

"Did you see a man run this way?" he asked, brandishing a sword, "He stole something from me and I mean to get it back."

"A man nearly ran into us," I said, "He went that way."

The hunter stalked off in the direction I pointed. "You won't get away this time, thief."

I jogged after the hunter. A thief was a thief and needed to be dealt with. We found him cowering behind a rock. He never saw us. The hunter shot two arrows into the man's back. The man stood and advanced on me but I guess I had more pent up anger than I thought. With one blow I crushed his skull then made sure of the job with two more slashes to his head.

The hunter turned away, "Well done."

Lydia looked over the bloody carnage. "Looks more raw to me."

The rage felt good and seemed to have eased my aching neck, plus the hunter never bothered to look for the helmet. Lost and found was not part of a Thane's job. "Let's get those cave dwellers before they flee."

I started to sneak towards the bandits, trying to use the hilly land for cover but one of them must have heard or seen the commotion caused by the fugitive because he was standing on the edge of their camp with his bow in his hand. I grabbed my own bow. The heat of the bow surprised me at first then I remembered its special properties. Partially hidden, I let an arrow fly and it struck the bandit in the chest, instantly setting him on fire. To his credit, the bandit ignored the flames and ran after us. I led him in the direction of the departing hunter. If he was a worthy citizen, he could repay his debt to me now.
Sure enough, the bandit went down quickly as the hunter, Lydia, and myself filled his miserable frame with arrows. I was even more impressed when the hunter followed Lydia towards the cave. He must have been fed up with all the thieves as well. I caught up quickly, and together we made short work of the remaining two bandits. I allowed him to join us in reaping the spoils of the bandits but he only seemed interested in the food.

My heart stopped for a moment. I saw four beautiful bottles of skooma lying in a crate. I stepped towards them but the hunter must have seen them as well and reached them first.

"Whoa-ho, what have we here?" he said.

Before his hands could grab them, I leapt forward and pushed the edge of my steel dagger against his neck. He was caught by surprise and nearly fell over.

"You'll want to leave those alone, citizen," I said, "As Thane of Whiterun, I'm confiscating these in the name of the jarl."

"Thane? I had no idea... I was just going to throw them in the fire there. But I'll let you do it."

"Oh, eh, the jarl will want to know about such practices. I'll bring these to him as proof. Now move along, move along."

The hunter grabbed a couple bottles of ale and a wedge of cheese and sat down at the table. I pocketed the little purple bottles. I looked for Lydia. She was standing next to a horse used for their carriage. She was petting its nose and feeding it a carrot. I found a locked chest and knelt in front of it. My hands were shaking too much in anticipation for me to even hold my lockpicks. Instead I pulled out a bottle of skooma and after checking over my shoulders, drained it in one gulp. It was even sweeter than I expected, though not as sweet as it used to be. The liquid lit a fire in my chest and in my head. At once, I was at peace. I put the bottle back in my pocket and nearly took out another. Then I recalled how hard it was to find these and left it. I opened the chest easily now and emptied the contents, some coins, gems, and a gold necklace, into my satchel. For a moment, I thought Lydia would like the necklace, then stowed it away and forget about it.

No sooner did I close the lid than more bandits came running at us.

"Well, what do we have here?" said a redguard leading their charge, "You should never have come here."

The hunter was on his feet but this time was wielding a sword. Lydia came running back with her hammer poised to strike. They did not seem to notice me at first since I was in the back of the cave. I wondered if these bandits were heat tolerant. I sent one arrow into the redguard who was battling Lydia with an axe. His back caught fire and I heard him curse in pain. Magic began to enter the fight as a beam of frost struck the hunter who was already fighting another bandit. I looked over to see a small, elvish mage attacking from behind some wavering, magic shield. I decided to see if it was enough to stop a flaming arrow. I pulled back harder than usual and the arrow punched through and lodged itself in his neck. His head erupted in flames and his shield disappeared. I sent another arrow into his chest and he staggered back. I grabbed my sword to finish him off but before I could get there, Lydia smashed his body into the dirt with her warhammer. The third bandit came at me but I blocked his sword, bashed him in the face once, then cut him down. He must have already been weakened. I looked for the hunter and saw him lying dead by the table.

"Damn," I said, "another decent citizen killed by bandits. When I am ruling this land, this scum will be eradicated as one of my first proclamations."

Lydia shook her head, her expression sad as she looked at the hunter. "That will be one serious undertaking, especially in Riften. They trade crimes like coins. That's where that skooma probably came from."

"Really?" I asked, all else forgotten, "They have a big skooma problem there?"

"If by problem you mean distributing it all, then yes. That place also has the most skooma addicts of all of Tamriel. Naturally, every other crime could be found there in abundance as well. I believe the thieves even have a guild there."

"Interesting. For now let's load that carriage up with whatever we can sell and return to Whiterun. I suddenly have my appetite back. We'll have a nice meal then go after those bandits at Halted Stream."

Back in Whiterun, I traded in all the weapons and armor at Warmaidens and at the Drunken Huntsman once Arienne was out of money. Lydia decided to trade in her warhammer for a steel battleaxe taken from the redguard bandit. I was not impressed with the weapon but she seemed taken by the weight of it so I offered to sharpen the blade and re-wrap the handle for her. She thanked me, but for some reason began looking at me strangely.

We had lunch and headed back towards the gates but she grabbed my arm.
"What about the skooma?" she asked.

"What? What skooma?"

"The skooma you found back at the bandit's hideout. You told that hunter you were going to bring it to the jarl and tell him about where you found it."

How did she hear that? Did it suddenly get hot out here? "I decided not to bother the jarl with it. I'm sure he knows there's a skooma problem plus he's busy with the rebels and now dragons. Just forget it."

"What about the skooma itself? Do you still have it?"

"Oh, no, I dumped that back at the inn's latrine. Let's go, Lydia, daylight's wasting."

This time I took the lead over the wall, mostly so I would not have to look at Lydia. I lied again but I did not want to start another problem between us. As long as I spaced these out better I should be all right and now I knew where I could get more. Tomorrow, we would head out to Riften. I just needed to think of a reason why.